JP7656322B2 - Filling and packaging machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a filling and packaging machine.

A filling and packaging machine is known that continuously folds a strip of packaging material made of a laminated film including a plastic film in half, conveys the folded packaging material along a circular conveying path, and heat seals it at a specified interval in the conveying direction to form a bag for storing a filler between adjacent sealed portions at a specified interval, and fills each bag with a filler (e.g., powder).

JP 2001-122208 A

In this type of filling and packaging machine, the quality of the final product depends on the quality of the heat seal. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly control the three factors of temperature, pressure, and time when heat sealing the packaging material. Of these, the temperature is determined taking into consideration the melting point, demarcation point, and heat shrinkage point of the plastic material that constitutes the plastic film. For example, it is important not to make the temperature much higher than the softening point so that the film does not become thin. Since the laminated film is heat sealed in a stacked state, it is necessary to apply an appropriate pressure. Both temperature and pressure are important factors for good sheet sealing, but it is generally considered better to set the temperature low and the pressure high. It is preferable to heat the plastic film over a long period of time in order to melt it, but as the machine speeds up to improve productivity, the heating time is shortened, which narrows the allowable range for temperature and pressure variations, which can cause poor sealing.

As such, the three factors of temperature, pressure, and time are all important factors that determine the quality of heat sealing. In particular, temperature is the most important factor that determines the quality of heat sealing. However, in a filling and packaging machine such as that described in Patent Document 1, in which multiple sealing units are arranged at regular intervals along the outer periphery of a turntable and strip-shaped packaging material is heat-sealed while the turntable rotates at high speed, it is not easy to accurately measure the heating temperature of each sealing unit that is moving at high speed.

The present invention aims to provide a system for a filling and packaging machine of the above-mentioned type that can more accurately measure the heating temperature of each sealing unit and provide feedback to the temperature management of each sealing unit.

To this end, one embodiment of the present invention comprises:
a circumferential conveying path (35) centered on a vertical axis (26);
a plurality of sealing units (32) arranged at regular intervals along the circumferential conveying path (35), each of the plurality of sealing units (32) including a fixed sealing portion (33) contacting the circumferential conveying path (35) from the inside of the circumferential conveying path and a movable sealing portion (34) capable of contacting and separating from the fixed sealing portion (33) from the outside of the circumferential conveying path (35);
a moving mechanism (M1) for continuously moving the plurality of sealing units (32) along the circumferential conveying path (35);
a separation mechanism (38) that sets the movable seal portion (34) to a first position where the movable seal portion (34) contacts the fixed seal portion (33) in a first region (39) of the circumferential conveying path (35) and sets the movable seal portion (34) to a second position where the movable seal portion (34) is separated from the fixed seal portion (33) in a second region (40) of the circumferential conveying path (35),
A continuously supplied strip-shaped packaging material (100) is folded in half,
The filling and packaging machine (1) comprises: a filling and packaging machine (1) for holding the folded packaging material (100) between the fixed seal part (33) and the movable seal part (34) in the first region (39) to heat-weld the packaging material (100) to form seals (101) and to form packaging material filling chambers (102) between adjacent seals (101);
The stationary seal portion (33) has a heating surface (33a) extending in a tangential direction of the circumferential conveying path (35), and a resistance heating element (121) located behind the heating surface (33a) and heating the heating surface (33a),
The filling and packaging machine (1) further comprises:
a temperature detection unit (130) disposed outside the circumferential conveying path (35) and detecting infrared rays radiated from the heating surface (33a) of the stationary seal unit (33) ;
A power supply (123) that outputs a constant voltage;
a plurality of voltage adjustment units (128) each connected between the power source (123 ) and the resistance heating element (121) of the stationary seal portion (33) and capable of adjusting the voltage supplied to the resistance heating element (121) of the stationary seal portion (33);
a width (L) of a temperature detection area (131) of the temperature detection unit (130) in a tangential direction of the circumferential conveying path (35) is set to be larger than a width (L ₀ ) of the heating surface (33 a) of the stationary seal portion (33) in a direction along the circumferential conveying path (35);
The maximum detected temperature (Tmax) in the temperature distribution (132) obtained by the temperature detection unit (130) is set as the heating temperature measurement value of the stationary seal portion (33).

