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JP-7857053-B2 - Primary packaging machine

JP7857053B2JP 7857053 B2JP7857053 B2JP 7857053B2JP-7857053-B2

Inventors

  • 富山 賢一
  • 西田 英之

Assignees

  • ベストパック株式会社

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20241126
Priority Date
20231208

Claims (20)

  1. A primary packaging machine for wrapping an object with film, When viewed from above, the X-axis and Y-axis directions are hypothetical directions for supplying the film, which are perpendicular to each other in the horizontal plane. A workpiece set unit having a frame that forms an opening that penetrates in the vertical direction, An object support structure is positioned below the opening and supports the object by aligning the lower surface of the object with a main virtual horizontal plane, which is a virtual horizontal plane. A lifting device that allows the aforementioned object support structure to be raised and lowered, A film supply device that, when viewed along the Y-axis, can feed a pair of films along the X-axis from the left and right sides of the opening toward the center of the opening, A film welding and cutting device that can weld a pair of films that have passed through the opening and hang down downwards along the Y-axis at a position above an object placed on the film, and cut the welded portion, which is the welded band, along the Y-axis to separate it into upper and lower sections, Control equipment and Equipped with, The aforementioned control device The aforementioned film supply device has a film feed dimension determination function that determines the film feed dimension, which is the dimension by which the film necessary to wrap and enclose an object is fed out, based on the contour of the object viewed along the Y-axis, corresponding to the object. The film supply device has a film feeding function that, when viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis, feeds the pair of films along the X-axis from the left and right of the opening toward the center of the opening, such that the dimensions of each film being fed correspond to the film feeding dimensions determined by the film feeding dimension determination function in accordance with the object, while the pair of films are welded together in a strip shape along the Y-axis and are then fed toward the center of the opening. The lifting device has a stop-and-maintain function that stops the object support structure by aligning the main virtual horizontal plane with a stop position obtained by lowering it by a predetermined vertical distance from a specific part of the opening, which is a specific part of the opening, and maintains that state. After the object passes through the opening and falls onto a pair of integrated films laid on the main virtual horizontal plane, the film welding and cutting device welds the pair of films that have passed through the opening and are hanging down along the Y-axis in a strip shape above the object, and the welded portion, which is the welded part, is cut along the Y-axis to separate it into upper and lower parts, and To achieve A primary packaging machine characterized by the following features.
  2. The lifting device stop-maintaining function is realized so that when the lifting device maintains the stopped state of the object support structure, the stopping position that coincides with the main virtual horizontal plane changes vertically in accordance with the dimensions of the object. The primary packaging machine according to feature 1.
  3. When the lifting device stops and maintains the lifting device, and the object support structure remains stopped, the stopping position, which coincides with the main virtual horizontal plane, changes vertically in accordance with the height dimension of the object's outline when viewed along the Y-axis. The primary packaging machine according to feature 2.
  4. The workset unit has a frame that forms an opening through which the workpiece passes vertically, and a gate that is a door structure that can open and close the opening and has a gate top surface which is an upper surface on which an object can be placed. The aforementioned control device When the gate is closed, and the film supply device feeds a pair of films from the left and right of the opening towards the center of the opening along the X-axis, as viewed from the Y-axis, the films are welded together in a strip along the Y-axis and laid as a single unit on the upper surface of the gate, and when an object is placed on the single unit of films laid on the upper surface of the gate, the gate opens the opening, opening opening function. To achieve The primary packaging machine according to feature 3.
  5. The film feeding function is a function that feeds a pair of films along the X-axis from the left and right sides of the opening toward the center of the opening, with the film supply device viewing the pair of films along the Y-axis and feeding them out in a strip-like manner along the Y-axis toward the center of the opening, such that the sum of the feeding dimensions of the pair of films fed out along the X-axis toward the center of the opening, matches the film feeding dimension determined by the film feeding dimension determination function in accordance with the object. The primary packaging machine according to feature 4.
  6. A first sensor has an optical sensor that can detect whether the optical axis emitted along the Y-axis at at least one point on the virtual line of the aperture, which is a virtual line extending along the X-axis near the aperture when viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis, is obstructed or not obstructed by an object. Prepare, The lifting device stop maintenance function is a function that maintains the state in which the lifting device stops the object support structure by aligning the main virtual horizontal plane with the first stop position, which is a stop position obtained by lowering the main virtual horizontal plane by a first vertical distance from the specific part of the opening, when the object passes through the opening and the optical axis of the first sensor is not obstructed by the object. The primary packaging machine according to feature 5.
  7. The aforementioned elevator stop maintenance function is, The lifting device has stopped the object support structure by aligning the main virtual horizontal plane with the first stop position, and when the object passes through the opening and the optical axis of the first sensor is obstructed by the object, the lifting device lowers the object support structure, and when the optical axis of the first sensor is no longer obstructed by the object, it stops lowering and maintains the object support structure in the stopped position, which is the second stop position. The primary packaging machine according to feature 6.
