JPH0138471B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic cigarette supplying apparatus for supplying cigarettes to a supply hopper on a cigarette packaging machine using a tray containing cigarettes.

(Prior art) Conventionally, a rotating body equipped with two symmetrical tray holding frames is installed near a supply hopper so that it can rotate intermittently through 180 degrees, and tobacco storage trays are moved intermittently at regular intervals on the sides. A transfer device is installed in parallel to transport the empty trays from the other holding frame of the rotating body while dropping and feeding the rolled cigarettes from the tray supported by one holding frame to the hopper, and also to add a new full tray. A device for transporting trays from a transfer path to the holding frame, that is, a rotating body device with a double tray holding frame was found (Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-5032).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional device described above is a system in which the tray is directly taken in and out from the tray transfer path to the holding frame of the rotating body, and therefore the tray transfer path is flush with the holding frame of the rotating body. It is a structure that is installed at a high place.

However, when using a transport vehicle that arranges and transports the trays, the actual trays are moved on the floor and lifted from the transport vehicle onto a high transfer path in order to reduce the rotation radius of the rotating body. This requires additional work and causes a decrease in work efficiency.

Therefore, in order to enable the use of a transport vehicle together with the above-mentioned double type rotating body, it is being considered to interpose a lift mechanism that raises and lowers the tray between the transport vehicle and the tray holding frame of the rotary body. If a simple lift mechanism is used, the tray hoisting path becomes one way, and it takes time to raise and lower the tray (reciprocating), which poses a problem in increasing the speed of the cigarette packaging machine.

In view of such conventional circumstances, the present invention provides a two-way system for the lift mechanism between the rotating body and the transport vehicle in addition to the double-type rotating body, thereby shortening the cycle time of the entire cigarette supply operation. The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic feeding device that can keep up with the increasing speed of cigarette packaging machines.

(Technical Means for Solving the Problems) The automatic feeding device of the present invention has a conveyor that carries trays containing rolled cigarettes at regular intervals and moves them intermittently at the bottom of one side of the machine frame. A rotary body having two tray holding frames placed side by side and having a bottom plate and a tobacco holding plate on the upper side of the other side in a front-back symmetrical manner is placed so as to be able to rotate intermittently through 180 degrees around a horizontal axis, and one of the tray holding frames is held. When the frame is in an upright position behind and above the hopper, the other holding frame is in an inverted position directly above the hopper, and a lift frame equipped with an endless shaft extending in the vertical direction is attached to the machine frame and rotated 180 degrees. At the same time, the two tray holders are installed vertically symmetrically on the endless rail, and when the frame turns, the endless rail is rotated to swing and move the two tray holders up and down, and the lower holder is fixed above the conveyor vehicle. The upper holder is parallel to and faces the upright holding frame of the rotating body, and the tray is placed between the transport vehicle and the lift frame from the upper position of the transport vehicle to the lower holder. The present invention is characterized in that a conveyance mechanism is provided for taking the tray in and out, and a conveyance mechanism for taking the tray in and out from the upper holder to the upright holding frame is provided between the lift frame and the rotating body.

(Example) To explain an example of the present invention with reference to the drawings, the first example is as follows.
In the figure, 1 is a machine frame. A lift frame A is installed on this machine frame 1 so that it can rotate freely 180 degrees horizontally, and a carrier B is installed on one side of the machine frame 1 (on the right side in the figure) so that it can move forward and backward. At the same time, the first transport mechanism C is constructed, a side frame 1' is installed adjacent to the other side of the machine frame 1 (on the left side in the figure), and a supply hopper 2 is installed at the lower front of this side frame 1'. At the same time, there is a rotating body D on the top.
Installed so that it can be rotated intermittently.

Further, a second transport mechanism E is installed above the machine frame 1.

The machine frame 1 has a machine stand 1a at its lower part and a support wall 1b at its upper part, and a lift frame A is vertically supported on its shafts across both 1a and 1b, and is installed so as to be freely pivotable in the horizontal direction. A crank 11 and a lever 12 oscillated by the crank 11 are mounted on the support wall 1b, and the tip of the lever 12 is provided with a tooth profile 12'.

The lift frame A has its upper support shaft 13 protruding above the support wall 1b, a gear 14 is integrally attached to the protrusion, and the gear 14 is meshed with the tooth profile 12'. Tooth profile 12',
Through the gear 14, the lift frame A is rotated 180 degrees in the horizontal direction and made to move backward (third
Fig. 4).

