JPH07195585A - Lock bottom type carbon automatic assembly device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To assemble automatically and efficiently a carton on which is sucked from accumulated cartons and folded into a cylindrical shape and supported followed by folding a couple of left and right plate sections and one of flaps of the front and rear side plate sections, and fitting a flap end central section of one of the front and rear side plates into the other flap end central section. CONSTITUTION:In the middle of sucking carbons 3 accumulated on a work feeder box 5 and drawing downward, the cartons are folded into the cylindrical shape by a work folding guide 10, supported by front and rear backing pieces 11 and 13, and suction retained on the assembly position. Second bottom flaps of the cartons 3 are folded donwardly by folding pieces 16 above the flaps, and then third and fourth flaps are folded and overlapped on the second bottom flap by a couple of left and right flap folding pieces 25, 25. Then, a first bottom flap is overlapped on the third and fourth flaps by a folding piece 19 below the flaps, and then protruded section on the center of the first bottom flap end is pushed in by a flat fitting rod 21, and fitted into a recessed section on the center of the second bottom flap end.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to automatic assembly of a lock bottom carton.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For the packaging of confectioneries, flaps are foldably connected to the lower end rim of each of the four front and rear side plates which are foldably connected and glued at both ends to form a tubular body. Is installed, the four side plate parts are folded up in a tubular shape, and one flap of the front and rear side plate parts is bent,
Fold a pair of left and right side plate portions so as to partially overlap this bent flap, then fold the other flap of the front and rear side plate portions, and place the center of the tip of this flap at the front and back side plate portions of the one flap. A lock-bottom type carton is used which is capable of forming a bottom closed part in a self-locking state by fitting these four flaps inside the center part of the tip.

By the way, the above-mentioned lock-bottom type carton is shipped in an unfolded crushed state, and it is necessary to assemble each flap by folding each flap at the time of use. Assembly of bottom cartons was usually done manually.

[0004]

Conventionally, since the lock-bottom type carton is manually assembled, the productivity is low and the cost is high.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device capable of automatically and efficiently assembling a lock bottom carton.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a flap is foldably connected to the lower end rim of each of four front and rear side plates which are foldably connected to each other so as to form a tubular body. One side plate part is folded up into a tubular shape, one flap of the front and back side plate parts is folded, a pair of left and right side plate parts are folded so as to partially overlap with the folded flap, and then the other flap of the front and rear side plate parts is folded. And a bottom end part of the self-locking state can be formed by these four flaps by folding and folding the center part of this flap inside the center part of the front end of the one of the front and rear side plate parts. The present invention relates to a device for automatically assembling a carton, in which a crushed carton before folding is arranged with one of the front and rear side plate portions and one of the left and right side plate portions facing downward. The work feeder part that accumulates in a state, the work drawing means that sucks the cartons accumulated on the work feeder part and draws the cartons downward one by one, and holds the carton at a predetermined assembly position in the sucked state, and the work drawing means. At the position where the connecting portion between the other of the front and rear side plate portions and the one of the left and right side plate portions of the carton comes into contact with the carton to be drawn in, the carton is folded into a tubular shape as the work drawing means retracts. A work folding guide that guides the connecting portion diagonally downward so as to stand, and a carton that is folded and suction-held with respect to a carton that is guided by the work folding guide and drawn to the assembly position by the work drawing means. The carton at the front and rear positions in the discharge direction facing one of the left and right side plate portions of the A front backing piece and a backing piece to be supported from the front to back side pieces of the carton which is supported by the front and back side pieces in an upright state and suction-held by the work drawing means. There is a flap upward bending means for bending the flap inward by a bending operation upward, and a position facing the respective flaps of the left and right side plate portions of the carton, and by the bending operation in the horizontal direction, A left and right flap bending means for bending the pair of flaps of the left and right side plate portions so as to be overlapped on the flap bent by the flap upward bending means, and a position facing the other flap of the front and rear side plate portions of the carton. , The other of the front and rear side plates so as to be overlapped on the pair of flaps bent by the left and right flap bending means by the downward bending operation. A flap lower folding means for bending one flap, and a tip facing the central portion of the tip of the other flap of the front and rear side plates when the flap lower folding means is in the folding operation completion position, A carton having a bottom closing portion in a self-locking state is assembled by a flap fitting means for fitting the flap into the inside of the tip central portion of the one of the front and rear side plates by a pushing operation toward the central portion. And

