JP7630480B2 - Method and machine for packaging items - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a method and machine for packaging an article that is wrapped in film so that there is excess film on both ends.

In the packaging machine of Patent Document 1, an article is wrapped in a self-adhesive, heat-shrinkable film, and a first ear folding operation is performed in which air is blown toward the film ears protruding from both sides of the article, and a second ear folding operation is performed in which a folding plate is used to fold the film ears, folding the film ears into an L shape along the bottom surface of the article. In Patent Document 1, the article is then heat-sealed with a heater and the film is heat-shrunk.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-171121

However, in Patent Document 1, all sides of the film edge are folded using an air blowing structure and folding plates, which makes the folding mechanism complicated, increasing manufacturing and maintenance costs and the cost of packaging items. In addition, the film is sealed by thermal shrinkage, which requires a heat treatment mechanism, complicating the structure and hindering opening.

The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide a method for packaging items that simplifies the configuration for folding the film, reduces the cost of packaging items, and improves ease of opening.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the disclosed method for packaging an article packages an article wrapped in a film so that the film has excess portions at both ends. The disclosed method for packaging an article includes a first step of folding a plurality of sides of the excess film, excluding a first side, which is one of four sides of the excess film, using a folding mechanism, and a second step of folding the first side of the excess film by utilizing contact with the edge of the opening of a box when the excess film is stored in the box.

The article packaging method disclosed herein has the effect of simplifying the structure for folding the film, reducing the cost of packaging the article, and improving ease of opening.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conceptual configuration of a packaging machine according to a first embodiment; 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure for packaging an article by the packaging machine according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a folding operation by a folding unit of a packaging machine according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a front view showing a folding operation by a packing unit of a packaging machine according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a gripping operation by a case packing unit of a packaging machine according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a packing operation by a packing unit of a packaging machine according to a first embodiment; FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an upper closing operation of an outer box after a packing operation by the packaging machine according to the first embodiment; FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a folding unit of a packaging machine according to a second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a packing unit of a packaging machine according to a third embodiment.

The article packaging method and packaging machine according to the embodiment are described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a conceptual configuration of a packaging machine according to a first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for packaging an article by the packaging machine according to the first embodiment. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a folding operation by a folding unit of the packaging machine according to the first embodiment. Fig. 4 is a front view showing a folding operation by a case packing unit of the packaging machine according to the first embodiment. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a gripping operation by the case packing unit of the packaging machine according to the first embodiment. Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a case packing operation by the case packing unit of the packaging machine according to the first embodiment.

The XYZ coordinate system is defined in Figures 1 and 3 to 6. The Z-axis direction corresponds to the up-down direction, and the -Z-axis direction corresponds to the direction in which the item 100 is stored from the opening of the exterior box 20. The Y-axis direction corresponds to the left-right direction, and the ±Y-axis directions correspond to the direction in which the excess film portion 11 of the film 10 wrapping around the item 100 protrudes. The X-axis direction corresponds to the front-rear direction, and is perpendicular to the Z-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the packaging machine 200 includes a folding unit 40, a boxing unit 50, and a control unit 60. The folding unit 40 and the boxing unit 50 correspond to the folding mechanism. The folding unit 40 corresponds to the compressed air discharge unit. The boxing unit 50 corresponds to the gripping and conveying mechanism. The folding unit 40 includes a plurality of air blow nozzles 4 and a plurality of flow rate adjustment valves 5. The boxing unit 50 includes a robot 1 and a gripping hand 2. The control unit 60 controls the folding unit 40 and the boxing unit 50.

The article 100 is loosely wrapped around the body by the film 10. The article 100 has a rectangular shape. The article 100 is not limited to a rectangular shape, and may have any shape. There is a gap between the article 100 and the film 10 that allows the article 100 to be removed without stretching or cutting the film 10. On both sides (+Y side and -Y side) of the article 100, there are formed excess film portions 11 that are long enough to cover the sides of the article 100 when folded along the +Y side and -Y side sides of the article 100. The article 100 wrapped around the body by the film 10 is stored in an exterior box 20.

