JPH0255281B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a packaging container having a shape similar to a rectangular parallelepiped.

This type of packaging container is popular for storing fluids such as milk, and is expected to continue to be in great demand due to its ease of use. Therefore, in this type of packaging container manufacturing apparatus, it is desired that there be fewer troubles such as line stoppages, high productivity, and easy automation of the manufacturing line.

There is a method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 143221/1983 that can meet these demands to some extent. According to this method, a sheet material is folded in half, the overlapped edges thereof and each fixed size in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction are heat-sealed, and the rear vicinity of the heat-sealed portion in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction is cut. This forms a bag-like container into which the contents are poured.

However, with such equipment, the number of times of heating and fusing is unnecessarily large for the formation of one bag-like container, which necessitates the provision of additional heaters, and furthermore, the entire length of the manufacturing equipment is in a straight line, resulting in a long equipment. , which is disadvantageous in terms of space.

In addition, since the manufactured rectangular parallelepiped container has a heat-fused portion only on one side wall, it is weak in strength, and in order to increase the size of the container, it is necessary to thicken the sheet material, which is disadvantageous in terms of saving materials. However, the strength of both walls in the vertical direction is unbalanced, which is inconvenient in terms of shape retention when loading a large number of containers. Further, since heat-fused areas are formed on both the upper and lower surfaces of the container, the appearance of the printing on the surface of the container is poor. Furthermore, since the sheet material is cut in the vicinity of the rear of the heat-sealed part that is perpendicular to the conveyance direction, unless this cutting is done with great precision, the opening edge of the unfused part will be left behind the heat-sealed part. It is easy for unsanitary substances to enter and adhere to this opening edge. This is extremely inconvenient for this type of container, as it is not known in what condition it will be used for drinking. If care is taken to eliminate such opening edges, and if the heat-sealed part is cut at a position forward of the rear edge, the opening of the bag-like container will be blocked, making it impossible to fill the bag with contents. Cutting the rear edge of the heat-fused portion requires precision in a strict sense, which is difficult in practice.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
a feeding device that intermittently transports a belt-shaped sheet material having a thermoplastic resin coating on both sides by folding it twice so as to polymerize both edges; A heating welding device that heats and welds the sheet material into strips of a fixed size, and a cutting device that cuts approximately the center of the heat welded portion in synchronization with the feeding device, whereby one end is opened. A substantially rectangular bag-like container is formed. This reduces the number of man-hours for heat-sealing and also makes it possible to cut the substantially central portion of the band-shaped heat-sealed portion without requiring much precision. Furthermore, since the cut portions are present on both side walls of the container, an opening at one end and a closed end, which are to be the upper and lower surfaces, are necessarily formed. Furthermore, a bag-like container transport device that transports the bag-like container thus formed in the opening side, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the sheet material conveyance direction and covers the container support; a container end intermediate treatment device that expands the container from the inside and holds it in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape while conveying it in the circumferential direction and performs a predetermined intermediate treatment on the end; and a box-shaped container separated from the container support. A storage/end finishing device is provided which is arranged to convey the sheet material again parallel to the conveying direction, injects a fluid during the conveyance, and performs a predetermined second end finishing treatment on the opening side. . Therefore, the end intermediate processing is performed in a substantially perpendicular processing direction as an interruption in the overall substantially linear manufacturing process flow, and the overall process length is greatly shortened. On the other hand, the container manufactured by this device has no heat-sealed portion on one end surface, and the heat-sealed portions are distributed in a well-balanced manner on both side wall surfaces, increasing the strength. There are no open edges where unsanitary substances can enter and adhere.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

In the figure, the apparatus for manufacturing a container similar to a rectangular parallelepiped includes a device section for forming a sheet material into a bag-like container, a container end intermediate processing section for forming the bag-like container into a box-like container having an open end and a rectangular parallelepiped shape. A storage device that stores and seals a fluid in the box-like container to form a closed box-like container.
It is broadly divided into end finishing equipment.

<Bag-shaped container forming device section> A belt-shaped sheet material 1 having a core material such as paper and lined on both sides with a thin film made of thermoplastic synthetic resin is intermittently conveyed from a reel 2 by being guided by guide rollers 3 provided at appropriate locations. Then, use the press roller 4 to fold it into two layers. This folded sheet material 1 is cut into strips of a predetermined width at regular intervals by a heat fusing device 5 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction.
(sealed side edge a). Then, based on a detection signal from a feed position detection device 6 that detects the feed position by shining light from above on the sheet material 1, the feed roller 7 rapidly feeds the sheet material 1 by a fixed distance intermittently, and at the feed stop position, a cutter (cutting Apparatus) 8 cuts approximately the center of the seal side edge a. As a result, a bag-like container 9 is formed in which only the folded open edge b is open and the other three edges are closed.