[0007]

According to the apparatus of the present invention, the cartons are piled up in an aligned state on the work feeder section in the crushed state before being folded when they are shipped. Here, the carton is deposited with the side plate portion (one of the front and rear side plate portions) to which the flap that is first bent when forming the bottom closing portion is continuously provided and one of the left and right side plate portions adjacent to the side plate portion as the lower side. Then, the accumulated cartons are adsorbed and drawn downward one by one, and in the middle of which they are folded up in a tubular shape, and are supported by the front and rear abutting pieces so as to maintain the tubular shape, It is sucked and held at a predetermined assembly position. Then, the flap (one flap of the front and rear side plate portions) positioned on the lower side in the state of being folded up in a tubular shape and adsorbed and held is first folded inward, and then the flap that is first folded is placed above the flap. The left and right flaps are folded so that they overlap. Then, the flap located on the upper side (the other flap of the front and rear side plate portions) is bent so as to overlap the pair of left and right flaps, and the center end of the flap is fitted inside the center end of the first-folded flap. Then, the self-locking state is set. The carton with the self-locking bottom closure thus formed is then discharged and the assembly of the next carton begins.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment relates to a confectionery filling device, which is composed of a carton assembly unit indicated by reference numeral 1 and a filling unit indicated by reference numeral 2 in the drawings. Further, in the figure, reference numeral 3 indicates a carton, and 4 indicates contents (confectionery).

The carton assembly unit 1 is provided with a work feeder box 5 for depositing the cartons 3 in an aligned state in a crushed state before folding. Below the work feeder box 5, a work pull-in / support plate 7 in which a pair of vacuum suction cups 6 are freely inserted / removed is arranged, and the work pull-in / support plate 7 is deposited on the work feeder box 5. The cartons 3 are connected to the work drawing cylinder 8 so that the cartons 3 are sucked and moved one by one to a predetermined assembly position. Further, a suction operation cylinder 9 for loading / unloading the suction plate 6 is mounted on the work pull-in / support plate 7.

At the lower part of the work feeder box 5, there is arranged a work folding guide 10 which guides the carton 3 in one direction and folds it into a cylindrical shape while being pulled in by the work pulling-in / supporting plate 7. And work pull-in
A front contact piece 11 is disposed in front of the support plate 7 in the discharge direction, and the front contact piece 11 supports the cylindrical carton 3 from the front side in the discharge direction at the time of assembling the work, but prevents the discharge after the assembly is completed. It is connected to the front contact cylinder 12 so that it can be moved to the lower retracted position so that it does not come into contact. Also,
A rear contact piece 13 is arranged behind the workpiece pull-in / support plate 7 in the discharge direction. The rear contact piece 13 supports the cylindrical carton 3 from the rear in the discharge direction at the time of assembling the work, while the carton 3 is completed after the assembly is completed. So that the
It is connected to the work discharge cylinder 14.

On the side of the work drawing-in / supporting plate 7 and on the front side of the apparatus, a flap upward bending piece which can be pushed up obliquely upward by a flap cylinder 15 so as to bend a second bottom flap of the carton 3 described later inward. 16 is provided, and a flap lower bending piece 19 that is rotatable by a flap cylinder 18 via a rotary lever 17 is provided so as to bend a first bottom flap of the carton 3 described later inward. The flap downward bending piece 19
Is rotated to the folding completion position, it penetrates through the central opening 20 of the flap lower folding piece 19 and pushes the convex piece at the center of the tip of the first bottom flap of the carton to center the tip of the second bottom flap. A flap fitting rod 21 that is movable so as to fit inside the recessed portion of the flap is provided, and a flap fitting cylinder 22 that drives the flap fitting rod 21 is fixed to the support base 23 of the flap lower bending piece 19. ing. Further, at a position where the flap upper bent piece 16 and the flap lower bent piece 19 are sandwiched, a flap actuator 24 is rotationally driven to bend a third bottom flap and a fourth bottom flap, which will be described later, of the carton 3 inward. A pair of left and right flap bending pieces 25 are arranged.

