JPH07165205A - Carton flap-bending device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a flap folding device which is easy to change over to apply the device to differently designed cartons. CONSTITUTION: The flap folding device includes a carrying means for carrying cartons along a predetermined path and a folding activation part 10 placed on a side of the carrying path. The folding activation part has a folding means 12 provided on a periphery of rotary disks 36, 38 for rotating along a circular path. The folding means 12 includes rotary fingers 14, 16 engaged with flaps f1, f2 for folding them, a rod 26 provided to be capable of radially reciprocating along a circulating path of the folding means 12, reciprocating means 30, 32, 34 for radially reciprocating the rod together with circulating movement of the folding means, and conversion means 18, 20, 24 for converting reciprocation of the rod 26 into rotary motion of the rotary fingers.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carton flap folding device incorporated in a barrel packaging device for loading articles into, for example, a sleep-type wraparound type carton.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Some paperboard roll-on cartons have holes formed so as to span the fold line between their side and bottom panels. These holes are
A bottom receiving hole for receiving and holding the bottom of an item (eg, a bottle) that is the contents of a carton. A plurality of holding flaps are usually foldably connected to the edge of the bottom receiving hole. The folding device of the present invention is a device for folding the holding flap of the above-described winding type carton into the inside of the carton to form a portion which becomes the seat of the bottom of the article. A packaging device in which the folding device of the present invention is incorporated has a carton blank and a conveying means for feeding the articles to be loaded into the carton forward along a predetermined path. The folding device bends the holding flap of the carton sent by the conveying means to a predetermined position inside the carton. In particular, in the present invention, a pair of retaining flaps provided on the edge of the bottom receiving hole can be folded inside the carton. While each retention flap is folded inside the carton, the area near that retention flap is
It is supported by suitable guide means so that it will not move as the holding flap is bent.

European Patent No. 0200445 discloses a technique in which article holding means such as a bottom receiving hole is provided between the bottom panel and each side panel of a roll-type carton. Such a bottom receiving hole is a portion for receiving the bottom of articles such as a plurality of bottles packaged in a carton. Each bottom receiving hole is typically formed by stamping out the carton bottom panel and its adjacent side panels. A flap is foldably provided at the edge of each bottom receiving hole.
Such a flap is arranged at a position that closes the bottom receiving hole when the carton is a flat blank. Then, when the blank is put on the group of articles to be wrapped, the flaps are folded by being pushed by a suitable folding means, and the bottom receiving holes formed after the pushed flaps accommodate the bottom of the articles. To be done.

The above-mentioned European Patent No. 0200445,
A conventional device for performing a flap folding process is also disclosed. The disclosed device has folding means for engaging and folding a pair of retaining flaps for retaining the bottom of the bottle into the carton. This folding means has a pair of pivot fingers. These pivot fingers are actuated by a cam mechanism and perform an operation for bending the holding flap. During operation, the pivoting fingers gradually enter the bottom receiving hole of the carton blank to fold the retaining flap and then retract back out of the bottom receiving hole. Such advancing and retracting movements of the pivoting fingers are carried out during the movement of the carton blank and the folding means along the straight conveying path. In other words, the folding means engages with the row of the holding flaps of the carton while traveling with the carton during the movement of the carton to be folded along the conveying path, and folds them inside the carton. The cam mechanism is used to actuate the pivot fingers of the folding means as described above. The cam mechanism has a cam track formed on a fixed cam block. The rotating fingers are attached to the endless chain and move along the forward path and the return path formed around the plurality of sprockets, and during this movement, they are guided by the cam track to operate and perform a bending operation.

[0005]

The conventional flap folding apparatus as described above has a plurality of different sizes and / or sizes.
Or very difficult to apply to the carton of design. In other words, to use the folding device used for the flap folding process of one carton for the flap folding process of another different carton (hereinafter referred to as "changeover"), the folding means used until then is used. It is necessary to change the number, the pitch of the bending means, etc., but due to such changeover,
In the conventional device, each folding means on the endless belt must be adjusted one by one.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a flap folding device that is easy to change over and has a high reliability in the bending operation.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a novel carton flap folding apparatus for folding a retaining flap on a carton inside the carton. The flap folding device of the present invention includes a transporting unit that transports the carton along a predetermined route, and a folding operation unit disposed on one side of the transporting route. The folding operation section has a folding means that is movable along a circular circulation path, and a driving means that moves the folding means in a circular manner in accordance with the conveying speed of the conveying means. The bending means includes a rotary finger for engaging and bending the holding flap, a rod provided for reciprocating movement in the radial direction of the circular path, and a radial movement of the rod along with the circular movement of the bending means. It has a reciprocating means for reciprocating motion and a converting means for converting the reciprocating motion of the rod into the rotary motion of the rotary finger.