  8. A second sensor has multiple optical sensors that can detect whether each optical axis, which is lined up at predetermined intervals along the virtual line of the opening (a virtual line extending along the X-axis near the opening when viewed along the Y-axis) and emitted along the Y-axis, is obstructed or not obstructed by an object. Prepare, The aforementioned film feeding dimension determination function is a function that determines the film feeding dimension based on the number of optical sensors among the multiple optical sensors of the second sensor whose optical axis is obstructed when the lifting and lowering device stop and maintain function is being implemented. The primary packaging machine according to feature 7.
  9. The aforementioned film feed dimension determination function, when the lifting and lowering device stop and maintain function is implemented, derives the object contour circumference, which is the circumference of the object's outline as viewed along the Y-axis, based on the number of optical sensors among the multiple optical sensors of the second sensor whose optical axis is obstructed, and determines the film feed dimension from the derived object contour circumference. The primary packaging machine according to feature 8.
  10. The film feeding dimension determination function, while the lifting device stop-maintain function is being implemented, records the maximum number of optical sensors among the multiple optical sensors of the second sensor whose optical axis is obstructed, and determines the film feeding dimension from the contour circumference of the object based on the combination of the vertical separation distance between the opening-specific portion and the main virtual horizontal plane when the lifting device maintains the state in which the object support structure is stopped, and the recorded maximum number of obstructed optical sensors. The primary packaging machine according to feature 9.
  11. The aforementioned control device After the aforementioned film separation function is implemented, The film supply device has a film rewinding function that rewinds a pair of films along the X-axis from the center of the opening to the left and right of the opening, such that when viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis, the pair of films are welded together in a strip shape along the Y-axis and become one unit, and the total rewinding dimension, which is the sum of the rewinding dimensions of the pair of films rewinding along the X-axis from the center of the opening to the left and right of the opening, matches the film rewinding dimension. To achieve, Here, the film rewind dimension is the dimension by which the film supply device rewinds the film. The primary packaging machine according to feature 10.
  12. A primary packaging machine is a device used to wrap an object in film as a pre-treatment before vacuum packaging it in a vacuum packaging machine located downstream. The object support structure has a main conveyor that can be moved up and down by the lifting device and can move laterally along the X-axis an object wrapped in film that is placed on the main virtual horizontal plane. The primary packaging machine further, A lateral conveyor that supports an object wrapped in film in a state that is receivable from the main conveyor and receivable by a vacuum packaging machine, by aligning the lower surface of the object with a virtual horizontal plane which is a virtual horizontal plane for lateral transport, and can move the object laterally along the X-axis. A third sensor having an optical sensor provided at the boundary between the main conveyor and the lateral conveyor, which can detect whether the optical axis emitted along the Y-axis is obstructed or not by an object being laterally conveyed from the main conveyor to the lateral conveyor, Equipped with, The aforementioned control device The maximum total length along the X-axis of one or more film-wrapped objects that can be accepted by the vacuum packaging machine is defined as the vacuum packaging machine acceptance length M. When the lifting equipment stop and maintain function is implemented, the object contour X-axis width dimension estimation function estimates the object contour X-axis width dimension, which is the width dimension in the X-axis direction of the contour of the object passing through the opening, as viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis. The lifting device starts raising and lowering the main conveyor, aligns the main virtual horizontal plane with the third stop position, which is the same vertical position as the lateral virtual horizontal plane, stops the main conveyor, and maintains that state. Based on the estimated object contour X-axis width dimension, when it is determined that the total length along the X-axis of the film-wrapped object placed on the main conveyor, which is arranged in series along the X-axis, and the single or multiple film-wrapped objects placed on the horizontal conveyor does not exceed the vacuum packaging machine's receiving length M, the main virtual horizontal plane and the horizontal virtual horizontal plane coincide, and the main conveyor and the horizontal conveyor begin horizontally moving the film-wrapped objects. When the film-wrapped object on the main conveyor and the single or multiple film-wrapped objects on the horizontal conveyor are placed in series on the horizontal conveyor, the main conveyor and the horizontal conveyor stop horizontally moving. To achieve, Here, The virtual horizontal plane of a vacuum packaging machine is a virtual horizontal plane that supports the object for the vacuum packaging machine to accept the object. The primary packaging machine according to feature 11.
  13. The aforementioned lateral feeding function determines, based on the estimated object contour X-axis width dimension, that the total length along the X-axis of the object wrapped in film placed on the main conveyor (which is hypothetically arranged in series along the X-axis) and the single or multiple film-wrapped objects placed on the lateral feeding conveyor exceeds the vacuum packaging machine receiving length M. When the lateral feeding virtual horizontal plane and the vacuum packaging machine virtual horizontal plane coincide, the main conveyor does not feed laterally, and the lateral feeding conveyor feeds the single or multiple film-wrapped objects placed on the lateral feeding conveyor in series to the vacuum packaging machine. The primary packaging machine according to feature 12.