The outer box 20 contains cushioning material 30. The box body corresponds to the outer box 20 alone, the cushioning material 30 alone, or the outer box 20 containing the cushioning material 30. The outer box 20 and the cushioning material 30 are rectangular. The outer box 20 is, for example, cardboard. The outer box 20 is placed with the four top flaps 20a open. The cushioning material 30 has an opening 30a on the same side as the top flaps 20a of the outer box 20. The cushioning material 30 is provided with a space 30b slightly larger than the item 100.

The multiple sets of air blow nozzles 4 constituting the folding section 40 are arranged to face each other across the article 100 on which the film 10 is wrapped. The multiple flow rate control valves 5 are connected to the supply ports of the multiple air blow nozzles 4. Each air blow nozzle 4 has an outlet 4a having a long hole or multiple round holes. The air blow nozzles 4 of each set are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the film surplus portion 11 in the front-to-back direction. The air blow nozzles 4 are arranged at a position appropriately separated from the film surplus portion 11 in the X-axis direction. The air blow nozzles 4 are arranged so that the outlet 4a is parallel to the X-axis direction and faces the film surplus portion 11. The compressed air blown from the multiple sets of air blow nozzles 4 folds two surfaces, the front and rear surfaces, of the film surplus portion 11 on both sides of the article 100. Each flow rate control valve 5 adjusts the flow rate and flow speed of the compressed air discharged from each air blow nozzle 4. The flow rate control valve 5 is composed of a combination of a manual adjustment valve such as a needle valve and an electromagnetic valve that only opens and closes the flow path. Alternatively, the control unit 60 may individually control the flow rate of each flow rate adjustment valve 5. The flow rate and flow speed of the compressed air discharged from each air blow nozzle 4 are individually adjusted by each flow rate control valve 5, so that the air discharged from the two opposing air blow nozzles 4 cancels each other out and minimizes the generation of turbulence, thereby improving the accuracy of folding the excess film portion 11.

The packing section 50 has a robot 1 and a gripping hand 2 attached to the tip of an arm 1a of the robot 1. The robot 1 has multiple arms 1a, and moves the gripping hand 2 to any position.

The gripping hand 2 has an L-shaped gripping portion 2a as a pair of gripping fingers, and a pair of folding plates 2b attached to the portion corresponding to the claws of each gripping portion 2a. The gripping portion 2a has a gripping pressing portion 2a2 for pressing the film excess portion 11 in the left-right direction (±Y axis direction). The pair of folding plates 2b are provided on the gripping portion 2a so as to extend the gripping pressing portion 2a2 of the gripping portion 2a, and are thinner than the gripping pressing portion 2a2. The tip portion 2b1 of the folding plate 2b presses the upper surface (upper surface perpendicular to the Z axis) of the film excess portion 11 downward. The pair of gripping portions 2a can be opened and closed. The boxing portion 50 folds the upper surface of the film excess portion 11 downward, grips and transports the item 100 wrapped in the film 10, and functions to store it in the cushioning material 30 in the outer box 20. After the front and back surfaces of the excess film portion 11 are folded in almost simultaneously by the folding unit 40, the robot 1 and gripping hand 2 are operated while continuing to eject compressed air from the air blow nozzle 4, and the top surface of the excess film portion 11 is folded downward by the tip 2b1 of the folding plate 2b of the gripping hand 2.

The control unit 60 controls the flow rate adjustment valve 5 of the folding unit 40. The control unit 60 drives and controls the arm 1a of the robot 1 of the packing unit 50 to control the movement of the gripping hand 2. The control unit 60 controls the opening and closing of the pair of gripping units 2a of the gripping hand 2.

