JPH0632302A - Automatic supply device for cup containing noodle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically supply cups containing noodle by pushing up the cups conveyed by a conveyor with the aid of a push-up mechanism to push them into a product stacking cylinder successively, holding the cups pushed out of an upper end opening of the stacking cylinder with a clamp mechanism and transferring the cups to a charge port of a packaging machine. CONSTITUTION:When a product (cup containing noodle) C conveyed by a belt conveyor 14 is transferred onto a roller conveyor 13, a product chuck part 11 (lower half-split cylinder 7b) of a cup drop-preventing mechanism 10 is opened by the backward movement of a cylinder 12 and, simultaneously, a comb-like push-up tool of a cup push-up mechanism 21 is pushed up by a cylinder 23, whereby the product C is pushed into a product stacking cylinder 5. This push-up operation is repeated and, when the product C is ready to be discharged from an upper end opening of the stacking cylinder 5, the product C is then pushed up into clamp hands 26, 27 of a clamp mechanism 25 to be received by them. When the predetermined number of products is received, the hands 26, 27 are closed and, after the clamp mechanism 25 is horizontally moved rightward, the predetermined number of products C is charged into a charge port 2 of a packaging machine at a time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cup noodle automatic supply device applied to a packaging machine for sequentially accumulating and packaging individually packaged cup noodle products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An integrated packaging machine for gusseting individually packaged cup noodle products is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-38466.
Filed as a prior invention related to the issue, and this packaging machine is installed at the applicant company and each factory of its group,
It is used for integrated packaging of cup noodle products.

However, since a cup noodle supplying device for the packaging machine (hereinafter referred to as an individual packaging product supplying device) has not yet been developed, the number of female employees per one packaging machine is high. Had a manual supply. That is, the individual packaged goods conveyed by the conveyor are separately collected into stock containers and sequentially supplied manually to the packaging machine. There was a strong demand for the development of a feeder.

[0004]

Therefore, the present inventor has made various studies, but has found it extremely difficult due to structural restrictions of the factory (for example, the floor space is narrow, the ceiling is low, etc.). Under such circumstances, the unique idea of stacking individual packages from below was born, and as a result of developing this idea, we finally completed the present invention and succeeded in developing the following automatic cup noodle feeder. is there.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The automatic cup noodle feeder according to the present invention is provided as follows in order to automatically feed a plurality of individual cup noodle products to the packaging machine as described above. Configured.

That is, in the automatic cup noodle feeder of the present invention, a machine installed at a position adjacent to the packaging machine, a projecting frame projecting from the upper end of the machine to the product inlet of the packaging machine, and upper and lower ends are provided. Vertical product stacking cylinder that has an open cylindrical shape and is held vertically in the machine, and cup noodle products that have been conveyed by a belt conveyor and stopped to be delivered to a fixed position immediately below the stacking cylinder are pushed up one by one. And a cup pushing mechanism for sequentially stacking the stacked products into the stacking cylinder from the lower end opening of the cylinder, and a cup for holding the stacked products pushed into the stacking cylinder so as not to fall when the cup lifting mechanism descends. A fall prevention mechanism and an openable and closable clamp that receives cup noodle products that are sequentially pushed up and discharged from the upper end opening of the stacking cylinder at a position directly above the stacking cylinder and holds it when the number corresponding to the number of accumulated packages is reached. Mechanism and this clamp machine A configuration that includes a returnable traverse movement mechanism that laterally moves the product from the product holding position to a position above the product input port along the body overhanging frame, and a control unit that operates each of these mechanisms at a predetermined timing. It was done.

The traverse mechanism is a mechanism for horizontally moving the product from the product holding position to the product loading position in the packaging machine without moving the clamp mechanism up and down by a rod-type horizontal cylinder attached to one end of the machine body overhanging frame. Although it is good, it solves the problem that the horizontal cylinder protrudes to the end of the frame and becomes an obstacle, and the clamping mechanism can be as close as possible to the upper end opening of the product stacking cylinder to smoothly hold the ejected product, and In order to allow the clamp mechanism to approach the upper end opening of the packaging machine as close as possible so that the sandwiched product can be safely dropped and introduced, the traverse movement mechanism is provided with a guide rod and a rodless type that are horizontally mounted on the machine overhang frame. The horizontal slide cylinder and the guide rod slide horizontally to the left and right along the body overhanging frame by the operation of the cylinder. Is the consist of transverse movable base, it is desirable to equip the clamp mechanism to the transverse carriage so as to be a predetermined stroke vertical movement by operation of the clamp lifting cylinder.

