JPH07125733A - Folder for container with lid - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To fold a container having a lid without manpower. CONSTITUTION:Pressing hands 31, 32 and lid closing members 33, 34 respectively press a short side plate 22 and a long side plate 23 of a container 20, thereby rocking or folding the side plates 22, 23 inward the container to fold the container 20 in a perpendicular direction. The lid closing members 33, 34 hold a lid 25 in an opened state before folding, and after the container 20 is folded, they advance approximately horizontally toward the container 20 while a height position of the held lid 25 has been changed relatively from downward to upward of an upper face of a frame body 21 of the container 20, so as to swing the lid 25 and close it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a folding device for a container having a lid, and more particularly to a structure for closing the lid by utilizing a change in the position of the upper surface of the container due to the vertical folding of the container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a container used for food transportation and the like, side plates are provided on the short side and the long side of a lower surface of a rectangular frame, and side plates provided on the long side (hereinafter referred to as a long side). There is one in which a bottom plate is integrally provided at the lower end portion of the side plate), and can be folded in the vertical direction in consideration of the convenience of transportation in an empty state. That is, in the container, the long side plate can be folded into two at the center and the short side plate (hereinafter referred to as the short side plate) can be swung inward of the container. Or, it is folded vertically by rocking.

As such a container folding device, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-28172, the short side plate of the container is pressed from the outside to the inside of the container,
There is a type in which the long side plate is bent up and down by its own weight while being rocked to a substantially horizontal state. According to this device, it is possible to automatically fold a lidless container with an open top.

[0004]

However, the container is not limited to the above-mentioned container having an open upper portion, and in addition to the above-described structure, there is a container provided with a lid which can be opened and closed by swinging on the upper surface of the frame. (See Figure 2). Although the conventional container folding device described above can fold a container without a lid, it cannot automatically fold a container with a lid. Lid closing work is required. Therefore, there is a problem that the work efficiency is lowered and the cost is increased. Thus, conventionally, a device for automatically folding a container with a lid has not been put into practical use.

According to the present invention, it is possible to fold a container provided with a lid without manpower, and thereby, it is possible to fully automate the folding work of the container, improve the work efficiency, and reduce the cost. It is intended to provide a container folding device.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above object of the present invention is a container folding device which is a rectangular parallelepiped that is vertically foldable and has a lid on the top surface that can be opened and closed by swinging. A folding means for vertically folding and a lid in an open state of the container provided so as to be able to reciprocate substantially horizontally at a position below the upper surface of the container before folding and above the upper surface of the container after folding. And a lid closing means capable of supporting, the lid closing means supports the lid in an open state of the container before folding the container, and after folding the container,
In a state where the height position of the lid is relatively changed from the lower side to the upper side of the container upper surface, the lid is moved substantially horizontally to the container side,
This is achieved by a container folding device characterized by swinging and closing the lid.

Another object of the present invention is a container folding device that is a rectangular parallelepiped that is vertically foldable, and that has a lid that can be opened and closed by swinging at the upper end of the container side plate along the predetermined direction. Folding means capable of pressing the container side plate orthogonal to the predetermined direction from the outside of the container, and the container side plate along the predetermined direction can be pressed from the outside of the container, and below the upper surface of the container before folding. And at a position above the upper surface of the container after folding so as to be capable of reciprocating substantially horizontally, and comprising a lid closing means capable of supporting the lid in the opened state of the container. The lid closing means respectively presses the side plates of the container to swing or bend the side plates inward of the container, and thereby The tena is vertically folded, and the lid closing means supports the lid in the open state of the container before folding the container, and after folding the container, the height position of the lid is upward from below the upper surface of the container. This is achieved by a container folding device characterized in that in a relatively changed state, the container is moved substantially horizontally to the container side and the lid is rocked to be closed.

The lid closing means has a protrusion made of an elastic body, which deforms while pressing the lid against the side plate during forward movement to reach the other side plate, and restores the deformation upon returning. However, it is preferable to hook and support the lid.

[0009]

In the container folding apparatus according to the present invention, before the container is folded, the lid closing member supports the lid in the opened state of the container at a height position lower than the upper surface of the container. The folding means then causes the container to fold vertically. At this time, the height position of the lid supported by the lid closing member relatively changes due to the lowering of the height position of the container upper surface, and becomes higher than the container upper surface. As a result, the lid is supported at a height position above the swing fulcrum. In this state, the lid closing member moves substantially horizontally to the container side and swings the lid to close it.

