JPH04201830A - Unpacking device of cigarette package - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable automatic take-out of cigarette packs out of an outer package by a method wherein the outer package in which a plurality of cigarette packs are housed is cut along a longitudinal direction, each half part is transferred onto a separating conveyor while being reversed so that a cut surface is directed downward, and on the separating conveyor, the inside cigarette pack is separated from the outer package itself. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of outer packages in each of which a plurality of cigarette packs are housed, for example, parcels P are piled in a feeding hopper 16 and drawn one by one by a first conveyor 64. The parcel P, while being transferred by the first conveyor 64, is cut by a first cutter 22 along the center in the longitudinal direction of the parcel P to cut off its upper half part. When both half parts HP drop down on a separating conveyor 26, shock of dropping down is transmitted to the cigarette packs housed inside, and each pack slips out of a parcel material. The pack then drops downward through an opening between bars 98 of a conveyor, whereby the parcel and the packs are separated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an apparatus for unwrapping cigarette outer packages, and more specifically, when reusing defective cigarettes, the outer packages, such as parcels, cartons, This invention relates to an unwrapping device used for removing cigarette wrappers from cardboard.

[Prior Art] Normally, 20 cigarettes are packaged as a set, and each set of 10 or 20 cigarettes is packaged in an outer package such as a barcel, a carton, or cardboard. Conventionally, since defective cigarettes were present inside the outer package, when the cigarettes were to be broken up and the tobacco from the cigarettes to be reused, the cigarettes had to be removed entirely by hand. That is, the procedure was to first manually unwrap the outer package and take out the cigarette wrapper, then manually unwrap the package again and take out the cigarette from there.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned removal operation is very troublesome, and there is also the problem that the empty package and the outer package become bulky as waste.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to provide a device contributing to a system for automating the removal of cigarettes from the outer packaging. In particular, the present invention provides an unwrapping device for unwrapping a cigarette from an outer package.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above object is achieved by a cigarette outer package unwrapping device according to the present invention having the following configuration. That is, the unwrapping device of the present invention includes a supply member that supplies the exterior bodies containing a plurality of cigarette wrappers one by one, and a supply member that receives the exterior bodies from the supply member and moves the exterior bodies along the longitudinal direction. a cutter that cuts the exterior body on the conveyor along its longitudinal direction; and a member that turns over both halves of the exterior body after cutting so that the cut surfaces thereof face downward. , a separating conveyor with an opening that receives the two halves in an inverted state and drops the inner package downward while supporting the exterior body portions of the two halves.

In a desirable embodiment, the device further includes a separation guide that sequentially separates both halves of the cut exterior body into left and right sides before being turned over. Further, the conveyor with an opening has a structure in which a pair of endless chains are passed at regular intervals, and has a conveying surface at a position lower than the height of the conveying surface of the separating guide, and When it is reversed, it is delivered in a fallen state onto the above-mentioned conveyor with an opening.

[Operation] According to the unwrapping device for an exterior body of the present invention, the exterior body containing a plurality of cigarette wrappers is first cut along its longitudinal direction. After cutting, each half of the outer package is transferred onto a separating conveyor while being inverted so that the cut surface faces downward, and here the outer package itself and the cigarette wrapper inside are separated. In the embodiment in which the two halves are delivered in a falling state onto the separating conveyor while being reversed, the impact upon falling effectively contributes to the separation of the cigarette packet from the half-packet.

[Example Cigarette Retrieval System FIG. 1 is a front view showing the entire structure of a cigarette retrieval system incorporating an exterior body unwrapping device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.

As shown in the figure, this system includes an outer package unwrapping device 1o for removing the cigarette wrapper from the outer package, and a cigarette separating device 12 for removing the cigarette from the wrapper.

The unpacking device 1o and the separating device 12 are connected to a scraping conveyor 14.
connected via.