[0008]

With the automatic cup noodle feeder having the above-mentioned structure, it is possible to automatically perform the cup noodle feeding to the packaging machine, which has been conventionally performed manually, thus saving labor and speeding up the workers. Not only can it contribute to improving efficiency, but it can also be used effectively in a small work space due to its compact layout.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

In the drawing, 1 is a packaging machine for sequentially stacking and packaging a plurality of individually packaged cup noodle products C, for example, 3 cups each. Two product receiving rods 2a protruding above the product inlet 2,
A packaging device for sequentially gusset-packing a plurality of cup noodle products C, for example, three cup noodle products C, which are loaded from the loading port 2 (Japanese Patent Application 2
-38466, which is the same as that of the invention of the prior application, and therefore detailed description of the structure will be omitted).

Reference numeral 3 denotes a frame-shaped machine body which is installed adjacent to the packaging machine 1, and an overhanging frame horizontally projecting on the product inlet 2 of the packaging machine 1 at the rear side of the upper end of the machine body 3. 4 are provided.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a vertical product stacking cylinder having a cylindrical shape with open upper and lower ends. This stacking cylinder 5 is vertically divided into two, as shown in the drawing, and one half of the half-split cylinder 6 Is vertically fixed to the machine body 3 via support members 3a and 3b. Further, the other half-split cylinder 7 is laterally cut at 1/3 from the bottom, and the upper half-split cylinder 7a located above the cutting portion is fixed to the half-split cylinder 6 by a connecting tool 8. The lower half-split cylinder 7b located below the cutting portion is the upper half-split cylinder 7b.
A hinge tool 9 is pivotally supported on a by an opening / closing mechanism to form a product chuck portion 11 of a cup drop prevention mechanism 10, which will be described later.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a roller conveyer composed of a plurality of rollers, for example, three rollers, which are arranged directly below the stacking cylinder 5, and 14 conveys individually packaged cup noodle products C.
3, a cup conveyor cylinder 15 is provided above the delivery portion of the belt conveyor 14, and the cup noodle product C lowered by the cylinder operation is temporarily delivered to the delivery end position of the belt conveyor 14. A cup stop mechanism 17 including a vertically movable cup stopper 16 that stops moving is provided.

Further, the cup noodle product C delivered from the belt conveyor 14 is fixed to a machine frame 18 supporting the conveyors 13 and 14 just below the stacking cylinder 5 (the roller conveyor 1).
3) is provided with a fixed fixed position stopper 19 for stopping, and a product fixed position detection sensor 20 is provided in the vicinity of the fixed position stopper 19.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a cup push-up mechanism for pushing up the cup noodle products C stopped at a fixed position just below the stacking cylinder 5 one by one and stacking them in the stacking cylinder 5 sequentially from the lower end opening of the cylinder. , The cup lifting mechanism 21 is the roller conveyor 13
A cup push-up cylinder 2 in which a product push-up tool 22 having a shape in which plates are vertically arranged side by side is arranged in the gap between the rollers and the product push-up tool 22 is attached to a position below the roller conveyor 13.
It is a mechanism to move up and down by the operation of 3.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a cup drop prevention mechanism for holding the stacked products pushed into the stacking cylinder 5 so as not to drop when the cup lifting mechanism 21 (product lifting tool 22) descends. Product chuck portion 11 formed of split cylinder 7b, and product chuck portion 11 (lower half split cylinder 7b)
And a chuck opening / closing cylinder 12 for opening and closing. The chuck opening / closing cylinder 12 is laterally supported by an end supporting member of the machine frame 18. The lower end expanding portion 11a of the chuck portion 11 extends a little lower than the lower end expanding portion 6a of the half-split cylinder 6 described above, and when used in combination with the fixed position stopper 19, the cup noodle product C is stored in the stacking cylinder 5. It acts to receive and stop at a fixed position directly below.

