JP5777432B2 - Boxing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a boxing device that houses a plurality of articles filled with contents in a self-supporting bag in an exterior box such as a cardboard case.

  For packaging liquid products such as shampoo and pasta sauce, a self-supporting bag (hereinafter referred to as “standing pouch”) may be used. This standing pouch is generally formed in a three-dimensional shape (conical shape or the like) having a substantially triangular shape in a side view, and an article in which the contents are filled in the standing pouch has substantially the same shape as the standing pouch. That is, the upper part of the article using the standing pouch is pointed in a wedge shape upward. For this reason, it is difficult to adsorb the article from above with a vacuum suction pad. In the conventional boxing device, the article is naturally dropped into the exterior box, or the article is grasped by a grasping means. Then, a “gripping method” for pushing into the exterior box was used.

  Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe a boxing device using a “grip method”. That is, FIG. 7 of Patent Document 1 describes a boxing device having a plurality of gripping claws (gripping means) for simultaneously gripping a plurality of articles, and FIG. 9 of Patent Document 2 shows a plurality of articles. A boxing device having a plurality of mechanical chucks (gripping means) for simultaneously gripping is described. In these boxing apparatuses, a plurality of gripping claws and a plurality of mechanical chucks are arranged in a straight line, and a plurality of articles are gripped simultaneously by being driven simultaneously.

  On the other hand, FIG. 1 of Patent Document 3 describes a “swing lever type” hand as “gripping means”, and FIG. 5 of Patent Document 3 describes “parallel” as “gripping means”. The "movement method" hand is described. The “swing lever type” hand opens and closes the claws attached to the swing lever by swinging each of the pair of swing levers using a fixed pin as a fulcrum. A “parallel movement type” hand opens and closes a gripper attached to a slider by moving each of a pair of sliders in a parallel direction, and an air cylinder that slides the slider extends in the sliding direction. Are arranged.

JP-A-11-208606 (FIG. 7) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-6416 (FIG. 9) JP 59-88285 (FIGS. 1 and 5)

  In the “swing lever type” hand, the angle of the swing lever changes depending on the opening width of the claw, and the contact angle of the claw with the article changes. When applied to an article having a thickness of 1, the article may not be securely gripped.

  On the other hand, in the “parallel movement type” hand, since each of the pair of sliders is moved in parallel with each other, even when the opening width of the gripper changes, the contact angle of the gripper with respect to the article can be kept constant. The hand can be applied to a plurality of types of articles having different thicknesses. However, since the air cylinder extends in the sliding direction of the slider, the entire length of the hand in the sliding direction is long. Therefore, when this hand is applied to the boxing device described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, there is a possibility that the air cylinders interfere with each other between adjacent hands. For this reason, it is difficult to bring the article gripping positions of the plurality of hands close to each other. For example, when the size of the article is small, a gap occurs between the articles gripped by the hands, and the box cannot be compactly packed. There was a fear.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can be applied in common to a plurality of types of articles having different thicknesses, and the article gripping positions of the plurality of chucks can be brought close to each other. An object is to provide a boxing device.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a boxing device of the present invention includes an article alignment device that aligns a plurality of articles in a row in a first direction and the aligned plurality of articles in the first view. An article extruding apparatus for extruding simultaneously in a second direction orthogonal to the direction, and an article pushing apparatus for pushing the plurality of articles pushed out by the article extruding apparatus into an exterior box, A plurality of chucks for gripping upper ends of each of the plurality of articles, each of the plurality of chucks being configured to be linearly movable in the first direction; An air cylinder that moves the first gripping part and the second gripping part in a direction approaching or separating from each other, and the cylinder and the piston constituting the air cylinder extend in the first direction. It is, with the air cylinder of the chuck disposed in odd-numbered, the said air cylinder arranged the chuck to the even-numbered, are arranged offset in the second direction.

  In this configuration, the cylinder and the piston constituting the air cylinder are arranged extending in the first direction, and the first grip portion and the second grip portion are linearly moved in the first direction by the air cylinder. Therefore, even when the opening width of the gripping portion changes, the contact angle of the gripping portion with respect to the article can be kept constant, and one chuck can be applied to a plurality of articles having different thicknesses. In addition, since the air cylinders of the odd-numbered chucks and the air cylinders of the even-numbered chucks are shifted in the second direction, the air cylinders interfere with each other between adjacent chucks. And the article gripping positions of the plurality of chucks can be brought close to each other.

  The air cylinder extends in the first direction and is arranged side by side in the second direction, and is housed in each of the first cylinder and the second cylinder so as to be reciprocally movable. The first piston and the second piston, and a power transmission portion for transmitting the power of either the first piston or the second piston to the other in the opposite direction, the first piston and the second piston The first grip portion and the second grip portion may be connected to each of the pistons.

