JPH11321817A - Carton sealer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and completely tear away a sticking tape applied for sealing to joined parts of a carton by a method wherein the head of a succeeding part of the sticking tape whereto cutting is applied is sucked with a suction head and a turned-up part having a non-sticking surface is formed at one end of the sticking tape. SOLUTION: As a carton C moves forward, a lead part TL of a sticking tape T is stuck fast to its front face, being pressed with a front-pressing roller 25, and the sticking tape T is stuck fast successively to a joining area at the upside of the carton C. As the carton C moves forward further and the front end part of a swing plate 41 comes off from the rear end at the upside of the carton C, a cutter 45 works and the sticking tape T is cut therewith, and the tail part of the sticking tape is stuck fast to the rear face of the carton C with a rear-pressing roller 35. At this time, a suction head 50 is made to work for decompression simultaneously with cutting of the sticking tape T, and the front end part of the succeeding sticking tape T is sucked into a slit of the suction head 50 and a turned-up part having a non-sticking surface is formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carton sealer for joining folded flaps of a carton with an adhesive tape for packaging a carton made of cardboard, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for packaging a carton made of cardboard, for example, the flaps of a carton are folded over so that the outer edges of both flaps are in contact with each other or in parallel with each other, and these flaps are shared by their joint areas. The bonding is performed by sticking an adhesive tape, and a carton sealer that performs such an operation automatically is known. Then, according to the conventional carton sealer, the entire adhesive surface of the adhesive tape is in a state of being adhered to the surface of the carton.

[0003] When the carton made of cardboard sealed in this manner is opened manually, the end of the adhesive tape which has been adhered is peeled off with a nail or the like.
It is necessary to pick up the part with a finger and peel it off, but such an operation is not easy because the adhesive force of the adhesive tape is considerably strong. Therefore, in actuality, it is common practice to open the adhesive tape by using a cutter knife to cut the adhesive tape along the outer edge of the flap.
However, in such an opening operation, the contents may be damaged by the cutter knife. In addition, since the cut adhesive tape remains as it is, when the cardboard is recycled, the remaining adhesive tape must be removed and removed, which takes a lot of trouble.

In view of the above circumstances, it would be very convenient if an end having a non-adhesive outer surface could be formed so that the adhesive tape could be peeled off without the use of a cutter knife, for example, by hand. Yes, and
If all of the adhesive tape can be easily and completely removed, recycling becomes easy, which is very advantageous in terms of environmental conservation.

[0005] From the above viewpoints, conventionally, means for adhering a non-adhesive sheet to the adhesive surface at the tip end of the adhesive tape can be considered. In this case, a separate non-adhesive sheet material must be prepared. There is a problem that it is necessary and lacks the certainty of the work, so that it is not practical.

In addition, a guide member for narrowing the width of the adhesive tape is provided in the middle of the running path of the adhesive tape, and the non-adhesive folded portion is formed by adhering the adhesive surfaces to each other. A carton sealer having the function of forming has been developed.However, the folded portion of the carton sealer extends over the entire length in the length direction of the adhered adhesive tape. However, there is a drawback that the sealing strength is reduced because it is not used for sealing.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its object is to provide:
In a carton sealer configured to join folded flaps of a conveyed carton with an adhesive tape, easily and reliably forming a folded portion having a non-adhesive outer surface at one end of the adhesive tape applied to the carton. To provide a carton sealer.

[0008]

A carton sealer according to the present invention is a carton sealer for joining folded flaps of a conveyed carton with an adhesive tape, comprising: an adhesive tape supply section; and an adhesive tape supply section. A tape application mechanism for applying the adhesive tape from the front to the adhesive area extending from the front lead area of the advancing carton to the rear tail area through the bonding area extending in the transport direction, and after the adhesive tape to be affixed. It comprises a cutter for cutting the end, and a suction head for forming a folded portion at the leading end of the subsequent tape formed by cutting with the cutter, and the decompression by the suction head is applied to the non-adhesive surface of the adhesive tape so that When the adhesive tape is sucked, the adhesive tape is folded to form a folded portion having a non-adhesive outer surface.

The above-mentioned tape sticking mechanism presses the adhesive surface of the lead portion of the adhesive tape against the lead region on the front surface of the carton that advances, and then presses the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape against the joining region as the carton advances. A front press roller, a cutter disposed downstream of the front press roller in the direction of travel of the carton, and a tail portion of the adhesive tape cut by the cutter disposed further downstream of the cutter in the direction of travel of the carton. A rear pressing roller for pressing the surface against a tail area on the rear surface of the carton, wherein the cutter is provided on a swing plate that swings when the tip deviates from the joining area of the carton, and is upstream of the cutter in the traveling direction of the carton. Preferably, a suction head is provided on the side.

