JPH0228170Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a product posture control device in an apparatus configured to continuously perform the tasks of packaging, weighing, and pricing products.

(Prior art) A packaging machine, a weighing machine, and a label pasting machine are combined to perform packaging work on products placed in trays.
A device configured to continuously perform a weighing operation and a pricing operation of pasting a label on which a price, etc. is printed according to the weight value obtained by the weighing operation,
For example, it is used in back sensors for supermarket products.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, conventional devices of this type have the following problems.

That is, the products are fed into the feeding section of the packaging machine in a tray sideways, that is, with the longitudinal direction of the tray perpendicular to the feeding direction, and accordingly, when the products are fed out of the packaging machine, It is in a horizontal position. This is because the packaging machine is configured to process the product with the product facing sideways in order to perform wrapping and sealing operations effectively. While being transferred from the labeling machine to the labeling machine via the weighing machine, the posture is likely to be disturbed, resulting in uneven labeling positions by the labeling machine or mistakes in labeling. Therefore, this type of equipment is equipped with a posture control mechanism that changes the posture of the product sent out from the packaging machine from horizontal to vertical. Because the structure was simple, simply making contact with the product, when the product made contact with the product, it sometimes bounced back and did not hold the product in the correct vertical position, so the worker often had to correct the product's posture. .

Furthermore, this type of packaging, weighing, and pricing equipment is composed of the above-mentioned packaging machine, weighing machine, label pasting machine, etc., and a large number of devices such as multiple conveyors that transport products between these machines. Therefore, their power consumption is large, and it is therefore desirable to stop unnecessary devices when the supply of products is interrupted.
Therefore, it has been considered to place sensors that detect the passage of products at appropriate positions on the product transfer route, and to stop the downstream equipment when the product is not detected for a certain period of time. In addition to the above-mentioned attitude control mechanism, a product detection sensor is also disposed on the transfer route, and the configuration around the route becomes complicated.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention addresses the above-mentioned problems in the conventional art, and includes a posture control device installed in the transport path of products from a packaging machine to a weighing machine or a labeling machine. The structure includes a swinging member that is able to elastically swing toward the downstream side of the conveyor from a state that extends from the side of the conveyor and protrudes toward the center of the conveyor, and the swinging member According to
A sensor is configured that detects the product through a swinging motion caused by contact with the product and controls the operation of a downstream device.

(Function) According to this configuration, when the corner of the product comes into contact with the swinging member, the member swings elastically toward the downstream side of the conveyor, thereby preventing the product from bouncing back or the like. , the product can be turned around smoothly and reliably, and the label can always be affixed to the correct position. By detecting the passage of the product through the swinging motion of the swinging member, it becomes possible to control the operation of the downstream device without providing a separate sensor.

(Example) The present invention will be described below based on an example shown in the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the packaging, weighing, and pricing device 1 includes a packaging machine 2, a U-shaped intermediate conveyor 3 connected to the product discharge section of the packaging machine 2, and the intermediate conveyor 3. a weighing machine 7 having an inclined turn conveyor 4 connected to the turn conveyor 4, a width shifting conveyor 5 connected to the width shifting conveyor 5, a weighing conveyor 6 connected to the width shifting conveyor 5; It is composed of a connected discharge conveyor 8, a label pasting machine 9 disposed above the discharge conveyor 8, and an operation box 10. 5. Weighing conveyor 6 and discharge conveyor 8
A U-shaped product transfer path is formed from the supply position A to the discharge position B adjacent to the position A. Here, the turn conveyor 4 to the discharge conveyor 8, the label pasting machine 9, and the operation box 10 are installed on a common pedestal 11.

However, the starting end 4 of the turn conveyor 4
An attitude control device 12 is provided at one corner of a to bring the product, which is fed in a horizontal attitude from the packaging machine 2 via the intermediate conveyor 3, into a vertical attitude. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, this attitude control device 12 includes a support member 14 fixed to a frame 4b on the inner side of the turn conveyor 4 via an attachment member 13, and a support shaft 15 attached to the support member 14. a base swinging member 16 pivotally supported via the base swinging member 16, a swinging member 17 fixed to the base swinging member 16, and the swinging member 1
The base swinging member 16, the swinging member 17, and the rollers 18, 19 are integrally shown in FIG. 3 with the support shaft 15 as the center. It is configured to be able to swing toward the downstream side of the conveyor 4 from a state of protruding perpendicularly toward the center of the turn conveyor 4 . A screw 2 is provided between the support member 14 and the base swinging member 16.
A spring 22 supported by points 0 and 21 is attached, and is biased by the spring 22 in a state facing the center of the conveyor 4 shown in the figure, in the above-mentioned orthogonal protruding state,
One end of the base swing member 16 abuts against the support member 14 and is stopped. Here, the rollers 18, 19
One of the rollers 18 is pivotally supported by the tip of the swinging member 17, and the other roller 19 is located closer to the inside of the conveyor 4 than the roller 18 and slightly upstream of the conveyor 4. It is pivoted. In addition, the insertion holes 1 of the mounting screws 22, 22 for mounting onto the frame 4b in the mounting member 13 are
3a, 13a are elongated holes long in the width direction of the conveyor 4, and as shown in FIG.
The insertion holes 14a and 14a of 3 and 23 are also elongated holes that are elongated in the vertical direction, so that the support member 14, the swinging member 16,
The positional relationship of rollers 17 to 18 and 19 with respect to the conveyor 4 can be adjusted in the width direction and up and down direction of the conveyor 4.

