Automatic wound film mounting system and packaging machine

Abstract

To eliminate the need for alignment work in a width direction for newly wound film even if the width of the newly wound film is not consistent.SOLUTION: An automatic wound film mounting system 1 comprises: an unmanned transport robot 50 that conveys newly wound film to a packaging material supply section of a vertical pillow packaging machine 2; an ejector block that moves the newly wound film held by the unmanned transport robot to a shaft side of the packaging material supply section; a stopper that determines the position on the shaft of the newly wound film moved to the shaft side by the ejector block; and a film width information acquisition section 31a that acquires width information representing the width of the newly wound film, and controls operation of the ejector block and the stopper so that the center in the width direction of the newly wound film moving on the shaft aligns with the center position in the width direction of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, on the basis of the width information acquired by the film width information acquisition section.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic winding film loading system that automatically loads a new winding film onto a packaging material supply section in a packaging machine, and to a packaging machine. [Background technology]

[0002] In packaging machines such as vertical pillow packaging machines, horizontal pillow packaging machines, wrapping packaging machines, and overwrap packaging machines, packages are produced by continuously unwinding film (packaging material) from a take-up film attached to a shaft that supports the take-up film in the packaging material supply section, but when the take-up film (old take-up film) runs out, a new take-up film (new take-up film) is attached to the shaft and production of packages continues. The switch from the old roll of film to the new roll of film in this packaging material supply section is usually performed manually by an operator, but with the aim of automating packaging machines, devices and systems have been proposed that automatically switch from the old roll of film to the new roll of film.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 (JP 2006-199488 A) discloses a bag-making and packaging system 50 that includes a bag-making and packaging machine 3, a second control unit 30, a conveying device 51 consisting of a belt conveyor, and a stock unit 52 that stores a plurality of film rolls 9. Under the control of the second control unit 30, the film roll 9 is removed from the stock unit 52 and conveyed by the conveying device 51 to the side of the bag-making and packaging machine 3. The film roll 9 is supported by the second shaft 60a of the temporary holding unit 60. The film roll 9 supported by the temporary holding unit 60 is handed over to the support unit 16 of the bag-making and packaging machine 3 and held by the first shaft 16a, thereby automatically loading the film roll 9. The core material 9a held by the first shaft 16a of the support unit 16 is moved to the second shaft 60a of the temporary holding unit 60. The temporary holding unit 60 holding the core material 9a is then moved to a disposal location 53, thereby automatically disposing of the core material 9a.

[0004] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 (JP 2024-27973 A) describes an automated guided vehicle 15 that automatically supplies a new film roll 14 to a paper tube shaft 12 of a film supply unit 11 of a packaging machine, and also collects used film rolls (old packaging material) 14 and used-up film core tubes (old packaging material) 13 from the paper tube shaft 12, a parking station 17 that positions the automated guided vehicle 15 provided on the front side of a machine frame 25 of the film supply unit 11, and a transfer means 19 that is arranged on the machine frame 25, and the automated guided vehicle 15 holds a new film roll 14a in a roll holder 16 and travels to the film supply unit 11. The automatic transport vehicle 15 enters a stopping station 17, and the movable means 23 and transfer means 19 on the automatic transport vehicle 15 side operate to transfer the new film roll 14a from the roll holder 16 to the paper tube shaft 12 of the film supply unit 11, and the transfer means 19 also operates to push the old film roll 14b held on the paper tube shaft 12 out of the paper tube shaft 12 and send it to the empty roll holder 16, and the old film roll 14b collected by the automatic transport vehicle 15 is transported to a storage location, and if the old film roll 14b has been used up, the core tube 13 is transported to a disposal location, in this automatic transport vehicle roll supply device.

[0005] The rolled film is attached to the packaging material supply section so that its center in the width direction (the direction perpendicular to the film unwinding direction) is positioned at the center in the width direction of the packaging machine. In this case, the width of the rolled film varies depending on the type of packaging produced by the packaging machine, and the position of the widthwise end (edge) of the rolled film attached to the shaft of the packaging material supply section will also vary depending on the width of the rolled film. However, in the bag making and packaging system 50 of Patent Document 1, the bracket 60b of the temporary holding unit 60 is advanced by the air cylinder (drive unit) 60c, and the film roll 9 held by the second shaft 60a is moved toward the first shaft 16a of the support unit 16, and is pressed against the bracket 16b located at the end opposite the open end of the first shaft 16a, so that the position of the end of the film roll 9 attached to the first shaft 16a is always constant at the position of the bracket 16b. For this reason, in the bag-making packaging system 50 of Patent Document 1, if the width of the film roll 9 is not constant and the center of the width of the film roll 9 does not come to the center of the width of the bag-making packaging machine 3 simply by pressing the end of the film roll 9 against the bracket 16b, work must be done to align the center of the width of the film roll 9 with the center of the width of the bag-making packaging machine 3, resulting in the problem that the packaging material supply section of the packaging machine cannot be fully automated.

