JPH11227730A - Label opening device and rotary type label fitting device using the label opening device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label opening device suitable to a roptary type label fitting device that is operated at high speed. SOLUTION: A label opening device is constructed of a label holding means 21 that holds a tubular label L, being folded up in a sheetlike shape, under the state of being preliminarily opened with its both sides separated being respectively sucked, a support member 24 that moves up and down at a position right above the label L held with the label holding means 21, a label opening mechanism 26 having an opening/closing rod 28 provided at the support member 24, and a label opening means 23 equipped with an operating rod 25 that operates the opening/closing rod 28 for opening and closing by moving up and down along the support member 24. The opening/closing rod 28 that is under the state of being closed is inserted into the preliminarily opened label L with the support member 24 lowered and then the opening/closing rod 28 is opened with the operating rod 25 lowered, and therey the label L is opened under the specified state of opening.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label opening device which is opened in a predetermined state for inserting a cylindrical label folded into a sheet into a container, and a rotary type label insertion device provided with the label opening device. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a label insertion device provided with a label opening device of this type, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-105102.
Is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 9-203 (1995). As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the label opening device 50 is mounted so as to project radially from the rotation shaft 51, and moves the label receiving position X and the label insertion position Y with the rotation of the rotation shaft 51. It has a plurality of opening mechanisms 52 that pass through it. At the label receiving position X, a cylindrical label L folded in a sheet shape is inserted into the opening mechanism 52 to receive the label L, and the label L is received. By the time the opening mechanism 52 reaches the label insertion position Y, the label L is opened in a predetermined state, and at the label insertion position Y, the label L is opened in the body of a container such as a bottle B supplied thereto. The label L is inserted.

The opening mechanism 52 has a base block 53 attached to the rotating shaft 51, and is arranged on the circumference at each attachment position, and the base end can be closed radially inward at the base end. It comprises a plurality of opening / closing bars 54 supported by the base block 53, respectively, and a coil spring 55 for urging the opening / closing bars 54 in the closing direction. This opening mechanism 5
2, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 (a) and 7 (b), such that one end side is in sliding contact with the cam surface 56 a of the cam ring 56.
An operating member 57, which is swingably supported by the base block 53 and swings by one end sliding on the cam surface 56 a with the rotation of the rotating shaft 51, is provided on the base end side of the opening / closing rod 54. By pressing the operation unit, the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing rod 54 is performed.

[0004]

As described above, the label opening device 50 temporarily stops the transporting container at the label insertion position Y and simultaneously rotates the rotating shaft 51.
It is suitable for a so-called low-speed type label insertion device in which the label L is inserted into the container while the rotation of the container is stopped. While rotating the rotary feeder with the holding table attached at regular intervals by a driving means such as a motor, receiving the label at the label transfer position on the rotation track of the container holding table and opening the label, opening the container holding table. As in a rotary label insertion device that inserts a label into a container delivered to a container holder at a container delivery position on a rotating track, the label must be received and inserted while transporting the container. There is a problem in that the mechanism of the label opening device itself becomes complicated if it is to be incorporated into a high-speed type label insertion device.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a label opening device suitable for a rotary-type label insertion device operated at a high speed as described above.

Further, in order to incorporate a label opening device having an opening mechanism having an opening and closing lever as described above into a high-speed type label insertion device, the frequency of label insertion failure must be extremely small. Not for that,
The opening and closing lever must be securely inserted into the received label.

Accordingly, a second object of the present invention is to provide a label opening device which can insert the opening / closing lever more securely into the received label.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned first problem, the present invention provides a preparatory method in which both sides of a cylindrical label folded into a sheet shape to be supplied are sucked and separated from each other. A label holding means for holding the label opened in a predetermined state, and a label opening means for opening the label preliminarily opened by the label holding means in a predetermined state, wherein the label opening means is provided by the label holding means. A support member that moves up and down at a position immediately above the held label, a label opening mechanism that is attached to the support member and that is inserted into the pre-opened label when the support member descends, An operation rod for performing an opening operation of the label opening mechanism by moving up and down along a member, wherein the label opening mechanism is a base fixed to the support member. And a plurality of lower ends arranged on the circumference around the operation rod so as to hang down from the base portion, and a lower end portion supported by the base portion so that an upper end portion can be closed at the center side. An opening / closing rod, an urging means for urging a lower end portion of the opening / closing rod toward a closing side, and an upward / downward movement of the operating rod to move the opening / closing rod inserted into the label in a closed state outward. And a cam mechanism for opening the label in a predetermined state by opening the label.

