JP7694376B2 - Carton Inspection Method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for inspecting cartons containing tissue paper.

Cartons containing tissues (so-called "tissue boxes") are sold individually or in packs in which several are packaged together. For example, five or two cartons, at least one of which has a different appearance, are wrapped together in film and displayed in stores as a package.
In this manner, in a packaging pack in which a predetermined number of cartons are bundled together, the cartons are arranged in a predetermined order that has been set in advance. Specifically, five-color cartons are arranged in the order of red, yellow, green, blue, and orange in the packaging pack, or two-color cartons are arranged in the order of red, blue, red, blue, and red in an alternating manner in the packaging pack (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-189213 A

However, when cartons arranged in a different order from the specified order are mixed in the process of manufacturing the packaging pack, a packaging pack not arranged in the specified order may be manufactured. Therefore, it is necessary to inspect the order of the cartons in the manufacturing of the packaging pack and package the cartons in the specified order in one pack.

The carton inspection method of this case was devised in consideration of the above problems, and one of its objectives is to provide a carton inspection method that can contribute to packaging cartons in a specified order in one pack. However, in addition to this objective, another objective of this case is to achieve actions and effects derived from the configurations shown in the "Mode for Carrying Out the Invention" described below, which are actions and effects that cannot be obtained with conventional technology.

The carton inspection method disclosed herein inspects cartons that are continuously transported to a wrapping process in which a group of cartons, each containing a predetermined number of tissues and arranged in a predetermined order, are wrapped in packs.
This method includes a sensing step of detecting a predetermined target carton among the cartons being transported, a pause step of stopping the transport of at least the predetermined number of the cartons including the target carton when the target carton is detected in the sensing step, a check step of inspecting whether the arrangement order of the predetermined number of the cartons including at least one of the target cartons is the predetermined arrangement order when the target carton is detected in the sensing step, and a release step of releasing the stop of the transport caused by the pause step and resuming the transport of the cartons.

The present carton inspection method can provide a carton inspection method that can contribute to packaging cartons in a specified order in one pack.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a carton containing tissues. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a packaging pack in which a plurality of cartons are bundled together; 1A to 1C are schematic diagrams showing an overview of a manufacturing process for a packaging pack body. FIG. 4 is a top view showing a schematic view of the upstream part of the inspection part. FIG. 4 is a top view showing a schematic view of a downstream portion of the inspection part. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a material preparation method. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a carton inspection method including a carton sorting method and a carton distribution method.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In this embodiment, a method for manufacturing a packaging pack in which a number of cartons containing tissues are packaged together into one pack will be described. This manufacturing method includes various methods such as a method for preparing materials for the cartons (material preparation method), a method for inspecting the cartons (carton inspection method), a method for classifying the cartons (carton classification method), and a method for distributing the cartons (carton distribution method).

In this manufacturing method, various semi-finished products to be manufactured into the packaging pack bodies to be manufactured are continuously conveyed, and the packaging pack bodies are manufactured one after another.
In this embodiment, the method used in the description is defined as follows.
The direction of gravity is defined as downward, and the opposite direction of downward is defined as upward. The direction in which various semi-finished products manufactured into the packaging pack are transported is defined as the transport direction, and upstream and downstream are defined based on the transport direction. The horizontal direction perpendicular to the transport direction is defined as the width direction. The transport direction is the so-called "MD direction", the width direction is the so-called "CD direction", and the direction perpendicular to both the transport direction and the width direction is the so-called "TD direction".

I. EMBODIMENT
In the following embodiment, a configuration relating to a manufacturing method of a packaging pack body is described in item [1], and the action and effect of the configuration of item [1] is described in item [2].
[1. Configuration]
In this section [1], the packaging pack body to be manufactured is described in subsection [1-1], the apparatus for manufacturing the packaging pack body is described in subsection [1-2], and the method for manufacturing the packaging pack body using this manufacturing apparatus is described in subsection [1-3].

[1-1. Packaging body]
In this section, the carton that is a part of the packaging pack will be described, and then the packaging pack will be described.
As shown in Fig. 1, the carton 1 is a box (so-called "box tissue") with tissues 3 stored in the internal space. A stack of tissues 3 is stored in the internal space. The stack is folded so that the tissues can be removed in a so-called pop-up manner.

The internal space is surrounded by a plurality of walls 1U, 1B, 1X, and 1Y that form the carton 1. In this carton 1, the rectangular walls 1U, 1B, 1X, and 1Y are provided in a planar manner along the surfaces of a rectangular parallelepiped.
These walls 1U, 1B, 1X, and 1Y are roughly classified into the following four types depending on their locations and extending directions.

- Top wall portion 1U: a horizontal wall portion extending above the carton 1 - Bottom wall portion 1B: a horizontal wall portion extending below the carton 1 - Side wall portion 1X: a pair of vertical wall portions facing each other between the top wall portion 1U and the bottom wall portion 1B - End wall portion 1Y: a pair of vertical wall portions facing each other between the top wall portion 1U and the bottom wall portion 1B Note that the direction in which the pair of side wall portions 1X face each other and the direction in which the pair of end wall portions 1Y face each other are perpendicular to each other.
In the carton 1 illustrated here, the top wall 1U and the bottom wall 1B extend over an area larger than the side wall 1X and the end wall 1Y.

In addition, in the carton 1 illustrated in this embodiment, the top wall portion 1U, the bottom wall portion 1B and the side wall portion 1X have a single structure formed, for example, from a single piece of material, whereas the end wall portion 1Y has a multi-layer structure in which multiple sheets of material are stacked on top of each other.
An outer flap portion FU and an inner flap portion FD are provided on this end wall portion 1Y, and the outer flap portion FU is disposed outside the inner flap portion FD.

The outer flap portion FU is composed of a pair of flaps, one extending from the top wall portion 1U and the other extending from the bottom wall portion 1B. This outer flap portion FU is a so-called overlap flap type in which a part of the flap on the top wall portion 1U side overlaps a part of the flap on the bottom wall portion 1B side.
The inner flap portion FD is composed of a pair of flaps extending from the side wall portion 1X. The inner flap portion FD is folded inward, and the outer flap portion FU is folded down so as to cover the inner flap portion FD, thereby forming the end wall portion 1Y.

The top wall 1U is provided with an outlet 1T as an opening for pulling out the tissue 3. The outlet 1T is formed by removing a part 11 of the top wall 1U. In detail, when the part 11 of the top wall 1U is cut off along a break line, the area of the part 11 is removed and the outlet 1T is opened.
A plastic film 12 is attached to the inside of the top wall 1U so as to cover the outlet 1T. A slit is formed in the film 12 along the front-rear direction, and the tissue 3 can be removed through the slit.

The carton 1 constructed as described above is colored, and has on its surface a corporate mark, a design such as a character, a bar code, or other external appearance features.
Most of the exterior of the carton 1 is colored, a pattern is printed on the top wall 1U, and a barcode is printed on the bottom wall 1B. This barcode is not provided on the other walls 1U, 1X, and 1Y, but only on the bottom wall 1B. In other words, the barcode gives the back surface of the carton 1 a unique appearance.

The carton 1 constructed as above is produced by folding a sheet-like material 1' (only one portion of which is indicated by a reference numeral in FIG. 3).
In the material 1', not only the top and bottom walls but also the flaps on the side walls and end walls are in the form of a sheet that is flush with the same plane.
This material 1' is in a state where the side wall 1X is folded down on one side (the lower left side in FIG. 1) between the side wall 1X and the bottom wall 1B of the carton 1, and the side wall 1X is folded down on the other side (the upper right side in FIG. 1) between the side wall 1X and the top wall 1B. By folding and raising the folded down portions in this way, a semi-finished carton 1 is manufactured from the material 1'.

2, the packaging pack 10 is formed by stacking a number of cartons 1 and wrapping them in a wrapping material 19. Specifically, the cartons 1 are stacked such that the top wall 1U (see FIG. 1) of one carton faces the bottom wall 1B (see FIG. 1) of another carton 1, the side wall 1X (see FIG. 1) of all the cartons 1 are arranged along the same plane, and the end wall 1Y (see FIG. 1) of all the cartons 1 are arranged along the same plane.
Here, a packaging pack 10 is shown in which five (plural) cartons 1 are bundled together with a wrapping material 19. However, a packaging pack may contain a number of cartons other than five, such as two or four, in one pack.

The colors (main colors) of the cartons 1 packaged in the packaging pack 10 are arranged in a predetermined order along the direction in which the cartons 1 are stacked in the packaging pack 10. The following three patterns are examples of the predetermined arrangement order.
・Multi-pattern: A pattern in which each carton 1 is set to a different color. ・Bi-pattern: A pattern in which each carton 1 is set to two colors. ・Mono-pattern: A pattern in which each carton 1 is set to the same color.

In the multi-pattern, each of the cartons 1 constituting the carton group in the packaging pack 10 has a different appearance. In the bi-pattern, at least some of the cartons 1 constituting the carton group in the packaging pack 10 have a different appearance.
In the mono pattern, the cartons 1 constituting the carton group in the packaging pack 10 have a common color, and the appearances of the cartons 1 are the same or nearly the same.

