JP3064996B2 - Carton feeding device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carton feeder, and more particularly, to a carton feeder for supplying cartons to a carton feeder which intermittently conveys cartons by a chain conveyor having fingers attached at predetermined intervals. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been known a carton feeder in which fingers are attached to an endless chain at predetermined intervals, and a fixed number of cartons are held between front and rear fingers to intermittently convey the cartons. For example, a one-touch carton that has been widely used in recent years has four walls facing each other face to face, and the bottom face is folded into the lower part of the closely contacted wall face, and furthermore, is in an upright state on the upper part of one wall face. The lid is connected with. Therefore, one-touch carton,
In the folded state, the lower side has a thickness several times that of the upper lid part. Therefore, when stacking many one-touch cartons, it is unstable because the bottom side is thick and the top lid side is thin fan shape, so it is divided into a certain number,
The carton feeder as described above conveys a group of cartons while holding the front and rear of the carton with fingers.

In such a carton feeder, cartons are taken out one by one from a carton take-out section provided at the downstream end. After the carton is removed,
The contents are filled, sealed and sent to the next step. When all the cartons held between the pair of fingers are taken out from the carton take-out section, the chain moves forward by one pitch, and a group of cartons held between the next pair of front and rear fingers comes to the take-out section. Sent and taken out again. When the carton feeder advances intermittently and a carton in a predetermined section on the carton feeder is removed, the carton is externally supplied onto the carton feeder.

As described above, when the number of cartons on the carton feeder is reduced, various carton supply devices have been proposed for replenishing the carton feeders with cartons. For example, a stocker that is disposed adjacent to and parallel to a carton feeder and a pressing member that pushes out the carton on the stocker and transfers the stocker to the stocker have been widely known (Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. Hei. 8663
No.).

A plurality of stockers which can be moved up and down are arranged on the side of the carton feeder. When replenishing the carton with the carton feeder, the stocker is moved up and down to move a predetermined stocker to a position adjacent to the carton feeder. A carton on the stocker is extruded by a pusher so as to be transferred to a carton feeder (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-23434).

[0006]

In the replenishing apparatus described in the first gazette (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-8663), only one stocker is provided, so every time a carton on the stocker is supplied to the carton feeder. A new carton must be manually replenished on the stocker, and frequent replenishment is required. It is also possible to increase the carton stocker by increasing the length of the carton feeder and stocker in order to lengthen the replenishment interval. However, increasing the length of the carton feeder and stocker is a structural limitation. There was a problem that it could not be longer than a certain length.

In addition, a carton feeder whose width in the width direction is adjustable is used so that it can be used also for cartons of various sizes. Such a carton feeder whose distance can be adjusted is such that a conveyor is divided into right and left sides. A space in which one of the conveyors can move is formed in the middle of the space. Therefore, when the carton is pushed out of the stocker by the pressing member as in the apparatus described in the above-mentioned publication, there is a problem that the carton falls into the space and cannot be applied.

The second publication (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-34534)
In the supply device described in (1), a chain that circulates up and down is arranged on both sides of a supply conveyor (carton feeder), and a pallet (stocker) is supported by a pallet holder attached to the chain. Only one of the upper part or the lower part of the supply conveyor can be used, so that wasted space is created. There is also a problem that the structure is complicated and large, and furthermore, when supplying the carton to the supply conveyor, it is necessary to drive the chain to move all the stockers.

A first aspect of the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a carton supply device capable of replenishing a carton feeder whose interval can be adjusted without dropping the carton. It is intended for.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a carton supply device which has a simple structure, can stock a large amount of cartons, and can prolong the interval of replenishing stockers with cartons. It is assumed that.

[0011]

A carton feeder according to the present invention comprises a carton feeder which intermittently conveys a carton group while holding the front and rear of the carton group by fingers attached to an endless chain at predetermined intervals, and a carton feeder. A stocker having a plurality of carton storage portions arranged in parallel with the side portions and capable of housing the carton groups held between the fingers, and advancing and retreating toward the carton feeder side on the stocker to press the carton And a carton pushing device for moving the stocker, and the stocker can be moved onto a carton feeder.

In the carton supply device according to the first invention,
When the carton is low on the carton feeder, the stocker holding the carton in the carton storage section is moved onto the carton feeder, and further, the carton pushing device is advanced to the carton feeder side, and then only the stocker is retracted. Since the carton is pressed backward by the pushing device and dropped from the stocker onto the lower carton feeder, the carton falls into the center space of the conveyor on both sides even if the carton feeder is of a type that can be adjusted in distance. Nothing.

