Patent Publication Number: US-6712196-B2

Title: Empty bag supplying apparatus and a product-filled bag extraction apparatus in a continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine and more particularly to an empty bag supplying apparatus and a product-filled bag extraction apparatus that are used in the continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine. 
     2. Prior Art 
     In a continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine, empty bags are supplied to gripper pairs that move continuously along a loop-form endless path, both side edges of bags are gripped by the gripping sections of gripper pairs so that the bags are suspended, and various packaging treatments such as opening of the bag mouths, filling of the bags with contents and sealing of the bag mouths, etc. are performed on these bags. 
     In such a continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine, an empty bag supplying apparatus and a product-filled bag extraction apparatus are employed. The empty bag supplying apparatus supplies empty bags to gripper pairs, and the product-filled bag extraction apparatus receives product-filled bags and then discharges the product-filled bags to the outside of the movement path. 
     The empty bag supplying apparatus used in the continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine must cause the bags to move in conformity with the gripper pairs of the bag-filling packaging machine, and it also must transfer the empty bags to the gripper pairs during this movement. 
     Various proposals have been made concerning such empty bag supplying apparatuses. However, conventional empty bag supplying apparatuses of this type involve respective problems: 
     (1) Endless belt type empty bag supplying apparatus (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 59-221201) 
     In this apparatus, a ventilated endless belt that is mounted between two drums is used. The empty bags are caused to adhere to the surface of the belt by vacuum suction and supported by supporting claws, and then, the empty bags are caused to move in conformity with the gripper pairs. Since this apparatus is large, a large installation space is required for the packaging machine as a whole. Furthermore, since the structure of the apparatus is complicated, the apparatus is expensive and has poor cleaning and maintenance characteristics. 
     (2) Rotary type empty bag supplying apparatus (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 6-199317, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 8-301232) 
     In these prior arts, empty bags are suction-chucked by suction disks attached to the circumference of a rotating member at equal intervals, so that the empty bags are caused to move in conformity with the gripper pairs. However, the structures of these prior art apparatuses are extremely complicated, and they are expensive and have poor cleaning and maintenance characteristics. 
     (3) Reciprocating pivoting type empty bag supplying apparatus (Japanese Utility Model Application Publication (Kokoku) No. 3-12645) 
     In this bag supplying apparatus, the upper edges of empty bags are held by opening and closing holding plates that are disposed on the circumference of a tracking table. This tracking table makes a back and forth rotating motion. The holding plates are caused to move in conformity with the gripper pairs and returned to their original positions after the transfer of the empty bags. In this apparatus, the tracking mechanism is complicated. Thus, the apparatus is expensive and has poor cleaning and maintenance characteristics. 
     Meanwhile, as to the product-filled bag extraction apparatus, when the product-filled bags are removed from a continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine, the gripping sections of the gripper pairs are opened so that the product-filled bags are dropped onto a conveying means such as a conveyor belt, etc., either directly or via a chute, etc., and then the product-filled bags are conveyed out to an after-process. In such an apparatus, however, it is difficult to drop the product-filled bags into fixed positions on the conveying means in a secure and stable manner. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention was made in light of the above-described problems relating to such empty bag supplying apparatuses and product-filled bag extraction apparatus used in continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machines. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an empty bag supplying apparatus and a product-filled bag extraction apparatus which are simple in structure, thus reducing the costs and providing superior advantages in terms of cleaning and maintenance characteristics. 
     The above object is accomplished by a unique structure for an empty bag supplying apparatus used in a continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine. 