In the multi-pattern and bi-pattern, the order of colors of the cartons 1 arranged in the packaging pack 10 along the direction in which the cartons 1 are stacked is also preset.
In this embodiment, an example is described in which, when any different colors are linked to each of "color A, color B, color C, color D, color E," the order of "color A, color B, color C, color D, color E" is preset as the sorting order in the multi-pattern, and the order of "color A, color B, color A, color B, color A" is preset as the sorting order in the bi-pattern.

Therefore, the following arrangement order in the multi-pattern packaging pack 10 is not a preset arrangement order and is determined to be a defective pattern.
- "Color E, Color A, Color B, Color C, Color D" (one offset)
・"Color A, Color B, Color B, Color D, Color E" (Duplicate of Color B, Missing Color C)
・"Color A, Color C, Color B, Color D, Color E" (Color B and Color C in the wrong order)

Further, the following arrangement order in the bi-pattern packaging pack 10 is not a preset arrangement order and is regarded as a defective pattern.
- "Color B, Color A, Color B, Color A, Color A" (one offset)
- "Color A, Color B, Color A, Color B, Color B" (a series of color B)
In addition, in the case of a packaging pack 10 in which two cartons 1 are packed into one pack, the multi-pattern can also be called a bi-pattern, and the bi-pattern can also be called a multi-pattern.

In addition, the carton 1 is decorated with a design according to the color of the carton 1. Specifically, the following five designs A to E form part of the appearance of the carton 1. These designs A to E are mutually different and are arbitrary designs.
Pattern A: A pattern applied to the carton 1 of color A. Pattern B: A pattern applied to the carton 1 of color B. Pattern C: A pattern applied to the carton 1 of color C. Pattern D: A pattern applied to the carton 1 of color D. Pattern E: A pattern applied to the carton 1 of color E.

[1-2. Manufacturing equipment]
Next, an apparatus for manufacturing the packaging pack 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
In this manufacturing apparatus, cartons 1 (only one part is marked with a reference number in FIG. 3) containing bundles of tissues 3 are continuously conveyed toward a part that packages a group of cartons arranged in a predetermined order in units of one pack. This manufacturing apparatus is provided with various parts P1 to P6, which are listed below.
Bundle transport part P1: A part that transports a bundle of tissues 3. Material preparation part P2: A part that prepares materials 1' for the carton 1. Cartoner part P3: A part that places the bundle of tissues 3 in the carton 1. Inspection part P4: A part that inspects the carton 1. Parallel part P5: A part that transports the cartons 1 in parallel. Wrapping part P6: A part that wraps five (predetermined number) of cartons 1.

Bundles of tissues 3 transported by the bundle transport part P1 are stored in cartons 1 made of folded materials 1' prepared by the material preparation part P2. In other words, the bundle transport part P1 and the material preparation part P2 are provided in parallel, and the manufacturing process merges with the cartoner part P3 downstream of these parts P1 and P2.
After the cartoner part P3, the conveyed cartons 1 are inspected in the inspection part P4. The cartons 1 that pass the inspection are sorted into the parallel part P5, and the cartons 1 that do not pass the inspection are discharged from the production line to the outside.

In this way, the routes for the cartons 1 that were previously transported in series are now allocated to parallel routes, and the cartons 1 are transported along each of the allocated routes in the parallel part P5. Then, five cartons 1 transported along each route in the parallel part P5 are packaged into one pack in the wrapping part P6.

In the manufacturing device of this embodiment, the conveying speed of the carton 1 downstream of the parallel part P5 (hereinafter referred to as the "downstream conveying speed") is set to be slower than the conveying speed of the semi-finished products such as the bundles of tissues 3 and the carton 1 upstream of the parallel part P5 (hereinafter referred to as the "upstream conveying speed"). These conveying speeds correspond to the number of conveyed objects to be processed per unit time (for example, the processing capacity expressed in units of [pieces/minute]).

For example, the number of semi-finished products such as bundles of tissues 3 and cartons 1 processed per unit time upstream of the parallel part P5 (hereinafter referred to as the "upstream processing capacity") is set to less than twice the number of cartons 1 processed per unit time downstream of the parallel part P5 (hereinafter referred to as the "downstream processing capacity"). In other words, the upstream conveying speed is set to less than twice the downstream conveying speed. In more detail, when the number of paths allocated in the parallel part P5 is "a", the upstream processing capacity is set to less than a times the downstream processing capacity, and the upstream conveying speed is set to less than a times the downstream conveying speed.

When the number of semi-finished products such as bundles of tissues 3 and cartons 1 that can be processed per unit time in the parts P1 to P4 upstream of the parallel part P5 (so-called "upstream processing capacity") is greater (higher processing capacity) than the number of cartons 1 that can be processed per unit time in the wrapping part P6 downstream of the parallel part P5 (so-called "downstream processing capacity"), it is preferable to provide the parallel part P5 that distributes the paths as described above in the production line in order to suppress or prevent the rate limitation caused by the wrapping part P6. As a specific example, when the processing capacity of the packaging machine used to package five cartons 1 in the wrapping part P6 is lower than the processing capacity of the equipment used in the upstream parts P1 to P4, it is preferable to distribute the paths of the cartons 1 in parallel by the parallel part P5.

<Bundle transport part>
The bundle conveying part P1 conveys bundles of tissues 3 that have been folded by known equipment such as a multi-stand folding machine (also called a "multi-stand interfolder") or a rotary folding machine. These bundles are cut into product sizes that can be accommodated in cartons 1, and are conveyed in parallel to positions corresponding to the respective cartons 1 conveyed from the material preparation part P2, which will be described next.

<Materials preparation part>
The material preparation part P2 includes the following parts 21 to 24.
Deposit part 21: A part that arranges the materials 1' in the carton 1 Stack part 22: A part that stacks the arranged materials 1' Store part 23: A part that temporarily stores the stacked materials 1' Feed part 24: A part that sends out the stored materials 1' downstream

In the deposit part 21, the materials 1' corresponding to each of the cartons 1 constituting the carton group are stacked and arranged in a predetermined order along the conveying direction of the materials 1'. The "predetermined order" here is an order corresponding to the previously set order described above in the description of the packaging pack 10.
The deposit parts 21 are provided at a number of locations (five locations in this example) according to the number of cartons 1 to be packaged in the packaging pack 10. In each deposit part 21, it is preferable that the portion of the material 1' that corresponds to the removal opening 1T of the carton 1 faces upward in the material 1'. In this embodiment, the material 1' to be assembled to the carton 1 with the removal opening 1T facing upward is illustrated.

When a multi-pattern packaging pack 10 is manufactured, the deposit part 21 is provided with the following five parts 2A to 2E.
First part 2A: Deposit part 21 for placing materials 1' of color A
Second part 2B: deposit part 21 for placing material 1' of color B
Third part 2C: deposit part 21 for placing materials 1' of color C
Fourth part 2D: deposit part 21 for placing materials 1' of color D
Fifth part 2E: deposit part 21 for placing materials 1' of color E

These parts 2A to 2E are arranged side by side in the conveying direction, and this arrangement is in a sequence corresponding to a predetermined arrangement order.
In addition, when a bi-pattern packaging pack body 10 is manufactured, five parts 2A, 2B, 2A, 2B, and 2A are provided in the order of first part 2A, second part 2B, first part 2A, second part 2B, and first part 2A.
In each deposit part 21, a large number of materials 1' are stacked, and the materials 1' are placed one by one on a conveyor (not shown) disposed below. Figure 3 shows an example of the inside of a container 2 with an open bottom and a large number of cartons 1 stacked below it.

In the stack part 22, the materials 1' stacked in each deposit part 21 are fed out one by one (one piece, so to speak) in the conveying direction, and the material 1' fed out from the downstream side in the conveying direction is superimposed on the material 1' fed out from the upstream side in the conveying direction in the deposit part 21. At this time, each material 1' is superimposed with the portion of the carton 1 corresponding to the outlet 1T facing upward.
Specifically, the materials 1' of color B arranged in the second part 2B are superimposed above the materials 1' of color A arranged in the first part 2A. The materials 1' of color C arranged in the third part 2C are further superimposed on the materials 1' of colors A and B superimposed in this way. Similarly, the materials 1' of two colors, D and E, are superimposed in sequence in the fourth part 2D and the fifth part 2E. In this way, a material set is produced in which five materials 1' are superimposed in an order corresponding to a predetermined arrangement sequence.

In the store part 23, the material sets manufactured in the stack part 22 are stacked. Specifically, a material set manufactured later is stacked on top of a material set manufactured earlier.
In the feed part 24, the materials 1' are fed one by one from below the store part 23. The materials 1' fed in the feed part 24 are transported toward the wrapping part P6 (downstream).
In the store part 23, the materials 1' are sequentially fed out from below while sets of materials are stacked above, so a first-in, first-out system is adopted. In this store part 23, the materials 1' are stored only for a temporary period from when the sets of materials are stacked until each material 1' is fed out.

