Box-body folding device and box-body folding method

Abstract

To provide a box-body folding device with which an assembled box-body can be folded into a uniform and good-looking shape.SOLUTION: A box-body folding device 10 consists of an adsorption / movement device 12 that adsorbs the opposing surface of a box-body H, which is arranged as such that the opposing surface facing the opening / closing surface O of the box-body H is located on the vertical side which is a to-be-adsorbed surface K, and moves the box-body H laterally, a cutting device 30 that cuts all edges of the to-be-adsorbed surface K except for a vertical lower edge X of the to-be-adsorbed surface K, and a folding device 16 that has two rods 34 that are inserted into the box-body H from an opening T on the top of the box-body H, which has rotated downward around the vertical lower edge X of the to-be-adsorbed surface K due to its own weight after being cut by the cutting device 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a box folding device for folding a box such as a cardboard box, and to a method for folding the box. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Up to now, boxes such as corrugated pole boxes have been widely used as packaging materials for logistics, daily necessities, food, home appliances, furniture, and the like.

[0003] The task of folding these boxes after removing the contents from them is surprisingly tedious, and when there are a large number of boxes to be folded, the task becomes very tedious.

[0004] For this reason, devices for folding boxes have been developed in the past (for example, Patent Document 1).

[0005] The box folding device described in Patent Document 1 has two transport conveyors arranged so that the entrance side for transporting boxes (cardboard boxes) is wide and the exit side for transporting the boxes is narrow, a pair of compression / exit rollers are arranged downstream of the exit ends of these two transport conveyors, and the exit speeds of the two transport conveyors are set to different speeds (see Figures 9 and 10 of Patent Document 1).

[0006] As a result, boxes fed into the inlet side of the two transport conveyors are pulled into the outlet side in a flat, unfolded state, and then ejected from the outlet side, where they are further compressed by the compression and ejection rollers. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2020 / 161931 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, in the case of the box folding device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the assembled box is crushed as it is between the two transport conveyors, so the shape of the folded box is not consistent. In addition, the appearance of the folded box is poor, and the required volume for storage and transportation increases, which may prevent recyclers from collecting the boxes.

[0009] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and its object is to provide a box folding device and a box folding method that can fold an assembled box into a uniform and aesthetically pleasing shape. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] According to one aspect of the invention, a chucking and moving device that chucks the opposing surface of the box body, which faces the opening and closing surface of the box body and is arranged so as to be positioned on a vertical side surface of the box body, as an attracted surface and moves the box body in a lateral direction; a cutting device that cuts all edges of the attracted surface except for a lower edge in the vertical direction of the attracted surface; and a folding device having two rods that are inserted into the box body from a top opening of the box body that has rotated downward around the lower edge of the adsorbed surface due to its own weight after the cutting by the cutting device. A box folder is provided.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present invention, The box is arranged so that a surface facing the opening / closing surface of the box is located on a vertical side surface; While the box body is moved in a lateral direction while the opposing surface is attracted and held as an attracted surface, cutting all edges of the attracted surface except for a lower edge in the vertical direction of the attracted surface; After cutting, the box body is rotated downward around the lower edge of the attracting surface due to its own weight, and two rods are inserted into the box body through a top opening of the box body; The box is folded by pushing the inside of the box, which is moved laterally, with the rod. A method for folding a box is provided. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, all edges of the adsorbed surface except for the lower vertical edge of the adsorbed surface located on the vertical side of the box body are cut, and then two rods are inserted into the top opening of the box body which has rotated downward around the lower vertical edge of the adsorbed surface due to its own weight, and the box body is folded by pushing the inside of the box body which is moved laterally with the rods.Since there is no need to compress or crush the box body, the assembled box body can be folded into a uniform and attractive shape. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view showing the overall configuration of a box body folding device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of a box body folding device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a box body folding device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an adsorption / movement device 12 according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are given the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed descriptions thereof will not be repeated. In addition, the box body H is not limited to a cardboard box, and may be other types of boxes such as a cardboard box.

[0015] <Overall configuration of the box folding device 10 according to this embodiment> First, the overall configuration of the box body folding device 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 3. Fig. 1 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the box body folding device 10 according to this embodiment. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of the box body folding device 10 according to this embodiment. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the box body folding device 10 according to this embodiment.

[0016] The box folding device 10 according to this embodiment is roughly composed of a device stand 11, a suction and movement device 12, a cutting device 14, and a folding device 16.