  14. The film feeding function is a function that feeds a pair of films along the X-axis from the left and right sides of the opening toward the center of the opening, with the film supply device viewing the pair of films along the Y-axis and feeding them out in a strip-like manner along the Y-axis toward the center of the opening, such that the sum of the feeding dimensions of the pair of films fed out along the X-axis toward the center of the opening, matches the film feeding dimension determined by the film feeding dimension determination function in accordance with the object. The primary packaging machine according to feature 1.
  15. A first sensor has an optical sensor that can detect whether the optical axis emitted along the Y-axis at at least one point on the virtual line of the aperture, which is a virtual line extending along the X-axis near the aperture when viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis, is obstructed or not obstructed by an object. Prepare, The aforementioned elevator stop maintenance function is, The lifting device has stopped the object support structure by aligning the main virtual horizontal plane with a first stop position, which is a stopping position obtained by lowering the main virtual horizontal plane by a first vertical distance from the specific part of the opening. When the object passes through the opening and the optical axis of the first sensor is not obstructed by the object, the lifting device maintains the stopped state of the object support structure by aligning the main virtual horizontal plane with the first stop position. The primary packaging machine according to feature 1.
  16. A first sensor has an optical sensor that can detect whether the optical axis emitted along the Y-axis at at least one point on the virtual line of the aperture, which is a virtual line extending along the X-axis near the aperture when viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis, is obstructed or not obstructed by an object. Prepare, The aforementioned elevator stop maintenance function is, The lifting device has stopped the object support structure by aligning the main virtual horizontal plane with a first stop position, which is a stop position obtained by lowering the main virtual horizontal plane by a first vertical distance from the specific part of the opening. When the object passes through the opening and the optical axis of the first sensor is obstructed by the object, the lifting device lowers the object support structure. When the optical axis of the first sensor is no longer obstructed by the object, the device stops lowering and maintains the stopped state of the object support structure. The primary packaging machine according to feature 1.
  17. A primary packaging machine for wrapping an object with film, When viewed from above, the X-axis and Y-axis directions are hypothetical directions for supplying the film, which are perpendicular to each other in the horizontal plane. A workpiece set unit having a frame that forms an opening that penetrates in the vertical direction, An object support structure is positioned below the opening and supports the object by aligning the lower surface of the object with a main virtual horizontal plane, which is a virtual horizontal plane. A lifting device that allows the aforementioned object support structure to be raised and lowered, A film supply device that, when viewed along the Y-axis, can feed a pair of films along the X-axis from the left and right sides of the opening toward the center of the opening, A film welding and cutting device that can weld a pair of films that have passed through the opening and hang down downwards along the Y-axis at a position above an object placed on the film, and cut the welded portion, which is the welded band, along the Y-axis to separate it into upper and lower sections, A second sensor having multiple optical sensors that can detect whether each optical axis, which is lined up at predetermined intervals along the virtual line of the opening (a virtual line extending along the X-axis near the opening when viewed along the Y-axis) and emitted along the Y-axis, is obstructed or not obstructed by an object, Control equipment and Equipped with, The aforementioned control device is The aforementioned film supply device has a film feed dimension determination function that determines the film feed dimension, which is the dimension by which the film necessary to wrap and enclose an object is fed out. The aforementioned film supply device has a film feeding function that, when viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis, feeds the pair of films together in a strip-like manner along the Y-axis, with the pair of films welded together as one unit along the Y-axis, from the left and right sides of the opening toward the center of the opening along the X-axis, The lifting device has a stop-and-maintain function that stops the object support structure by aligning the main virtual horizontal plane with a stop position obtained by lowering it by a predetermined vertical distance from a specific part of the opening, which is a specific part of the opening, and maintains that state. After the object passes through the opening and falls onto a pair of integrated films laid on the main virtual horizontal plane, the film welding and cutting device welds the pair of films that have passed through the opening and are hanging down along the Y-axis in a strip shape above the object, and the welded portion, which is the welded part, is cut along the Y-axis to separate it into upper and lower parts, and To achieve, The aforementioned film feeding dimension determination function is a function that determines the film feeding dimension based on the number of optical sensors among the multiple optical sensors of the second sensor whose optical axis is obstructed when the lifting and lowering device stop and maintain function is being implemented. A primary packaging machine characterized by the following features.
