JP2920173B2 - Container sealing method and container sealing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container sealing method and a container sealing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for sealing by sealing a cap made of a heat-fusible resin at the mouth of a resin container, there is an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-26209.

[0003] In this sealing device, while moving a container filled with liquid along a predetermined circular path, nitrogen gas is first supplied to the inside of the container, and then a mouth portion of the container, which is a welding portion, and The welding portion of the cap was heated, and then nitrogen gas was re-supplied to increase the rate of nitrogen replacement, and then the cap was welded to the mouth portion by lowering the cap. .

[0004]

However, according to the conventional sealing device described above, in order to increase the nitrogen gas replacement rate, the nitrogen gas is re-supplied after the welding portion is heated. Is cooled to cause poor sealing, which causes a problem that it is difficult to obtain a high nitrogen gas replacement rate.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a container sealing method and a container sealing device which can solve the above problems.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a method for sealing a container according to the present invention comprises the steps of: moving a bag-filled container filled with liquid along a predetermined path; Fill the inert gas, then heat the mouth and the cap welding surface while pressing the bag body of the bag-like container, then move the inert gas supply nozzle between the mouth and the cap Then, an inert gas is supplied into the bag-shaped container, and then the cap is pressed against the mouth to perform welding.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a container sealing device of the present invention receives a liquid-filled bag-like container held by a container carrier and fills the bag-like container with an inert gas. An inlet starwheel device, a sealing machine body that receives the bag-shaped container and the cap from the inlet starwheel device and the cap supply device and welds the cap to the mouth of the bag-shaped container, and the cap is welded from the sealing machine body. An outlet star wheel device for taking out the bag-shaped container, and the sealing machine body is provided at predetermined intervals on the outer periphery of the rotating body rotatable around the vertical axis and the lower periphery of the rotating body. A lifting and lowering device that supports the container carrier from the star wheel device at the entrance so as to be able to move up and down, and is lifted by a lifting and lowering device provided at an intermediate portion of the rotating body. A mouth holding device capable of holding and opening the mouth of the bag-shaped container, a pressing device provided on the rotating body and pressing the side of the bag body of the bag-shaped container held by the mouth holding device, A cap holding device provided at the upper part of the rotating body and holding the cap and capable of being pressed toward the mouth, and a cap holding device provided on the fixed side frame of the sealing machine main body and in the heating zone, and A heating tool protruding between the heating element and a supply nozzle of an inert gas provided on the rotating body and capable of moving back and forth between a cap and a cap of the heated bag-shaped container. It is.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the bag body of the bag-like container filled with the inert gas is pressed while heating the welding surface, which is the seal, to prevent air from entering. Immediately after the welding surface is heated, the supply nozzle inserted between the mouth and the cap fills the bag-like container with an inert gas with a slight pressure. Therefore, the inert gas replacement rate can be increased without cooling the welded portion with an inert gas having a slight pressure.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, a bag-like container, a cap thereof, and a container carrier thereof, which are sealed by the container sealing device according to the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 19 to 21, the bag-shaped container 1 is provided with a mouth 2 having an upper end flange 2a and a lower flange 2b formed thereon, and is suspended from the mouth 2. The cap 4 has a flange surface 4a having the same shape as the upper end flange portion 2a of the mouth portion 2 at the lower end thereof, as shown in FIG.
Are formed, and a recess 4b is formed in the center of the lower surface.

The container carrier 5 has a column 6 and an engaging recess 7a for supporting the intermediate flange 2b of the mouth 2 of the bag-shaped container 1 fixed to the upper end of the column 6. And a protection portion 8 having a guide recess 8a for protecting the lower portion of the bag body 3.

The bag 2 has at least a mouth 2
The cap 4 is made of a heat-fusible resin. Next, a schematic overall configuration of the container sealing device will be described with reference to FIGS.

The present sealing device includes a carry-in conveyor device 11 for carrying a container carrier 5 holding a bag-like container 1 filled with liquid into the seal device, and a container carrier on the carry-in conveyor device 11. A timing screw device 12 for aligning the containers 5 at a predetermined pitch; and transferring the container carriers 5 aligned by the timing screw device 12 one by one to the sealing machine body side, and simultaneously introducing a nitrogen gas (inert gas) into the bag-shaped container 1. Inlet star wheel device 13 for filling
And the cap 4 sent via the cap chute 14
And a cap-shaped container 1 and a cap 4 supplied from the inlet-port starwheel device 13 and the cap supply device 15, respectively. A sealing machine main body 16 that is heated and welded to the mouth portion 2 of the container 1, and a bag-like container 1 in which the cap 4 is welded from the sealing machine main body 16.
An outlet starwheel device 17 for taking out the container carrier 5 one by one and a carry-out conveyor device 18 for carrying out the container carrier 5 taken out by the outlet portion starwheel device 17 to a predetermined place. In addition, on the sealing machine body 16 side, the filled nitrogen gas is pushed out by pressing one side surface of the bag body portion 3, and the nitrogen gas is again supplied immediately after the end of the heating to the concave portion 4 of the bag body portion 3 and the cap 4.
b, and then the cap 4 is pressed against the mouth 2 and welded.

