JPH05193619A - Method and device to manufacture tetra-shaped packaging body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the hardened sealing parts, and maintain the movability of a packaging material by cutting and removing the outside part of the sealed part of the packaging material which is longitudinally sealed. CONSTITUTION:A tetra shaped packaging body is manufactured by performing lateral sealings in two directions, which go across a packaging material 9, by a lateral sealing means to the packaging material 9 which is formed into a cylindrical shape by a longitudinal sealing. Also, the lateral sealing means is moved in two directions, which are mutually rectangular, to the packaging material 9 by rotating the lateral sealing means at each 90 deg., and the lateral sealing means is positioned at the lateral sealing position. Prior to this lateral sealing, a gas is respectively injected from injection nozzles 42, 44 and injection nozzles 41, 43 in the packaging material 9 in the sealing direction, and therefore, the packaging material 9 is extended into a flat shape in the sealing direction to prevent wrinkles from generating, and a perfect lateral sealing can be performed. Also, by cutting and removing the outside part of the longitudinal sealing after a longitudinal sealing, hardened seal parts are reduced, and the movability of the packaging material 9 can be maintained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a package, such as a tea bag or a dashi bag, which is filled with an extraction raw material and is used by shaking in hot water or water, and in particular, a tetra shape which is developed into a tetrahedral shape when used. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a package.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a package for enclosing and extracting tea leaves, coffee powder, and the like, a package having a tetra shape instead of a rectangular shape has been developed. 12 and 13 show this tetra-shaped package 1. On the outer surface of the bag body 2, a bag body 2 in which a packaging material having flexibility and liquid permeability such as a mesh sheet, cloth sheet, non-woven fabric or nylon gauze of synthetic resin yarn is formed in a tetra shape is formed. It is provided with the arrangement string 3. In the bag body 2, green tea, black tea,
It is filled with tea leaves such as oolong tea, coffee grounds, shavings, dashi kelp, dried sardines, etc. One end of the drawstring 3 is fixed to the bag body 2 and a tag 4 is attached to the other end thereof. The tag 4 is attached to the bag body while being wound around the outer surface of the bag body 2. ing. 12
Shows a state in which the package 1 is taken out from an air-impermeable outer bag (not shown). In this state, the tag 4 is peeled off and the bag 1 is suspended in hot water or water as shown in FIG. The contents are extracted. Such a tetra-shaped packaging body 1 can be filled with a large amount of contents as compared with the rectangular packaging body 1 and is hung so that one apex portion is located at the lowest position as shown in FIG. Therefore, there are advantages that the extraction efficiency is good and the liquid is drained well.

Such a package 1 is formed in a tetra-shape by forming a sheet-shaped packaging material into a tubular shape and then sealing the tubular packaging material in two directions orthogonal to each other. In FIG. 12, 5 is a vertical seal line for forming a tubular shape, and 6 and 7 are first and second cross-sections that intersect the vertical seal line 5 and are formed in directions orthogonal to each other. It is a horizontal seal line.

The manufacture of the tetra-shaped package 1 is as follows.
Conventionally, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-7602 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-33
The technique of Japanese Patent No. 08707 is known. 63-
No. 7602 discloses a vertical seal in which the packaging material is wound (see FIG. 1).
The vertical seal line 5) in FIG. 2 is formed into a tubular shape, and then the horizontal seal (horizontal seal lines 6 and 7 in FIG. 12) is orthogonally applied to the tubular shape to form a tetra shape. Is. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-308707 makes it possible to rotate and vertically move a horizontal sealing machine that performs horizontal sealing. After the lower horizontal sealing is performed on a tubular packaging material, the horizontal sealing machine is rotated 90 degrees. , The upper side is horizontally sealed.

[0005]

The flexible packaging material made of non-woven fabric, nylon gauze or the like has a property of easily causing wrinkles, and particularly, these wrinkles are generated at the time of horizontal sealing in a direction orthogonal to each other. .. However, all of the above-mentioned conventional techniques,
Since there is no means for stretching or removing the wrinkles, the wrinkles remain in the lateral seal portion. Therefore, there is a problem that the appearance of the package is deteriorated, the lateral seal is not perfect, and a defective seal occurs partially, and the contents leak out from the defective seal portion.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances. By preventing the occurrence of wrinkles at the time of lateral sealing, the appearance is improved and the leakage of the contents is prevented. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a package.