Here, a guide roller 3, a press roller 4,
The feed position detection device 6 and the feed roller 7 constitute a feed device in the present invention, and the cutter 8 and the heat fusion device 5 are both synchronized with the detection signal of the feed position detection device 6.

Therefore, in the bag-shaped container forming apparatus section, it is only necessary to provide the heat-sealing device 5 at one location, and the work of cutting the central part of the sealing side edge a with the cutter 8 is performed by cutting the sealing side into a strip of a predetermined width. As long as it is within the edge a region, the accuracy may be slightly lower. There is no gap between the sheet materials 1 at the cut edge of the sealing side edge a, and no unsanitary substances can enter. The opening edge b and the closing edge c are reliably formed by simply folding the sheet material 1, and there is no need to cut the opening edge b to open it.

This bag-like container 9 is attached by a container mounting device 10.
The sheet material 1 is conveyed in the direction of the opening edge b, that is, perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet material 1, and is sent out to be attached to the container support 12 of the container edge intermediate processing device 11 that performs predetermined edge intermediate processing, and is then sent out to be attached to the container support 12 for the next box-shaped container formation. Enter the process.

<Box-shaped container forming device section> The container end intermediate processing device 11 is generally composed of a rotating body called a mandrel, and the bag-shaped container 9 is attached to the container end intermediate processing device 11 by a bag-shaped container transfer device. Although the transfer device is not shown, after suctioning the suction cups facing the upper and lower surfaces of the bag-like container 9 to the upper and lower surfaces, the suction cups are separated in the vertical direction, and the mouth of the opening edge b of the bag-like container 9 is widened to facilitate attachment. It is configured to be placed over the container support 12 in this way.

A large number of container supports 12 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of the rotary disk of the container end intermediate processing device 11, and a pair of container expanding members 12a, 12 are provided.
b, and the width l of each container expanding member 12a, 12b.
approximately corresponds to the width of the container to be obtained.

The bag-shaped containers 9 are sequentially attached to the container support 12 by rotating the rotary disk intermittently in synchronization with the conveyance operation. During this attachment operation, the tip ends of the container expanding members 12a and 12b approach or contact each other so that the sides thereof form a tapered wedge shape, so that the attachment operation of the bag-like container 9 can be easily and reliably performed.

After attaching the bag-shaped container 9 to the container support 12,
The bag-shaped container 9 is moved by the rotation of the rotary disk of the container edge intermediate treatment device 11, and a box-shaped container forming process is started, where predetermined container edge intermediate treatment is performed.

That is, at position A, the container expanding members 12a and 12b of the container support 12 are expanded to a position where their outer surfaces are parallel to each other, and the closed edge c side of the bag-like container 9 is pushed and expanded from the inside by the expanding means. It is an inverted box-like container in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped. In this state, the rotary plate continues to be rotated intermittently, and at position B, the end face and both sides of the closing edge c are pressed using a press machine to form a rectangular box having ears 13a at the corners. However, here the ridge line of the box becomes clear. Then, at position C, the ears 13a are folded outward from each other by a folding device, and then at position D
At the position, hot air is blown by a hot air heating device to soften the thermoplastic synthetic resin on the end surface of the box body, and
The box-shaped container 13 is formed by attaching the ears 13a to the surface of the box using a synthetic resin softened by a press machine as an adhesive. At this time, even if the heat-sealed portions on both side surfaces are not attached to the side surfaces, since both edges are configured to cut the center portion of the band-shaped heat-sealed portion, no gap will be created. When moving from the E position to the next F position, the container expanding members 12a and 12b are changed from the expanded state to a wedge-shaped tapered state to make it easier for the box-shaped container 13 to separate from the container support 12.
At position F, the tip of the container support 12 is directed downward, and the box-shaped container 1 is removed from the container support 12.
3 slides down, and the fluid storage/end treatment device 14
The fluid is stored in a bucket or the like and moved to the storage and sealing process.

In such a container edge intermediate processing device, the container edge processing device is arranged in a circumferential direction so as to cut into the fluid storage/end processing device, which is provided substantially parallel to the conveyance direction of the folded sheet material 1, in a substantially perpendicular direction. Since the box-shaped container is transported between the two, the overall length of the apparatus according to the present invention can be shortened, which is advantageous in terms of layout.