     More specifically, the empty bag supplying apparatus receives empty bags that are positioned in a vertical attitude with mouths of the bags facing upward and transfers the bags to respective gripper pairs of the bag-filling packaging machine, the gripper pairs being moved continuously at a constant speed and at a uniform spacing and gripping both side edges of the bags by means of its gripping sections and conveying the bags in a vertically suspended fashion, wherein 
     the empty bag supplying apparatus is comprised of: 
     downward-facing bag holding members which open and close at a specified timing so as to hold upper portions of the bags when closed, 
     a reciprocating movement mechanism which causes the bag holding members to perform a reciprocating motion along an arc-shaped path on a horizontal plane and which causes the bags held by the bag holding members to be set substantially parallel to a direction of movement of the gripper pairs at all times, and 
     a bag transfer region that is established at an intermediate point on the arc-shaped path, the arc-shaped path substantially overlapping a movement path of the gripping sections of the gripper pairs within the bag transfer region, and a speed of the reciprocating motion of the bag holding members in a direction of movement of the gripper pairs being set to be substantially equal to a moving speed of the gripper pairs at least within the bag transfer region. 
     In the above structure, the “bag transfer region” refers to a region in which both side edges of the empty bags held by the bag holding members are gripped by the gripper pairs, and the bag holding members are opened so that the empty bags are released, so that the empty bags are transferred from the bag holding members to the gripper pairs. 
     In the present invention, when the bag holding members are moved in the direction of movement of the gripper pairs, this is referred to as an advancing motion; and when the bag holding members are moved in the opposite direction, this is referred to as a returning motion. 
     The above object is further accomplished by a unique structure for a product-filled bag extraction apparatus used in a continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine. 
     More specifically, the product-filled bag extraction apparatus receives product-filled bags, upon which packaging treatment has been completed, from respective gripper pairs of the bag-filling packaging machine and then discharges the product-filled bags to an outside of the movement path of the gripper pairs, the gripper pairs being moved continuously at a constant speed and at a uniform spacing and gripping both side edges of the bags by means of its gripping sections and conveying the bags in a vertically suspended fashion wherein: 
     the product-filled bag extraction apparatus is comprised of: 
     downward-facing bag holding members which open and close at a specified timing so as to hold upper portions of the bags when closed, 
     a reciprocating movement mechanism which causes the bag holding members to perform a reciprocating motion along an arc-shaped path on a horizontal plane and which causes the bags held by the bag holding members to be set substantially parallel to a direction of movement of the gripper pairs at all times, and 
     a bag receiving region that is established at an intermediate point on the arc-shaped path, the arc-shaped path substantially overlapping a movement path of the gripping sections of the gripper pairs within the bag receiving region, and a speed of the reciprocating motion of the bag holding members in a direction of movement of the gripper pairs being set to be substantially equal to a moving speed of the gripper pairs at least within the bag receiving region. 
     In the above structure, the “bag receiving region” refers to a region in which the upper portions of the product-filled bags whose side edges are gripped by the gripper pairs are held by the bag holding members, and the gripper pairs are opened so that the product-filled bags are released, thus causing the product-filled bags to be received by the bag holding members from the gripper pairs. 
     Preferably, in the above empty bag supplying apparatus and in the above product-filled bag extraction apparatus, a plurality of the bag holding members are attached to a common supporting member that performs a reciprocating motion along an arc-shaped path and also performs a translational motion during this reciprocating motion. Furthermore, the bag holding members are preferably disposed along the direction of movement at the same spacing as the gripper pairs. 
     Furthermore, the mechanism that causes the supporting member to perform the reciprocating motion comprises: two pivoting shafts disposed with a specified distance in between, and respective swing shafts which are always positioned at equal distances and in the same direction with respect to the respective pivoting shafts, the swing shafts swinging about the respective pivoting shafts as the pivoting shafts rotate; and the supporting member performs the translational motion as a result of being connected to the swing shafts. 
     The supporting member that performs a translational motion always faces in the same direction. As a result, the bag holding members also always face in the same direction (with the holding surfaces parallel to the direction of movement of the gripper pairs) during the reciprocating motion. 
     The empty bag supplying apparatus and the product-filled bag extraction apparatus of the present invention are used mainly in cases where the endless path of the continuously moving gripper pairs is set on a horizontal plane. However, they can be used in cases where the endless path is set vertically. 