The suction head is located near the cutter and upstream of the cutter in the direction of travel of the carton, and is formed continuously with the suction port facing the non-adhesive surface of the traveling adhesive tape. It is preferable that the pressure-sensitive adhesive tape has a slit extending in a direction away from the non-adhesive surface of the traveling adhesive tape and having a reduced pressure applied thereto.

According to the carton sealer of the present invention, the tip of the adhesive tape adhered to the lead area on the front face of the carton to be sealed is automatically released while automatically sealing the carton with the adhesive tape. Since the folded portion having the outer surface is formed, the adhesive tape can be easily peeled off by gripping the folded portion with a finger, and as a result, almost all of the adhesive tape is completely removed. It will be.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The carton sealer of the present invention will be specifically described below. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a configuration according to an example of a carton sealer of the present invention.
In the figure, 10 is a carton sealer, C is a carton to be packaged, 11 is a tape roll constituting an adhesive tape supply section, and 12 and 13 are tape guide rollers. The carton sealer 10 of this example includes two flap closures that are folded down to form the top wall of the carton C,
It is joined by sticking an adhesive tape.

The carton C is conveyed rightward in FIG. 1 by a conveying mechanism (not shown) formed of, for example, a belt on a horizontally extending conveying path formed of, for example, rotatable sliding rollers. The tape roll 11 is wound in a roll shape such that the non-adhesive surface is the outer surface, and is supported by a tape reel (not shown) that is rotatable in the feeding direction and prohibited from rotating in the reverse direction. The adhesive tape T fed out from the tape roll 11 is supplied to a tape sticking mechanism via a tape guide roller 12 and a working roller 13.

The tape sticking mechanism comprises a front pressing mechanism having a front pressing roller 25, a rear pressing mechanism having a rear pressing roller 35, and a cutter mechanism having a cutter 45. The front holding mechanism includes a substantially L-shaped rotating plate 24. The rotating plate 24 has a main portion extending in the forward direction of the carton C and a tip portion extending downward from the tip thereof. The main portion is rotatably provided around a horizontal support shaft 22, and a front pressing roller 25 is rotatably supported at the distal end portion. In a free state where the carton C is not in contact, the front pressing roller 25 is suppressed by a spring (not shown) so as to be positioned at a level lower than the upper surface of the advancing carton C.

The rear holding mechanism includes a substantially L-shaped rotating plate 34. The rotating plate 34 has a main portion extending in the direction opposite to the forward direction of the carton C and a tip portion extending downward from the tip. The main part is provided rotatably around the horizontal support shaft 32, and the front pressing roller 35
Are rotatably supported.

The front press roller 25 and the rear press roller 35 of the rotary plate 24 of the front press mechanism and the rotary plate 34 of the rear press mechanism are both held at the same level, and one of them is raised and lowered. Sometimes the other is likewise moved up and down by a link bar 38. Therefore,
In the free state in which the carton C is not in contact with the front press roller 25, the rear press mechanism moves the rear press roller 35 forward by the spring acting on the front press mechanism.
Is held at a level lower than the upper surface of.

The cutter mechanism has a swing plate 41 extending entirely in the forward direction of the carton C. The swing plate 41 is rotatably provided around a horizontal support shaft 42 at a base end portion (left end portion in the drawing), and a distal end portion (right end portion in the drawing) is provided by a spring (not shown). It is restrained downward. A cutter 45 having, for example, a sawtooth-shaped cutting blade at the lower edge is fixed to the tip end. A suction head 50 is provided near the downstream side of the cutter 45 (in a direction opposite to the forward direction of the carton C). Are located.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view for explaining the suction head 50. In the suction head 50, an opening 52 is formed on a lower surface of a metal block 51 made of, for example, aluminum, and a slit 54 extending upward following the opening 52 is formed. Further, in the suction head 50, a decompression chamber 56 is formed above the metal block 51. The upper portion of the slit 54 communicates with the decompression chamber 56, and a decompression path 58 extending from a vacuum pump (not shown).
Are connected to the decompression chamber 56. In the illustrated example, the inlet and outlet wall surfaces 5 of the opening 52 of the suction head 50 are shown.
Each of the members 3 and 53 has a shape curved in a smooth arc shape.

The shape of the opening 52 in the suction head 50,
The shape of the slit 54, the dimensions of the depth and the gap width, the magnitude of the applied pressure reducing action, the positional relationship with the cutter 45, and the like are set in a wide range depending on the type and size of the adhesive tape used and other conditions. You.

