JP7612211B2 - Heat sealing device for packaging machines - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a heat sealing device for a packaging machine, and more specifically, to a heat sealing device for a packaging machine that has multiple processes including an opening process for opening the mouth of a packaging bag, a filling process for filling the packaging bag with the packaged material through the opened mouth, and a heat sealing process for heat sealing the mouth of the packaging bag filled with the packaged material, and that intermittently moves the packaging bag to each process in sequence to mass-produce packaged products in which the packaging bag is filled with the packaged material.

The heat sealing device installed in the heat sealing process of this type of packaging machine is equipped with a pair of clamping bodies with sealing teeth surfaces and an actuator that moves each clamping body back and forth. The two clamping bodies clamp the packaging bag and press the sealing teeth surfaces against the vicinity of the opening of the packaging bag to heat seal the opening.

JP 2016-124555 A

However, if the packaged item to be filled in the packaging bag adheres to the seal tooth surface, the adhered area will cause poor sealing. Therefore, in conventional packaging machines, when the packaged item adheres to the seal tooth surface, the operation is stopped and the seal tooth surface is cleaned manually. This cleaning work is performed once every 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the type of packaged item. As a result, a decrease in the production efficiency of the packaging machine is unavoidable.
On the other hand, if the seal tooth surface is manually cleaned while the machine is running in order to avoid a decrease in production efficiency, there is a risk of injury from touching the seal tooth surface with one's hand.
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat sealing device for a packaging machine that can safely clean the seal tooth surface and does not cause a decrease in the production efficiency of the packaging machine.

The invention described in claim 1 is a heat sealing device for a packaging machine that has a plurality of steps including an opening step of opening a bag mouth of a packaging bag, a filling step of filling the packaging bag with a packaged item through the opened bag mouth, and a heat sealing step of heat sealing the bag mouth of the packaging bag filled with the packaged item, and is provided in a heat sealing step of a packaging machine that mass-produces packaged products in which the packaging bag is filled with the packaged item by intermittently moving the packaging bag to each step in sequence,
The present invention includes a pair of clamping bodies each having a seal tooth surface, a first actuator for reciprocating the clamping bodies, a scraper provided movably and rotatably , and a second actuator for moving the scraper,
A clamping body is connected to a rod that is moved forward and backward by a first actuator;
a second actuator is fixed to a bearing that supports the rod so that the rod can move back and forth;
A drive gear is connected to a drive shaft of the second actuator;
A driven gear that meshes with the drive gear is rotatably mounted on a bearing, and a scraper is fixed to the driven gear,
The two clamping bodies are provided so as to be settable to a sealing position or a cleaning position,
At the sealing position, the two clamping bodies clamp the vicinity of the mouth of the packaging bag, and the seal teeth are pressed against the mouth of the bag to heat seal it.
At the cleaning position, a predetermined gap is formed between the seal tooth surfaces of both clamping bodies, and when the scraper is moved, the scraper comes into sliding contact with the seal tooth surfaces, so that dirt on the seal tooth surfaces is removed by the scraper.

The present invention relates to a heat-sealing device for a packaging machine, and more particularly to a heat-sealing device for a packaging machine, the heat-sealing device comprising: a tapered surface on the holding body; and a seal tooth surface continuing from the tapered surface.
In the cleaning position, a tapered gap is formed on both tapered surfaces.

The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that, in the heat sealing device for a packaging machine described in claim 1 , the scrapers include a first scraper that slides against the seal tooth surface of one of the clamping bodies, and a second scraper that is separate from the first scraper and slides against the seal tooth surface of the other clamping body, the first scraper and the second scraper are arranged radially in the radial direction from the rotation center of the driven gear, and the first scrapers and the second scrapers are arranged alternately.

The invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that, in the heat sealing device for a packaging machine described in claim 1 , the number of times that bag feeding is stopped during operation of the packaging machine can be set arbitrarily, and both clamping bodies can be set to cleaning positions while bag feeding is stopped.

The invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that, in the heat sealing device for a packaging machine described in claim 1, when a defect occurs in the packaging bag in any process of the packaging machine, both clamping bodies are set to a cleaning position.

The invention as set forth in claim 6 is characterized in that in the heat sealing device for a packaging machine as set forth in claim 1, the number of revolutions and the direction of revolution of the scraper can be set arbitrarily.

The invention described in claim 7 is characterized in that, in the heat sealing device for a packaging machine described in claim 1 , the scraper is moved linearly in the left-right direction or in the left-right and up-down directions relative to the seal tooth surface.

According to the invention described in claim 1, the scraper that slides against the seal tooth surface is moved by the second actuator to remove dirt from the seal tooth surface, so that the seal tooth surface can be cleaned without manual labor, eliminating the risk of being burned by touching the seal tooth surface when cleaning it, and improving safety.
The packaging bags are conveyed sequentially by a bag feed conveyor, handed over one bag at a time to a grip pair by a suction cup of the bag feed device, and gripped by the grip pair and moved intermittently to each process. When cleaning the seal tooth surface, when bag feeding is stopped and the grip pair not gripping a packaging bag moves to the heat sealing process, the pair of clamping bodies is set to the cleaning position and the scraper is moved, or a sensor is provided in the heat sealing process to detect whether the seal is good or bad, and when a seal defect is detected, the scraper is operated to clean the seal tooth surface, thereby cleaning the seal tooth surface without interrupting the operation of the packaging machine. This prevents a decrease in production efficiency due to interruption of the operation of the packaging machine.
In addition, preferably, the second actuator, drive gear, driven gear and scraper are assembled to a bearing that supports the rod of the first actuator so that it can move back and forth, thereby making the heat sealing device compact and enabling it to be installed in a narrow space.

According to the invention described in claim 2 , when the scraper is rotated, the scraper passes through the tapered gap and is guided to the predetermined gap defined and formed by both seal tooth surfaces, thereby preventing the scraper from getting stuck in the predetermined gap and causing malfunction.

According to the invention described in claim 3 , a second scraper, separate from a first scraper which comes into sliding contact with the seal tooth surface of one clamping body, is brought into sliding contact with the seal tooth surface of the other clamping body, thereby extending the life of the scraper and enabling it to perform its cleaning function for a long period of time.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the seal tooth surface is automatically cleaned a predetermined number of times, so that poor sealing caused by contamination of the seal tooth surface can be prevented in advance.

According to the invention described in claim 5 , when a defect occurs in the packaging bag during any process of the packaging machine, for example when the packaging bag cannot be handed over to a grip pair for gripping or releasing during the bag feeding process, or when a signal is output from an inspection device such as a seal checker to notify that a defect has occurred in the packaging bag, the seal tooth surface is automatically cleaned, thereby preventing sealing defects caused by contamination of the seal tooth surface.

According to the sixth and seventh aspects of the invention, dirt on the seal tooth surface can be removed more effectively.

1 is a plan view showing a packaging machine equipped with a heat-sealing device for a packaging machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a grip pair provided in the packaging machine. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the process performed by the packaging machine. 1 is a front view showing a heat-sealing device for a packaging machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a main part of the heat sealing device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of the heat sealing device. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a scraper provided in the heat sealing device. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a main part of the heat sealing device. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a main part of the heat sealing device. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a heat-sealing device for a packaging machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a front view showing a heat-sealing device for a packaging machine according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a scraper provided in the heat sealing device for a packaging machine according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a scraper provided in the heat sealing device for a packaging machine according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of moving a scraper. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing another method of moving the scraper.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a rotary packaging machine 10 equipped with a heat sealing device 30 for a packaging machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the rotary packaging machine 10 has a vertically installed rotating shaft 11, and a disk-shaped rotating body 12 is fixed to the upper part of the rotating shaft 11. As shown in FIG. 2, this rotating body 12 is provided with grip pairs 13 for gripping or releasing packaging bags 15, which are provided so as to protrude radially at equal angular intervals from the rotating shaft 11 as a center. Two pairs of grip pairs 13 work together to grip both sides of the bag mouth of the packaging bag 15 supplied from the bag supply conveyor 14, and move intermittently from the first to tenth steps in sequence as the rotating body 12 rotates intermittently.