In the thus constructed label opening device, when the support member is lowered, the closed opening / closing rod is inserted into the cylindrical label which is preliminarily opened by the label holding means, Subsequently, when the operating rod is moved up and down along the support member, the opening / closing rod opened to open the label in a predetermined state.

[0010] The cam mechanism may be constituted by a tapered portion formed on the operation rod, and a roller supported by the opening / closing rod, which is in contact with an outer peripheral surface of the operation rod including the tapered portion. In the label opening device provided with such a cam mechanism, the opening / closing lever is opened and closed by the vertical movement of the taper portion with which the roller comes into contact with the elevation of the operation rod, so that the entire label opening device can be made compact.

Further, in order to solve the second problem,
According to the present invention, the label opening mechanism portion includes two types of opening / closing rods having different distances between a support point with respect to the base portion and a contact point of the roller with respect to an outer peripheral surface of the operation rod. An object of the present invention is to provide a label opening device in which two kinds of the opening and closing rods are alternately arranged on a base.

[0012] In the label opening device configured as described above, when the opening / closing rod is closed as the operating rod moves up and down, the position between the support point with respect to the base portion and the contact point of the roller with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the operating rod. Due to the difference in the distance, the opening and closing rod having a large closing amount and the opening and closing rod having a small closing amount are adjacent to each other, and the distal end portion of the opening and closing rod having a large closing amount is surrounded by the distal end portion of the opening and closing rod having a small closing amount. Since the entire opening / closing rod can be closed, the tip portion of the entire opening / closing rod in the closed state can be made smaller (narrower).

Accordingly, when the label opening mechanism is inserted into the preliminarily opened cylindrical label by lowering the support member, the open / close lever in the closed state can be more reliably inserted.

As described above, in the above-described label opening device, since the label is opened in a predetermined state by raising and lowering both the support member and the operation rod, a plurality of labels are provided on the circumference around the rotation axis. A rotary feeder on which the container holders are mounted at regular intervals, and a rotary drive unit for rotating the rotary feeder, and which has been transferred to a label transfer position on the circumference and folded into a sheet. In a rotary-type label insertion device that opens a cylindrical label and sequentially inserts the containers delivered to the container holder at the container delivery position on the circumference, each container generally having an empty space Immediately above the holding table, the label opening device and label insertion means for inserting the label opened by the label opening device into the container held by the container holding table are installed. It is thus possible to realize a compact rotary label fitted apparatus does not become structurally complex.

[0015]

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a label mounting system 1 for mounting a cylindrical shrink label (hereinafter, label) L on a PET bottle (hereinafter, bottle) B.
The label mounting system 1 includes a bottle supply device 2 including a belt conveyor 2a, a screw conveyor 2b, and a star wheel 2c, and a long label forming base fed from a base material roll by a base material feeding unit 3a. A label supply device 3 that sequentially forms the labels L while sequentially cutting the material M and sequentially supplies the labels L to the first label transfer position α, and is supplied to the first label transfer position α by the label supply device 3. A label transfer device 4 that receives the label L and conveys it to the second label transfer position β, and receives the bottle B supplied from the bottle supply device 2 at the bottle supply position γ, and conveys the bottle B to the bottle delivery position δ. Receiving the label L conveyed by the label transfer device 4 at a second label transfer position β;
A rotary-type label insertion device 5 that inserts a label L into the bottle B while transporting the bottle B from the bottle supply position γ to the bottle delivery position δ, and a label L that is inserted into the bottle B
Label L on a heating device (not shown) for heat shrinking
For transporting the bottle B in which is inserted.
a, a bottle conveyor 6 comprising a screw conveyor 6b and a belt conveyor 6c.