[0007]

A method for manufacturing a tetra-shaped package according to the present invention is a tubular method in which a long flexible packaging material that runs while being bent along a guide tube is continuously longitudinally sealed. And a step of cutting and removing the outer portion of the seal portion of the vertically sealed packaging material, injecting gas in a direction crossing the tubular packaging material, and in a direction parallel to the gas injection direction. A step of performing a lateral seal, a step of injecting a gas into the packaging material in a direction orthogonal to the first lateral seal, and a second lateral seal in a direction parallel to the injection direction of the gas are formed in the packaging material. And a process.

In the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, a long flexible packaging material runs while being bent, and a vertical sealing means for continuously longitudinally sealing the traveling packaging material in the guide cylinder. A cutting means for cutting and removing the outer portion of the sealing portion of the packaging material sealed by the vertical sealing means, a lateral sealing means for laterally sealing the packaging material in a direction transverse to the packaging material, and the lateral sealing means for every 90 degrees. It is characterized by comprising rotating means for rotating and gas injecting means for injecting gas into the inside of the packaging material in the same horizontal direction as the sealing direction of the horizontal sealing means.

[0009]

With the above structure, the tetra-wrapping body can be manufactured by laterally sealing the packaging material formed in the cylindrical shape by the vertical sealing in two directions across the packaging material. The rotating means rotates in every 90 degrees to move the lateral sealing means in two directions orthogonal to each other with respect to the packaging material, and position the lateral sealing means at the lateral sealing position.
Since the gas injection means injects gas into the packaging material in the sealing direction prior to the lateral sealing, the packaging material expands flat in the sealing direction and prevents wrinkles. Therefore, it is possible to perform a complete lateral seal without a defective seal. Further, after the vertical seal, the cutting means cuts and removes the outer portion of the vertical seal, so that the seal portion hardened by the vertical seal is reduced and the flexibility of the packaging material can be maintained. As a result, the packaging material is favorably stretched by the gas injection into the packaging material, so that the occurrence of wrinkles can be more reliably prevented.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described below based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a manufacturing apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a front view in which the guide tube portion is omitted. In FIG. 1, a vertically long guide cylinder 10 is provided in an upright shape, and a vertical sealing machine 20, a feed roller 12, and a cutting means 71 are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the guide cylinder 10, and a guide is provided. Rotating means 30 is arranged in the direction of the cylinder 10. On the other hand, the packaging material 9 is wound in a roll shape and is supplied to the guide cylinder 10 in a long sheet shape. As the packaging material 9, a flexible liquid-permeable material such as non-woven fabric or nylon gauze is used.

The guide tube 10 guides the packaging material 9 in the longitudinal direction thereof, and the packaging material 9 slides on the guide tube 10 in a folded state. In this case, the packaging material 9 slides while the left end side is in an open state, and at the time of this sliding, the right end side is continuously vertically sealed by the vertical sealing machine 20 to form a tubular shape. The feed roller 12 rolls on the right end side of the packaging material 9 to exert a feeding force for feeding the packaging material 9 downward, and is connected to an appropriate motor to rotate.

The vertical sealing machine 20 has the feed roller 12
Is located above, and the right end side of the packaging material 9 is continuously vertically sealed. As the vertical sealing machine 20, an appropriate means can be selected and used from ultrasonic welding, thermocompression bonding, hot air welding and the like. In this embodiment, ultrasonic welding is performed, and as shown in FIG. 2, a horn 21 that vibrates ultrasonic waves and a ring-shaped pedestal 22 that receives ultrasonic waves from the horn 21 face each other. ing. The packaging material 9 travels between the horn 21 and the pedestal 22 to perform continuous vertical sealing, and is molded into a tubular shape.