25 is a number corresponding to the number of accumulated packages (for example, 3) for receiving the cup noodle products C sequentially pushed up and discharged from the upper end opening of the stacking cylinder 5 at a position directly above the stacking cylinder 5. It is a clamp mechanism that can be opened and closed when it reaches it. This clamp mechanism 25 is a pair of front and rear clamp hands 26, 27.
(The front and rear clamp members 26 and 27 are composed of four bar members, two front and rear, and the front and rear two bar members are connected by the bending members 26a and 27a as shown in FIG. 1). A clamp opening / closing cylinder 28 for opening / closing,
The clamp opening / closing cylinder 28 includes flat bars 29 fixed on both sides as product receiving guides. A product uppermost stage detection sensor 30 is fixedly provided on the machine body 3 side near the clamp mechanism 25.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a traverse movement mechanism for laterally moving the clamp mechanism 25 along the machine body extension frame 4 from a product holding position to a position above the product insertion port 2. The traverse movement mechanism 31 of the machine body extension frame 4 is provided. The clamp mechanism 25 may be laterally moved from the product holding position to the product loading position for the packaging machine 1 without moving up and down by the rod-type horizontal cylinder attached to one end, but in the case of the present embodiment. The problem that the horizontal cylinder protrudes to the end of the frame and becomes an obstacle is solved, and the clamp mechanism 25 comes close to the upper end opening of the product stacking cylinder 5 as much as possible to smoothly hold and eject the product discharged from the cylinder. 25
Guide rod 32 and rodless that are traversed over the machine body overhanging frame 4 so that the sandwiched product can be safely dropped and dropped as close as possible to the upper end opening of the packaging machine input port 2. Type horizontal slide cylinder 3
3 and the cylinder 3 slidably guided by the guide rod 32.
3 and a traverse movable base 34 that is laterally moved in the left-right direction along the body overhanging frame 4, and the clamp mechanism 25 is mounted on the traverse movable base 34 by a clamp elevating cylinder 35 to move up and down a predetermined stroke. It is equipped to move.

The frame 4 is provided with a transverse movable base 34.
The proximity switch 36 for reverse stop and the proximity switch 37 for forward stop, and the adjustment stoppers 38 and 39 for restricting the backward limit and forward limit of the traverse movable base 34 are provided, and the proximity switches 36 and 37 and the product fixed position detection. The sensor 20 and the product uppermost detection sensor 30 are the respective mechanisms 10, 17, 2 described above.
Cylinders 12, 15, 23, 28, 3 of 1, 25, 31
It is a control means for activating 3, 35 at the timing shown in FIG.

Next, the supply method by the automatic cup noodle supply device of the present invention will be explained step by step. Belt conveyor 14
The cup noodle product C transported by is transferred to the roller conveyor 13 from the most downstream end of the belt conveyor 14 and stopped at a fixed position immediately below the product stacking cylinder 5 by a fixed position stopper 19. At this time, when the product fixed position detection sensor 20 catches the fixed position, the product chuck portion 11 of the cup drop prevention mechanism 10 (the lower half cylinder 7b of the product stacking cylinder 5) is opened by the backward movement of the chuck opening / closing cylinder 12, At the same time, the product push-up tool 22 of the cup push-up mechanism 21 moves up by the operation of the cup push-up cylinder 23, and pushes the cup noodle product C stopped at the fixed position into the product stacking cylinder 5.

Next, the chuck portion 11 is closed by the advancing operation of the chuck opening / closing cylinder 12, and the cup lifting mechanism 2 is moved.
The product push-up tool 22 of No. 1 descends by the operation of the cup push-up cylinder 23 and returns to the original position. At this time, the cup noodle products C (one or two lower parts of the stacked product) pushed up into the stacking cylinder 5 are lightly supported inside the cylinder by the chuck portion 11, and their free fall is prevented. During such a product pushing operation, the cup noodle product C conveyed to the delivery end position of the belt conveyor 14 is stopped and moved by the cup stopper 16 of the cup stop mechanism 17, and the roller conveyor 13
Wait at the delivery position for delivery.

Thereafter, this operation is repeated, and the cup noodle products C are stacked in the stacking cylinder 5 in order from the bottom. Then, when the cup noodle product C is discharged from the upper end opening of the stacking cylinder 5, the discharged product is pushed up into the clamp hands 26 and 27 of the clamp mechanism 25 standing on it and received. When the number reaches a predetermined number (the number corresponding to the number of accumulated packages, for example, 3), the product uppermost stage detection sensor 30 operates to close the clamp hands 26 and 27 by the operation of the clamp opening / closing cylinder 28, and the 3 Hold the product of.