Further, a carton feeder according to a second aspect of the present invention is a carton feeder for intermittently transporting a carton group while holding the front and rear of the carton group by fingers attached to an endless chain at predetermined intervals, and a side portion of the carton feeder. And a main stocker having a plurality of carton housing portions each capable of housing a carton group held between the fingers, and a carton housing arranged in parallel adjacent to the main stocker and having the same number as the main stockers. and at least one Sabusutokka having parts, and a forward and backward movement can carton pushing device towards the on Sabusutokka to the carton feeder side, further, the Sabusuto' mosquito
Is configured to be able to move up and down.

In the carton supply device according to the second invention,
After storing the carton in both the main stocker and the sub-stocker, and when the carton on the carton feeder becomes low, the sub-stocker is raised and lowered so that the pushing device that moves forward and backward and the carton on the sub-stocker do not interfere, The pushing device is advanced to supply the carton on the main stocker onto the carton feeder. afterwards,
The carton on the sub-stocker is moved onto the main stocker by the pushing device, and then when the carton on the carton feeder becomes low, the carton is again supplied to the carton feeder. Since at least one sub-stocker is provided in addition to the main stocker in this manner, a large amount of cartons can be stocked for the number of sub-stockers, and the interval for replenishing each stocker with cartons can be lengthened.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the entire carton supply device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral 2 denotes a carton feeder, which holds and conveys a carton such as a one-touch carton and sequentially feeds the carton to a carton take-out section 4 provided at a downstream end thereof. The cartons fed into the carton take-out section 4 are taken out one by one by a carton take-out mechanism (not shown) and are boxed. The cartons on the carton feeder 2 are sequentially sent to the carton take-out section 4 and are taken out and the remaining amount thereof is reduced. Is replenished. In this embodiment, the carton stocker 6 has a main stocker 8 (hereinafter, referred to as a first stocker) arranged in parallel adjacent to the carton feeder 2 and a carton stocker 6 arranged in parallel adjacent to the first stocker 8. Two sub-stockers 1
0 and 12 (hereinafter, the stocker on the first stocker 8 side is referred to as a second stocker 10 and the other stocker is referred to as a third stocker 12). A carton pushing device 14 is provided which moves forward and backward from the side (upper side in FIG. 1) of the third stocker 12 toward the carton feeder 2. The pushing device 14 allows the carton to be put into each of the stockers 8, 10,. 12 and sequentially supplied to the carton feeder 2.

The carton feeder 2 has sprockets 16 (FIG. 2) disposed on the left and right sides of the upstream section and the downstream section, respectively.
Endless chains (not shown) wound between the upstream and downstream sprockets 16 on each side, a large number of fingers 18 attached to these endless chains at predetermined intervals, And a support rail 20 for supporting the lower surface of the carton conveyed by the carton feeder 2. A fixed number of cartons are held between the front and rear fingers 18, and an endless chain The carton is intermittently moved by the pitch (the interval between the front and rear fingers 18), and the carton held between the fingers 18 is sent to the carton take-out section 4 at the downstream end. A lift rail 22 is swingably connected to a portion of the tip of the support rail 20 which is located in the carton take-out portion 4. When the carton is sent to the carton take-out portion 4, the tip of the lift rail 22 is raised. (See Fig. 3)
By supporting the back of the carton with the fingers 18 on the rear side, the carton is kept in a stable posture.

As shown in FIG. 4, one of the sprocket 16, the chain and the support rail 20 (on the right side in the figure) arranged on both sides of the carton feeder 2 is connected to a screw shaft 24 which traverses the carton feeder 2. It is supported, and can be moved in the lateral direction by rotating the screw shaft 24. Therefore, when the size of the carton conveyed and taken out by the carton feeder 2 changes, one of the sprockets 16 and the like on the upstream side and the downstream side is moved in the width direction by the same amount, and the chains and the support rails 20 on both sides are moved. Can be adjusted.

The first stocker 8 is arranged parallel to and adjacent to the side of the carton feeder 2 and has a space on the bottom surface 8a (see FIG. 5) on which the carton is placed, substantially equal to the space before and after the finger 18. Alternatively, partition plates 8b are provided at slightly narrow intervals, and a plurality of carton storage portions (buckets) 8c are formed by the partition plates 8b. The first stocker 8 has a width (length in the vertical direction in FIG. 1) substantially equal to the interval between the support rails 20 arranged on both sides of the carton feeder 2, and the bottom surface 8 a has a transfer surface of the support rail 20. (Upper surface).