Further, in the container folding device according to the present invention, before the container is folded, the lid closing member supports the lid in the opened state of the container at a height position lower than the upper surface of the container. Next, the folding means presses the container side plate orthogonal to the predetermined direction from the outside of the container to swing or bend, and the lid closing means presses the container side plate along the predetermined direction from the outside of the container. Swing or bend to fold the container vertically. At this time,
The height position of the lid supported by the lid closing member is relatively changed by lowering the height position of the container upper surface,
It is above the top of the container. As a result, the lid is supported at a height position above the swing fulcrum. In this state, the lid closing member moves substantially horizontally to the container side and swings the lid to close it.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a container folding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the container 20 transported by the transport conveyor 10 with the lid 25 opened is stopped by the stopper 11 at a predetermined position, vertically folded by the container folding device 30, and the lid 25 is closed. .

In the container 20, as shown in FIG. 2, side plates 22 and 23 are provided on the short side and long side of the lower surface of the rectangular frame 21, respectively, and a side plate 23 provided on the long side. A bottom plate 24 is integrally provided at a lower end portion (hereinafter, referred to as a long side plate). Further, lids 25 are swingably provided on the long sides of the upper surface of the frame body 21, and can be opened and closed in the arrow D direction by swinging. The long side plate 23 can be bent up and down in two substantially at the center, and the short side side plate 22 (hereinafter referred to as the short side plate) can be swung inward of the container. That is, the container 20 is vertically folded by swinging the short side plate 22 inward of the container to a substantially horizontal state and bending the long side plate 23 from the center to the upper and lower sides.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in the container folding device 30, the pressing hands 31, 32 and the lid closing members 33, 34 are respectively the short side plates 22 of the container 20.
And by pressing the long side plate 23, each side plate 22, 2
The container 3 is vertically folded by rocking or bending the container 3 inward. Further, the lid closing members 33, 34
Supports the lid 25 in an open state before the container 20 is folded, and after the container 20 is folded, the height position of the supported lid 25 is relatively upward from below the upper surface of the frame body 21 of the container 20. In the changed state, the container 20
To the side, the lid 25 is rocked and closed.

The base ends of the pressing hands 31 and 32 are drive shafts 36, which are rotatably provided on a support plate 35, respectively.
The pressing hands 31 and 32 are fixed to 37, and by the rotation of the drive shafts 36 and 37, the pressing hands 31 and 32 are stopped from a position above the support plate 35 to a predetermined position on the transport conveyor 10 and a short side plate 22 of the container 20. Can be swung up to the position where is pressed. In addition, it is preferable to perform this swinging instantly, whereby the pressing hands 31 and 32 can strike the short side plate 22. The drive shafts 36 and 37 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction A of the container 20. The support plate 35 is fixed to a support frame 38 that is erected on the floor, and supports the container 20 above the transfer conveyor 10.
Is placed at a height position that does not hinder the transportation of the.

Sprockets 39 and 40 are fixed to the drive shafts 36 and 37, respectively.
A chain 41 is attached to both of the sprockets 39, 40.
It is wound so as to intersect at about the middle of 40 and form a figure 8. That is, the chain 41 is connected by fixing both ends to the connecting member 42, and is crossed through the opening 42 a provided in the connecting member 42 so as to have a figure-eight shape. . The connecting member 42 is fixed to the tip of a rod 44 of a cylinder 43 provided on the support plate 35, and the reciprocating movement of the rod 44 due to the operation of the cylinder 43 causes the drive shaft 36 to move through the chain 41 and the sprockets 39 and 40. , 37,
The drive shafts 36 and 37 are rotated.

Each of the lid closing members 33, 34 is made of an elastic material such as rubber and has a front end (downstream side) or a rear end (upstream side) in the transport direction of the container 20 stopped at a predetermined position on the transport conveyor 10. At least one of the two sides. Each lid closing member 33, 34 is fixed to the tip of a rod 47 of a cylinder 46 fixed to the conveyor frame 45, and can be moved back and forth in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction A of the container 20 by the operation of the cylinder 46. Further, the lid closing members 33 and 34 are respectively the containers 2
The lid 25 in the open state of 0 can be supported at a predetermined height position by the protrusion 48.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the lid closing members 33 and 34 are located at positions B that do not hinder the transportation of the container 20.
Sawtooth-shaped projections 4 provided on a portion of the container 20 that can face the short side plate 22 from (hereinafter, referred to as the exit position B).
8 is a side surface 25a of the lid 25 of the container 20 and the side plate 22, which are stopped at a predetermined position on the transfer conveyor 10 (FIG. 1),
It moves back and forth to a position C (hereinafter, referred to as a protruding position C) that contacts 23. The protrusions 48 of the lid closing members 33 and 34 are attached to the lid 2
The surface on the side of the forward direction facing 5 is an inclined surface and is positioned so as to slightly overlap the lid 25, but it can get over the side surface 25a of the lid 25 when a predetermined force is applied. Further, the lid 25 can be locked on the surface of the projection 48 on the backward movement direction side, and the projection 48 can be held by the lid 25 during the backward movement.
It does not get over the side surface 25a.

