JP7318940B2 - Attachment feeder - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an attachment supplying device for packing attachments such as instructions for articles into a container or the like together with the articles.

When packing an item into a container, there are cases where an attached document (attachment) such as a manual describing how to use the item is enclosed with the item. As a feeding device that packs attached documents into a carton (container) together with articles, the attached documents are placed in front of the opening of the carton, and by pushing the attached documents with the articles, the attached documents are folded and accommodated in the carton together with the articles. Various devices have been proposed. Such an attached document supply device is used for attached documents with a strong stiffness, which are made by folding sheet materials made of thick paper, etc., and when a load is applied to the attached document, the article is deformed, the carton itself is deformed, or the carton itself is deformed. Various problems may occur, such as the articles being pushed back to the open side of the carton due to the repulsive force of the attached documents and not being accommodated in the carton.

Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-100001 proposes a supply device in which the attached documents are packed in a carton together with the articles after the attached documents are creased before the attached documents are pushed out with the articles. In the feeding device disclosed in Patent Document 1, an attached document is set at the entrance of a molding frame, and the attached document is clamped by clamping means in the thickness direction and passed through a passage from the entrance into the molding frame. The extension base of the attached document extending to the left and right from the means is given a crease, and the attached document is held in the forming frame in a bent state. Then, by pushing the attached document held in the molding frame on the inner side of the crease and passing it through the opening to the outside of the molding frame, the attached document with both sides bent along the side of the article is placed in a carton together with the article. packed in.

Japanese Patent No. 5432216

In the supply device disclosed in Patent Document 1, four molding frames are arranged at intervals of 90° on a horizontally rotating support table, and the support table is intermittently rotated at intervals of 90° to attach each molding frame. It is configured to intermittently move to a document setting position, a forming position to impart a crease to the attached document, and a position to pack the attached document and the article into the carton, and perform each process at each position. For this reason, the support table cannot be rotated to move the molding frame to the next position until the processing at each position is completed, and the processing capacity per unit time is low.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an attachment feeding apparatus with high throughput that can efficiently obtain a product in which an attachment is contained in a container together with an article.

The attachment supply device of the invention according to claim 1 of the present application comprises:
a support (11) having an opening (11c) through which an attachment (10) supported on the upper side can pass downward;
The attachment (10) positioned at the receiving position (S1) below the support (11) and passing through the opening (11c) of the support (11) at the receiving position (S1) is transferred to the attachment (10). a holding part (12) having an opening (12b) through which the attachment (10) can pass downward;
a moving means (13) for moving the holding portion (12) to the receiving position (S1) and a plurality of packing positions (S2) separated from the receiving position (S1);
Arranged corresponding to the plurality of stuffing positions (S2), the containers (15) transferred at the container receiving positions (S8) are moved to the article accommodating positions (S9) below the corresponding stuffing positions (S2). a plurality of container conveying devices (21) that convey and position to
The moving means (13) presses the article (14) against the upper surface of the attachment (10) held by the holding section (12) positioned at the stuffing position (S2), and extends from the article (14). The end portion of the attachment (10) to be taken out is folded along the side of the article (14), and the article (14) passed through the opening (12b) of the holding portion (12) is moved to the stuffing position (S2). ), loading means (16) for loading the container (15) positioned by the container conveying device (21) together with the attachment (10) into the article storage position (S9) below the container ,
The moving means (13) is configured to sequentially move the holding part (12) to a plurality of stuffing positions (S2) each time the attachment (10) is received from the supporting part (11),
During the operation of stuffing the articles (14) and attachments (10) into the container (15) positioned by the container conveying device (21) at the article accommodation position (S9) corresponding to one stuffing position (S2) , the container (15) can be positioned by the container conveying device (21) at the article accommodation position (S9) corresponding to the other stuffing position (S2).
According to the first aspect of the invention, the holding part to which the attachment is transferred from the support is configured to move relative to the support between a receiving position and a position where the article and the attachment are stuffed into the container. As a result, the work of transferring the attachment to the supporting portion and the work of packing the article and the attachment into the container can be performed in parallel, and the throughput per unit time can be improved. In addition, since the holder can be sequentially moved to a plurality of stuffing positions and the articles and attachments can be stuffed into the container, the stuffing operation can be efficiently performed. Furthermore, during the operation of stuffing articles and attachments into a container positioned at an article-receiving position corresponding to one stuffing position, the container can be positioned at an article-receiving position corresponding to another stuffing position, Cycle time for packing articles and attachments can be shortened.

In the invention according to claim 2, a clamping means (17) for vertically clamping the attachment (10) supported by the support portion (11) is provided,
The attachment (10) is gripped by the gripping means (17), and the gripping means (17) is lowered to allow the attachment (10) to pass through the opening (11c) of the support portion (11). It is characterized in that the end portion extending from the clamping means (17) of (10) is bent and the attachment (10) is delivered to the holding portion (12).
According to the invention of claim 2, since the attachment is vertically sandwiched by the gripping means, the end portion of the attachment extending from the gripping means can be properly bent and delivered to the holding portion.

