JP7325738B2 - Flexible container brim forming device and method - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for forming a collar on the body of a flexible container, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for forming a collar suitable for the body of a flexible container made of a resin-based film.

A container is known in which flanges are formed at the upper and lower ends of a body portion, and peripheral edges of a lid film and a bottom film are joined to the flanges (see Patent Documents 1 and 2, etc.). The brim is formed by bending, curling and crushing using a mold.

JP 2015-151188 A JP 2017-095105 A

Conventional brim forming methods such as those disclosed in the above-mentioned publications require a mold for molding, resulting in high manufacturing equipment costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily form a flange on the body of a flexible container at low cost.

In order to solve the above problems, the device of the present invention
A device for forming a collar on the body of a flexible container,
a core whose outer circumference is covered with a tubular film that serves as the body;
a bulging means including an injection passage opened in the outer peripheral surface of the core, for expanding a portion of the tubular film radially outward by gas injection from the injection passage;
a pair of sandwiching members that face each other in the axial direction of the core on the outer periphery of the core;
At least immediately before the gas injection, the pair of pinching members are separated from each other in the axial direction across the opening of the injection path, and simultaneously or immediately after the gas injection, the pair of pinching members are separated from each other by the shaft. an actuation mechanism for directionally approximating and pinching the portion;
and welding means provided on any one of the clamping members and operated in the abutted state.

Preferably, one clamping member includes a pair of clamps facing each other across the core.
The actuating mechanism separates the pair of clamps from the core when the tubular film is placed over the core and when the tubular film is removed from the core, and separates the pair of clamps from each other at least immediately before the gas injection. It is preferable to further include a clamp opening/closing actuation part which is closely arranged and arranged on the outer periphery of the core.
It is preferable that at least one of the clamping portions is formed with a recess into which the core is fitted.
It is preferable that an inner edge of the recess is provided with a contact member that is pressed against a cylindrical film covering the outer periphery of the core.
Preferably, the coefficient of friction between the contact member and the tubular film is greater than the coefficient of friction between the core and the tubular film.

The method of the present invention is
A method for forming a collar on the body of a flexible container, comprising:
a step of covering the outer periphery of the core with a tubular film that will be the body;
a step of injecting gas from an injection passage opened in the outer peripheral surface of the core to bulge a portion of the tubular film radially outward;
Simultaneously with or immediately after the gas injection, a step of pinching the bulging portion with a pair of pinching members on the outer periphery of the core and folding it in two;
non-expandably welding the folded portion;
characterized by comprising

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a collar can be easily formed in the trunk|drum of a flexible container at low cost.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention and is a front cross-sectional view of a soft container. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of circular portion II of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view along line III-III in FIG. 4 showing the collar forming apparatus according to the first embodiment in a state where the core is covered with a tubular film that will be the body of the soft container. 4 is a front cross-sectional view of the collar forming device taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3. FIG. 5(a) to 5(h) are cross-sectional views sequentially showing the steps of forming a collar by the collar forming apparatus. FIG. 6(a) is a front view of a flexible container showing a collar forming device according to a second embodiment of the present invention in phantom lines. FIG. 6(b) is a front view of a flexible container showing a collar forming device according to a third embodiment of the present invention in phantom lines. FIG. 7(a) is a front cross-sectional view of a flexible container showing a collar forming device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention in phantom lines. FIG. 7(b) is a front cross-sectional view showing a stacking state of the flexible containers of the fourth embodiment. FIG. 7(c) is an enlarged sectional view of the circular portion VIIc in FIG. 7(b).

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<First Embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 1 , the flexible container 10 includes a body portion 11 , a bottom sheet portion 12 , a shoulder portion 13 and a mouth portion 14 . The body portion 11 is composed of a tubular film 19 made of a soft resin such as polyethylene. The tubular film 19 is formed by rolling a flat sheet and attaching it to an envelope.
Body 11 may include a metal layer such as aluminum.
In addition, in FIG. 1 and the like, the thickness of the body portion 11 and the like is exaggerated with respect to the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the flexible container 10 as a whole.

The trunk portion 11 includes a trunk body 11 a and a collar 15 . The trunk body 11a has a straight tubular shape. A brim 15 (flange) is formed on the bottom of the trunk body 11a. The collar 15 protrudes radially outward from the barrel main body 11a and has an annular shape extending over the entire circumference of the barrel main body 11a.