A plurality of exterior bodies, such as parcels, containing a plurality of cigarette wrappers are stacked in a supply hopper 16 and supplied one by one to a transport mechanism 18. The parcels are transported along their longitudinal direction by the transport mechanism 18 and cut along the center of the same longitudinal direction by first and second cutters 22,24. After cutting, each half of the parcel is transferred onto a separating conveyor 26 while being inverted so that the cut surface faces downward, where the parcel and the cigarette wrapper inside are separated. Details of the unwrapping device will be described later.

The empty parcels are conveyed as they are by the separation conveyor 26 and put into the parcel squeezing device 32.

In the squeezing device 32, the parcels are crushed, reduced in bulk, and collected from the outlet of the device into a predetermined container (not shown). The parcels collected here are cut into two along the longitudinal direction and crushed.

On the other hand, the packages taken out from the parcels are transferred to the separating conveyor 2.
6 is collected at the bottom of the scraping conveyor 14 by a chute 28 disposed below the scraping conveyor 14. Subsequently, the wrapper is lifted by the scraper conveyor 14 and placed into the cigarette separating device 12 via the hopper 34.

The separating device 12 has a rotating drum 38 consisting of a number of pipes 36, each pipe 36 arranged in a drainboard-like manner at intervals somewhat larger than the dimensions of the cigarette. Shoulder plates 42 are attached to the inner surface of the pipe of the rotating drum 38 at a plurality of locations. Further, a plurality of rakes 44 are disposed within the rotating drum 38, and these rakes 44 are supported by a shaft that has a rotating shaft aligned with the drum 38 and that rotates in the opposite direction. The axis of the rotating drum is somewhat inclined toward the right in FIG. The cut cigarettes and the packet containing them are separated by the stirring action between the rake 44 and the shoulder plate 42 of the rotating drum that rotate in opposite directions.

Empty packets are fed through the drum under gravity along the slope of the drum 38 and are fed into a packaging press (not shown) via an exit chute 46. This squeezing device is of the same type as the above-mentioned squeezing device 32 for Basel, and the package is crushed inside it, and the package is recovered into a predetermined container (not shown) from the outlet of the device. The package recovered here is cut into two in the transverse direction and is in a crushed state.

On the other hand, the unwrapped cigarettes pass through the gaps between the pipes of the drum and are collected via the lower chute 48 into the container 52 of the carrier. The cigarettes collected here were cut into two in the transverse direction.

Cigarette outer packaging unwrapping device FIGS. 3 to 5 are an enlarged front view, plan view, and side view of the unwrapping device 10, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3, a hopper 16 for stacking a plurality of parcels is provided on the left side, that is, upstream, of the apparatus. The hopper 16 has an outlet on the lower right side, the dimensions of which correspond approximately to the cross section of one bar cell.

The bottom of the hopper 16 is formed by a table 62 defining a guiding surface for the parcels. A cutout groove is formed in the table 62 along the longitudinal center of the device 10, and a first conveyor 64 is disposed directly below the cutout groove.

The conveyor 64 is a conveyor 64 that extends to approximately one-third of the right side of the device 10.
It consists of an endless chain of books, and buttons 66 are attached at three equally spaced locations around the chain. conveyor 6
2 is driven clockwise in the figure by a motor 68 via a chain belt 67. Therefore, the parcels in the hopper 16 are discharged one by one from the outlet of the hopper 16, with the rear end lower side being pushed by each busher 66.

Adjacent to the outlet of the hopper 16, side guides 71 on both sides
A top guide 72 is also provided. Both side guides 71 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the notch groove of the table 62 and spaced apart by the width of one parcel. Further, the top guides 72 are arranged to face the conveyance surface of the table 62 with an interval equal to the height of one parcel.

Therefore, the parcels discharged from the hopper 16 are pushed by the first conveyor 62, the table 62, the guide 71.
72.

The top guide 72 has a fork shape (see FIG. 4) having a notched groove corresponding to the center of the parcel to be conveyed.

A first cutter 22 is disposed corresponding to the groove of the fork-shaped guide 72, ie at the longitudinal center of the parcel. The first cutter 22 is arranged to cut slightly beyond the upper half of the parcel so as not to interfere with the butcher 66 of the first conveyor 64. The cutter 22 is driven counterclockwise in the figure by a motor 74 via a belt.