The cutting means 71 is located below the feed roller 12, and cuts and removes the outer portion of the seal portion vertically sealed by the vertical sealing machine 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the cutting means 7 has a pair of roller blades opposed to each other, and is rotated by a motor (not shown) or the like while sandwiching the packaging material 9 so that the outer portion of the vertical seal is continuously formed. Disconnect. Cut the outer part of the vertical seal continuously. Since the vertical seal line 5 is formed in the overlapping portion of the packaging material, the vertical sealing line 5 has higher hardness than other portions of the packaging material, and the flexibility of the packaging material as a whole decreases. In such a reduced flexibility, wrinkles are likely to remain in the packaging material, and the degree of expansion by the gas injection means 40, which will be described later, is not sufficient, which is an adverse effect during lateral sealing. The cutting means 71 cuts and removes the outer portion of the sole portion whose hardness has been increased by the vertical seal, thereby making the vertical seal wire 5 a thin linear strip that does not affect the hardness of the packaging material 9. As a result, the flexibility of the packaging material 9 remains good, the expansion by the gas injection means 40 can be sufficiently performed, and the lateral seal can be completed. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 8 denotes an outer portion of the seal portion cut and removed by the cutting means 71, and then discarded.

The guide tube 10 guides the packaging material 9 and guides the insertion of the contents into the packaging material 9.
A shooter 11 is coaxially inserted into the guide cylinder 10 for charging the contents. This shooter 11
A hopper that stores the contents and a shutter (not shown) that opens and closes the hopper are provided on the upper part of the contents, and the contents are introduced into the shooter 11 by the opening operation of the shutter. A certain amount is put into the packaging material from the open lower end.

The shooter 11 extends downward from the guide cylinder 10, and the gas injection means 4 is provided in the shooter 11.
0 is inserted.

As will be described later, the gas injecting means 40 injects gas into the tubular packaging material 9 prior to the lateral sealing of the packaging material 9, and is a cross-shaped injection provided at 90-degree intervals. The nozzles 41, 42, 43, 44 (see FIG. 5) and the injection nozzles 41, 42, 43, 44 inserted in a bundled state, and a pipe 45 made of stainless steel or the like extracted from the shooter 11 and the guide cylinder 10. It has and.
Each of the injection nozzles 41, 42, 43, 44 is pulled out downward from the lower end portion of the shooter 11, so that these nozzles penetrate into the packaging material 9 below the shooter 11. In this case, the ejection nozzles are a pair of those positioned on a straight line, and in the illustrated example, the ejection nozzle 4
1 and 43 and the injection nozzles 42 and 44 are paired and gas is simultaneously supplied. In order to supply the gas to the nozzles in each set, these set of nozzles are connected to the connecting pipe 4
6 and 47, respectively. The connecting pipes 46 and 47 are connected to an injection source (not shown) such as a pump via a solenoid valve (not shown). Injection nozzle 4
The gas injected from 1, 42, 43, 44 may be air or an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or carbon dioxide gas. In the latter case, the oxidation of the content filled in the packaging material 9 is suppressed. Therefore, it is preferable from the viewpoint of maintaining the quality of the contents.

The rotating means 30 is arranged below the jet nozzles 41, 42, 43 and 44. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the rotating means 30 includes a rotating plate 31 and a dropping cylinder 32 that supports the rotation of the rotating plate 31. The drop cylinder 32 guides a tetrahedron-shaped package (not shown) downward, and is fixed to a base 33 that supports the entire apparatus. The rotating tube 31 is rotated about the falling tube 32 by inserting the dropping tube 32 in the substantially central portion and inserting the bearing 34 in the insertion portion. This rotation is reciprocally driven every 90 degrees, and a cylinder 35 for applying this rotational force is connected to one corner portion of the rotary plate 31 (see FIG. 3). In such a configuration, when the cylinder 35 extends,
The rotary plate 31 rotates 90 degrees in the direction of arrow a shown in FIG. 3, and when the cylinder 35 contracts, it rotates 90 degrees in the direction of arrow b.
As will be described later, these rotations are intermittently performed when laterally sealing the packaging material 9. However, in such a structure that reciprocally rotates every 90 degrees, when rotation is performed in only one direction. Than that, there is an advantage that the mechanism is simpler and the control is easier.

The rotating means 30 is provided with holding plates 51 and 52 as pressing means and a horizontal sealing machine 60 for performing horizontal sealing. In order to mount these, the rotating plate 31 is mounted on the rotating plate 31. The guide plates 36, 36 are arranged to face each other. The pressing plates 51 and 52 are the guide plates 3
6 and 36 are respectively laid over and face each other, and one or both of them are drive sources such as cylinders (not shown).
And is moved in the longitudinal direction of the guide plates 36, 36. Then, by this movement, the pressing plates 51, 52
Since the packaging material 9 is sandwiched and fixed from both sides, the horizontal sealing machine 6
The horizontal seal by 0 can be stabilized.