In the invention according to claim 3, a stocker (18) which supports the stacked attachments (10) and is movable to the supply position (S3) and the replenishment position (S4) separated from the supply position (S3);
a transfer means (19) for picking up the attachments (10) stacked on the stocker (18) at the supply position (S3) one by one from above and transferring them to the support portion (11);
The attachment (10) stacked on the stocker (18) at the supply position (S3) is provided with a pedestal (28) capable of supporting the attachments (10) from below and vertically movable, and the pedestal (28) is moved to stack the attachments (10). a lifter (25) for maintaining the height of the top surface of the attachment (10);
a temporary support means (34) for supporting the stacked attachments (10) when the remaining amount of the stacked attachments (10) is less than a predetermined amount;
By supporting the attachment (10) with the temporary support means (34) and lowering the base (28) from the stocker (18), the stocker (18) can be moved to the replenishment position (S4). It is characterized by being configured as follows.
According to the third aspect of the invention, since the height of the upper surface of the stacked attachments is maintained, the attachment picked up by the transfer means is supported without changing the position of the attachment picked up by the transfer means. It can be transferred to the part in an appropriate posture. In addition, when the remaining amount of the stacked attachments becomes less than a predetermined amount, the stocker is moved to the replenishment position to newly stack the attached materials while the remaining amount of the stacked attachments is supported by the temporary support means. Items can be replenished, and there is no need to interrupt attachment pick-up processing for replenishment of attachments, and processing capacity can be improved.

In the invention according to claim 4 , an article conveying conveyor (20) for conveying the article (14) is provided,
The loading means (16) includes a pair of support pieces (59, 59) for supporting from both sides the article (14) conveyed by the article conveying conveyor (20), and an article holding section for holding the upper portion of the article (14). means (60);
The loading means (16) includes a support piece (59) inserted into the container (15) through the opening (12b) of the holding portion (12) when the article (14) is packed into the container (15). , 59), the article (14) is pushed out from the support pieces (59, 59).
According to the invention of claim 4 , when the articles are packed into the container, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a packing mistake in which the articles are not separated from the support pieces, and the articles and attachments can be properly packed into the container.

In the invention according to claim 5 , a plurality of the support portions (11) are arranged side by side in a direction intersecting the movement direction of the holding portion (12), and the holding portion (12) is arranged in the support portion (11). The same number as the
The moving means (13) is characterized by moving the plurality of holding portions (12) integrally between the receiving position (S1) and the packing position (S2).
According to the invention of claim 5 , articles and attachments can be packed in a plurality of containers at once, so that processing capacity can be further improved.

According to the present invention, the work of transferring the attachments to the supporting part and the work of packing the articles and the attachments into the container are performed in parallel, thereby efficiently producing the product containing the attachments together with the articles in the container. Since the data can be obtained in a timely manner, the processing capacity can be improved.

It is a schematic plan view which shows a supply apparatus. FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a stacking section, transfer means, and a container conveying device; 3 is a schematic plan view showing a stacking section, a temporary placement table, and a moving table; FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing a stacking section and transfer means; It is a schematic front view which shows a clamping means, a temporary placing stand, and a moving stand. FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing a carriage and loading means; 1 is a schematic side view showing an article transport conveyor, a container transport device and loading means; FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the process of packing an article together with an attached document into a container, where (a) shows a state in which the attached document supported by the supporting part is sandwiched by the clamping means, and (b) shows the attached document clamped by the clamping means. (c) shows a state in which an article is pressed against the upper surface of the attached document held in the holding section, and (d) shows a state in which the attached document is stuffed into a container together with the article.

Next, preferred embodiments of the attachment feeding device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 7, the feeding device of the embodiment includes a support portion 11 capable of supporting an attachment 10 on the upper side, and a receiving position directly below the support portion 11 below the support portion 11. a holding part 12 which can move to S1 and a stuffing position S2 spaced from the receiving position S1, and which can hold the appendix 10 that has passed through the supporting part 11 at the receiving position S1 in a bent state in which the end faces upward; , a moving means 13 for moving the holding portion 12 to the receiving position S1 and the stuffing position S2, and the article 14 is pressed against the upper surface of the attachment 10 held by the holding portion 12 positioned at the stuffing position S2, thereby loading means 16 for loading the article 14 that has passed through the holding portion 12 together with 10 into the container 15 positioned below the loading position S2. Further, the feeding device includes a clamping means 17 which clamps the attached material 10 supported by the supporting part 11 from its thickness direction and transfers the clamped attached material 10 to the holding part 12, and a stocker 18 which supports the stacked attached material 10. and a transferring means 19 for picking up the stacked attachments 10 supported by the stocker 18 one by one from above and transferring them to the supporting portion 11 . Further, the supply device includes an article conveying conveyor 20 that conveys the articles 14 and a container conveying device 21 that conveys the containers 15 . In the embodiment, a plurality (seven) of the support portions 11 and the holding portions 12 are arranged side by side in a direction intersecting the movement direction of the holding portion 12, and the plurality of attachments 10 are collectively transferred from the support portions 11 to the holding portion. 12, and a case where a plurality of articles 14 are collectively packed together with the attachment 10 into the container 15 will be described. The attached document 10 includes an attached document 10 such as an instruction manual describing how to use the article 14, and the attached document 10 is formed in a rectangular shape by folding a paper sheet. In the embodiments, the moving direction of the holding part 12 is referred to as the front-rear direction, and the direction crossing the moving direction is referred to as the left-right direction, and the front-rear direction and the left-right direction are indicated in each figure.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a stacking section 22 for stacking the attached documents 10 in a stacked state is provided at a distance from the position where the supporting section 11 is arranged. The stacking portion 22 includes a fixed stock portion 23 in which a plurality (seven) of guide portions 23a in the shape of a substantially square cylindrical frame corresponding to the outer shape of the attached document 10 are arranged in the left-right direction (horizontal direction), and the fixed stock. Below the portion 23, it is supported by guide rails 24, 24 extending in the front-rear direction. position) and a replenishment position S4 (the position of the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2) separated from the supply position S3 on the side opposite to the side where the support portion 11 is arranged. . The stocker 18 is provided with the same number of guide portions 18a formed in the same substantially rectangular cylindrical frame shape corresponding to the guide portions 23a of the fixed stock portion 23 and arranged side by side in the left-right direction.

