JPS5926529B2 - Automatic tying device for PTP packaging - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention automatically brings the uneven surfaces of two PTPs to face each other,
The present invention also relates to a device for assembling the uneven surfaces of both PTPs into a set of bound bodies by engaging them with each other, and more particularly to an automatic binding device for PTPs for automatically binding PTPs on only a single packaging line.

In recent years, PTP (extruded packaging), which has been widely used as packaging for drugs, etc., is made compact by tying the uneven surfaces of two unit PTP together to minimize the packaging volume. It is customary to stack 5 sets) into one package (commonly called a cassette).

In the past, this tying was usually done by hand by female workers, but in recent years, attempts have been made to automate it to save labor and improve efficiency, and for this reason, the uneven surface of the PTP should be facing upward. For example, the invention of Japanese Patent Publication No. 38306/1980 is a device that has a normal conveyance line for conveying PTP as it is and a reversal conveyance line for exclusively conveying similar PTP in reverse, and joins and ties both lines together. Proposed.

However, in order to utilize the above reversing device, two transport lines perpendicular to each other on a plane are required.

Since each line requires a considerable length for intermediate inspections, replenishment of defective PTPs with new PTPs, etc., making the two lines orthogonal would significantly increase the installation area; In addition to simply doubling the number of facilities, there are many other disadvantages, such as doubling the number of inspection personnel and increasing the cost of destroying land and buildings. The present invention attempts to solve the above problems all at once by making it possible to make cassettes on one line. established,
The idea is to allow the packages to pass through the device alternately or inverted, and to combine the packages by merging them into a single path. The reversing device, which forms the main part of the device, has a fractional 18
Consists of a pair of rotary plates that have the function of rotating by 0.00, and each rotary plate has a linear groove on its inner surface that passes through the center of rotation (axis), and a groove that is parallel to the groove and spaced apart from the center by a certain distance. The distance between these opposing grooves is determined according to the width of the PTP to be conveyed. As shown in the examples below, the two grooves that exist symmetrically with the groove passing through the axis only need to support both edges of the lower surface of the PTP, so they do not need to be grooves in the literal sense; An inwardly extending flange is sufficient. The conveyance path switching device is located in the reversing device, and distributes the PTP that is continuously sent through the previous conveyance path to a path passing through the axis of the reversing device in a stationary state or a path below it.

This device consists of a pair of movable arms that can be swung along a vertical plane by a cam or the like that interlocks with the reversing device, and when the arms are in a fixed position below, they are aligned with the passage below the reversing device. However, when the arm swings upward, it aligns with the path passing through the axis of the reversing device. The tying device is located immediately after the reversing device, and consists of a passage passing through the axis of the reversing device, two passages that align with the passage below the axis, and a connecting passage that joins them together. configured.

The pawls are attached at equal intervals to a transfer chain (which may also be a timing belt) and serve to send the transported PTP through a series of paths to subsequent equipment. In a preferred embodiment, the claws are alternately long and short, and are arranged to be raised and lowered as necessary, so that the PTP that passes through the reversing device and waits in the lower passage of the tying device is later removed. The tying is completed by pushing out the PTP all at once to a merging position with the face-down PTP which is inverted and sent to the upper passage of the tying device.
In addition, if it is necessary to move either the upper or lower PTP in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction when tying them together,
As shown in the embodiments described later, either or both of the upper and lower passages in the tying device may be swung in a direction crossing the direction of movement.
All of the above devices are adjusted in synchronism with the movement of the reversing device via suitable adjustment devices. When the reversing device is at rest, the pawl serves to force the PTP to advance through the device's lower passage to a parked position or into one end of the central passage. Although the movement of the pawl or chain may be continuous, the movement of the PTP into each passage of the reversing device must be synchronized with the stationary phase of the device. Hereinafter, one specific example of the inventive device outlined above will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but this is merely an example and is not directly related to the technical scope of the invention. Figure 1 A,
At the mouth, the device of this example has a pair of left and right guide rails 3, 3.
One end is the front end of the passage (hereinafter, "front" and "rear" refer to the conveyance direction side as the "front" and the opposite side as the "rear").

