JPH0528172Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) This invention relates to a folding device suitable for use in folding containers that are often used when transporting various types of cargo, and in particular relates to a folding device suitable for folding containers made of synthetic resin. This is suitable for use when folding automatically.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, containers have been widely used to improve the efficiency of transporting various types of cargo. Recently, collapsible containers have come into use in order to facilitate the storage of containers or the transportation of the containers themselves. The folding container has a wide variety of shapes and structures, and one example will be explained with reference to FIG. 5.

The container 1 is constructed of a plate-like body made of synthetic resin that can be assembled and folded freely, and the drawings show the assembled state. Reference numeral 2 denotes a bottom plate, and frames 3 and 4, for example, are provided at mutually opposing ends of the bottom plate 2. The side plates 5 and 6 are each composed of two plates, and are made bendable inward by hinges 7 and 8, and their lower ends are rotatably attached to the frames 3 and 4, and their upper ends are rotatably attached to the frames 3 and 4. are rotatably attached to the frames 9 and 10.

On the other hand, side plates 11 and 12 formed of a single plate are interposed inside the side plates 5 and 6 to stop the side plates 5 and 6 from bending inward.

Note that the upper ends of the side plates 11 and 12 are connected to the frames 13 and 1.
However, both ends of these frames 13 and 14 are rotatably attached to the frames 9 and 10. Therefore, when the side plates 11 and 12 are rotated upwardly and removed by some means and removed from between the side plates 5 and 6, the side plates 5 and 6 are moved to the hinges 7 and 8.
It bends inward due to its own weight with
Container 1 is folded. As a result,
The container 1 shown in FIG. 5 has a shape in which two side plates are stacked on a bottom plate 2, which reduces the storage space and makes it easy to carry.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In order to fold the container 1 as described above, there is a method of rotating the side plates 11 and 12 manually, but this is not preferable because it requires a lot of labor.

Therefore, as a method for automatically folding the side plates 11 and 12, a pair of arms are driven by air pressure.
A device has been proposed that rotates the inward direction, but this case has the following problems.

The first is that in places where there is no air source, it is necessary to prepare an air compressor independently.

The second problem is that when the side plates 11 and 12 are rotated, a time difference must be provided between the first arm and the second arm, which makes the device structure difficult. Regarding the above-mentioned time difference, when the side plates 11 and 12 are high and are simultaneously rotated inward, their lower ends may come into contact and become unable to rotate. In this case, the side plate 5,
There is almost no inward bending of the container 6, or the bending stops midway, making automatic folding of the container 1 impossible. In order to solve this problem, when automatically folding, it is necessary to provide a time difference between the rotations of the side plates 11 and 12, and if the time difference is not provided, folding defects are likely to occur.

The purpose of this invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a container folding device that can fold containers with high efficiency and a simple structure.

(Means and effects for solving the problems) The above object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible container having first and second side plates that maintain the assembled state and a bendable side plate adjacent to the side plates. A folding device comprising: a positioning member for locking and positioning one end of the container conveyed by a roller or the like; a position detection element for detecting the positioning of the container; and a detection obtained from the position detection element. A rotating member that is rotated by a motor that operates based on a signal and rotates one of the first or second side plates, and another rotating member that can be operated with a delay with respect to the rotating member and that rotates the other side plate. This is achieved by a container folding device comprising: a container folding device, which automatically folds the container by rotating the first and second side plates.

According to the above means, when the assembled container is conveyed on the rollers to a predetermined position, the position of the assembled container is detected by the position detection element and stopped at the predetermined position. The first rotating member and the second rotating member
Since the second side plate is rotated with an appropriate time difference, the other bendable side plate is bent by its own weight, and the container can be automatically folded efficiently.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Container folding device 21 applying the present invention
is used by being connected to rollers 22 for conveying the container 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. That is, the container 1 described in FIG. 5 is conveyed in an assembled state from the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. be introduced. At this point, the stopper 23 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is
It is in an open state as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. When the leading end of the container 1, for example, the part B shown in FIG. Detect what happened. Note that the position detection element 25 is composed of, for example, a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and is adapted to perform position detection optically.

The stopper motor 26 is operated by the detection signal obtained from the position detection element 25, and the chain 2
7, the stopper 23 is rotated from the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 3 to the position shown by the solid line.

In addition, 28 is a sprocket, 29, 30, 31
32 is a link member for rotating the stopper 23 as described above, and a shaft for transmitting rotational force to the stopper 23.