  In this configuration, when one of the first piston and the second piston is driven in one direction, the other is driven in the opposite direction, and the first gripping portion and the second gripping portion are reciprocated on both sides of the article gripping position. The Therefore, the article gripping position can be positioned at the center of the movement range of the first gripping part and the second gripping part, and a plurality of chucks can be arranged in a balanced manner with the article gripping position as a reference.

The first gripping part and the second gripping part constituting each of the plurality of chucks have a first gripping surface and a second gripping surface arranged to extend in the second direction so as to face each other,
In all the chucks, one end of the first gripping surface and the second gripping surface in the second direction is disposed on a first imaginary straight line extending in the first direction, and the first gripping surface and the The other end of the second grip surface in the second direction may be disposed on a second imaginary straight line extending in the first direction.

  In this configuration, in the first grip surface and the second grip surface of all chucks, one end in the second direction is aligned on the first imaginary straight line, and the other end in the second direction is on the second imaginary straight line. Aligned. Therefore, the conditions for gripping the articles can be made uniform for all chucks, and the boxing operation can be stabilized.

  In all the chucks, the air cylinder may be disposed within a range surrounded by the first imaginary straight line and the second imaginary straight line.

  In this configuration, the air cylinder does not protrude from the range surrounded by the first imaginary straight line and the second imaginary straight line, that is, the minimum necessary range secured for gripping the article, and has a plurality of chucks. An increase in the size of the chuck unit or the like can be prevented.

  The article pushing device includes an elevating arm provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and a chuck unit detachably attached to a lower end portion of the elevating arm, and the chuck unit is a substantially plate-shaped base. And the plurality of chucks attached to the base.

  In this configuration, since the plurality of chucks are attached to the base of the chuck unit, the plurality of chucks can be easily arranged at predetermined positions simply by attaching the chuck unit to the lower end portion of the lifting arm.

  The article pushing device may include a suction unit that sucks a plurality of articles by negative pressure, and either the chuck unit or the suction unit may be selectively attached to a lower end portion of the lifting arm.

  In this configuration, since either one of the chuck unit and the suction unit is selectively attached to the lower end portion of the lifting arm, it can be applied to both an article using a standing pouch and a normal article. Moreover, in these usage modes, since an intake or exhaust system can be used in common, the cost burden associated with the change in usage mode can be suppressed.

  You may provide the some upper guide which guides the upper end part of each of these articles | goods from the said 2nd direction to the said corresponding chuck | zipper.

  In this configuration, the upper ends of the plurality of articles can be reliably guided to the corresponding chucks by the plurality of upper guides.

  According to the boxing device of the present invention, it can be applied in common to a plurality of types of articles having different thicknesses, and the article gripping positions of the plurality of chucks can be brought close to each other. Therefore, for example, even when the size of the article is small, it is possible to prevent a gap from being generated between the articles held by the chuck, and a plurality of articles can be packed in a compact manner.

It is a front view which shows the structure of the boxing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a top view which shows the structure of the boxing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the principal part of the boxing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the principal part of an article | item pushing-in apparatus. FIG. 5A is a front view showing the configuration of the chuck unit, and FIG. 5B is a bottom view showing the configuration of the chuck unit. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a chuck | zipper. It is the VII-VII sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 6 which shows the structure of a chuck | zipper. It is a top view which shows the structure of a guide apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the principal part of a guide apparatus. It is a front view which shows the positional relationship of a chuck | zipper, an upper guide, articles | goods, and an extrusion part. It is a front view which shows the state which closed the chuck | zipper. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the adsorption | suction unit used instead of a chuck unit.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Overall configuration of boxing equipment]
FIG. 1 is a front view showing the configuration of the boxing device 10 according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the configuration of the boxing device 10, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the main part of the boxing device 10. is there. As indicated by the arrows in the drawings, the directions of “front, rear, left, right, top, bottom” used in the following description are the same as the directions when the boxing device 10 is viewed from the front (FIG. 1). The far side is “front” and the near side is “rear”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the boxing device 10 configures an article assembly X by aligning a plurality (four in this embodiment) of articles T, and the articles T with the article assembly X as a unit. It is automatically housed in an exterior box U such as a cardboard case or a dozen box. Here, the article T is obtained by packaging a liquid material such as shampoo and pasta sauce with a standing pouch, and the upper part of the article T is pointed in a wedge shape upward.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the boxing device 10 includes an article introduction device 12 that introduces an article T from a preceding apparatus (not shown) such as a vertical pillow packaging machine, and a plurality of articles T as “first”. The article alignment device 14 that aligns and aligns in the left-right direction as the “direction” and the article assembly X composed of the aligned articles T are orthogonal to the left-right direction (first direction) in plan view. The article extruding device 16 that pushes forward in the “second direction”, the article pushing device 18 that pushes the pushed article assembly X into the exterior box U, and the upper ends of the extruded articles T are A guide device 20 that guides the plurality of chucks 90a to 90d (FIGS. 5A and 5B) of the article pushing device 18 from the pushing direction (that is, the second direction) is provided. The boxing device 10 includes a frame 22 that supports these devices, and a control device 24 (FIG. 1) that controls the devices 12, 14, 16, and 18 in a unified manner.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the frame 22 is configured by joining pipe-like or bar-like members or plate-like members to each other. As shown in FIG. An opening W through which the body X passes from top to bottom is provided. The article introduction device 12 and the article alignment device 14 are provided in the left-right direction at the rear portion of the frame 22, and the article pushing device 18 is provided at a portion corresponding to the opening W in the front portion of the frame 22. It has been. In addition, an article pushing device 16 is provided in a region straddling the article aligning device 14 and the article pushing device 18 in the upper part of the frame 22. Further, a guide device 20 is provided in the extrusion path R in the article extrusion device 16. The control device 24 (FIG. 1) has a CPU and a storage device that stores a control program and various data, and the control programs are executed by the CPU, whereby the control devices 24, 14, 16, and 18 are used. A series of boxing operations is performed.