When the lid closing members 33 and 34 move from the retracted position B to the projecting position C, as shown in FIGS.
The side surface 25a of the lid 25 of 0 and the side plates 22 and 23 advance. At this time, the protrusion 48 receives a reaction force from the side plate 23 and is deformed so as to flutter to the rear side in the moving direction. Then, when the lid closing members 33 and 34 retreat from the projecting position C to the retreating position B, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the projecting portion 48 is deformed so as to flutter in the opposite direction to the above. At this time, the protrusion 48 lifts the lid 25 of the container 20 so as to hook it, and contacts the upper surface 25b of the lid 25 to support it.

The operation of this embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 1, when the container 20 transported by the transport conveyor 10 is stopped at a predetermined position by the stopper 11, the lid closing members 33 and 34 move forward and backward toward the container 20 side, and the protrusions 48 cause the lid 25 to move. Support. That is, when the lid closing members 33, 34 advance from the retracted position B to the projecting position C by the operation of the cylinder 46 (FIG. 7), the protrusion 48 forms the side surface 25 a of the lid 25 of the container 20 and the side plate 2.
It deforms so that it touches 2, 23 and flutters to the rear side in the direction of movement. Then, when the lid closing members 33, 34 return to the retracted position B, the protrusion 48 is deformed so as to flutter in the opposite direction, and the lid 25 of the container 20 is hooked and lifted up. It contacts and supports the upper surface 25b (FIG. 8).

Next, the pressing hands 31 and 32 instantly swing, and strike the short side plate 22 of the container 20 from the outside to the inside of the container to push it and swing it to a substantially horizontal state ( (Figure 9). That is, when the cylinder 43 operates and the rod 44 retracts instantly, the connecting member 42 moves in the transport direction A.
As the sprocket 39 and the drive shaft 36 on the front side in the transport direction rotate clockwise in FIG. 1, the sprocket 40 and the drive shaft 37 on the rear side in the transport direction rotate counterclockwise in FIG. Thereby, each pressing hand 31, 32
Swings from a position above the support plate 35 toward each short side plate 22 of the container 20 and strikes the short side plate 22.

At the same time, the lid closing members 33 and 34 again advance to the container 20 side and press the long side plate 23 of the container 20 from the outside of the container to the inside. That is, when each cylinder 46 operates and the rod 47 projects and the lid closing members 33 and 34 advance to the projecting position C, the protrusion 48 contacts and presses the long side plate 23. At this time, since the long side plate 23 is not supported by the short side plate 22, the long side plate 23 is bent up and down into two from the center substantially by the pressing force of the lid closing members 33 and 34 (FIG. 9).

After that, the pressing hands 31 and 32 are attached to the support plate 3.
When the lid closing members 33 and 34 return to the retracted position B (FIG. 10) while returning to the position above 5, the container 20 in which the side plates 22 and 23 are not upright is folded vertically (FIG. 11). ). At this time, the lid closing members 33, 34
The height position of the lid 25 supported by is relatively changed by lowering the height position of the upper surface of the frame body 21, and is higher than the upper surface of the frame body 21.

The lid 25, which is supported above the upper surface of the frame body 21 serving as a swinging fulcrum, has lid closing members 33 and 3.
4 advances to the container 20 side, the frame 21
It swings around the upper surface as a fulcrum and is closed. That is, FIG.
2. When the lid closing member 33 on the right side in the middle 2 advances to the container 20 side, the lid 25 on the right side is closed, and when the lid closing member 34 on the left side in FIG. 13 advances to the container 20 side, the lid 25 on the left side is closed.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, the lid 25
It is possible to fold the container 20 including the container 20 without requiring any manual labor, and thereby, it is possible to fully automate the folding work of the container 20, improve the work efficiency, and reduce the cost. Moreover, container 20
By supporting the lid 25 on the lid closing members 33 and 34 before folding, the height position of the lid 25 after folding the container 20 is relatively upward from below the upper surface of the frame body 21 of the container 20 which serves as a swing fulcrum. Because it changes, the container 20
The lid 25 can be closed by swinging the lid 25 by moving the lid closing members 33 and 34 back and forth substantially horizontally after folding. In other words, since the lid 25 can be swung by the horizontal movement of the lid closing members 33, 34 instead of the rotational movement, a complicated rotation mechanism or the like is not required, and the number of parts and the number of assembling steps can be reduced. It is possible to reduce the cost.

