JPH05221411A - Automatic packing apparatus for box lunch or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically pack a pair of chopsticks together with a box lunch or the like in a packing film without requiring manual work for attaching the paired chopsticks to the box lunch before packing. CONSTITUTION:Paired chopsticks 14 are supplied one after another with an automatic chopstick supply device to a position near the front of box lunches 10 or the like placed on a horizontal conveyer 12'. Then, one box lunch is moved together with the paired chopsticks by lifting devices 18 and 22 from a position at the end of the horizontal conveyer to a packing position placed above. Then, after the box lunch is packed with a packing film 24 together with the paired chopsticks by operation of an automatic packing mechanism 26, overlapped part of the packing film is sealed up by fusion welding with a heater 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for automatically packaging bento in a container such as take-away bento, sushi, rice ball, yakisoba, etc. with a packaging film, and more particularly to a device for packaging the packaging film. The present invention relates to a technique for automatically enclosing chopsticks together with bento.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the case of automatically packaging lunch boxes with a packaging film using an automatic packaging device, it is necessary to wrap chopsticks together with the lunch boxes in the packaging film.
For this purpose, conventionally, before carrying lunch boxes into an automatic wrapping device, the wrapped chopsticks are manually attached to the side surface of the container of lunch boxes with a transparent adhesive tape or glue. .. Then, the bento pieces to which the chopsticks are integrally attached are wrapped with a packaging film.

[0003]

However, as in the prior art, when the chopsticks are manually attached to the container with transparent adhesive tape or glue before packaging the bento, it is necessary to always place the operator for that purpose. It has to be kept and the burden on the operator is heavy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and eliminates the need for manually attaching chopsticks to a container prior to the packaging process for lunch boxes, and makes it possible to use the packaging film together with the lunch boxes. It is a technical object to provide an automatic packaging device capable of automatically packaging chopsticks.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The gist of the present invention is to add a chopstick feeding means and a chopstick lift device to an automatic packaging apparatus for bento boxes which has been generally used in the past. Here, an automatic box lunch packaging apparatus that has been generally used in the past has a horizontal transport means for horizontally transporting lunch boxes and a lunch box that has been disposed near the end of the horizontal transport means and has been transported to the vicinity of the end. And a box-lifting device for moving the food items to the packaging position above it, and a package that is arranged at the packaging position and covers the upper surface side of the lunch boxes that have been moved up to the packaging position by being lifted by the lunch-box lifting device. Film supply means for supplying a film for film, and a film folding means for folding the packaging film supplied by the film supply means from the side surface of the lunch box to the bottom surface side,
The discharging means for discharging the box lunches entirely covered with the packaging film from the packaging position and the joint portion of the packaging film covering the bottom surface of the lunch boxes discharged from the packaging position by this discharging means are heated. It is configured to include a heating unit for fusing and fusing, and a carrying-out unit for carrying out the lunches sealed by the packaging film. The lunch box lift device has a bearing part that supports the box lunches and is supported so as to be vertically movable without interfering with the horizontal transport means. The chopstick feeding means that constitutes the characteristic part of the present invention feeds chopsticks one by one to a position in the vicinity of the front of the bento box being fed on the horizontal feeding means so as to be orthogonal to the feeding direction. The chopsticks lifting device is disposed near the end of the horizontal transfer means and at the front position thereof, and holds the chopsticks transferred to the end position by the horizontal transfer means from the horizontal transfer means and holds them in a horizontal posture. The holding part is supported so as to be vertically movable, and moves the chopsticks to the packaging position in synchronization with the lunch box lifting device.

In the automatic packaging apparatus having the above-described structure, the chopsticks automatically fed by the chopstick feeding means onto the horizontal feeding means are fed horizontally by the horizontal feeding means together with the lunch boxes, and at the end position of the horizontal feeding means. It is transferred from the horizontal conveying means to the holding part of the chopstick lifting device, is held in the holding part in a horizontal posture, and is moved to the upper packaging position together with the lunch boxes that are moved upward by the lunch box lifting device. Then, the chopsticks are automatically wrapped with the lunch box by the film folding means with the packaging film.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing the construction of the essential parts of an automatic lunch box packaging apparatus, and FIG. -II is a plan view seen in the direction of the arrow, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a front view schematically showing a schematic configuration of the entire device.