[0006] Furthermore, in the automatic packaging roll supply device of Patent Document 2, when the new film roll 14a is transferred from the roll holder 16 to the cardboard tube shaft 12 of the film supply unit 11, the push-out member 48 of the transfer means 19 abuts against the side end face of the new film roll 14a and moves from the first pushing position N1 to the second pushing position N2, and when it is detected that the new film roll 14a has been sent to a specified position relative to the cardboard tube shaft 12, the movement of the push-out member 48 by the front-to-back movement means 49 is stopped (paragraph

[0032] of Patent Document 2), so that the position of the side end face of the new film roll 14a attached to the cardboard tube shaft 12 is always constant. For this reason, in the automatic packaging roll supply device of Patent Document 2, just like the bag making and packaging system 50 of Patent Document 1, if the width of the new film roll 14a is not constant and the new film roll 14a is fed to a specified position relative to the cardboard tube shaft 12 and is not at the center of the width of the packaging machine, work will be required to align the center of the width of the new film roll 14a with the center of the width of the packaging machine, resulting in the problem that the packaging material supply section of the packaging machine cannot be fully automated. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-199488 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2024-27973 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The problem that the present invention aims to solve is to automatically switch from an old roll of film to a new roll of film in the packaging material supply section of a packaging machine, by automatically attaching the new roll of film to the packaging material supply section so that its center in the width direction is positioned in the center in the width direction of the packaging machine, even if the width of the new roll of film is not constant, thereby eliminating the work of aligning the new roll of film in the width direction and enabling the packaging material supply section of the packaging machine to be completely unmanned. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The invention of claim 1 solves the above problem by providing an automatic rolled film loading system comprising: rolled film transport means for transporting newly rolled film to be used in a packaging machine to a packaging material supply section of the packaging machine; rolled film moving means for moving the newly rolled film held by the rolled film transport means toward the shaft holding the rolled film in the packaging material supply section; rolled film positioning means for determining the position on the shaft of the newly rolled film moved toward the shaft by the rolled film moving means; width information acquisition means for acquiring width information representing the width of the newly rolled film; and rolled film position control means for controlling the operation of the rolled film moving means and the rolled film positioning means based on the width information acquired by the width information acquisition means so that the widthwise center of the newly rolled film moving on the shaft coincides with the widthwise center position of the packaging machine.

[0010] The invention of claim 2 solves the above problem by providing an automatic roll-up film loading system in which the roll-up film transport means is an unmanned transport robot that moves by itself while holding the newly rolled up film, and the roll-up film moving means is an extrusion means provided on the unmanned transport robot that pushes the newly rolled up film held by the unmanned transport robot toward the shaft.

[0011] The invention of claim 3 solves the above-mentioned problem by providing an automatic winding film loading system in which the winding film positioning means includes a stopper that abuts against the side of the newly wound film as it moves on the shaft and a stopper moving means that moves the stopper in the axial direction of the shaft, and the winding film position control means controls the operation of the stopper moving means so that when the side of the newly wound film moving on the shaft abuts against the stopper, the center of the width of the newly wound film coincides with the width position of the packaging machine.

[0012] The invention of claim 4 solves the above problem by providing an automatic roll film loading system in which the stopper and the stopper moving means serve as old roll film removal means that pushes the side of the consumed old roll film attached to the shaft and moves it toward the unmanned transport robot.

[0013] The invention of claim 5 solves the above problem by providing an automatic rolled film loading system equipped with a new rolled film automatic loading control means that controls the operation of the unmanned transport robot and the extrusion means so that the unmanned transport robot holds the new rolled film and automatically transports it to the packaging material supply section, and the extrusion means automatically moves the new rolled film held by the unmanned transport vehicle toward the shaft.

