JP4551609B2 - Grip device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a gripping device as described in the preamble of claim 1.
Furthermore, the present invention is a method for moving a unit of at least one closed consumer package, for example an egg container, which unit has a cover part and functions as a package for individual goods. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a unit moving method as described in the preamble of claim 7 of the claims .
[0002]
[Prior art]
US Pat. No. 5,463,847 by the applicant is known as such an apparatus and method. The device according to this patent lifts an egg container on two opposite sides around the container by means of a rotating arc-shaped grip plate, whereby the container is held. By further rotating the grip plate away from the container, the egg container is placed down and released.
[0003]
In general, such egg containers are generally made of cardboard and have a cover or cover member that is hinged to the bottom portion at one longitudinal side. Further, the egg container is pressed when closed to lock the cover to the bottom portion. For example, the opening provided at the end of the cover is hooked on the protrusion of the bottom portion and locked.
[0004]
The high flexibility and elasticity of cardboard or other packaging material can effectively prevent damage to merchandise such as eggs. However, when moving, especially when the unit is released, there is a risk that the cover and the bottom portion will be disconnected and the cover will open.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to prevent this problem, the gripping device according to the invention has features as described in claim 1 of the claims, and further as detailed in claims 2-6. It is characterized by.
[0006]
Furthermore, the method has the characteristics as shown in the steps described in claims 7 and 8 of the claims .
[0007]
By means of the device and method, the units, in particular the egg containers, remain properly closed during movement, in particular when released, and the goods in those containers do not fall off during movement, especially afterwards.
[0008]
More specifically, the use of the slats keeps the arrangement of the units even when they are lifted, so that the outer package can be accurately and efficiently packed.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a grip device according to the present invention in a state where a unit is not bound.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the unit is bound by the grip device illustrated in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the grip device as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG.
Corresponding parts in the respective drawings are given the same reference numerals.
[0010]
In FIG. 1, the grip device 1 includes a clamp member 20 and a plurality of holding members 30. In general, such a device is installed on the mast, and the grip device can be moved between the outer package and automatically or manually. The grip device 1 further includes a frame body 4. Although the grip member 2 is schematically shown, the grip member 2 is made of, for example, a grip plate, a claw, or a fork, and constitutes a part of the grip device 1. Further, the drive portion of the grip member 2 is housed in the frame body 4 together with the coupling portion. When the unit 10, for example, an egg container, is moved to an appropriate position by, for example, rotation combined with linear motion, the grip member holds and holds the unit and is constrained. Thereby, moderate pinching, ie, holding, is realized. The unit is generally rectangular and is sandwiched and held on both sides in the longitudinal direction (two opposite sides). The state shown in the figure is a state where the unit 10 is not yet sandwiched.
[0011]
As is generally known, these egg containers are mainly made of a flexible material, such as cardboard, and are made of the same piece of material and can move like a hinge along the crease and a cover portion. 12. Generally, the bottom part 11 has one or more protrusions 13, and the cover part has one or more locking holes 14 corresponding thereto. Thereby, when the cover part 12 is pressed against the bottom part, the cover part is locked and the egg container is closed. In order to prevent the cover part from opening apart during movement, particularly when released, the grip device according to the present invention has a clamp member 20, specifically a plate member 21. The plate member 21 covers at least partially the one or more cover portions 12 of the one or more units 10 to be moved, and maintains the closed state of the one or more cover portions 12.
[0012]
The clamp member 20 can be moved by pins 24 in the slots (grooves) 7 of the frame 4 of the grip device 1 and can move freely in a substantially vertical direction. When the clamp member freely moves on the work place, the clamp member hangs down on the lower part of the grip device, and when the grip device is positioned on the unit or the plurality of unit groups, the clamp member is disposed on the cover portion. At this time, the grip device can further move downward in order to place the grip member 2 in an appropriate position.
[0013]
Next, these grip members 2 are moved to the periphery of the unit to sandwich the unit. At this time, the clamp member is in the same position, that is, in a slightly lifted state, and is firmly fixed to the position via the fixing plate 22 and the fixing member 3, for example, an electromagnet. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the plate member is arranged on the cover portion, but the unit 10 is not yet held and is not sandwiched.