The work content of each of the first to tenth steps will be described with reference to Fig. 3. The first step is a bag supply step, in which packaging bags 15 are set on the bag supply conveyor 14, the packaging bags 15 are separated one by one by a separating suction cup, and sent to the supply suction cup 16, which then transfers the packaging bags 15 to the grip pair 13. When transferring the bags, the height of the packaging bags 15 is corrected.
The second step is a printing step, in which the posture of the packaging bag 15 is confirmed while the rotor 12 is stopped, and a print is made on the surface of the packaging bag 15 by an inkjet printer 17. The third step is a print inspection step, in which a print inspection is performed by a camera 18 while the rotor 12 is stopped. The fourth step is a bag opening step, in which the mouth of the packaging bag 15 and the folded-in bottom portion of the packaging bag 15 are opened by a suction cup 19. The fifth step is a solid filling step, in which ingredients are put into the packaging bag 15 by a cup inserter 20. While the packaging bag 15 is moving from the fourth step to the fifth step, a spatula 21 is inserted into the packaging bag 15 from the mouth to prevent the mouth from closing while the packaging bag 15 is moving.

The sixth step is a liquid filling step, in which sauce and water are filled from the filling nozzle 22. The seventh step is a bottom folding step, in which the bottom of the bag is folded by the bottom folding device 23, and the contents of the packaging bag 15 are sunk to the bottom of the bag. At the same time, the mouth of the bag is pulled so that the contents do not spill out. The eighth step is a first heat sealing step, in which the vicinity of the mouth of the packaging bag 15 is clamped by a pair of clamping bodies 31 provided in the heat sealing device 30 described later, and preheating is applied to make the conditions around the mouth uniform. At the same time, the round bar 24 presses the packaging bag 15 to remove air, and the seal tooth surface of the clamping body 31 is cleaned by a scraper described later. The ninth step is a second heat sealing step, in which the mouth of the packaging bag 15 is completely sealed by the clamping body of a heat sealing device other than the heat sealing device 30 provided in the eighth step. In addition, packaging bags 15 determined to be defective in packaging in the packaging machine 10 are discharged by the conveyor 25. The tenth step is the cooling and sealing step, where the bag openings that have been heat sealed by the heat sealing device 30 are cooled with a round bar to stabilize the appearance and strength of the top seal, and the packaged products are discharged from the chute 27 to the outside of the packaging machine on the conveyor 28.

In addition, from the sixth to seventh steps, when production is completed, hot water is sprayed onto the grip pair 13 from a hot water nozzle for cleaning nails, and dirt on the grip pair 13 is blown away. Then, from the seventh to eighth steps, the dirt that has been blown away and floated is blown away by an air nozzle for cleaning nails.

A heat sealing device 30 for a packaging machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figs. 4 to 6. The heat sealing device 30 is provided in the first heat sealing process of the packaging machine 10 described above, and is equipped with a pair of clamping bodies 31. One clamping body 31 is fixed to the tip of a rod 33 by a bracket 32, and the other clamping body 31 is fixed to the tip of a rod 35 by a bracket 34. A tapered surface 31a and a seal tooth surface 31b continuing from the tapered surface 31a are formed on the surface of one clamping piece 31 opposite the bracket 32. A tapered surface 31a and a seal tooth surface 31b continuing from the tapered surface 31a are also formed on the surface of the other clamping piece 31 opposite the bracket 34.

