PUSHING MECHANISM AND BOX PACKAGING DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001]The present disclosure relates to a pushing mechanism and a box packaging device.

BACKGROUND

[0002]A pushing mechanism is known in which a plurality of bags formed by sealing both end portions of a film formed in a tubular shape are pushed into a laterally open box in an erected posture. As this pushing mechanism, for example, Japanese Patent No. 6534820 discloses a mechanism including a box standby unit for causing a box to stand by, an article placement unit having a placement surface for temporarily placing an article (bag), and a pushing plate (pushing unit) having a pressing surface for pressing the article toward the box. In the mechanism, the pushing plate is brought close to the box to package the article in the box.

SUMMARY

[0003]In the above-described pushing mechanism, a portion of the bag pushed into the box may protrude from the box in some cases. In this case, for example, the bag may interfere with a peripheral component during a subsequent operation, thereby causing a possibility that a posture of the bag may be disordered (for example, the bag may be rotated) inside the box.

[0004]In the present disclosure, a pushing mechanism and a box packaging device which can suppress a posture disorder of a bag pushed into a box.

[0005](1) According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a pushing mechanism that pushes a plurality of bags formed by sealing both end portions of a film formed in a tubular shape into a laterally open box in an erected posture. The pushing mechanism includes a box standby unit for causing the box to stand by, an article placement unit having a placement surface on which the plurality of bags are temporarily placed in the erected posture, and a pushing unit extending in an alignment direction of the plurality of bags and pushing the plurality of bags placed on the placement surface into the box by moving toward an opening of the box from the article placement unit. The pushing unit has a contact portion that comes into contact with a portion of the bag in a height direction in the erected posture such that one side of the bag is bent in a pushing direction.

[0006]In the pushing mechanism, one side of the bag pushed into the box is bent by the contact portion. In this manner, one side of the bag is likely to deform. Therefore, for example, even when the bag pushed into the box interferes with a peripheral component, one side of the bag can be actively deformed, and a movement of the whole bag (for example, rotation of the bag or the like) can be suppressed. That is, it is possible to suppress a posture disorder of the bag pushed into the box.

[0007](2) In the pushing mechanism according to (1), the contact portion may protrude in a pushing direction of the pushing unit pushing the bag from a pressing surface on which the pushing unit pushes the plurality of bags. A protruding height of the contact portion may be larger than 1/10 of a length of the bag in the pushing direction, and may be smaller than ⅓ of the length of the bag. In this case, it is possible to effectively suppress the posture disorder of the bag pushed into the box.

[0008](3) The pushing mechanism according to (1) or (2) may further include a raising and lowering unit that raises and lowers the box standby unit. The pushing unit may push the plurality of bags into the box lowered by the raising and lowering unit again after the plurality of bags are pushed into the box. In this case, a plurality of stages of bags can be disposed inside the box in the height direction.

[0009](4) In the pushing mechanism according to any one of (1) to (3), the contact portion may be provided to be expandable and contractible in the alignment direction of the plurality of bags. In this case, since the contact portion is expanded and contracted, it is possible to adjust the number of the plurality of bags with which the contact portion comes into contact.

[0010](5) In the pushing mechanism according to any one of (1) to (4), one side of the bag bent by the contact portion may correspond to any one edge side of a pair of seal portions provided in both end portions of the bag. For example, since rigidity of the seal portion in the bag is relatively high, when the seal portion interferes with a peripheral component, the posture of the bag is likely to be disordered inside the box. Therefore, when an edge side of the seal portion is bent by the contact portion, there is a remarkable advantageous effect of suppressing the posture disorder of the bag pushed into the box.

[0011](6) In the pushing mechanism according to any one of (1) to (5), the contact portion may come into contact with a central portion of the bag in the height direction in the erected posture. One side of the bag pushed into the box on an opening side of the box may be made to bent so as to enter an inside of the box when viewed in the alignment direction of the plurality of bags. In this case, it is possible to specifically realize the contact portion which bends one side of the bag.

[0012](7) According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a box packaging device including a transport mechanism that sequentially transports the bags one by one, an accumulation mechanism that accumulates a predetermined number of the bags, and the pushing mechanism according to any one of (1) to (6), which pushes the predetermined number of the bags into the box. Even in the box packaging device, an operational effect of suppressing the posture disorder of the bag pushed into the box by using the pushing mechanism is achieved.

[0013]According to the present disclosure, it is possible to suppress the posture disorder of the bag pushed into the box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a box packaging device according to an embodiment.