[0014] The invention of claim 6 solves the above-mentioned problem by providing an automatic roll film loading system as described in claim 4, characterized in that it further comprises an old roll film removal control means that controls the operation of the stopper moving means and the unmanned transport robot so that the stopper and the stopper moving means automatically push the side of the old roll film attached to the shaft and move it toward the unmanned transport robot, and the unmanned transport robot holds the old roll film and automatically transports it to a storage location for the old roll film.

[0015] The invention of claim 7 solves the above problem by providing a packaging machine comprising: shaft position moving means for moving the position of the shaft of a packaging material supply unit that holds a rolled up film; shaft position control means for controlling the operation of the shaft position moving means so as to move the shaft to a position that will receive a newly rolled up film that will be automatically transported by an automated guided robot; rolled up film positioning means for determining the position on the shaft of the newly rolled up film that is moved from the automated guided vehicle toward the shaft; width information acquisition means for acquiring width information that represents the width of the newly rolled up film; and rolled up film position control means for controlling the operation of the rolled up film moving means and the rolled up film positioning means based on the width information acquired by the width information acquisition means so that the center of the width of the newly rolled up film moving on the shaft coincides with the width direction position of the packaging machine.

[0016] The invention of claim 8 solves the above-mentioned problem by providing a packaging machine in which the rolled film positioning means includes a stopper that abuts against the side of the newly rolled film as it moves on the shaft and a stopper moving means that moves the stopper in the axial direction of the shaft, and the rolled film position control means controls the operation of the stopper moving means so that when the side of the newly rolled film moving on the shaft abuts against the stopper, the center of the width of the newly rolled film coincides with the width position of the packaging machine.

[0017] The invention of claim 9 solves the above problem by providing a packaging machine in which the stopper and the stopper moving means serve as old roll film removal means that are attached to the shaft and push the side of the consumed old roll film to move it toward the unmanned transport robot. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] In the automatic roll film loading system of the invention described in claim 1, the roll film position control means controls the operation of the roll film moving means and the roll film positioning means based on width information indicating the width of the new roll film acquired by the width information acquisition means, so that the widthwise center of the new roll film moving on the shaft of the packaging material supply section coincides with the widthwise center of the packaging machine.When automatically switching from the old roll film to the new roll film, even if the width of the new roll film is not constant, the new roll film is automatically attached to the packaging material supply section so that its widthwise center is positioned at the widthwise center of the packaging machine, eliminating the need for widthwise positioning of the new roll film and achieving the effect of completely unmanned operation of the packaging material supply section of the packaging machine.

[0019] The automatic film loading system of the invention described in claim 2 further has the effect that the unmanned transport robot holds the new rolled film, and the new rolled film is pushed out toward the shaft by a push-out means provided on the unmanned transport robot, making it possible to automatically switch from the old rolled film to the new rolled film using the unmanned transport robot.

[0020] The automatic film loading system of the invention described in claim 3 further has the advantage that when the side of the newly wound film moving on the shaft abuts against the stopper, the center of the newly wound film in the width direction coincides with the width direction position of the packaging machine, thereby enabling reliable alignment of the newly wound film in the width direction using simple means.

[0021] The automatic roll film loading system of the invention described in claim 4 further has the effect that the stopper automatically pushes the side of the old roll film loaded on the shaft to move it toward the unmanned transport robot, the unmanned transport robot holds the old roll film and automatically transports it to a storage location for the old roll film, and the stopper can remove the old roll film loaded on the shaft.

[0022] The automatic rolled film loading system of the invention described in claim 5 further has the effect that the unmanned transport robot holds the new rolled film and automatically transports it to the packaging material supply section, and the pushing means automatically moves the new rolled film held by the unmanned transport vehicle toward the shaft, thereby enabling the unmanned transport robot to automatically transport and load the new rolled film.

[0023] In the automatic roll film loading system of the invention described in claim 6, the stopper automatically pushes the side of the old roll film loaded on the shaft to move it toward the unmanned transport robot, and the unmanned transport robot holds the old roll film and automatically transports it to a storage location for the old roll film, and further, the stopper can automatically remove the old roll film from the shaft, and the removed old roll film can be automatically transported by the unmanned transport robot.

[0024] In the packaging machine of the invention described in claim 7, the shaft position control means moves the shaft to a position where it can receive the new rolled up film automatically transported by the unmanned transport robot, and based on width information indicating the width of the new rolled up film acquired by the width information acquisition means, the rolled up film position control means controls the operation of the rolled up film moving means and the rolled up film positioning means so that the center of the width of the new rolled up film moving on the shaft of the packaging material supply section coincides with the center of the width of the packaging machine, and when automatically switching from the old rolled up film to the new rolled up film, even if the width of the new rolled up film is not constant, the new rolled up film is automatically attached to the packaging material supply section so that its center of the width is positioned at the center of the width of the packaging machine, eliminating the need for widthwise positioning of the new rolled up film and achieving the effect of completely unmanned operation of the packaging material supply section of the packaging machine.