Pulleys 15, 15', 16, 16' are rotatably attached to the lift frame A above and below on both the left and right sides, and endless gear belts 3 and 4 are stretched across both pulleys on each side. A tray holder 5a is attached to the lower part of the front surface of the belts 3, 4 via a bracket 17, and a tray holder 5b is attached to the upper part of the rear surface of the belt 3, 4 via a bracket 18.

In addition, the lift frame A has upper pulleys 15,1
A small bevel gear 20 is attached to the pulley shaft 19 that connects the
A fixed shaft 21 whose upper end is fixed to the machine frame 1 is inserted into and protrudes from the upper support shaft 13,
A large bevel gear 22 is fixed to the lower end of the shaft 21, and this gear 22 is meshed with the small bevel gear 20 (FIG. 1).

Therefore, the lift frame A has the crank 11
When it turns 180 degrees in the horizontal direction with the rotation of Holder 5a, 5
Move b up and down.

That is, the two tray holders 5a and 5b are
The lift frame A moves alternately between the lower front position (lower limit position) and the upper rear position (upper limit position) by the above-mentioned turning and raising/lowering operations.

Each of the tray holders 5a and 5b has the same structure, and consists of a roughly shaped frame body in which a back plate 24 and a front plate 24' are connected via a bottom plate 23, one side of which is open, and the other side of which the bottom plate 23 is connected. A stopper 25 is provided which is raised upright.

The holders 5a and 5b are attached to the belts 3 and 4 by fixing the back plate 24 to the brackets 17 and 18, so that the side surface that opens at the lower limit position is located on the transport vehicle B side (the right side in the figure). The transport vehicle B is a hand-transfer cart equipped with wheels 26, 26, . Trays a, which can accommodate the following items, are arranged and transported to one side of the machine frame 1.

A feeding mechanism 28 extending in the front-rear direction is disposed at the lower end of the side surface of the machine frame 1 facing the transport vehicle B, and the bottom plate 2 of the tray holder 5a is located at the lower limit position.
A guide stand 29 is provided at a position flush with 3, and a guide wall 29' is provided above it (FIG. 1).

The transport vehicle B has a hanging piece 30 and a pin 30' integrally protruding from one side of its leg rod to engage with the feed mechanism 28, and the pin is intermittently fed by the feed mechanism 28 at a fixed pitch. Intermittently, the trays a, a... on the conveyor table 27 are sequentially moved one by one to a fixed position, that is, to a lateral position (loading/unloading position) facing the guide table 29 and guide wall 29' of the machine frame 1. move it.

Note that the details of the transport vehicle B and the feeding mechanism 28 are known from Japanese Patent Publication No. 18080/1980, and therefore detailed explanation will be omitted.

The first transport mechanism C is constructed on the transport vehicle B, and has a moving plate 32 fixed to an endless chain 31 having a transport direction perpendicular to the direction afterward of the transport vehicle C, and is movable at the lower end of the moving plate 32. It is formed by integrally protruding arms 6 (Figs. 5 to 7).

The movable arm 6 protrudes with its tip toward the machine frame 1,
A pusher 6 with an opening that passes through the top and bottom at its tip.
a is provided integrally with the pusher 6a, and a pull-back rod 6b that protrudes and retracts from the upper surface of the opening is inserted into the pusher 6a.

The pull-back rod 6b is held hanging down from the movable arm 6 so as to be able to swing elastically, and is provided with a trochanter 33 at the rear end, and in the section where the trochanter 33 engages with the guide surface 34, the pull-back rod 6b engages with the pusher 6a. The trochanter 33 becomes inwardly recessed.
The pull-back rod 6b is removed from the guide surface 34 in the section where the
protrudes upward from the pusher 6a. or,
The retraction rod 6b is provided with a guiding protruding surface 50, and the engaging element 52 is protruded by the air cylinder 51 at the appropriate time.
so that it engages with

The conveyance mechanism C reciprocates the movable arm 6 in the direction of the machine frame 1 with the movable plate 32 positioned at the right end of the chain 31 as a starting point, and at the beginning of the forward movement, the pusher 6a
Immediately after the pull-back rod 6b comes into contact with the side surface of the tray a, the pull-back rod 6b protrudes and moves forward in that state, pushing the tray a on the conveyor table 27 and moving it to the lower limit position via the guide table 29 and the guide wall 29'. Tray holder 5a or 5b located in
(Figure 5).