     Furthermore, the empty bag supplying apparatus and the product-filled bag extraction apparatus are used mainly for rectilinear regions of the endless path of the gripper pairs. However, if the curvature is relatively small, in other words, when the gripper pairs are installed on the circumference of a relatively large-diameter rotating table and rotate continuously, then the empty bag supplying apparatus and the product-filled bag extraction apparatus can be used in regions in which the gripper pairs are moved along a curved endless path. In this case, the arc-shaped path of the bag holding members can be set with the tangential direction of the endless path of the gripper pairs in the bag transfer region and in the bag receiving region of the arc-shaped path viewed as the direction of movement of the gripper pairs. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIGS. 1A,  1 B,  1 C and  1 D are schematic diagrams showing the operation of the empty bag supplying apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of the empty bag supplying apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional front view of a portion to which bag holding devices are provided; 
     FIG. 4A is a sectional side view of the gear section of the bag holding device, 
     FIG. 4B is a sectional side view of the bag holding members (in a closed state) of the bag holding device, 
     FIG. 4C is a sectional side view thereof (in an open state), and 
     FIG. 4D is a bottom view of the bag holding members; 
     FIG. 5 is a side view (partially in section) of the bag supplying and positioning device; 
     FIG. 6 is a front view of the positioning section of the bag supplying and positioning device; 
     FIG. 7 is a top view of the empty bag supplying apparatus and product-filled bag extraction apparatus; and 
     FIG. 8 is a sectional side view thereof. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The empty bag supplying apparatus and product-filled bag extraction apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 through 8. 
     FIG. 1 shows (in model form as a time series) a process in which empty bags W are supplied (with four bags being supplied at a time) in a rectilinear region of a loop-form endless path set on a horizontal plane to respective gripper pairs  1  which are moved continuously (the moving direction being shown by arrow in each of (a) through (d) of FIG. 1) at a constant speed along the endless path. 
     Bag holding members (described later) perform a reciprocating motion on the horizontal plane along an arc-shaped path S (FIG. 1 showing one of arc-shaped paths S of four bag holding members) between a reciprocating-motion starting position A and a reciprocating-motion end position E, and empty bags W with upper edges thereof being held by the bag holding members make an advancing motion (A→C-D) on the horizontal plane along the arc-shaped path S. During this motion, the empty bags W are set parallel to the direction of movement of the gripper pairs  1  at all times (thus making a translational motion). 
     More specifically, (a), (b), (d) and (d) in FIG. 1 show the relationship between the movement of the empty bags W and bag holding members and the movement of the gripper pairs  1  in the empty bag supply process. In these Figures: 
     (a) The bag holding members (not shown) are at the reciprocating-motion starting position A, which is away from the movement path of the gripping sections  2  of the corresponding gripper pairs  1 . At position A, empty bags W are positioned in a vertical state with the mouths thereof facing upward and centers thereof being at the position A, and the bag holding members are closed so that the upper edges of the empty bags W are gripped thereby. In this case, the gripper pairs  1  are located in positions that are somewhat behind the empty bags W. In other words, the center of each gripper pair  1  is behind the center position A of each empty bag W for the distance a. 
     (b) The bag holding members are accelerated; and from the acceleration end position B (to the deceleration starting position D), the speed of the empty bags W in the direction of movement of the gripper pairs  1  is equal to the moving speed of the gripper pairs  1 . At the acceleration end position B, the gripper pairs  1  exactly overtake the empty bags W, so that the center of each gripper pair  1  comes into coincident with the center of each bag W; and during this period, the empty bags W are moved along the arc-shaped path S and approach the movement path of the gripping sections  2  of the gripper pairs  1  for the distance b. 
     (c) The empty bags W approach the movement path of the gripping sections  2  of the gripper pairs  1  even more closely along the arc-shaped path S and reach a region (bag transfer region C-D) where the bags and the gripping sections overlap. 
