Position adjustment method for filling nozzle on vertical filling and packaging machine

Abstract

To propose a method for checking the position of a filling nozzle in the thickness direction of a folded band-shaped plastic film so as to be able to move the filling nozzle to a predetermined position in the thickness direction as appropriate, even after a vertical filling and packaging machine has started operating.SOLUTION: A vertical filling and packaging machine includes a bag making guide, a vertical sealing roll pair, one or more horizontal sealing roll pairs, and a filling nozzle. The vertical filling and packaging machine takes by an imaging apparatus an image of a position of the filling nozzle in the thickness direction of the folded belt-shaped plastic film in a downstream position of the bag making guide and displays the image on the monitor to move the filling nozzle in the thickness direction so that the center position in the width direction of the filling nozzle displayed on the monitor coincides with the set position displayed on the monitor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for adjusting the position of a filling nozzle in a vertical filling and packaging machine which folds a continuously unwound strip of plastic film in two along the longitudinal direction, forms vertical and horizontal seals on the strip of plastic film to form bags, and fills and packages the items to be packaged. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there have been known vertical filling and packaging machines, such as that described in Patent Document 1, which can automatically fill and package packaged items consisting of liquid or viscous materials, such as food and beverages, seasonings, medicines, and chemicals, or powder or granular materials, while forming a strip-shaped plastic film into a bag, and continuously produce multiple packaging bags.

[0003] In this vertical filling and packaging machine, a strip-shaped plastic film is guided from a film original formed by winding the plastic film into a roll via a film guide mechanism to a bag-making guide, which is a film folding mechanism, and the plastic film is folded in half along the longitudinal direction by the bag-making guide.The plastic film is then sandwiched and sent out by a vertical sealing mechanism (vertical sealing roll pair) and heat-sealed to vertically seal the plastic film into a cylindrical shape, and then the cylindrical plastic film is heat-sealed horizontally by a horizontal sealing mechanism (horizontal sealing roll pair) to horizontally seal the plastic film to form a horizontal seal portion that will become the bottom of the packaging bag.The plastic film, which has been formed into a bottomed cylindrical shape, is then filled with a liquid, viscous, or other packaged material using a filling nozzle, and the mouth side of the packaging bag is horizontally sealed by the horizontal sealing mechanism to form a continuous packaging bag.

[0004] In such a vertical fill and pack machine, when a strip of plastic film is folded in half along the longitudinal direction by a bag making guide, if the folding position deviates from the center position in the width direction of the plastic film, the side edges will not be aligned when folded back, which may result in so-called misaligned edges. For this reason, methods have been proposed for folding back a strip of plastic film accurately at the center position in the width direction (for example, Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-8906 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 7212979 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] According to the conveying guide for strip-shaped plastic film in Patent Document 2, the strip-shaped plastic film can be folded in two accurately along the longitudinal direction by appropriately changing the conveying path of the strip-shaped plastic film. Meanwhile, in the above-mentioned vertical filling and packaging machine, a filling nozzle for the packaged item is inserted between the strip-shaped plastic film folded in two. Therefore, if the filling nozzle is disposed at a position shifted from the center position in the thickness direction of the strip-shaped plastic film folded in two (the direction between the strip-shaped plastic film folded in two), the filling nozzle comes into contact with the inner side of the folded strip-shaped plastic film, and even though the strip-shaped plastic film is folded in two accurately by the conveying guide, the strip-shaped plastic film may meander, and the folding position may be shifted from the center position in the width direction.

[0007] Furthermore, if the folding position of the strip-shaped plastic film is shifted from the center position in the width direction in this manner, there is a risk that the edges will become misaligned, or that the plastic film will slacken when the horizontal seal is performed, causing wrinkles in the horizontal seal portion, which may result in liquid leakage through the wrinkles, or that the seal strength will be insufficient, resulting in the bag breaking.

[0008] For this reason, in the past, during trial runs, workers would move the tip of the filling nozzle while watching the condition of the horizontal seal section, and fine-tune the position of the filling nozzle in the thickness direction of the strip-shaped plastic film.However, after the vertical filling packaging machine was operating, there was no way to confirm the exact position of the filling nozzle in the thickness direction, and a misalignment of the filling nozzle could cause the fold-back position of the strip-shaped plastic film to shift, resulting in wrinkles on the horizontal seal section.

