JPH0464927B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming a carton containing contents such as food, and more specifically, a device for forming a carton blank that has been previously folded into a sheet shape into a cylindrical shape. This relates to a device for opening and forming boxes.

[Conventional technology]

Cartons have traditionally been used as containers for various articles due to their convenience in handling and ease of disposal. Usually, such cartons are supplied as pre-folded sheet-like carton blanks, and the process is such that the blanks are opened and then the articles are placed inside them.
Conventional carton opening equipment that opens and forms such carton blanks takes out the carton blanks one by one from a carton magazine that holds the carton blanks by sucking them to a vacuum suction cup, and then removes the carton blanks one by one from a carton magazine that holds the carton blanks. ), and by moving the carton blank and bringing the ruled line into contact with a forming guide, the carton is formed into a cylindrical carton (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1983-1999). (See Figure 1 of Publication No. 71227).

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

When a carton is formed using the above-mentioned conventional equipment, both sides of the carton blank may not be opened and may be bent in the same direction, especially when the carton is large, its cross section is nearly square, and the paper quality is poor. However, there was a drawback that the above-mentioned failure to open the box was more likely to occur.

The present invention was made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.
To provide a carton opening device which can surely open even a large carton with a square cross section or a carton of poor paper quality.

[Means for solving problems]

The carton opening device according to the present invention includes a carton magazine that stores a large number of pre-folded carton blanks each having a polygonal cross section, and a first carton magazine that sucks the blanks in the carton magazine and takes them out one by one.
a second suction mechanism that suctions the blank held by suction by the first suction mechanism from its opposite surface, and presses the blank held by suction by the second suction mechanism. It is equipped with a raising member.

[Effect]

In the carton opening device according to the present invention, when the carton blank is being sucked by both the first suction mechanism and the second suction mechanism, a space is created inside the blank, and the second suction mechanism While the carton blank is being held by suction, the raising member presses the carton blank and expands it into a cylindrical shape.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below based on illustrated embodiments.
FIG. 4 shows the entire apparatus for opening a polygonal cross-section carton and filling it with contents such as food.
2 is a carton blank magazine that stores a large number of pre-folded carton blanks in an upright state, and 4 is a magazine that sucks and takes out the carton blanks at the frontmost position (on the right in the figure) in the magazine 2. 1 is a suction mechanism; 6 is a second suction mechanism that approaches the carton blank held by the first suction mechanism 4 from the direction opposite to that of the first suction mechanism 4; and 8 is a second suction mechanism that suctions the carton blank; While the carton blank is transferred from the first suction mechanism 4 to the second suction mechanism and transferred toward the chain conveyor 10 disposed below, it rotates from above and presses the carton blank to expand it into a substantially cylindrical shape. It is a raising member. Each carton blank opened into a substantially cylindrical shape by the carton opening device 12 equipped with the first and second suction mechanisms 4.6, the raising member 8, etc. Feed claw 1
The tubes are held between the tubes and conveyed in the direction of the arrow while maintaining an accurate cylindrical shape. While being conveyed by the chain conveyor 10, the contents supplied from the product supply section 16 are filled into a carton at the product filling section 18, and then sealed at the sealing section 20 and then discharged.

Next, the carton opening device 12 will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. The first suction mechanism 4 is disposed on the front side of the carton magazine 2, and is attached to two levers 26 and 28 rotatably supported by two upper and lower shafts 22 and 24, respectively, so that they move in the same direction. An L-shaped arm 30 that rotates while facing, four suction cups 32 provided at the tip of this arm 30 and facing the carton magazine 2,
34, 36, and 38. These suction cups 32, 34, 36, 38 are actuated by a vacuum, the upper two 32, 34 and the lower two 3
6 and 38 can be sucked separately. The second suction mechanism 6 is disposed below the carton magazine 2, and has two left and right shafts 40,
It has an arm 48 which is attached to two levers 44 and 46 rotatably supported by 42 and rotated in a substantially horizontal state, and two suction cups 50 and 52 provided at the tip of this arm 48. ing. The suction surfaces of these suction cups 50, 52 are oriented in a direction opposite to the suction surfaces of the suction cups 32, 34, 36, 38 of the first suction mechanism 4, so that the same carton blank can be suctioned from both sides at the same time. It's becoming like that.

The carton raising member 8 has a bar 58 attached to the tip of a lever 56 rotatably supported by a shaft 54 disposed on the rear side (left side in the figure) of the shafts 40 and 42 of the second suction mechanism 6. have. When the second suction mechanism 6 suction-holds the carton blank and rotates downward, the bar 58 rotates downward from above, presses the carton blank, and expands.

An upper plate holding member 60 is provided at a position facing both the second suction mechanism 6 and the raising member 8. This upper plate holding member 60 has two shafts 62,
It has presser claws 70 provided on two levers 66 and 68, which are each rotatably supported by 64. The lower surface of the tip of this presser claw 70 always rotates in a horizontal state, and holds the upper surface of the cylindrically opened carton while it is being transferred from the second suction mechanism 6 to the chain conveyor 10 below. Descend while holding down.