[Configuration of article introduction device]
As shown in FIG. 1, the article introduction device 12 includes a pair of rollers 26 (the right-side roller 26 is not shown) spaced apart in the left-right direction and an endless belt that is spanned between the pair of rollers 26. 28 and a motor (not shown) for driving at least one of the pair of rollers 26. When a plurality of articles T are sequentially supplied to the article introduction apparatus 12 from a preceding apparatus (not shown) such as a vertical pillow packaging machine, these articles T are placed on the endless belt 28 and directed to the left. And fed to the article aligning device 14 from the left end of the endless belt 28.

[Configuration of article alignment apparatus]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the article alignment device 14 aligns a plurality of articles T in a line with the plurality of articles T standing up, and arranges the plurality of articles T in one direction in the left-right direction (left direction in the present embodiment). ), And a plurality of fins 32 provided on the transport surface 30a of the endless track 30 at intervals in the transport direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the endless track 30 has a first belt 34a, a second belt 34b, a third belt 34c, and a fourth belt 34d arranged in parallel with each other from the front to the rear. The surfaces of these belts 34a to 34d serve as a conveyance surface 30a. The first belt 34a and the third belt 34c are spanned between a pair of pulleys 36 (the left pulley 36 is not shown) spaced apart in the left-right direction. The four belts 34d are stretched between a pair of pulleys 38 (left pulley 38 is not shown) provided at intervals in the left-right direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the first drive unit 37 is connected to at least one of the pair of pulleys 36 (FIG. 3), and the second drive is connected to at least one of the pair of pulleys 38 (FIG. 3). A drive unit 39 is connected. Each of the first drive unit 37 and the second drive unit 39 has motors (stepping motors, servo motors, etc.) 37a, 39a capable of highly accurate position control, and these motors 37a, 39a are control devices. 24 is electrically connected.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of fins 32 are plate-like members that hold a plurality of articles T in a standing state. In the present embodiment, five fins 32 that hold four articles T are one. One fin group 40 is formed as a set, and a plurality of fin groups 40 are arranged on the transport surface 30a of the endless track 30 at a predetermined interval. In a state where the article T is erected between the two fins 32, the shape when the article T is viewed from the rear or the front is substantially triangular (FIG. 1), and when the article T is viewed from the left or right side. The shape is substantially rectangular (FIG. 3), and the shape when the article T is viewed from above or below is substantially elliptical (FIG. 2).

  In each fin group 40, the distance between adjacent fins 32 is designed to be larger than the maximum thickness of the article T. Assuming that a plurality of fin groups 40 arranged on the conveyance surface 30a are consecutively numbered, the fins 32 constituting the odd-numbered fin groups 40 are attached to the first belt 34a and the third belt 34c. The fins 32 that are attached and constitute the fin groups 40 with even numbers are attached to the second belt 34b and the fourth belt 34d. Therefore, the odd-numbered fin groups 40 and the even-numbered fin groups 40 can be driven separately. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, with the preceding fin group 40 stopped at the article alignment position P1, the subsequent fin group 40 is stopped at the article receiving position P2, or toward the article alignment position P1. It can be moved.