As shown in FIG. 2, the collar 15 is formed by folding the bottom portion of the body portion 11 in half. Specifically, the collar 15 includes an upper folded piece 15a connected to the trunk body 11a and a lower folded piece 15b integrally connected to the upper folded piece 15a via a bent portion 15c. The outer edge of the collar 15 is configured by the bent portion 15c. The lower folded piece portion 15b overlaps the lower surface of the upper folded piece portion 15a. These folded pieces 15a and 15b are non-separably welded over almost the entire area and cannot be deployed.
The outer peripheral portion of the bottom sheet portion 12 is welded to the lower folded piece portion 15b and further to the collar 15. As shown in FIG.

3 and 4 show a flange forming device 20 for forming the flange 15 particularly on the body portion 11 in the flexible container 10 manufacturing apparatus.
The collar forming device 20 includes a core 21, a pair of clamps 22 (one clamping member), and a pedestal 23 (the other clamping member). A core 21 is erected at the central portion of a base 23 on a flat plate. In other words, the pedestal 23 is arranged on the outer circumference of the bottom of the core 21 . The pedestal 23 and the core 21 are made of an integral metal, but are not limited to this and may be made of a hard resin or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the core 21 is formed, for example, in a columnar shape with a circular cross section in accordance with the shape of the body portion 11 . The height dimension of the core 21 is shorter than the height dimension of the trunk portion 11 . A tapered portion 21 b is formed at the upper end of the core 21 .
The outer circumference of the core 21 is covered with a tubular film 19 . The peripheral length of the inner peripheral surface of the tubular film 19 is approximately equal to the peripheral length of the outer peripheral surface of the core 21 or slightly smaller than the peripheral length of the outer peripheral surface of the core 21 . Therefore, there is almost no clearance between the outer peripheral surface 21a of the core 21 and the inner peripheral surface of the tubular film 19, or the clearance is negative. In FIG. 4, the clearance is negative.

As shown in FIG. 4 , two systems of gas passages 33 and 34 are connected to the core 21 . The injection path 33 of the main system is connected to the air compressor 31 (compressed gas source) through an opening/closing valve 35 . A blow-off passage 34 of the auxiliary system merges with the injection passage 33 via an opening/closing valve 36 and is connected to the air compressor 31 .
Note that the injection path 33 and the blowout path 34 may be connected to different compressed gas sources.
The injection path 33 and the blowout path 34 extend inside the core 21 .

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the injection passages 33 in the core 21 include a header passage 33a and eight (plural) distribution passages 33b. A header path 33 a is arranged on the axis of the core 21 . Eight distribution paths 33b are branched radially from the header path 33a. Each distribution path 33b is opened in the vicinity of the lower end of the outer peripheral surface 21a of the core 21 (the vicinity of the pedestal 23). The openings 33c of the eight distribution paths 33b are preferably arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the core 21. As shown in FIG.
The number of distribution paths 33b is not limited to eight, and may be seven or less, or may be nine or more.
The air compressor 31 (compressed gas source), the valve 35 and the injection path 33 constitute the expanding means 30 .

The auxiliary system blowout passage 34 in the core 21 includes a header passage 34a and eight (plural) distribution passages 34b. The header path 34 a is arranged along the axis (axial direction) of the core 21 . Eight distribution paths 34b are branched radially from the header path 34a. Each distribution path 34b is opened in the vicinity of the upper end of the outer peripheral surface 21a of the core 21 (the part far from the pedestal 23). The openings 34c of the eight distribution paths 34b are preferably arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the core 21. As shown in FIG.
The number of distribution paths 34b is not limited to eight, and may be seven or less, or may be nine or more.
The air compressor 31 (compressed gas source), the valve 36 and the blowout passage 34 constitute the insertion/removal assisting means 32 .

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair of clamps 22 are arranged outside the core 21 in the radial direction (crossing direction crossing the axial direction). Each clamp 22 includes a clamp body 24 and an abutment member 26 . The clamp body 24 is formed in a flat plate shape. The clamp body 24 is made of metal, but is not limited to this and may be made of hard resin.
A semicircular concave surface 24c is formed on the end surface of the clamp body 24 facing the other clamp. A semicircular concave portion 25 is formed in the clamp 22 by the semicircular concave surface 24c. The inner radius r ₂₄ of the semicircular concave surface 24c _is equal to or slightly larger than the sum r ₀ of the outer radius of the core 21 and the thickness of the tubular film 19 (r ₂₄ ≧r ₀ ).

