Apparatus for removing packing material from packed article

A packing material removal apparatus for removing a packing material from a package including combined articles herein and supplying the combined articles to a next process by a supplying unit, comprises a cutting unit having a suction opening for sucking the packing material to form a slack section, and a cutter for cutting the slack section, a removal unit having a pair of removal rollers which rotate in opposite directions to each other and on which the package cut by the cutting unit is put, and a drop unit having a transferring board, a shutter board for preventing the combined articles from being transferred to the supplying unit and permitting the combined articles to be sent to the supplying unit, an operation device for moving the shutter board upwardly and downwardly with respect to the transferring board, and side boards for supporting both ends of the combined articles on the transferring board.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an apparatus for removing packing material from a 
packaged good or article in manufacturing process to supply the good or 
article to a following process. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Generally, in a canning process in which contents, such as beer, beverage, 
food, engine oil, etc., are filled up in a can, the can is sealed in such 
a manner that the mouth of the can body is covered with a can lid to be 
seamed with each other after the contents are filled up in the can body. 
The can lid is manufactured separately from the can body and a plurality of 
can lids are piled up in a pillar shape to be packed by a packing 
material. Thereafter, in the canning process, the lids are supplied one by 
one to the can bodies in which contents are filled up to be seamed with 
the can body after removing the packing material from the package of can 
lids. 
The applicant already proposed an apparatus which is mentioned in Japanese 
Patent Application No. 63-322608 as an apparatus for removing packing 
material which packs can lids piled in a pillar shape. 
Namely, the apparatus has a suction mechanism for sucking the package of 
the can lids supplied to the canning process. The suction mechanism sucks 
the packing material of the packed can lids to form a slack or loosened 
section between the can lids and the packing material. And, after cutting 
the slack section by a cutter to form an opening, a packing material 
removal unit removes the packing material cut by the cutter from the can 
lids. 
However, in the above mentioned apparatus, there is a problem as follows. 
Namely, the can lids are easily separated from each other in a feeding 
process in which the can lids are fed to a seamer after the packing 
material is removed from the package of the can lids piled up in the 
pillar shape. If the can lids are separated, the works must be stopped. 
The above mentioned problem exists not only in an apparatus for removing 
packing material from the package of can lids in the canning process, but 
also in various packing material removal apparatuses for removing packing 
material from packed goods in various manufacturing processes. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of this invention is to provide a packing material removal 
apparatus in which articles or goods combined in a line are not separated 
from each other even after packing material is removed from the combined 
articles and the combined articles can be smoothly supplied to a 
manufacturing process. 
The packing material removal apparatus according to this invention can 
remove a sheet-like packing material from a package thereby to supply the 
combined articles to the next process through a supplying unit. The 
packing material removal apparatus comprises a cutting unit having a 
suction opening for sucking the packing material to form a slack section 
which forms a space between the packing material and the combined 
articles, and a cutter for cutting the slack section, a removal unit 
having a pair of removal rollers which rotate in opposite direction to 
each other while supporting the package cut by the cutting unit in order 
to remove the packing material from the package by biting the packing 
material between the removal rollers, and a dropping unit having a 
transfer board provided, between the removal unit and the supplying unit, 
in a state of declining from the removal rollers toward the supplying 
unit, the combined articles whose packing material is removed by the 
removal unit, rolling down on the transfer board, a shutter board provided 
parallel to the removal rollers and moved up and down to stop the combined 
articles on the transfer board and to release the combined articles to the 
supplying unit, an operation means for moving the shutter board up and 
down with respect to the transfer board, and side boards provided in a 
standing condition at both sides of the transfer board for supporting both 
ends of the combined articles on the transfer board. 
The above mentioned packing material removal apparatus sucks the package 
conveyed to the packing material cutting unit to form a slack section of 
the packing material which is cut by a cutter. 
The package with packing material to be cut is put on the removal rollers 
to remove the cut packing material from the combined articles by biting 
the packing material between the removal rollers which is rotated in 
opposite direction to each other. 