A second conveyor 76 is disposed above the table 62 with the starting end approximately at the end of the first conveyor 64 . The conveyor 76 consists of two endless chains running on both sides along the length of the device 1o and extending to about two-thirds of the right side of the device 10. Around the second conveyor 76, pushers 78 are attached at three equally spaced locations for pushing the parcels.

The second conveyor 76 is driven counterclockwise in the figure by a motor 68 via a common belt 67 with the first conveyor 64, and its conveyance speed is set to be the same as that of the first conveyor 64.

A second cutter 24 is disposed below the second conveyor 76 and below the table 62 so as to protrude from a cutout groove in the center of the table 62. The second cutter 24 is arranged to cut slightly beyond the lower half of the parcel so as not to interfere with the butcher 78 of the second conveyor 76. The second cutter 24 is driven clockwise in the figure by a motor 82 via a belt. The parcel is completely separated along its longitudinal center by cutting by both the first and second cutters 22,24.

As shown in FIG. 4, a wedge-shaped separation guide 84 is disposed at the center of the table 62 following the second cutter 24. As shown in FIG. In addition, both side guides 71 also extend to both sides in parallel with the side surfaces of the separation guide 84. Each half holiday of the parcel after cutting is
As it is conveyed by the second conveyor 76, it is separated by the separation guide 84 and moved along both side guides 71.

Separation guide 84 terminates generally at the same location as second conveyor 76 , following which an opening 86 is formed in table 62 . The opening 86 is formed large, and the table 62 is
Only narrow arrays 88 remain adjacent to both side guides 71.

A pair of reversing guides 92 are arranged so as to protrude above the opening 86 at a higher position than both side guides 71 . The reversing guide 92 is arranged so as to support the upper part of the cut surface of each parcel after cutting. Both reversing guides 92 are driven by a solenoid 94 disposed above the right end in these figures, and can be operated so that their lower edges approach each other in a manner described later. Solenoid 94 is actuated by a signal from a pair of photosensor members 96 located adjacent the right end of reversing guide 92 .

A third conveyor, that is, a separation conveyor 26 is disposed below the table opening 92. The 0-separation conveyor 26 has a pair of endless chains disposed on both sides below the table 62, and a chain between the two chains. It has a structure having bars 98 passed at regular intervals. Therefore, the conveyance height of the separation conveyor 26, that is, the position of the bar 98, is the initial conveyance height of the table 6.
2 (ultimately array 88). The bars 98 of the separating conveyor 26 are such that when the cut halves of the parcels are supported with the cut side down, the parcels themselves remain on the conveyor 26 and the cigarette salt inside is in the gap between the pars 98. determined to fall through (an opening). The separation conveyor 26 is connected to the second conveyor 76 via a chain belt 99, and its conveyance speed is set to be the same as that of the first and second conveyors 64, 76.

A chute 28 is arranged below the separation conveyor 26 to collect the packages removed from the parcels.

These packages are conveyed through a chute 28 to a scraping conveyor 1.
The cigarettes are collected at the bottom of the cigarette 4, then lifted by the conveyor 14, and fed into the cigarette separating device 12 via the hopper 34.

Next, the operation of the device 10 will be described step by step with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, 6A to 6E, and 7A and 7B.

A plurality of exterior bodies, such as parcels P, containing a plurality of cigarette wrappers are stacked in the supply hopper 16 and pulled out one by one by the first conveyor 64 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). While being conveyed by the first conveyor 64, the upper half is first cut along the longitudinal center by the first cutter 22 (see FIG. 6A).

Next, the parcel P is transferred to the second conveyor 76, and the lower half is cut along the longitudinal center by the second cutter 24, so that the parcel P is completely divided (see Fig. 6B).
. The two divided halves HP are gradually separated from the distal end side toward both sides by the separation guide 84 (see FIGS. 4 and 6C).