Carton sealer 10 having the above configuration
Is as follows. FIG. 1 shows a state immediately before the processing of the preceding carton (not shown) is completed and the sealing processing of the next carton C is started. In this state, the adhesive tape T is unwound from the tape roll 11 and supported by the action roller 13, so that the lead portion TL is suspended in front of the carton C,
The adhesive surface is made to face the front of the carton C,
Behind the front pressing roller 25 is located.

When the carton C moves forward by the action of the transport mechanism, the lead portion TL of the adhesive tape T is pressed against the lead area on the front surface by the front pressing roller 25 and adheres. Subsequently, when the carton C advances, the front pressing roller 25 is pressed by the advancing force of the carton C as the carton C advances, so that the rotating plate 24 of the front pressing mechanism raises the tip portion around the support shaft 22. , Rotating counterclockwise against the spring, the front pressing roller 25 rises up against the front of the carton C, and as a result, the adhesive tape T is applied to the lead area on the front of the carton C. Is adhered. At this time,
The pivot plate 34 of the rear holding mechanism is connected via a link bar 38.
It rotates clockwise about the support shaft 32 so that the tip portion rises.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Reaches the upper surface of the carton C, as the carton C advances, the advancing force causes the adhesive tape T to be unwound from the tape roll 11, and the sequential portion thereof is suppressed downward by the action of the spring. The pressure roller 25 is pressed against the upper surface of the carton C, and is further pressed, so that the adhesive tape T is adhered to the joining region extending in the transport direction on the upper surface of the carton C. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a pressing force is again applied to the adhesive tape T affixed to the joining area by the subsequent rear pressing roller 35. At this time, since the tip of the swing plate 41 is supported by the upper surface of the carton C and is at the raised position, the cutter 45 located near the tip of the swing plate 41 does not operate with respect to the adhesive tape T. State.

When the carton C further advances and the tip of the swing plate 41 of the cutter mechanism comes off the rear end of the upper surface of the carton C as shown in FIG. 5, the swing plate 41 is rotated by the action of the spring. Then its tip descends.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 7A, the cutter 45 acts over the adhesive tape T that is tensioned between the tape guide roller 13 and the preceding carton C, and the adhesive tape T is formed. Cut, and as a result, the adhesive tape T
Is formed, and a lead portion of the succeeding adhesive tape T is formed.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6, when the carton C further advances and the back press roller 35 comes off the rear end of the upper surface of the carton C, the rotation plate 34 is acted on by the spring acting on the front press mechanism. Is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, so that the rear pressing roller 35 moves the tail portion TT of the adhesive tape T.
Is pressed against the rear surface of the carton C, so that the tail portion TT is attached to the tail region on the rear surface of the carton C.

The carton sealer 1 having the above structure
0, the suction head 5 provided on the swing plate 41 of the cutter mechanism at a position near the downstream side of the cutter 45.
With 0, a folded portion is formed at the leading portion of the subsequent adhesive tape T after cutting as follows.

FIG. 7A is an explanatory view showing a state immediately after the adhesive tape T is cut by the cutter 45.
The tail portion TT of the preceding adhesive tape is processed by the back pressing roller 35 as described above.

On the other hand, the leading portion T of the following adhesive tape T
H is in a free state because only the upstream portion thereof is adhesively held by the working roller 13, and therefore, if left as it is, it will hang down by gravity. However, when a pressure is applied to the suction head 50 via the pressure reduction path 58 at the same time as or immediately after the cutting of the adhesive tape T, the opening 52 on the lower surface of the suction head 50 causes the non-adhesive surface of the leading end TH of the adhesive tape. , And the reduced pressure applied to the reduced pressure chamber 56 is applied to the slit 5.
7, the head part TH is sucked into the slit 54 from the opening 52 with the middle part of the head part TH as the head or vertex as shown in FIG.

However, since the width of the slit 54 extending upward is small, the leading portion TH sucked into the slit 54 is folded back at the leading end TH1 with respect to the subsequent portion TH2. The Rukoto. The folded portions TH1 and TH2 come into contact with each other because the inner surfaces of the folded portions TH1 and TH2 that are in contact with each other are adhered to each other. It has an outer surface of nature. Thereafter, when the operation of the pressure reduction is stopped, the lead portion TL of the adhesive tape T on which the folded portion 60 is formed is moved to the suction head 50.
And is held in a predetermined position by the action roller 13 for sealing the next carton.