[Configuration of article extrusion device]
As shown in FIG. 2, the article extruding device 16 is configured to arrange a plurality of articles T arranged in a line in the left-right direction (first direction) from the article alignment position P1 in a side view (in the present embodiment). It pushes out toward the front side at the same time, and has a linear motion mechanism 44, an extruding part 46, a lower guide 48, and a stopper part 50.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the linear motion mechanism 44 includes a linear rail 52 that extends in the front-rear direction, a reciprocating table 54 that is reciprocally movable with respect to the linear rail 52, and a front end portion of the linear rail 52. And a pair of pulleys 56a and 56b disposed in the vicinity of the rear end portion, an endless belt 58 spanned between the pulleys 56a and 56b, and a motor 60 for driving one pulley 56a. . A reciprocating table 54 is fixed to the endless belt 58. The motor 60 is a stepping motor, a servo motor, or the like capable of highly accurate position control, and the motor 60 is electrically connected to the control device 24 (FIG. 1). Therefore, when the pulley 60a is rotated forward or reverse by the motor 60, the endless belt 58 is rotated forward or reverse, and the reciprocating table 54 is reciprocated forward or backward accordingly.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pushing portion 46 pushes a plurality of articles T toward the article pushing device 18, and includes a support arm 62 extending in the left-right direction and a plurality of (this embodiment) attached to the support arm 62. In this case, four extrusion plates 64 are provided. The extrusion plate 64 is a substantially square plate-like member that presses the article T accommodated between the two fins 32 forward in the front-rear direction (second direction), and is between the two extrusion plates 64 adjacent to each other. Are formed with slits 64a through which the fins 32 pass. The upper end portion of the extrusion plate 64 is fixed to the support arm 62, and the end portion of the support arm 62 is fixed to the reciprocating table 54.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lower guide 48 guides the lower part of the plurality of articles T (article assembly X) from the front and rear direction (second direction) to the article pushing device 18 and is pushed out by the pushing portion 46. It has the 1st lower guide piece 48a and the 2nd lower guide piece 48b arrange | positioned at the row direction both sides of the some articles | goods T (article assembly X) which have been received. Each of the first lower guide piece 48a and the second lower guide piece 48b is a substantially quadrangular plate-like member arranged to face each other, and the interval between the first lower guide piece 48a and the second lower guide piece 48b is the fin group 40. It is designed to be substantially the same as or larger than the interval between the two fins 32 located on both sides of the two, and larger than the entire width (length in the left-right direction) of the plurality of extrusion plates 64. As shown in FIG. 3, the stopper portion 50 is a plate-like member that receives a plurality of articles T (article aggregates X), and is arranged along the front end edge of the opening W.

[Configuration of article pushing device]
4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the main part of the article pushing device 18, FIG. 5A is a front view showing the configuration of the chuck unit 84, and FIG. It is a bottom view which shows a structure. 6 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the chuck 90a, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the chuck 90a. Since the basic configurations of the chucks 90a to 90d are the same, FIGS. 6 and 7 will be described using the chuck 90a as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the article pushing device 18 includes a shutter 66, an article holding unit 68, a pushing unit 70 that grips and pushes a plurality of articles T into the exterior box U, and an exterior box transport device 72. I have.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the shutter 66 opens and closes the opening W of the frame 22 (FIG. 2) and has a pair of left and right opening and closing plates 74 a and 74 b movably provided in the opening W.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the article holding unit 68 holds a plurality of articles T (that is, the article aggregate X) placed on the upper surfaces of the opening and closing plates 74 a and 74 b from the left-right direction (first direction). A pair of left and right holding plates 76a and 76b and pressing devices 78a and 78b for pressing the holding plates 76a and 76b against the plurality of articles T (article assembly X) are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the push-in portion 70 is attached to an elevating tower 80 provided on the frame 22, an elevating arm 82 provided on the elevating tower 80 so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and a lower end portion of the elevating arm 82. The chuck unit 84, an elevating device (not shown) for elevating the elevating arm 82, and a column 88 provided on the frame 22 and supporting the air supply ports 86a and 86b.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the elevating arm 82 includes a pipe-shaped or bar-shaped arm main body 82a extending in the vertical direction, and a connecting portion 82b attached to the lower end of the arm main body 82a. The connecting portion 82b is a substantially plate-like member that comes into contact with the upper surface of the chuck unit 84, and the lower end portion of the arm main body 82a is connected to the central portion of the upper surface of the connecting portion 82b. In addition, slits 82c through which the male screw portions (not shown) of the mounting screws 89 are inserted are formed in the front-rear direction (second direction) at portions located on both sides of the arm body 82a in the connection portion 82b (first direction). The front end of the slit 82c is opened forward. Therefore, when the attachment screw 89 is attached in advance to the upper surface of the chuck unit 84, the male screw portion (not shown) of the attachment screw 89 is introduced from the front to the back of the slit 82c from the front end portion of the slit 82c. Can do.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5A and 5B, the chuck unit 84 includes a plurality of chucks for individually gripping the upper end portions of the plurality of articles T (FIG. 1) extruded by the article extruding device 16. It has four chucks 90a to 90d (in this embodiment) and a base 92 that supports the plurality of chucks 90a to 90d.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the chuck 90 a includes an air cylinder 200, and a first grip 202 and a second grip 204 that are driven in the left-right direction (first direction) by the air cylinder 200. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the air cylinder 200 includes a first cylinder 206a and a first cylinder 206a that extend in the left-right direction (first direction) and are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction (second direction). The first piston 208a and the second piston 208b are housed in each of the second cylinders 206b so as to be reciprocally movable, and the power transmission unit 210. And the 1st air supply port 207a and the 2nd air supply port 207b are formed in the left-right direction (1st direction) edge part of each of the 1st cylinder 206a and the 2nd cylinder 206b.