Furthermore, a fixed guide plate 72 is provided between the upper plate pressing member 60 and the chain conveyor 10.
However, the suction cups 32, 3 of the first suction mechanism 4
One fixed guide bar 7 is located slightly below the position where the suction cups 6 and 38 have rotated upward, and slightly below the position where the suction cups 50 and 52 of the second suction mechanism 6 have rotated downward.
4,76 are provided.

An example of driving the first and second suction mechanisms 4, 6, the raising member 8, and the upper plate pressing member 60 will be explained with reference to FIG. A gear 80 fixed to the drive shaft 78 meshes with a gear 82 above it,
Each gear 80, 82 is connected to a medium pulley 88 and a large pulley 90 via connecting rods 84, 86, respectively. A belt 95 is wound between the middle pulley 88 and small pulleys 92 and 94 attached to the shafts 62 and 64 of the upper plate holding member 60, respectively.
A belt 104 is wound between a large pulley 90 and small pulleys 96, 98, 100, 102 attached to each shaft 22, 24, 40, 42 of the first and second suction mechanisms 4, 6, respectively. . Therefore, the drive shaft 7
When gear 8 rotates, gears 80 and 82 rotate in opposite directions, and the rotation of both gears 80 and 82 is transmitted to medium and large pulleys 88 and 90 via link rods 84 and 86,
Both pulleys 88 and 90 are rotated by a predetermined angle. The rotation of these pulleys 88, 90 is controlled by belts 95, 10.
4 to each small pulley 92, 94, 96, 98,
100 and 102, and rotates each small pulley by a predetermined angle. Further, a cam plate 106 is fixed to the drive shaft 78, and this plate 106
A swinging lever (not shown) having a cam follower that engages a cam of the connecting rod 108 and the lever 11
0 to the shaft 54 of the raising member 8, and as the drive shaft 78 rotates, the raising member 8 rotates by a predetermined angle.

With the above configuration, the first suction mechanism 4 descends when rotating clockwise, and rises when rotating counterclockwise. Further, when the first suction mechanism 4 rotates clockwise, the second suction mechanism 6 rotates in the same direction by the same belt 104 and rises, and rotates counterclockwise. Sometimes it goes down. Then, the raising member 8 rotates clockwise and descends while the second suction mechanism 6 rotates counterclockwise, and the upper plate holding member 60
starts descending while the second suction mechanism 6 is descending, and continues to descend even after the second suction mechanism 6 starts to rise.

In addition, each of the above-mentioned mechanisms 4, 6 and each member 8, 60
does not need to be operated by a single driving source as in this embodiment, but may be operated using any other driving means as long as it can operate while maintaining the mutual positional relationship as detailed below. Of course, this is a good thing.

The operation of the carton opening device 12 having the above configuration will be explained. 5 to 17 are explanatory diagrams sequentially showing the process in which a carton blank folded into a flat plate shape is expanded into a cylindrical shape with a substantially square cross section and transferred to the chain conveyor 10. FIG. 5 shows the suction cups 32, 34, 36 of the first suction mechanism 4,
38 is the carton blank in carton magazine 2
It is a diagram showing the point in time when the carton C ₁ is suctioned, and at this time, the suction cups 50 and 52 of the second suction mechanism 6 are in a position where they have rotated downward while holding the preceding carton C ₂ .
The presser claw 70 of the upper plate presser member 60 is in the middle of pressing the top surface of the carton C ₂ and sending it downward, and
The bar 58 of the raising member 8 is in the process of returning upward after pressing and expanding the preceding carton _C2 .

In FIG. 6, the first suction mechanism 4 suction-holds the flat carton blank _C1 and starts rotating in the clockwise direction. At this time, the second suction mechanism 6
The suction cups 50 and 52 release the preceding carton C ₂ and start rising clockwise, the bar 58 is rising and the presser claw 70 is falling.

The first and second suction mechanisms 4 and 6 continue to rotate, the bar 58 reaches its rising end, and the presser claw 70 descends (FIG. 7).

The first and second suction mechanisms 4 and 6 continue to move in the same manner, the bar 58 stops, and the presser claw 70 reaches its lower end and transfers the preceding carton C ₂ onto the conveyor 10 (FIG. 8).

The first and second suction mechanisms 4 and 6 continue to rotate and approach each other. Further, the bar 58 is stopped, and the presser pawl 70 starts to rise (FIG. 9).

Suction cups 32, 3 of first and second suction mechanisms 4, 6
4, 36, 38, 50, 52 come closer and simultaneously adsorb the same carton blank C ₁ from both sides. At this moment or slightly earlier, the vacuum of the suction cups 36, 38 below the first suction mechanism 4 is cut off. Moreover, the bar 58 is stopped, and the presser claw 7
0 is rising (Figure 10).