The work feeder box 5 has a support shaft 26 for facilitating inspection when an abnormality such as a work clogging occurs.
It has a support structure that can be rotated rearward about. Further, a work alarm photo sensor 27 for detecting that the number of accumulated works is less than a predetermined number is arranged on the side of the work feeder box 5, and a detection signal of the photo sensor 27 is received above the work alarm photo sensor 27. Further, an abnormal patrol light 28 is arranged to receive a detection signal from a work jam sensor (not shown) and warn when the work is out or jammed.

The filling unit 2 is equipped with a carton-carrying belt conveyor 29 for carrying the carton 3 that has been assembled and discharged from the assembly unit 1. An inkjet nozzle 30 for printing the manufacturing date and the like on the bottom surface of the carton 3 is disposed in the middle of the belt conveyor 29 in the conveying direction.
An inkjet photo sensor 31 that detects that the carton 3 has been sent to the printing position is arranged in front of (the adjacent position on the rear side in the transport direction).

Further, a work reversing plate 32 is arranged in front of the belt conveyor 29 in the conveying direction, and the work reversing plate 32 is connected to a work reversing cylinder 33 so as to lift the upper portion of the carton 3 to invert it. There is. Further, in front of the work reversing plate 32, a reversing photo sensor 34 that detects that the carton 3 after printing has been conveyed to the reversing position and outputs a print instruction signal.
Are arranged.

Further, a first work stopper 35 is arranged further in front of the belt conveyor 29, and the work stopper 35 is perpendicular to the conveying direction so as to temporarily stop the inverted erect carton 35 at the filling standby position. It is connected to a first stopper cylinder 36 so that it can be moved to. Further, in front of the first work stopper 35, a stop photosensor 37 that detects that the inverted erect carton 35 has entered the stop position and outputs a stop signal is arranged. A second work stopper 38 is arranged at the end of the belt conveyor 29,
The second work stopper 38 is a carton 3 that is conveyed one by one with the first work stopper 35 opened.
Is connected to a second stopper cylinder 39 so that it can be moved up and down to stop at the filling position. Further, in front of the second work stopper 38, a filling photosensor 40 that detects that the carton 3 has entered the filling position and outputs a filling instruction signal is arranged.
In front of the second work stopper 38, after filling,
A stopper return photo sensor 41 is arranged which detects that the carton 3 is discharged and outputs a signal instructing the return of the second work stopper 38 to the stop position.

A belt conveyor 42 for carrying contents is disposed above the carton carrying belt conveyor 29 in parallel with the belt conveyor 29. The belt conveyor 42 for carrying contents is extended to above the filling position of the belt conveyor 29 for carrying cartons, and an opening / closing hopper 43 is arranged at the terminal end thereof. The hopper 43 sequentially accommodates the conveyed contents 4, and when the contents 4 reach a predetermined number, drops the contents 4 and fills the carton 3, and is connected to a hopper opening / closing cylinder 44. A content stopper 45 is arranged midway in the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 29. The stopper 45 moves to the stop position from the side so as to limit the number of contents 4 in the opening / closing hopper 43 to a certain number, and is connected to the contents stopper cylinder 46. A photo sensor 47 for counting the number of members is arranged in front of the content stopper 45 to output a stop command signal when the number of conveyed contents 4 reaches a certain number. In addition, a content supply belt conveyor 48 that conveys and supplies the content 4 from a packaging machine (not shown) is installed at the start end of the content transfer belt conveyor 42.

In front of the filling unit 2, an inlet side conveyor 49 for receiving the filled carton 3 and the conveyor 4
A checker unit 52 including a weight checker 50 that receives the carton 3 from 9 to perform a weight check and a discharge conveyor 51 that discharges the carton 3 that has undergone the weight check is installed. In the figure, 50a
Is a photo sensor for weight check that detects that the carton 3 has been placed at the check position, and 50b is a swingable guide bar for removing those whose weight is not within the normal range.

Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 53 is a vacuum pump for driving each cylinder and actuator,
Reference numeral 54 is an inkjet pump, and 55 is an inkjet control panel. Further, reference numeral 56 is an operation panel of this machine, and 57 is a control panel.

FIG. 2 is a surface view of the carton 3 assembled by the apparatus of this embodiment in a collapsed state before folding. This carton 3 has four side plate portions 301, 302, 303, 304 which are bendably connected to each other so as to form a tubular body. The side plate portions 301, 302, 3
The first to fourth bottom flaps 311, 312, 313, 314 are foldably connected to the lower end peripheral edge of each of the 03, 304, and the first to fourth lid flaps 321, 322, 323 are connected at the upper end peripheral edge. , 324 are connected in series, and the glued pieces connected to the front side plate portion 301 are glued to the left side plate portion 303. The four side plate portions 301, 302,
The second bottom flap 3 is formed by folding 303 and 304 in a tubular shape.
12 is folded, then the third flap 313 and the fourth flap 314 are folded, then the first bottom flap 311 is folded, and the convex piece 311A at the center of the tip of the first bottom flap 311 is fixed to the second bottom flap 312. A bottom closed portion in a self-locking state is formed by fitting it inside the concave portion 312B at the center of the tip, and after filling the contents, the left and right third lid flaps 323 and the fourth lid flap 324 are pressed, and the front and rear By covering the first lid flap 321 and the second lid flap 322 and fitting the engaging slit 321A at the tip of the first lid flap 321 and the engaging slit 322A at the tip of the second lid flap 322, the lid part closing portion Is formed.

3 to 8 are explanatory views of a carton assembling process by the apparatus of this embodiment.

The carton 3 is kept in the crushed state before folding (the state shown in FIG. 2), with the rear side plate portion 302 and the right side plate portion 303 facing down, as shown in FIG. 3 (a). Inserted into and deposited in line. Then, the work drawing-in / supporting plate 7 rises, the lowermost carton 3 is adsorbed and drawn downward as shown in FIG. 3 (b), and in the middle of the process, the carton 3 moves to the right side plate portion 303.
The connecting portion between the front side plate portion 301 and the front side plate portion 301 is guided obliquely downward by the work folding guide 10 to be folded up in a tubular shape, and by the front contact piece 11 and the rear contact piece 13 as shown in FIG. It is sucked and held at a predetermined assembly position while being supported in the front and rear. Then, in the carton 3 held in the assembly position, the second bottom flap 312 is bent inward as shown by an arrow in FIG. By rotating the left and right flap bending pieces 25, 25 inward, the third bottom flap 313 and the fourth bottom flap 314 are folded as shown by the arrow in FIG. Overlaid on. Then, by rotating the flap downward bending piece 19 downward, the first bottom flap 311 is bent as shown by an arrow in FIG. 6 and overlapped on the third bottom flap 313 and the fourth bottom flap 314. Then, at the position where the flap lower bending piece 19 has completed the bending operation, the pushing-in operation of the flap fitting rod 21 causes the protruding piece portion 311A at the center of the tip of the first bottom flap 311 to move to the position shown in FIG.
2nd bottom flap 31
2 is fitted into the concave portion 312A at the center of the tip. This forms a self-locking bottom closure. After that, as shown in FIG. 8, the front contact piece 11 moves to the retracted position, the suction by the carton pull-in / support plate 7 is stopped,
The suction pad 6 moves to the retracted position. Then, the carton 3 is pushed out in the discharging direction by the forward movement of the rear contact piece 13.

The carton 3 having the bottom closed portion is conveyed by the carton conveying belt conveyer 29 while being laid down sideways, and the manufacturing date is printed on the bottom surface by the ink jet nozzle 30 in the middle thereof. Then, thereafter, it is inverted by the work reversing plate 32 to be in an upright state. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the carton 3 in the upright state as viewed from the diagonally right front side.