The label forming substrate M is a bottle B
Are continuously connected to each other, and are wound around a drum in a state of being folded into a sheet at the base material feeding portion 3a. Also, the base material feeding section 3
The sheet-like label-forming base material M fed out from the a is folded back in the middle of the supply so that the folding position can be changed so that the label L can be easily opened again when the label L is attached to the bottle B. (See FIG. 1).

The rotary type label insertion device 5 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a container holder 1 attached at regular intervals on a concentric circle centered on the rotation shaft 11 via a plurality of support arms 12 and 13 projecting radially from the rotation shaft 11.
4, a rotary feeder 10 provided with the label opening device 20 and the label inserting means 40, and a rotary drive unit (not shown) having a motor as a drive source for rotating the rotary feeder 10 at a constant speed; The cylindrical label L folded into a sheet and received at the second label transfer position β
Is opened in a predetermined state by the label opening device 20, and while the bottle B received at the bottle supply position γ is transported to the bottle sending position δ while being held by the container holding table 14, the opened label L is Label insertion means 4
With 0, the bottle B is inserted into the body of the bottle B. Although the container holding mechanism 14 is provided with a container holding mechanism for holding the bottle B, the description of the container holding mechanism will be omitted since it is a well-known mechanism.

The label opening device 20, as shown in FIG.
Holding means 21 at a position immediately above bottle B held by container holding table 14, and label holding means 2
And a label opening means 23 for opening the label L held by the label holding means 1 in a predetermined state. The label opening means 23 is arranged at a position immediately above the label L held by the label holding means 21.

As shown in FIG. 2, the label holding means 21 is formed on a pair of openable and closable holding members 22 supported on the rotating shaft 11 via the support arm 13 and a holding portion 22a of the holding member 22. Suction means (not shown) for suctioning both sides of the label L held by the holding member 22 to the holding member 22a by sucking from the suction port provided, and opening / closing drive means (not shown) for opening and closing the holding member 22. The label holding means 21 receives the label L folded into a sheet conveyed by the label delivery device 4 by being sandwiched by the holding member 22 at the label delivery position β, and the suction means sucks the label L. With the both sides of the label L being attracted to the holding portion 22a, the holding member 22 is opened to separate the two sides of the label L from each other. A way, so as to hold the label L to a preliminary open position.

As shown in FIG. 2, the label transfer device 4 attracts one side of the sheet-shaped label L to the tip of an arm that rotates so as to pass through the label transfer position α and the label transfer position β. The label L adsorbed by the label adsorbing portion 4a is sandwiched by the holding portion 22a of the holding member 22 and separated from the label adsorbing portion 4a. Delivery takes place.

As shown in FIG. 2, the label opening means 23 has a cylindrical support member 24 supported up and down along the rotating shaft 11 via a support arm 13 and a lower end portion of the support member 24. Label opening mechanism 26 attached to
And an operating rod 25 that is inserted into the supporting member 24 and moves up and down along the supporting member 24 to open the label opening mechanism 26, and a cam mechanism 31 for raising and lowering the supporting member 24 and the operating rod 25, respectively. When the support member 24 descends, the label holding means 21
As a result, the label opening mechanism 26 is inserted into the label L which has been preliminarily opened.

As shown in FIG. 3, the label opening mechanism 26 has a base 27 fixed to the support member 24 and a predetermined distance from the base 27 so as to surround the operation rod 25. And the upper end thereof is mounted on the base 2 so that the lower end can swing toward the center (closed side).
7 and four opening / closing bars 28 outside the support point of the opening / closing bars 28 with respect to the base 27 in order to urge the lower end of the opening / closing bars 28 to the closing side. A coil spring 29 provided between the upper end of the base 28 and the base 27 in a compressed state, and an opening / closing rod 28 urged in the closing direction by the coil spring 29 in accordance with the elevating operation of the operating rod 25. And a cam mechanism 30 that opens and closes.