Here, in the embodiment, as the attached document 10, a form in which a paper sheet is folded into a strip shape and then folded back from the center in the longitudinal direction to form a folded portion at one end in the longitudinal direction is adopted. . Attached documents 10 of this form are stacked in the guide portions 18a and 23a of the stacking portion 22 in such a posture that the longitudinal direction is along the front-rear direction and the folded portion is on the front side (support portion side).

A lifter 25 for lifting the attached documents 10 stacked in the guide portion 18a of the stocker 18 positioned at the supply position S3 to the guide portion 23a of the fixed stock portion 23 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the lifter 25 includes an elevating body 27 that moves vertically by means of an elevating means 26, and a plurality of (elevating bodies) 27 that are disposed on the elevating body 27 and on which the attached document 10 is placed in each guide portion 18a. 7) pedestals 28; In addition, each pedestal 28 is rotatably supported by an elevating body 27 on one end side (front side in the embodiment) in the longitudinal direction of the attached document 10, and is tilted by a tilting cylinder 29 such as an air cylinder provided in the elevating body 27. It is configured to be tilted to lift the side of the attached document 10 opposite to the folded portion. The elevating means 26 employs a ball screw (none of which is shown) driven by a drive motor consisting of a servomotor. Further, the lifting means 26 moves the pedestal 28 upward to guide the fixed stock portion 23 when the detection means (not shown) for detecting the decrease of the attached documents 10 detects the decrease of the attached documents 10 . It is configured to maintain the upper surface height (upper surface height level) of the uppermost attached document 10 in the stacked attached documents 10 lifted up to the portion 23a. At the bottom of each guide portion 18a of the stocker 18, placing portions (not shown) for supporting the attached document 10 are provided at four corners that do not interfere with the pedestal 28 that moves up and down.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the transfer means 19 includes a first moving member 31 in which the same number of suction means 30 as the guide portions 18a and 23a in the stacking portion 22 are spaced in the horizontal direction. A first advance/retreat mechanism 32 that advances and retreats and a first elevation mechanism 33 that vertically moves are provided. The suction means 30 are arranged in a front-to-rear direction at an extension portion 31a extending forward in the first moving member 31, and are arranged in a plurality (two in the embodiment) capable of sucking the upper surface of the attached document 10. It consists of adsorption parts 30a and 30a. The first advance/retreat mechanism 32 of the transfer means 19 moves the first moving member 31 to a document pickup position S5 (solid line position in FIG. 30 moves in the front-rear direction between a document supply position S6 (a two-dot chain line position in FIG. 2) facing above the support portion 11 of a temporary placement table 37, which will be described later. Further, the first lifting mechanism 33 of the transfer means 19 moves the first moving member 31 (attraction means 30) up and down at the document pick-up position S5 and the document supply position S6. The transfer means 19 picks up the seven attached documents 10 aligned in the left-right direction in the stacking section 22 by sucking them with the suction means 30 and transfers them collectively to the seven support sections 11 provided on the temporary placement table 37 . do.

When the attached documents 10 are picked up from the fixed stock unit 23 by the transfer means 19 and the remaining amount of the attached documents 10 is less than a predetermined amount, new stacked attached documents 10 are placed in the stocker 18. For replenishment, temporary support means 34 are provided for temporarily supporting the stack of attached documents 10 during the picking process. As shown in FIG. 3, the temporary support means 34 includes a pair of support members 35, 35 facing each other in the front-rear direction and provided with the same number of receiving pieces 35a as the guide portions 23a of the fixed stock portion 23, spaced apart in the left-right direction; Each support member 35 is provided with support cylinders 36, 36 such as air cylinders for moving between a support position where the receiving piece 35a protrudes into the gap between the fixed stock part 23 and the stocker 18 and a retracted position where the receiving piece 35a does not protrude. . Then, when a position detection sensor (not shown) detects that the remaining amount of the stacked attached documents 10 (the lower surface position of the stacked attached documents 10) exceeds the arrangement level of the receiving pieces 35a, 35a on the supporting members 35, 35. Secondly, by moving the support members 35, 35 to the support position by the support cylinders 36, 36, the lower surface of the attached documents 10 being picked up is supported by the receiving pieces 35a, 35a at two points in the longitudinal direction. That is, when the support for the stacked attached documents 10 is released by lowering the pedestal 28 to replenish the newly stacked attached documents 10, the lower surface of the stacked attached documents 10 being picked up is supported by the supporting member 35. ,35. By lowering the pedestal 28 from the stocker 18, the movement of the stocker 18 to the replenishment position S4 is permitted, and the stacked attached documents 10 can be replenished to the stocker 18 that has moved to the replenishment position S4. It's like

