JPH09240621A - Cartom piling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a caton piling apparatus capable of sufficiently coping with even somewhat varied kinds and sizes of cartons while piling a gear deal of cartons and further securely delivering the cartons. SOLUTION: While piling parts 10 are formed by a plurality of partition bodies 12 and planar cartons are piled horizontally in the erected piling parts, the piling parts 10 are circulatively driven between a feeding position α and delivering position β by a transport means 20. After the cartons are disconnected from each other by blowing air against the cartons with an air blowing device in the delivering position β, the rear carton is pressed from above by a press plate 33 to be prevented from inclining, while the delivering side carton is pressed against a support member 31 by a press claw 32 for lactation to enable a suction head of a delivering means to suck surely the carton to be delivered.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carton stacking device for stacking a plurality of flat carton-shaped cartons in an article packaging process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a packaging material for articles, there is a carton formed of cardboard or the like.
As shown in FIG. 16, it is general that a lid flap f and a bottom flap g that respectively close the opening portions at both ends are continuously provided at both end edges of a rectangular tubular body portion b, and until a product is filled, a cover flap f and a bottom flap g are continuously provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the sheets are transported and accumulated in a state of being folded in a flat plate shape with a pair of diagonal fold lines 1 formed on the body portion b.

When products are packaged using the carton C as described above, as a carton accumulating device used in the packaging operation process, a device as shown in FIG. 17 is generally used. As shown in the figure, this stacking device 80 is one in which four guide bodies 81 for guiding the corners of the carton C folded into a flat plate are erected, and the guide body 81 is folded into a flat plate shape. The stacked cartons C are stacked along the vertical direction while accumulating.

A locking claw (not shown) slightly protruding inward is provided at the lower end of the guide body 81, and the lowest carton C is locked to the locking claw. As a result, the accumulated cartons C are held.

The carton C accumulated in the accumulating device C is sucked at the center of the lowermost carton C by a take-out device equipped with a suction means and pulled down to the lowermost carton. Since only C is slightly bent and disengaged from the locking claw, by repeating this, the cartons C can be taken out one by one from the stacking device 80.

[0006]

Generally, when a carton is folded in a flat plate shape, the body portion has two layers, and in particular, as shown in FIG. 15, the bottom flap g is pre-glued to form a body. The body part b can be obtained by simply raising the part b into a rectangular tube shape.
In a so-called one-touch carton whose bottom opening is automatically closed, as shown in FIG. 16, with the carton C folded, the glued bottom flap g has a body b.
Since the bottom side of the body part b entering the side becomes four or more, the thickness of that part is larger than that of the lid flap f projecting outward from the body part b.

Therefore, when a large number of cartons of this type are vertically stacked and accumulated in the above-mentioned accumulating device 80, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the body b portion is higher than the lid flap f portion, and the lid flap f side inclines downward as a whole, and the corner portion of the upper carton C is disengaged from the guide body 81, and the accumulated state is very large. Becomes unstable. For this reason, when the stacking device 80 that stacks the cartons C in the vertical direction is used, a large number of cartons C cannot be stacked at one time, and the cartons C are frequently supplied to the stacking device 80. However, there is a problem in that work efficiency becomes poor.

Further, if the types and sizes of the cartons are different, there is a problem that an integrated device having a form corresponding to each carton is required, which increases the equipment cost.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to sufficiently cope with a change in the type and size of the carton to some extent, and to accumulate a large number of cartons, and to reliably take out the cartons. It is to provide a carton collecting device.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a stacking unit for stacking a plurality of cartons folded in a flat plate shape in a standing state by a plurality of partition bodies, and the stacking unit. , Circulate through the supply position and the take-out position of the carton, and horizontally move between the supply position and the take-out position to sequentially convey the accumulated cartons from the supply position to the take-out position. A conveyor means and, at the take-out position, a take-out assisting means for adsorbing to the carton to be taken out and assisting a carton take-out operation by the take-out means for pulling out and extracting the carton from the accumulating section, and the take-out assisting means, The support member for supporting the carton to be taken out at the take-out position and the carton just before the take-out position are inserted between the carton and Cartons located at position side is to provide an integrated device for cartons and a pressing pawl pressing to the support member.