     (d) In the bag transfer region C-D, the gripping sections  2  of the gripper pairs  1  grip both side edges of the empty bags W; then, the bag holding members open so the empty bags W are released, thus causing the empty bags W to be transferred from the bag holding members to the gripper pairs  1 . The bag holding members move beyond this bag transfer region, and then decelerate and stop at the reciprocating-motion end position E. The bag holding members then immediately initiate the return motion, and return to their original position (reciprocating-motion starting position A), where the bag holding members stop. 
     The above-described empty bag supplying apparatus will be described below more concretely with reference to FIGS. 2 through 8. 
     First, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A through  4 D, four bag holding devices  3  are installed on the lower part of a supporting member  4 . Each bag holding device  3  is comprised of; opening-and-closing supporting shafts  6  and  7 , bag holding members  10  and  11 , gears  12  and  13 , an air cylinder  14 , a connecting member  15 , and a lever  20 . 
     The opening-and-closing supporting shafts  6  and  7  are shaft-supported by bearings  5  attached to the undersurface of the supporting member  4 . The bag holding members  10  and  11  are fastened, at the base ends thereof, to the respective opening-and-closing supporting shafts  6  and  7 . The bag holding members  10  and  11  have holding surfaces (to which a rubber material  9  is pasted) on their broadly formed tip end portions  10   a  and  11   a . The gears  12  and  13  are respectively attached to one end of each of the opening-and-closing supporting shafts  6  and  7 , and the gears  12  and  13  are engaged with each other. The air cylinder  14  is attached to the upper portion of the supporting member  4 . The connecting member  15  is attached to the tip end of the rod of the air cylinder  14 . The lever  20  is fastened to one of the opening-and-closing supporting shafts  7  and is connected to the connecting member via pins  16  and  17  and a link  19 . 
     When the rod of the air cylinder  14  is retracted, the opening-and-closing supporting shaft  7  is rotated. At the same time, the opening-and-closing supporting shaft  6  is rotated in the opposite direction, so that the bag holding members  10  and  11  open (FIG. 4C) and close (FIG.  4 B). 
     When the tip end portions  10   a  and  11   a  of the bag holding members are closed, the upper edges of the empty bag W are held by the holding surfaces of the bag holding members across more or less the entire width of the bag. 
     The reciprocating movement mechanism of the bag holding members  10  and  11  (this mechanism causes the four bag holding devices  3  to perform a reciprocating motion as a whole) is, as shown in FIGS. 2,  3  and  5 , comprised of: two supporting shafts  22  and  23 , tubular pivot shafts  24  and  25 , links  26  and  27 , tubular swing shafts  29  and  30 , and supporting shafts  31  and  32 , etc. 
     The supporting shafts  22  and  23  are installed in an upright attitude on a supporting plate  21  in positions that are separated by a specified distance. The tubular pivot shafts  24  and  25  are rotatably fitted over the supporting shafts  22  and  23 . The links  26  and  27  are fastened at one end to the pivot shafts  24  and  25 . The tubular swing shafts  29  and  30  are fastened to the other ends of the links  26  and  27 . The supporting shafts  31  and  32  are installed in an upright attitude on the supporting member  4 , so that the swing shafts  29  and  30  rotatably fit on the supporting shafts  31  and  32 . 
     The distance between the centers of the pivot shaft  24  and the swing shaft  29  and the distance between the centers of the pivot shaft  25  and the swing shaft  30  are set to be equal. The distance between the centers of the pivot shafts  24  and  25  and the distance between the centers of the swing shafts  29  and  30  are set to be equal. Thus, these shafts form a parallel link mechanism. 
     Furthermore, the above-described reciprocating movement mechanism further includes a swing lever  34  which is supported at its one end on a supporting shaft  33 , a rod  35  which is connected to the other end of the swing lever  34 , and a swing arm  36  with one end thereof being connected to the rod  35  and another end thereof being fastened to the pivot shaft  25 . 