The combined articles whose packing material is removed is transferred from 
the removal rollers to the transfer board. Both ends of the combined 
articles are supported by the side boards to prevent the combined articles 
from being separated from each other. When the shutter board is lowered to 
the underside of the transfer board by the operation means, the combined 
articles on the transfer board roll down to the supplying unit while both 
ends of the combined articles are supported by the side boards. Thus the 
combined articles are supplied to the next process. 
According to this invention mentioned above, two shutter boards may be 
provided so as to be operated alternately to transfer, step by step, the 
combined articles to the supplying unit whereby the combined articles 
without the packing material can be completely prevented from being 
separated from each other. 
It is desirable to form a plurality of grooves on the removal rollers to 
prevent a slip between the packing material and the removal rollers. 
Further, the biting of the packing material between the removal rollers 
can be prevented if the grooves are intermittently formed. 
In addition, it is desirable that the removal unit is provided with a press 
plate which can swing in the axial direction of the removal rollers, and 
which touches the front end face of the package put on the removal 
rollers, and is urged by an elastic member toward the front end of the 
package. 
Furthermore, it is desirable to form two side boards in the drop unit so as 
to be moved to adjust the distance between the two side boards.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Hereinbelow, the embodiments of this invention are explained with reference 
to the drawings. 
The following embodiments indicate a case where this invention is applied 
to a packing material removal apparatus for the package of can lids 
installed in a canning process. 
FIG. 1 indicates a package 1 which includes a number of disk-like can lids 
2 arranged adjacently in a pillar shape, and a sheet-like packing material 
3 with which the combined pillar shaped can lids 2 is covered. 
FIG. 2 is a side view showing a packing material removal apparatus M for 
removing the packing material 3 from the package 1 of the can lids to 
supply the can lid 2 to a seamer (not illustrated). FIG. 3 is a plan view 
of the packing material removal apparatus M. 
In FIGS. 2 and 3, the packing material removal apparatus comprises, as 
viewed from the left in FIG. 2, a carrying unit A for carrying the package 
1, a packing material cutting unit B for cutting a part of the packing 
material 3 and a packing material removal unit C for removing the packing 
material 3 from the package 1. 
Further, the packing material removal apparatus M comprises a dropping unit 
D disposed adjacent to the packing material removal unit C for 
transferring the pillar-like can lids 2 from which the packing material 3 
is removed in the packing material removal unit C, a discharge unit E 
disposed parallel to the packing material removal unit C on the opposite 
side of the dropping unit D for discharging the package 1 from which the 
packing material 3 is not completely removed, and a supplying unit F for 
supplying the pillar-like can lids 2 to a following process. 
The package 1 is carried one by one through the carrying unit A, the 
packing material cutting unit B, the packing material removal unit C, and 
the dropping unit D and the supplying unit F in this order, and a 
defective package 1 in which the packing material 3 is not completely 
removed is discharged to the discharge unit E from the packing material 
removal unit C. The carrying unit A carries the package 1 to the packing 
material removal unit C via the packing material cutting unit B. 
As enlargedly shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the carrying unit A comprises a 
feeding section 10 having a pair of guide plates 10a, which are disposed 
parallel to each other, a stopper mechanism 10b having a stopper 10c 
swingable over the guide plates 10a for stopping and releasing the package 
1, a waiting section 11 having an endless timing belt 11b provided between 
a pair of sprockets 11a, a transferring section 12 having a swing arm 12b 
disposed adjacent to the waiting part 11 and swung by a cylinder 12a, and 
a carrying section 13 having a pair of guide portions 13a, 13a disposed 
parallel to the endless timing belt 11b and a pusher 13c disposed between 
the guide portions 13a so as to move forward and backward along the rails 
13b, 13b. 
The packing material cutting unit B cuts the packing material 3 of the 
package 1 which is carried from the carrying unit A. As enlargedly shown 
in FIGS. 7, 8, the packing material cutting unit B comprises a suction 
opening 15 disposed at an upper position on the downstream side of the 
guide portions 13a and connected to a suction source (not illustrated) via 
a suction duct 14, a cutter 17 disposed inside of the suction opening 15 
and rotated by a motor 16, and a support body 18 for supporting the 
suction opening 15, the motor 16 and the cutter 17 to adjust the height of 
those members. 