[0015]FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a flow of a cardboard box and a product in the box packaging device in FIG. 1.

[0016]FIG. 3A is a view illustrating a procedure in which an article group is transported by a product transport unit in FIG. 1. FIG. 3B is a view subsequent to FIG. 3A. FIG. 3C is a view subsequent to FIG. 3B. FIG. 3D is a view subsequent to FIG. 3C. FIG. 3E is a view subsequent to FIG. 3D.

[0017]FIG. 4 is a schematic side view illustrating a pushing mechanism in FIG. 1.

[0018]FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a pushing unit in FIG. 1.

[0019]FIG. 6 is a schematic side view for describing an operation of the pushing mechanism in FIG. 4.

[0020]FIG. 7 is a schematic side view subsequent to FIG. 6.

[0021]FIG. 8 is a schematic side view subsequent to FIG. 7.

[0022]FIG. 9 is a view for describing rotation of a bag inside a cardboard box.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023]Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, for convenience, each of front, rear, up, down, left, and right directions with respect to a box packaging device 1 is used. In some drawings, three-dimensional orthogonal axes indicating these directions are displayed. For example, a position where a box material Z is placed and a position where a cardboard box B after sealing is discharged are front portions of a box packaging device 1. A position where product supply means 50 is provided is a rear portion of the box packaging device 1. Both a front-rear direction and a left-right direction are horizontally extending directions. An up-down direction is equal to a vertical direction.

[0024]First, an overall configuration of the box packaging device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the box packaging device 1 is a device that assembles a cardboard box (box) B (manufactures a box), accommodates a plurality of bags A in the cardboard box B, and seals the cardboard box B. The box packaging device 1 assembles a plurality of box materials Z accommodated in a box material accommodation unit 11 one by one, and packages the plurality of bags A sequentially loaded from an outside by product supply means 50 in an aligned state in the cardboard box B. The bag A is an article (product) formed by sealing both end portions of a film formed in a tubular shape. Both end portions of the bag A include seal portions 2.

[0025]As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the box packaging device 1 includes box supply means 10 for assembling and supplying the cardboard box B, product supply means 50 for sequentially supplying the plurality of bags A, a pushing mechanism 20 that pushes and accommodates the plurality of bags A into the cardboard box B, and box sealing means 30 for transporting and sealing the cardboard box B accommodating the plurality of bags A. Hereinafter, each configuration provided in the box packaging device 1 will be described.

[0026]The box supply means 10 includes a box material accommodation unit 11 that accommodates the plurality of box materials Z, a box manufacturing unit 12 that assembles a box main body Ba of the cardboard box B, and a first rotary unit 13 that rotates the assembled box main body Ba. The box material accommodation unit 11 supports the plurality of box materials Z superimposed and placed by a support portion (not illustrated). The box material accommodation unit 11 includes a raising and lowering mechanism 11a that takes out the box materials Z one by one. Each of the box materials Z taken out by the raising and lowering mechanism 11a is transported to a rear stage by a conveyor (not illustrated).

[0027]The box manufacturing unit 12 receives each of the box materials Z, spreads the box materials Z in a tubular shape, and folds a flap Bf on a bottom surface side to attach a tape to a bottom surface Bc. In this manner, the box main body Ba is further transported to a rear stage in a posture in which an opening Bp faces upward. In the present embodiment, the “manufacturing the box” of the cardboard box B means that the box main body Ba having a rectangular parallelepiped shape is formed. Therefore, the “manufacturing the box” does not necessarily require that the flap Bf on an upper surface side is folded. The box manufacturing unit 12 may include a suction rotation mechanism 12a that rotates the box main body Ba such that a long side D of the box main body Ba faces a transport direction.

[0028]A box main body Ba of the cardboard box B is a rectangular parallelepiped. That is, the box main body Ba includes four sides extending in the up-down direction, four sides being parallel to each other and having the same length, in a reference posture in which a top surface Bd (refer to the sealed cardboard box B illustrated in a lower right side in FIG. 2) faces upward. On the other hand, the box main body Ba has the top surface Bd and a bottom surface Bc, each of which has the same rectangular shape. The top surface Bd and the bottom surface Bc each include a pair of short sides C and a pair of long sides D. In a state where a flap Bf is open on the top surface Bd, the box main body Ba has an opening Bp. As in the top surface Bd, the opening Bp also includes the pair of short sides C and the pair of long sides D. (In a strict sense, there is a difference in a thickness of the box material Z between the top surface Bd and the opening Bp, but in the present embodiment, the top surface Bd and the opening Bp are not distinguished from each other in the thickness.)