     As will be described later, the swing lever  34  performs a reciprocating swing motion through a specified angular range with the rotation of a drive shaft  37 . This swinging motion is transmitted to the swing arm  36 , so that the links  26  and  27  and supporting member  4  perform a reciprocating swing motion through a specified angular range (the swinging range of the link  27  is indicated by an imaginary line in FIG.  2 ). 
     On the principle of the above-described parallel link mechanism, the supporting member  4  performs a translational motion while performing the above-described reciprocating swing motion, so that the supporting member  4  always faces in the same direction (parallel to the movement path of the gripper pairs  1 ). Accordingly, the bag holding members  10  and  11  (four sets) also perform a reciprocating motion along the arc-shaped path S in a state in which the holding surfaces of the bag holding members are always oriented parallel to the movement path. 
     As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a bag supplying and positioning device is disposed beneath the empty bag supplying apparatus. The bag supplying and positioning device positions empty bags W in the reciprocating motion starting position A on the arc-shaped path S of the bag holding members  10  and  11 . 
     The bag supplying and positioning device is a conveyor magazine type bag supplying device that is known from, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 61-59511, etc., and it is comprised of conveyor magazine sections  40 , empty bag pickup sections  41  and an empty bag positioning section  42 . 
     The conveyor magazine sections  40  (four sets) convey empty bags (which are stacked with the bags shifted in the longitudinal direction so that the upper portions of the empty bags are positioned in front) in the forward direction by means of belt conveyors. During this conveying action, the uppermost empty bag is separated and conveyed ahead over the belt conveyors so that the portions are caused to contact stoppers that are positioned in the vicinity of the tip ends of the belt conveyors. The reference numeral  43  in FIG. 6 is the guide plates that guide the side edges of the empty bags that are conveyed over the belt conveyors. 
     The empty bag pickup sections  41  (four sets) apply suction to the empty bags W contacting the stoppers by means of suction disks  44  that are attached to the tip ends of raising-and-lowering arms. Thus, the empty bag pickup sections  41  lift the empty bags W to a specified height (see the solid lines that show the lifted position and imaginary dashed lines in FIG.  5 ). 
     The empty bag positioning section  42  is comprised of: a swing supporting shaft  46 , swing arms  47 , suction disks  49  and a raising-and-lowering rod  51 , etc. 
     The swing supporting shaft  46  is shaft-supported on the side of a supporting stand  45  that supports the supporting plate  21 . The swing arms  47  (four pairs) are attached to this swing supporting shaft  46 , and the suction disks  49  are attached to the tip ends of the swing arms  47 . 
     The raising-and-lowering rod  51  is, at its upper end, attached to a swing lever  50  that is fastened to the swing supporting shaft  46 . The lower end of the raising-and-lowering rod  51  is connected to a driving source (not shown) so as to be raised and lowered, thus causing the arms  47  to swing. 
     Suction is applied by the suction disks  49  to the empty bags W lifted by the suction disks  44 , and the arms  47  are caused to swing upward (see the solid and imaginary dashed lines showing the raised position of the arms  47  in FIG.  5 ). As a result, the empty bags W are positioned in a vertical attitude with the bag mouths facing upward in the reciprocating motion starting positions A on the arc-shaped path S of the bag holding members  10  and  11  as described above. 
     FIGS. 7 and 8 show an empty bag supplying apparatus (on the lower side in FIG.  7  and the left side in FIG. 8) and a product-filled bag extraction apparatus (on the upper side in FIG.  7  and the right side in FIG.  8 ). The empty bag supplying apparatus and the product-filled bag extraction apparatus are disposed symmetrically in opposite positions in a continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine. 
     The product-filled bag extraction apparatus has substantially the same structure as the empty bag supplying apparatus (a structure that is symmetrical with the structure of the empty bag supplying apparatus). Accordingly, in FIGS. 7 and 8, the same numbers as those of the corresponding parts of the empty bag supplying apparatus are assigned to the respective parts of the product-filled bag extraction apparatus. 