It is preferable that the folding operation section has a rotary disc, and the folding means is provided at a peripheral portion of the rotary disc so as to be movable around the axis of the rotary disc.

[0009]

1 to 10 schematically show a series of operations of the carton flap folding apparatus of the present invention.
Reference numeral 10 in the drawing is a bending operation portion of the bending device.
The folding operation unit 10 has a rotating disk. This rotating disk is composed of two disk members 36 and 38 which are coaxially arranged vertically. The rotating disc is provided with a plurality of sets of folding means 12 along the periphery thereof. In the case of FIGS. 1 to 10, the number of folding means 12 in each set is two. Thus, the carton that the folding apparatus shown in these figures can handle is a carton of design having two bottom receiving holes on each side of the carton (ie, between each side panel and the bottom panel). . The carton as described above is sequentially and continuously folded by the continuous rotation of the rotating disk. 1 to 10 show, in order, the states of the holding flaps f1 and f2 of the carton C that is gradually bent as the rotating disks 36 and 38 rotate. The illustrated carton C is a winding carton. When the bottom receiving holes A are formed in the carton C by bending the holding flaps f1 and f2, the bottoms of the pair of bottles B1 and B2 are placed in these holes A.

FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of the folding operation section 10. The folding operation unit 10 includes the above-described upper and lower disc members 36 and 38, and the fixed cam plate 34 arranged below the upper and lower disc members 36 and 38 in parallel with the rotary disc. Rotating disc 3
6 and 38 are, for example, by rotating shafts that penetrate the center of the cam plate 34 and are connected to the respective disk members 36 and 38,
It is driven to rotate about the axis of the rotating disk. Such a rotary shaft is, of course, connected to a drive source such as a motor via a suitable power transmission means. Therefore, the rotating disk can be synchronously rotated according to the moving speed of the carton blank sent by the carrying means. The folding operation unit 10 shown in FIG. 11 has three sets of folding means 12. Each set consists of four folding means 12 arranged at equal intervals and in close proximity. The number of folding means 12 provided on the rotating disk and the arrangement interval (pitch) thereof depend on the type or design of the carton to be handled. The carton handled by the folding operation unit in FIG. 11 is a type for packaging articles arranged in two rows of four in each row, and four articles are arranged in a row along each side panel of the carton. . In the case of the folding operation unit 10 shown in the figure, since three sets of four folding means 12 are provided, the flap folding processing of three cartons can be continuously performed by one rotation of the rotating disk. What is the flap bending process here?
In a carton C having a bottom receiving hole A for an article B between a side panel and a bottom panel, a holding flap f that closes the bottom receiving hole A is bent inside the carton,
This is a process for forming the bottom receiving hole A on the side of the carton.

Before going into the detailed description of the bending operation section,
The carton to which the folding operation is applied by the folding operation unit will be briefly described. The plurality of bottom receiving holes A are
They are aligned along the fold lines that connect the side and bottom panels of the carton. Each bottom receiving hole A is arranged at a position crossing the fold line. Such a bottom receiving hole A has a function of receiving the bottom of an article (for example, a bottle) therein and holding the article in the carton as described above. A plurality of flaps f made of a paperboard material in the hole portion are foldably connected to the periphery of each bottom receiving hole A. That is, before the assembly of the carton blank, the flap f is flush with the side panel and / or the bottom panel of the carton C and closes the bottom receiving hole A, but the flap f is bent inside the carton. The bottom receiving hole A is opened by folding the inner surface of the bottom panel and / or the bottom panel.