[0025] In the packaging machine of the invention described in claim 8, when the side of the newly wound film moving on the shaft abuts against the stopper, the center of the width of the newly wound film coincides with the width of the packaging machine, thereby achieving the effect of reliably aligning the width of the newly wound film using simple means.

[0026] The packaging machine of the invention described in claim 9 further has the effect that the stopper automatically pushes the side of the old rolled film attached to the shaft to move it toward the unmanned transport robot, and the stopper can remove the old rolled film attached to the shaft. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control portion of the automatic winding film loading system of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a vertical pillow packaging machine body. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an oblique view of the film supply section and the winding film positioning and moving device of the vertical pillow packaging machine. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a plan view of the film supply unit and the winding film positioning and moving device shown in FIG. 3. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a front view of the film supply unit and the winding film positioning and moving device shown in FIG. 3. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a right side view of the film supply unit and the winding film positioning and moving device shown in FIG. 3. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the unmanned transport robot shown in FIG. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 and the unmanned transport robot 50 when a new roll of film is automatically loaded onto the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 in the roll-up film automatic loading system 1. [Figure 9] 11A and 11B are explanatory diagrams illustrating the operation of rotating the shaft support arm 11a to set its tilt angle to the take-up film mounting angle. [Figure 10] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of moving the stand 42a until the contact plate 42d is positioned W / 2 away from the center of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 in the width direction. FIG. [Figure 11] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the raising operation of the backing plate 42d and the shaft 53a. FIG. [Figure 12] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of moving the newly taken-up film MF2 by the pushing block 53b. FIG. [Figure 13] 10 is an explanatory view illustrating a state in which the stopper 42 and the shaft support portion 53 have returned to their original positions. FIG. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 and the unmanned transport robot 50 when automatically removing the old rolled film or paper tube from the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 in the rolled film automatic loading system 1. [Figure 15] 11A and 11B are explanatory diagrams illustrating the operation of rotating the shaft support arm 11a to set its tilt angle to the take-up film mounting angle. [Figure 16] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the raising operation of the backing plate 42d and the shaft 53a. FIG. [Figure 17] 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of moving the old rolled film MF1 by using abutment plate 42d and transferring it from shaft 11b1 to shaft 53a. FIG. [Figure 18] 10 is an explanatory view illustrating a state in which the stopper 42 and the shaft 53a have returned to their original positions. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] [Configuration of automatic winding film loading system] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control part of the automatic roll film loading system of the present invention, Figure 2 is an oblique view showing the overall configuration of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body, Figure 3 is an oblique view of the film supply section and roll film positioning and moving device of the vertical pillow packaging machine, Figure 4 is a plan view of the film supply section and roll film positioning and moving device shown in Figure 3, Figure 5 is a front view of the film supply section and roll film positioning and moving device shown in Figure 3, Figure 6 is a right side view of the film supply section and roll film positioning and moving device shown in Figure 3, and Figure 7 is an oblique view of the unmanned transport robot shown in Figure 1. In the figure, 1 is an automatic winding film loading system, 2 is a vertical pillow packaging machine, 10 is the vertical pillow packaging machine main body, 11 is a film (packaging material) supply section, 11A is a winding film support device, 11a is a shaft support arm, 11b1 and 11b2 are shafts, 11c is an arm support stand, 11d is a rotating shaft, 12 is a tension adjustment section, 12a is a rotating arm, 12b and 12c are dancer rollers, 12d is a fixed roller, 12e is a rotating rod, 13 is a date printing section, 13a is a date printing device, 13b is a lifting roller, 14 is a packaged product supply section, 14a is a hopper, 14b is a filling Filling tube, 15 is a tube making section, 15a is a tube making device (former), 15b is a pressing member, 15c is a slide roller, 16 is a film feeding section, 16a is a pulley, 16b is a feeding belt, 17 is a vertical sealing section, 17a and 17b are vertical sealing blocks, 18 is a horizontal sealing and cutting section, 18a and 18b are horizontal sealing blocks, 19 is a package discharge section, 19a is a belt conveyor, 20 is a vertical pillow packaging machine control section, 21 is an arithmetic control section, 21a is a vertical pillow packaging machine main body control section, 21a1 is a support arm operation control section, 21b is a winding film positioning and moving device control section, 21b 1 is a stopper operation control section, 22 is a memory section, 22a is a product parameter table, 23 is a transmission / reception section, 30 is a packaging machine operation panel, 31 is a computer, 31a is a film width information acquisition section, 33 is a transmission / reception section, 34 is an input / display section, 40 is a winding film positioning / moving device, 41 is a base, 42 is a stopper, 42a is a stand, 42b is a lifting rod, 42c is a support plate, 42d is a contact plate, 42k is a notch, 50 is an unmanned transport robot, 51 is a traveling base, 52 is a box body, 52m is a guide window, 53 is a shaft support section, 53a is a shaft, 53b indicates a push-out block, 53c indicates a lifting block, 53d indicates a push-out rod, 60 indicates an unmanned transport robot control device, 61 indicates a rolled film push-out control unit, 62 indicates a shaft lifting control unit, 70 indicates a general management computer, CL1, CL2, CL3, and CL4 indicate communication lines, FL indicates the floor, Fi indicates the film (packaging material), gr1 to gr4 indicate guide rollers, MF indicates the rolled film, ts indicates the vertical seal portion, and ys indicates the horizontal seal portion. In the figures, X indicates the left-right direction, Y indicates the front-back direction, and Z indicates the up-down direction. In Figures 3 to 6, the rolled film is represented by a two-dot chain line. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic winding film mounting system 1 comprises a vertical pillow packaging machine 2, an unmanned transport robot 50, an unmanned transport robot control device 60, and a general management computer 70. The vertical pillow packaging machine 2 is composed of a vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10 that produces a package Pc by unwinding film Fi from a winding film MF and packaging the packaged product, a vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 that controls the operation of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, a packaging machine operation panel 30 that operates the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, and a winding film positioning and moving device 40 that positions the winding film MF attached to the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10.