The horizontal sealing machine 60 employs appropriate means such as ultrasonic welding, thermocompression bonding, hot air welding, etc., but in the present embodiment, it is constructed to perform ultrasonic welding. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the horizontal sealing machine 60 includes a horn 61 that vibrates ultrasonically, and a rod-shaped pedestal 62 that receives the ultrasonic waves from the horn 61. The horn 61 and the pedestal 62 perform the first and second lateral seals on the packaging material 9 by synchronously traveling along the pressing plates 51 and 52. In order to enable such traveling, slits 53, 54 are formed in the holding plates 51, 52 so that the horn 61 and the pedestal 62 move in synchronization with each other.

FIG. 4 shows the sealing direction of the horizontal sealing machine 60 and the injection nozzles 41, 42, 43 and 44 of the gas injection means 40.
The correlation with the gas injection direction of is shown. In the configuration of this embodiment described above, the sealing direction of the horizontal sealing machine 60 is the same as the pressing direction of the pressing plates 51 and 52, so the horizontal sealing machine 60 is omitted in FIG. 52 indicates the sealing direction. In the figure, the holding plate 5
1, 52 rotate reciprocally every 90 degrees to repeat a solid line state and a chain line state, and in each state, lateral sealing is performed in the longitudinal direction of the holding plates 51, 52. At the time of this horizontal sealing, when the pressing plates 51 and 52 are in the solid line state, the injection nozzle 4
When 2,44 inject gas into the packaging material 9 and are in a chain line state,
The injection nozzles 41 and 43 inject gas into the packaging material 9. That is, the direction of gas injection by the gas injection means 40 is performed in the same direction as the longitudinal direction (horizontal sealing direction) of the pressing plates 51 and 52, and thus the gas is injected in the same direction as the horizontal sealing direction. By spraying, the flexible packaging material 9 expands flat in the sealing direction. Then, wrinkles do not occur due to this extension, and wrinkles that have already occurred are removed, so that the entire surface of the packaging material 9 adheres. Therefore, the lateral sealing can be performed completely, the defective sealing portion does not remain, the leakage of the contents from the defective sealing portion is prevented, and the appearance as a product is improved.

Next, a method of forming a package according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that, in the illustrated example, description of the attachment of the drawstring 3 and the tag 4 (see FIGS. 12 and 13) to the packaging material 9 is omitted,
These may be preliminarily attached to the sheet-shaped packaging material 9 at predetermined intervals, or may be attached at the time of forming the package. First, as shown in FIG. 5, while vertically sliding the packaging material 1 along the guide tube 10 (see FIG. 1), a vertical sealing machine 20 continuously performs vertical sealing to form a tubular shape having a vertical sealing line 5. And the packaging material 9. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the outer portion of the vertical seal portion is cut and removed by the cutting means 71 to form a thin linear seal line. And packaging material 1
The pressing plates 51, 52 are brought into contact with the lower end of the
A first lateral seal is made in the direction 1, 52. This holding plate 5
Prior to the abutment of 1, 52, gas is injected from the gas injection means 40 into the packaging material 9. FIG. 9 shows such a gas injection state, in which the injection nozzle 4 is in a position parallel to the pressing plates 51 and 52.
Gas is injected from 2, 44. The injection pressure of this gas is appropriately selected depending on the hardness, material, etc. of the packaging material 9. For example, in the case of non-woven fabric or nylon gauze, it is 3 kgf / cm.
A pressure of about ² is good. The injection of this gas causes the packaging material 9 to expand in a flat shape from the solid line state to the chain line state in FIG. And at the same time as or immediately after this extension,
The gas injection is stopped, the packaging material 9 is pressed by the pressing plates 51 and 52, and the horizontal sealing machine 60 is run to form the first horizontal sealing line 6.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6, a predetermined amount of content is dropped from the shooter 11 into the packaging material 9 and the rotating means 30 is driven to integrally press the holding plates 51 and 52 and the horizontal sealing machine 60. Rotate 90 degrees. With this, the holding plate 5
0 and 51 and the horizontal sealing machine 60 are located at positions orthogonal to the first horizontal sealing line 6.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the packaging material 9 is lowered by a predetermined length, and immediately after this descent, gas is injected from the gas injection means 40 into the packaging material 9. FIG. 10 shows this gas injection state, in which the pressing plates 51 and 52 are positioned orthogonal to those of FIG. 9, and gas is injected from the injection nozzles 41 and 43 which are parallel to the pressing plates 51 and 52. The injection of this gas causes the packaging material 9 to expand in a flat shape and change from a solid line state to a chain line state. Then, after this extended state, the gas injection is stopped and the state shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the packaging materials are pressed by the pressing plates 51 and 52, the horizontal sealing machine 60 is run to form the second sealing line 7 (see FIG. 13) orthogonal to the first sealing line 6, and at the same time, The second seal line 7 is separated as a boundary. As a result, the tetra-shaped package 1 shown in FIG. 13 can be formed.