), the other end of which is in contact with either the upper or lower passage of the guiding passage, one end of which is in contact with each passage position at the front end of the converter, and the other end of which is in contact with the next stage of packaging. Guide passages 2b and 2c that are in contact with the axial center passage 2b'' and eccentric passage 2c'' of the body reversing device 8, respectively, and respective introduction passages 2d, whose one end is in contact with the front end of the guide passage and whose other end is in contact with the tying device 17 of the next stage. 2e, the rear end is in contact with each passage of the reversing apparatus, and the front end is in contact with the next stage delivery passage 2.
It is composed of a tying device 17 that reaches up to 10 g, and an endless knife 18 with claws that runs below each device. The transport path switching device 7 has a structure in which one end of guide rails 4, 4' similar to the guide rails above is swingably supported by a shaft 4c pivotally connected to a bracket 6 fixed to the frame 5. The coil spring 23 attached to the lower part of the swinging rod 22 extending substantially vertically from the rear end 4a allows the front ends of the rails 4, 4'' to always reach the position indicated by the dotted line in the figure (that is, the front ends of the rails 4, 4'' are inverted as described below). The rails 4, 4'' are energized to rotate (to a position aligned with the upper guide passage 2b to the device). However, on the other hand, due to the horizontal movement of the swinging cam plate 24 that rotates synchronously with the next-stage reversing device 8 and the push rod 25 that is in constant contact with the circumferential surface of the cam plate,
The swinging rod 22 repeatedly swings against the tensile force of the spring 23 so as to align the switching passage 2a'' with the lower guide passage 2c of the next stage reversing device.

In addition, the number 26 in the figure is a stopper for adjusting the position of the guide rail 4. Incidentally, the design of the above-mentioned swinging mechanism can be modified to directly move the guide rails 4, 4'' up and down by other linear movement means such as an air cylinder or solenoid, if desired. )Pa,
It has a structure in which two rectangular plates 9, 9'' of the same shape are arranged parallel to each other, and a rotating shaft 13 is attached to the center of the outside of each plate.
13, a gear 20 fixed to one end of the shaft, and a main gear 20
The first driving gear 21 engages with the second gear 21 and an intermittent rotation mechanism (not shown) such as a Geneva stop fixed to the shaft of the second gear 21 rotates the second gear 21 in fractions of 1800 degrees.

The rectangular plates 9, 9 have two ribs 10a, 10b on their inner surfaces, which are parallel to both long sides of the plates with the axis in between, respectively.
Flanges 11 and 12 bent inward along both long sides
The center of both ribs constitutes an axial center passage 2b'', and the inner surface of each flange constitutes an eccentric passage 2c'. two sets of upper and lower guide rails 14, 14 and 15,
It consists of 15 parts.

After the upper guide rail 14 comes into contact with the front end of the shaft center passage 2b' in the reversing device 8, the lower guide rail 15, 1
5 begins to rise upward, forming an upper introduction passage 2d between both rails. Lower guide rail 1
5 and 15 are lower eccentric passages 2c'' (
Since the rectangular plates 9 and 9'' rotate, the vertical relationship is relative; however, here, the passage located on the lower side of the paper in FIG. 1 will be named as such. , rising upward from the ends of the upper guide rails 14, 14, the rear ends of which are in contact with the guide rail 16 for the next-stage delivery passage, and between both guide rails, the lower introduction passage 2e and the tying passage 2f. , and finally merges into the delivery passage 2g.
d is curved and eccentric 30 to the left in the direction of travel, as shown in FIG. 5 (plan view).

The endless chain 18 circulates and cruises under the entire apparatus from at least the end of the package supply path to the beginning of the delivery path.