A contact member 26 is provided on the inner edge of the recess 25 . Specifically, a concave groove 24d is formed in the semicircular concave surface 24c of the clamp body 24. As shown in FIG. The recessed groove 24d extends in a semi-annular shape over the entire circumferential direction of the semi-circular recessed surface 24c. A contact member 26 is fitted in the concave groove 24d.

The contact member 26 has an arcuate sheet shape. The abutting member 26 is made of a material that is non-slippery against the cylindrical film 19, that is, that can produce high frictional resistance. The friction coefficient (especially static friction coefficient) between the contact member 26 and the tubular film 19 is greater than the friction coefficient (especially static friction coefficient) between the core 21 and the tubular film 19 .
Further, the contact member 26 is elastically deformable so as to be compressed in the thickness direction.
More preferably, the material of the contact member 26 is rubber.

The thickness of the contact member 26 in its natural state (when not compressed) is greater than the depth of the concave groove 24d. The inner peripheral side portion of the contact member 26 protrudes radially inward from the groove 24d and the semicircular concave surface 24c. Therefore, strictly speaking, the recess 25 is defined by the inner peripheral surface of the contact member 26 . The curvature radius of the inner peripheral surface of the contact member 26 when not compressed, that is, the inner radius r ₂₅ of the recess 25 is slightly smaller than the sum r ₀ of the outer radius of the core 21 and the thickness of the tubular film 19 (r ₂₅ <r ₀ ).

A pair of clamps 22 face each other in the horizontal direction (the crossing direction) with the core 21 interposed therebetween. These clamps 22 can move toward and away from each other in synchronization with each other in the horizontal direction (intersecting direction) with the core 21 as the center.
Moreover, each clamp 22 faces the pedestal 23 vertically (in the axial direction of the core 21). The pair of clamps 22 can move up and down in synchronism with each other, and can move toward and away from the pedestal 23 .
The clamp 22 and the pedestal 23 constitute a pair of clamping members. A pair of clamps 22 serve as one clamping member, and the pedestal 23 serves as the other clamping member.

An actuating mechanism 40 is connected to the clamp 22 as shown schematically in FIG. The actuating mechanism 40 includes a clamping actuating portion 41 and a clamp opening/closing actuating portion 42 . The nipping operation unit 41 includes an elevation guide, an elevation slider, an elevation actuator, and the like, and raises and lowers the pair of clamps 22 . The clamp opening/closing operation part 42 includes a horizontal guide, a horizontal slider, a horizontal actuator, etc., and moves the pair of clamps 22 horizontally toward and away from each other.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the pedestal 23 is provided with an impulse seal electrode 50 (welding means). The impulse seal electrode 50 is formed in a flat annular shape surrounding the core 21 and arranged on the upper surface of the pedestal 23 (the surface facing the clamp 22).

As shown in FIG. 4 , a seal receiving member 51 is provided on the bottom surface of each of the pair of clamps 22 . A seal receiving member 51 of each clamp has a semicircular plate shape. The seal receiving member 51 is made of silicone rubber, for example.

In the manufacturing process of the flexible container 10, the flange 15 is formed as follows.
<Covering process>
As shown in FIG. 5( a ), the operating mechanism 40 separates the pair of clamps 22 above the pedestal 23 and horizontally outward from the core 21 .
Then, the outer periphery of the core 21 of the collar forming device 20 is covered with the tubular film 19 that will become the body portion 11 . In other words, core 21 is inserted into tubular film 19 . By forming the tip portion of the core 21 into the tapered portion 21b, the insertion can be easily performed. At this time, preferably, the valve 36 of the insertion/removal assisting means 32 is opened to open the blowout passage 34, and air (gas) is blown out from the opening 34c. The air may have a lower pressure than the air from the opening 33c of the expanding means 30, which will be described later, and the blowing time may be longer. The diameter of the tubular film 19 can be expanded by the air. As a result, even if there is zero clearance or negative clearance between the outer peripheral surface of the core 21 and the tubular film 19, the inserting operation can be performed more easily. After the inserting operation, the valve 36 is closed.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5B, the lower edge of the tubular film 19 covering the outer periphery of the core 21 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the base 23 .
The tubular film 19 is in tight contact with the outer peripheral surface 21a of the core 21 over the entire circumference. In the case of a negative clearance, the cylindrical film 19 is press-fitted into the core 21 and the diameter of the portion covering the core 21 is slightly expanded.

<Clamp closing process>
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5(c), the pair of clamps 22 are brought close to each other by the clamp opening/closing operation part 42 and closed. This places the clamp 22 on the outer circumference of the core 21 . At this time, the clamp 22 is positioned slightly above the opening 33c. Therefore, the clamp 22 and the pedestal 23 face each other vertically (in the axial direction) with the opening 33c interposed therebetween, at least immediately before the bulging means 30, which will be described later, injects gas.