[0029] [Vertical pillow packaging machine body] The vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10 is composed of a film (packaging material) supply section 11, a tension adjustment section 12, a printing section 13, a packaged product supply section 14, a tube making section 15, a packaging material feed section 16, a vertical sealing section 17, a horizontal sealing and cutting section 18, a package discharge section 19, etc. The film (packaging material) supply unit 11 includes a winding film support device 11A, a paper splicing table (not shown), and the like. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the take-up film support device 11A is made up of a shaft support arm 11a, shafts 11b1 and 11b2, an arm support stand 11c, and the like. The shaft support arm 11a has its center supported by an arm support stand 11c via a rotation axis 11d, and shafts 11b1 and 11b2 are supported at both longitudinal ends of the shaft support arm 11a, and the shafts 11b1 and 11b2 are rotated by a servo motor (not shown). The bottom of the arm support stand 11c is fixed to the floor FL or a machine frame (not shown), and a rotating shaft 11d that supports the shaft support arm 11a is attached to the top of the arm support stand 11c.A motor (not shown) is connected to the rotating shaft 11d, and when this motor rotates, the rotating shaft 11d rotates, and the shaft support arm 11a rotates. In the rolled film support device 11A, the rolled film MF wound around a cardboard tube (not shown) is attached to one shaft 11b1, which is rotated by a servo motor, and the film Fi that will become the packaging material is unwound from the rolled film MF. Before the rolled film MF on shaft 11b1 runs out, a new rolled film MF is attached to the other shaft 11b2, and just before the rolled film MF on shaft 11b1 runs out, the shaft support arm 11a is rotated, causing shaft 11b2 to rotate and move to the position of shaft 11b1. When the rolled film MF on shaft 11b1 runs out, a splice is performed on the splicing table to join the film that was being unwound from the old rolled film (shaft 11b1) and the film that is being unwound from the new rolled film (shaft 11b2).