The packing material removal unit C removes the packing material 3 which is 
cut from the package 1 by the packing material cutting unit B. As 
enlargedly shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, the packing material removal unit C 
comprises a pair of removal rollers 19a and 19b disposed in alignment with 
the guide portions 13a and parallel to each other to be respectively 
rotated inwardly in opposite directions to each other, a shaft 20 disposed 
over the removal rollers 19a and 19b, a cylinder 21 connected to one end 
portion of the shaft 20 to rotate the shaft 20 around its axis, a pair of 
swinging plates 22, 22 respectively suspended from both ends of the shaft 
20 so as to swing in accordance with rotation of the shaft 20, a pair of 
bars 23 disposed parallel to each other and provided between the swing 
plates 22, a pair of press rollers 26, 26 suspended from a movable sleeve 
24 which is slidable along the shaft 20 so as to be moved up and down by a 
cylinder 25, a shutter 29 installed at a bracket 27 slidable along the 
shaft 20 so as to swing on a plane perpendicular to the shaft 20, an end 
stopper 30 disposed on the downstream side of the removal rollers 19a, 
19b, a removal shoot 40 disposed under the removal rollers 19a, 19b, and a 
sensor S installed at the removal shoot 40 for sensing a dropping of the 
packing material 3. 
As enlargedly shown in FIG. 13, the end stopper 30 comprises a press plate 
30b whose upper end portion is fixed to a frame C1 of the packing material 
removal unit C and which can swing on a plane parallel to the removal 
rollers 19a, 19b by a hinge 30a, and a spring 30c disposed between the 
press plate 30b and the frame C1 for urging the press plate 30b in the 
upstream direction of the removal rollers 19a, 19b. The end stopper 30 is 
so formed that the lower portion of the press plate 30b can contact an end 
surface of the package 1 supported on the removal rollers 19a, 19b. 
As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, on an outer circumferential surface of the 
removal rollers 19a, 19b, a plurality of grooves 19'a, 19'b are extended 
at predetermined intervals in the axial and circumferential directions of 
the removal rollers 19a, 19b. As is apparently shown in FIG. 15, the 
grooves 19'a, 19'b are not continuously formed in the axial direction of 
the removal rollers 19a, 19b but intermittently formed. 
The dropping unit D transfers the combined can lids 2 whose packing 
material 3 has been removed in the packing material removal unit C to the 
supplying unit F. 
As enlargedly shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the dropping unit D comprises a 
transferring board 31 disposed inclinedly between the side surface of the 
left removal roller 19a and the supplying unit F (a mechanism for 
supplying the can lids 2 to the seamer) disposed at a lower position than 
the removal rollers 19a, 19b, side boards 32a, 32a'; 32b, 32b' 
respectively provided upright on both ends of the transferring board 31 in 
such a manner that the distances between the boards 32a, 32a' and between 
the boards 32b, 32b' are a little larger than the length of the combined 
can lids in its axial direction, a pair of shutter boards 33a, 33b 
disposed parallel to each other and projected from the lower side of the 
transfer board 31 through two opening slots 31a, 31b formed in the 
transferring board 31, a pair of cylinders 34a, 34b provided under the 
transfer board 31 and connected to the shutter boards 33a, 33b, 
respectively, and two pairs of guide shafts 35a, 35b for respectively 
guiding upward and downward movements of shutter boards 33a, 33b. 
The opening slots 31a, 31b are respectively formed parallel to the removal 
rollers 19a, 19b so that two distances between the left removal roller 19a 
disposed on the left side in FIG. 17 and the opening slot 31a formed on 
the side of the removal roller 19a and between the opening slot 31a and 
the opening slot 31b are slightly larger than the diameter of the lid 2. 
Therefore, the shutter boards 33a, 33b are also disposed parallel to the 
removal rollers 19a, 19b so that the distance between the two shutter 
boards 33a and 33b is slightly larger than the diameter of the lid 2. 
The opening slot 31b on the left side as viewed in FIG. 17 is disposed as 
nearly as possible to the supplying unit F. 
The shutter boards 33a, 33b have two support portions 33a' 33b' formed by 
bending the lower portions thereof to be connected to the cylinders 34a, 
34b, respectively. The support portions 33a', 33b' are disposed under the 
transfer board 31 so as to be faced to each other. These flange 33a', 33b' 
are, as is best shown in FIG. 16 formed so that the edges faced to each 
other have concave-convex form in a complementary manner. 
