JPH0776315A - Vegetable automatic packaging machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a vegetable automatic packaging machine which can automatically package a vegetable with one end being opened, and in addition, can perform a favorable packaging with one end being opened in response to the length of a vegetable to be packaged by optionally and variably setting a cutting pitch of a film in response with the length of the vegetable. CONSTITUTION:A vegetable automatic packaging machine is equipped with a film feeding part A, a shaping part B which shapes a film A fed from the film feeding part A into a receiving condition for a vegetable to be fed, a carrying part for C which carries the film F on which a vegetable is put, and a line sealing part D which is provided above the carrying part C and heat-seals the upper ends Fa, Fb of the film in the carrying direction. In addition, the vegetable automatic packaging machine is equipped with an end sealing part E which is provided at the next step to the carrying part C and cuts the end part of the preceding film in which a vegetable is inserted, and at the same time, heat-seals the start part of the following film, and a timer means which optionally and variably sets a cutting pitch for the film F by the end sealing part E, in response to the length of the vegetable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic vegetable wrapping machine for opening and packaging leaf vegetables (soft vegetables) such as spinach, chrysanthemums, high vegetables and komatsuna in a single mouth.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the above-mentioned open-ended single-mouth opening and packaging of vegetables has a problem that the workability is extremely poor and a lot of work time is required because it is performed manually by an operator.

[0003]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, vegetables can be automatically opened and packaged in a single mouth, and the cutting pitch of the film can be arbitrarily changed according to the length of the vegetables. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic vegetable wrapping machine that can perform good one-sided open packaging corresponding to the length of vegetables to be packaged by setting.

According to the invention of claim 2 of the present invention, in addition to the object of the invention of claim 1, there is provided an automatic vegetable packaging machine capable of performing a good one-sided open packaging corresponding to the width of the vegetables to be packaged. To aim.

In addition to the object of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, the invention described in claim 3 of the present invention sucks a film on which vegetables are mounted onto a belt conveying surface to thereby reduce the feed length of the film. It is an object to provide an automatic vegetable packaging machine that can improve accuracy.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a film supply section, and a shaping section for shaping the film from the film supply section into a state of receiving the supplied vegetables.
A transport unit that transports the film on which the vegetables are placed, a line seal unit that is provided above the transport unit and heat seals the upper end of the film in the transport direction, and a vegetable that is provided in the next stage of the transport unit and in which the vegetables are inserted. While cutting the end part of the preceding film, the end seal part that heat-welds the start part of the subsequent film and the cutting pitch of the film by the above end seal part can be arbitrarily set according to the length of the vegetables. An automatic vegetable wrapping machine provided with a timer means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the invention, the shaping section is disposed in the middle of the fixing member, and is disposed outside at least one of the fixing members. The automatic vegetable packaging machine is provided with the movable member and the adjusting means for adjusting the movable member according to the width of the vegetables.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect of the invention, the conveying section includes an endless belt stretched between front and rear rollers, and the endless belt is provided. The automatic vegetable wrapping machine is characterized in that a large number of small holes are bored in and a suction means for sucking the film on the endless belt to the belt conveying surface through the small holes is provided.

[0009]

According to the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention, the film supplied from the film supply section to the shaping section is shaped by the shaping section into the state of receiving the supplied vegetables, and then is conveyed by the conveying section. It is transported toward the end seal part.

When vegetables are supplied onto the film in the shaping section, the film is conveyed by the conveying section, and the upper end of the film is conveyed in the conveying direction by the line seal section provided above the conveying section. When the film with the vegetables is heat-sealed and then reaches the end seal part, the end part of the front film corresponding to the one-sided opening part is cut, and the start part of the subsequent film that becomes the bottom of the envelope is cut. Is heat-welded, and by repeating such operations,
Vegetables are automatically opened and packaged in a single mouth.