<Cartonapart>
In the cartoner part P3, the material 1' fed from the feed part 24 is used to successively manufacture cartons 1 containing bundles of tissues 3.
This cartna part P3 is provided with the following parts 31 to 33.
Folding part 31: A part that folds the material 1' from the feed part 24. Storage part 32: A part that stores tissue paper 3 in the folded material 1'. Sealing part 33: A part that seals the material 1' with the tissue paper 3 stored therein.

In the folding part 31, the material 1' fed from the feed part 24 is folded and assembled into a carton 1 with an end wall 1Y (see FIG. 1) open. In the storage part 32, the bundle of tissues 3 transported by the bundle transport part P1 is stored in the material 1' (carton 1) assembled in the folding part 31. In the sealing part 33, the end wall 1Y (see FIG. 1) of the carton 1 is sealed. Cartons 1 containing bundles of tissues 3 are manufactured one by one by these parts 31 to 33.
The carton 1 manufactured in this manner is transported toward the inspection part 4P, which will be described next, with the bottom wall portion 1B (see Figure 1) placed on the conveyor and the top wall portion 1U (see Figure 1) facing upward and spaced apart from each other in the transport direction.

<Inspection part>
In the inspection part P4, the condition of the carton 1 is inspected in-line.
The inspection part P4 is provided with the following input system, control system (inspection system), and output system configurations.
・Input system: Detects information required for inspection and inputs it to the control system. ・Control system: Generates control signals based on information input from the input system. ・Output system: Operates according to the control signals generated by the control system.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, this inspection part 4P is provided with sensors 40 as an input system configuration, a controller 41 (control device) as a control system configuration, and a side belt 43, a switch mechanism 44, and an alarm 45 (alarm part) as output system configurations.
Signals detected by the sensors 40 are input to a controller 41 , and control signals generated by the controller 41 based on the input detection signals are output to a side belt 43 , a switch mechanism 44 , and an alarm 45 .
Below, each component will be explained in the order of the input system, output system, and control system.

==Input System==
The sensors 40 are provided in the manufacturing apparatus so as to detect the cartons 1 (only one of which is indicated by a reference numeral in Figs. 4 and 5) from above, and sequentially detect the conveyed cartons 1. Here, the following three sensors are given as examples of the sensors 40:
Color sensor 4A: a sensor that detects the color of the carton 1. Barcode reader 4B: a scanner that scans the exterior of the carton 1. Camera 4C: an optical device (imaging device) that takes (images) an image of the carton 1.

The color sensor 4A can sequentially detect the color of the carton 1 being transported. The barcode reader 4B can also detect the carton 1 being transported if there is a barcode in its detection area. The camera 4C can capture an image of the carton 1 being transported, but an image of the carton 1 in a stationary state is clearer than an image of the carton 1 being transported.

The camera 4C is capable of detecting the color that is the detection target of the color sensor 4A and the barcode that is the detection target of the barcode reader 4B, and is also capable of detecting the design on the carton 1.
Here, the area where the color is detected by the color sensor 4A (hereinafter referred to as the "color area") and the area where the pattern is detected by the camera 4C (hereinafter referred to as the "pattern area") are set to different areas. Furthermore, the color area is set to be larger than the pattern area.

Five color sensors 4A and cameras 4C are shown in the example here, the same number as the number of cartons 1 that make up the carton group, and are arranged side by side. In detail, the color sensors 4A and cameras 4C are arranged at positions corresponding to each of the five cartons 1 that are the detection targets. In addition to these five color sensors 4A and cameras 4C, it is preferable to provide one more color sensor 4A or camera 4C (six in total) as in this embodiment in order to detect a target carton that is used to determine the first or second trigger condition described below.

==Output System==
The side belt 43 is a mechanism for switching between temporarily stopping (pausing) the carton 1 being conveyed and resuming (releasing) the conveyance of the paused carton 1 .
A pair of side belts 43 are provided on the outer side in the width direction of the conveying path of the cartons 1, and can pinch the cartons 1 from the outer side in the width direction to temporarily stop the conveyance of the cartons 1, and can release this stopped state to resume the conveyance of the cartons 1. The cartons 1 whose conveyance is temporarily stopped by the side belts 43 are aligned in contact with each other in the conveying direction.
The part where the side belt 43 is provided can be called a pause part that stops the transport of the carton 1 if one focuses on its function of temporarily stopping the carton 1, and can also be called a release part that stops the transport of the carton 1 if one focuses on its function of resuming the transport of the carton 1.

The switch mechanism 44 is a mechanism for switching the transport path of the carton 1 whose transport has been resumed by the side belts 43 .
In this switch mechanism 44, the transport path is selectively switched depending on the result of inspection of the carton 1 by the controller 41 described later.
If the inspection result of the carton 1 is normal (if there is no abnormality), the conveying route is switched to the main route R1. If the inspection result of the carton 1 is abnormal (if there is no abnormality), the conveying route is switched to the side route R2.

The switch mechanism 44 illustrated here, when switched to the main route R1, alternately distributes the transport route of the carton 1 between the first main route R11 and the second main route R12.
However, the switch mechanism for switching between the main path and the side path and the distribution mechanism for distributing to the first main path and the second main path may be provided separately. In this case, the distribution mechanism is disposed downstream of the switch mechanism.

The main route R1 is a transport route leading to the wrapping part P6, and a first main route R11 and a second main route R12 are provided in parallel.
The side route R2 is a transport route for discharging the cartons 1 from the production line.
The part provided with the switch mechanism 44 can be said to be a switch part in terms of its function of switching the transport path of the carton 1 between the main path R1 and the side path R2. It can also be said that this part is provided with an OK switch part that focuses on the function of switching to the main path R1 and an NG switch part that focuses on the function of switching to the side path R2.
The alarm 45 is a device that notifies an operator of the inspection result of the carton 1. For example, the alarm 45 includes annunciators such as a buzzer, a monitor, and an alarm light.

==Control System==
The controller 41 determines whether or not a predetermined trigger condition is met based on the signals input from the above-mentioned sensors 40, and outputs a control signal to an output system configuration depending on whether or not the trigger condition is met.
Here, the following three types of trigger conditions will be described as examples. Note that only one of the first trigger condition and the second trigger condition is adopted depending on the pattern of the packaging pack body 10 to be manufactured.
First trigger condition: a condition when a multi-pattern packaging pack body 10 is manufactured. Second trigger condition: a condition when a bi-pattern packaging pack body 10 is manufactured. Third trigger condition: a condition for avoiding the mixing of inverted cartons 1.

The first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is a condition that is determined to be satisfied when a preset target carton is detected, and is determined to be unsatisfied when a preset target carton is not detected. The "target carton" here is preset to different contents for the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition.
Whether the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is met is determined based on the color detected by the color sensor 4A that detects the color of the carton 1. For the sake of convenience, Fig. 4 illustrates the color sensor 4A or camera 4C (sensors 40) that detects the color of the carton 1 being conveyed downstream of the side belt 43 to distinguish it from the color sensor 4A or camera 4C (five sensors 40 indicated by black dots) that is used to determine whether the inspection conditions described below are met.

Here, an example configuration is shown in which the success or failure of the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is determined based on the color detected by a color sensor 4A or a camera 4C (sensors 40) that detects the color of the carton 1 within the side belt 43 (i.e., the carton 1 at the position sandwiched between the side belts 43 is the detection target).
However, the success or failure of the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition may be determined from the color or pattern of the carton 1 based on an image from a color sensor 4A or a camera 4C that captures an image of the carton 1 being transported upstream or downstream of the side belt 43.

As described above, the part in which the success or failure of the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is determined based on the color of carton 1 can be said to be a color sensing part (sensing part) that detects the target carton based on the target color, which is the color of the target carton.
In addition, the part in which the success or failure of the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is determined based on the pattern of carton 1 can also be called a design sensing part (sensing part) that detects the target carton based on the target design, which is the pattern of the target carton.

When it is determined that the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is satisfied, a control signal for temporarily stopping the transport of the carton 1 is output to the side belts 43, and it is determined whether the inspection conditions are satisfied. The "inspection conditions" referred to here are preset so that the condition determined when the first trigger condition is satisfied and the condition determined when the second trigger condition is satisfied are different from each other.
It should be noted that no inspection condition is set to be determined after determining whether the third trigger condition is met.

The success or failure of the inspection conditions is determined based on the detection signals of the sensors 40 that detect the five cartons 1 whose transport has been temporarily stopped by the side belts 43. In other words, the cartons 1 to be detected and used to determine whether the inspection conditions are met are located in a position sandwiched between the side belts 43 (inside the side belts 43, so to speak). However, the cartons 1 to be detected and used to determine whether the inspection conditions are met may be located at any position upstream or downstream of the side belts 43. Here, an example is given in which the success or failure of the inspection conditions is determined based on the image captured by the camera 4C. In this image determination, a predetermined order is determined based on the order of the colors of the five cartons 1 or the order of the designs or images.