As shown in FIG. 3, rearward inverted L-shaped pawls 27 and 2r are swingably attached to the corners of the links 18a by connecting pins 28, as shown in FIG. Note that the claw may be attached at an intermediate position of the link 18a. The endless chain 18 with claws moves along the upper surface of the guide rail 29 below it, but at this time, the claws slide on the upper surface of the terrace portions 29a and 29b that extend to the left and right of the guide rail. Stay upright. Therefore, if a notch is provided in the terrace portion, the claw loses its support and will fall down due to a slight external force on the upright portion. Actually, since the upper terrace ends near the entrance of the lower introduction passage 2c, the PTP that has been sent by the claw 27 without being turned over is transferred to the passage 2c.
It comes to rest in the rear of the vehicle. On the other hand, the claw 277 following the claw 27 has a longer upright part than the former and has a continuous terrace part, so it moves forward while standing upright, and the PTP that has passed through the eccentric passage 2c/ is centered on the axis of the reversing device. After feeding the PTP into the passage 2b'', the PTP advances as it is and pushes out the reversed PTP from the passage again, and at the same time, the preceding PTP already waiting in the lower introduction passage 2e also advances on the passage 2e. The tying is completed in the inclined tying path 2f, and the front and back packages are sent to the next cassette forming process (not shown) through the delivery path 2g.The operation of the above-mentioned example device is as follows. That is, when you press the start button (not shown) to start the device,
The PTPs continuously produced by the PTP packaging machine 1 are sequentially sent from the path 2a to the conveyance path switching device 7 by the claws 27, 274. Referring also to FIG. 4 below, when the first PTPA enters the passage 2a'' between the swingable guardrails 4 and 4', the passage 2a'' is connected to the swing cam shown in FIG. Therefore, the push rod 25 presses the swing rod 22 to the left as shown in the figure, so that it is connected to the downward guide passage 2c as shown in the figure. For this reason, the shorter nail 27
As it continues to move forward, the PTPA passes through the stationary lower eccentric passage 2c'' and stops near the entrance of the lower introduction passage 2e in the tying device (the movement of the claws at this time has already been described). Next, the succeeding longer claw 27'' also conveys the second package A''. Then, when N enters the passage 2a'' of the conveyance path switching device 7, the movement of the main claw 2r is controlled by a photocell. Alternatively, a detection sensor (not shown) such as a phototransistor detects this, and as a result of rotating the cam plate 24, the press rod 25 comes into contact with the short diameter circumferential surface of the cam plate due to the tensile force of the spring 23. Slide to the right in the diagram,
Accordingly, the swinging rod 22 swings toward the right in the figure by the shaft 4c, and the guide rail 4 is thus fixed to the rod 22.
, 4'' swing as shown by the dotted line in the figure, aligning the switching passage 2a with the upper guide passage 2b that reaches the axial passage 2b'' of the reversing device 8. As a result, the second package N is pushed by the claw 2r and enters into the axial center passage 2b/ of the reversing device through the upper guide passage 2b. As soon as this approach is completed, the rectangular plate 9
, 9/ is 180. rotates, and this rotational movement causes the package A to
'' is reversed from an upward (frontward) state to a downward (backward) state. On the other hand, the claw 27" that previously sent the second package X into the axial center passage 2b1 is The inside continues to move forward, and the inverted package A'' is again propelled and delivered to the upper introduction passage 2d.