By closing the pair of clamps 22 , the recesses 25 of each clamp 22 are fitted with the halves of the core 21 . In addition, the contact member 26 is pressed against the tubular film 19 and elastically compressed in the thickness direction. The cylindrical film 19 is sandwiched between the contact member 26 and the core 21 over the entire circumference.

<Expansion process>
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5(d), the valve 35 of the expansion means 30 is opened to open the ejection path 33, and compressed air (compressed gas) is ejected from the opening 33c for a short period of time. As a result of the gas injection, a portion 19f of the tubular film 19 bulges outward in the radial direction, as indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. Specifically, a portion 19f of the tubular film 19 between the clamp 22 and the pedestal 23 and located at the height of the opening 33c is bulged. The bulging portion 19f is at least momentarily or temporarily annular with a C-shaped cross-section.

<Folding process>
As shown in FIG. 5(e), at the same time or immediately after (within several seconds at the latest, preferably less than 1 second) the injection of gas from the expansion means 30, the clamping operation part 41 lowers the pair of clamps 22. The pedestal 23 is approached. As a result, the bulging portion 19f having a C-shaped cross section is pinched vertically and crushed. At this time, since a strong frictional resistance acts between the abutment member 26 and the tubular film 19, the tubular film portion 19a, which becomes the barrel main body 11a above the bulging portion 19f of the tubular film 19, is not clamped 22. descends with Tubular film portion 19 a slides against core 21 .
Air inside the bulging portion 19f is discharged from between the lower edge of the tubular film 19 and the pedestal 23 as the bulging portion 19f is compressed vertically.
Since the clearance between the tubular film 19 and the core 21 is zero or negative, and the tubular film 19 is strongly pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the core 21 over the entire circumference by the abutment member 26, the above-mentioned Internal air can be prevented from entering between the tubular film portion 19a and the core 21. - 特許庁This prevents the cylindrical film portion 19a and the barrel body 11a from being wrinkled.
Sealing members such as O-rings are not required.
Further, the lowered clamp 22 closes the opening 33c.

As shown in FIG. 5( f ), the pair of clamps 22 are soon seated (abutted) on the pedestal 23 . The bulging portion 19f between the clamp 22 and the pedestal 23 is sandwiched between the impulse seal electrode 50 and the seal receiving member 51 in a folded state (FIG. 2). As a result, the bulging portion 19f is sandwiched between the pedestals 23 of the clamp 22. As shown in FIG.

<Welding process>
In the sandwiched state, the impulse seal electrode 50 is energized to weld the upper and lower folded pieces 15a and 15b of the bulging portion 19f to make it undevelopable. As a result, the bulging portion 19 f becomes the flange 15 . The tubular film 19 becomes the body portion 11 with the collar 15 attached.

<Clamp opening process>
Next, as shown in FIG. 5G, the operating mechanism 40 raises the pair of clamps 22 and separates them horizontally outward from the core 21 to open the clamps.

<Torso extraction process>
Thereafter, as shown by the white arrow in FIG. 5(g) and FIG. 5(h), the body 11 is pulled up and removed from the core 21. At this time, preferably, similarly to the covering step, the valve 36 of the insertion/removal assisting means 32 is opened to open the blowout passage 34, and air (gas) is blown out from the opening 34c. Since the diameter of the tubular film 19 can be expanded by the air, the removing operation can be easily performed. After the extraction operation, the valve 36 is closed.
According to the collar forming apparatus 20, the collar 15 can be easily formed without using a mold for molding the collar. Therefore, manufacturing facility costs can be significantly reduced.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following embodiments, the same reference numerals are given to the drawings to duplicate the configurations already described, and the description thereof will be omitted.
<Second embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 6(a), in a soft container 10B of the second embodiment, flanges 15 are formed at both end portions of the body portion 11. As shown in FIG.
As indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6(a), the collar forming apparatus 20B of the second embodiment has two sets of clamps 22 and pedestals 23, and can simultaneously form the collars 15 on both ends.
After forming the collar 15 on one end of the barrel 11 using the same collar forming device 20 as in the first embodiment, the barrel 11 is turned upside down and attached to the core 21 again. A collar 15 may be formed at the end.