Hereinafter, the inlet star wheel device 13 and the sealing machine body 14 will be described. First, the inlet star wheel device 13 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The inlet-side star wheel device 13 includes a holding cylinder 22 erected on the fixed frame 21 side and an annular fixed-side mounting plate 2 attached to an outer peripheral portion of the holding cylinder 22.
3, a rotating shaft body 25 rotatably held around a vertical axis in the holding cylinder 22 via upper and lower bearings (only a lower part is shown) 24, and attached to a lower end of the rotating shaft body 25. A rotating drive gear 26, an annular (specifically, polygonal) movable-side mounting plate 27 fixed to an intermediate portion of the rotary shaft 25, and a predetermined spacing on the outer peripheral portion of the movable-side mounting plate 27. A plurality of (eight in this embodiment) container guide members are attached to the fixed side mounting plate 21 at a position below the container guide members 28 and along the movement path of the container and only over a predetermined range. A container support plate 29 provided;
An elevating member (specifically, a pair of elevating rods) 31 held up and down by a guide hole 30 formed in the container guide member 28 in a vertical direction, and each of the elevating members 31
Spring 32 for urging the lifting member downward,
And a valve device 35 provided in the middle of a nitrogen gas supply piping path 34 to each of the filling nozzles 33. The elevating member 31 is moved up and down via a cam follower 36 provided on the fixed mounting plate 23 side and attached to the lower end of the elevating member 31, that is, the hanging portion 33a of the filling nozzle 33 is inserted into and removed from the bag-like container 1. And a cam plate 37 for raising and lowering.

The valve device 35 is mounted on the container guide member 28 side, and its valve body is connected to a driving cam plate 41 projecting outward, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, , A pair of opening and closing cam followers 42, 4 arranged on the upper surface of the fixed side mounting plate 23.
3, the valve body is opened and closed by rotating the driving cam plate 41 at an angle of 90 degrees.

The supply of nitrogen gas is supplied via a rotary joint 44 provided at the upper end of the rotary shaft 25. Therefore, the movable side mounting plate 27 is
Is rotated in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 5, the container carrier 5 supplied from the carry-in conveyor device 11 is
While moving on the container support plate 29, it sequentially enters the guide recess 28a of the container guide member 28 and is guided and moved along a predetermined rotation path.

On the way, the filling nozzle 33 is lowered to the inside of the bag-like container 1 held by the container carrier 5 by the elevating cam plate 37, and the driving cam plate 41 is opened by the opening cam follower 42. Is rotated 90 degrees as shown by the arrow b in FIG. 6 to open the valve body of the valve device 35, and is filled with nitrogen gas and replaced with air.

When a predetermined amount of nitrogen gas is charged, the closing cam follower 43 moves the driving cam plate 41 90 degrees in the reverse direction.
And the valve body is closed, and the supply of nitrogen gas is stopped. Then, it is delivered to the sealing machine body 16 side.

Next, the sealing machine body 16 will be described with reference to FIGS. The sealing machine main body 16 includes a rotating body 51 rotatably provided by a rotating shaft (not shown) provided in a vertical direction, and an inlet section provided at predetermined intervals on the outer periphery of a lower portion of the rotating body 51. Elevating device 52 that supports container carrier 5 from star wheel device 13 so as to be able to move up and down.
And an elevating device 52 provided at an intermediate portion of the rotating body 51.
A mouth holding device 53 which can hold and open the mouth 2 of the bag-like container 1 raised by the above, and a bag main body 3 of the bag-like container 1 provided on the rotating body 51 and held by the mouth holding device 53
, A cap holding device 56 provided above the rotating body 51 for holding the cap 4 and pressing the mouth 2 side, and a fixed base of the sealing machine main body (not shown). And heating zone (see Fig. 1)
(B) a bar-shaped heater (heating tool) 5 provided over the entire length and projected between the mouth portion 2 of the bag-shaped container 1 and the cap 4
6, and a nozzle device 57 for supplying nitrogen gas, which is provided on the rotating body 51 side and between the cap 2 and the mouth portion 2 of the heated bag-shaped container 1 and which can freely move back and forth. ing.