Next, the procedure for packaging the article 100 by the packaging machine 200 will be described with reference to Figures 2 to 6. The control described below is executed by the control unit 60. First, as shown in Figure 3, compressed air is sent from the supply port 5a of each flow control valve 5 to each air blow nozzle 4, and compressed air is ejected from the discharge port 4a of each air blow nozzle 4. As a result, two faces of the film excess portion 11 perpendicular to the X-axis are folded inward almost simultaneously, as shown by arrows K1 (step S10). In other words, of the four faces of the film excess portion 11, the front face is folded backward, and the rear face is folded forward.

Next, while the compressed air is being continuously discharged from each air blow nozzle 4, the robot 1 and gripping hand 2 are operated as shown in FIG. 4. With the gripping hand 2 expanded to a width slightly wider than the width of the article 100, it is moved from top to bottom (in the -Z direction) as shown by the arrow K2, whereby one surface on the +Z side of the excess film portion 11 is folded inward by the tip 2b1 of the folding plate 2b of the gripping hand 2 (step S20). In other words, the top surface of the four surfaces of the excess film portion 11 is folded downward.

At this time, the first position, which is the position of the folding plate 2b before folding begins, starts from a position where the gripping hand 2 moves it appropriately close to the side of the article 100, and as shown in Figure 4, by performing the folding operation in the -Z axis direction, the folding plate 2b comes into contact with the excess film portion 11, generating friction and removing wrinkles on the surface of the film 10.

After the folding by the gripping hand 2 and the folding plate 2b is completed, as shown in FIG. 5, the gripping portion 2a of the gripping hand 2 is moved in the direction of the arrow K3 to close the gripping hand 2, so that the gripping hand 2 grips the article 100 with the film 10 wrapped around it while keeping the three sides of the film excess portion 11 folded in total, the +X side, the -X side, and the +Z side (step S30). The gripping hand 2 serves as both a gripping and conveying mechanism, so that the mechanism of the packaging machine 200 can be simplified. After this, the discharge of compressed air from the air blow nozzle 4 is stopped (step S40). The process of closing the gripping hand 2 in step S30 and the process of stopping the compressed air in step S40 may be performed simultaneously in parallel, or may be performed in the reverse order if there is no problem with the folding.

Then, the robot 1 is operated to store the item 100 wrapped in the film 10 into the cushioning material 30 stored in the exterior box 20. During this storage, the lower surface (the surface on the -Z side) of the four surfaces of the excess film portion 11 comes into contact with the edge of the opening 30a of the cushioning material 30 and is folded upward (step S50).

When the storage of the item 100 wrapped in the film 10 is completed, the gripping hand 2 is opened slightly, and then the robot 1 is operated to pull the gripping hand 2 out of the cushioning material 30 and move it outside the outer box 20 (step S60).

The excess film portion 11 is stored in the cushioning material 30 in a folded state, and there is only a small gap between the item 100 and the cushioning material 30, so the folded excess film portion 11 will not open naturally.

Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of closing the top of the outer box 20 after the packing operation by the packaging machine 200 according to the first embodiment. After the item 100 wrapped in the film 10 is stored inside the cushioning material 30 stored in the outer box 20, the top surface of the cushioning material 30 is closed by the lid 31, and the top flap 20a of the outer box 20 is sealed with tape, adhesive, metal fittings, etc.

In this way, according to embodiment 1, the underside of the excess film 11 is folded by utilizing contact with the edge of the opening 30a of the cushioning material 30 when it is stored in the opening 30a. This simplifies the configuration for folding the film compared to folding the entire surface of the excess film 11 by a folding mechanism, and reduces the cost of packaging the item. Furthermore, according to embodiment 1, since sealing by heat shrinkage, welding, adhesion, etc. is not required during packaging, the manufacturing costs and running costs for mechanisms required for heat shrinkage, welding, adhesion, etc. can be reduced. Furthermore, since the package is not sealed, it is easy to open, and the film can be reused even if repackaging is required.