According to one aspect of the present invention, a system is provided that can more accurately measure and manage the heating temperature of each sealing unit.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the filling and packaging machine according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the filling and packaging machine shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the filling and packaging machine shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a front view showing a portion of a continuous bag body produced by the filling and packaging machine of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of the filling and packaging machine shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an electrical connection between the resistance heating element of the fixed seal bar and a power supply portion. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship of a chute, a seal portion, etc. passing through a sealing area. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the movement paths of the eccentric shaft and the chute. An explanatory diagram showing the movement of the eccentric shaft and the chute. FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system for controlling the temperature of a sealing unit. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a temperature detection region of the temperature detection unit. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the movement trajectory of a heating surface of a fixed seal bar. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the temperature distribution on the heating surface of the fixed seal bar.

The filling and packaging machine (hereinafter referred to as the "packaging machine") according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings.

[1. Packaging machine]
1 to 4, the packaging machine 1 folds a packaging material 100 made of a strip-shaped film or sheet in half along its longitudinal center line while conveying the material in a horizontal direction, bonds or seals (forms vertical seals 101) the folded packaging material 100 at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction to continuously form bag portions 102, fills the bag portions 102 with a filler 103, and bonds the upper end openings of the bag portions 102 to form a top seal 104 to form a continuous bag body 105. The continuous bag body 105 is, for example, cut along the vertical seal 101 between adjacent bag portions 102 to separate the bag portions 102 into individual bag portions 102 or into a bag body made of a plurality of continuous bag portions 102, or is processed into a bag body having a perforation 107 along the vertical seal 101 between adjacent bag portions 102.

As shown in FIG. 1, the packaging machine 1 has a main body frame 10. The main body frame 10 is fixed to a floor of a building or the like. The main body frame 10 has a packaging material supply section 13 that supplies packaging material 100. The packaging material 100 is a laminated (multi-layer) film having a sealant layer that can stably heat seal the folded packaging material 100. The main body frame 10 also has a packaging material folding section 14 that guides the packaging material 100 supplied from the packaging material supply section 13 in an approximately horizontal direction and folds the packaging material 100 into an approximately V-shape with the longitudinal center line of the packaging material 100 as a fulcrum. As shown in Figures 1 to 4, the main frame 10 supports a filler filling section 15 that heat-seals the left and right pieces of packaging material folded up by the packaging material folding section 14 at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction to continuously form vertical seals 101 and bag sections 102 located between adjacent vertical seals 101, and fills each bag section 102 with a filler, a filler supply section 16 that supplies filler to the filler filling section 15, a top seal section 17 that heat-seals the upper ends of each bag section 102 filled with filler to form a top seal 104, and a cutting section 18 that forms a perforation 107 in the vertical seal between adjacent bag sections.

[2. Packaging material supply section 13]
1, the packaging material supply unit 13 is disposed at the front of the main body frame 10 and has a support shaft 22 that supports a roll 21 on which packaging material 100 made of a strip-shaped film or sheet having a predetermined width is wound. The packaging material supply unit 13 also has a plurality of rollers 23 that guide the packaging material 100, which is unwound from the roll 21 attached to the support shaft 22, to the folding unit 14.

[3. Fold-up portion 14]
3, the folding section 14 has a folding guide 24 having a substantially V-shaped cross section which contacts the upper surface of the packaging material 100 fed in a substantially horizontal direction from the last roller 23 of the packaging material supply section 13. The upward opening angle of the folding guide 24 (the upward opening angle of the V-shaped cross section) is gradually decreased in the direction 112 of conveyance of the packaging material as it moves away from the last roller 23.