Hereinafter, each device will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the elevating device 52 includes a cylindrical member (also referred to as a lift cylinder) 6 on the outer periphery of the lower table 61 of the rotating body 51 and at predetermined intervals.
Plural container receiving stands 6 provided to be able to move up and down via
3, a lifting / lowering cam follower 65 provided at a lower end portion of the container receiving base 63 and guided by a lifting / lowering cam plate 64 disposed on a fixed side base, and provided on a side edge of the container receiving base 63. And a stopper 66.

The bag-like container 1 held by the container carrier 5 transferred onto the container receiving table 63 by the inlet starwheel device 13 is moved to a predetermined position by the elevating cam plate 64 as the rotating body 51 rotates. It is raised to a holding position by a mouth holding device 53 described later (indicated by a virtual line position in FIG. 10). In addition, when the container carrier 5 is moved from the entrance star wheel device 13,
6 is prevented.

The mouth holding device 53 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 13, a plurality of mounting bases 71 mounted on the rotating body 51 side and at predetermined intervals, a pair of left and right first guide bars 72 provided on each of the mounting bases 71 in a horizontal direction, A moving body 73 movably guided by the first guide rods 72 and having a mouth guiding concave portion 73a formed at the upper center of one end thereof. The pair of second guide rods 74 allow the second guide rods 74 to freely move toward and away from each other.
a holding member 75 having a mouth guiding concave portion 75a formed at a position opposing to a, a first rack member 76 provided at the other end of the moving body 73, and a moving body 73 provided through the moving body 73. The second rack member 77 provided at the end of the other second guide rod 74 and the holding cylinder 7 provided on the mounting table 71
8 rotatably supported via a rotation support shaft 79, and the rack teeth 76 of these two rack members 76, 77.
a and 77a, respectively, and a lever 8 attached to the lower end of the rotation support shaft 79.
The holding and opening cam follower 83, which is provided at the distal end of the first unit 1 and is guided by the holding and opening cam plate 82 provided on the fixed side of the sealing machine main body 16, and the moving body 73, always holds the mouth portion 2. And a spring body 84 for urging the same. In addition, a carrier holding projection 73b that can hold the upper end of the container carrier 5 together with the mouth 2 is provided below the mouth guiding recesses 73a and 75a of the moving body 73 and the holder 75. , 75b are respectively formed.

Therefore, when the pinion body 80 is rotated in a predetermined direction, for example, in the direction of the arrow c in FIG. 12, via the holding and releasing cam plate 82 and the holding and releasing cam follower 83, the moving body 73 is moved through the first rack member 76. Moves rightward, and the holder 75 moves leftward via the second rack member 77. That is, the mouth 2 of the bag-shaped container 1 is held. At the same time, the container carrier 5
Is also retained.

Further, the mouth holding device 53 is provided with a nitrogen gas supply device 91. That is, as shown in FIGS. 11 to 14, the nitrogen gas supply device 91 includes a holding cylinder 9 supported on one side of the rotating body 51.
2, a support shaft 93 rotatably supported by the holding cylinder 92, a lever 94 provided at an upper end portion of the support shaft 93, and an outlet vertically attached to the distal end of the lever 94. (See FIG. 14) A swing having a circular supply nozzle 95 provided with 95a and a swing cam follower 97 attached to the lower end of the support shaft 93 and guided at its tip by a swing cam plate 96. And a lever 98. A passage 99 for supplying nitrogen gas is formed inside the lever 94.

Therefore, immediately after each mounting table 71 has passed the heating zone (b) with the rotation of the rotating body 51, the circular supply nozzle 95 is moved via the swing cam plate 96 and the swing cam follower 97, as shown in FIG. As shown by the arrow d of
While being moved between the mouth 2 and the cap 4, the nitrogen gas is supplied into the inside of the bag body 3 and into the recess 4 b of the cap 4.

Next, the cap holding device 55 will be described with reference to FIGS. That is, the cap holding device 55 is a cylinder device (for example, an air cylinder) 103 erected on the outer peripheral portion of the upper table 101 of the rotating body 51 at predetermined intervals via the support member 102.
And a pair of left and right elevating shafts 10 supported by a rod portion 103a of the cylinder device 103 via a mounting plate 104.
5, a lifting platform 106 fixed to the lower portion of both lifting shafts 105, and left and right disposed between the upper and lower flange portions 106a of the lifting shaft 105 and the lifting platform 106 and capable of swinging in a horizontal plane. A pair of swing arms 107, a cap holder 108 attached to the tip of each swing arm 107, and right and left sector gears 109, which are attached to the middle part of the elevating shaft body 105 and are meshed with each other. 110, a driving sector gear 112 provided on the upper table 101 via a mounting shaft 111 and meshed with the one sector gear 109, and attached to the lower end of the mounting shaft 111 of the driving sector gear 112. The driving lever 113 and the driving lever 1
13, a connecting shaft 1 for interlocking and connecting the cap-holding cam follower 115 guided by the cap-holding cam plate 114 and the above-mentioned sector gears 109, 110 to the corresponding swing arms 107.
16 and a lift cam follower 118 attached to one side of the lift table 106 and guided by a lift cam plate 117.