The position shown in FIG. 10 is the moving end of the first and second suction mechanisms 4, 6 on the side approaching each other, and at the next moment, both rotate in the opposite direction, that is, in the counterclockwise direction. Start. For a short time after starting to move in the opposite direction, the suction cups 50, 52 of the second suction mechanism 6
together with the suction cups 32, 3 above the first suction mechanism 4;
4 is also acted on, and the carton blank _C1 is slightly expanded (Fig. 11). Thereafter, the vacuum of the first suction mechanism 4 is cut, and the carton blank C ₁ is completely transferred to the second suction mechanism 6.

When the second suction mechanism 6 continues to rotate counterclockwise, the suction cups 50, 52 of the carton blank _C1
The upper surface that is not attracted to the upper part engages with the upper fixed guide bar 74 and is gradually expanded. At this time,
The first suction mechanism 4 continues to rise in the counterclockwise direction, and the presser claw 70 of the upper plate presser member 60 continues to rise in the clockwise direction. In addition, the bar 58 of the raising member 8
begins to descend (Fig. 12).

In response to the further retreat of the second suction mechanism 6, the bar 58 descends and comes into contact with the upper surface of the carton blank _C1 . This bar 58 is a carton blank
Descending at a faster speed than C ₁ , carton blank
Press the top surface of C ₁ to make the cross-sectional shape almost square (Fig. 13), and then go beyond it and attach the suction cups 50, 52.
The bar 58 is deformed until the angle (θ) formed by the surface adsorbed by the bar 58 and the surface pressed by the bar 58 becomes smaller than 90° (FIG. 14). Note that at this point, the presser pawl 70 of the upper plate presser member 60 has started to descend.

After expanding the carton blank C ₁ to the above shape, the bar 58 stops, and the second suction mechanism 6 continues to move to move the carton blank into the L-shaped upper portion 112 of the fixed guide plate 72. C ₁
is inserted (FIGS. 15 and 16), and the presser claw 70, which continues to descend, gradually approaches from above. After that, the presser claw 70 presses the carton blank.
When the upper surface of the carton blank C ₁ is reached (Fig. 17), the vacuum of the suction cups 50 and 52 is cut, and the suctioned surface of the carton blank C ₁ is supported in contact with the lower fixed guide bar 76, and then the carton blank C ₁ is delivered onto the chain conveyor 10.

By repeating the above operations of the first and second suction mechanisms 4, 6, the raising member 8, and the upper plate holding member 60, the carton blanks in the carton magazine 2 are opened into a cylindrical shape with a substantially square cross section. It is delivered to the conveyor 10 and sent to the subsequent process.

As described above, according to the apparatus of the above embodiment, the two suction mechanisms 4 and 6 simultaneously suck from both sides to create a space in the carton blank, so that the cross section, which was conventionally difficult to open, can be squared. Even if the carton is close or tall, has poor paper quality, age hardening of ruled lines, variations in opening strength, misalignment, temperature effects, etc., the carton is poorly formed or managed. It is possible to open the box. Also, the bar 58 of the raising member 8 is
By lowering the carton blank at a faster speed than the moving carton blank while being attracted to the suction mechanism 6, it becomes possible to quickly expand the carton blank within a short moving path. Further, the above embodiment is provided with two suction mechanisms, the first suction mechanism takes out the carton blank and transfers it, the second suction mechanism picks it up, receives it on the way and transfers it, and the two suction mechanisms are used. By configuring both suction mechanisms to move, the distances each of them moves can be reduced. Moreover, both the first and second suction mechanisms are designed to suction and convey the carton from the side, and in particular, since the second suction mechanism suctions the side of the carton, there is no risk of interference with the conveyor, etc. Moreover, it has the excellent effect of being highly compatible with cartons of different sizes.

In the above embodiment, a case was explained in which a carton with a square cross section was opened, but it is also possible to open a carton with a rectangular cross section, or a polygonal carton other than a rectangular one, which could be opened using conventional equipment. , by appropriately setting the positions, rotation angles, etc. of both suction mechanisms 4, 6, raising member 8, upper plate holding member 60, fixed guides 72, 74, 76, etc., and more reliable opening of the box. can be done.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, carton blanks of any size, shape, and paper quality can be reliably opened.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show a carton opening device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view;
FIG. 2 is a plan view, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the driving relationship, FIG. 4 is a side view showing the entire cartoning machine to which the carton opening device according to the embodiment is applied, and FIGS. The figures are explanatory diagrams continuously showing the process of opening a carton by the apparatus of the embodiment. C ₁ , C ₂ : carton blank, 2: carton magazine, 4: first suction mechanism, 6: second suction mechanism, 8: raising member, 12: carton opening device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A carton magazine that accommodates polygonal cross-section carton blanks folded into a sheet, a first suction mechanism that suctions the carton blanks in the carton magazine from the side, takes out and transfers them one by one, and this first suction mechanism. A second suction mechanism that approaches and suctions and receives the carton blank held by the mechanism from the opposite side, and a second suction mechanism that moves relative to this as the second suction mechanism moves. and a raising member that presses and expands the carton blank held by suction, and the second suction mechanism transfers the expanded carton blank to the conveying means in a state where the sides of the expanded carton blank are suctioned. Carton opening equipment.