[4. Filler filling section 15]
5, the filler filling section 15 has a fixed cylindrical section 25 fixed to the main body frame 10. The fixed cylindrical section 25 has an outer peripheral cylindrical surface centered on an axis (central axis) 26. A rotating cylindrical section 27 is concentrically fitted to the fixed cylindrical section 25. A bearing 28 is disposed between the fixed cylindrical section 25 and the rotating cylindrical section 27. An external gear 29 centered on the axis 26 is fixed to the outer periphery of the rotating cylindrical section 27. The external gear 29 is drivingly connected to a motor M1, so that the rotating cylindrical section 27 rotates around the fixed cylindrical section 25 around the axis 26 in the packaging material conveying direction (counterclockwise direction when viewed from above) 111 (see FIG. 2) based on the drive of the motor M1.

The fixed cylindrical portion 25 supports a circular fixed table 30 on its upper portion. The rotating cylindrical portion 27 supports an annular rotating table 31 on its upper portion. On the rotating table 31, a plurality of (e.g., 20) sealing portions (sealing units) 32 are arranged at a predetermined interval (angle = 360 degrees / 20) on a circumference centered on the shaft 26. Each sealing portion 32 has a fixed seal bar (fixed seal portion) 33 and a movable seal bar (movable seal portion) 34 arranged on the outside of the fixed seal bar 33. As shown in FIG. 7, the fixed seal bar 33 is arranged at a certain interval on a circumference centered on the shaft 26, and the heating surface 33a (the outermost surface in the radial direction centered on the shaft 26) of the fixed seal bar 33 is located on the circumferential conveying path (seal reference circle) 35 centered on the shaft 26. The circular conveying path 35 forms part of the packaging material conveying path 112 (see FIG. 2), and the folded packaging material 100 is supported by the heating surface 33a of the fixed seal bar 33 and conveyed along a portion of the circular conveying path 35 (sealing area).

Returning to FIG. 5, the movable seal bar 34 is connected to the fixed seal bar 33 via an axis (shaft) 36 that extends in the tangential direction (direction parallel to the tangent) of the circular conveying path 35, and is pivotally supported so as to be able to move back and forth between a sealing position (position shown on the right side of FIG. 5) where the heated surface 34a of the movable seal bar 34 is pressed against the heated surface 33a of the corresponding fixed seal bar 33 via the packaging material 100, and a non-sealing position (position shown on the left side of FIG. 5) where the movable seal bar 34 is tilted outward by approximately 90° and the heated surface 34a of the movable seal bar 34 is separated from the heated surface 33a of the fixed seal bar 33.

The position (sealing position or non-sealing position) of the movable seal bar 34 is determined based on the engagement between the guided portion (e.g., bearing) 37 provided on the movable seal bar 34 and the guide mechanism 38 or switching mechanism (described in detail later) provided on the main frame 10. Generally, the movable seal bar 34 is in the sealing position when passing through the sealing area 39 (see Figs. 8 and 9) based on the rotation of the rotary table 31, and is in the non-sealing position when passing through the other non-sealing area 40 (see Figs. 8 and 9). As shown in the figure, the non-sealing area 40 includes an area (fully open area) 40a where the movable seal bar 34 is in a completely open state separated by approximately 90 degrees from the fixed seal bar 33, an area (gradual closing area) 41 where the movable seal bar 34 gradually approaches the fixed seal bar 33 from the completely open state, and an area (gradual opening area) 42 where the movable seal bar 34 gradually moves away from the fixed seal bar 33 to the completely open state.

As shown in FIG. 2, the guide mechanism 38 has a first guide portion 241 disposed in the gradual closing region 41 for transitioning the movable seal bar 34 from a fully open state to a fully closed state in contact with the fixed seal bar 33, a second guide portion 242 disposed in the sealing region 39 for maintaining the movable seal bar 34 in a fully closed state, a third guide portion 243 disposed in the gradual opening region 42 for transitioning the movable seal bar 34 from a fully closed state to a fully open state, and a fourth guide portion 244 for maintaining the movable seal bar 34 in a fully open state.