Then, the folding operation portion 1 of the folding device.
0 will be described. Two folding operation units 10 are installed at the upstream end of the article path of the article packaging apparatus so as to face each other so as to sandwich the article path. However, since the configurations of these two folding operating portions are the same, only one folding operating portion will be described below.

One of the folding means 12 is shown in detail in FIG. 11 by notching a part of the upper disc member 38. As can be seen from this figure, each folding means 12 has a pair of pivoting fingers 14,16. These pivoting fingers 14, 16 are shown in FIG. 11 in a state that they project radially outward from the recess 40 of the lower disk member 36 and are in the open position. The open position is the distance between the tips of the rotating fingers 14 and 16 shown in FIG.
Is the maximum position. Further, each bending means 12 has a rod 26 extending in the radial direction of the bending operation portion 10. This rod 26 is used for the lower disk member 3
It is slidably fitted along the groove 28 in a groove 28 formed in 6 extending in the radial direction. Rod 26
A head plate 24, which is substantially parallel to the rotating disk, is fixed to the tip end in the radial direction of. The head plate 24 is formed with a slot 22 extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the rod 26. The rotation finger 14,
Both 16 auxiliary pins 18 and 20 are slidably inserted. However, the auxiliary pins 18 and 20 are pins protruding upward from the upper surfaces of the rotary fingers 14 and 16, respectively. A main pin 52 (a pin protruding downward) of each of the rotary fingers 14 and 16 is rotatably fitted in a round hole 50 formed in a protrusion 37 of the lower disk member 36.
The main pin 52 and the hole 50 are shown in FIGS.
Is shown in. As can be seen from FIG. 13, the auxiliary pin 2
0 is arranged at a position displaced from the main pin 52 which is the center of rotation of the rotating finger 16. This is for rotating the rotating fingers 14 and 16 in response to the linear reciprocating motion of the rod 26 in the radial direction. The angle θ shown in FIG. 13 is an angle formed by a line connecting the auxiliary pin 20 and the main pin 52 and a line R ′ parallel to the inner side surface R of the rotating finger 16. The angle θ is preferably 45 degrees. is there. The inner side surface R is rotated when the rotating fingers 14 and 16 rotate from the open position toward each other to reach the closed position (the positions of the rotating fingers 14 and 16 shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and the like). , A surface that comes into contact with the inner surface of the rotating finger 14.

A cam follower paired with the cam plate 34 is a roller indicated by reference numeral 30. This cam follower 3
0 is attached so as to project downward from an intermediate position in the longitudinal direction on the lower surface of the rod 26. And
The cam follower 30 rolls along the cam track 32 formed on the cam plate 34. That is, the cam follower 30
Is moved along the cam track 32, the rod 26 reciprocates inward and outward in the radial direction of the cam plate 34, and the pivot fingers 14 and 16 pivot (open and close) in accordance with the reciprocal movement. Since the cam track 32 is shown in each of FIGS. 1 to 10, by referring to these figures in the order of numbers, the opening and closing movements of the rotating fingers 14 and 16 and the rotating fingers 14 and 16 are described. Cam truck 3
The relationship with the position for 2 can be understood. Needless to say, when the rod 26 reaches the radially outermost position and the cam follower 30 in the cam track 32 reaches the position farthest from the center of the cam plate 34, the rotary finger 1
4, 16 reach the closed position.

Although not shown in the figure, the upper disk member 3
Grooves extending in the radial direction are formed on the lower surface of each protrusion 13 of No. 8. Such a groove receives the head plate 24 and enables the head plate 24 to reciprocate.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 to 10, as the rotary disks 36 and 38 rotate clockwise,
The leading folding means 12 abuts on the carton blank C, and then the same folding means 12 touches the carton blank C.
To form a bottom receiving hole A in the carton blank C. When the folding means 12 penetrates the carton blank C, the holding flaps f1, f2, which are flush with the side panels of the carton blank, are folded inside the carton and out of said plane. FIG. 1 shows a stage in which the leading folding means of the folding means 12 that moves in the clockwise direction contacts the side panel of the carton blank C. Further, FIG. 2 illustrates a stage in which the folding means 12 which has moved further clockwise from the position of FIG. 1 begins to enter the bottom receiving hole A of the carton blank C.