Moreover, since the timer means for arbitrarily setting the cutting pitch of the film by the above-mentioned end seal portion in accordance with the length of the vegetables is provided, when the vegetables having a long length are connected by the timer means. For vegetables having a long time and a short length, setting the duration time by the timer means to be short has an effect that the one-sided open packaging suitable for the length of the packaged vegetables can be performed.

According to the invention of claim 2 of the present invention,
In addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the width dimension of the shaping part can be variably adjusted by operating the adjusting means described above, so that the one-sided opening is suitable for the width and quantity of the vegetables to be packaged. There is an effect that packaging can be performed.

According to the invention of claim 3 of the present invention,
In addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, the film on the endless belt is sucked to the belt conveying surface through a large number of small holes of the endless belt by the operation of the suction means to prevent the film from bending. Since it can be eliminated, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the feed length of the film, and it is possible to surely avoid the phenomenon of biting of the film by preventing bending.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The drawings show an automatic vegetable wrapping machine, and in FIGS. 1 to 4, the automatic vegetable wrapping machine supplies a film F (specifically, a transparent plain film or a film with a registration mark) having a thickness of about 30 μm. And a shaping section B provided almost directly above the film supply section A for shaping the film F supplied from the film supply section A into a fed vegetable receiving state having a substantially concave cross section, and the shaping section described above. A transport section C that is provided in the next stage of B and transports the film F on which the vegetables V (see FIG. 4) are mounted in the horizontal direction, and the film upper ends Fa and Fb provided above the transport section C in the transport direction. The line seal part D to be heat-sealed and the end part Fe corresponding to the one-sided opening part of the preceding film F, which is provided in the next stage of the above-mentioned transport part C and into which the vegetables V are inserted, are cut, and the subsequent film F Start section F to be wrapped bottom
The end seal portion E for heat-sealing s, the carry-out portion G for carrying out the pack P (see FIG. 4) provided in the next stage of the end seal portion E, in which the vegetables V are opened and packaged in one mouth, in the horizontal direction, and the shaping described above. The part B is provided with a vegetable supply part H for automatically supplying the vegetables V.

In the film supply section A, the film F is wound around the winding core 1, and the film F is horizontally held by the two support rollers 2 and 3, and the plurality of guide rollers 4, 5, 6 are provided. 7, 8 and a pair of upper and lower paired rollers 9,
The above-mentioned film F is configured to be supplied to the shaping section B via 9.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a registration mark sensor 10 for detecting the registration mark L of the film F with a registration mark is disposed between the guide rollers 7 and 8. In this embodiment, the registration mark sensor 10 is composed of a photoelectric tube sensor, and the registration mark sensor 10 is attached to the frame 11 so as to be vertically adjustable.

On the other hand, the shaping section B is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the shaping section B has the fixed member 12 arranged in the middle and the movable members 13 and 14 arranged on both sides of the fixed member 12, and the block 15 attached to the lower surface of the fixed member 12 described above. , The movable members 1 on both sides, which are fixed to the frame top plate 17 (see FIG. 1) via the support members 16.
3 and 14 through brackets 18 and 18, respectively,
The cylinder shafts 19 and 19 are attached.

Then, the block 15 and the cylinder shaft 1 described above are used.
The screw 20 is stretched between 9 and 19, and the screw 20
By operating the operation knob 21 at one end, the respective cylinder shafts 19, 1
By the reverse screw configuration screwed to 9, the above three, 12, 1
The width of the supplied vegetable receiving space α formed by 3, 14 is reduced as indicated by arrow a in FIG. 6 or enlarged as indicated by arrow b in FIG. 6 to correspond to the width and quantity of vegetables V. The width dimension of the supply vegetable receiving space α is configured to be expandable and contractable. Further, a guide rod as a guide means is provided at a position parallel to the screw 20 described above, but the guide rod is not shown. Further, the flat film F sent from the above-mentioned film supply unit A in this shaping unit B.
Is formed into a predetermined shape.