<Third Embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 6(b), in the flexible container 10C of the third embodiment, a flange 15C is also formed in the intermediate portion of the body portion 11. As shown in FIG.
As indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6(b), the collar forming apparatus 20C of the third embodiment has a pair of clamping members 22C and 23C for the intermediate collar 15C. The pinching members 22C and 23C may both have the same structure as the pair of clamps 22 of the first embodiment.

<Fourth Embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 7( a ), in a flexible container 10</b>D according to the fourth embodiment, a trunk body 11 a of a trunk portion 11 is tapered so as to expand in diameter toward the collar portion 15 .
As indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 7(a), the core 21D of the collar forming device 20D of the fourth embodiment is similarly tapered. The core 21</b>D has an axial length shorter than that of the body portion 11 . Therefore, there is no problem in fitting the tapered body portion 11 to the core 21D.

A collar portion 15 is formed at the upper end portion of the body portion 11 in the flexible container 10D. An outer peripheral portion of a lid (not shown) is joined to the collar portion 15 .

As shown in FIG. 7(b), in the fourth embodiment, a plurality of flexible containers 10D can be stacked to make it more compact.
As shown in FIG. 7(c), in a plurality of stacked soft containers 10D, the lower end of the body portion 11 of the inner (left side in the figure) soft container 10D is the outer (right side in the figure) soft container. It is stopped so as to be hooked on the edge of the bottom film 12D of 10D.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
For example, the recess 25 may be formed in only one clamp 22 . The core 21 may be sandwiched between the straight end surface of the other clamp 22 and the recess 25 .
The clamp 22 (one of the pinching members) and the other pinching member facing each other may be axially movable with respect to the core 21 . The other clamping member may comprise a pair of clamps that are separable.
A clamping member may have three or more clamps, any two clamps constituting a "pair of clamps".
An impulse seal electrode 50 (welding means) may be provided on the clamp 22 instead of the pedestal 23 . A seal receiving member 51 may be provided on the pedestal 23 .
The welding means is not limited to impulse sealing, but may be heat sealing, high frequency sealing, or the like.
The tubular film 19 may be formed by rolling a planar sheet and joining the palms together, or may be formed by an inflation tube.

The present invention can be applied, for example, to the manufacture of flexible containers.

10 Soft container 10B, 10C, 10D Soft container 11 Body part 11a Body body 15 Flange 15C Flange 19 Tubular sheet 19f Part 20 Flange forming device 20B, 20C, 20D Flange forming device 21 Core 21D Core 22 Clamp (one pinching member )
22C One clamping member 23 Pedestal (other clamping member)
23C Other clamping member 25 Recess 26 Contact member 30 Bulging means 31 Air compressor (compressed gas source)
32 insertion/removal assisting means 33 injection path 33c opening 40 operating mechanism 41 clamping operating portion 42 clamp opening/closing operating portion 50 impulse seal electrode (welding means)

Claims (3)

A device for forming a collar on the body of a flexible container,
a core whose outer circumference is covered with a tubular film that serves as the body;
a bulging means including an injection passage opened in the outer peripheral surface of the core, for expanding a portion of the tubular film radially outward by gas injection from the injection passage;
a pair of sandwiching members that face each other in the axial direction of the core on the outer periphery of the core;
At least immediately before the gas injection, the pair of pinching members are separated from each other in the axial direction across the opening of the injection path, and simultaneously or immediately after the gas injection, the pair of pinching members are separated from each other by the shaft. an actuation mechanism for directionally approximating and pinching the portion;
A flexible container brim forming apparatus, comprising: a welding means provided on any of the pinching members and operated in the pinched state. one clamping member includes a pair of clamps facing each other across the core;
The actuating mechanism separates the pair of clamps from the core when the tubular film is placed over the core and when the tubular film is removed from the core, and separates the pair of clamps from each other at least immediately before the gas injection. further comprising a clamp opening/closing actuation part that is brought into close proximity and positioned on the outer circumference of the core;
At least one of the clamping portions is formed with a recess into which the core is fitted,
An inner edge of the concave portion is provided with a contact member that is pressed against a tubular film covering the outer circumference of the core. 2. The collar forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coefficient of friction between the base film and the base film is larger than that of the base film. A method for forming a collar on the body of a flexible container, comprising:
a step of covering the outer periphery of the core with a tubular film that will be the body;
a step of injecting gas from an injection passage opened in the outer peripheral surface of the core to bulge a portion of the tubular film radially outward;
Simultaneously with or immediately after the gas injection, a step of pinching the bulging portion with a pair of pinching members on the outer periphery of the core and folding it in two;
non-expandably welding the folded portion;
A method for forming a brim for a flexible container, comprising:

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