However, the success or failure of the inspection conditions may be determined based on the detected color of the color sensor 4A that detects the color of each of the five cartons 1 whose transport is temporarily stopped by the side belt 43. For example, when it is determined that the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is met, the color of the carton 1 is detected by each of the five color sensors 4A while the carton 1 to be detected moves by one distance (the dimension of the carton 1 in the transport direction). The detection of the color of the carton 1 by the five color sensors 4A may be performed simultaneously, or may be performed at different times for some (one to four locations) or all (five locations).

The part in which the success or failure of the inspection conditions is judged based on the color of the carton 1 as described above can be said to be a color check part (check part) that inspects whether the cartons 1 are in a predetermined order based on their colors.
In addition, the part in which the success or failure of the inspection conditions is determined based on the pattern of carton 1 can also be called a design check part (check part) or image check part (check part), which inspects whether the cartons are arranged in a specified order based on their pattern or image.
In FIG. 4, an example of a location where the color of the inspection object is detected is shown by a black dot, and the codes of the color sensor 4A and camera 4C that detect the color, pattern, or image used to determine whether the inspection conditions are met are shown extracted from only one of the black dots.

When it is determined that the inspection conditions are met, a control signal is output to the side belt 43 to resume the transport of the carton 1. At this time, if it is determined that the inspection conditions are met, a control signal is output to the switch mechanism 44 to switch the transport path to the main path R1. On the other hand, if it is determined that the inspection conditions are not met, a control signal is output to the switch mechanism 44 to switch the transport path to the side path R2.

Furthermore, when it is determined that the third trigger condition is satisfied, even if it is determined that the inspection condition is satisfied, a control signal for switching the conveying path to the bypath route R2 is output to the switch mechanism 44. Even if it is determined that the inspection condition is not satisfied when it is determined that the third trigger condition is satisfied, a control signal for switching the conveying path to the bypath route R2 is output to the switch mechanism 44. In other words, as a condition for switching the conveying path to the bypath route R2, the third trigger condition takes precedence over the inspection condition.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the third trigger condition is not satisfied, if it is determined that the inspection condition is satisfied, a control signal is output to the switch mechanism 44 to switch the transport path to the main path R1.

The inspection condition that is determined when the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is met is that if the condition is met, the order of the cartons 1 is determined to be normal, and if the condition is not met, the order of the cartons 1 is determined to be abnormal.
On the other hand, if the third trigger condition is met, it is determined that an inverted carton 1 (hereinafter referred to as an "error carton") is mixed in and that the situation is abnormal, and if the third trigger condition is not met, it is determined that an inverted carton 1 is not mixed in and that the situation is normal.

In other words, if it is determined that the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is met and the third trigger condition is not met (AND condition), the cartons are in the specified order and no error cartons are mixed in, and carton 1 is deemed to be suitable in inspection part 4P.
On the other hand, if it is determined that the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is not satisfied or the third trigger condition is satisfied (OR condition), then either the predetermined specified order is not met or an error carton is mixed in, and the carton 1 is determined to be non-compliant (non-conforming) in the inspection part 4P.
Depending on the above-mentioned determination result, a control signal is output to the alarm 45. For example, when an abnormality in the carton 1 is determined, a control signal for activating a buzzer or an alarm light as the alarm 45 is output, or a control signal for displaying the determination result of the carton 1 on a monitor as the alarm 45 is output.

--First trigger condition--
The "target carton" of the first trigger condition is one of the carton groups that is preset. One specific example of the target carton is the carton 1 that has a color that can be detected with high accuracy by the color sensor 4A, such as the darkest or most vivid color among the colors A, B, C, D, and E of the cartons 1 in the carton group. Another specific example of the target carton is the carton 1 on the most downstream side of the carton group (the carton 1 of color A, the carton 1 that is arranged at the top of the packaging pack body 10).
In the judgment example shown here, when a target carton is detected by the color sensor 4A, which detects the carton 1 in the side belt 43, the first trigger condition is determined to be satisfied, and when this is not the case, the first trigger condition is determined to be unsatisfied.

The inspection condition (hereinafter referred to as the "first inspection condition") that is determined when the first trigger condition is met is a condition that is determined to be met if the arrangement of the five cartons 1 including the target carton is in a predetermined order, and is determined to be unmet if not.
The "predetermined order" here is a pattern that is set in advance as the order of the multi-pattern, and is a pattern in which the colors are arranged in the order of "color A, color B, color C, color D, color E."
As a specific example, a carton 1 of color A is set as the target carton, and the carton 1 of color A located furthest downstream and the four cartons 1 upstream of it are inspected to see whether they are arranged in a specified order, thereby determining whether the first inspection condition is met.

--Second trigger condition--
The second trigger condition is that the "target cartons" are two (a plurality of) cartons 1 lined up in the conveying direction.
In other words, a plurality of cartons that form a predetermined pattern as a combination of the appearances of adjacent cartons 1 are set as the "target carton" of the second trigger condition. The "predetermined pattern" here is a preset pattern that does not exist in one carton group in the order of consecutive colors of the bi-pattern.

Specifically, a pattern in which two cartons 1 of color A are lined up is set as a "predetermined pattern," and these two cartons 1 are set as "target cartons."
However, from the viewpoint of improving the inspection accuracy, a pattern in which two or more cartons 1 are lined up may be set as the "predetermined pattern." An example of such a setting is an example in which three cartons 1 are set as the "target cartons," and the predetermined pattern of the target carton consisting of these three cartons 1 may be a pattern in which the cartons are lined up in the order of "color A, color A, color B" or a pattern in which the cartons are lined up in the order of "color B, color A, color A." However, in order to simplify the configuration, a single carton 1 of color A or color B may be set as the target carton used to determine whether the second trigger condition is satisfied.
Here, when the target carton is detected by the color sensor 4A, which detects the carton 1 in the side belt 43, the second trigger condition is determined to be satisfied, and when this is not the case, the second trigger condition is determined to be unsatisfied.

The inspection condition (hereinafter referred to as the "second inspection condition") that is determined when the second trigger condition is satisfied is a condition that is determined to be satisfied if the arrangement of the five cartons 1 including the target carton is in a predetermined order, and is determined to be unsatisfied otherwise.
The "predetermined order" here is a pattern that is set in advance as an order of the bi-pattern, and is a pattern in which the colors are arranged in the order of "color A, color B, color A, color B, color A."
As a specific example, a pattern in which two cartons 1 of color A are lined up is set for the target carton, and it is checked whether one of these cartons 1 on the downstream side and four cartons 1 further downstream are in a predetermined order, thereby determining whether the second inspection condition is met. Alternatively, a pattern in which two cartons 1 of color A are lined up is set for the target carton, and it is checked whether one of these cartons 1 on the upstream side and four cartons 1 further upstream are in a predetermined order, thereby determining whether the second inspection condition is met.

--Third Trigger Condition--
The third trigger condition is a condition that is determined to be satisfied if the presence of an erroneous carton is detected, and is determined to be unsatisfied otherwise.
Here, since the barcode on the bottom wall portion 1B of the error carton is exposed on the top surface of the carton 1, if the barcode is detected by the barcode reader 4B, it is determined that the third trigger condition is met, and if not, it is determined that the third trigger condition is not met.
However, as long as it is possible to detect an appearance specific to the bottom wall portion 1B of the carton 1, not only the barcode reader 4B but also sensors 40 such as a color sensor 4A that detects a color (appearance) specific to the bottom wall portion 1B and a camera 4C or sensor that detects a pattern (appearance) specific to the bottom wall portion 1B may be used. In order to distinguish the bottom wall portion 1B in this manner, the sensors 40 may detect an appearance such as a color or pattern that is present in the bottom wall portion 1B but not in the top wall portion 1B (wall portion other than the bottom wall portion 1B), or the sensors 40 may detect an appearance such as a color or pattern that is not present in the bottom wall portion 1B but is present in the top wall portion 1B (wall portion other than the bottom wall portion 1B) (i.e., detect an appearance that is not present in the bottom wall portion 1B).

--others--
When it is determined that the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is met and the arrangement order of the cartons 1 is determined to be normal (the first inspection condition or the second inspection condition is determined to be met), a control signal is output to the side belt 43 to resume transport of only the multiple cartons 1 whose arrangement order has been determined (i.e., only the number of cartons 1 that can be bundled into one packaging pack body 10).