     As seen from FIG. 8, groove cams  53  and  54  are attached to the drive shaft  37 , and cam levers  55  and  56  are respectively fastened to the respective supporting shafts  33 . Furthermore, cam rollers  57  and  58  are attached to the tip ends of the cam levers  55  and  56  so that these cam rollers are rotated horizontally, and the cam rollers  57  and  58  are inserted into the cam grooves of the groove cams  53  and  54 . 
     When the drive shaft  37  is rotated continuously by a driving source (not shown), the cam rollers  57  and  58  run through the cam grooves so that the respective supporting shafts  33  perform a reciprocating rotating motion. As a result, the swing levers  34  perform a reciprocating swing motion through a specified angular range as described above about the supporting shafts  33 , so that the supporting members  4  of the empty bag supplying apparatus and of the product-filled bag extraction apparatus are caused to perform a reciprocating motion as shown by arrows in FIG.  7 . 
     The gripper pairs  1  are attached to an endless chain, etc. and moved continuously at a constant speed over the base  59  in the direction indicated by the arrow. As a result, empty bags W are supplied from the empty bag supplying apparatus in an empty bag supply process; then, after packaging treatments such as opening of the bag mouths, filling of the bags with contents and sealing of the bag mouths, etc., have been performed, the product-filled bags are extracted by the product-filled bag extraction apparatus in a product-filled bag extraction process. 
     In the product-filled bag extraction process, the reciprocating motion of the supporting member  4  and bag holding members  10  and  11  is performed more or less symmetrically with the reciprocating motion of the same elements in the empty bag supplying apparatus. Accordingly, the relationship between the movement of the product-filled bags and gripper pairs  1  and the movement of the bag holding members  10  and  11  in the product-filled bag extraction process is as follows (see FIG.  1 ): 
     (a) The bag holding members  10  and  11  initiate a reciprocating motion along the arc-shaped path from the reciprocating-motion starting position A near the movement path of the gripping sections  2  of the gripper pairs  1  (which is also the movement path of the product-filled bags), and the bag holding members  10  and  11  accelerate. At this time, the bag holding members  10  and  11  open (see FIG.  4 C). Furthermore, the gripper pairs  1  (and product-filled bags) are in positions that are somewhat behind the bag holding members  10  and  11 . 
     (b) From the acceleration end position B (to the deceleration starting position D), the speed of the bag holding members  10  and  11  in the direction of movement of the gripper pairs  1  is equal to the moving speed of the gripper pairs  1 . At this acceleration end position B, the gripper pairs  1  (product-filled bags) exactly overtake the bag holding members  10  and  11 . Furthermore, the arc-shaped path S of the bag holding members  10  and  11  approaches the movement path of the product-filled bags even more closely; and from this point on, a region in which both sets (the gripper pairs  1  and the bag holding members  10  and  11 ) substantially overlap for a brief distance (and such a region being referred to as a “bag receiving region”) is formed. 
     (c) In this bag receiving region, the bag holding members  10  and  11  hold the upper edges of the product-filled bag. Then, the gripping sections  2  of the gripper pairs  1  are opened, thus releasing the product-filled bags. As a result, the product-filled bags are transferred from the gripper pairs  1  to the bag holding members  10  and  11 . 
     (d) The bag holding members  10  and  11  are advanced further beyond this bag receiving region and moved away from the movement path of the gripping sections  2  of the gripper pairs  1 . Then, the bag holding members decelerate and stop, and the bag holding members open and release the product-filled bags. The bag holding members then immediately initiate a return motion and return to their original positions (reciprocating-motion starting positions), where the bag holding members stop. 
     The released product-filled bags drop into specified positions on, for instance, a conveying means that is disposed below. 
     As seen from the above, according to the present invention, the structure of the empty bag supplying apparatus and product-filled bag extraction apparatus used in a continuous conveying type bag-filling packaging machine can be simplified. Accordingly, an empty bag supplying apparatus and product-filled bag extraction apparatus which is less costly and superior in terms of cleaning and maintenance characteristics can be provided. Furthermore, in the case of extraction, the product-filled bags can be securely and stably dropped into specified positions on a conveying means.