[0009] First, the automatic packing device for lunch boxes is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a horizontal conveyor 12 is provided to place the loaded lunch boxes 10 and convey them in the horizontal direction. The horizontal conveyor 12 is arranged above the horizontal conveyor 12 and placed on the horizontal conveyor 12. Automatic chopstick feeding device for automatically feeding one chopstick 14 in the state of being wrapped near each front of each bento lunch box 10 being conveyed while being orthogonal to the conveying direction.
16, a lunch box lifting device 18, which is arranged near the end of the horizontal conveyor 12 and moves the lunch boxes 10 that have been conveyed near the end of the horizontal conveyor 12 to the packaging position 20 above the end of the horizontal conveyor 12. Then, the chopsticks 14 arranged at the front position thereof and conveyed to the end position thereof are received from the horizontal conveyor 12 and the lunch boxes 10 by the lunch box lifting device 18 are received.
A chopstick lift device 22 for moving the packaging position 20 to the upper wrapping position 20 according to the transfer, and an automatic wrapping mechanism 26 for wrapping the lunch box 10 together with the chopsticks 14 by the wrapping film 24,
A discharging mechanism 28 for discharging the lunch box 10 entirely covered with the packaging film 24 from the packaging position 20, and heating the joint portion of the packaging film covering the bottom surface of the lunch box 10 discharged from the packaging position 20. Heater unit 30 for fusing and fusing, and
It is composed of a carry-out conveyor 32 that carries out the lunch boxes 10 sealed together with the chopsticks 14 by the packaging film 24.

Although a detailed description of the configuration of the automatic chopstick feeding device 16 is omitted, the automatic chopstick feeding device 16 includes a chopstick stocker 34, a chopstick transfer conveyor 36, a chopstick pick-up conveyor 38, a chopstick dropping chute 40 and their control devices. (Not shown). And, by the lunch box detection sensor 42 arranged above the horizontal conveyor 12, the horizontal conveyor
Detecting that the lunch boxes 10 have been conveyed to a predetermined position by 12 and controlling the operation of the chopstick dropping chute 40 and the like based on the detection signal, each box lunch conveyed on the horizontal conveyor 12 1 chopstick 14 near the front of the class 10
It is configured to supply books one by one.

The front end portion of the horizontal transfer conveyor 12 in the transfer direction is a divided conveyor 12 'divided into a plurality of directions in the direction orthogonal to the transfer direction, and a lunch box lifting device 18 is provided near the end of the divided conveyor 12'. 'Is arranged so that it can be reciprocated in the vertical direction without interfering with. Also,
Chopstick lift device to face the end of the dividing conveyor 12 '
22 are provided. These configurations will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

The dividing conveyor 12 'includes a pair of rolls 44, 4
6, a plurality of parallel belt-like belts 48 (six in this embodiment) which are respectively stretched between the pair of rolls 44, 46, and a mounting plate fixed to the apparatus fixing portion adjacent to the rolls 46 A plurality of parallel support frames 52 (five in this embodiment), each of which has a flange portion 54 fixed to 50 and extend forward in the transport direction, and the tips of the support frames 52 as shown in FIG. Pulleys that are axially attached to each part
56, a plurality of parallel belt-like belts 58 (five in this embodiment) hung between the respective pulleys 56 and the roll 46, and a rotary drive mechanism (not shown) for rotationally driving the roll 46. No)).