  18. A primary packaging machine for wrapping an object with film, When viewing from above, we can imagine the X-axis and Y-axis directions as the directions in which the film is supplied orthogonally in the horizontal plane, A workpiece set unit having a frame that forms an opening that penetrates in the vertical direction, An object support structure is positioned below the opening and supports the object by aligning the lower surface of the object with a main virtual horizontal plane, which is a virtual horizontal plane. A lifting device that allows the aforementioned object support structure to be raised and lowered, A film supply device that, when viewed along the Y-axis, can feed a pair of films along the X-axis from the left and right sides of the opening toward the center of the opening, A film welding and cutting device that can weld a pair of films that have passed through the opening and hang down downwards along the Y-axis at a position above an object placed on the film, and cut the welded portion, which is the welded band, along the Y-axis to separate it into upper and lower sections, A second sensor having multiple optical sensors that can detect whether each optical axis, which is lined up at predetermined intervals along the virtual line of the opening (a virtual line extending along the X-axis near the opening when viewed along the Y-axis) and emitted along the Y-axis, is obstructed or not obstructed by an object, Control equipment and Equipped with, The aforementioned control device is The aforementioned film supply device has a film feed dimension determination function that determines the film feed dimension, which is the dimension by which the film necessary to wrap and enclose an object is fed out. The aforementioned film supply device has a film feeding function that, when viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis, feeds the pair of films together in a strip-like manner along the Y-axis, with the pair of films welded together as one unit along the Y-axis, from the left and right sides of the opening toward the center of the opening along the X-axis, The lifting device has a stop-and-maintain function that stops the object support structure by aligning the main virtual horizontal plane with a stop position obtained by lowering it by a predetermined vertical distance from a specific part of the opening, which is a specific part of the opening, and maintains that state. After the object passes through the opening and falls onto a pair of integrated films laid on the main virtual horizontal plane, the film welding and cutting device welds the pair of films that have passed through the opening and are hanging down along the Y-axis in a strip shape above the object, and the welded portion, which is the welded part, is cut along the Y-axis to separate it into upper and lower parts, and To achieve, The aforementioned film feed dimension determination function, when the lifting and lowering device stop and maintain function is implemented, derives the object contour circumference, which is the circumference of the object's outline as viewed along the Y-axis, based on the number of optical sensors among the multiple optical sensors of the second sensor whose optical axis is obstructed, and determines the film feed dimension from the derived object contour circumference. A primary packaging machine characterized by the following features.
  19. A primary packaging machine for wrapping an object with film, When viewed from above, the X-axis and Y-axis directions are hypothetical directions for supplying the film, which are perpendicular to each other in the horizontal plane. A workpiece set unit having a frame that forms an opening that penetrates in the vertical direction, An object support structure is positioned below the opening and supports the object by aligning the lower surface of the object with a main virtual horizontal plane, which is a virtual horizontal plane. A lifting device that allows the aforementioned object support structure to be raised and lowered, A film supply device that, when viewed along the Y-axis, can feed a pair of films along the X-axis from the left and right sides of the opening toward the center of the opening, A film welding and cutting device that can weld a pair of films that have passed through the opening and hang down downwards along the Y-axis at a position above an object placed on the film, and cut the welded portion, which is the welded band, along the Y-axis to separate it into upper and lower sections, A second sensor having multiple optical sensors that can detect whether each optical axis, which is lined up at predetermined intervals along the virtual line of the opening (a virtual line extending along the X-axis near the opening when viewed along the Y-axis) and emitted along the Y-axis, is obstructed or not obstructed by an object, Control equipment and Equipped with, The aforementioned control device is The aforementioned film supply device has a film feed dimension determination function that determines the film feed dimension, which is the dimension by which the film necessary to wrap and enclose an object is fed out. The aforementioned film supply device has a film feeding function that, when viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis, feeds the pair of films together in a strip-like manner along the Y-axis, with the pair of films welded together as one unit along the Y-axis, from the left and right sides of the opening toward the center of the opening along the X-axis, The lifting device has a stop-and-maintain function that stops the object support structure by aligning the main virtual horizontal plane with a stop position obtained by lowering it by a predetermined vertical distance from a specific part of the opening, which is a specific part of the opening, and maintains that state. After the object passes through the opening and falls onto a pair of integrated films laid on the main virtual horizontal plane, the film welding and cutting device welds the pair of films that have passed through the opening and are hanging down along the Y-axis in a strip shape above the object, and the welded portion, which is the welded part, is cut along the Y-axis to separate it into upper and lower parts, and To achieve, The film feeding dimension determination function, while the lifting device stop-maintain function is being implemented, records the maximum number of optical sensors among the multiple optical sensors of the second sensor whose optical axis is obstructed, and determines the film feeding dimension from the contour circumference of the object based on the combination of the vertical separation distance between the opening-specific portion and the main virtual horizontal plane when the lifting device maintains the state in which the object support structure is stopped, and the recorded maximum number of obstructed optical sensors. A primary packaging machine characterized by the following features.
  20. The aforementioned control device After the aforementioned film separation function is implemented, The film supply device has a film rewinding function that rewinds a pair of films along the X-axis from the center of the opening to the left and right of the opening, respectively, so that when viewed with the line of sight along the Y-axis, the pair of films are welded together in a strip shape along the Y-axis and become one, and the total rewinding dimension, which is the sum of the rewinding dimensions of the pair of films rewinding from the center of the opening to the left and right of the opening, matches the film rewinding dimension. To achieve, Here, the film rewind dimension is the dimension by which the film supply device rewinds the film. The primary packaging machine according to feature 1.