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a temporary placement table 37 is arranged spaced forward from the stacking section 22 . The temporary placement table 37 is provided with the same number of the support portions 11 as the guide portions 18a and 23a in the stacking portion 22 and arranged side by side in the horizontal direction at the same interval as the separation interval between the guide portions 18a and 23a. The support portion 11 is formed in a rectangular frame shape, and includes a placement portion 11a formed in a rectangular shape substantially the same as the external shape of the attached document 10 at a position one step lower than the upper surface of the support portion, and the placement portion 11a. An inclined surface 11b is formed so as to widen from each side of the portion 11a toward the upper surface of the support portion (see FIG. 8). The attached document 10 transferred from the stacking section 22 by the transferring means 19 is placed on the placing section 11a, and is planarly supported on the upper side of the supporting section 11. As shown in FIG. A through hole (opening) 11c is formed in the center of the mounting portion 11a so as to penetrate vertically, and the attached document 10 is placed on the mounting portion 11a across the through hole 11c. The width of the through-hole 11c in the left-right direction is set slightly larger than the width of the attached document 10 in the left-right direction. , so that the attached document 10 sandwiched by the sandwiching portions 41a and 42a can pass downward from the through hole 11c together with the sandwiching portions 41a and 42a (Fig. 8(a),(b)).

A moving table 38 is disposed below the temporary placing table 37 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 3, on the moving table 38, the same number of holding parts 12 as the supporting parts 11 in the temporary placing table 37 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction at the same intervals as the supporting parts 11 are separated from each other. The holding portion 12 is formed in the shape of a rectangular frame, and as shown in FIGS. Surfaces 12a, 12a are formed to hold the attached document 10 delivered by the clamping means 17 in a state of being bent into an inverted trapezoidal concave shape by the tapered surfaces 12a, 12a. Further, in the center of the holding portion 12, a passage (opening) 12b that opens vertically is formed. The width of the opening 12b in the left-right direction is set larger than the width of the article 14 in the left-right direction. The length of the attached document 10 is set to be shorter than the length of the attached document 10 held in this state, and the article 14 held by the loading means 16 can pass downward from the opening 12b together with the attached document 10 (Fig. 8 ( c), see (d)). The holding portion 12 is provided with regulating portions 12c, 12c projecting into the frame from the upper ends of the tapered surfaces 12a, 12a, and regulating the longitudinal ends of the folded attached document 10 from moving upward. It is possible to

As shown in FIG. 3, the moving means 13 includes linear slide mechanisms 39, 39 connected to the left and right ends of the moving table 38 and extending in the front-rear direction, and driving means for operating the linear slide mechanisms 39, 39. , and the linear slide mechanisms 39, 39 are operated by the servo motors 40, 40 to move the moving base 38 (the plurality of holding portions 12) to the receiving position S1 (the solid line in FIG. 2). position) and a stuffing position S2 (the two-dot chain line position in FIG. 2) above the article accommodation position S9 set on the container conveying device 21 in the front-rear direction. In the embodiment, two stuffing positions S2 are provided, and the moving means 13 moves the movable table 38 to two stuffing positions each time the attached document 10 is transferred from the support portion 11 to the holding portion 12. It is configured to move alternately (in order) to S2 and S2. With respect to the moving table 38 positioned at the stuffing position S2, the supply side of the attachments 10 and the articles 14 is set above, and the delivery side of the attachments 10 and the articles 14 is set below.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the clamping means 17 includes a pair of clamping members 41 and 42 facing the upper and lower positions of the temporary placement table 37. Each clamping member 41 and 42 is connected to a clamping cylinder 43A such as an air cylinder. , 43B move up and down with respect to the temporary placement table 37 respectively. The holding means 17 includes a first holding member 41 positioned above the temporary placement table 37 and a second holding member 42 positioned below the moving table 38 positioned at the receiving position S1 immediately below the temporary placement table 37. The clamping members 41 and 42 are provided with clamping portions 41a and 42a in the same number as the support portions 11 and the holding portions 12, and are arranged side by side in the left-right direction. Then, by moving the first holding member 41 and the second holding member 42 closer to each other, the attached document 10 placed on the corresponding placing portion 11a of the supporting portion 11 is moved by the holding portions 41a and 42a. It is configured to be sandwiched from the thickness direction (see FIG. 8(a)). The gripping portions 41a and 42a are configured such that the contact portion with respect to the attached document 10 is set to be longer than the front-rear length of the bottom surface of the article 14, and grips the central portion of the attached document 10 in the longitudinal direction. Moreover, the holding portion 41 a of the first holding member 41 is set to have a dimension that allows it to pass through the through hole 11 c of the support portion 11 , and the holding portion 42 a of the second holding member 42 is positioned between the through hole 11 c and the holding portion 12 . The size is set so that it can pass through the opening 12b. Both longitudinal ends of the attached document 10 extending in the front-rear direction from the portion sandwiched by the sandwiching portions 41a and 42a pass through the through hole 11c of the support portion 11 together with the sandwiching portions 41a and 42a that sandwich the attached document 10. When doing so, it abuts against the edge of the mounting portion 11a (the edge defining the through hole 11c), thereby forming a crease along the lateral direction. The attached document 10 in a folded state is transferred to the holding section 12 (see FIG. 8(b)).

As shown in FIG. 1, the article transport conveyor 20 is arranged forwardly away from the temporary placement table 37. As shown in FIG. The article conveying conveyor 20 has two endless chains 44, 44 running in the left-right direction parallel to each other and spaced apart in the front-rear direction. configured to be travel driven; In each endless chain 44, a plurality of bucket sets 46 each consisting of seven buckets 46a for accommodating articles 14 are arranged with a gap in the running direction, and both endless chains 44, 44 run independently. The bucket set 46 of one endless chain 44 and the bucket set 46 of the other endless chain 44 can be alternately positioned at the article pickup position S7 where the article 14 is picked up by the transfer means 19 .