Next, by the operation of the air cylinder 51, the engager 52 protrudes and lowers the retracting rod 6b via the protruding surface 50, and in this state, the movable plate 32 retreats and moves the movable arm 6 to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. After reversing the vehicle, stop and wait. Tray holders 5a and 5b rotate and move up and down to hold empty tray a', holder 5b.
Or, when 5a reaches the lower limit position and stops, the movable arm 6 advances and temporarily stops, and the engager 52
moves upward, causing the return rod 6b to protrude from the pusher 6a and hook onto the angle portion _a1 of the empty tray a' (Fig. 7).
Then, the movable arm moves back and transfers the tray a' to the transport platform 27.
Immediately before the movable arm 6 returns to its starting position, the return rod 6b retracts into the pusher 6a, and the movable arm 6 is removed from the empty tray a' (FIG. 5).

After the movable arm 6 returns to the starting position, the transport vehicle B is advanced by the feed mechanism 28 to a fixed pitch, and the subsequent tray a is moved to the loading/unloading position facing the guide table 29.

Further, the lower end edge _a2 of the tray a carried into the tray holder 5a or 5b is engaged and supported by the stopper 25 of the holder 5a or 5b.

The rotating body D is integrally fixed to a horizontal shaft 7 which is rotatably hung horizontally at the upper part of the side frame 1', more specifically, at the rear and upper part of the supply hopper 2, and has two rotating arms d and d each having a side surface shape. ′.

The rotary body D has back plates 8a and 8a' made of vertical plates fixed to the front and rear surfaces, respectively, across both arms d and d', and an L which is moved up and down by a lifting rod 35 at the upper end of the back plate 8a.
At the same time, the shaped bottom plate 8b is attached, and the cigarette holding plate 8c is attached to the lower end of the back plate 8a so as to be openable and closable.
a' is an L that is raised and lowered by a lifting rod 35' at the lower end.
Attach the shaped bottom plate 8b' and at the same time attach the tobacco presser plate 8c' to the upper end.

The above-mentioned back plate 8a, bottom plate 8b and tobacco presser plate 8c
constitutes one tray holding frame 8, and the back plate 8
a', the bottom plate 8b', and the tobacco presser plate 8c' constitute the other tray holding frame 8', and both the holding frames 8, 8' are arranged symmetrically front and rear with respect to the horizontal axis 7.

The horizontal shaft 7 is connected to a motor M via a power transmission mechanism 36.
The tray holding frames 8, 8' of the rotating body D are rotated intermittently through 180 degrees by the intermittent drive of the motor M (Figs. 1 and 2), and the tray holding frames 8, 8' of the rotating body D are placed in an inverted position in front of the horizontal shaft 7. The robot is alternately rotated halfway to the upright position behind the horizontal axis 7.

The holding frame 8 or 8' is disposed directly above the hopper 2 in the inverted position, and the tray holder 5a is located at the upper limit position of the lift frame A in the upright position.
Alternatively, the bottom plates 8b or 8b' and 23 are placed on the side of the bottom plate 5b so that they are flush with each other.

The lifting rods 35, 35' of the holding frames 8, 8' are moved in a timely manner by a drive mechanism composed of small motors 37, 37', rotating shafts 38, 38', racks 39, 39', and pinions 40, 40. The bottom plate 8 moves up and down.
b and 8b' are raised and lowered, and the holding plates 8c and 8c' are opened and closed at appropriate times by the operation of air cylinders 41 and 41' (FIGS. 1 and 2).

Further, the holding frames 8, 8' are provided with protruding hooks 42, 42' on both left and right ends of the bottom plates 8b, 8b', which are hooked on the lower edge _a2 of the tray a. A latching claw 4 is designed to hold the loaded tray a, and is one of the latching claws, that is, the side from which the tray a is taken in and taken out.
2' is attached so that it can be opened and closed by a drive mechanism 43 so that there is no problem in taking the tray in and out.

Incidentally, reference numerals 44 and 44' provided on the holding frames 8 and 8' are rods for preventing tobacco from being disturbed.

The second conveyance mechanism E is constructed on the upper part of the back surface of the machine frame 1 (FIGS. 1 and 3), and has the same structure as the first conveyance mechanism C described above, including an endless chain 45, a movable plate 46, a movable arm 9, and a pusher. 9a, retraction rod 9b, trochanter 47, guide surface 4
8, protruding surface 53, air cylinder 54 and engaging element 5
5 (Fig. 8, Fig. 10).