[0030] The tension adjustment unit 12 is composed of a pair of rotating arms 12a, dancer rollers 12b and 12c rotatably held by the rotating arm 12a, a fixed roller 12d, a rotating rod 12e, a rotating mechanism (not shown) for the rotating arm 12a, etc., and a rotary encoder (not shown) is attached to the rotating rod 12e. The rotation mechanism of the rotating arm 12a is a mechanism that rotates the rotating arm 12a and lifts the dancer rollers 12b, 12c to the upper limit position, and is composed of, for example, an air cylinder and a stopper, etc. The rotation mechanism rotates the rotating arm 12a by extending and retracting the piston rod of the air cylinder, and stops the rotating arm 12a by hitting the stopper. In the tension adjusting unit 12, when the tension of the film Fi stretched over the dancer rollers 12b, 12c and the fixed roller 12d increases, the tip of the arm 12a is lifted, and when the tension of the film Fi decreases, the tip of the arm 12a is lowered, and the arm 12a rotates around the rotating rod 12e in response to the change in tension of the film Fi, changing the tilt angle of the arm 12a. This change (displacement) in the tilt angle of the arm 12a is detected by a rotary encoder as the displacement of the dancer rollers 12b, 12c, and the tension of the film Fi is controlled. The date printing unit 13 includes a date printing device 13a, an elevating roller 13b, etc., and prints the date on the film Fi.

[0031] The packaged product supply section 14 is equipped with a filling tube 14b with a hopper 14a at the top, a packaged product detection sensor (not shown), etc., and the hopper 14a receives packaged products such as snacks that are dispensed from a weighing machine installed above the hopper 14a and fills them into the filling tube 14b. The tube making section 15 is equipped with a tube making device 15a, a pressing member 15b, a slide roller 15c, etc., and the film Fi that has been fed from the film supply section 11 and has the date printed by the date printing section 13 is guided by the slide roller 15c, formed into a cylindrical shape by the tube making device 15a, and pressed against the outer surface of the filling tube 14b by the pressing member 15b. The film feed unit 16 includes a pulley 16a, a feed belt 16b, a film feed servomotor (not shown), etc. The pulley 16a and the feed belt 16b etc. form a pair of film feed mechanisms and are arranged on both sides of the filling tube 14b. When the packaged product detection sensor in the packaged product supply section 14 detects that a packaged product has been placed into the filling tube 14b, the film feed servo motor rotates the pulley 16a to move the feed belt 16b, and the film Fi wrapping around the outer surface of the filling tube 14b is fed downward by a certain length. The vertical seal unit 17 includes vertical seal blocks 17a, 17b, a heater (not shown), etc., and applies vertical seals to both end portions of the film Fi that is overlapped and wrapped around the outer surface of the filling tube 14b, forming vertical seal portions ts. The horizontal sealing and cutting section 18 is equipped with horizontal sealing blocks 18a, 18b, a heater (not shown), a cutting device (not shown), etc., and applies horizontal sealing to the vertically sealed film filled with the packaged product to form a horizontal seal portion ys, cuts the center of the horizontal seal portion ys, and generates a package Pc filled with the packaged product. The package discharge section 19 includes a belt conveyor 19a and the like, and discharges the package Pc by the belt conveyor 19a.

[0032] [Vertical pillow packaging machine control unit, packaging machine operation panel] The vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 includes an arithmetic control unit 21, a memory unit 22, and a transmission / reception unit 23, and the arithmetic control unit 21 includes a vertical pillow packaging machine main body control unit 21a and a winding film positioning and moving device control unit 21b, and controls the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 in an integrated manner. Vertical pillow packaging machine main body control unit 21a is equipped with a drive device operation control unit that controls the operation of various drive devices of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body (for example, shafts 11b1 and 11b2 are servo motors, and film feed servo motor of film feed unit 16). The support arm operation control unit 21a1 is one of the drive equipment operation control units, and controls the operation of the motor that rotates the shaft support arm 11a based on a rotation angle signal from a rotary encoder (not shown) that detects the rotation angle of the rotating shaft 11d, thereby controlling the rotation angle (tilt angle) of the shaft support arm 11a from the reference position, i.e., the positions of the shafts 11b1 and 11b2. The winding film positioning and moving device control unit 21b is equipped with a driving device operation control unit that controls the operation of the driving device (described later) of the winding film positioning and moving device 40, and one of these driving device operation control units is the stopper operation control unit 21b1, which controls the operation of the stopper 42. The memory unit 22 stores a product parameter table 22a, a production information table (not shown), etc., and the production information table stores production results such as output, empty bags, lost bags, operating rate, operating time, downtime, and standby time for products that have actually been produced. The product parameter table 22a stores information such as No. (registration number), product name, production capacity, bag length, folding diameter, heater temperature (vertical, vertical preheat, horizontal front, horizontal rear), etc. Numerical values ​​such as production capacity, bag length, folding diameter, heater temperature (vertical, vertical preheat, horizontal front, horizontal back), etc. are parameters that indicate the conditions for operating the driving equipment (motor, heater, etc.) and adjustment equipment of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10. The transmitter / receiver unit 23 communicates with the transmitter / receiver unit 33 of the packaging machine operation panel 30 via the communication line CL1, transmits various data from the calculation control unit 21 to the transmitter / receiver unit 33 of the packaging machine operation panel 30, and also receives various data transmitted from the transmitter / receiver unit 33 and sends it to the calculation control unit 21.