As shown in Figures 5 to 8, the filler filling section 15 has the same number of lift shafts 43 as the seal sections 32 (20 in this embodiment). The lift shafts 43 are arranged at regular intervals on a circumference centered on the axis 26 in correspondence with each of the multiple seal sections 32, and extend vertically parallel to the axis 26. In order to raise and lower the lift shafts 43 in the up-down direction parallel to the axis 26, multiple shaft through holes 44 are formed on the inside of the seal sections 32 of the rotating table 31 at regular intervals on a circumference centered on the axis 26. The shaft through holes 44 are formed at equal intervals (360 degrees/20) on a shaft reference circle 45 (see Figure 7) centered on the axis 26, and the lift shafts 43 inserted therethrough can be raised and lowered along the shaft through holes 44 and can rotate around the central axis 46 of the shafts 43.

As shown in FIG. 10, an arm 47 and a filling chute 48 fixed to the tip of the arm 47 are supported on the upper part of the lifting shaft 43 that protrudes upward from the rotary table 31. The filling chute 48 has a cylindrical lower part 48a with an elliptical cross section and a funnel-shaped upper part 48b connected to the upper end of the cylindrical lower part 48a.

Returning to Figure 5, the lower part of the lift shaft 43 that protrudes downward from the rotating table 31 has a guided portion (cam follower) 49 that protrudes laterally from the lift shaft 43. A lift guide cylinder 50 is fixed to the outside of the fixed cylindrical portion 25 in correspondence with the guided portion 49. The lift guide cylinder 50 has an outer peripheral cylindrical surface 51 centered on the axis 26. The outer peripheral cylindrical surface 51 has an annular guide portion (guide groove) 52, and the guided portion 49 engages with this guide portion 52. As can be seen from the fact that the guide portions 52 shown on the left and right sides of the figure are provided at different heights, one portion of the guide portion 52 is formed at a higher position than the other portions, so that when the corresponding filling chute 48 is approximately in the sealing area 39 (see Figures 8 and 9), the filling chute 48 takes a lowered position so that the lower end of the cylindrical lower portion 48a of the filling chute is located between both pieces of packaging material of the folded packaging material, and when it is in the other non-sealed area 40, the filling chute 48 takes an elevated position so as not to interfere with the packaging material 100.

The lower end of the lift shaft 43 has a connecting part (arm) 53 that protrudes laterally from the lower end of the lift shaft 43. An eccentric shaft 54 is connected to the tip of the connecting part 53, extending downward from the connecting part 53 in parallel with the lift shaft 43. As the name suggests, the eccentric shaft 54 extends downward along another central axis (eccentric axis) 55 that is horizontally eccentric a predetermined distance from the central axis 46 of the lift shaft 43. The eccentric shaft 54 has a guided part 56 at its lower end. In correspondence with the guided part 56, an annular guide part 57 is fixed to the outside of the rotating cylinder 27. The guide portion 57, as shown in FIG. 8, has a circular arc portion 59 extending along a circle 58 centered on the axis 26, and a non-circular arc portion 60 deviating outward from the circle 58. When the filling chute 48 is approximately in the sealing area 39, the filling chute 48 is on the circumferential conveying path 35 and the lower end of the cylindrical lower portion 48a is located between both pieces of the folded packaging material. When the filling chute 48 is in the non-sealing area 40, the filling chute 48 is located outside the circumferential conveying path 35, and then just before entering the sealing area 39, the major axis of the elliptical cylindrical lower portion 48a of the filling chute is oriented in the tangent direction of the circumferential conveying path 35 (see FIG. 7) and enters the filling area 39 along the conveying path 112.

6. Filler supply section:
Referring again to Fig. 5, the filling material supplying section 16, which drops and supplies the filling material to be filled into the bag section 102 to the filling chute 48, has a rotating shaft 62 (see Fig. 5) that is arranged vertically along an axis 61 located inside the circumferential conveying path 35 (see Figs. 2 and 7). As shown in the figure, the axis 61 is parallel to the axis 26 and spaced apart from the axis 26. The rotating shaft 62 penetrates the fixed table 30. The lower end of the rotating shaft 62 is drivingly connected to the motor M2, and is adapted to rotate in a counterclockwise direction (the same direction as the packaging material conveying direction 111) when viewed from above based on the driving of the motor M2.