Regarding the resumption of transport of the cartons 1 by the side belts 43, in order to stabilize the number of cartons 1 whose transport is resumed, it is preferable to count the number of cartons 1 whose transport has been resumed by an appropriate sensor or the like.
Alternatively, the driving time of the side belt 43 that has resumed conveyance (i.e., the time for the side belt 43 to pay out the cartons 1 downstream) may be set to a predetermined period in advance. The "predetermined period" here may be a driving time set in advance as a period for paying out an arbitrary number of cartons 1, such as a period for paying out the number of cartons 1 that are bundled into one package pack body 10 or a period that is an integer multiple of this period. When driving the side belt 43 for only a predetermined period in this manner, in order to stabilize the number of cartons 1 to be resumed conveyance, it is preferable to detect the conveyance direction position of the most downstream (leading) carton 1 of the five (plural) stopped cartons 1 by appropriate sensors. For example, when it is detected that the most downstream carton 1 of the cartons 1 whose conveyance has been stopped is located slightly upstream of the predetermined position, it is preferable to set the predetermined period to be slightly longer, and when it is detected that the most downstream carton 1 is located slightly downstream of the predetermined position, it is preferable to set the predetermined period to be slightly shorter.

When the number of cartons 1 whose conveyance has been resumed is counted by appropriate sensors, it is possible to, for example, prevent cartons 1 whose conveyance should be temporarily stopped by the side belt 43 from slipping through to the downstream side, and it is possible to stabilize the number of cartons 1 whose conveyance is resumed, compared to the case where the side belt 43 is driven for only a predetermined period of time. On the other hand, when the side belt 43 is driven for only a predetermined period of time, it is possible to stabilize the number of cartons 1 whose conveyance has been resumed, with a simple configuration that does not require the addition of additional sensors or control logic, compared to the case where the number of cartons 1 whose conveyance has been resumed is counted by appropriate sensors.
The part that resumes the transportation of cartons 1 as described above can be said to be a counting part that counts multiple cartons 1 (any number depending on a specified period), such as the number of cartons 1 that can be bundled together in one packaging pack body 10 or an integer multiple of this number, and can also be said to be a dividing part that divides cartons 1 according to the number counted in the counting part.

In this sorting part, the transport of cartons 1 is stopped for each number counted in the counting part (here, five), and then the transport of these stopped cartons 1 is resumed, and the cartons are sorted with a gap between each group of cartons consisting of the number of cartons counted in the counting part. Specifically, the five cartons 1 sorted in the sorting part are sorted with a gap between them and the five cartons sorted immediately after (or immediately before) them.

It is also possible to employ a method in which the sensors 40 detect the cartons 1 that have resumed being conveyed by the side belts 43, and count the cartons 1 based on the detection results. Specifically, a barcode reader 4B (sensors 40 that sequentially scan the barcodes of each carton 1 that is not turned over) that detects the cartons 1 from below can be provided, and the number of cartons 1 can be counted according to the number of barcodes scanned by the barcode reader 4B. Similarly, it is also possible to employ a method in which the number of cartons 1 can be counted according to the number of marks (designs on each carton 1) captured by the camera 4C.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is satisfied but the arrangement order of the cartons 1 is determined to be abnormal (the first inspection condition or the second inspection condition is determined to be unsatisfied), a control signal is output to discharge the cartons 1 from the production line until the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is satisfied. Specifically, a control signal to resume the conveyance of the cartons 1 is output to the side belt 43, and a control signal to switch the conveyance path to the side path R2 is output to the switch mechanism 44.
In addition, when it is determined that the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is met but the order of the cartons 1 is determined to be abnormal (the first inspection condition or the second inspection condition is determined to be met), the subsequent determination of the success or failure of the third trigger condition is omitted in order to conserve control processing resources.

<Parallel Part>
In the parallel part P5, the conveying path is switched to the main path R1 by the switch mechanism 44, and the five cartons 1 (cartons divided into a predetermined number) whose conveying has resumed to the main path R1 downstream of the switch mechanism 44 are conveyed in parallel on a first main path R11 and a second main path R12, which are alternately assigned paths. The cartons 1 conveyed on the main paths R11, R12 of the parallel part P5 are conveyed continuously toward the wrapping part.

<Wrapping part>
In the wrapping part P6, a group of cartons 1 containing bundles of tissues 3 arranged in a predetermined order are wrapped as one pack. In this wrapping part P6, the cartons 1 are arranged in parallel in the same manner as in the parallel part P5, and wrapping is performed on a group of five cartons 1 with a wrap material 19.
In this manner, the packaging pack 10 is manufactured.

[1-3. Manufacturing method]
Next, a method for manufacturing the packaging pack 10 will be described. In this manufacturing method, a wrapping step is carried out in a wrapping part P6, in which a group of five cartons 1 arranged in a predetermined order is packaged as one pack, and the cartons 1 are continuously transported to this wrapping step.

Here, the following will be described by focusing on the material preparation method performed in the material preparation part P2 and the carton inspection method performed in the inspection part P4. In these methods, the processes in which the word "part" in the name is replaced with the process are performed in each part described above as the configuration of the manufacturing equipment in item [1-2].
For example, in the material preparation method, a deposit step is performed in the deposit part 21 and then a stack step is performed in the stack part 22, and in the carton inspection method, a sensing step is performed in the sensing part and then a check step is performed in the check part.

<How to prepare materials>
The material preparation method is a method for preparing materials 1' for cartons 1 which are continuously conveyed to the wrapping process.
In this material preparation method, as shown in Fig. 6, each step is carried out in the order of a deposit step (step A1), a stack step (step A2), a store step (step A3), and a feed step (step A4). After carrying out these steps, a cartoner step is carried out.

In the depositing step, materials 1' corresponding to each of the cartons 1 constituting the carton group of the packaging pack 10 are stacked, and the materials 1' are arranged in a predetermined order along the conveying direction.
In the stacking process, the materials 1' stacked in each deposit process are fed out one by one in the conveying direction, and the material 1' fed out from the downstream side is overlapped on the material 1' fed out from the upstream side in the depositing process.
In the storing step, the material sets, which are the materials 1' stacked in the stacking step, are stacked. In this storing step, the material sets are stacked on top of each other.
In the feeding step, the material sets that have been stacked in the storing step are fed toward the wrapping step. In this feeding step, the materials 1' constituting each material set are fed one by one from the bottom.

<Carton inspection method>
The carton inspection method is a method for inspecting the cartons 1 that are continuously transported to the wrapping process.
In this carton inspection method, as shown in Fig. 7, a first sensing step (step B1) is performed, followed by a pause step (step B2), a check step (step B3), and a release step (steps B4 and B5) in that order. Then, a switch step (steps B8 and B9) is performed to switch the conveying path according to the result of the determination (inspection result) of the arrangement of the cartons 1. If the arrangement of the cartons 1 is determined to be normal, a second sensing step (step B6) is performed before the switch step (step B8). On the other hand, if the arrangement of the cartons 1 is determined to be abnormal or if the cartons 1 are detected to be upside down, the first sensing step (step B10) is performed again after the alarm step (step B7) or switch step (step B9). When the switch step is performed after the arrangement of the cartons 1 is determined to be normal, a sorting step and a parallel step are performed toward the wrapping step.

In the first sensing step, it is determined whether or not a target carton has been detected among the cartons 1 being conveyed (i.e., whether or not the trigger condition is met).
In the method for manufacturing a multi-pattern packaging pack body 10, one predetermined carton 1 from among a group of cartons is set as a target carton, and whether or not a first trigger condition is met is determined. In the method for manufacturing a bi-pattern packaging pack body 10, two (a plurality of) cartons 1 that are lined up in the conveying direction among the cartons 1 being conveyed are set as target cartons, and whether or not a second trigger condition is met is determined.

In determining whether the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is satisfied, a color sensing step or a design sensing step is carried out.
In the color sensing process, the target carton is detected based on the target color, which is the color of the target carton, and in the design sensing process, the target carton is detected based on the target design, which is the design of the target carton.
In the pause step, when a target carton is detected in the sensing step (when it is determined that the trigger condition is satisfied), the conveyance of the cartons 1 is stopped. In this pause step, the conveyance of five cartons 1 including at least one of the target cartons is stopped.

In the check step, it is inspected whether the arrangement of the five cartons 1 stopped in the pause step is a predetermined arrangement (determining whether the inspection conditions are met). When a target carton is detected in the sensing step, it is inspected whether the arrangement of the five cartons 1 including at least one of the target cartons is a predetermined arrangement.
In the method for manufacturing a multi-pattern packaging pack body 10, whether or not the arrangement order of the cartons 1 to be inspected corresponds to the multi-pattern is inspected, and whether or not the first inspection condition is met is determined. In the method for manufacturing a bi-pattern packaging pack body 10, whether or not the arrangement order of the cartons 1 to be inspected corresponds to the bi-pattern is inspected, and whether or not the second inspection condition is met is determined.

To determine whether the first or second inspection condition is met, a color check process or an image check process is carried out. In the color check process, the five cartons 1 are inspected based on their colors to see if they are in the specified order. In the image check process, the five cartons 1 are inspected based on a photographed image to see if they are in the specified order.