[0009] Therefore, the present invention aims to propose a method that enables the position of the filling nozzle in the thickness direction of the folded strip-shaped plastic film to be confirmed even after the vertical filling packaging machine has started operating, and that enables the filling nozzle to be appropriately moved to a predetermined position in the thickness direction. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a bag-making guide that folds a strip-shaped plastic film in two along the longitudinal direction, a pair of vertical seal rolls that pressurize and heat at least the overlapping side edges of the strip-shaped plastic film folded in two to continuously form one or more vertical seal portions in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped plastic film, one or more horizontal seal roll pairs that pressurize and heat the strip-shaped plastic film with the vertical seal portions formed thereon to form horizontal seal portions in the width direction of the strip-shaped plastic film, and a bag-making guide that folds a strip-shaped plastic film in two along the longitudinal direction of the bag-making guide, and a filling nozzle for filling the packaged material into the inner filling space of the strip-shaped plastic film partitioned by the vertical seal portion formed by the pair of vertical seal rolls, the method comprising the steps of: photographing the thickness direction position of the filling nozzle between the overlapping strip-shaped plastic film that is folded in two and overlapped by an imaging device at a downstream position of the bag making guide and displaying the image on a monitor; and moving the filling nozzle in the thickness direction so that the width direction center position of the filling nozzle displayed on the monitor coincides with the set position displayed on the monitor.

[0011] In the method for adjusting the position of a filling nozzle of the present invention, it is preferable that the set position displayed on the monitor is the mechanical center of a vertical filling and packaging machine. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the method for adjusting the position of the filling nozzle in a vertical filling packaging machine of the present invention, the position of the filling nozzle in the thickness direction of the folded strip of plastic film (the direction between the folded strip of plastic film) is photographed at a position downstream of the bag making guide and displayed on a monitor, making it possible to check the position of the filling nozzle in the thickness direction even after the vertical filling packaging machine is operating.

[0013] Therefore, if the widthwise center position of the filling nozzle as seen on the monitor is shifted from the set position (displayed on the monitor), the user moves the filling nozzle while watching the monitor so that its widthwise center position coincides with the set position. This prevents the filling nozzle from coming into contact with the inside surface of the strip-shaped plastic film, and prevents the folding position of the strip-shaped plastic film from shifting, causing edge slippage, or the strip-shaped plastic film from loosening during transverse sealing, causing wrinkles on the transverse seal portion. In particular, when the packaged item contains solid matter or is highly viscous, the nozzle diameter of the filling nozzle becomes larger, making it easier for the filling nozzle to come into contact with the inner surface of the folded strip of plastic film, and the effects of the present invention can be expected.

[0014] In addition, according to the present invention, by moving the filling nozzle so that its widthwise center position coincides with the mechanical center of the vertical filling and packaging machine (the center position of the bite between the rolls of a vertical sealing roll pair or a horizontal sealing roll pair), meandering of the strip-shaped plastic film can be suppressed and it can be folded in two precisely in the longitudinal direction at the widthwise center position, preventing edge slippage. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view showing one embodiment of a vertical filling and packaging machine according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] (a) is a plan view showing the state of the strip-shaped plastic film and the filling nozzle when the widthwise center position of the filling nozzle coincides with the set position displayed on the monitor, (b) is an image displayed on the monitor in the case of (a), (c) is a plan view showing the state of the strip-shaped plastic film and the filling nozzle when the widthwise center position of the filling nozzle does not coincide with the set position displayed on the monitor, and (d) is an image displayed on the monitor in the case of (c). [Diagram 3] 2 is a diagram illustrating the center of engagement of a pair of vertical seal rolls or a pair of horizontal seal rolls in the vertical filling and packaging machine of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] The present invention can be applied to any vertical filling and packaging machine that simultaneously produces packaging bags in a single row or multiple rows (multiple rows), but the following description will mainly focus on the case of single-row filling as a representative example.

[0017] Fig. 1 is a front view showing one embodiment (single-line filling) of the vertical filling packaging machine according to the present invention, Fig. 2(a) is a plan view showing the state of the strip-shaped plastic film and the filling nozzle when the widthwise center position of the filling nozzle coincides with the set position displayed on the monitor, (b) is an image displayed on the monitor in the case of (a), (c) is a plan view showing the state of the strip-shaped plastic film and the filling nozzle when the widthwise center position of the filling nozzle does not coincide with the set position displayed on the monitor, and (d) is an image displayed on the monitor in the case of (c). Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining the bite center of the vertical seal roll pair or the horizontal seal roll pair of the vertical filling packaging machine of Fig. 1. The present invention will be described in detail below based on the examples shown in Figs. 1 to 3.