The rotating shaft 62 supports a metering plate (metering member) 63. A filler supply hopper 64 (see FIG. 3) is provided on the metering plate 63. The metering plate 63 has metering holes 66 consisting of a plurality of through holes formed at regular intervals on a circle 65 (see FIG. 2) centered on the shaft 61. The circle 65 almost overlaps with the circumferential conveying path 35 in the upstream region 80 (see FIG. 8) of the sealing region 39, so that the metering holes 66 are located above the funnel-shaped upper portion 48a of the filling chute 48. The intervals between the metering holes 66 are almost equal to the intervals between the filling chutes 48. As a result, in the filling material supply region 67 (see FIG. 8) in the sealing region 39, the metering holes 66 are located above the funnel-shaped upper portion 48b of the corresponding filling chute 48, so that a certain amount of filler is dropped from the metering holes 66 to the corresponding filling chute 48. In areas other than the filler supply area 67, the lower end openings of the metering holes 66 are blocked by a shutter mechanism 68 to prevent the filler from falling through the metering holes 66. The shutter mechanism 68 has a plurality of shutters 69 pivotably supported on the underside of the metering plate 63 to open and close the lower end openings of the metering holes 66, and a shutter drive unit 70 that sets the shutters 69 in the filler supply area 67 to an open position and the shutters 69 in areas other than the filler supply area 67 to a closed position.

[7. Top seal portion 17]
As shown in FIG. 1, the top seal section 17 has a heat seal roller 71 that contacts the upper end of the bag section 102 filled with the filler 103 and bonds the upper end opening to form a top seal 104.

[8. Cutting section 18]
As shown in FIG. 1, the cutting section 18 is disposed downstream of the top seal section 17 in the packaging material conveying direction, and is provided with a cutter that cuts the continuous bag body 105 at the center of the vertical seal 101 of the continuous bag body 105 to separate it into individual bags 110, or a perforation cutter 72 that cuts a perforation in the center of the wide vertical seal section 101.

9. Operation
The operation of the packaging machine 1 having the above configuration will be described. When the motors M1 and M2 are powered on, the rotating cylindrical section 27 and the rotating shaft 62 (see FIG. 5) which are drivingly connected to these motors M1 and M2 rotate. The rotation of the rotating cylindrical section 27 rotates the rotating table 31 which connects the fixed seal bar 33. As a result, the packaging material 100 fed from the packaging material supply section 13 is guided upward by the multiple rollers 23 based on the conveying force transmitted from the fixed seal bar 33 and the movable seal bar 34, and the main surfaces (front and back) of the packaging material 100 sent out from the last roller 23 are directed substantially parallel to the horizontal plane. The packaging material 100 which has passed the rollers 23 is folded in half along the longitudinal center line of the packaging material 100 while being conveyed along the lower surface of the folding guide 24 having a V-shaped cross section.

In the filler filling section 15, the rotating cylinder section 27 and the rotating table 31 fixed thereto rotate counterclockwise around the axis 26 based on the drive of the motor. As a result, the guided section 49 of the lift shaft 43 supported by the rotating table 31 is guided by the guide section 52, and the filling chute 48 takes a lowered position in the sealed area 39 and a raised position in the other non-sealed areas 40, as shown in FIG. 9.

The guided portion 56 of the eccentric shaft 54 is guided by the guide portion 57. As shown in FIG. 8, in the area other than the entry area immediately before the sealing area 39, the guided portion 56 is guided by the circular arc portion 59 of the guide portion 57, and the filling chute 48 moves along a circular trajectory centered on the axis 26. However, in the entry area immediately before the sealing area 39, the guided portion 56 is guided by the non-circular arc portion 60 of the guide portion 57, and the filling chute 48 is once swung outward from the circular trajectory, and then advances in an approximately linear manner through the entry area along the packaging material conveying path 112. In synchronization with this movement, as shown in FIG. 9, the lift shaft 43 moves from the raised position to the lowered position, and the cylindrical lower portion 48a of the filling chute 48 enters the inside of the folded packaging material 100.

The packaging material 100 sent to the sealing area 39 moves with the rotation of the turntable 31 while being supported by the heating surface of the fixed seal bar 33. At this time, the cylindrical lower part 48a of the filling chute 48 is positioned in the center of the adjacent fixed seal bars 33 with respect to the packaging material conveying direction 111.