Rod 33 is supported by bearings 36 and 37 fixed to the machine frame 10A so that it can move back and forth along the axis of rod 33. Similarly, rod 35 is supported by bearings 38 and 39 fixed to the machine frame 10A so that it can move back and forth.

One end of a link lever 40 is connected to the rear end of the rod 33. The other end of this link lever 40 is connected to one end of a link lever 41. The link lever 41 is rotatably attached to the machine frame 10A by a shaft 42. One end of a link lever 43 is connected to the other end of the link lever 41, and the rod 35 is connected to the other end of the link lever 43.

A belt pulley 44 is attached to the link lever 41. Meanwhile, a gear box 45 is fixed to the casing of the bearing 37, and a servo motor 46 is attached to the gear box 45 as a first actuator. A belt pulley 47 is attached to the gear box 45, and a belt 48 is stretched between the belt pulley 44 and the belt pulley 47.

A motor 50 is attached to the casing of the bearing 36 by a bracket 49 as a second actuator. As shown in detail in Figures 5 and 6, a drive gear 51 is fixed to the drive shaft of the motor 50. Meanwhile, a driven gear 52 meshing with the drive gear 51 is rotatably assembled to the casing of the bearing 36. As shown in Figure 6, a first scraper 55 that slides against the seal tooth surface 31b of one of the clamping bodies 31 and a second scraper 56 that slides against the seal tooth surface 31b of the other clamping body 31 are attached to the driven gear 52 by brackets 54. As shown in Figure 7, both scrapers 55 and 56 are formed in a square shape and made of hard rubber. The first scraper 55 and the second scraper 56 are arranged radially from the center of rotation of the driven gear 52 along the radial direction. In addition, the first scrapers 55 and the second scrapers 56 are arranged alternately.

The structure of the heat sealing device 30 according to the first embodiment is as described above. When the servo motor 46 is operated,
The torque of the servo motor 46 is transmitted to the rod 33 via the belt pulley 47 → belt 48 → belt pulley 44 → link lever 41 → link lever 40, so that the rod 33 moves forward and backward. Similarly, the torque of the servo motor 46 is transmitted to the rod 35 via the belt pulley 47 → belt 48 → belt pulley 44 → link lever 41 → link lever 43, so that the rod 35 moves forward and backward. The clamping body 31 connected to the rod 33 and the clamping body 31 connected to the rod 35 are set to the sealing position shown in Figure 5 or the cleaning position shown in Figures 8 and 9 by controlling the rotation direction and rotation angle of the servo motor 46.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the sealing position, the seal tooth surface 31b of one clamping piece 31 is pressed against the outer surface of the packaging bag 15 near the bag opening, and the seal tooth surface 31b of the other clamping piece 31 is pressed against the inner surface of the packaging bag 15, thereby heat sealing the bag opening.

As shown in FIG. 8, when both clamping bodies 31 are in the cleaning position, a tapered gap S1 is formed between both clamping bodies 31 by the tapered surface 31a, and a gap S2 connected to the tapered gap S1 by the seal tooth surface 31b is formed between both clamping bodies 31. When the motor 50 is operated, the scrapers 55 and 56 also rotate with the rotation of the driven gear 52, and as shown in FIG. 9, the scrapers 55 and 56 pass between both clamping bodies 31 in sequence. Then, when one scraper 55 passes, it comes into sliding contact with the seal tooth surface 31b of the clamping piece 31 connected to the rod 35, and when the other scraper 56 passes, it comes into sliding contact with the seal tooth surface 31b of the clamping body 31 connected to the rod 33. Then, as the scrapers 55 and 56 rotate, dirt 31c (see FIG. 6) on the seal tooth surface 31b is wiped off and removed by the scrapers.

According to the heat sealing device 30 of the first embodiment, the scrapers 55, 56 that slide against the seal tooth surface 31b are rotated by the servo motor 46 to remove dirt from the seal tooth surface 31b, so that the seal tooth surface 31b can be cleaned without manual labor. This eliminates the risk of hands touching the seal tooth surface 31b and getting burned when cleaning the seal tooth surface 31b, improving safety.