  The power transmission unit 210 includes a pinion 210a, a first rack 210b provided in the first piston 208a, and a second rack 210c provided in the second piston 208b, and the front-rear direction (second direction). The first rack 210b and the second rack 210c are arranged on both sides of the pinion 210a. When air is supplied into the first cylinder 206a from the first air supply port 207a, the first piston 208a and the first rack 210b are moved to the right. Then, this power is transmitted to the second rack 210c in the reverse direction (left) via the pinion 210a of the power transmission unit 210, and the second piston 208b and the second rack 210c are moved to the left. On the other hand, when air is supplied from the second air supply port 207b to the inside of the second cylinder 206b, the second piston 208b and the second rack 210c are moved to the right, and the power transmission unit 210 operates in the reverse direction. The first piston 208a and the first rack 210b are moved to the left.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the air cylinder 200 includes a linear rail 212 extending in the left-right direction (first direction) and a first rail slidably attached to the linear rail 212 in the left-right direction (first direction). The first sliding portion 214a and the second sliding portion 214b are connected, the first sliding portion 214a and the first piston 208a (FIG. 7) are connected, and the second sliding portion 214b and the second sliding portion 214b are connected. Piston 208b (FIG. 7) is connected. And the 1st holding part 202 is attached to the 1st sliding part 214a, and the 2nd holding part 204 is attached to the 2nd sliding part 214b. That is, the 1st holding part 202 is connected to the 1st piston 208a (Drawing 7) via the 1st sliding part 214a, and the 2nd holding part 204 is the 2nd via the 2nd sliding part 214b. It is connected to the piston 208b (FIG. 7). Therefore, when the first piston 208a and the second piston 208b are driven, the first gripping portion 202 and the second gripping portion 204 are moved in the direction approaching or separating from each other, and the article T is gripped or released. The opening / closing operation is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the first grip 202 has a main body 220 and a buffer member 222. The main body part 220 includes a substantially plate-like base part 220a connected to the first sliding part 214a, and a support part 220b that extends downward from the left and right direction (first direction) ends of the base part 220a and is formed in a substantially plate shape. The surface on the article T side of the support portion 220b is an attachment surface to which the buffer member 222 is attached. The base 220a is formed with a plurality of holes (not shown) through which the bolts 224 are inserted. The main body 220 is attached to the first sliding portion 214a by screwing a bolt 224 inserted through the hole into a female screw (not shown) formed in the first sliding portion 214a.

  The buffer member 222 is a plate-like, rod-like, or block-like member that comes into contact with the surface of the article T, and screws, bolts / nuts, fitting structures, adhesives, and the like are attached to the attachment surface of the support portion 220b. It is attached using means. The material, shape, and the like of the buffer member 222 are designed so that the article T can be gripped without being damaged. In the present embodiment, the buffer member 222 is formed in a substantially plate shape with urethane rubber. The surface on the article T side of the buffer member 222 is a first gripping surface 222 a that comes into contact with the article T when the article T is gripped.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the second gripping portion 204 has a main body portion 230 and a buffer member 232. The main body 230 includes a substantially plate-like base portion 230a connected to the first sliding portion 214a, and a support portion 230b that extends downward from the left-right direction (first direction) end of the base portion 230a and is formed in a substantially plate shape. The surface on the article T side of the support portion 230b is an attachment surface to which the buffer member 232 is attached. The base 230a is formed with a plurality of holes (not shown) through which the bolts 224 are inserted. The main body 230 is attached to the second sliding portion 214b by screwing a bolt 224 inserted through the hole into a female screw (not shown) formed in the second sliding portion 214b.