[0033] The packaging machine operation panel 30 includes a computer 31, a transmitting / receiving unit 33, and an input / display unit . The computer 31 includes a calculation processing unit and a memory unit, and is loaded with a dedicated program compatible with the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, and performs various processes and controls the packaging machine operation panel 30 in an integrated manner. The arithmetic processing section of the computer 31 includes a film width information acquisition section 31a. Film width information acquisition unit 31a acquires width information representing the film width of the rolled film to be newly attached to shafts 11b1 and 11b2 of film supply unit 11. The film width information acquisition unit 31a acquires the width information when the width information is sent from the overall management computer to the packaging operation panel 30 or when the width information is input to the input display unit . The transceiver unit 33 transmits various data sent from the computer 31 to the transceiver unit 23 of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 via the communication line CL1, and receives various data sent from the transceiver unit 23 of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 via the communication line CL1 and sends it to the computer 31. The input display unit 34 has a touch panel display screen and displays various screens created by a dedicated program installed in the computer 31, such as a setting screen for various parameters and an operation screen for inputting information about the rolled film to be loaded into the film supply unit 11.

[0034] [Rolling film positioning and moving device] The winding film positioning and moving device 40 is composed of a base table 41, a stopper 42, and the like. The base table 41 is fixed to a predetermined position on the floor FL or the machine frame (not shown) below the shaft 11b1 (11b2) of the film supply section 11, and inside the base table 41 is provided a horizontal movement mechanism (consisting of a motor, ball screw, slide block, etc., not shown) that moves the stopper 42 in the axial direction (X direction) of the shaft 11b1 (11b2). The stopper 42 includes a stand 42a, a lifting rod 42b, a support plate 42c, and a backing plate 42d, and is attached to the upper surface of the base 41 so as to be movable in the X direction. The stand 42a is connected to a horizontal movement mechanism of the base table 41 and moves along the upper surface of the base table 41 in the X direction. Inside the stand 42a, there is provided a lifting mechanism (comprising a motor, a screw, etc., not shown) for raising and lowering the lifting rod 42b. The lifting rod 42b is connected to a lifting mechanism provided inside the stand 42a, and the tip of the lifting rod 42b moves up and down between the upper surface of the stand 42a and a predetermined height position. The support plate 42c is attached to the tip of the lift rod 42b and supports the backing plate 42d. The backing plate 42d has a U-shaped notch 42k, is attached to the right end of the support plate 42c, and is integrated with the lifting rod 42b, so that the backing plate 42d also moves up and down as the lifting rod 42b moves up and down.

[0035] In the roll film positioning and moving device 40, when the roll film MF is attached to the film supply section 11, the horizontal movement mechanism of the base table 41 operates under the control of the stopper operation control section 21b1, and the stand 42a moves along the upper surface of the base table 41 so that the right side of the support plate 42d is located at the left end position of the roll film MF when the widthwise center of the roll film MF coincides with the widthwise center position of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, and the lifting mechanism of the stand 42a operates, causing the lifting rod 42b to rise and the support plate 42d to rise to a position where the shaft 11b1 (11b2) is located inside the notch 42k. Furthermore, when the paper tube of the used rolled film MF (including the paper tube around which the film Fi is wound) is removed from the shaft 11b1 (11b2), under the control of the stopper operation control unit 21b1, the horizontal movement mechanism of the base stand 41 operates, the stand 42a moves in the X direction along the upper surface of the base stand 41, the support plate 42d pushes the left side of the paper tube until the paper tube is removed from the shaft 11b1 (11b2), and then the lifting mechanism of the stand 42a operates, the lifting rod 42b descends, and the support plate 42d descends until the shaft 11b1 (11b2) is above the notch 42k.