[0029]The first rotary unit 13 rotates the cardboard box B after manufacturing the box in a predetermined posture. As an example, the first rotary unit 13 locates the long side D downward, and rotates the opening Bp in a laterally facing posture. For example, the posture of the cardboard box B rotated by the first rotary unit 13 is controlled by a controller 60 (to be described later).

[0030]The product supply means 50 includes a product loading unit 51 and a product transport unit 52. For example, the product loading unit 51 is disposed on a downstream side of processes of inspecting a weight, sealing performance, foreign matter contamination, and the like, receives the supply of the bags A qualified in the inspection, and delivers each of the bags A to the product transport unit 52. The product loading unit 51 includes a product introduction conveyor 51a and a product loading conveyor 51b disposed on a downstream side of the product introduction conveyor 51a. Each of the bags A is delivered from the product introduction conveyor 51a to the product loading conveyor 51b, and is transported along a support wall (not illustrated) in the product loading conveyor 51b. The product loading unit 51 corresponds to a transport mechanism that sequentially transports the bags A one by one.

[0031]The product transport unit 52 receives each of the bags A from the product loading unit 51, and accumulates a predetermined number of bags A to form a product group X. The product transport unit 52 corresponds to an accumulation mechanism that accumulates the bags A. As illustrated in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, the product transport unit 52 includes a first alignment conveyor 52a that transports the bag A at a predetermined pitch L, and a second alignment conveyor 52b that receives the plurality of bags A from the first alignment conveyor 52a in a state where some of the bags A overlaps each other and that transports the bags A to an article placement unit 22 (to be described later).

[0032]The first alignment conveyor 52a and the second alignment conveyor 52b are respectively inclined at predetermined angles. Each inclination angle in the first alignment conveyor 52a and the second alignment conveyor 52b may be adjustable. As illustrated in FIG. 3D, when the product group X is formed on the article placement unit 22, the next bags A are sequentially supplied onto the first alignment conveyor 52a, and some of the bags A are transferred to the second alignment conveyor 52b. As illustrated in FIG. 3E, the plurality of bags A are aligned in a row in the left-right direction on the article placement unit 22.

[0033]As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pushing mechanism 20 is a mechanism that pushes the plurality of bags A transported in an erected posture into the laterally open cardboard box B. The pushing mechanism 20 accommodates the plurality of bags A in the cardboard box B. Details of the pushing mechanism 20 will be described later.

[0034]The box sealing means 30 includes a second rotary unit 31 that rotates the box main body Ba accommodating the plurality of bags A, and a box sealing unit 32 that closes the opening Bp of the box main body Ba rotated by the second rotary unit 31 with the flap Bf and attaches the tape. The second rotary unit 31 rotates the cardboard box B to align the transport direction of the cardboard box B with a direction in which the tape is attached by the box sealing unit 32. The box sealing unit 32 includes a tape attachment unit 34. The box sealing unit 32 folds the flap Bf on a top surface side with respect to the box main body Ba transported by the discharge conveyor 33, and the tape attachment unit 34 attaches the tape to the top surface Bd.

[0035]The box packaging device 1 includes a controller 60 that controls an operation of each portion of the box supply means 10, the pushing mechanism 20, the box sealing means 30, and the product supply means 50. The controller 60 is configured as a computer device including a processor such as a CPU, a memory such as a ROM and a RAM, a storage, a communication device, and the like. In the controller 60, the processor executes predetermined software (program) read into the memory or the like to control reading and writing of data in the memory and the storage and communication by the communication device. In this manner, various types of control are realized.

[0036]Next, details of the pushing mechanism 20 will be described. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, the pushing mechanism 20 includes a box standby unit 21, an article placement unit 22, a pushing unit 23, and a raising and lowering unit 28. The box standby unit 21 is a mechanism or a device for causing the cardboard box B to stand by. The box standby unit 21 holds the cardboard box B in a state where the long side D is located below and the opening Bp faces laterally (here, rearward). The box standby unit 21 is not particularly limited, and various known techniques may be used.

[0037]The article placement unit 22 has a placement surface 22a on which the plurality of bags A are temporarily placed in an erected posture. The placement surface 22a is a horizontal surface. A height position of the placement surface 22a corresponds to a holding position of the cardboard box B held by the box standby unit 21. For example, the article placement unit 22 is configured to include a conveyor. In the article placement unit 22, the plurality of bags A are erected by transferring the plurality of bags A toward an erecting conveyor 22e (refer to FIGS. 3D and 3E).