[0011]

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a carton stacking apparatus 1 for stacking cartons for filling articles, and a carton assembling apparatus 2 for taking out the cartons from the stacking apparatus 1 and assembling the cartons, which are used in an article packaging operation process. Shows.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the carton 70 used in this packaging operation step is such that four plate members 71a, 71b, 71c, 71d are mutually folded at a fold line 72.
And a body 71 of a rectangular tube shape continuously provided via
Of the three lid flaps 73a, 73b, 73c that are connected to the upper edge of the body via fold lines 74, and four bottom flaps 75a that are connected to the lower edge of the body 71 via the fold lines 76,
75b, 75c, 75d, and the body portion 7
It is a so-called one-touch carton in which the bottom is naturally formed by raising 1 in the shape of a rectangular tube.

The bottom flaps 75a, 75b, 75c,
As shown in FIG. 14, 75d is a pair of bottom flaps 75a, 75b, 75d, and 75b, 75c, which are adjacent to each other and are glued to each other and a pair of bottom flaps 75a, 75b facing each other.
Engaging portions 77a and 77b which are engaged with each other are formed on the bottom surface of the body portion 71 while the engaging portion 77a and 77b are engaged with each other to hold the body portion 71 in the shape of a rectangular tube. Is closed and the bottom is formed.

The carton 70 is assembled immediately before the step of filling the articles, and before that, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, two fold lines 72 in diagonal positions of the body 71 are provided.
It is transported and accumulated in the state of being folded into a flat plate by. Therefore, the cartons 70 are thus stacked in the stacking device 1 in the state of being folded into a flat plate shape. In this state, the bottom flaps 75a, 75
b, 75c and 75d are two bottom flaps 75 facing each other.
Fold lines 78 formed on a and 75b are folded in the body 71.

As shown in FIG. 1, the stacking device 1 is arranged on a common pedestal 3 together with the assembling device 2.
As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the stacking unit 10 that stacks the flat-plate cartons 70 described above, and the stacking unit 10 is driven to circulate through the supply position α and the extraction position β of the carton 70. Conveying means 2 for moving the accumulated cartons 70 horizontally from the supply position α to the take-out position β and sequentially conveying the accumulated cartons 70 from the supply position α to the take-out position β.
0 and the assembling device 2 of the carton 70 described above is at the take-out position β
At the time of taking out the carton 70 in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the stacking unit 10 has a plate 11 having a constant width extending from the supply position α of the carton 70 to the take-out position β, and a predetermined interval for moving along the plate 11. A large number of partitions 12 arranged
The flat plate-shaped cartons 70 are inserted between the partition bodies 12 to form the plate 1
By placing the cartons 70 on the flat plate 1, the flat cartons 70 can be stacked in an upright state.

The partition body 12 is formed by a thin plate-shaped frame that stands up from both sides of the plate 11, and the lower end of this frame is the conveying means 20.
It is connected to. Therefore, when the partition body 12 moves from the supply position α of the carton 70 toward the take-out position β, the stacking unit 10 also moves accordingly, and the carton 70 stacked in the stacking unit 10 is also placed on the plate 11. Will be conveyed from the supply position α to the take-out position β.

Further, in order to prevent an extreme positional deviation of the carton 70 inserted along the stacking section 10 between the supply position α of the carton 70 and the take-out position β, the carton 70 is arranged along the stacking section 10. The guide plates 13 are erected at regular intervals.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the conveying means 20 is a chain conveyor arranged below the plate 11, and is constructed as follows. A pair of opposing frames 22 are fixed to the base 21, and a drive shaft 23a is provided near the take-out position β of the carton 70, and a driven shaft 23b is provided near the supply position α of the carton 70. It is rotatably supported horizontally.

A pair of left and right drive sprockets 24a are provided on the drive shaft 23a and the driven shaft 23b, respectively.
And a driven sprocket 24b, and a transmission sprocket 26 is further attached to the drive shaft 23a.
Is attached. The drive sprocket 24a and the driven sprocket 24b are provided with a pair of left and right endless chains 25a.
A large number of partition bodies 12 constituting the stacking unit 10 described above are connected to the 5a at predetermined intervals.

Further, a servo motor 27 is fixed to the base 21, and a chain 25b is attached to a motor sprocket 28 mounted on the shaft of the servo motor 27 and the transmission sprocket 26. Therefore, when the servo motor 27 rotates, the rotational driving force is transmitted to the drive shaft 23a, and the partition body 12 attached to the chain 25a moves together with the chain 25a between the supply position α and the take-out position β of the carton 70. It is driven cyclically between.

A sensor 29 for detecting the carton 70 reaching the take-out position β is provided at the take-out position β of the carton 70 (see FIG. 4).
The control means (not shown) controls the drive of the servomotor 27 based on the detection signal of Specifically, after the carton assembling apparatus 2 takes out the carton 70 at the take-out position β, the servo motor 27 is driven until the next carton 70 is detected by the sensor 29.