The guided portion 37 of the movable seal bar 34 is guided by the guide mechanism 38, and when it passes through the gradually closing area 41 immediately before the sealing area 39, it is guided by the first guide portion 241 and moves from the non-sealing position (fully open state) to the sealing position (fully closed state). In the sealing area 39, the guided portion 37 of the movable seal bar 34 is guided by the second guide portion 242 and held in the sealing position, and contacts the fixed seal bar 33 via the packaging material 100. As a result, the portion of the packaging material sandwiched between the heating surfaces of the fixed seal bar 33 and the movable seal bar 34 is heated, forming a vertical seal 101.

Next, in the filler supply area 67, the filler that has fallen from the metering hole 66 of the filler supply section 16 is filled into the bag section 102 via the filling chute 48.

When the movable seal bar 34 passes through the sealing area 39 and enters the non-sealing area 40, particularly the gradual opening area 42, it is guided from the sealing position to the non-sealing position by the third guide portion 243 (see FIG. 2). This causes the packaging material 100 to be released from the sealing area 32. The movable seal portion 34 then moves from the gradual opening area 42 to the completely opening area 40a and is held in the completely open state by the fourth guide portion 244 (see FIG. 2).

After passing through the sealing area 39, the packaging material 100 leaves the circular conveying path 35 and is supplied to the top seal section 17, where the upper edge is preheated by the preheating section 70 (see FIG. 2) and then pressurized by the pressurizing section 71 to form a top seal 104, seal the bag section 102, and form a continuous bag body 105. The continuous bag body 105 is then conveyed to the cutting section 18, where the vertical seal 101 is cut and separated into individual bags 110, or perforations 107 are made in the vertical seal 101 between adjacent bags 110.

[10: Temperature control]
The control of the temperature at which the sealing section 32 heats the packaging material 100 will be described.

In the packaging machine 1 of the embodiment, in the temperature control system that controls the heating temperature of the packaging material 100, at least the heating surface 33a of the fixed seal bar 33 of each sealing section 32 that contacts the packaging material 100 is formed of a metal that has excellent durability and heat conductivity. As shown in FIG. 11, resistance heating elements 121 [121(1) to 121(20)] are arranged inside the 20 fixed seal bars 33 [33(1) to 33(20)]. The resistance heating elements 121 may be either metal heating elements or non-metal heating elements.

The temperature control system has a power supply unit 122 that supplies power to the resistance heating element 121. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the power supply unit 122 includes a power source 123, a power supply unit 124 that is arranged opposite the outer circumferential surface of the rotating cylindrical portion 27 and fixed to the main frame 10, and a power receiving unit 125 that is fixed to the outer circumferential surface of the rotating cylindrical portion 27. For example, the power supply unit 124 has a stationary electrode 126 connected to each phase of the power source 123, and the power receiving unit 125 has a plurality of movable electrodes 127 that contact the stationary electrode 126. In the embodiment, the movable electrode 127 is arranged in a ring shape along the outer circumferential surface of the rotating cylindrical portion 27 and fixed to the rotating cylindrical portion 27, and is configured to constantly contact the stationary electrode 126 during rotation of the rotating cylindrical portion 27 and receive power supplied from the power source 123.

The movable electrode 127 of the power receiving unit 125 is connected to the corresponding resistive heating element 121 [121(1)-121(20)] via a plurality of voltage adjustment units 128 [128(1)-128(20)] shown in FIG. 11 (20 units in this embodiment). For example, a power regulator VP series provided by Tokyo Rikosha Co., Ltd. can be suitably used as the voltage adjustment unit 128. This power regulator has a knob (adjustment unit) 129 [129(1)-129(20)] for adjusting the output voltage, and the user can adjust the output voltage (applied voltage of the resistive heating element 12) to 15-98% (A type) or 7.5-98% (C type) of the input voltage by operating the knob 129.