In such a method, gas is injected into the packaging material 9 prior to the horizontal sealing to expand the packaging material 9 in a direction parallel to the sealing direction, so that wrinkles do not occur and wrinkles do not occur. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of a defective seal due to the above and improve the appearance. In addition, since the package 1 is formed while feeding the packaging material, a large number of packages can be manufactured in a short time.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the gas injection means 40. The gas injection means 40 of this embodiment is integrally formed with the shooter 11 for dropping the contents into the packaging material, and the shooter 11 is divided into an outer pipe 11a and a quadrant on the circumference in the outer pipe 11a. It consists of an inner tube 11b inserted into the position. A ring lid 13 closes the gap between the inner pipe 11b and the outer pipe 11a. The nozzle hole 1 is provided at a position corresponding to the inner pipe 11b at the lower end portion of the outer pipe 11a.
4 is opened, and each nozzle hole 14 is connected to a pump (not shown) by opening the solenoid valve. Also in this embodiment, the gas can be injected into the packaging material to expand the packaging material by simultaneously supplying the gas to the pair of nozzle holes 14 located on a straight line. By incorporating the gas injection means 40 in 11, there is an advantage that the number of parts is reduced and thus the structure is simple and the assembly can be easily performed.

The present invention can be variously modified without being limited to the above embodiments. For example, the rotating means 30 may be rotated by 90 degrees in only one direction. Further, since the holding plates 51 and 52 reliably carry out lateral sealing, they may be omitted in the case of a packaging material made of a material capable of lateral sealing without pressing, for example, nylon gauze.

[0028]

According to the present invention, when performing lateral sealing in two directions orthogonal to each other, gas is injected into the packaging material in a direction parallel to the sealing direction to expand the packaging material in a flat shape. It does not occur. Therefore, the sealing failure due to the wrinkles is eliminated, the leakage of the contents from the defective sealing portion can be prevented, the defective product generation rate can be reduced, and the tetra-shaped packaging body having an improved appearance can be formed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a manufacturing apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1 with a guide tube portion omitted.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a rotating means.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the relationship between gas injection and lateral sealing.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating the direction of gas injection.

FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating the direction of gas injection.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway side view showing a main part of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a tetra package.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a usage state of the tetra-shaped package.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Vertical seal line 6 1st horizontal seal line 7 2nd horizontal seal line 9 Packaging material 10 Guide cylinder 11 Shooter 20 Vertical sealing machine 30 Rotating means 40 Gas injection means 51 Holding plate 52 Holding plate 60 Horizontal sealing machine 71 Cutting means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A step of continuously longitudinally sealing a flexible long packaging material running while being bent along a guide tube to form a tubular shape, and a step of forming a sealing portion of the longitudinally sealed packaging material. The step of cutting and removing the outer portion, and the step of injecting gas in a direction traversing the tubular packaging material and in a direction parallel to the gas injecting direction
And the step of injecting a gas into the packaging material in a direction orthogonal to the first horizontal seal, and forming a second horizontal seal in the packaging material in a direction parallel to the gas injection direction. The manufacturing method of the tetra-shaped packaging body characterized by including the process of performing. 2. A guide cylinder which travels while a long flexible packaging material is bent, a vertical sealing means for continuously longitudinally sealing the packaging material traveling on the guide cylinder, and a vertical sealing means. Cutting means for cutting and removing an outer portion of the sealed portion of the sealed packaging material, lateral sealing means for laterally sealing in a direction traversing the packaging material, and rotating means for intermittently rotating the lateral sealing means every 90 degrees, An apparatus for manufacturing a tetra-shaped package, comprising: a gas injection unit for injecting a gas into the packaging material in the same horizontal direction as the sealing direction of the horizontal sealing unit.