The transport mechanism E has a starting position in which the moving plate 46 is located at one end of the chain 45 (the left end in FIG. 8),
By driving the chain 45, the movable arm 9 together with the movable plate 46 is moved to the upper limit position of the tray holder 5a or 5b.
The upper part is reciprocated in the direction of the side frame 1'.

At the beginning of forward movement of the movable arm 9, immediately after the pusher 9a comes into contact with the side surface of the actual tray a, the trochanter 47 comes off the guide surface 48, causing the retraction rod 9b to protrude from the pusher 9a, and continues to push in that state. Then, the actual tray a is pushed out from the holder 5b or 5a to the tray holding frame 8' or 8 in the upright position of the rotating body D (FIG. 10).

Next, the engager 55 protrudes downward due to the operation of the air cylinder 54, and is pulled back to the retracting rod 9 via the protruding surface 53.
b is lowered, and in that state, the movable plate 46 retreats, and the movable arm 9 is retreated to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 10, and then stops and waits. The tray holding frame 8' or 8, which is in the upright position, moves the bottom plate 8b' or 8b upward as the lifting rod 35' or 35 rises, and the rotating body D carrying the actual tray a moves the actual tray a a predetermined distance above. At the same time, the presser plate 8c' or 8c is moved to close, thereby pressing the upper surfaces of the cigarettes m, m, .

On the other hand, the tray holding frame 8 or 8', which is in an inverted position and which supplies rolled cigarettes m, m... from the actual tray a into the hopper 2, is raised and lowered when the remaining amount of cigarettes in the tray a decreases to a predetermined amount. The rod 35 or 35' rises (corresponds to the downward movement in the upright position) and moves the empty tray a', which has been supplied with cigarettes, a predetermined distance upward (returns it to the position before the upward movement in the upright position). ) (Figure 12). Next, the rotary body D rotates halfway to move the actual tray a to the inverted position and the empty tray a' to the upright position, and the holding plate 8c' or 8c of the tray holding frame 8' or 8, which has reached the inverted position, opens. real tray a
The supply of rolled cigarettes m, m, . . . to the hopper 2 is started (Fig. 13).

On the other hand, when the empty tray a' moves to the upright position, the movable arm 9 of the transport mechanism E moves forward and pauses, and the engaging element 55 moves upward to move the retracting rod 9b.
is made to protrude from the pushing lever 9a, thereby causing the retracting lever 9b to
is latched onto the angle part _a1 of the empty tray a', and then the movable arm moves backward to move the empty tray a' to the tray holder 5.
b or pull back up to 5a.

Therefore, the tray feeding operation of the device of the present invention is performed as follows.
To explain with reference to FIGS. 4 to 20, when the rotary body D is in the inverted position and the real tray a is supplying rolled cigarettes, the real tray a is carried into the tray holding frame 8' in the upright position and waits. , the actual tray a is carried into the tray holder 5a at the lower limit position of the lift frame A and stands by, while the tray holder 5b at the upper limit position is empty (FIG. 14).

Then tray a in the inverted position becomes empty and rotating body D
rotates half, empty tray a′ reaches the established position, and actual tray a
When the roll moves to the inverted position (Fig. 15), cigarettes are fed from the actual tray a (Fig. 13).
At the same time, the empty tray a' is pulled back to the tray holder 5b of the lift frame A by the transport mechanism E.
(Figure 16).

Next, the lift frame A rotates and moves up and down to move the empty tray a' to the lower limit position and the actual tray a to the upper limit position (Fig. 17), and then transfers the actual tray a that has reached the upper limit position to the transport mechanism E. Therefore, the empty tray a', which has reached the lower limit position, is carried back to the tray holding frame 5a of the rotating body D in the upright position, and at the same time is pulled back onto the conveying table 27 of the conveying vehicle B by the conveying mechanism C (the 18th figure).

Thereafter, the conveyance vehicle B is moved to a fixed pitch by the feed mechanism 28 and the actual tray a following the empty tray a' is moved to the loading/unloading position (FIG. 19), and then the conveyance mechanism C
Then, the actual tray a is carried into the tray holder 5b of the lift frame A (FIG. 20), and after being carried in, it enters a standby state (FIG. 14), and the same operation is repeated thereafter.