Further, the lunch box lift device 18 is fixed to the lower surface side of the support frame 60 which is formed in a flat shape so as not to come into contact with the division conveyor 12 'even if it moves in the vertical direction. The support shaft 62, and the bearing surface 66 that is vertically provided on the upper surface side of the support frame 60 so that it does not come into contact with the division conveyor 12 ′ even if it moves in the vertical direction, and each upper end surface forms the same horizontal plane. It is composed of a plurality (10 in this embodiment) of supporting rods 64, and an elevating drive mechanism (not shown) that reciprocates the whole of them in the vertical direction.

The chopstick lift device 22 receives the chopsticks 14 from the dividing conveyor 12 'at the end position of the dividing conveyor 12', and holds the chopsticks 14 in a horizontal position so as to be orthogonal to the conveying direction, and this holding portion 68. A support shaft 70 having a portion 68 fixed to the upper end, a horizontal plate 72 slidably supported by the support shaft 70 in a horizontal posture, and a pair of chopstick receiving auxiliary plates 74 symmetrically attached to the horizontal plate 72. , 74, and an elevating drive mechanism (not shown) that reciprocates the whole in the vertical direction. The support shaft 70 has two upper and lower flange portions 76 and 78 formed therein. The lower flange portion 78 supports the horizontal plate 72, and the upper flange portion 76 and the upper surface of the horizontal plate 72 are supported. A compression coil spring 80 is interposed between the holding plate 68 and the horizontal plate 72 so that the holding part 68 can be elastically moved downward. Further, the pair of chopstick receiving auxiliary plates 74, 74 are for holding the chopsticks in a horizontal posture by supporting both ends of the chopstick whose central portion is supported by the holding portion 68,
Each of the chopstick receiving auxiliary plates 74 is attached to the horizontal plate 72 so as to be swingable in the direction of the arrow around the fulcrum 82 so as not to interfere with the packing operation of the lunch boxes.
Normally, it is held in a vertical position by the restoring force of a coil spring (not shown). 84 is a stopper pin fixed to the horizontal plate 72. Also, a lunch box lift device
Both the lifting drive mechanisms of 18 and the chopstick lift device 22 are designed to operate in synchronization with each other, and the lunch box 10 and the chopsticks 14 are moved together to the upper packaging position 20. It should be noted that instead of driving the lunch box lift device 18 and the chopstick lift device 22 by separate lifting drive mechanisms, the lunch box lift device 18
The support frame 60 and the horizontal plate 72 of the chopstick lift device 22 may be connected and moved integrally, and they may be driven by a single lifting drive mechanism.

An automatic packaging mechanism 26 arranged at the packaging position 20
Although not shown in the figure, the long strip-shaped packaging film 24 fed out from the roll is horizontally fed in the direction of arrow 86 in FIG. 2 while grasping both sides thereof, and cut into an appropriate size by a cutter. Film feeding device (which has been conventionally used in general and detailed description thereof is omitted here), lunch box lifting device 18 and chopstick lifting device 22
Lunch boxes 10 and chopsticks that can be moved upwards by
A horizontal fixing plate 88 having a rectangular opening 90 through which 14 can pass without hindrance, and a pair of feeds for holding both ends of the packaging film 24 in the feed direction by pressing the lower face of the horizontal fastening plate 88. Directional film presser 92, 92, packaging film
A pair of widthwise film pressers 94, 94 for holding both end portions in the widthwise direction of 24 are normally held at a position lower than the horizontal fixing plate 88, and are shown by a chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1 during the packaging operation. As described above, the film pushing frame moves to a position above the horizontal fixing plate 88 and pushes up the packaging film 24 accordingly.
96, a lifting drive mechanism (not shown) for reciprocating the film lifting frame 96 in the vertical direction, above the horizontal fixing plate 88,
A pair of left and right folding levers 98, 98 arranged symmetrically and swinging in a horizontal plane around each fulcrum 100,
The rear folding lever 102 is disposed above the left and right folding levers 98 and linearly reciprocates in a horizontal plane in a direction intersecting with the left and right folding levers 98, 98.