Further, the attitude control device 12 also serves as a sensor for detecting the passage of a product. That is, as shown in FIG.
a, the light receivers 24b are fixed to the upper surface of the light receivers 24b so as to face each other, and the light shielding part 16a provided on the base swinging member 16 is rotated by the swinging of the base swinging member 16 to close the light transmitter 24.
It is configured to switch from a state in which light from a to the light receiver 24b is blocked to a state in which it passes, and passage of the product is detected through the swinging motion of the member 16 when the product comes into contact with the light receiver 24b. .

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

When products are sequentially fed in trays to a supply section 2a provided at one end of the packaging machine 2, the products are covered from above with a stretched film in the packaging section 2b, and the edges of the film are The film is folded into the bottom of the tray, and the edge of the film on the back side of the bottom of the tray is thermally welded at the sealing section 2c, and then sequentially sent out by the discharge conveyor 2d at the sealing section 2c. In that case, the product is supplied to the supply section 2a in a horizontal position,
Along with this, the paper is also sent out from the discharge section 2d in a horizontal position.

Then, this product is delivered to the turn conveyor 4 via the intermediate conveyor 3 while maintaining its horizontal position. The corners of the tray or the ends of the longitudinal sides of the tray abut against the rollers 18 and 19 of No. 12. Therefore, only the opposite side of the product is sent forward with the contacting corner or side edge being received by the rollers 18 and 19, and this causes the product to change from a horizontal position to a vertical position. You can change direction depending on your posture. At this time, the rollers 18, 19 and the swinging member 16,
17 is the impact when the product comes into contact with the conveyor 4
spring 2 due to the force that tries to send the product forward.
2 to the downstream side of the conveyor 4. This reduces the impact and allows the product to change its position smoothly and effortlessly.

Thereafter, the product passes between guide members 4c, 4c provided on both sides of the turn conveyor 4 in a vertical position, and is delivered to the width-adjusting conveyor 5. Then, the inclined roller 5 in the width shifting conveyor 5
a...5a, and one side abuts a guide member 5b provided on the side on the front side with respect to the transfer direction, and is sent forward along the guide member 5b. . As a result, the product is placed in a vertical orientation and the position of one side is restricted, and in this state it is delivered to the weighing conveyor 6 of the weighing machine 7. The weight of the product is measured in the weighing machine 7, and the measured value is sent as an electric signal to the labeling machine 9, and the price of the product is determined by multiplying it by a preset unit price (price per unit weight). As requested, the price, weight and other characters are printed on the label in the printing section of the labeling machine 9. In the meantime, the product is transferred from the weighing conveyor 6 of the weighing machine 7 to the discharge conveyor 8, and when passing under the labeling machine 9, the product is given the above price etc. by the labeling section of the labeling machine 9. A label with this printed on it will be attached.

As described above, the packaging work, weighing work, and pricing work for the products supplied to the packaging machine 2 are performed continuously, but during this time the products are changed from horizontal packaging to vertical packaging by the posture control device 12. By changing the direction to the posture and regulating the position of one side by the width-adjusting conveyor 5 in that posture, the label is always fed into the labeling machine 9 in a constant positional relationship. This allows the label to be pasted at a constant position.

However, in the posture control device 12, when the product comes into contact with the rollers 18 and 19, the rollers 1
As the swinging members 16 and 17 swing together with 8 and 19, the light shielding part 16a of the swinging member 16 allows light to pass from the light emitter 24a to the light receiver 24b, which means that the product has come into contact with the light. It is detected that the product is sent from the packaging machine 2 to the turn conveyor 4 via the intermediate conveyor 3, and a predetermined electric signal is output. This electric signal is used to control the downstream equipment, and when the signal is not output for a certain period of time, the width closing conveyor 5 below the turn conveyor 4,
By stopping the weighing machine 7, the discharge conveyor 8, and the label pasting machine 9, wasteful power consumption is prevented. In this case, since the detection of the product is performed by the operation of the (base) swinging member 16 that constitutes the posture control device 12 as described above, the configuration around the product transfer route is complicated when a separate sensor is provided. This will avoid the In addition, compared to the case where the passage of the product itself is detected by a light emitter and a light receiver installed on both sides of the conveyor, the light emitting distance is shorter for the light emitter and the light receiver, and therefore, the light emitting device is inexpensive and troublesome. It becomes possible to use a device that does not require axis adjustment.

(Effects of the invention) As described above, according to the posture control device of the present invention, the label is always placed at the appropriate position on the product in a device that sequentially performs the tasks of packaging, weighing, and pricing products. This eliminates the need for the operator to correct the posture of the product, and prevents the production of products to which the label is not properly affixed. Moreover, since the sensor is configured to detect the passing of a product and control the operation of the downstream device by the operation of the swinging member constituting the attitude control device, it is possible to configure the sensor to control the operation of the downstream device. This will prevent unnecessary power consumption without complicating things.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 is a front view of the entire packaging, weighing, and pricing device, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the main parts, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the main parts. Similarly, FIG. 5 is a side view taken along line V--V in FIG. 3. 2... Packaging machine, 4... Conveyor (turn conveyor), 9... Label pasting machine, 12... Attitude control device, 16, 17... Swinging member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A posture control device in which a product sent out from a packaging machine in a horizontal position is converted into a vertical position by a swinging member protruding from the side of a conveyor and then sent to a labeling machine, wherein the swinging member is connected to the side of the conveyor. The swing member is capable of elastically swinging toward the downstream side of the conveyor from a protruding state toward the center, and the swinging member detects the product through a swinging motion caused by contact with the product,
A posture control device in a product packaging, weighing, and pricing device, characterized in that it constitutes a sensor that controls the operation of a downstream device.