JPH07215314A - Method of taking out and feeding empty bag from bag storage container for automatic packaging machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a bag feeding device capable of deliverying an empty bag to a holding mechanism while correcting the fore and aft directions of the empty bag even in the case where the empty bags are stacked irregularly in their fore and aft directions in a bag storage container. CONSTITUTION:Empty bags (a) of which the thickness of an opening is different from that of a bottom are vertically contained in a bag storage container 5 and, in this case, the empty bags (a) are contained in a substantially horizontal state by stacking the empty bags (a) while suitably changing the direction of their openings and bottoms. A sensor 11 for identifying the directions of the opening and bottom of each of the bags in the bag storage container 5 and a pair of suction cups 9a, 9b capable of sucking the opening and bottom together and taking up the empty bag (a) are provided above the bag storage container 5. Further, an empty bag (a) take-out means capable of being rotated at a predetermined angle is also disposed. Thus, the empty bag (a) sucked by the suction cups 9a, 9b of the empty bag (a) take-out means is fed while being rotated at a predetermined angle on the basis of an identification signal from the sensor 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an empty bag unloading and feeding method for picking up empty bags one by one in an automatic packaging machine for foods and supplying them to the automatic packaging machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 4, a basic packaging system of an automatic packaging machine for food or the like is a bag for picking up and supplying empty bags one by one from a bag storage device A for storing empty bags for filling. Supply process (I), date stamping process (II) that stamps the product manufacturing date on an empty bag, bag opening process (II) that opens the mouth of the empty bag
I), a filling step (IV) for opening and filling the filling pump P from the storage tank G in which the food is stored in the bag, a closing step (V) for closing the mouth of the empty bag and a sealing step (VI), and packaging. It is composed of a discharging process (VII) for discharging the completed bag to the outside, and each process is automatically continued while rotating around the rotary table T in conjunction with the table T. ing.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional bag feeding apparatus used in the bag feeding step (I), which includes a bottom plate 1'and side plates 5 '.
After the empty bag a stacked on the receiving plate 2'in the bag storage device consisting of a and 5'b is sucked by the suction cup 9'and passed to the lifting gripping mechanism D, the gripping mechanism D is indicated by the arrow. Then, the bag is swung upward to supply the empty bag a to the next process.
When the number of empty bags a in the bag storage device decreases, the motor 8'is driven each time and the leg 4'is passed through the pinion 7'and the rack 6 '.
Is raised and the upper surface of the empty bag a is raised little by little via the receiving plate 2 ', and when the empty bag in the container is low, the empty bag is newly replenished.

[0004]

There are many types of empty bags used for automatic packaging depending on the type and form of the filling material. Among them, for example, a self-standing bag in which the bottom part is double-folded is used. In the empty bag state, the bottom portion becomes thicker than the opening portion. Therefore, if the orientation (opening portion) is aligned and stacked in the bag container, the bottom side will jump up extremely as shown in the figure. Therefore, there is a drawback that the maximum number of stacked sheets is reduced and the number of filling of empty bags is increased.

Moreover, since the upper surface of the uppermost bag is not flat but is inclined, the adsorption becomes insufficient when it is adsorbed by the suction cup, and the posture of the empty bags when they are stacked is inclined and handed over to the gripping mechanism. However, there are disadvantages such as that it does not work well and that it causes troubles in the supply to the automatic packaging machine.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, that is, a feature of the present invention is that an empty space in which the thickness of the opening portion and the thickness of the bottom portion are different in the height direction in the bag container. A bag is stored in the bag. At that time, the empty bag is stacked by appropriately changing the direction of the opening and the bottom of the bag so that the empty bag can be stored in a substantially horizontal and flat state. A sensor that identifies the orientation of the opening and bottom of the bag inside the container, and a pair of suction cups that can adsorb and lift both the opening and bottom of the empty bag. The empty bag take-out and supply means is provided, and the empty bag sucked by the suction cup of the empty bag take-out and supply means is rotated by a predetermined angle so that the opening of the empty bag is in a specific direction based on the identification signal of the sensor. The feature is that it is supplied to the automatic packaging machine while being mixed.

[0007]

According to the identification of the sensors, a sensor for identifying the opening and the bottom of the empty bag and a pair of suction cups for sucking and lifting the opening and the bottom of the empty bag at the same time are appropriately provided above the bag storage device. Since the empty bag take-out and supply means for rotating at a predetermined angle is arranged, even if the relationship between the empty bag opening and the bottom is irregularly stacked in the bag storage container, there is no relation. That is, the empty bag openings can be delivered to the gripping mechanism of the automatic packaging machine such that the openings of the empty bags are always aligned in a fixed direction.