In the release process, the stop of transport caused by the pause process is released, and transport of the cartons 1 whose arrangement has been inspected in the check process (products that meet the inspection conditions are determined) is resumed.
When the conveyance of the cartons 1 is resumed in this release process, a counting process is carried out in which a plurality of cartons 1 are counted by driving the side belts 43 for a predetermined period of time and counting the cartons 1 whose conveyance has been resumed based on the results detected by the sensors 40. When the counting process is carried out, a sorting process may also be carried out in which the cartons 1 are sorted according to the number counted in the counting process. In this sorting process, the conveyance of the cartons 1 is stopped for each number counted in the counting process (five in this example) and then the conveyance of the stopped cartons 1 is resumed, and carton groups each consisting of the number of cartons 1 counted in the counting process are sorted with a space between each other.
The second sensing step is carried out after the predetermined order is inspected and it is determined in the check step that the inspection conditions are met, and then the release step is carried out.

In the second sensing step, an inverted error carton is detected (whether or not the third trigger condition is satisfied) among the cartons 1 being conveyed. When the barcode reader 4B is used to detect the error carton, the error carton is detected by scanning the characteristic appearance of the back surface of the carton 1. When the camera 4C is used to detect the error carton, the error carton is detected from an image capturing the appearance of the back surface of the carton 1.
It should be noted that after it is determined in the check step that the inspection conditions are not satisfied, the second sensing step is not carried out, and the alarm step, which will be described next, is carried out.

In the alarm process, if the checking process finds that the arrangement of cartons 1 is not in the specified order, or if an error carton is detected in the second sensing process, an alarm 45 is used to notify of non-conformities such as abnormal inspection results or the detection of an error carton.
The alarm step can be performed at any timing after the check step determines whether the inspection condition is met and after the second sensing step determines whether the third trigger condition is met.

In the switching process, at least the transport path of the carton 1 that has been detected in the sensing process is switched, and in this case, the transport path of the carton 1 whose transport has been resumed in the releasing process is switched. In this switching process, an OK switching process (step B8) or an NG switching process (step B9) is performed depending on the inspection result in the checking process and the detection result in the second sensing process.
If the checking step checks that the arrangement of the cartons 1 is in the predetermined arrangement and if no error carton is detected in the second sensing step (i.e., the carton passes the inspection), an OK switch step is performed. In the OK switch step, the conveying route is switched to the main route R1.

If the checking step does not check that the arrangement of the cartons 1 is in the predetermined arrangement or if an error carton is detected in the second sensing step (i.e., if the carton does not pass the inspection), an NG switching step is performed. For example, in the NG switching step, the conveying route of at least five cartons 1 including the error carton detected in the second sensing step is switched to the by-route R2.
After the NG switch step, the first sensing step is performed again to determine whether or not the target carton has been detected.

Until the target carton is detected (negative determination in step B10), the transport of the cartons 1 discharged through the side route R2 is not stopped (steps B5 and B9), and the alarm 45 continues to sound (step B7). In other words, when it is determined that the arrangement order of the cartons 1 is abnormal, the cartons 1 continue to be discharged from the production line until the target carton is detected by determining whether the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is satisfied.
When the target carton is detected (positive determination in step B10), the pause step (step B2) is performed again to stop the transport of the cartons 1. That is, when the target carton is detected after it has been determined that the arrangement of the cartons 1 is abnormal, the transport is temporarily stopped to check the arrangement of the cartons 1 and whether there are any erroneous cartons mixed in.

In the sorting process carried out after the OK switch process, the cartons 1 transported in series are sorted so that they are transported along two (or more) routes. In the parallel process, the cartons 1 sorted in the sorting process are transported to a wrapping process carried out in parallel. In this way, five cartons 1 are packaged in packs in the wrapping process to produce the packaging pack 10.

[2. Action and Effects]
Since this embodiment is configured as described above, the following actions and effects can be obtained.
In this section [2], material preparation methods are described in subsection [2-1], carton classification and carton sorting methods are described in subsection [2-2], and carton inspection methods are described in subsection [2-3].

[2-1. How to prepare materials]
(1) According to the material preparation method, in the deposit step, the materials 1' corresponding to each carton 1 of the packaging pack 10 are stacked and arranged in a predetermined order along the conveying direction. Then, in the stack step, the materials 1' fed one by one from the upstream side are superimposed one by one on the materials 1' fed from the downstream side. Therefore, the materials 1' for the carton 1 can be prepared in an order corresponding to the predetermined order.
Therefore, the materials 1' for the cartons 1 can be efficiently prepared in an order corresponding to the predetermined arrangement order.

(2) Since the material sets, which are the materials 1' stacked in the stacking process, are stacked in the storing process, the materials 1' can be stacked in an order corresponding to a predetermined arrangement order. This reduces the space required to supply the materials 1' compared to when the materials 1' (material sets) are arranged side by side in the conveying direction, thereby contributing to space saving.
(3) In the storing process, the materials 1' are fed one by one from the lower side in the feeding process for the wrapping process. This first-in, first-out method allows the materials 1' to be continuously fed (prepared) in a sequence corresponding to a predetermined arrangement sequence. This in turn contributes to improving the manufacturing efficiency of the packaging pack 10.

[2-2. Carton classification method and carton sorting method]
(1) According to the carton sorting method, five (a predetermined number) of cartons 1 to be put together in one packaging pack 10 are counted in a counting step, and the cartons 1 counted in the counting step are sorted into groups of five in a sorting step. Specifically, the conveyance of the cartons 1 is stopped for every five cartons counted in the counting step, and then the conveyance of the five stopped cartons 1 is resumed, and the cartons are sorted with a space between each group of five cartons 1. Therefore, the carton groups sorted into groups of five cartons 1 are conveyed to the wrapping step, and the accuracy of sorting the cartons 1 in the sorting step can be improved.
This improves the efficiency of packaging five cartons 1 in one pack.

(2) According to the carton sorting method, the cartons 1 sorted in the sorting process are transported to the wrapping processes in parallel processes. Therefore, even if the upstream transport speed (processing speed) upstream of the sorting process is faster than the downstream transport speed (processing speed) downstream of the sorting process, a decrease in the processing speed in the upstream process can be suppressed. In other words, it is possible to avoid the downstream transport speed becoming a rate limiting factor in the production of the packaging pack body 10.
Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of packaging five cartons 1 in one pack. This efficiency can be further improved by using the carton sorting method in combination with the carton division method.

[2-3. Carton inspection method]
In this section [2-3], a method for inspecting the arrangement order of the cartons 1 will be described, and then a method for inspecting the inversion (orientation) of the cartons 1 will be described.
<Carton arrangement>
(1) According to the carton inspection method for inspecting the arrangement of the cartons 1, the arrangement of the cartons 1 to be transported to the wrapping process is inspected in a check process to see if it is a predetermined arrangement. If it is inspected that it is the predetermined arrangement, the transport path of the cartons 1 is switched to the main path R1 by an OK switch process, and if it is inspected that it is not the predetermined arrangement, the transport path of the cartons 1 is switched to the side path R2 by an NG switch process.

Therefore, the cartons 1 not arranged in the specified order can be discharged from the production line, and the cartons 1 arranged in the specified order can be transported to the wrapping process. In this way, by preventing the cartons 1 not arranged in the specified order from being mixed in the packaging pack body 10, the cartons 1 arranged in the specified order can be packaged in one pack.
When the conveying path is switched to the by-path R2 by the NG switch process as described above, the carton 1 is conveyed along the by-path R2 and discharged. Therefore, compared to a technique in which the carton is removed (discharged) from the production line by being knocked off, damage to the discharged carton 1 can be suppressed. Furthermore, the discharged carton 1 can also be used for the packaging pack body 10.

Furthermore, detection of the target carton is used as a trigger to stop the conveyance of five cartons 1 including the target carton in the pause process, and then the conveyance stop is lifted in the release process to resume the conveyance of the five cartons 1. Therefore, the cartons 1 conveyed downstream of the release process are divided into groups of five.
Therefore, the efficiency of packaging the five cartons 1 as one pack can be improved by transporting a group of cartons divided into groups of five cartons 1 to the wrapping process.
(2) In the check process, the order of the five cartons 1 whose transportation has been stopped by the pause process is inspected, thereby improving the inspection accuracy compared to the technique of inspecting the order of the cartons 1 that are being transported.

(3) If one carton 1 from among a group of cartons is preset as a target carton, it is possible to prevent cartons 1 not in the specified order from being mixed into the multi-pattern packaging pack 10. By setting only one carton 1 as the target carton in this manner, the specified order can be inspected using simple logic.
Furthermore, if two cartons 1 aligned in the conveying direction are set in advance as target cartons, it is possible to prevent cartons 1 not aligned in the specified order from being mixed in the bi-pattern packaging pack 10. Setting a pattern in which the appearances of the cartons 1 are combined as the target carton in this way contributes to improving the accuracy of inspecting the specified order.

(4) When detection of a target carton is based on the target color of the target carton, or when inspection of whether the cartons are in a specified order is based on the colors of the five cartons 1, a color sensor 4A, which has lower equipment costs and simpler control logic than the camera 4C, can be used.
(5) When detection of a target carton is based on a target design, which is the pattern on the target carton, or when inspection of whether the cartons are in a specified order is based on the patterns on the five cartons 1, it becomes possible to inspect the case where each carton that constitutes a mono-pattern packaging pack body of the same color has a different pattern.