The above-mentioned transport section C is constructed as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 7. That is, the endless belt 24 is stretched between the driving roller 22 and the driven roller 23 to form the conveyor 25 (see FIG. 12), and the endless belt 24 has a plurality of small rows arranged in a plurality of rows in the circumferential direction. Hole 26
... is drilled. In addition, the above-mentioned endless belt 24
Is composed of, for example, a rubber flat belt.

Moreover, an air suction box 27 is arranged between the upper and lower belts, and a large number of small holes 28 are formed in the upper wall of the air suction box 27, and the large number of small holes 28 form an air suction chamber. The inside and outside of 29 are communicated with each other, and the outlet port 30 communicated with this air suction chamber 29 is connected to a suction blower 31 via an air suction duct (not shown) so that when the suction blower 31 operates, the endless belt 24 Film F of each of the above-mentioned small holes 26, 2
It is configured to be sucked to the belt conveying surface via 8. In this embodiment, the air suction box 27 is supported by the support members 32, 32, and the front and rear rollers 22, 23 are rotatably supported by the air suction box 27.

The above-mentioned line seal portion D is constructed as shown in FIGS. 2, 8 and 9. That is, the chain 36 is stretched between the driving sprocket 33 and the two driven sprockets 34 and 35 so as to form a triangle when seen from a plane, and the chain 36 side shown in FIG. 9 and the pinch roller side shown in FIG. It is configured to drive in conjunction with.

The configuration on the pinch roller side shown in FIG. 8 is such that the driven sprocket shaft 34a has the gear 37 and the pinch roller 3 attached thereto.
8 is mounted, a pinch roller shaft 41 is arranged on a swing lever 40 which can swing around a support shaft 39 as a fulcrum, and a pinch roller 43 with a gear 42 is attached to the pinch roller shaft 41, and a spring of a spring 44 is attached. Each gear 37,4 by force
2 are engaged with each other, and the pinch rollers 38 and 43 are arranged to face each other, and by operating the operating lever 45, these elements, that is, the gears 37 and 42, the pinch roller 3
It is configured to release the paired installation of 8 and 43. In this embodiment, the rotational speed of each of the pinch rollers 38 and 43 described above is set to be slightly high, and the shaping section B and each pinch roller 3 are set.
The upper ends Fa and Fb of the film between 8 and 43 are configured to have a predetermined tension.

In the construction on the line sealer side shown in FIG. 9, a gear 46 and one line sealer 47 are attached to a driven sprocket shaft 35a, and a gear 49 is attached to a shaft 48 which can be separately pivoted with respect to the driven sprocket shaft 35a. The other line sealer 50 is attached, and the gears 46 and 49 are meshed with each other and the line sealers 47 and 50 are provided in a pair by a contacting / separating configuration substantially similar to FIG.

The necessary parts on the pinch roller side and the line sealer side are surrounded by the cover members 51 and 52, and are supported by the frame top plate 17 via the horizontal supporting members 53 and the vertical supporting members 54. Has been done. Further, on the front side of the position where the pinch rollers are arranged, the film upper end F
An inverted U-shaped film guide 55 for preventing contact between a and Fb, and a pair of film guides 56 and 5 for guiding the upper ends Fa and Fb of the films between the pinch rollers 38 and 43.
7 and 7 are arranged.

The above-mentioned end seal portion E is shown in FIGS.
It is configured as shown in. That is, upper and lower end sealer drive shafts 58 and 59 are arranged parallel to each other in the vertical direction, and gears 60 and 61 are attached to one ends of the end sealer drive shafts 58 and 59, respectively. The upper and lower end sealer drive shafts 58 and 59 are configured to be synchronously driven by meshing with each other.

The upper and lower end sealer drive shafts 58, 5
The upper and lower end sealers 62 and 63 are attached to 9 and the end sealers 62 and 63 are set wider than the width of the film F, and the upper end sealer 62 has a receiving blade 64.
A cutting blade 65 is attached to each of the lower end sealers 63.