A mechanism 28 for discharging the lunch 10 from the packaging position 20
Is a discharge pusher 104 that pushes the lunch boxes 10 in the transport direction,
A discharge conveyor 106 disposed adjacent to the packaging position 20 on the front side in the transport direction, and a discharge conveyor 106 disposed horizontally above the packaging position 20 so as to abut on the upper surface of the lunch box 10 and the like. The discharge sponge belt 108 is configured to move in synchronism with the above operation. The discharge sponge belt 108 is
It is provided in order to smoothly discharge bulky bento boxes, and is not always necessary when discharging low-bulk box lunches. Adjacent to the discharge mechanism 28, a heater unit 30 including a belt conveyor provided with a heater is disposed,
A discharge conveyor 32 is provided adjacent to the heater section 30.

Next, the operation of automatically packaging bento and the like together with chopsticks by the automatic packaging device having the above-mentioned configuration will be described.

When the box lunches are carried into the automatic packaging device, the box lunches 10 are horizontally transported by the horizontal transport conveyor 12, and the automatic chopstick feeding device 16 is provided during the transportation.
As a result, chopsticks 14 are supplied to the front position of the lunch box 10 on the horizontal conveyor 12. The lunch boxes 10 and the chopsticks 14 are further conveyed together forward by the horizontal conveyance conveyor 12, and the chopsticks 14 are transferred to the holding portion 68 of the chopstick lift device 22 at the end position of the division conveyor 12 'at the tip thereof. Be eaten with lunch
10 is mounted on the bearing surface 66 of the bearing rod 64 of the lunch box lift device 18. At the same time, the packaging film 24 is unwound from the film supply device of the upper automatic packaging mechanism 26 and cut into an appropriate size. FIG. 6A schematically shows the state at this time, and the packaging film 24 is supplied so as to block the space directly above the lunch box 10. Next, the film push-up frame 96 is raised to the position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. The packaging film 24 whose four edges are pressed and held is pushed up, and the packaging film 24 is held in the stretched state. Subsequently, the lunch box lift device 18 and the chopstick lift device 22 raise the lunch box 10 and the chopsticks 14 together to the position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. The bottom surface of 24 contacts.

When the bento box 10 and the chopsticks 14 are pushed up to the packaging position 20 and stopped, the film pushing frame 96 descends, and first, the left and right folding levers 98 of the automatic packaging mechanism 26,
98, by simultaneously swinging in a direction approaching each other in the horizontal plane, both left and right sides of the packaging film 24, that is, both end sides in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the lunch box,
A pair of feed direction film retainers 92, 92
It is folded from the side of 10 to the bottom side. At this time, the pair of chopstick receiving auxiliary plates 74, 74 of the chopstick lift device 22 are
It is pressed by the left and right folding levers 98, 98 to rotate downward against the elastic force of the coil spring. And packaging film
Both ends of the chopsticks 14 are also wrapped in the 24. Next, the rear folding lever 102 linearly moves in the horizontal plane in the transport direction of the lunch boxes, so that the rear side edge of the packaging film 24 is separated from the one widthwise film retainer 94 and the lunch boxes are opened. It is folded from the side of 10 to the bottom side. FIG. 6B shows the left and right folding levers 98 and the rear folding levers 10.
FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing an operation state of 2. When the packaging film 24 has been folded on the left and right sides and the rear side of the lunch boxes 10, the lunch box 10 is pushed out from the packing position 20 toward the heater section 30 by the discharge mechanism 28. With this operation, the front edge of the packaging film is separated from the other widthwise film retainer 94 and folded from the side surface of the lunch box 10 to the bottom side. FIG. 7C is a front view schematically showing the situation at this time. When the lunch box 10 is pushed out from the packaging position by the discharge mechanism 28, the holding part 68 of the chopstick lift device 22 is provided with a bent box box.
The bottom surface of 10 pushes downward against the resilience of the compression coil spring 80, and the chopsticks 14 separate from the holding portion 68 accordingly. Upon completion of the above series of packaging steps, the supporting rod 64 of the lunch box lifting device 18 and the holding portion 68 of the chopstick lifting device 22 are provided.
Respectively descend to the original lower position and stand by for the next push-up operation of the lunch boxes 10 and chopsticks 14.