As shown in FIG. 1, an article supply device 47 for supplying the articles 14 one by one to the bucket 46a is arranged on the upstream side (right side of the drawing) of the article pick-up position S7 on the article transport conveyor 20. As shown in FIG. The article supply device 47 supplies the articles 14 pillow-packaged by a filling machine such as a horizontal bag-making and filling machine to the bucket 46a with the ears extending in the front-rear direction intersecting the running direction of the endless chain 44 . A pair of guide members 48, 48 extend for a predetermined length in the article conveying direction (running direction of the endless chain 44) across the article conveying path of the article conveying conveyor 20, and guide the articles 14 supplied to the bucket 46a. Both ears are configured to be bent along the body of the article by the guide members 48, 48 as it is conveyed. The upstream ends of the pair of guide members 48, 48 are formed so as to widen toward the upstream side so that the article 14 can be smoothly introduced between the pair of guide members 48, 48. .

As shown in FIG. 1, the container conveying device 21 is arranged between the temporary placing table 37 and the article conveying conveyor 20 . The container conveying device 21 includes a container conveying body 49 movably supported along a conveying rail (not shown) extending in the left-right direction, and a toothed member connected to the container conveying body 49 and traveling in the left-right direction. It has a belt (not shown) and a servomotor 50 as driving means for driving the toothed belt. A plurality of container conveying devices 21 (two in the embodiment) are arranged in parallel spaced apart in the front-rear direction, and the filling positions S2 are also provided at a plurality of locations. The container carrier 49 has seven container holders 51 for holding the containers 15 arranged side by side in the horizontal direction at the same intervals as the support portions 11 provided on the temporary placement table 37. The container holders 51 have openings facing upward. , the container 15 is held. The container conveying device 21 intermittently moves the container conveying body 49 to a container receiving position S8, an article accommodating position S9, and an article unloading position S10, which are set in order from the upstream side to the downstream side (right to left on the drawing surface) in the container conveying direction. configured to be positioned Incidentally, the container transporter 49 is provided with an elevating cylinder 52 such as an air cylinder for vertically moving the seven container holders 51 integrally. 51 is lowered, and the container holder 51 is raised at the article accommodation position S9 (see FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 1, a container transport conveyor 53 for transporting a plurality of containers 15 toward the container receiving position S8 is arranged on the side (lower side of the drawing) corresponding to the container receiving position S8 in the container transporting device 21. . In the container transport conveyor 53, the seven containers 15 with their openings facing downward are transported toward the container receiving position S8 in a laterally aligned collective state. Downstream of the container transport conveyor 53, a container transfer device 54 for transferring the container 15 from the container transport conveyor 53 to the container holder 51 of the container transport body 49 positioned at the container receiving position S8 of each container transport device 21 is provided. placed. The container transfer device 54 collectively picks up the seven horizontally arranged containers 15 conveyed to the downstream end of the container conveyer 53 , inverts them upside down, and adjusts the interval in the horizontal direction to the interval between the container holders 51 on the container carrier 49 . In other words, seven containers 15 with their openings facing upward are collectively transferred to seven container holders 51 of the container carrier 49 .

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the loading means 16 has the same number of holding devices 55 as the buckets 46a in the bucket set 46 of the article conveying conveyor 20 mounted on a second moving member 56 extending in the left-right direction. , the second moving member 56 is provided at the same intervals as the separation intervals of the buckets 46a, and is provided with a second advance/retreat mechanism 57 that moves the second moving member 56 forward and backward, and a second elevation mechanism 58 that vertically moves the second moving member 56 up and down. The holding device 55 includes a pair of support pieces 59, 59 capable of supporting the article 14 conveyed to the article pick-up position S7 by the article conveying conveyor 20 from the front and rear, and a suction portion (article holding means) 60 for sucking the upper portion of the article 14. , so that each of the seven articles 14 positioned at the article pickup position S7 can be held by the corresponding holding device 55 and picked up all at once. The second advancing/retreating mechanism 57 of the loading means 16 moves the second moving member 56 (seven holding devices 55) above the article pick-up position S7 set on the article conveying conveyor 20 and each container conveying device 21, 21, and moves in the front-rear direction between the article accommodation positions S9, S9 and above. The pair of support pieces 59 , 59 are opened and closed by an opening/closing air cylinder 61 as operating means provided on the second moving member 56 , and the suction portion 60 is operated as operating means provided on the second moving member 56 . is configured to move up and down with respect to the support pieces 59, 59 by means of the lifting air cylinder 62 of . Further, when the article 14 held by the holding device 55 is stuffed into the container 15 together with the attached document 10, the lifting air cylinder 62 lowers the suction portion 60 with respect to the support pieces 59, 59 inserted into the container 15. , are arranged to push the article 14 out of the support pieces 59,59.

Next, the operation of the supply device according to the embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the attached documents 10 stacked on the guide portions 18a and 23a of the accumulating portion 22 are moved to the first position with the first moving member 31 of the transfer means 19 positioned at the document pick-up position S5. 1. By lowering and raising the first moving member 31 by the lifting mechanism 33, the upper surface is sucked by each of the sucking means 30 and picked up one by one from above. The first moving member 31 picking up the attached document 10 by each adsorption means 30 is moved to the document supply position S6 above the temporary placement table 37 by the first forward/backward movement mechanism 32, and 1 When the moving member 31 is lowered, the attachment by the adsorption means 30 is released, so that the attached document 10 is moved to the placing portions 11a of the supporting portions 11 of the temporary placing table 37 with the longitudinal direction facing forward and backward. will be posted. The supporting portion 11 is formed with an inclined surface 11b that widens toward the upper surface of the supporting portion from each side of the placing portion 11a. Even if the attached document 10 is misaligned with respect to the mounting portion 11b, the attached document 10 is guided toward the mounting portion 11a by the inclined surface 11b and mounted in a proper position.