Further, the metallic sensing plate 6 having a recess 66 at the other end of the upper end sealer drive shaft 58.
7 is installed and each of the elements is returned to the origin position shown in FIG. 10 by detecting the recess 66 with the proximity switch 68, while the end sealer drive shaft 58,
When 59 is rotated from the state of FIG. 10 as shown in FIG. 11, the blades 64 and 65 cut the end portion Fe corresponding to the one-ended opening portion of the preceding film F, and the encapsulation of the succeeding film F is performed. The start portion Fs, which is the bottom portion, is provided with
63a is configured to be heat-welded. Note that, in FIG. 4, the end seal portion E is not shown for convenience of illustration.

In the carry-out section G, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, an endless carry-out belt 73 is stretched between the rollers 69, 70, 71 and 72 to constitute a carry-out conveyor 74 (see FIG. 12). is doing.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the above-mentioned vegetable supply section H, an endless carry-in belt 76 is stretched between rollers 75, 75 (however, only one is shown in the drawing), and the carry-in conveyor 7 is provided.
7 (see FIG. 12), and a vegetable detection sensor 78 for detecting passage of the vegetables V is arranged on the vegetable V carrying-in line side. The vegetable detection sensor 78 is composed of, for example, a photoelectric tube sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, etc., and is provided so that its position can be adjusted.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the operation switch 81 and the stop switch 8 are provided on the operation panel 80 of the apparatus main body 79.
2, a blower switch 83, a timer unit 86 integrally configured with a timer setting unit 84 and a cut pitch setting timer 85 (see FIG. 12) and other various instruments and switches are provided. Here, as the timer device 86, the timer setting unit and the cut pitch setting timer may have different configurations. This timer device 86 is a timer means for arbitrarily variably setting the cutting pitch of the film F by the above-mentioned end seal portion E in accordance with the length of the vegetable V.

FIG. 12 shows a control circuit of the automatic vegetable wrapping machine. The CPU 90 includes a vegetable detection sensor 78, an operation switch 81, a stop switch 82, a timer setting section 84, a proximity switch 68, a registration mark sensor 10, and a blower switch 83.
Based on various signal inputs from the power source lamp 88 and the first motor 9 according to the programs stored in the ROM 87.
1, second motor 92, third motor 93, fourth motor 9
4, the line heater 95, the fifth motor 96, the end heater 97, the cut pitch setting timer 85, and the suction blower 31 are drive-controlled, and the RAM 89 stores various necessary data.

Here, the first motor 91 described above continuously drives the carry-in conveyor 77 of the vegetable supply section H at a predetermined speed (lower than the transfer speed of the transfer section C), and the second motor 92 causes the transfer section C to move.
Of the transport conveyor 25 of the carry-out conveyor 74 of the carry-out section G is driven by the tact drive (intermittent drive) at a predetermined speed.
At a predetermined speed, the fourth motor 94 rotationally drives the pinch rollers 38, 43 and the line sealers 47, 50 in a predetermined direction via the chain 36 of the line seal portion D, and the fifth motor 96 drives the end seal portion E. End sealer 62,
63 is driven and controlled in the states shown in FIGS. The above-mentioned line heater 95 is built in each line sealer 47, 50, and the end heater 97 is built in each end sealer 62, 63.

By the way, there are two types of films F used in this automatic vegetable wrapping machine, a plain film and a film having registration marks L (see FIG. 5) at predetermined intervals.
When a plain film is used, each element is controlled based on the duration time set by the timer setting section 84, and when a film having a registration mark L is used, each element is controlled based on a detection signal of the registration mark sensor 10. Generally, the film conveyance is started by the detection signal of the vegetable detection sensor 78, and the film conveyance is stopped based on the time-up or the detection of the registration mark.