The first stocker 8 has a reference position adjacent to the side of the carton feeder 2 as described above (a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 5) and a position above the carton feeder 2 (a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 5). ). A slide block 28 (see FIG. 6) is fixed to both sides of the first stocker 8 via a support 26, and nuts at the lower part of the slide block 28 are arranged on both sides in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the carton feeder 2. Are screwed into the horizontal screw shafts 30 respectively, and the rotation of these screw shafts 30 advances and retreats between a reference position adjacent to the carton feeder 2 and above the carton feeder 2. Double screw shaft 3
0 is a bevel gear 32 provided at one end thereof,
The bevel gear 34 at the upper end of the vertical shaft 36 meshes with the bevel gear 38 at the lower end of the vertical shaft 36. The horizontal shaft 39 (FIG. 8) is disposed below the stocker 6 and rotated by the first stocker advance / retreat motor 40. See) bevel gear 41,
It is rotated by the operation of the motor 40.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second stocker 10, which is arranged adjacent to and parallel to the first stocker 8, has partition plates 1 provided at the same intervals as the respective partition plates 8b of the first stocker 8.
Ob defines a plurality of carton storage sections 10c. The second stocker 10 is connected to two upright air cylinders 44, 4 via a support 42 fixed to the lower side.
6 and these two air cylinders 44, 46
Operate simultaneously to move the second stocker 10 up and down. Each air cylinder 4 on the lower surface side of the support base 42
Two racks 48 and 50 are fixed to the vicinity of the racks 4 and 46, respectively, facing downward.
Reference numeral 50 meshes with two pinions 54 and 56 which are supported by the same rotating shaft 52 and rotate integrally.
Therefore, the second stocker 10 has two air cylinders 4
The rack and pinions 48, 54 and 50, 56 guide the lifting and lowering while maintaining a horizontal state.

Further, the third stocker 10 is located adjacent to the second stocker 10.
A stocker 12 is arranged. This third stocker 12
Has substantially the same configuration as the second stocker 10, as shown in FIG. That is, the partition plates 12b are provided at the same intervals as the partition plates 8b, 10b of the first and second stockers 8, 10, and the same number of carton accommodating portions 12c are formed. Two sets of rack and pinions 64, 66 and 68, 70 are provided so as to be moved up and down by two upright air cylinders 60, 62 connected to the support base 58 so as to maintain a horizontal state when ascending and descending. ing.

As described above, the first to third stockers 8, 10, and 12 are disposed in parallel with the carton feeder 2, and the cartons on each of the stockers 8, 10, and 12 are sequentially moved so that the carton feeder 2 is moved. A carton pusher 14 is provided for feeding above. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the stocker 8, 1
A press plate 72 having a notch 72a formed therein so as not to interfere with the 0, 12 partition plates 8b, 10b, 12b is provided. By moving the press plate 72 forward and backward, the carton is removed from the third stocker 12 by the carton. They are sequentially extruded toward the feeder 2.

On both sides of the first to third stockers 8, 10, and 12, a screw shaft 74 (FIGS. 1, 3 and 6) is provided in parallel.
Are rotatably arranged, and nuts provided at the lower part of a block 76 fixed to both ends of the pressing plate 72 are screwed to these screw shafts 74, and the rotation of the screw shaft 74 causes the pressing plate 72 to rotate. Moves forward and backward.

A guide rod 78 is fixed above the two screw shafts 74 in parallel, and the upper portions of the blocks 76 at both ends of the pressing plate 72 are fitted to the guide rods 78 to guide the pressing plate 72 to move forward and backward. It is supposed to.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, a bevel gear 80 provided at an end of the screw shaft 74 meshes with a bevel gear 84 at an upper end of a vertical shaft 82, and a bevel gear 8 at a lower end of the vertical shaft 82 is further provided.
6 meshes with a bevel gear 90 of a short horizontal shaft 88 oriented in the direction of movement of the pressing plate 72, and the other bevel gear 92 of these short horizontal shafts 88 extends along the longitudinal direction below the stocker 6. The press plate operating motor 94 is arranged.
The rotation of the motor 94 causes the bevel gear 98 of the long horizontal shaft 96 to rotate. The operation of the motor 94 rotates the two screw shafts 74, and the pressing plate 72 moves forward and backward from a position outside the third stocker 12 toward the carton feeder 2.

The operation of the carton supply device according to the above configuration will be described. Before starting operation, the first stocker 8 is moved to a reference position outside the carton feeder 2 (the position shown in FIG. 1).
Then, the second stocker 10 and the third stocker 12 are raised, and the pressing plate 72 of the carton pushing device 14 is moved to the most retracted position (the rear of the third stocker 12). In this state, first, a certain number of cartons are manually inserted into the respective carton accommodating portions 12c of the third stocker 12. Next, the carton pushing device 14
Is operated, and the third stocker 1 is
The second carton is extruded, passed through the second stocker 10, moved to the first stocker 8, and stands by at that position (see the pressing plate 72B in FIG. 5).