[0038]As illustrated in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, the pushing unit 23 extends in the left-right direction which is the alignment direction of the plurality of bags A. The pushing unit 23 pushes the plurality of bags A placed on the placement surface 22a into the cardboard box B by moving from the article placement unit 22 toward the opening Bp of the cardboard box B. The pushing unit 23 includes a transfer plate 24 and a contact portion 25.

[0039]The transfer plate 24 is configured to be slidable in the front-rear direction. A front surface of the transfer plate 24 includes a pressing surface 24a. The transfer plate 24 is driven by the controller 60, and moves forward when the cardboard box B is completely held in the box standby unit 21 and the plurality of bags A are completely placed in the article placement unit 22. In this manner, the pressing surface 24a presses the plurality of bags A forward, and the plurality of bags A are pushed (transferred) into the box main body Ba. The transfer plate 24 moves forward until the bag A pressed by the pressing surface 24a comes into contact with the bottom surface Bc of the cardboard box B. For example, the transfer plate 24 moves forward until the pressing surface 24a is located inside the cardboard box B.

[0040]As illustrated in FIG. 5, the transfer plate 24 includes a first transfer plate 24x and a second transfer plate 24y. The second transfer plate 24y is provided to be movable in the left-right direction with respect to the first transfer plate 24x. The second transfer plate 24y is connected to the first transfer plate 24x, and has an insert structure that can be accommodated in the first transfer plate 24x. In this manner, the transfer plate 24 is provided to be expandable and contractible in the left-right direction.

[0041]As illustrated in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, the contact portion 25 comes into contact with a portion of the bag A in the height direction in the erected posture such that one side of the bag A is bent in a pushing direction of the pushing unit 23. One side of the bag A bent by the contact portion 25 corresponds to an edge side of the seal portion 2 provided in the bag A. In the present embodiment, the contact portion 25 comes into contact with a central portion of the bag A in the height direction in the erected posture, and when viewed in the left-right direction, the contact portion 25 bends one side of the seal portion 2 on the rear side (opening Bp side) in the bag A pushed into the cardboard box B such that the one side of the seal portion 2 enters the inside (refer to FIGS. 6 and 7). The contact portion 25 crushes a portion of the bag A and pushes the bag A into the cardboard box B when the bag A is pushed into the cardboard box B by the pushing unit 23. Since the one side of the bag A is bent by the contact portion 25, a depression 5 recessed corresponding to a shape of the contact portion 25 is formed on the rear side of the bag A.

[0042]The contact portion 25 is fixed to the transfer plate 24 by a screw or the like. The contact portion 25 is a protrusion that protrudes from the pressing surface 24a in a forward direction which is a direction in which the pushing unit 23 pushes the bag A. The contact portion 25 is a protruding strip extending in the left-right direction and protruding forward. A front surface of the contact portion 25 has a curved surface. For example, a shape of the contact portion 25 is a shape curved such that a front side protrudes forward when viewed in the left-right direction. For example, the shape of the contact portion 25 is a semi-cylindrical shape. A protruding height of the contact portion 25 is larger than 1/10 of a length of the bag A in the front-rear direction, and is smaller than ⅓ of the length of the bag A in the front-rear direction. The contact portion 25 is provided in a lower portion of the pressing surface 24a. Here, a gap for preventing biting of the bag A is formed between the contact portion 25 and a lower end edge of the pressing surface 24a.

[0043]As illustrated in FIG. 5, the contact portion 25 includes a first contact portion 25x provided in the first transfer plate 24x and a second contact portion 25y provided in the second transfer plate 24y. The second contact portion 25y moves in the left-right direction with respect to the first contact portion 25x by moving the second transfer plate 24y in the left-right direction with respect to the first transfer plate 24x. The second contact portion 25y is connected to the first contact portion 25x, and has an insert structure that can be accommodated in the first contact portion 25x. In this manner, the contact portion 25 is provided to be expandable and contractible in the left-right direction. As illustrated in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, the raising and lowering unit 28 raises and lowers the box standby unit 21. The raising and lowering unit 28 is not particularly limited, and may include various known configurations such as a transport belt.