Here, the attached documents 10 stacked on the respective guide portions 18a and 23a of the stacking portion 22 are stacked with the folding portion located on the front side, and the attached documents 10 are stacked on the front side where the folding portion is located and the folding portion. The thickness is different from that of the back side without the back side, and if there are many layers, the upper surface of the uppermost attached document 10 slopes downward from the front side to the back side. Therefore, in the feeding device of the embodiment, the pedestal 28 of the lifter 25 is tilted from the front side to the rear side by the tilting cylinder 29 so that the upper surface of the uppermost attached document 10 is substantially horizontal. Further, when the attached documents 10 are picked up from the stacking unit 22 and the detection means detects the reduction of the stacked attached documents 10, the elevating means 26 of the lifter 25 is actuated to move the pedestal 28 upward. The top surface height level of the topmost attachment of the stacked attachments 10 resting on the pedestal 28 is maintained.

When the position detection sensor detects that the lower surface position of the attached documents 10 stacked in the stacking unit 22 has exceeded the arrangement level of the receiving pieces 35a, 35a of the temporary support means 34 , the support cylinders 36, 36 are operated to move the receiving pieces 35a, 35a to the support position. Further, the lifter 25 operates the elevating means 26 to lower the pedestal 28 from the stocker 18 . When the pedestal 28 descends, the stacked attached documents 10 being picked up are supported at two points on the lower surface by the receiving pieces 35a, 35a of the temporary support means 34, so that the picking up process can be continued. Then, when the stocker 18 is moved from the supply position S3 to the replenishment position S4, and after the stocker 18 is replenished with the new stacked attached documents 10, the stocker 18 is moved to the supply position S3, the elevating means 26 is activated. A new stack of attachments 10 is placed on the pedestal 28 and lifted so that the new stack of attachments 10 is picked up and superimposed under the stack of attachments 10 being processed, and all of the stacks of attachments 10 are stacked. is supported by the pedestal 28 . When all the stacked documents 10 including the stacked documents 10 being picked up are supported by the pedestal 28, the support cylinders 36, 36 of the temporary support means 34 are actuated to move the receiving pieces 35a, 35a to the supporting position. After that, the operation of maintaining the top surface height level of the attached documents 10 stacked based on the detection by the detection means is performed without any trouble.

As shown in FIG. 8(a), in a state in which the moving table 38 is positioned at the receiving position S1 immediately below the temporary placing table 37, the first clamping member 41 arranged above the temporary placing table 37 and the receiving The second clamping member 42 arranged below the movable table 38 at the position S1 moves toward each other, and the attached document 10 supported across the through hole 11c in the support portion 11 is moved in the longitudinal direction. The center is clamped by clamping portions 41a and 42a of clamping members 41 and 42, respectively. By moving downward the clamping members 41 and 42 that clamp the attached document 10 between the clamping portions 41a and 42a, the attached document 10 passes through the through hole 11c and moves onto the moving table 38, as shown in FIG. 8(b). is pushed into each holding portion 12 of the . When the holding portion 41a of the first holding member 41 holding the attached document 10 passes through the through hole 11c, the front and rear ends of the attached document 10 extending from the front and rear edges of the holding portion 41a are held. With the edge of the portion 41a as a base point, the attached document 10 is pushed by the edge of the placement portion 11a and folded upward, and the attached document 10 is creased along the edge of the holding portion 41a.

The attached document 10 pushed into the holding portion 12 of the moving table 38 by the clamping means 17 forms an inverted trapezoid whose front and rear ends spread upward due to the crease. The first clamping member 41 and the second clamping member 42 are separated from each other to release the attached document 10, and the attached document 10 is delivered to the holding unit 12, so that the attached document 10 is bent and held by the holding unit 12. is held to

Here, the article transport conveyor 20 moves the bucket set 46, in which the articles 14 are supplied to the seven buckets 46a by the article supply device 47, to the article pick-up position S7, whereby the seven articles are placed at the article pick-up position S7. 14 are positioned side by side. Further, one of the two container transport devices 21, 21 moves the container transport body 49, in which the containers 15 are supplied to the seven container holders 51 by the container transfer device 54, to the article accommodation position S9, Seven containers 15 are positioned side by side in the article storage position S9.

When the attached document 10 is released from the clamping means 17 and the clamping portion 42a of the second clamping member 42 descends from the moving table 38 at the supply position S3, the moving table 38 moves between the two container conveying devices 21 by the moving means 13. , 21 to the stuffing position S2 above the article accommodation position S9 in the container conveying device 21 whose bucket set 46 has been moved to the article accommodation position S9. In addition, in the loading means 16 in which the second moving member 56 is positioned above the article pick-up position S7 of the article transport conveyor 20, the second lifting mechanism 58 lowers the second moving member 56 to The suction part 60 is brought close to the upper surface of the article 14 until the support pieces 59, 59 of the 1 do not contact the guide members 48, 48. After the suction portion 60 of each holding device 55 is lowered by the lift air cylinder 62 to suck the upper portion of the article 14 supplied to the corresponding bucket 46a, the suction portion 60 is lifted by the lift air cylinder 62. By doing so, the article 14 is picked up from the bucket 46a. When the article 14 picked up by the suction unit 60 rises between the pair of support pieces 59, 59, the opening and closing air cylinder 61 closes the pair of support pieces 59, 59, and the article 14 is lifted from the front and rear sides. Supported. At this time, the ear portions of the article 14 are pressed along the body portion of the article by the pair of support pieces 59, 59 and do not extend sideways. Further, the loading means 16 raises the second moving member 56 by the second lifting mechanism 58 to an upper position where the article 14 held by each holding device 55 does not interfere with the moving table 38 positioned at the loading position S2. Let