[0018] In the vertical filling and packaging machine shown in Figure 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a film base formed by winding a strip-shaped plastic film F into a roll, reference numeral 2 denotes a rewinding roll that is rotatably supported via a bearing and sequentially rewinds the strip-shaped plastic film F from the film base 1, reference numerals 3 and 4 denote guide rolls that change the direction in which the rewound strip-shaped plastic film F moves, and reference numeral 5 denotes a top roll that is held in a horizontal position and changes the direction of the strip-shaped plastic film F to a vertical conveying position (vertical position).

[0019] The film configuration of the plastic film F is not particularly limited as long as it has at least a base layer and a sealant layer, and in this embodiment, a plastic film F is used that has a base layer made of a uniaxially or biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate film layer, a nylon resin film layer, or the like, and a sealant layer made of a non-oriented polyethylene layer, a polypropylene layer, or the like. For example, a laminated plastic film made by laminating aluminum foil, aluminum alloy foil, an aluminum vapor deposition layer, and / or paper, etc., can also be suitably used.

[0020] Furthermore, symbol 6 in Figure 1 is a conveying guide that wraps around the strip-shaped plastic film F and folds the strip-shaped plastic film F in two along the longitudinal direction at approximately the center position in the width direction while conveying it downstream, symbol 7 is a pair of vertical sealing rolls that clamp the side edge portion F2, which is the overlapping portion of the strip-shaped plastic film F that has been folded in two, and apply pressure and heat to continuously form a vertical seal portion S, and symbol 8 is a pair of horizontal sealing rolls that are provided downstream of the pair of vertical sealing rolls 7 and clamp the strip-shaped plastic film F with the vertical seal portion S formed thereon, and apply pressure and heat to form a horizontal seal portion S1 in the width direction of the strip-shaped plastic film F. In addition, reference numeral 9 denotes a filling nozzle that is provided between the vertical sealing roll pair 7 and the top roll 5 and fills the packaged item M into the inner space of the strip-shaped plastic film F partitioned by the horizontal sealing section S1 and the vertical sealing section S; reference numeral 10 denotes a cooling roll pair that is provided downstream of the horizontal sealing roll pair 8 and cools the horizontal sealing section S1; and reference numeral 11 denotes a cutter that is provided downstream of the cooling roll pair 10 and cuts a plurality of packaging bags W, in which the bags are connected to each other, at the horizontal sealing section S1 and separates the packaging bags W into individual bags.

[0021] Reference numeral 20 denotes an imaging device that is provided immediately below the pair of vertical sealing rolls 7 and captures an image of the position of the filling nozzle 9 in the thickness direction of the strip-shaped plastic film F folded in two. Note that the "thickness direction" refers to the direction in which the opposing strip-shaped plastic film F overlap each other after being folded in two by the bag-making guide 6.

[0022] 1, the imaging device 20 is provided on the folded-back portion F1 side of the strip-shaped plastic film F to capture an image of the filling nozzle 6 inserted into the strip-shaped plastic film F from the folded-back portion F1 side, but the imaging device 20 may be provided on the overlapped side edge portion F2 side of the strip-shaped plastic film F. Furthermore, while the imaging device 20 is provided directly below the pair of vertical sealing rolls 7 in FIG. 1, the imaging device 20 may be provided upstream of the pair of vertical sealing rolls 7.

[0023] The imaging device 20 may be a CCD camera, an infrared camera, a CMOS camera, or the like, and the image captured by the imaging device 20 is displayed on a monitor 21 as shown in Figures 2(b) and 2(d). A set position 22 is displayed in advance on the monitor 21, and the difference (deviation) between the position of the filling nozzle 9 in the thickness direction and the set position 22 can be confirmed from the image displayed on the monitor 21. The position of the filling nozzle 9 in the thickness direction is based on the center position 9a of the filling nozzle 9 in the width direction.