[0044]In this pushing mechanism 20, as an example, first, the box standby unit 21 is lowered by the raising and lowering unit 28, and the cardboard box B held in a state where the opening Bp faces rearward is lowered to a height position corresponding to the pushing unit 23. The pushing unit 23 is moved forward, and the plurality of bags A aligned on the article placement unit 22 in an erected posture are pressed forward by the pressing surface 24a. In this manner, the plurality of bags A are pushed into the cardboard box B. Thereafter, the pushing unit 23 moves rearward to return to an initial position, and the product transport unit 52 transports the other plurality of bags A to the article placement unit 22. Subsequently, the raising and lowering unit 28 lowers the box standby unit 21 again, and lowers the cardboard box B by a predetermined distance (distance corresponding to a width direction of the bag A). The pushing unit 23 moves forward again, and the plurality of bags A aligned on the article placement unit 22 in the erected posture are pressed forward by the pressing surface 24a. In this manner, the plurality of bags A are pushed into the cardboard box B again to be stacked on the plurality of previously accommodated bags A.

[0045]In the pushing mechanism 20 and the box packaging device 1 of the present embodiment, one side of the bag A pushed into the cardboard box B by the pushing mechanism 20 is bent by the contact portion 25 (refer to FIG. 7). In this manner, one side of the bag A is likely to deform. Therefore, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 8, when the box standby unit 21 is lowered by the raising and lowering unit 28 to further accommodate the plurality of bags A in the cardboard box B, even when the bag A previously pushed into the cardboard box B interferes with a peripheral component 90, a movement of the whole bag A (for example, rotation or the like of the bag A inside the cardboard box B as illustrated in FIG. 9) can be suppressed by actively deforming only one side of the bag A. That is, it is possible to suppress a posture disorder of the bag A pushed into the cardboard box B. It is possible to ensure stability in packaging the bag A into the cardboard box B.

[0046]In the present embodiment, the contact portion 25 protrudes forward from the pressing surface 24a by which the pushing unit 23 pushes the plurality of bags A. The protruding height of the contact portion 25 is larger than 1/10 of the length of the bag A in the front-rear direction, and is smaller than ⅓ of the length of the bag A. In this case, it is possible to effectively suppress the posture disorder of the bag A pushed into the cardboard box B.

[0047]In the present embodiment, the pushing mechanism 20 further includes the raising and lowering unit 28 that raises and lowers the box standby unit 21. The pushing unit 23 pushes the plurality of bags A again into the cardboard box B lowered by the raising and lowering unit 28 after the plurality of bags A are pushed into the cardboard box B. In this case, a plurality of stages of bags A can be disposed inside the cardboard box B in the height direction.

[0048]In the present embodiment, the contact portion 25 is provided to be expandable and contractible in the left-right direction. In this case, since the contact portion 25 expands and contracts, it is possible to adjust the number of the plurality of bags A with which the contact portion 25 comes into contact.

[0049]For example, since rigidity of the seal portion 2 is relatively high in the bag A, when the seal portion 2 interferes with the peripheral component 90, the bag A rotates inside the cardboard box B, and the posture of the bag A is likely to be significantly disordered. In this regard, in the present embodiment, one side of the bag A bent by the contact portion 25 corresponds to any one edge side of the pair of seal portions 2 of the bag A. When the edge side of the seal portion 2 is bent by the contact portion 25 in this way, there is a remarkable advantageous effect of suppressing the posture disorder of the bag A pushed into the cardboard box B.

[0050]In the present embodiment, the contact portion 25 comes into contact with the central portion of the bag A in the height direction in the erected posture. When viewed from the left-right direction, the contact portion 25 bends one side of the cardboard box B on the opening Bp side in the bag A pushed into the cardboard box B to enter the inside. In this case, the contact portion 25 that bends one side of the bag A can be specifically realized.

[0051]Hitherto, the embodiments have been described. Meanwhile, the aspect of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

[0052]In the above-described embodiment, the length of 1/10 includes the length of substantially 1/10, and includes an error such as a measurement error. Similarly, in the above-described embodiment, the length of ⅓ includes the length of substantially ⅓, and includes an error such as a measurement error. In the above-described embodiment, the box supply means 10 may be omitted, or the box sealing means 30 may be omitted in the box packaging device 1. The configuration of the product supply means 50 may be appropriately changed from the above-described embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, the peripheral component 90 is not particularly limited, and various members which may exist in the periphery (in the vicinity or at a close position) of the cardboard box B of the box standby unit 21 may be used.

[0053]Each configuration in the above-described embodiments and the above-described modification examples is not limited to the above-described materials and shapes, and various materials and shapes are applicable. In addition, each configuration in the above-described embodiments and modification examples is optionally applicable to each configuration in other embodiments or modification examples.