Next, the loading means 16 moves the second moving member 56 by the second advancing/retreating mechanism 57 to above the loading position S2 where the moving table 38 is positioned. Then, by lowering the second moving member 56 by the second lifting mechanism 58, the bottom of the article 14 held by each holding device 55 is moved to each of the moving tables 38 as shown in FIG. 8(c). The attached document 10 held by the holding portion 12 is pressed against the upper surface of the portion located above the opening 12b. When the attached document 10 pushed by the article 14 is passed downwardly through the opening 12b of the carriage 38, each of the ends extending forward and backward from the bottom of the article 14 is bent at a preformed crease. are bent and guided along the sides of the article 14. As shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 8(d), the attached document 10 is stuffed from above into each container 15 positioned at the article accommodation position S9 together with the articles 14. As shown in FIG. Since the article 14 is supported from both sides by the supporting pieces 59, 59, the article 14 can be securely packed in the container 15 together with the attached document 10.例文帳に追加Also, the suction unit 60 is lowered by the lifting air cylinder 62 to push the article 14 out of the support pieces 59 , 59 , thereby separating the article 14 from the support pieces 59 , 59 . After that, the suction of the suction unit 60 is released, and the second moving member 56 is lifted by the second lifting mechanism 58 to obtain the product in which the attached document 10 and the article 14 are accommodated in the container 15 . The loading means 16 moves the second moving member 56 from above the article storage position S9 to above the article pickup position S7 to prepare for the next article loading. In addition, one of the container transport devices 21, in which the container holder 51 of the container transport body 49 is packed with the attached document 10 and the goods 14 at the article accommodation position S9, moves the container transport body 49 to the article carrying-out position S10 on the downstream side. At the same time, the other container conveying device 21 moves the container conveying body 49, to which the containers 15 have been supplied at the container receiving position S8, to the article accommodating position S9 to prepare for the next article loading.

The attached document 10 is creased when passing through the through-hole 11c of the support portion 11 in the temporary placement table 37, and is appropriately kept in a folded state when packed into the container 15. The container 15 can be reliably packed. In particular, since the attached document 10 is sandwiched from the thickness direction when the attached document 10 is crease, the fold of the attached document 10 does not become arc-shaped, and the attached document 10 repels the article after it is packed in the container 15. 14 being pushed back into the opening of container 15 can also be avoided. In addition, it is possible to prevent problems such as the attached document 10 being misaligned and the attached document 10 being creased, and the attached document 10 being damaged. Furthermore, when packing the article 14 into the container 15, the attached document 10, which has been pre-curved, is held in a bent state on the holding portion 12 of the moving table 38, and the article 14 is pressed against the inner side of the front and back creases and moved. Therefore, the attached document 10 can be stuffed into the container 15 without shifting the position of the attached document 10 along the side of the article 14 .

The supply device of the embodiment has a temporary placement table 37 on which the attached document 10 is transferred from the stacking unit 22, and a moving stand 38 that holds the attached document 10 in a bent state. Since it is configured to move between the receiving position S1 for receiving and the stuffing position S2 for stuffing the article 14 together with the attached document 10 held in the container 15, the work of transferring the attached document 10 to the temporary placement table 37 and the attachment The document 10 and the article 14 can be packed in the container 15 in parallel, and the throughput per unit time can be improved. In addition, since a plurality of attached documents 10 and articles 14 can be collectively packed in the same number of containers 15, the throughput per unit time can be further improved.

Two container transport devices 21 are arranged in parallel, and attached documents 10 and articles 14 are alternately loaded by the loading means 16 into the containers 15 of the container transport bodies 49 alternately positioned at the two article storage positions S9, S9. Since it is configured to be stuffable, it is not necessary to wait until an empty container 15 is transported to the article receiving position S9, thereby shortening the cycle time required for stuffing the article 14 and the accompanying document 10. FIG. That is, while the containers 15 conveyed to the article storage position S9 by one of the container conveying devices 21 are being filled, the containers can be supplied to the container conveying bodies 49 of the other container conveying device 21. When the filling operation of the container conveying device 21 into the container 15 is completed, immediately the container conveying body 49, which has been supplied with the containers of the other container conveying device 21, is moved to the article accommodation position S9, and the next stuffing operation is performed. can wait. Further, the moving means 13 alternately shifts the moving table 38 to two stuffing positions S2 and S2 each time the attached document 10 is transferred from each supporting portion 11 of the temporary placing table 37 to the holding portion 12. You can deal with it by moving. Also, the article conveying conveyor 20 is configured so that the article 14 can be conveyed to the article pick-up position S7 by two systems of endless chains 44, 44 that run independently. time can be shortened.

When the attached document 10 and the article 14 are stuffed by the loading means 16, the article 14 supported by the support pieces 59, 59 is pushed out by the suction unit 60. Therefore, the article 14 is removed from the support pieces 59, 59. When the supporting pieces 59, 59 are pulled out from the container 15, the article 14 is prevented from being lifted and protruded from the container 15, and the attached document 10 and the article 14 can be properly packed in the container 15. can.