(6) When the inspection process for whether the cartons are arranged in the specified order is based on the color and pattern of the five cartons 1 (i.e., when the color check process and the design check process are used in combination), the accuracy of inspecting the order of the cartons 1 is improved by inspecting both the color and the pattern of the cartons 1.
Furthermore, by setting the color area and the pattern area in different areas, it is possible to ensure both the accuracy of inspection based on the color of the carton 1 and the accuracy of inspection based on the pattern of the carton 1, thereby making it possible to further improve the accuracy of inspecting the arrangement order of the cartons 1.
Also by setting the color area larger than the pattern area, inspection accuracy based on both color and pattern is ensured, and inspection accuracy can be further improved.

<Carton orientation>
(1) According to the carton inspection method for inspecting whether the carton 1 is turned inside out, when an error carton, which is an inverted carton 1, is detected in the sensing process, the conveying path of the carton 1 including the error carton is switched to the by-path R2 in the NG switch process. On the other hand, if an error carton is not detected in the sensing process, the conveying path is switched to the main path R1 in the OK switch process.
Therefore, the inverted error cartons can be discharged from the production line, and only the cartons 1 that are not inverted can be transported to the wrapping process. In this way, by preventing the mixing of cartons 1 with different orientations in the packaging pack body 10, it is possible to package cartons 1 with the same orientation in one pack.

(2) In the sensing process for detecting error cartons, if a barcode reader 4B is used, the error carton can be detected by scanning the unique appearance of the back surface of the carton 1, and if a camera 4C is used, the error carton can be detected from an image captured of the appearance of the back surface of the carton 1.
If barcode detection by the barcode reader 4B is more stable or accurate than appearance detection by the camera 4C, the accuracy and stability of detection can be improved by using the barcode reader 4B to detect error cartons. On the other hand, by using the camera 4C to detect error cartons, it becomes possible to detect inverted cartons 1 that have no barcode on the back side.

[2-4. Other]
According to this manufacturing method, materials 1' are prepared in an order corresponding to the specified arrangement by the material preparation method, so that by using the material preparation method and the carton inspection method in combination, the mixing of cartons 1 that are not arranged in the specified order can be further prevented.
Since the material preparation method efficiently prepares the material 1', the combined use of the material preparation method and the carton division method can further increase the production efficiency of the packaging pack body 10. Furthermore, the combined use of the carton allocation method can also further increase the production efficiency of the packaging pack body 10.
The present manufacturing apparatus can also provide the above-mentioned functions and effects.

II. Modifications
The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and is not intended to exclude various modifications and application of techniques not explicitly stated in the embodiment. Each configuration of the present embodiment can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the embodiment. In addition, the configurations can be selected as necessary, and can be combined appropriately.

For example, in the case of manufacturing a bi-pattern packaging pack body, when the second trigger condition is determined to be satisfied but the carton order is determined to be abnormal (the second inspection condition is determined to be unsatisfied), all cartons 1 whose order is determined to be abnormal may not be discharged. Specifically, the conveyance of only the downstream four of the five cartons whose order is determined to be abnormal may be resumed and discharged from the production line, and the order of the four cartons upstream of the remaining one carton may be inspected again, including the remaining one carton. It is preferable that the inspection of the four cartons, with the remaining one carton being the most upstream, is repeated until the "quasi-predetermined order" is reached, excluding the most downstream carton in the predetermined order. In this case, the four cartons are sequentially discharged from the side route until the quasi-predetermined order is inspected, and when the quasi-predetermined order is inspected and then the predetermined order is inspected, the five cartons are conveyed to the main route.
By extension, if the number of cartons 1 constituting the packaging pack is "X" (a predetermined number, "5" in the above example) and a natural number smaller than "X" is "Y"("4" in the above example), then "X" cartons including "X-Y" downstream cartons among the "X" cartons determined to have an abnormal arrangement may be inspected again. In such an inspection method, in order to prevent a chain reaction of deviations when cartons with abnormal arrangements are mixed in, when "X" is an odd number, "Y" is also preferably an odd number, and it is also preferable that "X" and "Y" are mutually prime.

In addition, in the production of bi-pattern packaging packs, when the most downstream carton in the carton group (the carton of color A in the above example) is lost, after judging whether the second inspection condition is satisfied and inspecting the arrangement of the five cartons, the target carton including the most downstream carton in the carton group will be lost. Therefore, the second trigger condition is not satisfied, and more cartons than the number of cartons in the carton group are transported downstream without stopping on the side belt. In such a case, in the sorting part (sorting process), based on a predetermined conveying direction dimension preset as the dimension of the number of cartons in the carton group and the conveying direction dimension of the actually divided multiple cartons, those whose conveying direction dimension of the actually divided multiple cartons deviates from the predetermined conveying direction dimension are discharged outside the system. For example, it is preferable to discharge a group of cartons whose conveying direction dimension of the actually divided multiple cartons does not meet the predetermined conveying direction dimension (in other words, an inappropriate length) from the production line.

Here, two examples of inspection flows will be described for the production of bi-pattern packaging packs, in which one carton of color A is set as the target carton used to determine whether the second trigger condition is met.
In one example of an inspection flow, the cartons arranged in the following pattern X1 are inspected. This pattern X1 is an inspection target in which an extra carton 1 (color B) is mixed in between two bi-patterns.
Pattern X1: From downstream to upstream
“Color A, Color B, Color A, Color B, Color A, Color B,
Pattern X1, which is arranged in the order "color A, color B, color A, color B, color A," When inspecting cartons of pattern X1, the five downstream cartons are arranged in a bi-pattern order, so the second inspection condition is met, and carton transport resumes until it is determined that the second trigger condition is met (here, the seventh carton from the downstream side, including the most downstream side of pattern X1, is detected). At this time, not only the five cartons inspected when determining whether the second inspection condition is met, but also the sixth carton from the downstream side, including the most downstream side of pattern X1 (the above-mentioned extra carton) is transported downstream of the side belt without being stopped by the side belt. Therefore, it is preferable to count the number of cartons that are resumed from the side belt downstream from the time when the second inspection condition is satisfied until the time when the second trigger condition is satisfied, using appropriate sensors, and to convey only the number of cartons that constitute the carton group (here, five cartons) from the most downstream side to the main path, and to discharge the cartons upstream of this (here, the extra cartons of color B) outside the system. In other words, it is preferable to check the number of cartons conveyed from the side belt to the main path by counting them with appropriate sensors or calculating based on the conveying speed. Such an inspection flow can prevent the sixth carton from the downstream side, including the most downstream side of pattern X1, from being mixed in downstream of the side belt.

In another example of the inspection flow, the cartons arranged in the following pattern X2 are inspected. This pattern X2 is an inspection target in which the downstream pattern is defective.
Pattern X2: From downstream to upstream
"Color A, Color B, Color A, Color B, Color B,
Pattern X2, in which the cartons are arranged in the order of color A, color B, color A, color B, color A, etc. When inspecting cartons of pattern X2, the second inspection condition is not met because the five downstream cartons are not arranged in a bi-pattern, and the conveyance of the cartons is resumed until it is determined that the second trigger condition is met. When the second inspection condition is not met in this way, it is preferable to determine whether the second trigger condition is met by determining whether the most upstream carton (here, the fifth carton from the downstream side, including the most downstream side of pattern X2) of the five cartons inspected in the determination of whether the second inspection condition is met is color A. At this time, if it is determined that the color is not A (the second trigger condition is not met), it is preferable to sequentially make the cartons immediately downstream (here, the sixth carton from the downstream side, including the most downstream side of pattern X2) into target cuts and determine whether the second trigger condition is met. In the example given here, when the fifth carton from the downstream side including the most downstream side of pattern X2 is detected, the second trigger condition is not satisfied, but when the sixth carton from the downstream side including the most downstream side of pattern X2 is detected, the second trigger condition is satisfied. In this example as well, it is preferable to check the number of cartons conveyed downstream from the side belt by counting them with an appropriate sensor or calculating based on the conveying speed. With this inspection flow, even if the most downstream carton in a carton group is missing, the number of cartons discharged outside the system can be reduced, which contributes to improving inspection efficiency.

Alternatively, when a target carton that should be located upstream of a group of cartons for which it has been determined that the first or second inspection condition is met is not present, it is not determined that the first or second trigger condition, which should be met immediately after the first or second inspection condition is met, is met. When such a trigger condition is not met, a problem occurs in which a group of cartons not in the specified order is transported to this route.
Therefore, after it is determined that the first inspection condition or the second inspection condition is satisfied, it is preferable to carry out a switching process (provide a switching part) so that only the number of cartons constituting the carton group are conveyed to the main path until it is determined again that the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is satisfied, and the cartons upstream of these cartons are conveyed to the side path and discharged. Such switching of the conveying path by the switching process can be carried out based on the detection result by sensors that detect the cartons whose conveying has been resumed. Specifically, each carton whose conveying has been resumed from the side belt is detected by sensors, the conveying speed of the carton is calculated from the detection result, and only the number of cartons constituting the carton group are conveyed to the main path based on the calculated conveying speed. Then, the path is switched so that the subsequent cartons are conveyed to the side path.