In addition, according to the first embodiment, the film 10 is loosely wrapped around the article 100, and no tension is applied during the packaging process due to tight sleeve packing, shrink wrapping, etc., so the manufacturing costs and running costs of the mechanisms required for these can be reduced. Even when applied to an article with corners, tearing of the film 10 can be reduced. Even when applied to an article with an operating button on its surface, the tension of the film does not cause the operating button to remain pressed, and deterioration of the spring built into the operating button can be suppressed.

Furthermore, according to the first embodiment, a thin folding plate 2b and a gripping hand 2 having a gripping portion 2a are used, and the folding operation is performed in the -Z axis direction starting from the position where the folding plate 2b approaches the side of the article 100, so that wrinkles on the surface of the film 10 are removed and the aesthetic appearance is not marred. In addition, because wrinkles are removed, they do not interfere with the identification of the type, product number, etc., written on the surface of the article using a camera or code reader.

Embodiment 2.
8 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the folding unit 40 of the packaging machine 200 according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, a plurality of sets of air blow nozzles 4 and flow control valves 5 are arranged at different positions in the Y direction, and some of the plurality of sets of air blow nozzles 4 and flow control valves 5 are selectively used to accommodate the dimensions of a plurality of types of articles.

Embodiment 3.
9 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the case packing section 50 of the packaging machine 200 according to the third embodiment. In the third embodiment, a sensor 6 is provided on each of the pair of gripping sections 2a of the gripping hand 2. The sensor 6 detects that the cushioning material 30, which is a box, is broken. The sensor 6 may be a photoelectric sensor, a laser sensor, a contact sensor, a vacuum pressure sensor, a proximity sensor, or a combination of these. According to the third embodiment, the sensor 6 can detect that the item 100 has failed to be stored in the cushioning material 30.

In the first to third embodiments, the folding unit 40 and the boxing unit 50 are used as the folding mechanism for the excess film portion 11, but the folding of the three sides excluding the bottom surface may be performed by only the folding unit 40 or by only the boxing unit 50.

In addition, in the first to third embodiments, the case where the top surface of the outer box 20 is opened and the article 100 is stored from top to bottom has been described, but the methods of the first to third embodiments may be applied to the case where the outer box 20 is laid on its side, one surface of the outer box 20 is opened horizontally, and the article 100 is stored horizontally. In this manner, in the present disclosure, a folding mechanism formed by the folding unit 40 and the boxing unit 50 is used to fold a plurality of surfaces of the film excess portion 11, excluding the first surface, which is one of the four surfaces of the film excess portion 11, and the first surface of the film excess portion 11 is folded by utilizing contact with the edge of the opening of the box when the article 100 is stored in the box. The first surface of the film excess portion 11 is the surface facing the storage direction when the article 100 is stored in the box, and is the surface on the side where no opening for storing the article 100 is formed. The second and third surfaces adjacent to the first surface of the film excess portion 11 are folded inward by the folding unit 40, and the fourth surface opposite the first surface of the film excess portion 11 is folded inward by the boxing unit 50. The boxing unit 50 moves the gripping hand 2 from a first position approaching the side surface of the article 100 in a direction from the fourth surface toward the first surface, folding the fourth surface of the film excess portion 11 inward while removing wrinkles in the film covering the surface of the article 100 that constitutes the same surface as the fourth surface of the film excess portion 11 due to contact between the gripping hand 2 and the film excess portion 11.

The configurations shown in the above embodiments are merely examples of the contents of this disclosure, and may be combined with other known technologies. Parts of the configurations may be omitted or modified without departing from the spirit of this disclosure.

1 robot, 1a arm, 2 gripping hand, 2a gripping section, 2a2 gripping and pressing section, 2b folding plate, 2b1 tip, 4 air blow nozzle, 4a outlet, 5 flow rate control valve, 5a supply port, 6 sensor, 10 film, 11 excess film, 20 exterior box, 20a top flap, 30 cushioning material, 30a opening, 30b space, 31 lid, 40 folding section, 50 boxing section, 60 control section, 100 item, 200 packaging machine.

