JP-2026074569-A - Packaging assembly and boxing machine with buffer function

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a packaging assembly and boxing device that can improve operational efficiency by having a large buffer capacity available and maintaining a periodic cycle of assembly and transportation over a long period, even when it is anticipated that there will be a surplus or shortage of packaging being transported. [Solution] If the number of bagged packages Bp being transported by the first belt conveyor 4 is excessive for assembling into a group of bagged packages, the excess packages are transferred to a buffer conveyor mechanism 80 located to the side of the first belt conveyor 4 by a parallel link robot 6 that performs transfer and aggregation. If the number of bagged packages Bp being transported is insufficient for assembling into a group of bagged packages, the bagged packages Bp waiting in the buffer conveyor mechanism 80 are directly replenished by the parallel link robot 6 onto the second belt conveyor 10 where the bagged packages Bp are aggregated. [Selection Diagram] Figure 5

Inventors

• 土橋 大介
• 菊池 真義

Assignees

• 株式会社川島製作所

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241021

Claims (6)

1. A first conveying means for conveying packaged bodies manufactured and discharged by a packaging machine, A second conveying means is arranged to the side and adjacent to the first conveying means, The transfer and assembly means includes a gripping body capable of gripping or releasing the aforementioned packaging body, and transfers the packaging body that has been transported by the first transport means to the second transport means by operating the gripping body, and during the transfer, the transfer and assembly means collects the multiple packaging bodies that have been transferred to the second transport means as a group of packaging bodies. The system includes a packing means positioned adjacent to the downstream end of the second conveying means in the conveying direction, which fills the group of packages that have been conveyed to the downstream end by the second conveying means into a box in one batch, and a buffer mechanism positioned adjacent to the first conveying means on the side opposite to the second conveying means and capable of storing a plurality of packages. The aforementioned transfer and collection means is a package collection and boxing device equipped with a buffer function, which in response to an excess of the packaged packages being transferred from the first transport means, transfers the surplus packages to the buffer mechanism for standby and storage, and in response to a shortage of the packaged packages being transferred from the first transport means, transfers the packages that are standby and stored in the buffer mechanism to the second transport means to replenish the shortage of packaged packages.
2. The packaging assembly and boxing apparatus with a buffer function according to claim 1, wherein the buffer mechanism is provided with a packaging position changing means for changing the position of the packaging stored in the buffer mechanism in order to secure a transfer destination space when transferring the packaging from the first transport means and a packaging that will be the source of the transfer when transferring the packaging to the second transport means in predetermined positions.
3. The packaging assembly and boxing apparatus with a buffer function according to claim 1, wherein the transfer and assembly means is a parallel link robot equipped with a gripping device for gripping the packaging at the tip of a parallel link.
4. The packaging assembly and boxing apparatus with a buffer function according to claim 1, wherein the buffer mechanism is a belt conveyor arranged in a single row adjacent to the first conveying means or arranged in multiple rows side by side.
5. The packaging assembly and boxing apparatus with a buffer function according to claim 4, wherein the belt conveyor consists of two belt conveyors arranged in series in the conveying direction of the first conveying means and capable of transferring the packaging to each other.
6. The buffer mechanism is a curved conveyor having an endless or ended travel path that is curved in at least part of it, with one end and the other end positioned close together and facing each other, and the packaged packages that are in excess in the first transport means are waited for and stored in the travel path, and the packaged packages that are waited for and stored in the travel path are transferred to the second transport means to replenish any insufficient packaged packages in the first transport means.

Description

This invention relates to a packaging assembly and boxing device that collects multiple packages manufactured by a packaging machine and transported sequentially, and then boxes the collected packages. The device is equipped with a buffer function to handle any surplus or shortage of packages that may occur during the transport and assembly of the packages. Conventionally, a boxing system has been put into practical use in which bag packaging units, such as those manufactured one after another by a bag packaging machine (e.g., a bag-making, filling, and packaging machine), are collected in groups, and then packed into box containers such as cardboard boxes. In such a boxing system, the transport, collection, transfer, and boxing of bag packaging units are performed sequentially according to predetermined procedures, but various forms and structures have been devised to execute each process. Specifically, a wide variety of forms and structures have been devised for transport means such as conveyors, collection means such as collection robots, and boxing means that grasp the collected bag packaging units in bulk and fill them into box containers. By collecting bag packaging units manufactured by a packaging machine and sequentially transported by transport means, and then grasping the collected group of bag packaging units and boxing them with boxing means, the collection and boxing processes of the transported bag packaging units are performed efficiently. As an example of such a boxing system, a corrugated cardboard boxing system has been proposed that includes, from the upstream side, a packaging machine that wraps products in packaging material to produce bagged packages, an upward inclined conveyor that transports the bagged packages produced by the packaging machine, a corrugated cardboard box making machine that unfolds folded corrugated cardboard boxes and forms boxes, and a corrugated cardboard caser that collects the transported bagged packages and packs them into corrugated cardboard boxes in their collected state (see Patent Document 1). Figure 9 is a side view showing an example of a conventional vertical bag-making, filling, and packaging machine and a box-packing system installed thereafter. The corrugated cardboard box-packing system 50 shown in Figure 9 is connected to the vertical bag-making, filling, and packaging machine 51, which discharges the manufactured bag-packaged bodies Bp from the bottom end, and is incorporated to constitute a bag-packaged body manufacturing and box-packing line. The vertical bag-making, filling, and packaging machine 51 is a conventionally well-known packaging machine and includes a former 52 that bends a strip of packaging material Fw unwound from a packaging material roll Fr into a roughly cylindrical shape, a filling cylinder 53 assembled to penetrate vertically through the former 52 and through which the product S to be packaged is fed, a vertical sealing device 54 that forms the strip of packaging material Fw into a cylindrical packaging material Ft by applying heat seals to both end edges of the roughly cylindrical strip of packaging material Fw to form a center seal (vertical seal), a horizontal sealing device 55 disposed below the filling cylinder 53 that seals the product inside the bag by applying an end seal (horizontal seal) to the cylindrical packaging material Ft, and a discharge chute 56 that discharges the manufactured bag packaging Bp. The vertical bag-making, filling, and packaging machine 51 is connected to an upward inclined conveying conveyor 60 consisting of several upward belt conveyors 61 that transport the discharged bag packaging Bp while raising it. As the bagged packaging Bp is transported upward on the upward inclined conveyor 60, its weight is measured by a weight checker 62 and its height by a height measuring device 63. Bagged packaging Bp whose measured values are outside the specified range are removed from the system at this stage as defective products. The corrugated cardboard box packing system 50 is connected to the downstream end of the upward inclined conveyor 60. At the downstream end of the upward-inclined conveyor 60, where it has reached its highest point, a consolidation conveying device 70 is connected in a horizontal position. The bagged packages Bp transported by the upward-inclined conveyor 60 are collected by the consolidation conveying device 70 as a group of bagged packages Gbp consisting of multiple bagged packages Bp. The bagged packages Gbp are, for example, in a state where multiple bagged packages Bp are stacked in a sashimi-like fashion or collected in a flat arrangement. The consolidation conveying device 70 may be equipped with a direction changing device that, as a preliminary step for collecting the bagged packages Bp during transport, picks up and rotates the bagged packages Bp to change their orientation relative to the transport direction, and a sorting device that, after the direction change, sort