[0017] The device stand 11 is a stand for holding and housing each device that constitutes the box body folding device 10, and is composed of a framework such as square pipe material and wall materials such as panel material. The device stand 11 also has an input port 20 for inputting the assembled box body H into the box body folding device 10, and an output port 22 for outputting the folded box body H from the box body folding device 10.

[0018] In the box folding device 10 according to this embodiment, the box H is inserted into the insertion opening 20 so that the surface facing the opening / closing surface O of the box H is positioned on the vertical side surface. This facing surface becomes the adsorbed surface K of the box H.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 4, the suction / movement device 12 generally includes a suction tool 24, a suction tool base 26, and a movement mechanism .

[0020] The suction device 24 has a role of holding the box body H by adhering to the adsorbed surface K of the box body H. The suction device 24 according to the present embodiment is a type that uses negative pressure from compressed air to perform adsorption, but the adsorption method is not limited to this, and other methods such as an adhesive method may be used.

[0021] The suction tool base 26 is a member for moving the suction tool 24 and the box body H sucked by the suction tool 24 in the lateral direction, and is adapted to slide in the lateral direction by a moving mechanism 28.

[0022] The moving mechanism 28 is a mechanism for slidingly moving the suction tool base 26 in the lateral direction, and in this embodiment, the suction tool base 26 is moved in the lateral direction by being driven by a motor and a timing belt.

[0023] The cutting device 14 is a device that has the role of cutting all edges of the attracted surface K of the box body H except for the vertical lower edge X of the attracted surface K, and has a cutting blade 30 and a cutting blade up and down movement device 32.

[0024] The cutting blade 30 is a blade for cutting the above-mentioned short edge side of the box body H, and is positioned so that when the cutting blade 30 is moved all the way downward by the cutting blade up and down movement device 32, the lower end of the cutting blade 30 is positioned slightly above the vertical lower edge X of the adsorbed surface K of the box body H.

[0025] The cutting blade vertical movement device 32 is attached to the upper end of the cutting blade 30 and has the role of moving the cutting blade 30 up and down within a predetermined vertical width.

[0026] While the cutting blade 30 moves up and down by the cutting blade vertical movement device 32, the box body H slides laterally by the moving mechanism 28, thereby cutting all edges of the adsorbed surface K of the box body H except for the vertical lower edge X of the adsorbed surface K.

[0027] In this manner, all edges of the attracted surface K except for the lower vertical edge X of the attracted surface K are cut, and as a result, the box H rotates downward around the lower vertical edge X of the attracted surface K due to its own weight, and as a result, a top opening T is formed on the top surface of the box H (the surface where the attracted surface K was originally located). Furthermore, the bottom surface facing the top surface at this point is the opening / closing surface O, and the flap P of the box H that constitutes the opening / closing surface O also rotates downward, so that a bottom opening S is also formed on the bottom surface of the box H.

[0028] The folding device 16 is a device located next to the cutting device 14 when viewed from the direction of movement of the box body H by the moving mechanism 28, and roughly has two rods 34 extending in the vertical direction and a rod extension / retraction mechanism 36 that extends these rods 34 in the vertical direction.

[0029] The two rods 34 are adapted to be inserted into the box body H from a top opening T of the box body H by a rod extension mechanism 36. When the rods 34 are inserted into the box body H, it is sufficient that the lower ends of the rods 34 reach at least the flap P of the box body H. Furthermore, the lower ends of the rods 34 may protrude downward beyond the flap P. When the lower ends of the rods 34 reach the flap P of the box body H, the flap P can be rotated downward.

[0030] The position of the rod 34 in a plan view is preferably as close as possible to the attracted surface K. As a result, when the movement mechanism 28 moves the box body H in the lateral direction with the rod 34 inserted inside the box body H, the rod 34 presses outward the side of the inner surface of the box body H that is closer to the attracted surface K. As a result, the box body H is pressed by the rod 34 and folded.

[0031] When the box body H moves to a position where it can be folded, the rod extension mechanism 36 is actuated to pull the rod 34 up from within the box body H.

[0032] Thereafter, when the moving mechanism 28 moves the box body H in the folded state to the vicinity of the discharge port 22 of the device stand 11, the suction tool 24 stops suctioning the attracted surface K. As a result, the box body H falls from the suction tool 24 and is discharged from the discharge port 22.

[0033] <Procedure for folding the box body H by the box body folding device 10 according to this embodiment> Next, a procedure for folding the box H using the box folding device 10 according to the present embodiment described above will be briefly described.

[0034] First, the box H is inserted into the insertion opening 20 of the device stand 11 so that the surface (attached surface K) facing the opening / closing surface O of the box H is positioned on the vertical side surface.