The illustrated embodiment is configured as described above, and the operation will be described below. First, the operation when using the plain film will be described. The timer setting unit 84 is operated in advance corresponding to the length of the vegetable V, and the supplied vegetable receiving space α shown in FIG. 6 corresponding to the width of the vegetable V and the packaging quantity. Adjust the width of the.

Next, the vegetables V are successively placed on the continuous drive type carry-in belt 76 of the vegetable supply section H at a certain interval, and the vegetables V are received by the carry-in belt 76 in the supplied vegetable receiving space α in the supplied vegetable receiving state. It is automatically supplied onto a film F having a concave cross section.

When the vegetable V on the carry-in belt 76 is detected by the vegetable detection sensor 78, the completion of the supply of this vegetable V to the supplied vegetable receiving space α is detected by a delay circuit (not shown) as necessary and cut. The pitch setting timer 85 is started (started). Film F in the above-mentioned supply vegetable receiving space α
The vegetables V supplied above are transported together with the film F by driving the endless belt 24 of the transport section C.

On the other hand, the film F is sucked to the belt conveying surface by the air suction from the small holes 26 and 28 by the driving of the suction blower 31, and the upper ends Fa and Fb of the film F are guided to the film guides 56 and 57, respectively. Since it is pulled by the pair of pinch rollers 38 and 43 via 58, a good substantially triangular film posture as shown in FIG. 7 is maintained.

The upper end F of the film F is driven by driving the endless belt 24 and the pinch rollers 38 and 43 described above.
When a and Fb reach the line sealer 47, 50 installation part,
The upper ends Fa and Fb of each film are heat-sealed while being conveyed in the conveying direction by a pair of line sealers 47 and 50.

Next, when the film F having the vegetables V inserted therein reaches the end seal portion E, the end sealers 62 and 63 in the standby state shown in FIG. 10 are driven from the state shown in FIG. 10 to the state shown in FIG. The end portion Fe corresponding to the one-ended opening portion of the front film F is cut and the subsequent film F
Since the start part Fs, which is the wrapping bottom part, is heat-welded, by repeating such an operation, the vegetables V are automatically sequentially opened and packaged in a single mouth as shown in FIG.

When using the above-described plain film, the time from the time when the vegetable V is supplied to the supplied vegetable receiving space α to the time when the motor 96 for driving the end sealers 62, 63 is driven is set by the timer device 86. Because
The 5th due to the time up of the cut pitch setting timer 85
The motor 96 is controlled, and the end sealers 62 and 63 are further controlled.
After completion of heat welding by the
Each element shown in 1 returns to the origin position in FIG.

On the other hand, when the film with the registration mark L is used, if the vegetable V is set to be supplied between the opaque registration marks L and L provided on the transparent film F at predetermined intervals, Registration mark L by mark 10
Based on the detection signal of 1, the same operation as described above can be achieved.

In summary, since the timer means (see timer device 86) for arbitrarily setting the cutting pitch of the film F by the end seal portion E in correspondence with the length of the vegetable V is provided, for vegetables having a long length, For example, by setting the duration time by the timer means to be long and setting the duration time by the timer means to be short for vegetables having a short length, an appropriate one-sided mouth without excess or deficiency corresponding to the length of the vegetables V to be packaged. There is an effect that it can be opened and packed.

Further, since the width dimension of the supplied vegetable receiving space α in the shaping section B can be arbitrarily variably adjusted by operating the adjusting means (see the operating knob 21 and the screw 20) shown in FIG. There is an effect that suitable one-sided opening and packaging can be performed according to the width and quantity of the.

Further, by actuating the suction means (see suction blower 31), the film F on the endless belt 24 is sucked to the belt conveying surface through the small holes 26 of the endless belt 24, and the film F is bent in the conveying direction. Since it is possible to eliminate the problem, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the feed length of the film F, and it is possible to reliably avoid the phenomenon of biting of the film F by preventing the bending.