After confirming the stop position of the carton feeder 2, the first stocker 8 containing the carton is moved onto the carton feeder 2, and the carton pushing-in device 14 is also operated so that the carton is pushed by the pressing plate 72. 2 (see press plate 72C in FIG. 5). Thereafter, the first stocker 8 is retracted with the pressing plate 72 stopped at the position (72C), and the carton placed on the first stocker 8 is placed on the support rail 20 of the carton feeder 2.

Next, the pressing plate 72 of the carton pushing device 14 is returned to the original position (the position indicated by the solid line 72 in FIG. 5), and the cartons are manually inserted into the respective carton accommodating portions 12c of the third stocker 12 again. Then, the pressing plate 72 is advanced and the carton on the third stocker 12 is moved to the first position.
After moving to the stocker 8, the pressing plate 72 is returned. Similarly, the pressing plate 72 is also provided on the second stocker 10.
After sending the carton (pressing plate 72 in FIG. 5)
A), the carton is inserted into the third stocker 12, and the supply of the carton to the entire stocker 6 is completed.

Carton take-out part 4 of carton feeder 2
When the cartons in the take-out section 4 are exhausted, the carton feeder 2 moves forward by one pitch, and sends the next carton between the fingers 18 to the take-out section 4. This operation is repeated, and when there is no carton in the section adjacent to the stocker 6 on the carton feeder 2, the carton is supplied from the stocker 6 to the carton feeder 2. At this time, the second stocker 10 and the third stocker 12
Is lowered, and the first stocker 8 is moved to the carton feeder 2.
And the pressing plate 72 of the carton pushing device 14 is further advanced to push the carton on the first stocker 8 to a predetermined position. Thereafter, the first stocker 8 is retracted while the pressing plate 72 is stopped at the above position, and the cartons placed thereon are placed on the both-side support rails 20 of the carton feeder 2.

The carton feeder 2 of this embodiment
Can move the one support rail 20 and the chain to adjust the distance between the support rails 20 and the chain on both sides, and there is a large space between the two support rails 20. Therefore, when the carton is directly pressed by the pressing plate 72 to be moved from the first stocker 8 onto the carton feeder 2, the carton falls between the support rails 20. Therefore, the first stocker on which the carton is placed is moved onto the carton feeder 2 to supply the carton. Therefore, in the case of a carton feeder of which the interval is not adjusted, the first stocker 8 may not be moved.

Subsequently, the pressing plate 72 is retracted to the original position, and the second stocker 10 is raised. Then, the pressing plate 72 is advanced again, and the carton on the second stocker 10 is moved onto the first stocker 8. When the carton of the carton feeder 2 is removed in this state, the carton on the first stocker 8 is supplied to the carton feeder 2 in the same manner as described above. Then, press plate 7
After the second stocker 2 is retracted, the third stocker 12 is raised, and the carton of the third stocker 12 is similarly transferred to the first stocker 8. When the carton of the first stocker 8 is supplied to the carton feeder 2 and is taken out of the carton feeder 2 and all the cartons 8, 10, 12 and the carton of the carton feeder 2 are consumed, the carton is returned again as described above. Feeder 2 and each stocker 8,1
Feed cartons at 0,12. As described above, in this embodiment, there are three rows of stockers for stocking the supply carton, and a large amount of carton can be stocked, so that the supply interval of the carton becomes longer and the burden on the worker is reduced. .

In the above embodiment, three rows of stockers are provided, and cartons are stocked in each row. However, the number of rows is not limited to three. good. Also in this case, the carton feeder 2
The first stocker 8 that is adjacent to the carton feeder 2 can be moved on the carton feeder 2, and the other stockers can be moved up and down so as not to interfere with the pressing plate 72 of the carton pushing device 14. Also, the first stocker 8
The mechanism for moving the carton pushing device 14 forward and backward and the mechanism for moving the second and third stockers 10 and 12 up and down are not limited to those shown in the drawings, and may be operated by other mechanisms. .