As described above, the adhesive tape T applied to the next carton has the folded portion 60 having a non-adhesive outer surface formed at the tip. Therefore, the carton sealed by the adhesive tape T having the folded portion 60 is opened when the carton is opened.
By pinching 0, the adhered adhesive tape T can be peeled off very easily in its length direction. Moreover, as a result, almost all of the pressure-sensitive adhesive tape T is almost completely removed, so that it is extremely convenient to recycle the carton and there is no problem in environmental conservation.

In the above description, the magnitude of the reduced pressure applied to the suction head 50 differs depending on the type and width of the applied adhesive tape T and other conditions, and cannot be unconditionally defined. Type, for example, 4
It is 00 to 750 mm / Hg. In addition, the suction head 50
The size of the opening width d of the opening 52 is, for example, about 5 to 10 mm. When the opening width is large, the degree of reduced pressure to be applied may be increased. Since the length of the folded portion 60 of the adhesive tape T varies depending on the distance between the cutter 45 and the suction head 50, the depth and shape of the slit 54, and other conditions, by selecting appropriate conditions, Can be adjusted. In practice, it is sufficient that the length of the folded portion 60 is in the range of, for example, 5 to 15 mm. In this case, the length of the slit 54 including the opening 52 is about 10 to 20 mm.

Although a specific example of the present invention has been described above, various changes can be made in the present invention. For example, the specific configuration of the carton sealer main body is not limited to the illustrated example. Further, the suction head can be similarly applied to a case where the bonding area where the adhesive tape is to be attached is located not only on the upper surface of the carton but also on the side surface or the lower surface.

[0032]

As described above, according to the carton sealer of the present invention, the carton is automatically adhered to the carton by the adhesive tape, and is adhered to the lead area on the front face of the carton to be sealed. Since a folded portion having a non-adhesive outer surface is formed at the tip of the adhesive tape, the adhesive tape can be easily peeled off by gripping the folded portion with a finger and further almost inevitably, The entire tape is removed, which is convenient for recycling and is preferable in environmental conservation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing a configuration according to an example of a carton sealer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory sectional view of a suction head.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state where a front pressing roller of the carton sealer of FIG. 1 is positioned on an upper surface of the carton.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state immediately before the swing plate of the carton sealer of FIG. 1 comes off the upper surface of the carton.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a state immediately after a swing plate of the carton sealer of FIG. 1 has come off the upper surface of the carton.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a rear pressing roller of the carton sealer of FIG. 1 is separated from the upper surface of the carton.

7A is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing the state of the suction head of FIG. 2 at the moment when the adhesive tape is cut by a cutter, and FIG. 7B is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing the operation of the suction head.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C Carton 11 Tape roll 12 Tape guide roller 13 Working roller 22 Support shaft 24 Rotating plate 25 Front pressing roller 32 Support shaft 34 Rotating plate 35 Rear pressing roller 38 Link bar 41 Swing plate 42 Support shaft 45 Cutter 50 Suction head 51 Block 52 opening 53 wall surface 54 slit 56 decompression chamber 58 decompression path

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A carton sealer for joining folded flaps in a carton to be conveyed with an adhesive tape, comprising: an adhesive tape supply section; and an adhesive tape from the adhesive tape supply section, the front face of the advancing carton. A tape attaching mechanism that attaches to the attaching area extending from the lead area to the tail area on the rear side through the joining area extending in the transport direction, a cutter that cuts the rear end of the adhesive tape to be attached, and cutting by the cutter And a suction head that forms a folded portion at the leading portion of the subsequent tape formed by the pressure-sensitive adhesive tape. Is folded to form a folded portion having a non-adhesive outer surface. 2. The tape applying mechanism presses an adhesive surface of a lead portion of an adhesive tape against a lead area on a front surface of a carton that advances, and then presses an adhesive surface of the adhesive tape on a joining area with the advance of the carton. A front press roller, a cutter disposed downstream of the front press roller in the direction of travel of the carton, and a tail portion of the adhesive tape cut by the cutter disposed further downstream of the cutter in the direction of travel of the carton. And a rear pressing roller for pressing the surface against the tail area on the rear surface of the carton. The cutter is provided on a swing plate that swings when the tip deviates from the joining area of the carton, and is upstream of the cutter in the carton traveling direction. The carton sealer according to claim 1, wherein a suction head is provided on a side. 3. A suction head is disposed near the cutter and upstream of the cutter in the direction of travel of the carton, and is formed continuously with the suction port facing the non-adhesive surface of the traveling adhesive tape. The carton sealer according to claim 1, further comprising a slit that extends in a direction away from a non-adhesive surface of the traveling adhesive tape and is subjected to reduced pressure.