The cam mechanism 30 opens and closes below the supporting point of the operating rod 25 including a tapered portion 30a formed at the lower end of the operating rod 25 and the base 27 of the opening and closing rod 28. And a roller 30b supported by a rod 28. The urging force of the coil spring 29
The operation rod 25 is moved up and down while the roller 30b is always in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the operation rod 25 including the tapered portion 30a.

Therefore, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, when the operating rod 25 is lowered, the opening / closing rod 28 is opened by the roller 30b contacting the large diameter portion of the operating rod 25. Rises, as indicated by the chain line in FIG.
Since the roller 30b comes into contact with the small-diameter portion via the tapered portion 30b of the operation rod 25, the opening / closing rod 28 swings inward about the support point to be in the closed state.

Further, the label opening mechanism 26 is provided as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
D between the outer peripheral surface of the roller 30b and the contact point of the roller 30b
Have two types of open / close levers 28a, 28b,
On the base 27, these two types of open / close bars 28a, 28b are alternately arranged. Therefore, the four open / close bars 28 are not all closed in the same manner, but as shown in FIG.
The opening / closing rod 28b having a short distance D is replaced by the opening / closing rod 28a having a long distance D.
Since the closing amount is larger, as shown in FIG. 4, the entire opening / closing rod 28 can be closed such that the distal end of the opening / closing rod 28b having a large closing amount is surrounded by the distal end portion of the opening / closing rod 28a having a small closing amount. The tip of the opening / closing rod 28 in the closed state can be made thinner.

The cam mechanism 31, as shown in FIG.
Disposed so as to surround the upper half of the rotary feed stand 10,
A cylindrical body 32 having three cam grooves 32a, 32b, 44 (see FIG. 5), and cam grooves 32a, 32 of the cylindrical body 32
b, the rollers 33 and 34 respectively supported on the upper end of the support member 24 and the operation rod 25, and these rollers 33 and 34 are rotated by the rotation of the rotary feed table 10 to form cam grooves. The rollers 33 and 3 move by moving up and down along the rollers 32a and 32b.
The support member 24 on which the support 4 is supported and the operation rod 25 are respectively raised and lowered.

The label fitting and inserting means 40 includes a support arm 1
A support rod 41 supported so as to be able to ascend and descend along the rotating shaft 11 through the label 3, a label pushing plate 42 attached to a lower end of the support rod 41, and a cam mechanism 43 for elevating and lowering the support rod 41. It is composed of

The label push-in plate 42 has a hole (not shown) for inserting the entire four open / close levers 28. When the label push-in plate 42 descends along the open / close lever 28, the label push-in plate 42 opens and closes. The label L opened in a predetermined state by the rod 28 is pushed down, and is inserted into the body of the bottle B located immediately below.

The cam mechanism 43 comprises a cam groove 44 formed in the cylindrical body 32 and a roller 45 fitted in the cam groove 44 and supported by an intermediate portion of a support rod 41. The roller 45 moves while moving up and down along the cam groove 44 by the rotation of the rotary feed table 10, so that the support rod 41 on which the roller 44 is supported moves up and down.

The rollers 33 and 34 and the roller 44
Are supported by the support member 24, the operating rod 25, and the support rod 41 via the mounting members 35, 36 and the mounting member 46 as shown in FIG.
Are supported by the support rod 41 and the mounting member 46 is slidably supported by the support member 24. The long support member 24 and the support rod 41 mutually support each other to enhance the support stability of both. I have.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rotary-type label insertion device 5 having the above-described configuration first has a cylindrical shape folded into a sheet conveyed to the label transfer position β by the label transfer device 4. The label L is received by the holding member 22, but at this time, as shown in FIG.
5 and the support rod 41 are all at the highest position, and the open / close lever 28 and the label pushing plate 42 in the closed state are located above the label L held by the label holding means 21. At this time, below the label L held by the label holding means 21, the label L is already inserted into the body, and the bottle B delivered to the bottle transport device 6 at the bottle delivery position δ is placed on the container holding table. 14 is supported.