Since the detection means and the lifter 25 are configured to maintain the height level of the top surface of the stacked attachments 10 placed on the pedestal 28 , the adsorption portion 30 a of the transfer means 19 lifts the attached documents. The pick-up position for sucking the attached document 10 does not change, and the uppermost attached document 10 can be surely sucked by the sucking means 30 of the transfer means 19 and picked up one by one. That is, when the attached document 10 picked up from the stacking unit 22 is placed on the placing portion 11a of the supporting portion 11, the attached document 10 is prevented from being placed in a proper posture. be able to. Further, when the remaining amount of the stacked attached documents 10 in the stacking unit 22 is less than a predetermined amount, the stocker 18 is replenished while the stacked attached documents 10 being picked up are supported by the temporary support means 34. Since it is configured to be able to move to position S4 and replenish newly stacked attachments 10, there is no need to interrupt pick-up processing of attachments 10 for replenishment of attachments 10, and processing capacity is improved. can be done.

(Change example)
The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment, and can be modified, for example, as follows. In addition, without being limited to the following modified examples, various embodiments can be adopted for the configurations described in the examples within the scope of the present invention.
(1) In the embodiment, a plurality of supporting portions 11 and holding portions 12 are arranged side by side. , the number of articles 14 positioned at the article pickup position S7 on the article conveying conveyor 20 and the number of containers 15 positioned at the article storage position S9 on the container conveying device 21 may be set correspondingly.
(2) The stacking section 22 can be composed only of the stocker 18 .
(3) A configuration in which one or more than three container conveying devices 21 are arranged can be adopted.
(4) In the embodiment, the suction part 60 of the loading means 16 is configured to suck the upper surface of the article 14, but the side part of the article 14 may be sucked, or the upper part of the article may be held by the gripping member instead of the suction part 60. A gripping configuration can be adopted.
(5) Attachments are not limited to documents, and may be attachments that need to be packed in a container together with the article.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 attached document (attachment), 11 support portion, 11c through-hole (opening), 12 holding portion 12b through-hole (opening), 13 moving means, 14 article, 15 container, 16 loading means, 17 clamping means, 18 stocker, 19 Transfer Means 20 Article Transport Conveyor 25 Lifter 28 Pedestal 34 Temporary Support Means 59 Support Piece 60 Adsorption Part (Article Holding Means) S1 Receiving Position S2 Packing Position S3 Supply Position S4 Replenishment Position

Claims (5)

a support portion having an opening through which an attachment supported on the upper side can pass downward;
Positioned at a receiving position below the supporting part, the attached article passed through the opening of the supporting part at the receiving position can be held in a bent state in which the end of the attached article faces upward, and the attached article a holding part having an opening that can pass downward;
moving means for moving the holding portion to the receiving position and a plurality of packing positions spaced apart from the receiving position;
a plurality of container conveying devices arranged corresponding to the plurality of packing positions for conveying and positioning the containers transferred at the container receiving positions to the article accommodating positions below the corresponding packing positions;
The moving means presses the article against the upper surface of the attachment held by the holding portion positioned at the stuffing position, and the end of the attachment extending from the article is bent along the side of the article. a loading means for packing the article, which has passed through the opening of the holding part, into the container positioned by the container conveying device at the article accommodation position below the packing position, together with the attachment ;
The moving means is configured to sequentially move the holding part to a plurality of stuffing positions each time an attachment is received from the supporting part,
During the operation of stuffing articles and attachments into a container positioned at an article accommodation position corresponding to one stuffing position by the container conveying device, an article accommodation position corresponding to another stuffing position is filled by the container conveying device. configured to position the container
An attachment supply device characterized by: A clamping means for vertically clamping the attachment supported by the support part,
The attachment is held by the holding means, and by lowering the holding means, the attachment is passed through the opening of the supporting portion, the end portion of the attachment extending from the holding means is bent, and the attachment is held by the holding portion. 2. The device for feeding attachments according to claim 1, wherein the device is configured to deliver attachments. a stocker supporting stacked appendages and movable to a supply position and a refill position spaced from the supply position;
a transfer means for picking up the attachments stacked in the stocker at the supply position one by one from above and transferring them to the support section;
a lifter having a pedestal that supports the attachments stacked in the stocker at the supply position from below and is movable in the vertical direction, and that moves the pedestal to maintain the height of the upper surface of the stacked attachments;
Temporary support means for supporting the stacked attachments when the remaining amount of the stacked attachments is less than a predetermined amount,
3. The attachment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the attachment is supported by the temporary support means, and the base is lowered from the stocker so that the stocker can be moved to the replenishment position. feeding device. An article conveying conveyor that conveys the article,
The loading means comprises a pair of supporting pieces for supporting the article conveyed by the article conveying conveyor from both sides, and an article holding means for holding the upper part of the article,
When the article is packed into the container, the loading means lowers the article holding means with respect to the support piece inserted into the container through the opening of the holding section, thereby loading the article together with the attachment onto the support piece. The attachment feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , characterized in that it is configured to be pushed out from. A plurality of the support portions are arranged side by side in a direction intersecting the movement direction of the holding portion, and the same number of the holding portions as the support portions are arranged side by side at the same intervals,
5. The attachment feeding device according to claim 1, wherein said moving means is configured to move a plurality of holding portions together between said receiving position and said stuffing position.

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