Description

The present invention relates to a primary packaging machine for wrapping an object with film. In particular, it relates to a primary packaging machine for wrapping an object with film as a pretreatment for vacuum packaging the object in a downstream vacuum packaging machine. A primary packaging machine is used to wrap and enclose the object in film. A primary packaging machine may be used to wrap the object in film as a pretreatment before vacuum packaging the object in a vacuum packaging machine located downstream. For example, after a primary packaging machine wraps an object in film, the wrapped object is sent to a vacuum packaging machine downstream, which then vacuums the film to vacuum-pack the object. The meat of livestock such as beef, pork, and chicken, as well as the meat of large fish, which has been separated into many parts (parts), is vacuum-packed one by one at high speed using a small amount of film, and information about the history of the meat is printed on each individual package. Traditionally, beef carcasses are divided into 26 parts such as loin, rib, and fillet, vacuum-packed, and then stored and transported at around 0°C, either by heating to shrink the film or by cooling without shrinking the film, as so-called chilled beef. Beef carcasses are processed by, for example, placing the cut meat into inflation-formed, bottom-sealed bags, 200mm to 600mm wide. The bags are then vacuum-sealed using a vacuum packaging machine, the film is shrunk with a hot water shower, cooled with cold water, and stored and delivered at around 0°C. For example, the lower film is unwound, a portion of meat is placed on the lower film, the upper film is unwound and placed over each portion of meat on the lower film and sealed, the center of the sealed portion is cut to form a cylindrical sealed body with the meat sandwiched between the upper and lower films, this cylindrical sealed body is sucked from both openings and the openings are sealed to create a vacuum seal and obtain a four-sided sealed body. Various films are available for packaging these cuts of meat. Furthermore, some users, such as mass retailers, who desire to simplify tray packaging operations, request that a single animal be divided into 74 or 138 parts and delivered in individually vacuum-sealed packaging. When providing a packaging machine to meet these needs, even if the above packaging method involves unwinding the top and bottom films, the top and bottom films are unwound at a constant pitch for each piece of meat, followed by suction and vacuum sealing. As the size of the meat portion decreases, the amount of packaging material used doubles or triples, and the packaging efficiency decreases to half or one-third. In the above packaging method, the time required for suction and vacuum sealing accounts for a large proportion of the total packaging time. The inventors considered a primary packaging machine that could meet the above needs and further improve work throughput. This is a perspective view of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is a side view of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is a plan view of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is the first explanatory diagram of the operation of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is a second diagram illustrating the operation of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is the third diagram illustrating the operation of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is the fourth diagram illustrating the operation of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is a functional block diagram of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is the fifth diagram illustrating the operation of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The following describes embodiments for carrying out the present invention. A primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the figures. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a side view of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a plan view of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is the first explanatory diagram of the operation of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is the second explanatory diagram of the operation of a primary packaging machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is the third explanatory diagram of the operation of a