The cylinders 34a, 34b are, as is apparent from FIG. 17, arranged parallel 
to the shutter boards 33a, 33b under the support portions 33a', 33b', and 
the operating shaft of each cylinder is connected to a convex portion of 
each of the support portions 33a', 33b'. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 18, 
the guide shafts 35a, 35b are arranged in alignment with the operating 
shafts of the cylinders 34a and 34b. These guide shafts 35a, 35b are 
connected to the convex portions of the support portions 33a', 33b', 
respectively, so that the shutter boards 33a, 33b are moved up and down in 
the direction perpendicular to the transferring board 31. 
The side boards 32a, 32a' are slidably installed to the transfer board 31, 
and connected to two cylinders 32c, 32c' as an operating means, 
respectively, so that the distance between the side boards 32a, 32b and 
between the side boards 32a', 32b' can be adjusted in accordance with the 
length of the combined can lids without the packing material. 
The discharge unit E receives the defective package 1 from which the 
packing material 3 is not completely removed. As shown in FIG. 12, the 
discharge unit E is disposed on the opposite side of the drop unit D, in 
the packing material removal unit C and has a discharge shoot 42 whose 
opening is disposed near the right removal roller 19b. 
The supplying unit F supplies the can lids 2 transferred by the dropping 
unit D to the seamer (not shown). The supplying unit F has an endless belt 
50 disposed parallel to the removal rollers 19a, 19b, and a cylinder 51 
for pushing the back end portion of the can lids 2 in the supplying 
direction. 
An operation of the above mentioned packing material removal apparatus will 
now be explained. 
The package 1 carried to the feeding section 10 of the carry unit A by a 
conveyer (not shown) moves forward to the stop mechanism 10b along the 
Guide plates 10a. The stopper mechanism 10b permits the package 1 to move 
forward to the waiting section 11 when no package 1 exists in the waiting 
section 11, and stops the package 1 when the package 1 exists in waiting 
section 11. 
The package 1 having already passed through the stopper mechanism 10b is 
put on the endless timing belt 11b in the waiting section 11, and conveyed 
to a waiting position in accordance with rotation of the sprockets 11a. 
When the cutting operation of a package 1 located in the removal unit B is 
finished in the packing material removal unit B, as mentioned in detail 
later, a package 1 located at the waiting position is transferred from the 
waiting section 11 to the guide portions 13a by operating the cylinder 12a 
to swing the swing arm 12b. 
The package 1 transferred to the carrying section 13 is conveyed to the 
packing material removal unit B along the guide portions 13a by being 
pushed by the pusher 13c which moves forward on the rail 13b. 
In the packing material cutting unit B, when the package 1 passes under the 
suction opening 15, as is best shown in FIG. 8, a slack or loosened 
section 3a of the packing material 3 is so formed that the packing 
material 3 is sucked upwardly by the suction duct 14. The slack section 3a 
is cut by the cutter 17 while the package 1 is moved forward. Moreover, 
the height positions of the suction duct 14, the suction opening 15 and 
the cutter 17 can be adjusted by moving up and down the support body 18 in 
accordance with the size of the package 1. 
The package 1 whose packing material 3 is cut in the packing material 
cutting unit B is carried from a position on the guide portion 13a to a 
position on the removal rollers 19a, 19b in the packing material removal 
unit C. In the packing material removal unit C, the package 1 carried from 
the packing material cutting unit B is, as shown in FIG. 11, located 
between a pair of bars 23 supported by the swinging plates 22 while being 
slit on the removal rollers 19a, 19b until the package 1 abuts against the 
end stopper 30. At this time, the shutter 29 swings upwardly (the state 
shown by a chain line in FIG. 12) by operating the cylinder 28, permits 
the package 1 to pass therethrough and swing in the opposite direction 
after the package 1 passes therethrough to support the back end of the 
package 1. The position of the shutter 29 is determined corresponding to 
the length of the package 1 in its axial direction by sliding the bracket 
27 along the shaft 20 (FIG. 10). 