Note that the cylinder device 103
The elevator 106 is always urged downward. Therefore, in the cap supply section (A), each cam plate 11
4, 117, the swing arm 107 is open and the lift 106 is raised, and when the cap 4 is supplied to the sealing machine main body side, the cap holding cam plate 114 is provided.
As a result, the pair of swing arms 107 is closed, and the caps 4 are held by both cap holders 108.

When the cap 4 is held, as the rotating body 51 rotates, it is lowered by the elevating cam plate 117 to a predetermined location, that is, a position directly above the rod-shaped heater 56 in the heating zone (b), and the welding zone ( C) Then, cap 4
Is pressed by the mouth 2.

Of course, the pressing at this time is performed by the cylinder device 1.
03. Further, the pressing device 54 for the bag-shaped container 1 is provided on the lower table 61 of the rotating body 51 and at a position corresponding to each container receiving base 63.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the pressing device 54 includes a moving body 121 provided so as to be movable in the radial direction of the rotating body 51, and a servo drive type moving the moving body 121 in the radial direction. It is composed of a moving device 122 and a pressing plate 123 that presses the bag body 3 attached to the tip of the moving body 121.

The pressing device 54 is activated when the rotating body 54 enters the heating zone (b), that is, while the mouth 2 is being heated. Next, the entire sealing operation will be described.

When the container carrier 5 holding the bag-like container 1 filled with the liquid is conveyed to the inlet starwheel device 13 by the carry-in conveyor device 11, one by one is provided on the inlet starwheel device 13 side. Handed over.

Then, the entrance part star wheel device 1
The bag-like container 1 transferred to the bag 3 is filled with nitrogen gas by the filling nozzle 33 during the transfer while the bag-like container 1 is transferred to the sealing machine main body 16 side, and is replaced with air. Will be

When the bag-like container 1 in which the nitrogen gas has been replaced is transferred to the container receiving stand 63 of the sealing machine main body 16 together with the container carrier 5, the bag-like container 1 is raised to a predetermined height by the elevating cam plate 64. The mouth 2 of the bag-shaped container 1 and the upper end of the container carrier 5 are held by the moving body 73 and the holder 75 on the mouth holding device 53 side.

At this time, on the cap holding device 55 side, the cap 4 supplied and held from the cap supply device 15 is lowered by the lifting cam plate 117 to a position above the mouth 2.

In this state, a gap is formed between the opening 2 and the cap 4 through which the rod-shaped heater 56 can pass. In this state, when the rotating body 51 rotates and the bag-like container 1 and the cap 4 move to the heating zone (b), the rod-shaped heater 56 is located between the mouth 2 and the cap 4, The welding surface between the part 2 and the cap 4 is heated.

At the time of this heating, the bag body 3 of the bag-like container 1 is gradually pressed by the pressing device 54 to prevent air from entering the inside of the bag-like container 1. And
Immediately after leaving the heating zone (b), the mouth holding device 5
The supply nozzle 95 of the nitrogen gas supply device 91 provided together with the nozzle 3 is moved between the opening 2 and the cap 4 by the swing cam plate 96, and simultaneously the nitrogen gas is vertically After being blown out from the outlet 95a, the inside of the bag-like container 1 is filled with nitrogen gas again and the
The filling of nitrogen gas into b is performed. Therefore, the nitrogen gas at a slight pressure greatly increases the nitrogen gas replacement rate.

At the time of refilling with nitrogen gas,
Nitrogen gas is directly in the mouth 2 and the recess 4b of the cap 4.
As a result, the peripheral portion, which is the welding surface, is prevented from being cooled.

Thereafter, the bag-like container 1 is moved to the welding portion (c), and the elevating cam plate 117 on the cap holding device 55 side is moved.
Thereby, the cap 4 is pressed downward, and the welding operation to the mouth portion 2 is performed.