  Similarly to the buffer member 222, the buffer member 232 is formed in a substantially plate shape or the like by urethane rubber or the like, and is mounted on the mounting surface of the support portion 230b using the mounting means. The surface on the article T side of the buffer member 232 is a second gripping surface 232a that comes into contact with the article T when the article T is gripped.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the air cylinders 200 of the odd-numbered chucks 90a and 90c and the air cylinders 200 of the even-numbered chucks 90b and 90d are in the front-rear direction (second direction). It is shifted and arranged. Therefore, although the size of the air cylinder 200 is long in the left-right direction (first direction), the air cylinders 200 do not interfere with each other between adjacent chucks, and the article gripping position P5 in the left-right direction (first direction). (FIG. 11) and the interval G (FIG. 11) between the article gripping positions P5 can be appropriately designed according to the size of the article T and the like. For example, as in the present embodiment, the air cylinders 200 of the odd-numbered chucks 90a and 90c and the air cylinders 200 of the even-numbered chucks 90b and 90d are arranged in the front-rear direction (second direction). If the parts are arranged so as to overlap each other, the gap G (FIG. 11) between the article gripping positions P5 can be shortened, and a design suitable for a small-sized article T can be performed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, the first gripping portion 202 and the second gripping portion 204 that constitute each of the plurality of chucks 90a to 90d are opposed to each other and extend in the front-rear direction (second direction). It has the 1st holding surface 222a and the 2nd holding surface 232a which are arrange | positioned. In all of the chucks 90a to 90d, one end portion (front end portion) in the front-rear direction (second direction) of the first gripping surface 222a and the second gripping surface 232a extends in the left-right direction (first direction). The other end (rear end) in the front-rear direction (second direction) of the first gripping surface 222a and the second gripping surface 232a is disposed on the virtual straight line L1, and extends in the left-right direction (first direction). It is arrange | positioned on 2 virtual straight lines L2. That is, in the first gripping surface 222a and the second gripping surface 232a of all the chucks 90a to 90d, one end in the front-rear direction (second direction) is aligned on the first virtual straight line L1, and the front-rear direction (second direction) ) Is aligned on the second virtual straight line L2. Therefore, the conditions for gripping the article T can be made uniform for all the chucks 90a to 90d, and the boxing operation can be stabilized.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, in all the chucks 90a to 90d, the air cylinder 200 is disposed within a range surrounded by the first virtual straight line L1 and the second virtual straight line L2. Therefore, the air cylinder 200 does not protrude in the front-rear direction (second direction) from the minimum necessary range secured for gripping the article T, and the size of the chuck unit 84 is large in the front-rear direction (second direction). Can be prevented.

  As the air cylinder 200, a general commercially available one can be used. For example, a trade name “Thin Air Chuck, MHF2Series” manufactured by SMC Corporation can be used. In the present embodiment, the configurations of the first gripping portion 202 and the second gripping portion 204 can be changed as appropriate. When the article T can be gripped by a part of the main body portions 220 and 230, the buffer members 222 and 232 are used. May be omitted. In this case, the surfaces of the main body portions 220 and 230 that are in contact with the article T are the first gripping surface and the second gripping surface (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the base 92 is a plate-like member that supports the plurality of chucks 90 a to 90 d from above, and the plurality of chucks 90 a to 90 d are attached to the lower surface of the base 92 by screws or the like. A joint portion 94, a first air distribution portion 96, and a second air distribution portion 98 are provided on the peripheral edge portion of the upper surface of the base 92, and two screws are provided in the central portion of the upper surface of the base 92. Holes (not shown) are formed at intervals in the left-right direction (first direction), and mounting screws 89 are screwed into these screw holes. The air supply port 86a (FIG. 1), the joint portion 94, the first air distribution unit 96, and the first air supply ports 207a (FIG. 7) of the plurality of chucks 90a to 90d are the first system. The air supply port 86b (FIG. 1), the joint portion 94, the second air distribution portion 98, and the second air of each of the plurality of chucks 90a to 90d. The supply port 207b (FIG. 7) is connected via a second air tube (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the outer box transport device 72 includes an outer box lifting / lowering device 100, an outer box carrying-in device 102, and an outer box carrying-out device 104. The outer box lifting / lowering device 100 raises the empty outer box U to a predetermined packing position P3 located immediately below the opening W, and lowers the outer box U containing a plurality of articles T to a predetermined lowering position P4. It has a table 100a that supports the outer box U and a lifting mechanism 100b that lifts and lowers the table 100a.

[Configuration of guide device]
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the configuration of the guide device 20, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the main part of the guide device 20. 10 is a front view showing a positional relationship among the chucks 90a to 90d, the upper guide 110, the article T, and the pushing portion 46, and FIG. 11 is a front view showing a state in which the chucks 90a to 90d are closed.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the guide device 20 includes a plurality of upper guides 110, a support member 112 that supports the plurality of upper guides 110, and the support member 112 that moves the plurality of upper guides 110 in the left-right direction (first direction). And a mounting portion 114 that is movably attached in the direction).

  As shown in FIG. 1, each of the plurality of upper guides 110 guides the upper ends of the plurality of articles T pushed out by the article extruding device 16 to the plurality of chucks 90 a to 90 d from the front-rear direction (second direction). As shown in FIG. 8, it has a first upper guide piece 116a and a second upper guide piece 116b that are arranged at an interval in the left-right direction (first direction).