In the above embodiment, when the carton contained in the first stocker 8 is supplied to the carton feeder 2, the pressing plate 72 of the carton pushing device 14 is set to the second position.
The second and third stockers 10 and 12 are configured to be able to move up and down so as not to interfere with the cartons in the third stockers 10 and 12. However, these sub stockers 10 and 12 are fixed, and the pressing plate of the carton pushing device 14 is fixed. 72 can also be made up and down.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show an example of a carton pushing-in device 14 having such a vertically movable pressing plate 72. The pressing plate 72 is connected to a rotary actuator 102 via two arms 100. FIG. And can be moved to a lowered position (a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 9) and a raised position (a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 9) by the operation of the rotary actuator 102. It does not interfere with the cartons held in 10,12. The rotary actuators 102 are mounted on a support 106 fixed between the guide blocks 104 at both ends. The slide blocks 104 on both sides have a lower nut screwed onto the screw shaft 108 and an upper portion slidably supported by a guide rod 110, and are driven by a drive mechanism using a bevel gear or the like as in the previous embodiment. To transmit the screw shaft 10
By rotating 8, it moves forward and backward by the same amount in the same direction at the same time. The pressing plate 72 moves forward and backward by the forward and backward movement of the slide block 104.

FIG. 11 shows another example of the structure for raising and lowering the pressing plate 72. In this embodiment, the slide blocks 104 on both sides which advance and retreat in the same manner as the embodiment of FIG. The pressing plate 72 is mounted via a pair of cylinders 112, and the operation of these cylinders 112 causes the pressing plate 72 to move up and down. Also in each of these embodiments, a large amount of cartons can be stocked in a plurality of stockers and sequentially supplied to the carton feeder, so that the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

[0035]

As described above, according to the first invention, the carton feeder which intermittently conveys the cartons by holding the front and rear of the carton group by the fingers attached at predetermined intervals to the endless chain, and the carton feeder And a stocker having a plurality of carton storage portions each of which can store a carton group held between the fingers, and the carton moves forward and backward on the stocker toward the carton feeder side. With a pressable carton pushing device, and by configuring the stocker to be movable onto the carton feeder, without dropping the carton even if there is a space between the conveyors like a carton feeder with adjustable spacing. Can be replenished.

Further, according to the second invention, the main stocker were arranged parallel to and adjacent to the carton feeder, and at least one Sabusutokka arranged in parallel adjacent to the main stocker, lifting the Sabusuto' Ca With this configuration, even if multiple rows of stockers are provided, the cartons contained in each stocker can be moved sequentially without interfering and replenished to the carton feeder, so large quantities of cartons can be stocked. Therefore, the interval of manual work can be lengthened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a carton supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a left side view of the carton supply device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a third stocker of the carton supply device.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the carton feeder.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation of each stocker and the carton extrusion device.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a configuration of a drive mechanism for moving a first stocker and a carton pushing device forward and backward.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a second stocker of the carton supply device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a carton extrusion device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a side view of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a carton extrusion device according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Carton feeder 8 Main stocker (first stocker) 8c Carton storage unit 10 Sub stocker (second stocker) 10c Carton storage unit 12 Sub stocker (third stocker) 12c Carton storage unit 14 Carton pushing device 18 Finger

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shinichi Ito 4-72, Kiyosumi-cho, Suhara, Kakamigahara-shi, Gifu (72) Inventor Yoshinobu Tanemura Hiruda 115, Ojiri-Komaki, Hijiri-cho, Kisogawa-cho, Hagiri-gun, Aichi Prefecture 72 (72) Inventor Teruyuki Nagatani 1-279-5 Kurino Nishi, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture (56) References JP-A-49-6674 (JP, A) JP-A-5-65809 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷⁾ B65G 47/06-47/08 B65G 47/82

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A carton feeder which intermittently conveys a group of cartons by holding the front and rear of the carton group by fingers attached to the endless chain at predetermined intervals and a carton feeder which is disposed in parallel with a side portion of the carton feeder, and is disposed between the fingers. A stocker having a plurality of carton storage sections each capable of storing a carton group to be held, and a carton pushing device configured to be able to move forward and backward on the stocker toward the carton feeder, and capable of pressing the carton, and A carton supply device wherein the stocker is configured to be movable on a carton feeder. 2. A carton feeder for intermittently conveying the cartons by holding the front and back of the carton group by fingers attached to the endless chain at predetermined intervals, and a carton feeder disposed in parallel with a side portion of the carton feeder, between the fingers. A main stocker having a plurality of carton storage sections each capable of storing a carton group to be held, at least one sub-stocker disposed in parallel adjacent to the main stocker and having the same number of carton storage sections as the main stocker, and toward the carton feeder side and a forward and backward movement can carton pushing device from the carton feeder being characterized in that said Sabusuto' mosquitoes configured to be elevated <br/> later. 3. The carton supply device according to claim 2, wherein the main stocker is movable on a carton feeder.