FIG. 3 illustrates a stage in which the folding means 12 further moved clockwise from the position of FIG. 2 is inserted into the bottom receiving hole A. At this stage, the holding flaps f1 and f2 move away from each other,
Moreover, although the carton blank C is considerably bent inward, the bending angle of the holding flaps f1 and f2 with respect to the side panel has not yet exceeded 90 degrees. The situation similar to FIG. 3 continues until the steps of FIGS. 4 and 5. That is, the pivot fingers 14, 16 are kept in the closed position until the stage of FIG. 5 (that is, until the folding means 12 is completely inserted into the bottom receiving hole A).

At the stage of FIG. 6, the rotating fingers 14, 1
6 starts to rotate away from each other. Therefore,
The holding flaps f1 and f2 are further bent, and the bending angle is increased.

FIG. 7 shows a stage in which the holding flaps f1 and f2 are bent at an angle of more than 90 degrees and the holding flaps are further bent toward the adjacent side panel. At this stage, the folding means 12 ′ subsequent to the leading folding means 12 has holding flaps f3 and f4.
Begin to be inserted into the next bottom receiving hole A ′ having

In FIG. 8, the cam follower 30 is located at the radially outermost point in the cam track 32 (hereinafter referred to as "peak point"). In other words, at this stage, rod 2
6 has finished moving outward in the radial direction, and the head plate 24 has reached the outermost position in the radial direction. Therefore, the turning fingers 14 and 16 having the auxiliary pins 18 and 20 inserted into the slots 22 of the head plate 24 have finished turning in the directions away from each other and have reached the open position.

FIG. 9 shows the stage where the cam follower 30 has passed the peak point of the cam track 32 and the rod 26 has begun to move inward in the radial direction. By the movement of the rod 26 inward in the radial direction, the rotating fingers 14 and 16 start to rotate in a direction toward each other (that is, a closing direction).

In FIG. 10, the rotating fingers 14 and 16 are in a further closed state than in the state of FIG. When the rotating fingers 14 and 16 are completely closed (that is, reach the closed position) through this state, both the fingers 14 and 16 can be pulled out from the corresponding bottom receiving holes A.

The following is a summary of the above description. When the head plate reaches its outermost position, the pivoting fingers have finished pivoting to the open position and the holding flap is bent by 90 degrees or more (preferably up to 180 degrees) to completely open the bottom receiving hole. . It should be noted that the pivot finger pivots to the closed position before the head plate reaches its innermost position so that it can be pulled out from the bottom receiving hole.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 to 10, the pivoting fingers are always near the bottles B1, B2 during the flap folding process as described above. After this folding process, the side panels of the carton are moved inwardly of the carton so that the bottom of the bottle is received in the bottom receiving hole corresponding to each bottle. Such engagement of the bottle with the bottom receiving hole is done automatically, specifically by stacking a pair of bottom panels of the carton on top of each other. This superposition causes the carton to be tightly wrapped around a group of bottles. In the apparatus of FIG. 11, before the winding of the carton is completed, the flap bending process of all four bottom receiving holes on one side of the carton is completed, and all four bottom receiving holes are opened.

As is apparent from the figure, the rotary finger 1
The back surfaces of 4, 16 are curved in a round shape, and when they are inserted into the bottom receiving hole A, the holding flaps f1, f2 are easily pushed to both sides (that is, easily bent). Also, the folding actuating portion 10 can be easily replaced to allow flap folding of cartons of different sizes and / or designs than the cartons described in the above embodiments. That is, in order to perform a changeover in the carton flap bending apparatus of the present invention, the upper and lower disc members 36, 38 or the folding operation unit 10 which has been used until then are removed, and a new rotating disc or a new folding operation unit (of the folding means The number, the pitch of the folding means, the radius of the disc, etc. are suitable for the flap folding process of the new carton). This saves a great deal of time and effort required for changeover compared to conventional folding devices.