At this time, the first
The second package A is also pushed forward at the same time, but since the upper package A has an eccentric 30 degree in the upper introduction passage to the left (see Fig. 5), when it leaves the passage swung to the left, While falling onto the first package A below and moving upward on the inclined surface of the next tying path 2f, the uneven surfaces of the two engage with each other and integration occurs. The pair of packages 4 tied together in this way are then conveyed to a cassette packaging stacking device (not shown, see, for example, the specification of applicant's Utility Model Application No. 120721), where a fixed number of packages are stacked. After that, the cassette package is finished into a completed cassette package using subsequent packaging equipment and other auxiliary equipment (not shown). In the above apparatus, it is preferable that the reversing device is provided with a cover 31 as shown in the figure to prevent the reversible package from being scattered due to centrifugal force. As explained above, the present invention uses a single packaging line (the entire line from PTP production to boxing or bagging), which is connected to the PTP that is continuously sent from the PTP manufacturing device with the uneven surface facing upward (facing up). P, which was the key to final packaging completed in
It provides an effective means for alternately inverting and tying TP in a single line, and makes a great contribution to the full automation and simplification of the PTP packaging process.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic side view showing one example of the invention device (I: front half of the figure, opening: rear half of the figure), Figure 2 is a perspective view of the reversing device in the apparatus of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a part of the endless chain, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the conveyance path switching device and the reversing device, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main part. The meaning of each main symbol in the diagram is as follows: -1PTP
Packaging machine, 2: Conveyance path (2a. Packaging supply path, 2a''
: Switching passage, 2b, 2c: Guidance passage, 2b'': Axial passage, 2c'': Eccentric passage, 2d: Soil introduction passage, 2e:
Lower introduction passage, 2f: Tying passage (slanted passage), 2
g: delivery passage), 3, 31: guardrail for package supply passage, 4, 4/: guardrail for switching passage, 4
c: Swing axis, 5: Frame, 6: Plunket, 7: Conveyance path conversion device, 8: Reversing device, 9, 9': Rectangular plate, 1
0a, 10b: Rib, 11, 12: Flange, 13: Rotating shaft, 14: Guide rail for upper introduction passage, 15: Guide rail for lower introduction passage, 16: Guide rail for delivery passage, 17: Tying device, 1γ: Guide rail for tying passage, 18: Endless chain, 18a:
Link, 19, 197: Bracket, 20, 21: Gear, 22: Swing rod, 23: Tension spring, 24: Swing cam plate, 25: Push rod, 26: Stopper 27, 2r
: Claw, 28: Connecting pin, 29: Chain guide rail (29a, 29b: Terrace part of guide rail), 30:
Eccentric part of upper introduction passage, 31: Cover 1, A, N: Extruded packaging (PTP), 4: Tie packaging.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A conveyance path switching device arranged in series in a conveyance path for a series of extruded packages, a package reversing device following the device, a tying device following the reversing device, and a series extending along the conveyance path. and an endless chain with claws, and the reversing device is composed of a pair of rectangular plates that face each other and rotate fractionally by 180° along a plane parallel to the virtual vertical center plane of the conveyance path. , inside both the plates, there is a passage passing through the axis parallel to the long side of each plate, and two passages parallel to the passage and spaced apart from the passage by a certain distance.
Each time the reversing device of the next stage fractionally rotates and comes to rest, the switching device alternately includes a path passing through the axis of the reversing device and two paths parallel to the path. The tying device is aligned with either one of the passageways, and the tying device
A package that has been inverted by passing through a passage passing through the axis of the inverting device, and a package that has passed through either of the other two passages of the inverting device without being inverted, respectively. The endless chain with claws is configured so that the upper and lower parts are received separately and then merged into one passage.Furthermore, the endless chain with claws has two types of claws, long and short, attached to the endless chain alternately at equal intervals, and the shorter one The claw retracts the package passing through the passage located at the lowest position of the reversing device without being inverted, after feeding it through the passage to the lower passage of the tying device at the next stage, and the longer claw is retracted. , the package to be inverted passing through a passage passing through the axis of the reversing device is sent through the passage to the upper passage of the tying device, and at the same time, together with the non-inverting package waiting in the lower passage, the confluence of the upper and lower passages. An automatic tying device for PTP packages, characterized in that it operates to complete the engagement of the uneven surfaces of both packages.