After passing through the separation guide 84, both halves HP are delivered to positions on both sides of the opening 86. In this case, the upper part of the cut surface is the inversion guide 92, and the outer side part is the side guide 7.
1 and with their outer bottoms abutting the arrays 88, respectively (see Figures 6D and 7A).

When completely pushed out by the pusher 78 of the second conveyor 76, the tips of both halves HP pass through the position of the photo sensor member pair 96. Detecting this passage, the sensor member pair 96 issues a signal, and in response to this, the solenoid 94 is actuated to flip the reversing guide 92 inward. As a result, both halves H
P loses its support and falls onto the separation conveyor 26 while being reversed so that the cut surface faces downward, and is transferred onto this (
(See Figures 6E and 7B). When both halves HP fall onto the separating conveyor 26, the impact of the fall is transmitted to the cigarette packets inside each half-half HP, and each color slides out of the parcel material itself of each half-half HP. The pieces of each color then fall downward through the openings between the pars 98 of the conveyor, separating the parcels from the parcels.

The empty parcels are conveyed as they are by the separation conveyor 26 and put into the parcel squeezing device 32.

On the other hand, the packages that have fallen from the parcel are transported to the separating conveyor 26.
The scraping conveyor 14 is collected by a chute 28 disposed below the scraping conveyor 14.

In the above embodiment, a mode was shown in which the barsel is reversed while being dropped onto the separation conveyor, but this may also be configured such that it is gradually reversed along a curved guide. However, as mentioned above, in order to remove the cigarette wrapper inside the parcel, it is effective to apply an impact such as by dropping the parcel. For this reason, even if reversal is performed using a curved guide, it is desirable to apply an impact to the parcel half-rest by dropping it after reversing, hitting the parcel half-rest from above, or applying strong vibration to the parcel cell half-off.

Also, although the above embodiment uses two cutters, this could be one cutter that completely cuts the parcel at one time. Furthermore, although parcels have been described as an example of the exterior packaging, the present invention is naturally applicable to exterior packaging made of materials such as cartons and cardboard.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the cigarette outer package unwrapping device of the present invention, the cigarette wrapper can be automatically taken out from the outer package, reducing the labor cost that was conventionally required by manual operation. can be significantly reduced. Further, in an apparatus in which the bar cell is inverted while being dropped onto the separating conveyor, it is possible to reliably take out the cigarette wrapper inside the parcel with a simple structure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the entire structure of a cigarette retrieval system incorporating an exterior package unwrapping device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. FIGS. 3 to 5 are a front view, a plan view, and a side view, respectively, showing the unpacking device in an enlarged manner. 6A to 6E are schematic side views for explaining the operating mode of the same unpacking device, and FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic plan views for explaining the operating mode of the same unwrapping device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Exterior body unpacking device, 12... Cigarette separation device, 14... Raising conveyor, 16... Hopper,
18...Conveyor, 22.24...Cutter, 26.
... Separation conveyor, 32... Exterior body pressing device. Applicant: Japan Tobacco Inc. Figure 1 Figure 5 Figure 6A Figure 6B Figure 6C Figure 6D Figure 6E Figure 7A Figure 78

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A supplying member that supplies the exterior bodies containing a plurality of cigarette wrappers one by one, and receiving the exterior bodies from the supply member and conveying the exterior bodies along the longitudinal direction thereof. a cutter for cutting the exterior body on the conveyor along its longitudinal direction; and a member for inverting both halves of the exterior body after cutting so that their cut surfaces face downward;
A separating conveyor with an opening for receiving the two halves in an inverted state and dropping the inner wrappers downward while supporting the outer packagings of the two halves. 2. The unwrapping device according to claim 1, further comprising a separation guide that sequentially separates both halves of the cut exterior body from side to side before being turned over. 3. The conveyor with an opening has a structure in which bars are passed between a pair of endless chains at regular intervals, and has a conveying surface at a position lower than the height of the conveying surface of the separating guide, and 3. The unpacking device according to claim 2, wherein when the package is reversed, the package is delivered in a dropped state onto the conveyor with an opening.