When the welding is completed, the pieces are transferred one by one to the carry-out conveyor device 18 by the outlet part star wheel device 17. Thus, the heating zone (b)
, The bag body 3 of the bag-like container 1 is
Is pressed to prevent air from entering, and immediately after the end of heating, the nitrogen gas supply nozzle 95 is moved between the mouth 2 and the cap 4 to further supply nitrogen gas. The replacement ratio of air in the bag-like container 1 can be greatly increased.

[0042]

As described above, according to the sealing method and the sealing device of the present invention, the bag body of the bag-like container filled with the inert gas is heated while the welding surface as the seal is heated. Pressing to prevent air from entering, and immediately filling the mouth of the bag-shaped container with an inert gas directly after heating the welding surface, re-use the inert gas without cooling the welding part as in the past. Can be filled, and thus no defective sealing occurs, so that the inert gas replacement rate can be increased. That is, the oxidation of the liquid filled in the container can be prevented, so that the quality of the product can be favorably maintained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of a sealing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall front view of the sealing device in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an overall side view of the sealing device in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view of the inlet star wheel device in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway plan view of the inlet star wheel device in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view taken in the direction of arrows AA in FIG. 4;

7 is a view taken in the direction of arrows BB in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a filling nozzle part of the inlet star wheel device in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a main part of the sealing machine main body in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an overall side view of an elevating device and a mouth holding device of the sealing machine main body.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the mouth holding device of the sealing machine main body.

FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway plan view of the mouth holding device of the sealing machine main body.

FIG. 13 is a view taken in the direction of arrows CC in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a main part of a supply nozzle.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the cap holding device.

FIG. 16 is a partially cut-away view taken along a line DD in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a partially cut-away EE view of FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a partially cut-away FF view of FIG. 15;

FIG. 19 is a front view of the container carrier.

FIG. 20 is a side view of the container carrier.

FIG. 21 is a plan view of the container carrier.

FIG. 22 is a sectional view of a cap.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bag-shaped container 2 Mouth part 3 Bag main body part 4 Cap 5 Container conveyance tool 13 Inlet part starwheel device 15 Cap supply device 16 Sealing machine main body 17 Outlet part starwheel device 23 Fixed side mounting plate 25 Rotating shaft body 27 Movable side mounting Plate 28 Container guide member 31 Lifting member 33 Filling nozzle 35 Valve device 37 Lifting cam plate 41 Driving cam plate 51 Rotating body 52 Lifting device 53 Mouth holding device 54 Pressing device 55 Cap holding device 56 Rod heater 57 Nozzle device 63 Container Cradle 64 Elevating cam plate 65 Elevating cam follower 73 Moving body 75 Holder 82 Holding / opening cam plate 83 Holding / opening cam follower 91 Nitrogen gas supply device 95 Supply nozzle 95a Air outlet 96 Swing cam plate 97 Swing cam follower 105 Lifting / lowering Shaft 106 Lifting table 107 Swing arm 108 Cap holder 114 Cap holding cam plate 115 Cap holding cam follower 121 Moving body 122 Moving device 123 Press plate

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65B 31/04-31/06 B67B 3/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An inert gas is filled in the bag-like container while the bag-like container filled with the liquid is moved along a predetermined path, and then the bag body of the bag-like container is pressed. The mouth and the welding surface of the cap are heated, and then the inert gas supply nozzle is moved between the mouth and the cap to supply the inert gas into the bag-like container. A method of sealing a container which is pressed and welded. 2. An inlet starwheel device for receiving a liquid-filled bag-like container held by a container carrier and filling the bag-like container with an inert gas, and the inlet-port starwheel device and cap supply. A sealing machine body that receives the bag-shaped container and the cap from the device and welds the cap to the mouth of the bag-shaped container, and an outlet star wheel device that takes out the bag-shaped container with the cap welded from the sealing machine body, And the above-mentioned sealing machine main body, a rotating body rotatable around a vertical axis, and a container conveying tool from the inlet part star wheel device provided at predetermined intervals on a lower outer periphery of the rotating body so as to be able to move up and down freely. A lifting / lowering device for supporting, a mouth holding device provided at an intermediate portion of the rotating body and capable of holding and opening the mouth of the bag-like container raised by the lifting / lowering device, and the rotating body A pressing device that is provided and presses the side of the bag body of the bag-shaped container held by the mouth holding device, and a cap that is provided on the rotating body and holds the cap and can be pressed toward the mouth. Holding device, a heating tool provided on the fixed side frame of the sealing machine body and in the heating zone and protruding between the mouth of the bag-shaped container and the cap,
A container sealing device comprising an inert gas supply nozzle that is provided on the rotating body and that is capable of moving back and forth between a mouth of the heated bag-shaped container and a cap.