  As shown in FIG. 9, the first upper guide piece 116a protrudes outward from the plate-like first guide body 118a that receives and guides the upper end portion of the article T from the left, and the lower end edge of the first guide body 118a. And the first female screw member 122a (two in this embodiment) provided on the outer surface of the first guide body 118a so as to extend in the vertical direction. . On the other hand, the second upper guide piece 116b is a plate-shaped second guide body 118b that receives and guides the upper end portion of the article T from the right side, and a second upper guide piece 116b that protrudes outward from the lower end edge of the second guide body 118b. 2 includes a reinforcing portion 120b and at least one (two in the present embodiment) second female screw member 122b provided on the outer surface of the second guide main body 118b so as to extend in the vertical direction. The distance between the first upper guide piece 116a and the second upper guide piece 116b gradually decreases from the end on the article alignment device 14 side (rear side) toward the end on the article pushing device 18 side (front side). Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 9, each of the first female screw member 122a and the second female screw member 122b is a tubular member in which a female screw is formed on the upper inner surface, and the length of the first female screw member 122a and the second female screw member 122b. Thus, the relative height direction positions of the first guide body 118a and the second guide body 118b with respect to the support member 112 are determined.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the support member 112 includes a substantially rod-shaped first member 124 a and a second member 124 b that extend in the left-right direction (first direction) and are arranged in parallel with each other, and in the front-rear direction (second direction). The substantially rod-shaped third member 124c and the fourth member 124d that extend and are arranged in parallel to each other form a substantially rectangular frame shape in plan view. Each of the first member 124a and the second member 124b is formed with a first long hole 126a and a second long hole 126b extending in the left-right direction (first direction). In addition, each of the corner portion constituted by the second member 124b and the third member 124c and the corner portion constituted by the second member 124b and the fourth member 124d has a plate-like shape fixed to the frame 22. A fixing portion 128 is formed, and a screw hole 128 a (FIG. 9) is formed in the fixing portion 128.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the frame 22 has a function as a “guide support portion” that removably supports the support member 112 of the guide device 20 in the extrusion path R (FIG. 2) of the plurality of articles T. . That is, the frame 22 has a plate-like contact portion 22a that comes into contact with the fixed portion 128 from above, and a through hole is provided at a position corresponding to the screw hole 128a (FIG. 9) in the contact portion 22a. Or the slit (illustration omitted) is formed. A fixing screw 130 is inserted into the through hole or slit from above, and the fixing screw 130 is screwed into the screw hole 128a (FIG. 9), whereby the fixing portion 128 is brought into contact with the contact portion 22a. It is detachably fixed.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the attachment portion 114 is formed in each of the first long hole 126a and the second long hole 126b formed in the support member 112, and the first upper guide piece 116a and the second upper guide piece 116b. The first female screw member 122a and the second female screw member 122b, and a male screw member 132 such as a bolt are provided. The male screw member 132 is inserted into the first long hole 126a and the second long hole 126b from above, and the male screw member 132 is screwed into the first female screw member 122a. Further, another male screw member 132 is inserted into the first long hole 126a and the second long hole 126b from above, and the male screw member 132 is screwed into the second female screw member 122b. In a state where the male screw member 132 is loosened, the first upper guide piece 116a and the second upper guide piece 116b can be moved in the first direction along the first long hole 126a and the second long hole 126b. The first direction positions of the first upper guide piece 116a and the second upper guide piece 116b can be individually adjusted.

[Operation of boxing device]
When the control program is executed by the control device 24 (FIG. 1), the article introduction process, the article alignment process, the article extrusion process, and the article pushing process are executed in this order.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the article introduction process, a plurality of articles T supplied from a preceding apparatus (not shown) such as a vertical pillow packaging machine are sequentially directed toward the article alignment apparatus 14 by the article introduction apparatus 12. Be transported. In the article alignment step, a plurality of introduced articles T extend in the left-right direction (first direction) and are arranged in a line to form an article aggregate X. As shown in FIG. 3, in the article extruding step, an extruding operation of the plurality of articles T by the article extruding device 16 is executed, and the plurality of articles T are pushed forward in the front-rear direction (second direction) to open / close plates 74a, It is arranged on the upper surface of 74b. As shown in FIG. 10, at this time, the upper ends of the plurality of articles T are reliably guided to the corresponding chucks 90 a to 90 d by the upper guide 110 of the guide device 20.