What should be noted here is that when the stopper 23 rotates as described above, its protruding tip pushes the lower end of the side plate 11 inward to release the lock, and at the same time the container 1 is positioned by the side surface of the stopper 23. It is to perform fixation. As a result, the container 1 is positioned by the positioning member 24 in the A direction, and is pushed and held in position by the stopper 23 in the opposite direction.

In this state, the motor 33 operates and the chain 34
The first rotating member 35 on the downstream side with respect to the conveying direction of the container 1 is rotated through the circular arc portion 35.
The side plate 12 of the container 1 is urged inward by the tip of the a. The side plate 12 rotates around the frame 14 and is pushed up as shown by the imaginary line in FIG.

Next, the motor 36 operates to rotate the second rotating member 38 via the chain 37, and the arc-shaped portion 38
The side plate 11 of the container 1 is urged inward by the tip of the side plate 1, and the timing of this operation is controlled by a programmable controller (sequencer) such that, for example, when the tip 12a of the side plate 12 comes above the folded portion 5a. etc. can be controlled.

The side plate 11 rotates around the frame 13 and is pushed up as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the second rotating members 38 are fixed to the shaft 39 at predetermined intervals, for example, in two pieces.
The chain 37 is structured to extend around a sprocket 40 fixed to the sprocket 40. Although not particularly shown, the first rotating member 35 also has the same structure as described above. At this point, the side plates 11 and 12 are pushed upward by the first and second rotating members 35 and 38, respectively, and maintain a substantially horizontal state. From this state, the motor 33 is driven in reverse rotation to return the first rotation member 35 to its original position, and just before the rotation member 35 is pulled out of the container 1, the motor 36 is driven in reverse rotation to return the first rotation member 35 to its original position. The second rotating member 38 is returned to its original position. As a result, the side plates 5 and 6 are bent inward from the hinges 7 and 8 due to their own weight, but at this time they are bent along the guide member 41, and by unexpectedly bending outward, the container 1
This prevents the trouble of tilting and folding defects. Then, the container 1 is automatically folded so that its height is lower than the height of the positioning member 24, and the container 1 is folded from the position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. automatically ejected. Furthermore, since the container 1 is folded, there is no shielding between the position detection elements 25, and the light emitted from the light emitting element is received by the light receiving element, so that it is possible to know that the container 1 is folded. It is confirmed. Furthermore, the detection signal obtained from the position detection element 25 drives the motor 26 to rotate in the opposite direction, and returns the stopper 23 to its original position via the chain 27, thereby completing the series of folding operations of the container 1.

In the above embodiment, an optical detection method is employed as the position detection element 25, but instead of this, a switch element that operates in conjunction with a positioning member may be applied. Further, the motors 33 and 36 share one motor, and a clutch is interposed between the motor and the rotating members 35 and 38, and the clutch is closed.
It may also be controlled to provide a time difference between ON and OFF.

(Effects of the invention) As described above, the present invention detects that the assembled container transported on the rollers has been transported to a predetermined position, performs positioning, and moves the first and second rotating members by a motor. The first and second side plates of the container are pushed inward with a time lag by rotating, and the other side plates are folded under their own weight to automatically fold the container. The first and second side plates do not come into contact with each other unexpectedly, and folding defects can be reliably avoided, and the folding operation can be performed quickly and accurately compared to a device operated by an air source. At the same time, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in the installation location of the device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 4 show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a side view showing the structure of the folding device, Figure 2 is a front view of the folding device, and Figure 3 is a stopper. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the folding of the container, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the structure of the container. Codes in the diagram: 1...container, 5, 6, 11,
12... Side plate, 7, 8... Hinge, 21... Folding device, 26, 33, 36... Motor, 22
...Roller, 23...Stopper, 24...Positioning member, 25...Position detection element, 35, 38...
First and second rotating members, 42... guide member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A collapsible container folding device having first and second side plates for maintaining an assembled state and a bendable side plate adjacent to the side plates, the device locking one end of the container being transported. A positioning member that performs positioning, a position detection element that detects the positioning of the container, and a motor that operates based on a detection signal obtained from the position detection element to rotate one of the first or second side plates. The container is provided with a rotating member that can be moved, and another rotating member that can be operated with a delay with respect to the rotating member and that can rotate the other side plate, and by rotating the first and second side plates, the container can be rotated. A container folding device characterized by automatically folding a container.