The take-out assisting means 30 is the assembling means 4
The support member 31 is provided to assist the operation of removing the carton 70 by the 0, and as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the support member 31 that supports the carton 70 that has reached the extraction position β and the extraction position. A pressing claw 32 that is inserted between the cartons 70 immediately before β and presses the carton 70 located on the take-out position β side against the support member 31, and the pressing claw 32.
To prevent the carton 70 on the front side from tilting when the carton 70 on the unloading position β side is pressed by the carton 7
A pressing plate 33 for pressing and holding 0 from above,
Before pressing the carton 70 by the pressing claw 32, an air blow device 34 that blows air on the carton 70 in order to separate the carton 70 near the take-out position β (see FIG. 4).
Reference).

The support member 31 is arranged at the take-out position β of the carton 70 so as to block the transport path of the stacking unit 10, and as shown in FIG. A cutout portion 31a is formed in a portion corresponding to the partition body 12 so as to pass therethrough. Therefore,
The partition body 12 can be circulated through the cutout portion 31a, and the cartons 70 stacked in the upright state in the stacking portion 10 are blocked by the support member 31 in the transport path. Further, the height of the support member 31 may be appropriately determined based on the smallest carton 70 so that it can correspond to other types of cartons 70.

The pressing claw 32 and the pressing plate 33 are supported by a column 35 standing upright in front of the take-out position β of the carton 70 so as to be able to move up and down as a whole and are driven up and down by an actuator. Further, the pressing claw 32 is supported in front of the pressing plate 33 so as to be able to move forward and backward, and is also supported so as to be able to move up and down independently, and is driven to move forward and backward and is moved up and down by an actuator. As described above, the pressing plate 33 holds the pressing carton 70 so that the front carton 70 does not fall when the pressing claw 32 is inserted between the cartons 70. By providing it, there is an advantage that the inserting operation of the pressing claw 32 into the carton 70 can be performed smoothly, but it is not always necessary to provide.

In the air blowing device 34, the air blowing nozzle 34a is arranged in front of the take-out position β of the carton 70 so that the air can be blown out obliquely forward in the traveling direction of the stacking unit 10. Has become.

As shown in FIG. 1, the assembling apparatus 2 is arranged on the side of the take-out position β of the carton 70, following the stacking apparatus 1, and the carton 70 for taking out the carton 70 at the take-out position β of the carton 70. It is composed of a take-out means 40, a conveyor 50 for carrying the carton 70 taken out by the take-out means 40 to the next step, and a locking member 60 provided on the conveyor 50.

The take-out means 40 is shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a slide rail 41 disposed on one side of these from the stacking device 1 to the conveyor 50, and a column 43 erected on the slide rail 41 via a slider 42 so as to be able to move forward and backward. An arm 45 horizontally supported by the column 43 via a slider 44 and extending horizontally toward the stacking device 1 and the conveyor 50; and a body of a carton 70 attached to the tip of the arm 45. The suction head 46 is attached to the suction head 71, an actuator (not shown) that drives the sliders 42 and 44, and control means (not shown) that controls these actuators. It can move freely in the vertical direction and the front-back direction. Details of drive control of the suction head 46 by the control means will be described later.

The conveyor 50, as shown in FIG.
It is provided with four conveyor belts 51 functioning as a mounting surface of the carton 70, and after the carton 70 is assembled on the upper surface of the conveyor belt 51 by the take-out means 40, the next step is an article filling station. The carton 70 is transported to. Since the conveyor 50 is a well-known belt conveyor that is generally used, detailed description of its configuration will be omitted.

The locking member 60 is supported by the flat bar 61, which is disposed on the conveyor belt 51 with a slight clearance so as to be orthogonal to the conveyor belt 51 of the conveyor 50. And a guide plate 62. The guide plate 62 rises obliquely upward toward the stacking device 1 side.

Next, a series of processes from the stacking of the carton 70 to the assembling will be described together with the detailed operations of the stacking device 1 and the assembling device 2. As described above, in the stacking device 1, since the plurality of stacking sections 10 partitioned by the plurality of partition bodies 12 are cyclically moved from the supply position α of the carton 70 to the extraction position β, the stacking device 1 is provided at the supply position α. The carton 70 is supplied to the stacking unit 10 by a worker or a carton supplying device. At this time, the carton 70 is oriented so that the fold line 72 of the body 71 is horizontal as shown in FIG. Further, a plurality of cartons 70 can be supplied to one stacking unit 10 formed by the two partition bodies 12. However, in order to take out the carton 70 smoothly, one stacking unit 10 is required.
It is desirable to set the number of supply so that a certain amount of gap is generated between the cartons 70 inside.