Subsequently, at the bottle supply position γ, the bottle B supplied by the bottle supply device 2 is received and held on the container holder 14. As shown in FIG. 3B, when the holding member 22 is opened, the label L adsorbed on the holding portion 22a is held in a preliminary opened state.

Next, as shown in FIG.
When the support members 24 and the operating rods 25 are respectively lowered in the same manner as the base members 3 and 34 are lowered along the cam grooves 32a and 32b, the label holding means is maintained while the opening / closing rod 28 is kept closed. 21 inserts into the preliminarily opened label L. Then, as shown in FIG.
When the roller 34 descends along the cam groove 32b, only the operation rod 25 descends.
Is opened, the preliminarily opened label L is opened in a predetermined state.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4E, the label holding means 21 releases the suction, and the rollers 33, 3
4 and 45 are the cam grooves 32 while maintaining the relative relationship.
By slightly descending along a, 32b, and 44, the open / close lever 28 and the label pressing plate 42 in the opened state slightly descend, and the lower end of the open / close rod 28 is held together with the label L on the container holder 14. To the head of the bottle B.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4F, the roller 45 descends along the cam groove 44 so that the support rod 4
1 is lowered, and the label pressing plate 42 is lowered along the opening / closing rod 28 with the lowering.
Thereby, the label L opened in a predetermined state is pushed down, and is inserted into the body of the bottle B.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 3G, the rollers 33, 34 and 45 are raised along the cam grooves 32a, 32b and 44 while maintaining the relative relationship, so that the opening / closing rod 28 is moved. The label L is raised together with the label pressing plate 42 while maintaining the open state, and the insertion of the label L into the bottle B is completed.

The bottle B with the cylindrical label L fitted in the body in this way is delivered to the bottle transport device 6 at the bottle delivery position δ, as described above, and is transferred to the bottle transport device 6 by the bottle transport device 6. Is transported to a heating device (not shown) for thermally shrinking the label L.

As described above, the rotary type label insertion device 5 performs the opening of the label L and the insertion of the label L into the bottle B by the ascending and descending support member 24, the operating rod 25 and the support rod 41. By adopting the label opening device 20 and the label fitting / inserting means 40, the label opening device 2 can be placed in an empty space immediately above each container holder 14.
0 and the label inserting means 40 can be installed, and a compact rotary type label inserting apparatus which does not become structurally complicated can be realized.

As described above, the label opening mechanism 26 includes two types of opening / closing bars 28a having different closing amounts.
By alternately arranging the labels 28b, the distal end of the open / close lever 28 in the closed state is made thinner. When inserting 26, the open / close lever 28 in the closed state can be more reliably inserted into the label L,
The occurrence frequency of the improper insertion of the label L can be extremely reduced.

As described above, the label opening device 20 and the label insertion means 40 mounted on the rotary type label insertion device 5 use the support members 24, the operating rod 25 and the support rod 41 for the cam mechanisms 31, 43. It is not necessary to separately provide a drive means for raising and lowering these components.

In the embodiment described above, the operating rod 25
When the operating rod 25 is raised, the opening / closing rod 28 is opened, and when the operating rod 25 is raised, the opening / closing rod 28 is closed. However, if a thick tapered portion 30a can be formed at the lower end of the operating rod 25, Alternatively, the opening / closing rod 28 may be closed when the operating rod 25 is lowered, and may be opened when the operating rod 25 is raised.

In the above-described embodiment, four open / close bars 28 are provided. However, the number of the open / close bars 28 is not necessarily four, and the number may be appropriately set according to the size and shape of the label L. However, as described above, when two types of opening / closing rods having different closing amounts are alternately arranged, it is needless to say that it is desirable to set the number of opening / closing rods to an even number.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the label to be inserted into the bottle is a shrink label has been described. However, the present invention is also applicable to a stretch label by making the opening / closing rod 28 slippery with respect to the label. Can be.