In the above embodiment, the main pin and the auxiliary pin are attached to the rotary finger, the main pin is attached to the rotary disk as the rotary center of the rotary finger, and the auxiliary pin is inserted into the slot of the head plate. Although the linear reciprocating motion of the rod is converted into the rotating motion of the rotating finger, it is obvious that other known converting means can be used in the present invention instead of such a structure. As another conversion means, for example, a pinion is attached to the rotary finger shown in FIG. 13, or teeth serving as pinions are formed on a part of the peripheral surface of the rotary finger (semi-cylindrical surface shown in FIG. 13). In addition, a rack may be attached to a part of the outer end of the rod 26 in the radial direction, or teeth may be formed in the same portion so that the pinion and the rack are meshed with each other.

[0027]

According to the carton flap bending apparatus of the present invention, the changeover can be easily performed by exchanging the bending operation portion. Therefore, the time and labor required for changeover can be significantly saved. Further, since the linear reciprocating motion of the rod is converted into the rotary motion of the rotary finger by the converting means, the reproducibility of the motion of the rotary finger is high, and the folding process of the flap can be reliably performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a folding operation part of a carton flap folding device of the present invention, a carton blank subjected to a folding process by the operation part, a bottle to be accommodated in the carton blank, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a folding operation unit and other components showing a state of two folding means in a state of slightly moving clockwise from the position of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a bending operation portion and the like showing a state of two bending means when slightly moved clockwise from the position of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a folding operation unit and other components showing a state of two folding means when slightly moved clockwise from the position of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the folding operation unit and other components showing the state of the two folding means when slightly moved clockwise from the position of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of the folding operation unit and other components showing the state of the two folding means when slightly moved clockwise from the position of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of the bending operation unit and other components showing the state of the two bending means when slightly moved clockwise from the position of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of the bending operation unit and other components showing the state of the two bending means when slightly moved clockwise from the position of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of the folding operation unit and other components showing the state of the two folding means when slightly moved clockwise from the position of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view of the folding operation unit and other components showing the state of the two folding means when slightly moved clockwise from the position of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of a bending operation portion with a part cut away.

12 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a part of the lower disk member shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of one rotating finger.

FIG. 14 is a side sectional view of the rotating finger shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Bending operation part 12 Bending means 14,16 Rotating fingers 18,20 Auxiliary pin 22 Slot 24 Head plate 26 Rod 30 Cam follower 32 Cam track 34 Cam plate 36 Lower disc member 38 Upper disc member 52 Main pin A Bottom receiving hole B Bottle C Carton

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A carton flap folding device for folding a flap provided on a carton to the inside of a carton, a conveying means for conveying the carton along a predetermined route, and a folding operation arranged on one side of the conveying route. And a bending means movable along a circular circulation path, and a driving means for moving the folding means in a circulating manner in accordance with a conveying speed of the conveying means. The means includes a pivot finger for engaging and bending the flap, a rod reciprocally movable in a radial direction of the orbit, and the rod as the orbiting movement of the folding means moves the rod. Reciprocating means for reciprocating in the radial direction and converting means for converting the reciprocating movement of the rod into the rotating movement of the rotating finger are provided. A carton flap folding device characterized by: 2. The carton flap folding device according to claim 1, wherein the folding operation section has a rotary disc, and the folding means is provided on the rotary disc and is moved around an axis of the rotary disc. 3. The reciprocating means includes a cam plate arranged substantially parallel to the rotary disk, a cam track formed on one surface of the cam plate, and a cam track attached to the rod and within the cam track. 3. The carton flap folding device according to claim 2, further comprising a cam follower disposed on the carton flap. 4. The carton flap folding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rotary finger is attached to the rotary disk by a main pin extending substantially parallel to the axis of the rotary disk, and is rotatable around the main pin. . 5. The carton flap folding device according to claim 4, wherein the rod is slidably attached to the rotating disk. 6. The converting means comprises a head plate fixed to the rod substantially parallel to the rotary disk, a slot provided in the head plate and extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the radial direction, and the rotation. The carton flap folding device according to claim 5, further comprising: an auxiliary pin provided on a finger and slidably inserted into the slot, the auxiliary pin being disposed at a position displaced from an axis of the main pin. 7. The drive means has a rotary shaft that penetrates the cam plate along the axis of the rotary disc and is connected to the rotary disc, and a drive source connected to the rotary shaft. Carton flap folding device as described. 8. The carton flap folding apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the converting means includes a pinion provided on the rotating finger and a rack provided on the rod and meshing with the pinion.