[0014]
The frame 4 is further provided with a holding member 30. When the grip apparatus 1 is moved downward, the holding member 30 moves downward between the units 10 when possible. These holding members 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention are formed as plates or flaps (draping plates), and thick portions 31 and 32 are provided at the upper end and the lower end, respectively. Further, the holding member 30 is freely movable in the substantially vertical direction between the upper end and the lower end thereof, and is guided through the hinge slot 6 of the lower plate 5 of the frame body 4. In order to enable the holding member 30 to move downward, a positioning slot (groove) 23 corresponding to the hinge slot 6 is provided in the plate member 21.
[0015]
By disposing these holding members between the units, the relative positions of the units are properly maintained even when the units, for example, egg containers as shown here, are slightly pushed together when they are lifted. They are pressed against each other and never pressed against each other. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the thick portion can extend over the entire length of the retaining member. Further, for example, like a bolt having a head portion and a shaft protruding downward, the thick portion can be limited to several positions at the end portion of the holding member for restriction of movement and sagging.
[0016]
As described above, the unit to be moved is generally rectangular and contains, for example, a 2 × 3 product, a 2 × 5 product, or other product. FIG. 1 shows the case of a unit that accommodates 2 × 3 products. In FIG. 1, the two units on the left represent the width including two products, and the unit on the right represents the length including three products. It represents. In such an arrangement of the plurality of units 10, the units are generally spaced from each other. This spacing is determined not only by the number of units, but also by its form, for example, whether the cardboard egg containers are formed from the same piece of material and are still partially connected to each other by seams. In this figure, the 2 × 3 unit has a seam only on the short side.
[0017]
As shown in the figure, due to the formed arrangement, the units are spaced in the direction intersecting the drawing. That is, in the case of 3 units, there are two gaps. In order to keep such an arrangement as much as possible, it is desirable to arrange the holding members in the gaps. That is, (n + 1) units not sandwiched form n gaps. Therefore, it is desirable to use n holding members 30. In order to make this apparatus suitable for other arrangements and units having different shapes, several (for example, 4, 5) slots and holding plates are provided. In the figure, the state where the holding plate which is not used in this arrangement is waiting on its lower end on the cover portion of the unit is well shown.
[0018]
FIG. 2 shows a state in which the unit 10 is sandwiched and held by the grip member 2 immediately before lifting or just before the placement. The holding member 30 in operation is between the units, and the thick portion 32 at the lower end is disposed below the end portion 15 of the cover portion. The units are moved toward each other, at which time, in one embodiment of the invention, the gripping member is linearly moved and rotated to allow this position.
[0019]
FIG. 3 shows the grip device as viewed from the longitudinal direction, that is, from the direction of arrow A in FIG.
The longitudinal side of 2 × 3 units arranged on the rear side of each of the left side units in FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown. These units are sandwiched and held between one or more grip members 2 on the left side (left side in FIGS. 1 and 2). 3 does not show the grip member on the left side (left side in FIGS. 1 and 2).
[0020]
As described above, the plate member 21 is disposed on the cover portion 12 of the unit 10 before the unit 10 is still held and sandwiched by the grip member 2. As a result, the holding plate 30 can still move downward, and as a result, the lower plate 5 of the frame 4 further moves toward the cover portion 12 of the unit 10. The vertical distance between the plate member 21 and the lower plate 5 decreases correspondingly. In order to fix the plate member as much as possible in a position where the grip member 2 pushes the unit 10 and the units 10 lightly push each other, one leaf spring 25 or several leaf springs are connected to the lower plate 5 and the plate. It is provided between the member 21. The positioning slot 23 has an upright wall 26 so that the leaf spring does not deflect sideways. The plate member 21 is held at a position of several mm above the cover portion by the fixing member 3, for example, an electromagnet excited, so as to give some space for the unit to move when it is lifted after being sandwiched. can do.
[0021]
The present invention also provides a method for moving at least one closed consumer package, such as a unit of an egg container. These units function as a package for individual commodities and have a cover portion. The method works by the following sequential steps:
[0022]
Place the grip device close to the unit,
Sandwich the unit between its two opposite longitudinal directions,
After that, the closed units are controlled in turn to lift, transfer and place in the outer package,
Release the unit,
Retract the grip device. At this time, the cover part remains closed by the clamp member at least while at least one unit is released.