  As shown in FIG. 11, in the article pushing process, first, a plurality of articles T are gripped by a plurality of chucks 90 a to 90 d. Further, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, the empty outer box U is transported to the boxing position P3 by the outer box carry-in device 102 and the outer box lifting / lowering device 100 of the outer box transport device 72. Then, the opening W is opened, the lifting arm 82 and the chuck unit 84 are lowered, and a plurality of articles T whose upper ends are gripped by the chucks 90 a to 90 d are pushed into the exterior box U. When a predetermined number of articles T are stored in the outer box U, the outer box U is lowered to the lowered position P4 and is carried out by the outer box unloading device 104.

  In the present embodiment, the air cylinders 200 of the odd-numbered chucks 90a and 90c and the air cylinders 200 of the even-numbered chucks 90b and 90d are partially connected to each other in the front-rear direction (second direction). Since they are arranged so as to overlap each other and the interval G (FIG. 11) between the article gripping positions P5 is shortened, it is possible to prevent a gap from being generated between the articles T gripped by the chucks 90a to 90d. In addition, since the upper ends of the plurality of articles T can be reliably guided to the corresponding chucks 90a to 90d by the upper guide 110, the alignment of the articles T can be prevented from being disturbed. Therefore, a plurality of articles T can be accommodated in the exterior box U in an orderly and compact manner.

(Other embodiments)
In the above-described embodiment, the chuck unit 84 grips a plurality of articles T using a standing pouch. However, it is difficult for the chuck unit 84 to grip a normal article having a large upper part thickness. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, in another embodiment, the suction unit 140 is selectively used instead of the chuck unit 84. That is, in another embodiment, an adsorption unit 140 that adsorbs a plurality of articles by negative pressure is prepared in advance. Then, either one of the chuck unit 84 and the suction unit 140 is selected automatically or manually according to the type of the article or the like, and attached to the lower end portion of the lifting arm 82 automatically or manually. In this embodiment, since the intake or exhaust system including the air supply ports 86a and 86b (FIG. 1) can be commonly used in the two usage modes, the cost burden associated with the change in the usage mode can be suppressed.

L1, L2 ... Straight line T ... Article 10 ... Boxing device 14 ... Article alignment device 16 ... Article pushing device 18 ... Article pushing device 22 ... Frame (guide support part)
46 ... Extruding portion 84 ... Chuck units 90a to 90d ... Chuck 92 ... Base 200 ... Air cylinder 202 ... First gripping portion 204 ... Second gripping portion 206a ... First cylinder 206b ... Second cylinder 208a ... First piston 208b ... Second piston 210 ... Power transmission unit 222a ... First gripping surface 232a ... Second gripping surface

Claims (7)

An article alignment apparatus for aligning a plurality of articles in a row in the first direction;
An article extruding apparatus that simultaneously extrudes the aligned articles in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction in plan view;
An article pushing device for pushing the plurality of articles pushed out by the article pushing device into the interior of the outer box,
The article pushing device has a plurality of chucks for gripping upper end portions of a plurality of articles,
Each of the plurality of chucks approaches or separates the first grip portion and the second grip portion configured to be linearly movable in the first direction, and the first grip portion and the second grip portion. An air cylinder that moves in a direction,
The cylinder and the piston constituting the air cylinder are arranged extending in the first direction,
The air cylinders of the chucks arranged at odd numbers and the air cylinders of the chucks arranged at even numbers are shifted in the second direction and part of each other in the second direction. A boxing device arranged so as to overlap . The air cylinder is
A first cylinder and a second cylinder extending in the first direction and arranged side by side in the second direction;
A first piston and a second piston accommodated reciprocally in each of the first cylinder and the second cylinder;
A power transmission unit that transmits the power of one of the first piston and the second piston to the other in the opposite direction;
The boxing device according to claim 1, wherein the first gripping part and the second gripping part are connected to the first piston and the second piston, respectively. The first gripping part and the second gripping part constituting each of the plurality of chucks have a first gripping surface and a second gripping surface arranged to extend in the second direction so as to face each other,
In all the chucks, one end of the first gripping surface and the second gripping surface in the second direction is disposed on a first imaginary straight line extending in the first direction, and the first gripping surface and the The boxing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the other end portion of the second gripping surface in the second direction is arranged on a second imaginary straight line extending in the first direction.   The boxing device according to claim 3, wherein in all the chucks, the air cylinder is disposed within a range surrounded by the first virtual line and the second virtual line. The article pushing device has an elevating arm provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and a chuck unit detachably attached to a lower end portion of the elevating arm,
The boxing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the chuck unit includes a substantially plate-like base and the plurality of chucks attached to a lower surface of the base. The article pushing device has a suction unit that sucks a plurality of articles by negative pressure,
The boxing device according to claim 5, wherein either one of the chuck unit and the suction unit is selectively attached to a lower end portion of the elevating arm.   The boxing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a plurality of upper guides for guiding upper ends of the plurality of articles to the corresponding chuck from the second direction.

Images