Carton 70 supplied to the stacking unit 10
Moves to the take-out position β side on the plate 11 with the movement of the partition body 12, and when the first carton 70 is detected by the sensor 29, the conveying means 20 stops. Here, as shown in FIG. 6A, first, the air blow device 34 operates to blow out air from the blowout nozzle 34a, and disperse the carton 70 near the take-out position β.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the pressing claw 32 and the pressing plate 33 are lowered so that the pressing plate 33 is pressed by the pressing claw 3.
The carton 70 at the rear of 2 is pressed from above to maintain that state. At this time, since the pressing claw 32 is located above the pressing plate 33, only the pressing plate 33 presses the carton 70. Following this, the pressing claws 32 descend and are inserted between the cartons 70, as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 7A, the pressing claws 32 inserted between the cartons 70 move forward to press the cartons 70 against the support member 31. As a result, the carton 70 to be taken out which is located at the leading edge is positioned.

At this point, the suction head 46 of the take-out means 40 is on standby at a position facing the uppermost plate member 71d of the body 71 of the positioned carton 70, as shown in FIG. The suction head 46 is in the carton 70
It horizontally moves to the upper side and is adsorbed to the uppermost plate member 71d of the body 71. At this time, as described above, since the carton 70 is pressed against the support member 31 by the pressing claw 32, the carton 70 is completely positioned and the suction by the suction head 46 is surely performed. Then, as shown in FIG. 3C, when the suction head 46 moves upward while being sucked by the carton 70, the most advanced carton 7 at the take-out position β is detected.
Only 0 is taken out of the integrated device 1. When the carton 70 is taken out, the pressing claw 32 and the pressing plate 33 are returned to the initial positions to prepare for taking out the next carton 70.

When suction by the suction head 46 to the carton 70 is hindered for some reason, an increase in suction pressure (decrease in negative pressure) of the suction head 46 is detected by a pressure sensor (not shown). Therefore, based on this detection signal, the control means reversely drives the servo motor of the transport means 20 to temporarily retract the stacking unit 10 by a predetermined amount, and then repeats the above-described steps.

The carton 70 thus taken out from the stacking device 1 is subsequently assembled by the assembling device 2. First, when the arm 45 of the take-out means 40 moves upward with the carton 70 adsorbed, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the suction head 46 also rises accordingly, and the carton 70 is completely extracted from the stacking device 1. Then, in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG.
Move horizontally, and as shown in FIG.
The suction head 46 that has adsorbed is also moved above the conveyor 50. At this time, the carton 70 sucked by the suction head 46 is in a state in which its body portion 71 is slightly opened.

When the column 45 moves further forward by a predetermined amount while the arm 45 descends along the column 43, the suction head 46 moves in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. As shown, the body 71 of the carton 70
The corner portion at the lowest position abuts on the conveyor belt 51 near the flat bar 61. At this time, depending on the opening degree of the body 71 of the carton 70, the corner of the body 71 comes into contact with the guide plate 62, and the guide 62 naturally causes the corner of the body 71 to come close to the flat bar 61. Be guided. Therefore, although the guide plate 62 is not always necessary, it is preferable to provide it.

From this state, the arm 45 is further moved to the column 4
When descending along 3, the suction head 46 also descends accordingly, gradually opening the body 71 of the carton 70,
Finally, as shown in FIG. 2B, the carton 70 is placed on the conveyor belt 51 in a state where the body portion 71 is formed in a rectangular rectangular tube shape. At this time, the body portion 71 is formed to have a rectangular tubular shape, but the engaging portions 77a and 77b of the bottom flaps 75a and 75b of the carton 70 described above are not meshed with each other, and the bottom of the carton 70 is completely closed. It has not been formed.

Then, when the column 43 is finally retracted slightly, the suction head 46 presses the rectangular tube-shaped body 71 against the flat bar 61, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. -Shaped body 71 is slightly flattened on the opposite side and becomes flat, and at the same time the bottom flap 75 of the carton 70 is
Engagement portions 77a and 77b of a and 75b are completely engaged with each other to form a bottom, and the assembly of the carton 70 is completed. When the assembling of the carton 70 is completed, the suction head 46 releases the suction state to the carton 70, returns to the initial position, and prepares for taking out the next carton 70.

As described above, the stacking device 1 for this carton
Since the stacking unit 10 is formed by a plurality of partition bodies 12 and the flat carton 70 is erected horizontally in the stacking unit 10, the kind and size of the carton are changed to some extent. In addition to the above, it is possible to stack a large number of cartons at one time without the unstable state of the cartons as in the conventional type stacking apparatus in which the carts are stacked vertically.