[0044]

As described above, the label opening device of the present invention raises and lowers both the support member on which the label opening mechanism having the opening and closing rod is attached and the operation rod for opening the label opening mechanism. In the rotary type label insertion device which receives and inserts the label while transporting the container while holding the container on the container holding table, the container generally has an empty space because the label is opened in a predetermined state. By installing the label opening devices directly above the holding table, it is possible to realize a compact rotary-type label insertion device that does not become structurally complicated.

In particular, a cam mechanism for opening the opening / closing rod in the closed state outward by raising and lowering the operating rod is brought into contact with a tapered portion formed on the operating rod and an outer peripheral surface of the operating rod including the tapered portion. Two types of opening / closing rods, which are constituted by rollers supported by opening / closing rods and have different distances between a support point with respect to the base portion and a contact point of the roller with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the operation rod, are alternately arranged. Since the end of the entire opening / closing rod in the closed state can be made smaller (thinner), when the label opening mechanism is inserted into the preliminarily opened cylindrical label, the closed state of the opening / closing rod can be reduced. The opening and closing lever can be more reliably inserted into the label, and the frequency of label insertion failures can be extremely low.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial side view showing a detailed structure of the rotary label insertion device.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing the label opening mechanism of the above.

FIG. 4 is an end view showing a distal end portion of the opening / closing rod in the above-mentioned closed state.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a label insertion operation of the rotary type label insertion device of the above.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway front view showing a conventional label insertion device.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a label insertion operation of the label insertion device of the above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Label mounting system 5 Rotary type label fitting apparatus 10 Rotary feed stand 14 Container holding stand 20 Label opening device 21 Label holding means 23 Label opening means 24 Supporting member 25 Operating rod 26 Label opening mechanism part 27 Base part 28 Opening / closing rod 29 Coil spring 30 Cam mechanism 30a Taper portion 30b Roller 31 Cam mechanism 40 Label insertion means 41 Support rod 42 Label pushing plate 43 Cam mechanism B Bottle L Label

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A label holding means for holding a preliminarily opened state by sucking and separating both sides of a tubular label folded into a sheet shape to be supplied; Label opening means for opening the specially opened label in a predetermined state, wherein the label opening means moves up and down at a position immediately above the label held by the label holding means, and is attached to the support member. A label opening mechanism to be inserted into the preliminarily opened label by lowering the support member, and an operation of opening the label opening mechanism by moving up and down along the support member. A stick, and the label opening mechanism portion is attached to the base member fixed to the support member, and is suspended from the base portion on a circumference around the operation rod. A plurality of open / close rods, which are disposed in a lowered state, and whose lower end is closed on the center side, and whose upper end is supported by the base, biases the lower end of the open / close rod to the closed side. A biasing means and a cam mechanism that opens or closes the label in a predetermined state by opening or closing the open / close rod inserted into the label in a closed state by raising or lowering the operation rod. Label opening device that is configured. 2. The cam mechanism includes a tapered portion formed on the operating rod, and a roller supported by the opening / closing rod and in contact with an outer peripheral surface of the operating rod including the tapered portion. The label opening device according to claim 1. 3. The label opening mechanism section includes two types of opening / closing rods having different distances between a support point for the base section and a contact point of the roller on an outer peripheral surface of the operation rod. 3. The label opening device according to claim 2, wherein two types of the opening and closing bars are alternately arranged on the base portion. 4. A rotary feeder provided with a plurality of container holders attached at regular intervals on a circumference centered on a rotation axis, and a rotation driving means for rotating the rotary feeder, the rotary feeder being provided on the circumference. A rotary which opens a tubular label folded in a sheet shape delivered at a certain label delivery position, and sequentially fits into the containers delivered to the container holding table at the container delivery position on the circumference. In the mold label insertion device, the label opening device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, and the label opened in a predetermined state by the label opening device are held in the container holding table for each of the container holding tables. And a label inserting means for inserting the inserted label into the container.