The inverted erect carton 3 is temporarily held at the filling standby position by the first work stopper 35, and after the preceding carton 3 is discharged from the filling position,
The work stopper 35 opens and is transported to the filling position,
The second work stopper 38 holds the filling position. On the other hand, the contents 4 are the belt conveyors 4 for supplying the contents.
8 is supplied to the contents conveying belt conveyor 42, the number of members is counted, and the contents are restricted by the contents stopper 45 to a fixed number and stored in the open / close hopper 48. Then, the open / close hopper 48 is opened and the contents 4 are dropped and filled in the carton 3. After the filling, the second work stopper 38 is moved to the retracted position, and the carton 3 is sent to the checker unit 52. Then, the quantity check of the contents is performed by the weight check.

[0025]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to automatically and efficiently assemble a lock bottom carton, which contributes to improved productivity and cost reduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a crushed state surface view of a carton assembled by the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view (1) of a carton assembling process by the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a carton assembling process by the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention (Part 2).

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view (3) of a carton assembling process by the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a carton assembling process by the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention (Part 4).

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view (5) of a carton assembling process by the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view (6) of a carton assembling process by the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a carton assembled by the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Carton Assembly Unit 2 Filling Unit 3 Carton 4 Contents 5 Work Feeder Box 6 Vacuum Suction Plate 7 Work Retracting / Supporting Plate 8 Work Retracting Cylinder 9 Suction Operation Cylinder 10 Work Erecting Guide 11 Front Retaining Piece 12 Front Retaining Cylinder 13 Rear Retaining Piece 14 Work discharge cylinder 15 Flap cylinder 16 Flap upper bending piece 18 Flap cylinder 19 Flap lower bending piece 21 Flap fitting rod 22 Flap fitting cylinder 24 Flap actuator 25 Left and right flap bending piece

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A flap is foldably connected to the lower end rim of each of four front and rear left and right side plate portions that are foldably connected so as to form a tubular body, and the four side plate portions are folded into a tubular shape. Stand up, fold one flap of the front and rear side plate parts, fold a pair of flaps of the left and right side plate parts so as to partially overlap the folded flap, then fold the other flap of the front and rear side plate parts, and then fold this flap. A device for automatically assembling a lock-bottom type carton capable of forming a bottom closing part in a self-locking state with these four flaps by fitting the center part of the tip part inside the center part of the one of the front and rear flaps. And
The collapsed carton before folding is attached to the work feeder part in which the one side of the front and rear side plate parts and one of the left and right side plate parts are arranged in an aligned state, and the carton accumulated on the work feeder part is adsorbed. For the work drawing means that draws the pieces downward one by one and holds them in a predetermined assembly position in a sucked state, and the carton drawn by the work drawing means,
At the position where the connecting portion between the other of the front and rear side plate portions and the one of the left and right side plate portions of the carton abuts, the connecting portion is bent so as to fold the carton in a tubular shape with the pulling operation of the work pulling means. One of the left and right side plate portions of the carton that is folded and suction-held with respect to the work folding guide that guides obliquely downward and the carton that is guided by the work folding guide and drawn to the assembly position by the work drawing means. And a front contact piece and a rear contact piece that support the carton from the front side and the rear side in the discharge direction, and are supported by the front contact piece and the rear contact piece in an upright state. It is located at a position facing the one flap of the front and rear side plate portions of the carton suction-held by the work drawing means, and is bent by an upward bending operation. The flap upward bending means for bending the wrap inward and the flaps bent by the flap upward bending means at a position facing the respective flaps of the left and right side plate portions of the carton by the folding operation in the horizontal direction. Left and right flap bending means for bending the pair of flaps of the left and right side plate portions so as to be overlapped with each other, and the left and right flap bending means at a position facing the other flap of the front and rear side plate portions of the carton When the flap lower folding means for folding the other flap of the front and rear side plates to overlap the pair of flaps folded by the flap folding means and the flap lower folding means are at the folding operation completion position, At the position facing the center of the tip of the other flap of the side plate, the flap is moved forward by the pushing operation toward the center of the tip. Rock Bottom type carton automatic assembling apparatus characterized by assembling a carton bottom closure of the self-locking state is formed by a flap fitting means fitted to the inside of the central end portion of the one flap of the side plates.