[0035] Thereafter, the suction tool 24 of the suction / movement device 12 is suctioned to the surface K of the box body H to be suctioned, so that the suction / movement device 12 holds the box body H and slides and moves it laterally.

[0036] When the box body H, which is being moved laterally, reaches the cutting device 14, all edges of the attracted surface K of the box body H except for the vertical lower edge X of the attracted surface K are cut by the cutting blade 30, which is moved up and down by the cutting blade vertical movement device 32.

[0037] Then, the box H rotates downwards due to its own weight around the lower vertical edge X of the attracted surface K, and as a result, a top opening T is formed on the top surface (the surface where the attracted surface K was originally located) of the box H. Furthermore, the bottom surface facing the top surface at this point is the opening / closing surface O.

[0038] Next, when the box body H, which is being moved laterally, reaches the folding device 16, the two rods 34 of the folding device 16 are inserted into the box body H from the top opening T of the box body H by the rod extending and retracting mechanism 36.

[0039] When the lower end of the rod 34 reaches the flap P of the box body H, the flap P can be rotated downward. In this manner, the flap P of the box body H constituting the opening / closing surface O also rotates downward, and a bottom opening S is also formed in the bottom surface of the box body H.

[0040] When the box body H moves further sideways with the rod 34 inserted inside the box body H, the rod 34 presses the side of the inner surface of the box body H closer to the adsorbed surface K outward, causing the box body H to be pushed by the rod 34 and folded.

[0041] When the box body H moves to a position where it can be folded by the rod 34, the rod extension mechanism 36 is actuated to pull the rod 34 up from within the box body H.

[0042] Thereafter, when the moving mechanism 28 moves the box body H in the folded state to the vicinity of the discharge port 22 of the device stand 11, the suction tool 24 stops suctioning the attracted surface K. As a result, the box body H falls from the suction tool 24 and is discharged from the discharge port 22.

[0043] <Features of the box folding device 10 according to this embodiment> According to the box folding device 10 of this embodiment, all edges of the adsorbed surface K except for the vertical lower edge X of the adsorbed surface K located on the vertical side of the box H are cut, and then two rods 34 are inserted into the box H through the top opening T of the box H, which has rotated downward around the vertical lower edge X of the adsorbed surface K due to its own weight, and the box H is folded by pushing the inside of the box H, which is moved laterally, with the rods 34. Therefore, since there is no need to compress or crush the box H, the box H in its assembled state can be folded into a uniform and attractive shape.

[0044] (Variation 1) In the box folding device 10 according to the embodiment described above, two rods 34 are used in the folding device 16, but the number of rods 34 is not limited to this. However, since the flap P of the box H is rotated downward at the lower end of the rod 34, it is preferable that the number of rods 34 is at least two or more.

[0045] (Variation 2) The shape of the rod 34 is not limited to a cylinder, but may be a round pipe, a square column, or a square pipe, and the size is not particularly limited. If the rod extension mechanism 36 is operated to pull up the two rods 34 from inside the box body H after the box body H is folded by the rods 34, the lower ends of the two rods 34 may be connected to each other.

[0046] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, not the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10...box folding device, 11...device stand, 12...suction and moving device, 14...cutting device, 16...folding device 20: inlet, 22: outlet, 24: suction tool, 26: suction tool base, 28: movement mechanism, 30: cutting blade, 32: cutting blade up-down movement device, 34: rod, 36: rod extension mechanism H...box body, O...opening and closing surface (of box body H), K...attached surface (of box body H), X...vertical lower edge (of box body H), T...top opening, P...flap, S...bottom opening (of box body H)

Claims

1. a chucking and moving device that chucks the opposing surface of the box body, which faces the opening and closing surface of the box body and is disposed so as to be positioned on a vertical side surface of the box body, as an attracted surface and moves the box body in a lateral direction; a cutting device that cuts all edges of the attracted surface except for a lower edge in the vertical direction of the attracted surface; and a folding device having two rods that are inserted into the box body from a top opening of the box body that has rotated downward around the lower edge of the adsorbed surface due to its own weight after the cutting by the cutting device. Box folding device.

2. The box is arranged so that a surface facing the opening / closing surface of the box is located on a vertical side surface; While the box body is moved in a lateral direction while the opposing surface is attracted and held as an attracted surface, cutting all edges of the attracted surface except for a lower edge in the vertical direction of the attracted surface; After the cutting, the box body is rotated downward around the lower edge of the attracting surface due to its own weight, and two rods are inserted into the box body through a top opening of the box body; The box is folded by pushing the inside of the box, which is moved laterally, with the rod. How to fold the box.

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