When the package 1 is positioned by the end stopper 30, the press rollers 
26 are lowered by expanding the cylinder 25 to press the upper surface of 
the package 1. The press rollers 26 are positioned above the package 1 by 
sliding the movable sleeve 24 along the shaft 20. 
In this state, the removal rollers 19a, 19b are rotated in the inside 
direction (the direction of an arrow in FIG. 12) to each other. Therefore, 
the packing material 3 whose upper portion is cut is peeled off from the 
can lids 2 while the packing material 3 is drawn between the removal 
rollers 19a, 19b. The packing material 3 peeled off from the can lids 2 is 
dropped into the discharge shoot 40. At this time, the can lids 2 from 
which the packing material 3 is stripped off are not separated from each 
other because the removal rollers 19a, 19b are slightly declined toward 
the downstream side, the front portion of the can lids 2 abut against the 
end stopper 30 while the back end portion thereof is supported by the 
shutter 29. 
Since the grooves 19'a, 19'b are formed at the outer circumferential 
surfaces of the removal rollers 19a, 19b, when the packing material 3 is 
stripped off therefrom, a slip between the packing material 3 and removal 
rollers 19a, 19b can be effectively prevented. Therefore, a reliable 
removal of the packing material 3 can be ensured. Furthermore, since the 
grooves 19'a, 19'b are intermittently formed in the axial direction of the 
removed rollers 19a, 19b, there is no fear that the packing material 3 is 
bitten into the grooves 19'a, 19'b. 
When the packing material 3 is not stripped off from the package 1 and the 
sensors S do not detect the dropping of the packing material 3 into the 
removal shoot 40, the shaft 20 is rotated in the counter-clockwise 
direction in FIG. 12 by the operation of the cylinder 21. Therefore, the 
swing board 22 and the bars 23 are swung in the direction toward the 
discharge unit E to discharge the defectived package to the discharge 
shoot 42 from the upper position of the removal rollers 19a, 19b. 
When the packing material 3 is stripped off from the package 1 and the 
sensors S detects the dropping of the packing material 3 into the removal 
shoot 40, the shaft 20 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 12 by 
the operation of the cylinder 21'. Therefore, the swinging board 22 and 
the bars 23 are swung in the direction toward the dropping unit D to move 
the can lids 2 from the upper position of the removal rollers 19a, 19b to 
the upper position of the transfer board 31. 
In the dropping unit D, the can lids 2 moved from the removal rollers 19a, 
19b roll down on the transfer board 31 between the side boards 32a, 32b, 
and are stopped by the shutter board 33a positioned at a projected 
position projected upward from the slit 31a of the transfer board 31. At 
this time, the can lids 2 are not separated from each other because both 
ends of the can lids 2 are caught by the side boards 32a, 32b, 
respectively. 
When no can lid exists between the side boards 32a', 32b', the shutter 
board 33a is lowered by the operation of the cylinder 34a. Thereby, the 
can lids 2 positioned between the side boards 32a, 32b move into the side 
boards 32a' and 32b' while rolling on the transferring board 31, and is 
stopped by the shutter board 33b positioned at a projected position 
projected upward from the slit 33b of the transferring board 31. At this 
time, the can lids 2 are not separated from each other because both ends 
of the can lids 2 is caught by the side boards 32a', 32b'. Thereafter, the 
shutter board 33a is raised by the operation of the cylinder 34a to wait 
for the next can lids 2. 
When no can lids carried ahead exist in the supplying unit F, the shutter 
board 33b is lowered by the operation of the cylinder 34b to move the can 
lid 2 positioned between the side boards 32a', 32b' to the supplying unit 
F while rolling on the transfer board 31. Afterward, the shutter board 33b 
is raised by the operation of the cylinder 34b to wait for the next can 
lids 2. 
At this time, in the carrying unit A, the packing material cutting unit B 
and the packing material removal unit C, the operations mentioned above 
are performed, respectively. 
The can lids 2 carried to the supplying unit F is put on the endless belt 
50. And, the can lids 2 are not separated from each other because the 
front end of the can lids 2 is attached to the back end of the can lids 2 
carried ahead and the back end of the can lids 2 is pushed by the cylinder 
51. 
In this state, the can lids 2 is supplied to the seamer by operating the 
endless belt 50.