In the above embodiment, the lid closing members 33, 3
4, the lid 25 is supported and the container 2
Although the long side plate 23 of 0 is pressed and bent to make the entire device compact, the pressing hands 31, 3
The same structure as 2 is provided so as to be swingable in the direction orthogonal to the swing direction of the pressing hands 31 and 32, and the long side plate 23 of the container 20 is pressed and bent, and the lid closing member is also provided. 33 and 34 may be configured to perform only the operation of supporting the lid 25 and the operation of closing the lid 25.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the folding means folds the container in the vertical direction, changes in the mutual height between the container and the lid closing means as a result of the folding, and the reciprocating movement of the lid closing means. By this, the container with lid can be folded by a simple operation without requiring human labor. This makes it possible to fully automate the container folding work, improve the work efficiency, and reduce the cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a container folding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a container.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state in which the lid closing member has advanced to the container side while deforming the protrusion by contacting the side surface and the side plate of the lid of the container.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the lid closing member of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view showing that the lid closing member exits from the state shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state in which the lid of the container is lifted while being deformed in the reverse direction so that the lid is supported and the lid is supported.

6 is a perspective view of the lid closing member of FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a lid closing member of the container folding device of FIG.
It is a figure which shows the state which advanced to the protrusion position.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a state in which a lid closing member supports the lid.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a state in which the pressing hand and the lid closing member respectively press the side plates of the container.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state in which the pressing hand and the lid closing member have respectively returned to their original positions.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a state where the container is folded in the vertical direction.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state in which one lid closing member has advanced to the container side and the lid on the lower side of engagement is closed.

FIG. 13 is a view showing a state in which the other lid closing member has advanced to the container side and the lid on the upper side of the engagement is closed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 Container 22 Short Side Plate 23 Long Side Plate 25 Lid 30 Container Folding Device 31, 32 Folding Means (Pressing Hand) 33, 34 Lid Closing Means (Lid Closing Member)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A folding device (30) for a container (20), which is a rectangular parallelepiped that is vertically foldable, and has a lid (25) on the upper surface that can be opened and closed by swinging, the container (20). A folding means (31, 32) for vertically folding the container and a container that is provided so as to be able to reciprocate substantially horizontally at a position below the upper surface of the container before folding and above the upper surface of the container after folding. And a lid closing means (33, 34) capable of supporting the lid (25) in the opened state, the lid closing means (33, 34) before the container is folded and the lid (25 in the opened state of the container. ) Is supported and after the container is folded, the lid (25) moves substantially horizontally to the container side while the height position of the lid (25) relatively changes from the lower side to the upper side of the container upper surface. Writing cover (2
5) A container folding device characterized by swinging and closing 5). 2. A rectangular parallelepiped which is vertically foldable, and at the upper end of the container side plate (23) along a predetermined direction,
A folding device (30) for a container (20) having a lid (25) that can be opened and closed by rocking, the folding means (30) capable of pressing a container side plate (22) orthogonal to the predetermined direction from the outside of the container. 31, 32)
The container side plate (23) along the predetermined direction can be pressed from the outside of the container, and is substantially below the container upper surface before folding and above the container upper surface after folding. The lid (25) which is provided so as to be horizontally reciprocally movable and the container is open.
And a lid closing means (33, 34) capable of supporting each of the side plates (22, 23) of the container (20), the folding means (31, 32) and the lid closing means (33, 34) respectively. ), The side plates (22, 23) are swung or bent inwardly of the container to vertically fold the container (20), and the lid closing means (33, 34) Before the container is folded, the lid (25) in the open state of the container is supported, and after the container is folded, the height position of the lid (25) is relatively changed from below the upper surface of the container to above. Move almost horizontally to the container side, and move the lid (2
5) A container folding device characterized by swinging and closing 5). 3. The lid closing means (33, 34) has a protrusion (48) made of an elastic body, and when the protrusion (48) moves forward, the lid (25) is fixed to the side plate (23). The container folding device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the container folding device is deformed while being pressed to reach the other side plate (22), and the deformation is restored when returning, and the lid (25) is hooked and supported while being deformed. .