In the above embodiment, the lift frame A is designed to receive power for lifting and lowering from a planetary gear mechanism in which a small bevel gear 20 provided on a pulley shaft 19 meshes with a fixed large bevel gear 22, so that it can be used for turning and for lifting. The power is provided by a single system, and a lightweight and simple lift frame structure can be achieved in which no lifting power is installed in the lift frame A.

Further, when the tray holding frame 8 or 8' of the rotary body D is in an inverted position where cigarettes are being supplied, when the remaining amount of cigarettes in the holding frame decreases to a predetermined amount, the tray holding frame 8 or 8' is moved by the lifting rod 3.
5 or 35' (Fig. 12), the rotating body D can be moved quickly without fear of interference between the upper end of the fed cigarettes in the hopper 2 and the empty tray a'. It can be rotated in half, thereby further shortening the cycle time.

(Effects) According to the present invention, a rotating body that holds a tray that accommodates rolled cigarettes and changes it from an upright state to an inverted state;
A lift frame equipped with a lifting mechanism is interposed between the transport vehicle, which carries trays at regular intervals and moves intermittently, making it possible to reduce the rotation radius of the rotating body and transporting the hand-held transport vehicle. It can be used as is in a car, and the device structure can be simplified.

The rotating body is equipped with two tray holding frames to create a double type, and in addition, the lift frame has two tray holding frames.
Since two tray holders are provided and the holders are rotated and raised and lowered to form a two-way hoistway, the tray changing operation time (cycle time) of the entire cigarette supplying operation can be shortened and the speed can be increased.

In addition, since the tray is rotated 180 degrees by the lift frame and then transported to the holding frame of the rotating body, the rotating body can be installed on the back side of the upper part of the hopper, and there are no obstacles in front of the hopper, making maintenance and inspection work safe and convenient. It is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the - line, Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the same line, and Fig. 4 is a partially cutaway view of the machine frame. FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view with some parts cut away around the first transport mechanism, transport vehicle, and lift frame; FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the - line; FIG. FIG. 8 is an enlarged rear view partially cut away around the second transport mechanism, the lift frame and the rotating body, and FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the - line. , FIG. 10 is a rear view showing the conveyance state of the second conveyance mechanism in FIG. 8, and FIG. 11 is a rear view showing the conveyance state of the second conveyance mechanism in FIG.
An enlarged sectional view along the line, FIG. 12 is the same sectional view in FIG. 11 just before the rotating body rotates half way, and FIG. 13 is the same sectional view when the rotating body is halfway rotated from the state shown in FIG. 12. 14 to 20 are plan views illustrating the operating sequence of the apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is the machine frame, 2 is the supply hopper, a is the actual tray, a' is the empty tray, m is the cigarette, A is the lift frame, B is the transport vehicle, C is the first transport mechanism, and D is the rotating body. , E is a second conveyance mechanism, 3 and 4 are endless belts, 5a and 5b are tray holders, 6 is a movable arm, and 7
is the horizontal axis, 8, 8' are the tray holding frames, 8a, 8
a' is a back plate, 8b and 8b' are bottom plates, 8c and 8c' are cigarette press plates, and 9 is a movable arm.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 At the bottom of one side of the machine frame, a conveyor car that carries trays containing rolled cigarettes at regular intervals and moves intermittently is placed side by side, and at the top of the other side, two tray holding frames each having a bottom plate and a cigarette holding plate are installed. The rotating bodies, which are symmetrically provided in the front and back, are installed so that they can rotate intermittently by 180 degrees around a horizontal axis, and when one of the holding frames is in an erect state above and behind the hopper, the other holding frame is in an upright position directly above the hopper. The machine is kept in an inverted state, and a lift frame equipped with an endless rail extending in the vertical direction is installed on the frame so as to be able to rotate 180 degrees, and two tray holders are attached vertically symmetrically to the endless rail to allow the frame to rotate. At the same time, the endless rail is rotated to swivel and move the two tray holders up and down, and the lower holder faces the tray in a fixed position on the carrier in parallel, and the upper holder is placed in the upright holding frame of the rotating body. A transport mechanism is provided between the transport vehicle and the lift frame to move the tray in and out from a fixed position on the transport vehicle to the lower holder, and a transport mechanism is provided between the lift frame and the rotating body from the upper holder. An automatic cigarette supply device equipped with a transport mechanism that moves trays in and out of an upright holding frame.