Therefore, when stacking empty bags in the bag storage device, for example, empty bags having different front and rear thicknesses such as self-supporting bags are stacked every predetermined number of sheets, or the orientation is changed appropriately to obtain the maximum number of storage bags. It is possible to increase the number and to keep the upper surface of the uppermost bag in a substantially horizontal and flat state.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the entire structure of the empty bag unloading and supplying means.
Reference numeral 1 is a bottom plate, and 5 is a bag storage device composed of standing side plates. Two
Is a receiving plate built in the bag storage device, and has support legs 4 provided below for stacking and moving up and down empty bags a, and a rack 6 is engraved in a certain length range of the support legs 4. The rack 6 is engaged with a gear 7 of a motor 8 fixed to the apparatus. At this time, reference numeral 4'denotes an auxiliary rod provided adjacent to the support leg 4 and is provided with limit switches S ₁ and S ₂ for setting the upper and lower limits of the lifting and lowering of the support leg 4 within a fixed distance range.

Reference numerals 9a and 9b denote a pair of suction cups arranged above the bag accumulator having the above-mentioned structure, and allow the opening and bottom of the empty bag to be adsorbed to the left and right ends of the support plate 13 at the same time. The support cylinders 13 are supported at opposing intervals, and the central portion of the support plate 13 is fixedly attached to the cylinder shaft 14 of the rotary cylinder 12, and the rotary cylinder 12 is attached to the support column 15 on the apparatus side via the bracket 16. Reference numeral 11 is a photoelectric sensor for identifying the color or pattern of the surface of the empty bag a sucked up by the suction cups 9a and 9b and detecting the front-back direction of the empty bag. It is attached to the side plate 5 of the container via an L-shaped bracket 17.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3A and 3B. On the receiving plate 2 inside the bag storage, empty bags a having different thicknesses at the opening and the bottom are laminated for each predetermined number of sheets by changing the direction thereof. Therefore, the empty bag a at the top
The upper surface of the is kept substantially horizontal and flat. When the bag feeding operation is started, the suction cups 9a and 9b descend and come into contact with the uppermost empty bag a stacked in the bag container to surely suck and lift a little. At this time, the pattern or color drawn on the surface of the empty bag a is identified by the photoelectric sensor 11, and the direction of the opening of the empty bag is determined.

For example, when it is determined that the opening of the empty bag a is on the front side (the automatic packaging machine side), it is delivered to the gripping mechanism 10 in its normal state as shown in FIG. 2 and supplied to the next step.
Further, for example, when it is determined that the opening of the empty bag a is in the opposite direction, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the rotary cylinder 12 is driven based on the signal and the empty bag a is sucked together with the suction cups 9a and 9b. Then, it is turned 180 degrees to be in a normal state and then passed to the gripping mechanism.

By performing the above operation for each empty bag, even if the opening and bottom of the empty bag are stacked irregularly in the bag container, they are always aligned in a fixed direction. And is delivered to the gripping mechanism. Therefore, even if an empty bag has an opening and a bottom that have different thicknesses, an empty bag or the like sent from a bag maker in a set of a predetermined number (50 or 100) is appropriately used. By stacking with the orientation of the opening and bottom changed, it is possible to increase the stacking height in a stable state compared to the case where all of them are similarly aligned and stacked, and the top surface of the stacked bag at this time is almost Since it is held in a horizontal flat state, the suction by the suction cups 9a and 9b can be performed quickly and appropriately.

[0014]

As described above, in the case of stacking empty bags in the bag storage device, empty bags having different thicknesses at the opening and the bottom, such as a self-supporting bag, are changed every predetermined number of sheets, or the orientation is changed appropriately. By stacking the stacks, the maximum number of bags can be significantly increased, which reduces the number of empty bags to be refilled, and the top of the uppermost empty bag can be held in a substantially horizontal and flat state so that suction by suction cups can be performed reliably. Therefore, there is an excellent effect that a stable bag supply operation is always executed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a supply device that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view of the supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the supply device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an automatic packaging system.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a conventional bag feeding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 bottom plate 2 receiving plate 4 support leg 5 bag storage device 6 rack 8 motor 9a, 9b suction cup 11 photoelectric sensor 12 rotating cylinder a empty bag

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bag for accommodating empty bags having different thicknesses in an opening and a bottom in a height direction in a bag storage device, wherein empty bags are laminated while appropriately changing the directions of the opening and the bottom. As a result, the empty bag is stored in a substantially horizontal and flat state, and a sensor for identifying the direction of the opening and bottom of the bag inside the bag storage device and the adsorption of both the opening and bottom of the empty bag storage device on the bag storage device. And a pair of suction cups that can be lifted up, and an empty bag unloading and supplying means that can rotate at a predetermined angle is provided, and the empty bag sucked by the suction cup of the empty bag unloading and supplying means is identified by the sensor. An empty bag from a bag storage device for an automatic packaging machine, characterized in that it is supplied to the automatic packaging machine while being rotated by a predetermined angle so that the opening of the empty bag is in a specific direction based on a signal. Take-out and supply method.