The temperature control system also has a non-contact temperature detection unit 130 that detects the temperature of the sealing unit 32, particularly the heating surface 33a of the fixed seal bar 33 that contacts the packaging material 100 and heats the packaging material 100. As shown in FIG. 5, the temperature detection unit 130 has a radiation thermometer that detects infrared rays emitted from the heating surface 33a, and is fixed to the main body frame 10 so that the sealing unit 32 faces the heating surface 33a of the fixed seal bar 33 that passes through the completely open area 40a.

As a radiation thermometer, for example, the THMX series of ultra-fast response radiation thermometers with a response time of 0.1 ms provided by Japan Sensor Co., Ltd. can be suitably used.

As shown in FIG. 12, the temperature detection area 131 of the temperature detection unit 130, in particular the horizontal width L of the temperature detection area on the circumferential conveying path 35, is set to be larger than the width (horizontal width) _L0 in the same direction of the heating surface 33a of the fixed seal bar 33. The reason for this is that when the fixed seal bar 33 is viewed from the direction facing the front (heated surface 33a), as shown in Figure 13, the heated surface 33a of the fixed seal bar 33 is flat, and the infrared rays hit the beginning and end parts of the temperature detection area of the temperature detection unit 130 at an angle, making it impossible to measure accurately.Also, when the fixed seal bar 33 is viewed from above, the circular movement trajectory 3310 at the center 331 is smaller than the circular movement trajectory 3320 at both ends 332, so the infrared detection distance changes and accurate measurement is not possible.Furthermore, if an attempt is made to detect the temperature of a limited part (for example, the center) of the heated surface 33a by narrowing the temperature detection area of the temperature detection unit 130 in synchronization with it, the temperature detection position will move due to a slight deviation in the detection timing due to the high speed rotation, and as a result, there is a risk of variation in the detected temperature. Therefore, in this embodiment, as described above, the width L of the temperature detection area 131 of the temperature detection unit 130 is made larger than the width _L0 of the temperature detection area 33a, and the maximum detected temperature Tmax in the obtained temperature distribution 132 is taken as the heating temperature measurement value of the fixed seal bar 33, as shown in FIG. 14 .

In this way, according to the embodiment, not only is the heating surface 33a accurately measured, but the uniform individual temperatures can be comprehensively controlled. As described above, since the sealing time is shortened with the increase in the speed of the machine, in order to compensate for this, it is necessary to set the temperature as high as possible, which is the upper limit of the thermal shrinkage limit, and as a result, the temperature variation tolerance range is narrowed, which causes the occurrence of poor sealing. In contrast, in the embodiment, in order to keep the temperature of all 20 fixed seal bars 33 within the tolerance range, particularly in response to the narrowed temperature variation tolerance range due to the increase in the speed of the machine, the minimum temperature is set not for each of the 20, but for the entire 20, and if even one of them falls below the minimum temperature, power is supplied to all 20 resistance heating elements 121, and conversely, the maximum temperature is also set, and if even one of them rises above the maximum temperature, power supply to all 20 resistance heating elements 121 is cut off. In this way, the temperature of the 20 stationary seal bars 33 is controlled as a whole and comprehensively, so that the temperature of all 20 stationary seal bars is controlled above the lower limit temperature required to maintain seal strength, and is also controlled within the upper limit temperature for thermal shrinkage, creating a reliable quality control system even at higher speeds.

As shown in FIG. 5, the temperature detection unit 130 is connected to a display (display unit) 133 provided on an operation unit (not shown) provided on the front of the main body frame 10, and the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 130 is displayed on the display 133.

According to the temperature control system configured in this manner, as the turntable 31 rotates, the fixed seal bar 33 separated from the packaging material 100 sequentially enters the non-sealed area 40a, and the surface temperature of the heated surface 33a of the fixed seal bar 33 is detected as it passes through the temperature detection area 131 of the temperature detection unit 130. As described above, the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 130 has a mountain-shaped distribution 132 as shown in FIG. 14. Therefore, the temperature detection unit 130 determines the maximum temperature Tmax in the temperature distribution 132, and displays this value on the display 133.