The timing of detecting an inverted carton (determination of success or failure of the third trigger condition, sensing step) may be performed in parallel with the checking step when the transport of the cartons is temporarily stopped, or may be performed in series with the checking step after the temporary stop is released and transport is resumed. Detection of an inverted carton is not limited to detecting the presence of a barcode on the top surface of the carton from above with a barcode reader, but may also detect the absence of a barcode on the bottom surface of the carton from below with a barcode reader or camera, or may detect the presence of a distinctive color or pattern on the top wall of the bottom surface of the carton from below with a color sensor or camera.
It is also possible to detect an inverted carton prior to the check step, before the carton transport is temporarily stopped, in which case the inverted carton can be transported to a by-path and discharged without inspecting the order of the cartons.

The check step for checking whether the cartons are arranged in a predetermined order can be performed at any timing after the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is satisfied and before the switch step is performed. For example, the check step may be performed before or after the carton transport is temporarily stopped. As a specific example, the inspection condition in the check step may be determined by temporarily stopping the carton transport by the side belt after the first trigger condition or the second trigger condition is satisfied and then restarting the carton transport by the side belt. By determining whether the inspection condition is satisfied at such timing, even if the carton whose transport is temporarily stopped by the side belt deviates upstream from the position detectable by the sensors used to determine whether the inspection condition is satisfied, the inspection condition can be determined when the carton whose transport is resumed passes the position detectable by the sensors used to determine whether the inspection condition is satisfied.

The sensors used in the first sensing process and the check process are not limited to the form in which one color sensor is used in the first sensing process and five color sensors are used in the check process (a form in which a total of six color sensors are used) as exemplified in one embodiment. As a specific example, at least one of the five color sensors used in the check process may be used in the first sensing process (a form in which a total of five color sensors are used). In other words, at least some of the multiple sensors may be assigned the function of detecting the target carton and the function of inspecting whether the cartons are in a predetermined order. In this way, by using at least some of the sensors in both the first sensing process and the check process, the order of the cartons can be inspected with a simple configuration while suppressing a decrease in detection accuracy.

Furthermore, at least one of the inverted cartons and the order of the cartons may be inspected, and either the first sensing step and the checking step or the second sensing step may be omitted.
Alternatively, a pause step may be performed in which the transport of the cartons is stopped without detecting the target carton, followed by a check step in which the cartons are inspected for a predetermined order or a second sensing step in which the cartons are inspected for inversion. In this case, the check step may include, for example, a color check step or an image check step, and an alarm step is performed to notify the operator when the cartons are not inspected for a predetermined order in each step. This simple carton inspection method that does not require a release step is suitable for application to a manufacturing method in which an operator manually responds in response to the inspection results. Considering application to a manufacturing method in which an operator manually responds in response to the inspection results, the release step and the switch step may be omitted, although a sensing step in which the target cartons are detected may be performed.

Conversely, the inspection as to whether the cartons are arranged in a predetermined order (i.e., the check process) may be omitted, and the pause process may be performed when a target carton is detected in the first sensing process, followed by the release process. In this case, the conveying route is switched to the main route when the number of cartons whose conveying has been resumed in the release process matches the number of cartons in the carton group, and the conveying route is switched to the side route when this is not the case. This method is based on the premise that the cartons are arranged in a predetermined order, and is suitable for production lines that handle cartons whose order is difficult to inspect using sensors.

In the above embodiment, cartons that are not in the specified order and inverted cartons are given as examples of defective cartons (detection targets) in a carton group, but in addition to the defective cartons given as examples, there are other defective cartons that should not be mixed in a carton group. For example, examples of defective cartons include cartons of a different type (different type) from the type of cartons that make up the carton group to be packaged in one pack, cartons with defective shapes such as peeled or crushed parts, and cartons with defective prints on their appearance. Sensors such as sensors and cameras that detect such defective cartons may be installed, and defective cartons detected by these sensors may be discharged from the production line to the outside.

It is also possible to simply carry out a counting step of counting the number of cartons (a predetermined number) packaged in one pack in the packaging body, and then carry out a sorting step of sorting the cartons by that number (predetermined number). The number of cartons counted in the counting step and the number of cartons sorted in the sorting step are not limited to a predetermined number, and may be an integer multiple of the predetermined number. In other words, it is possible to carry out a counting step of counting the number of cartons a predetermined number or an integer multiple of the predetermined number, and then carry out a sorting step of sorting the cartons by that number. In this case as well, it is possible to increase the efficiency of packaging a predetermined number of cartons in one pack.
In the counting and sorting processes, the accuracy of sorting and counting can be improved by using a sensor that detects a predetermined number of cartons (e.g. the fifth carton) or an integer multiple of a predetermined number (e.g. the tenth carton), including the most downstream carton where transport has been stopped, or a sensor that detects a carton one step upstream from this carton (e.g. the sixth or eleventh carton).

Alternatively, the cycle for switching the conveying path in the switching step is not limited to every time the number of cartons constituting one carton group is conveyed, but may be every time the number of cartons constituting multiple carton groups is conveyed. Specifically, for the cartons 1 that are inspected to be in a predetermined order, the number of cartons constituting two carton groups (for example, ten cartons in this case, or fifteen cartons in three carton groups) may be conveyed to the first path, and then the number of cartons constituting the two carton groups may be conveyed to the second path.
In addition, the sorting step and the parallel step may be omitted.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Carton 1B Bottom wall 1T Discharge port 1U Top wall 1X Side wall 1Y End wall 1' Material 3 Tissue paper 10 Packaging pack body 19 Wrapping material 21 Deposit part 22 Stack part 23 Store part 24 Feed part 31 Folding part 32 Storage part 33 Sealing part 40 Sensors 41 Controller (control device)
42 Switch mechanism 43 Side belt 44 Switch mechanism 45 Alarm 4A Color sensor 4B Barcode reader 4C Camera (imaging device)
P1 Bundle transport part P2 Material preparation part P3 Cartona part P4 Inspection part P5 Parallel part P6 Wrapping part R1 Main path R11 First main path R12 Second main path R2 Side path

Claims (10)

A carton inspection method for inspecting cartons that are continuously transported to a wrapping process in which a group of cartons containing tissues, each carton being arranged in a predetermined order, is wrapped in packs, the method comprising the steps of:
a sensing step of detecting a preset target carton among the cartons being conveyed;
a pause step of stopping conveyance of at least the predetermined number of the cartons including the target carton when the target carton is detected in the sensing step;
a check step of inspecting whether or not the arrangement order of the predetermined number of cartons including at least one of the target cartons is the predetermined arrangement order when the target carton is detected in the sensing step;
a release process of canceling the stop of the conveyance caused by the pause process and resuming the conveyance of the carton;
A switching process for switching a conveying path of the carton whose conveying has been resumed in the releasing process according to the inspection result in the checking process ,
The switching step includes:
an OK switch step of switching the conveying path to a main path for conveying the cartons to the wrapping step when the checking step has confirmed that the arrangement of the cartons is the predetermined arrangement;
and an NG switch step of switching the conveying path to a side path for discharging the cartons from the main path when the checking step detects that the arrangement of the cartons is not the predetermined arrangement,
The cartons discharged from the main path are a group of cartons that does not meet a predetermined conveyance direction dimension that is preset as a dimension formed by the predetermined number of the cartons that constitute the carton group.
A carton inspection method comprising : The checking step checks whether the arrangement of the predetermined number of the cartons stopped in the pausing step is the predetermined arrangement order,
2. The carton inspection method according to claim 1 , wherein the release step includes restarting transport of the cartons whose arrangement order has been inspected in the check step. Each of the cartons in the group of cartons has a different appearance;
3. The carton inspection method according to claim 1 , wherein the target carton is one of the cartons that is preset among the group of cartons. At least some of the cartons in the group have different appearances;
the target cartons are a plurality of the cartons being conveyed that are arranged in a conveyance direction,
3. The carton inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing step detects a plurality of cartons that have a predetermined pattern as a combination of appearances as the target cartons. 5. The carton inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing step includes a color sensing step of detecting the target carton based on a target color, which is a color of the target carton. The carton inspection method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the sensing step includes a design sensing step of detecting the target carton based on a target design, which is a pattern of the target carton. 7. The carton inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the checking step includes a color checking step of checking whether the cartons are arranged in the predetermined order based on the color of the cartons. 8. The carton inspection method according to claim 1 , wherein the checking step includes a design checking step of checking whether the cartons are arranged in the predetermined order based on designs of the cartons. The carton inspection method according to claim 8, which cites claim 7 , characterized in that a color area, which is an area for inspecting the color in the color check process, and a design area, which is an area for detecting the design in the design check process, are set in different areas. 10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the color area is larger than the design area.

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