When cleaning the seal tooth surface 31b, the packaging bags 15 are conveyed sequentially by the bag feed conveyor 14, handed over one by one to the grip pair 13 by the suction cups 16 of the bag feed device, and are gripped by the grip pair 13 and moved intermittently to each process. When bag feeding is stopped and the grip pair 13 not gripping the packaging bag 15 moves to the heat sealing process, the pair of clamping bodies 31 is set to the cleaning position and the scrapers 55, 56 are rotated, or a sensor is provided in the heat sealing process to detect whether the seal is good or bad, and when a seal defect is detected, the scrapers 55, 56 are operated to clean the seal tooth surface 31b. This allows the seal tooth surface 31b to be cleaned without interrupting the operation of the packaging machine 10, and prevents a decrease in production efficiency due to an interruption in the operation of the packaging machine 10.

When the scrapers 55, 56 are rotated, they are guided through the tapered gap S1 to the specified gap S2 defined by the two seal tooth surfaces 31b, preventing the scrapers 55, 56 from getting stuck in the specified gap S2 and causing malfunction.

The motor 50, drive gear 51, driven gear 52, and scrapers 55, 56 are attached to the bearing 36 that supports the rod 33 that moves back and forth by the servo motor 46, making the heat sealing device 30 compact and allowing it to be installed in a small space.

The second scraper 56, which is separate from the first scraper 55 that slides against the seal tooth surface 31b of one clamping body 31, slides against the seal tooth surface 31b of the other clamping body 31, so the life of the scrapers 55, 56 is extended and the cleaning function can be maintained for a long period of time.

A heat-sealing device 60 for a packaging machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 10. In the heat-sealing device 30 for a packaging machine according to the first embodiment, a servo motor 46 is used as the first actuator, but as in the heat-sealing device 60 according to the second embodiment shown in Fig. 10, two air cylinders 61, 62 may be provided as the first actuator, and rods 63 of the air cylinders 61, 62 may be connected to the link lever 41 via a link lever 64. Also, although a motor 50 is provided as the second actuator, other means having a rotation mechanism such as a rotary actuator may be used.
Other configurations of the second embodiment are the same as those of the heat-sealing device 30 for packaging according to the first embodiment, so the same components are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

A heat-sealing device for a packaging machine 70 according to a third embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 11. In the heat-sealing device for a packaging machine 30 according to the first embodiment, the servo motor 46 and the link lever 41 are drivably connected via the belt pulley 44, the belt pulley 47, and the belt 48, but in the heat-sealing device for a packaging machine 70 shown in Fig. 11, the servo motor 46 and the link lever 41 are drivably connected via the link lever 71 and the link lever 72.
Other configurations of the third embodiment are the same as those of the heat-sealing device 30 for packaging according to the first embodiment, so the same components are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the first, second and third embodiments, rectangular scrapers 55 and 56 are used, but the cleaning function can be improved by using a scraper 58 with slits 58a as shown in FIG. 12, or by using multiple rectangular scrapers 59 stacked together as shown in FIG. 13.

In the first, second and third embodiments described above, if the number of times that bag feeding is stopped during operation of the packaging machine 10 is set as desired and both clamping bodies 31 are set to the cleaning position while bag feeding is stopped, the seal tooth surface 31b is automatically cleaned a predetermined number of times, which further prevents poor sealing caused by contamination of the seal tooth surface 31b.

In addition, if both clamping bodies 31 are set to the cleaning position when a defect occurs in the packaging bag 15 during any process of the packaging machine 10, for example, when the packaging bag 15 cannot be handed over to the grip pair 13 for gripping or releasing during the bag feeding process, or when a signal is output from an inspection device such as a seal checker to notify that a defect has occurred in the packaging bag 15, the seal tooth surface 31b is automatically cleaned, so that sealing defects caused by contamination of the seal tooth surface 31b can be further prevented.