The whole surface of the lunch box 10 is covered with the chopsticks 14 by the packaging film 24 and pushed out onto the heater portion 30 as shown in the schematic front view of FIG. The packaging film 24 being heated is heated to fuse the seam portion. FIG. 8 is a view of the bento boxes, which have been subjected to the packaging and fusion process, as seen from the bottom side, where A is the right folding part, B is the left folding part, C is the rear folding part, D is the front folding part, and E is It is a seam portion (heat seal portion). Then, the lunch boxes 10 completely sealed by the packaging film 24 are carried out from the automatic packaging device by the carry-out conveyor 32.

The automatic packaging apparatus according to the present invention is configured as described above, but the scope of the present invention is not limited by the above description and the contents of the drawings, and various modifications can be included. That is, the configurations of the automatic chopstick feeding device, the automatic packaging mechanism, the lunch box carry-out mechanism, the heater unit, and the like are not limited to those of the above-described embodiment, and various mechanisms and structures can be used as long as they have the same function. Can be adopted.

[0022]

Since the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, when performing packaging of lunch boxes using the automatic packaging apparatus according to the present invention, it is manually performed prior to the packaging process of the lunch boxes. This eliminates the work of attaching chopsticks to the container, reduces the burden on the operator, and saves labor costs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing the configuration of a main part of an automatic lunch box packaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part as viewed in the direction of arrows II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view schematically showing a schematic configuration of the entire apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one of the constituent parts of a division conveyor forming a part of this apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a packaging process using this device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic front view of the same.

FIG. 8 is a view of the lunches after the packaging is completed, viewed from the bottom surface side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Lunch boxes 12 Horizontal conveyor 12 'Dividing conveyor 14 Chopsticks 16 Automatic chopstick feeder 18 Lunch boxes lifting device 20 Packing position 22 Chopsticks lifting device 24 Packaging film 26 Automatic packing mechanism 28 Lunch boxes discharging mechanism 30 Heater section 32 Outgoing conveyor 48 , 58 String-shaped belt 52 Support frame 56 Pulley 60 Support frame 64 Bearing rod 66 Bearing surface 68 Holding part 74 Chopstick support plate 86 Packing film feeding direction 88 Horizontal fixing plate 90 Opening 92, 94 Film presser frame 96 Film lifting frame 98 Left-right folding lever 102 Rear folding lever 104 Ejection pusher 106 Ejection conveyor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A horizontal transport means for transporting bento boxes in a horizontal direction, and a lunch box disposed near the end of the horizontal transfer means, which has been transported to the vicinity of the end, and supports the horizontal transfer means. And a lunch box lifting device for moving the box lunches transported to the vicinity of the end of the horizontal transport means to the packaging position above it, which is provided at the packaging position. , A film supply means for supplying a packaging film so as to cover the upper surface side of the lunch box supported by the support part of the lunch box lifting device and moving upward, and a packaging film supplied by the film supply means. A film folding means for folding the bento from the side to the bottom side, a discharging means for discharging the bento covered on the whole surface with the packaging film from the packing position, and a packing position by this discharging means. A heating means for heating and fusing the seam portion of the packaging film covering the bottom surface of the lunch boxes discharged from the container, and a discharging means for discharging the lunch boxes sealed by the packaging film. In the automatic lunch box packaging device, chopstick supply means for supplying chopsticks one at a time in the vicinity of the front of the bento box being transported on the horizontal transport means is provided so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction,
At the front position near the end of the horizontal transfer means, there is a holding portion that receives the chopsticks transferred to the end position by the horizontal transfer means from the horizontal transfer means, holds them in a horizontal posture, and is supported so as to be vertically movable. An automatic lunch box packaging device is provided with a chopstick lift device that moves the chopsticks to the packaging position in synchronization with the lunch box lifting device.