Here, the clamp mechanism 25 is moved up by several centimeters while holding the cup noodle product C by the lifting operation of the clamp lifting cylinder 35. Then, when a signal indicating the end of the packaging operation of the packaging machine 1 is received, the clamp mechanism 25 laterally moves by the operation of the horizontal slide cylinder 33 so as to carry the sandwiched product directly above the packaging machine inlet 2, and this forward movement. By the lowering operation of the clamp lifting cylinder 35 at the limit, this time it is lowered by several centimeters, and the holding of the product by the clamp hands 26, 27 is released, whereby the cup noodle product C
Is supplied and supplied to the packaging machine input port 2 by a predetermined number (for example, 3 pieces), and thereafter, this operation is repeated to automatically supply a predetermined number of products to the packaging machine input port 2.

[0024]

The automatic cup noodle feeder according to the present invention comprises:
Since the gist of the configuration described in the claims is, it is possible to automatically supply all the cup noodles to the packaging machine, which has been conventionally performed by hand, thereby saving labor and speeding up workers. Not only can it contribute to improving efficiency, but it can also be effectively used in a small work space due to its compact layout.

Further, since the automatic cup noodle feeder of the present invention has a control means for outputting a signal to each mechanism to start and stop it, all the operations are performed when each cycle signal is not satisfied. It is possible to prevent mechanical trouble by putting it in a standby state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an essential part of an automatic cup noodle feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the automatic cup noodle feeder according to the present invention as seen from the front.

FIG. 3 is a time chart diagram of the automatic cup noodle feeder according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Cup noodle integrated packaging machine, C ... Cup noodle product, 2 ... Product inlet of the packaging machine, 3 ... Machine body, 4 ... Machine body overhanging frame, 5 ... Product stacking cylinder, 6, 7 (7a, 7b) … Half split tube,
10 ... Cup drop prevention mechanism, 11 ... Product chuck part, 1
2 ... Chuck opening / closing cylinder, 13 ... Roller conveyor, 14
… Belt conveyor, 15… Cup stopper cylinder, 1
6 ... Cup stopper, 17 ... Cup stop mechanism, 19 ... Fixed position stopper, 20 ... Product fixed position detection sensor, 21 ... Cup pushing mechanism, 22 ... Product pushing tool, 23 ... Cup pushing cylinder, 25 ... Clamp mechanism , 26, 27 ... Clamp hand, 28 ... Clamp opening / closing cylinder, 30 ... Product uppermost stage detection sensor, 31 ... Traverse movement mechanism, 32 ... Guide rod, 33 ... Rodless horizontal slide cylinder, 34
... traverse movable table, 35 ... clamp lifting cylinder, 36 ... proximity switch for moving table retracting stop, 37 ... proximity switch for moving table forward stopping.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A device for automatically supplying a plurality of cup noodle products to a packaging machine that sequentially and individually packages a plurality of individually packaged cup noodle products, the device being installed adjacent to the packaging machine. And a projecting frame that projects from the upper end of the machine to the product inlet of the packaging machine, and a vertical product stacking tube that has a cylindrical shape with open upper and lower ends and that is vertically held by the machine. , A cup pushing mechanism that pushes up one by one cup noodle products conveyed by a belt conveyor and stopped being delivered to a fixed position immediately below the stacking cylinder, and sequentially stacks the cup noodle products into the stacking cylinder from the lower end opening of the cylinder, A cup fall prevention mechanism that holds the stacked products pushed into the stacking cylinder so as not to fall when the cup lifting mechanism descends, and cup noodles that are sequentially pushed up and discharged from the upper end opening of the stacking cylinder. Products are received at the position directly above the stacking cylinder and integrated packaging A clamp mechanism that can be opened and closed when it reaches the number corresponding to the number, and a traverse movement mechanism that can return this clamp mechanism that horizontally moves along the machine overhang frame from the product holding position to the position above the product inlet. A cup noodle automatic supply device, comprising: a control means for activating each of these mechanisms at a predetermined timing. 2. A guide rod and a rodless type horizontal slide cylinder in which the traverse movement mechanism is laterally mounted on a body overhanging frame, and the guide rod is slidably guided along the body overhanging frame by the operation of the cylinder. 2. A traverse movable base that is laterally moved in the left-right direction. The traverse movable base is equipped with the clamp mechanism so that it can be vertically moved by a predetermined stroke by the operation of a clamp lifting cylinder. The automatic cup noodle feeder described.