Furthermore, if the number of rotations and the direction of rotation of the scrapers 55 and 56 can be set arbitrarily, dirt on the seal tooth surface 31b can be removed more effectively.

In the first, second and third embodiments, the scrapers 55, 56 are rotated by the motor 50 to pass through the specified gap S2 between the two clamping bodies 31. However, if an actuator such as an air cylinder is used as a means for moving the scrapers 55, 56 instead of the motor 50, the scrapers 55, 56 can be moved linearly in the left-right direction as shown in FIG. 14, or in the left-right and up-down directions as shown in FIG. 15.

10...Rotary packaging machine 13...Grip pair 15...Packaging bag 30...Heat sealing device 31...Nippon 31a...Tapered surface 31b...Seal tooth surface 31c...Dirt 33, 35, 63...Rod 36...Bearing 46...Servomotor 50...Motor 51...Drive gear 52...Driven gear 55...First scraper 56...Second scraper 58, 59...Scraper 60...Heat sealing device 70...Heat sealing devices S1, S2...Gap

Claims (7)

A heat sealing device for a packaging machine has a plurality of steps including an opening step of opening the mouth of a packaging bag, a filling step of filling the packaging bag with a packaged item through the opened mouth, and a heat sealing step of heat sealing the mouth of the packaging bag filled with the packaged item, and is provided in a heat sealing step of a packaging machine that mass-produces packaged products in which the packaging bag is filled with the packaged item by intermittently moving the packaging bag to each step in sequence,
The present invention includes a pair of clamping bodies each having a seal tooth surface, a first actuator for reciprocating the clamping bodies, a scraper provided movably and rotatably , and a second actuator for moving the scraper,
A clamping body is connected to a rod that is moved forward and backward by a first actuator;
a second actuator is fixed to a bearing that supports the rod so that the rod can move back and forth;
A drive gear is connected to a drive shaft of the second actuator;
A driven gear that meshes with the drive gear is rotatably mounted on a bearing, and a scraper is fixed to the driven gear,
The two clamping bodies are provided so as to be settable to a sealing position or a cleaning position,
At the sealing position, the two clamping bodies clamp the vicinity of the mouth of the packaging bag, and the seal teeth are pressed against the mouth of the bag to heat seal it.
This heat sealing device for a packaging machine is characterized in that, at the cleaning position, a predetermined gap is formed between the seal tooth surfaces of both clamping bodies, and when the scraper is moved, the scraper comes into sliding contact with the seal tooth surfaces, thereby removing dirt from the seal tooth surfaces. The holding body is formed with a tapered surface and a seal tooth surface continuing from the tapered surface,
2. The heat-sealing device for a packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein a tapered gap is formed on both tapered surfaces at the cleaning position. 2. The heat sealing device for a packaging machine according to claim 1, further comprising a first scraper that slides against the seal tooth surface of one of the clamping bodies and a second scraper that is separate from the first scraper and slides against the seal tooth surface of the other clamping body, the first scraper and the second scraper being arranged radially from the rotation center of the driven gear in the radial direction, and the first scraper and the second scraper being arranged alternately. 2. The heat-sealing device for a packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein the number of times that the bag feeding is stopped during operation of the packaging machine can be set arbitrarily, and both clamping bodies are set to the cleaning position during the bag feeding stop. 2. The heat-sealing device for a packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein when a defective packaging bag occurs in any process of the packaging machine, both of the clamping bodies are set to the cleaning position. 2. The heat-sealing device for a packaging machine according to claim 1 , wherein the number of revolutions and the direction of revolution of the scraper can be set arbitrarily. 2. The heat-sealing device for a packaging machine according to claim 1, wherein the scraper is moved linearly in the left-right direction or in the left-right and up-down directions relative to the seal tooth surface.

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