[0024] In the example of Figures 2(a) and 2(b), the filling nozzle 9 (widthwise center position 9a) is positioned at a position that coincides with the set position 22, so that the filling nozzle 9 does not come into contact with the inner side of the strip-shaped plastic film, and the strip-shaped plastic film F folded in two is transported without meandering.

[0025] In contrast, in the examples of Figures 2(c) and 2(d), the filling nozzle 9 (widthwise center position 9a) is positioned at a position shifted from the set position 22, so that the filling nozzle 9 comes into contact with one of the inner sides of the strip-shaped plastic film F that is folded in two, causing distortion, and the folding position of the strip-shaped plastic film F shifts, causing it to be transported in a meandering manner.

[0026] Therefore, when a difference (deviation) between the widthwise center position 9a of the filling nozzle 9 and the set position 22 is confirmed in the image displayed on the monitor 21 as shown in Figure 2(d), the filling nozzle 9 can be moved (moved to the right on the paper in Figures 2(c) and (d)) while watching the image, so that the widthwise center position 9a coincides with the set position 22, thereby making it possible to always set the folding position of the strip-shaped plastic film F to the widthwise center position.

[0027] The means for moving the filling nozzle 9 is not particularly limited, and for example, a detection means is provided to detect the difference between the widthwise center position 9a of the filling nozzle 9 and the set position 22, and the filling nozzle 9 is moved appropriately via a control unit and a driving means, or an operator can move it manually while checking the monitor 21.

[0028] The set position 22 is preferably the mechanical center of the vertical fill-seal machine, and is particularly preferably the bite center position C between the vertical seal roll pair 7 or the horizontal seal roll pair 8 shown in Fig. 3. The bite center refers to the center of the gap into which the strip-shaped plastic film F is bitten. The set position 22 can also be set by providing a sight (rod) of about φ1 mm in front of the imaging device 20 (between the imaging device 20 and the folded-back portion F1 of the strip-shaped plastic film F) at a position coinciding with the bite center, and photographing the sight with the imaging device 20 and displaying it on the monitor 21.

[0029] In this way, by moving the filling nozzle 9 so that its widthwise center position 9a coincides with the set position 22 (such as the bite center position C between the vertical sealing roll pair 7), the position of the filling nozzle 9 in the thickness direction of the strip-shaped plastic film F can be adjusted while the vertical filling packaging machine is in operation. This effectively prevents the strip-shaped plastic film F from meandering due to contact with the filling nozzle 9, and prevents poor sealing during vertical and horizontal sealing (such as leakage or pinholes due to wrinkles, etc.). [Industrial Applicability]

[0030] According to the present invention, a vertical filling and packaging machine can be provided that can efficiently produce packaging bags in which edge slippage is suppressed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1. Film roll 2 Rewind Roll 3,4 Guide roll 5. Ten Roll 6 Bag Making Guide 7 Vertical seal roll pair 8 Horizontal seal roll pair 9 Filling Nozzle 9a Width center position 10 Cooling Roll Pair 11 Cutter 20 Imaging device 21 Monitor 22 Setting position S Vertical seal S1 Horizontal seal part F Strip-shaped plastic film F1 Turning part F2 side edge W packaging bag M Packaged item

Claims

1. A bag making guide that folds the strip of plastic film in two along the longitudinal direction; A pair of vertical seal rolls for pressing and heating at least the overlapping side edges of the strip-shaped plastic film folded in two to continuously form one or more vertical seal portions in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped plastic film; one or more pairs of horizontal seal rolls that sandwich and pressurize and heat the strip-shaped plastic film on which the vertical seal portion has been formed to form a horizontal seal portion in the width direction of the strip-shaped plastic film; a filling nozzle for filling an article to be packaged into a filling space inside the strip-shaped plastic film partitioned by one horizontal seal portion formed by the horizontal seal roll pair and a vertical seal portion formed by the vertical seal roll pair, At a downstream position of the bag making guide, the positions of the strip-shaped plastic film folded in two and overlapping each other in the thickness direction of the filling nozzle are photographed by an imaging device and displayed on a monitor; A method for adjusting the position of a filling nozzle, comprising the steps of: moving the filling nozzle in the thickness direction so that the widthwise center position of the filling nozzle projected on the monitor coincides with a set position displayed on the monitor.

2. 2. The method for adjusting the position of a filling nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the set position displayed on the monitor is the center of a machine related to a vertical filling and packaging machine.

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