Therefore, when the user sees the maximum temperature Tmax displayed on the display 133, he or she can adjust the voltage supplied to the resistive heating element 121 as necessary by operating the knob 129 of the voltage adjustment unit 128 that corresponds to the displayed maximum temperature.

In the above description, the resistive heating element 121 is accommodated only in the fixed seal bar 33, but the resistive heating element 121 may also be provided in the movable seal bar 34.

With a filling and packaging machine 1 equipped with a temperature control system configured in this manner, the heating temperature of multiple sealing sections 32 can be detected individually. In addition, all sealing bars are comprehensively controlled, and a level of complete sealing by heat sealing can be maintained. Therefore, all sealing points (vertical seals) can be sealed uniformly and reliably. In addition, because the width of the temperature detection area 131 is larger than the size of the heating surface 33a, there is no detection error due to deviation in the detection position, and stable detection results can be obtained.

1: filling packaging machine 32: sealing unit 33: fixed seal bar (fixed seal part)
33a: Heating surface 34: Movable seal bar (movable seal portion)
34a: heating surface 35: circumferential conveying path (seal reference circle)
100: Packaging material 101: Vertical seal 121: Resistance heating element 123: Power source 128: Voltage adjustment unit 129: Knob (adjustment unit)
130: Temperature detection unit 131: Temperature detection area

Claims (3)

a circumferential conveying path (35) centered on a vertical axis (26);
a plurality of sealing units (32) arranged at regular intervals along the circumferential conveying path (35), each of the plurality of sealing units (32) including a fixed sealing portion (33) contacting the circumferential conveying path (35) from the inside of the circumferential conveying path and a movable sealing portion (34) capable of contacting and separating from the fixed sealing portion (33) from the outside of the circumferential conveying path (35);
a moving mechanism (M1) for continuously moving the plurality of sealing units (32) along the circumferential conveying path (35);
a separation mechanism (38) that sets the movable seal portion (34) to a first position where the movable seal portion (34) contacts the fixed seal portion (33) in a first region (39) of the circumferential conveying path (35) and sets the movable seal portion (34) to a second position where the movable seal portion (34) is separated from the fixed seal portion (33) in a second region (40) of the circumferential conveying path (35),
A continuously supplied strip-shaped packaging material (100) is folded in half,
The filling and packaging machine (1) comprises: a filling and packaging machine (1) for holding the folded packaging material (100) between the fixed seal part (33) and the movable seal part (34) in the first region (39) to heat-weld the packaging material (100) to form seals (101) and to form packaging material filling chambers (102) between adjacent seals (101);
The stationary seal portion (33) has a heating surface (33a) extending in a tangential direction of the circumferential conveying path (35), and a resistance heating element (121) located behind the heating surface (33a) and heating the heating surface (33a),
The filling and packaging machine (1) further comprises:
a temperature detection unit (130) disposed outside the circumferential conveying path (35) and detecting infrared rays radiated from the heating surface (33a) of the stationary seal unit (33) ;
A power supply (123) that outputs a constant voltage;
a plurality of voltage adjustment units (128) each connected between the power source (123 ) and the resistance heating element (121) of the stationary seal portion (33) and capable of adjusting the voltage supplied to the resistance heating element (121) of the stationary seal portion (33);
a width (L) of a temperature detection area (131) of the temperature detection unit (130) in a tangential direction of the circumferential conveying path (35) is set to be larger than a width (L ₀ ) of the heating surface (33 a) of the stationary seal portion (33) in a direction along the circumferential conveying path (35);
The filling and packaging machine defines the maximum detected temperature (Tmax) in the temperature distribution (132) obtained by the temperature detection unit (130) as the heating temperature measurement value of the stationary seal unit (33). The filling and packaging machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the voltage adjustment unit (128) has a knob (129) that can manually adjust the voltage supplied to the resistance heating element (121). 3. A filling and packaging machine as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein if at least one of a plurality of temperature detection values detected for the heating surface (33a) of the fixed seal portion (33) is smaller than a set minimum value, power is supplied to all of the resistance heating elements (121), and if at least one of the plurality of temperature detection values is greater than a set maximum value, the supply of power to all of the resistance heating elements (121) is cut off.

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