<Storage/Edge Finishing Device Section> In the fluid storage/end finishing device, a predetermined end finishing treatment is performed during the conveyance process. That is,
At the G position, a fluid such as milk is injected into the box-like container 13 by the injection means, and at the H position, both sides of the opening edge b are pushed outward to the left and right by the expanding means, and at the I position, the opening edge b is expanded. The entire area is fused and sealed with a heat fusion device 16, and a corner portion 13b is formed with a press device at the J position.
A substantially rectangular parallelepiped sealed box is formed. Further, at the K position, the ear 13b is folded inward by a folding device, at the L position, hot air is blown by a hot air sending means to heat and soften the thermoplastic synthetic resin on the surface, and at the M position, the softened synthetic resin is pressed by a press machine. The ears 13b are attached to the surface of the box using resin as an adhesive to complete the sealed box-like container 15 containing the fluid. The sealed box-shaped container 15 with the end treated is sent to the next step transport route with the side where the ears are not fused as the top surface.

Note that the direction in which the ears are folded in the end finishing process is not limited to that of this embodiment, and may be folded by selecting the inside or outside direction as appropriate. Furthermore, when storing a box-shaped container with one end open in a bucket or the like in order to store the next fluid and transfer it to an end treatment device, a release device is provided to forcefully transfer the container instead of dropping it under its own weight as in this example. This will make the moving work more reliable.

As described above, according to the present invention, the following special effects are achieved.

A In the bag-shaped container forming equipment section, the sheet material is
A bag-shaped container is formed by folding the bag, folding it in layers, heat-sealing it into strips at regular intervals in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction, and cutting _{approximately} the center of the welded portion. , one side edge of each of two adjacent bag-shaped containers can be simultaneously fused and bonded, and the number of steps for heat fusion can be reduced. In addition, the number of bases can be reduced by using a single heat fusing device.

_a2 Since it is sufficient to cut approximately the center of the heat-fused portion as long as it does not exceed the width of the heat-fused portion, precision in a strict sense is not required for position control for cutting. In this way, even if the precision of the position control is not strict, an opening is always formed at the overlapping edge of the two-folded sheet material, and a closed edge is certainly formed at the folded edge. Therefore, there is no need to control the sheet material feeding device for cutting with high precision, and the device can be simplified and cost reduced.

a ₃ By cutting the heat-fused part, the side edges of the bag-like container are completely sealed, so there is no chance of unsanitary substances getting in or adhering to the side edges due to dripping when filling the contents, and this type of container is It does not impede the required hygiene.

B. The container edge intermediate processing device is interposed in a manner that is approximately perpendicular to the conveyance direction that is substantially parallel to the bag-shaped container forming device in the preceding process and the storage/end finishing device in the subsequent process. As a result, the overall process length can be shortened, the heat-sealing means can be simplified, and the apparatus can be downsized.

C The rectangular parallelepiped-like container manufactured according to the present invention has well-balanced heat-fused portions formed on both side walls, and no such welded portion on one end wall, so c ₁ side wall strength is strengthened in a well-balanced manner, making it possible to carry multiple loads. Even in such a case, the shape of the container is well maintained, and there is no need to increase the thickness of the sheet material as the container becomes larger, so materials can be saved.

c ₂ The heat-sealed edges that appear on the side walls are securely sealed and there are no gaps, so there is no need to worry about unsanitary conditions.

c ₃ Since there is no fused part on one end wall, the appearance of the printing on the container surface improves.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a simplified manufacturing process diagram showing one embodiment of a rectangular parallelepiped-like container manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. 1... Sheet material, 5... Heat fusing device, 6...
Feed position detection device, 7... Feed roller, 8... Cutter (cutting device), 9... Bag-shaped container, a... Sealing side edge, b... Opening edge, c... Closing edge, 11...
Container end intermediate treatment device, 12...Container support, 1
2a, 12b... Container expanding member, 13... Box-shaped container, 14... Storage/end finishing device, 15... Sealed box-shaped container, 16... Heat fusion device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A feeding device that intermittently transports a belt-shaped sheet material coated with a thermoplastic synthetic resin film on both sides in a double layer so as to polymerize both edges thereof, and includes a heat fusing device for heat fusing sheet materials into strips of fixed size in a right angle direction, a cutting device for cutting approximately the center of the heat fusing portion in synchronization with the feeding device, and the obtained A bag-like container transfer device that transports a bag-like container with one end open in the opening direction and covers the container support, and a bag-like container that transports the container support in the circumferential direction and expands the bag-like container from the inside during the conveyance. A container end intermediate processing device for forming a box-shaped container with an opening at one end and having a heat-sealed portion only on both side walls by end-processing the end face on the opposite side of the opening and both side faces while maintaining the container in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape; The box-shaped container separated from the support is arranged to be transported again substantially parallel to the transporting direction of the sheet material with the open end facing upward, and during the transport, a fluid is injected and the opening edge is edge treated. A manufacturing device for a container similar to a rectangular parallelepiped, characterized in that it is equipped with a storage/end treatment device.