Claims (12)

A method for packaging an article, comprising the steps of: wrapping the article in a film so that the film has excess portions at both ends;
A first step of folding a plurality of surfaces of the excess film portion, except for a first surface that is one of the four surfaces of the excess film portion, using a folding mechanism;
A second step of folding the first surface of the excess film by utilizing the contact with an edge of an opening of the box when the excess film is stored in the box;
A method for packaging an article, comprising: In the first step,
a first folding step of folding inwardly a second surface and a third surface of the excess film portion adjacent to the first surface by compressed air from compressed air discharge units disposed opposite to each other so as to sandwich the excess film portion;
a second folding step of folding inward a fourth surface of the excess film portion that faces the first surface by a movable gripping hand;
The method of claim 1, further comprising: In the second folding step,
The method for packaging an article as described in claim 2, characterized in that the gripping hand is moved from a first position where it is close to the side of the article in a direction from the fourth surface toward the first surface, thereby folding the fourth surface of the excess film inward while removing wrinkles in the film covering the surface of the article that constitutes the same surface as the fourth surface of the excess film by contact between the gripping hand and the excess film. a plurality of sets of the compressed air discharge units are provided, each of the compressed air discharge units having an air nozzle that discharges the compressed air and a flow control valve that controls a flow rate and a flow velocity of the compressed air,
The method for packaging an article according to claim 2 , wherein in the first folding step, the second surface and the third surface of the excess film portion are folded inward by individually controlling the plurality of flow control valves. In the first folding step,
3. The method for packaging articles according to claim 2, further comprising the step of: selecting and using some of a plurality of sets of compressed air discharge portions arranged at different positions according to the sizes of the plurality of types of articles. In the second step,
The method for packaging articles according to claim 2, further comprising the step of detecting any damage to the box by a sensor provided on the gripping hand. A packaging machine for packaging an article wrapped in a film so that the film has excess portions at both ends,
A folding mechanism that folds a plurality of surfaces of the excess film portion excluding a first surface that is one of the four surfaces of the excess film portion;
a gripping and conveying mechanism that conveys the article gripped by the gripping hand and stores it in a box,
a packaging machine comprising: a packaging member for folding the first surface of the excess film by utilizing contact with an edge of an opening of the box body when the excess film is stored in the box body by the gripping and conveying mechanism. The folding mechanism includes:
compressed air discharge units disposed opposite each other so as to sandwich the excess film portion and configured to fold inwardly a second surface and a third surface of the excess film portion adjacent to the first surface by compressed air;
The packaging machine according to claim 7 , further comprising: the gripping and conveying mechanism configured to fold inwardly a fourth surface of the excess film portion, the fourth surface facing the first surface, by the gripping hands. The gripping and conveying mechanism includes:
The packaging machine described in claim 8, characterized in that the gripping hand is moved from a first position where it is close to the side of the article in a direction from the fourth surface toward the first surface, thereby folding the fourth surface of the excess film inward while removing wrinkles in the film covering the surface of the article that constitutes the same surface as the fourth surface of the excess film by contact between the gripping hand and the excess film. a plurality of sets of the compressed air discharge units are provided, each of the compressed air discharge units having an air nozzle that discharges the compressed air and a flow control valve that controls a flow rate and a flow velocity of the compressed air,
The packaging machine according to claim 8 , wherein the second surface and the third surface of the excess film portion are folded inward by individually controlling a plurality of the flow control valves. A plurality of sets of the compressed air discharge portions are provided at different positions,
The packaging machine according to claim 8, wherein some of the plurality of sets of compressed air discharge portions are selected and used in accordance with the sizes of the plurality of types of articles. The gripping and conveying mechanism includes:
8. The packaging machine according to claim 7, wherein damage to the box is detected by a sensor provided in the gripping hand.

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