[0023]
Specifically, in the method described above, while moving at least (n + 1) units (n ≧ 1), the units are held in relative positions with respect to each other by n holding members, and the clamping members are When the holding member is disposed between the units at the time of transfer, and when the holding member sandwiched between the units is retracted, the cover portion is kept closed.
[0024]
In this method, it is effective to use the grip device according to the above-described embodiment. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, there are several other ways to fix the units and their arrangement. For example, air pressure can be used. This is within the concept of the present invention.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a grip device according to the present invention in a state where a unit is not restrained.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a unit is bound by the grip device shown in FIG. 1;
3 is a schematic view of the grip device as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG.

Claims (8)

A grip device for gripping and moving at least one product container unit that functions as a container for individual products,
The commodity container unit has a bottom part on which the commodity is arranged and a cover part hinged to the bottom part, and the commodity container unit is opposed to the longitudinal direction with the cover part being closed. Has two sides,
In the grip device that lifts the at least one product container unit, transfers the product container unit to an external package, and arranges the product container unit in the external package,
A frame,
A grip member connected to the frame and sandwiching the at least one product container unit between the two opposite longitudinal sides;
A clamp configured to be movable in a vertical direction with respect to the frame body and the grip member so as to keep the cover portion closed while at least the at least one commodity container unit is released from the grip member. Members,
After the sandwiching at least one product container unit, wherein at least one the transfer in and release the previous product container units, have a fixing member for fixing the vertical position of the clamping member relative to the frame,
The grip device , wherein the fixing member includes an electromagnet and a fixing plate . The grip device according to claim 1,
The clamp member has a pin;
The frame body has a vertical slot into which the pin is inserted so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The grip device according to claim 1,
The grip apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the clamp member has at least one substantially horizontal plate member for keeping the cover portion closed . The grip device according to claim 1,
The grip device further includes a holding member movably connected to the frame,
The holding member is disposed between the adjacent product container units, and maintains the relative positional relationship between the product container units in cooperation with the grip member during the lifting, transferring and arranging of the product container units. A grip device characterized by that. The grip device according to claim 4 , wherein
The holding device has at least one drooping plate that hangs down in a substantially vertical direction, and the dripping plate is sandwiched and fixed between at least two of the commodity container units at the time of transfer . The grip device according to claim 5, wherein
The at least one dripping plate has thick portions at its lower end and upper end, and is freely movable in a substantially vertical direction through a groove provided in the plate member when being lifted and moved. Grip device. A method of gripping and moving at least one product container unit that functions as a container for individual products,
  The commodity container unit has a bottom part on which the commodity is arranged and a cover part hinged to the bottom part, and the commodity container unit is opposed to the longitudinal direction with the cover part being closed. In the gripping and moving method of the product container unit having two sides,
  Using the grip device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
  The grip device is disposed above and close to the at least one commodity container unit;
  Sandwiching two opposite longitudinal sides of the at least one commodity container unit by the grip device;
  Lifting the at least one product container unit sandwiched by the grip device, transferring the product container unit to an external package, and placing the product container unit in the external package;
  Releasing the at least one commodity container unit from the gripping device;
  Retreating the grip device from the outer package,
  While at least releasing the at least one commodity container unit, the cover portion of the at least one commodity container unit is kept closed by the clamp member, and the clamp member is formed by the fixing plate and the fixing member. A method for grasping and moving the product container unit, wherein the product container unit is fixed to a position as it is, that is, a slightly lifted position. In the holding | grip movement method of the goods container unit of Claim 7,
The grip device further includes a holding member movably connected to the frame,
By arranging the holding member between the adjacent product container units and sandwiching at least two product container units between the grip members, the relative positional relationship between the at least two product packaging units is obtained. Maintain,
With the clamp member, when the product container unit is transferred, the holding member is disposed between the adjacent product container units and retracts the holding member sandwiched between the product container units. Sometimes, the product container unit gripping and moving method , wherein the cover part is kept closed .

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