In addition, as shown in the above embodiment, when the above-mentioned shaping section B is provided with the vegetable supply section H for automatically supplying the vegetables V, the operator sets a certain distance on the carry-in belt 76. Since the vegetables V can be automatically supplied only by placing the vegetables V on a separate basis, the workability can be greatly improved.

Of course, the vegetable supply unit H may be omitted, and the worker may manually supply the vegetables V directly onto the film F in the supplied vegetable receiving space of the shaping unit B. In this case, if the operation switch 81 is turned on after the vegetable V is manually supplied, the same operation and effect as described above can be obtained.

FIG. 13 shows another embodiment of the automatic vegetable wrapping machine. In the previous embodiment, the above-mentioned vegetable feeding section H is arranged in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the wrapping machine. In this embodiment shown, the vegetable supply unit H is arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction of the packaging machine, and the carry-in line of the carry-in belt 76 is set slightly above the bottom of the supplied vegetable receiving space α.
It is configured to prevent the biting of the vegetables V.

According to this structure, the length of the vegetable V is not restricted by the belt width, so that the versatility can be expanded. In other respects, the same operation and effect as those of the previous embodiment can be obtained, and therefore, in FIG. 13, the same parts as those in the previous figure are designated by the same reference numerals and symbols, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 14 shows still another embodiment of the automatic vegetable packaging machine, in which the actuators 100, 1 are provided between the shaping section B and the vegetable supply section H which automatically supplies the vegetables V from the orthogonal direction.
00, a pair of movable hoppers 102, 102 that open and close around the fulcrum portions 101, 101 are provided. Even if constituted in this way, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. Therefore, in FIG. 14, the same parts as those in the previous figure are designated by the same reference numerals and symbols, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted. To do.

In the correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment, the timer means of the present invention corresponds to the timer device 86 of the embodiment, and hereinafter, the adjusting means is the operation knob 2 as well.
1 and the screw 20, and the suction means corresponds to the suction blower 31, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

For example, instead of the control of the CPU 20, the vegetables may be automatically packaged by the sequence circuit control.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an automatic vegetable packaging machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a main part.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a registration mark sensor.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a shaping unit and a supply unit.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line YY of FIG.

8 is a sectional view taken along the line WW of FIG.

9 is a sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ZZ of FIG.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of the operation of the end seal portion.

FIG. 12 is a control circuit block diagram.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a left side view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A ... Film supply section B ... Shaping section C ... Conveying section D ... Line sealing section E ... End sealing section F ... Film Fa, Fb ... Film upper end Fe ... End section Fs ... Start section 12 ... Fixed member 13, 14 ... Movable member 20 ... Screw 21 ... Operation knob 22, 23 ... Roller 24 ... Endless belt 26 ... Small hole 31 ... Suction blower 86 ... Timer device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A film supply section, a shaping section for shaping a film from the film supply section into a state of receiving a supplied vegetable, a transport section for transporting a film on which vegetables are mounted, and a transport section provided above the transport section. , The line seal part for heat-sealing the upper end of the film in the transport direction and the end part of the preceding film in which the vegetables are inserted, which is provided in the next stage of the transport part, are cut, and the start part of the subsequent film is heat-welded. An automatic vegetable wrapping machine comprising: an end seal part and a timer means for arbitrarily variably setting a cutting pitch of the film by the end seal part according to the length of the vegetables. 2. The shaping unit comprises a fixed member arranged in the middle, a movable member arranged outside at least one of the fixed members, and an adjusting means for adjusting the movable member according to the width of the vegetables. The automatic vegetable packaging machine according to claim 1, which is provided. 3. The conveying section includes an endless belt stretched between front and rear rollers, and a large number of small holes are formed in the endless belt, and the film on the endless belt is passed through the small holes. The automatic vegetable packaging machine according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising suction means for sucking on the belt conveying surface.