At the take-out position β of the carton 70, since the carton 70 is reliably positioned at the take-out position β by the take-out assisting means 30, the suction head 46 of the take-out means 40 of the carton 70 sucks the carton 70 onto the carton 70. The operation is reliably performed, and the carton 70 can be taken out smoothly.

Further, the assembling apparatus 2 has the suction head 46.
The corner portion of the body portion 71 of the carton 70 adsorbed by the above is lowered while abutting on the conveyor belt 51 of the conveyor 50 to form the body portion 71 in the shape of a rectangular tube and the body portion formed in the shape of a rectangular tube. 71 further flat bar 6
The bottom flaps 75a, 7a of the carton 70 are pushed down to the opposite side by pressing 1 to flatten them.
Since the engaging portions 77a and 77b of the 5b are engaged with each other, the carton 70 can be reliably assembled. Furthermore, if the type or size of carton changes,
Since it suffices to change the program of the control means for controlling the movement of the suction head 46, the versatility is improved, and the labor for setup change is reduced, and the work efficiency is improved.

In the stacking apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, the stacking unit 10 is formed by the fixed plate 11 and the plurality of partition bodies 12 that move along the plate 11. For example, each stacking unit 10 It is also possible to provide a bottom plate for each and to circulate and move the bottom plate together with the partition body 12. In addition, in this embodiment, the stacking unit 10 is circularly moved in the vertical direction between the supply position α and the take-out position β of the carton 70, but the present invention is not limited to this, and, for example, circulation on a horizontal plane. It can also be moved.

Further, in the take-out device 2, the carton 70 is assembled on the conveyor belt 51 of the conveyor 50. For example, an assembling table having a locking member attached to the mounting surface of the carton is separately provided, and Cartons can also be assembled on the assembly table. Further, although the take-out device 2 drives the suction head 46 so as to bring the carton 70 into contact with the conveyor belt 51 in the vicinity of the locking member 60, the carton 70 is moved away from the locking member 60. The body 71 is once abutted to form the body 71 into a rectangular tube shape, and then the suction head 46 is further moved horizontally to fix the body 71 of the carton 70 to the locking member 60.
You may make it contact | abut and press.

[0045]

As described above, the integrated device of the present invention is
A configuration in which a stacking unit that stacks a plurality of cartons in an upright state by a plurality of partition bodies is horizontally moved from a carton supply position to a take-out position, and at the take-out position, a carton to be taken out is pressed against a supporting member by a pressing claw. Since it is adopted, it is possible to sufficiently cope with changes in the type and size of the carton to some extent, a large amount of cartons can be accumulated, and the cartons to be taken out are reliably positioned at the take-out position. It is possible to reliably perform the carton suction operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an integrated device and an assembly device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the above integrated device.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the above integrated device.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a take-out means of the above assembling apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a process diagram showing a carton removing process.

FIG. 7 is a process diagram showing a carton removing process.

FIG. 8 is a process diagram showing a carton assembly process.

FIG. 9 is a process diagram showing a carton assembly process.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an assembled state of the carton used in this embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the above.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a folded state of the carton of the same.

FIG. 13 is an end view showing a state in which the carton of the above is folded.

FIG. 14 is a bottom view showing the assembling process of the above carton.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a carton.

FIG. 16 is a plan view showing a state in which the carton of the above is folded.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a conventional carton stacking device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Carton collecting device 2 Carton removing device 10 Collecting part 11 Plate 12 Partition body 20 Conveying means 30 Extracting assisting means 31 Support member 32 Pressing claw 40 Extracting means 46 Suction head 50 Conveyor 51 Conveying belt 60 Locking member 61 Flat bar 62 Guide plate 70 Carton 71 Body 72 Fold lines 77a, 77b Engagement part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stacking unit for stacking a plurality of flat cartons into a standing state by a plurality of partition bodies, and a circulating movement of the stacking unit so as to pass through a supply position and a removal position of the cartons. And carrying means for sequentially transporting the accumulated cartons from the supply position to the take-out position by horizontally moving between the supply position and the take-out position, and adsorbing to the carton to be taken out at the take-out position. And a take-out assisting means for assisting the take-out work of the carton by the take-out means for pulling out and taking out the carton from the stacking section, the take-out assisting means supporting the carton to be taken out at the take-out position, and the take-out position. Immediately before, the carton that is inserted between the cartons and that is located on the unloading position side is pressed against the support member. Carton stacking device having an impression claw.