[0036] [Automated guided robot] The automated guided robot 50 is an autonomous mobile robot (AMR), and includes a traveling base 51, a box body 52, and a shaft support portion 53. The traveling base 51 is equipped with traveling wheels, a traveling wheel drive device, a battery, and various sensors (none of which are shown), and travels independently along a predetermined route. The box body 52 is attached to the upper surface of the running base 51, has a guide window 52m on the front side, and has a lifting mechanism (consisting of a motor, screws, etc., not shown) inside to raise and lower the shaft support part 53. The shaft support portion 53 includes a shaft 53a, a pushing block 53b, and a lifting block 53c. One end of shaft 53a is fixed to the front of lifting block 53c and holds the rolled film MF to be attached to the film supply section 11 of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, or the paper tube removed from shaft 11b1 (11b2) of the film supply section 11. The push-out block 53b has a hole with an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the shaft 53a, is connected to a push-out mechanism provided in the lift-up block 53c, and moves along the shaft 53a without coming into contact with it. The lifting block 53c is connected to a lifting mechanism provided in the box body 52, and moves up and down along the guide window 52m.

[0037] [Automated guided robot control device] The unmanned transport robot control device 60 includes a travel control unit (not shown) that controls the travel operation of the travel base 51, a winding film extrusion control unit 61, and a shaft lift control unit 62, and controls the operation of the unmanned transport robot 50. The roll film push-out control unit 61 controls the operation of the push-out mechanism provided in the lift block 53 c of the automatic guided robot 50 , and the shaft lift-up control unit 62 controls the operation of the lift-up mechanism provided in the box body 52 . Then, under the control of the travel control unit of the unmanned transport robot control device 60, the unmanned transport robot 50 holds the rolled film MF (or paper tube) and automatically travels from the rolled film storage location (or film supply unit 11) to the film supply unit 11 (or paper tube storage location). Further, under the control of take-up film extrusion control section 61, take-up film MF held on shaft 53a is extruded from shaft 53a by extrusion block 53b and held on shaft 11b1 (11b2) of film supply section 11. Furthermore, under the control of the shaft lifting control unit 62, the shaft 53a and the push-out block 53b are lifted up and down together with the lifting block 53c.

[0038] [General management computer] The overall management computer 70 is communicatively connected to the transceiver unit 23 of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 via communication line CL2, to the transceiver unit 33 of the packaging machine operation panel 30 via communication line CL3, and to the unmanned transport robot control device 60 via communication line CL4, and provides overall management of the entire automatic roll film attachment system 1. Moreover, the overall management computer 70 stores and manages width information that indicates the film width of the rolled film stored in a rolled film storage location (not shown). The overall management computer 70 issues operational commands to the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 (arithmetic control unit 21), the unmanned transport robot control device 60, etc. when automatically loading a new rolled film MF into the film supply unit 11, or when automatically removing the paper tube of a used rolled film MF from the film supply unit.

[0039] [Operation of automatic winding film loading system 1] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 and the unmanned transport robot 50 when a new roll of film is automatically loaded onto the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 in the automatic roll-up film loading system 1. The operation of automatically loading a new roll of film into the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the input display unit (not shown) of the operation panel of the overall management computer 70 or the operation button (not shown) of the input display unit 34 of the packaging machine operation panel 30 is operated, the overall management computer 70 issues a command to the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 and the unmanned transport robot control device 60 to load a new roll of film (S1). Next, under the control of the unmanned transport robot control device 60, the unmanned transport robot 50 takes out a new roll of film from a roll of film storage location (not shown), holds the taken-out new roll of film on the shaft 53a, and runs, stopping at a predetermined position near the film supply section 11 of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10 (S2). In this case, the predetermined position is a position where, when the tilt angle of shaft support arm 11a is the take-up film mounting angle, the tip surfaces of shaft 53a and shaft 11b2 are close to each other in the X direction, and the position in the Y direction of the X-direction axis of shaft 53a coincides with the position in the Y direction of the X-direction axis of shaft 11b2. After this, the vertical pillow packaging machine main body control unit 21a determines whether the shaft support arm 11a is at the winding film loading angle based on the rotation angle signal from a rotary encoder (not shown) that detects the rotation angle of the rotating shaft 11d (S3), and if the shaft support arm 11a is not at the winding film loading angle, the support arm operation control unit 21a1 operates (rotates) the motor that rotates the shaft support arm 11a to rotate the shaft support arm 11a (S4), and sets the inclination angle of the shaft support arm 11a to the winding film loading angle. In this case, the take-up film mounting angle is the inclination angle of the shaft support arm 11a such that the axis of the shaft 11b1 (11b2) is directly above the center of the contact plate 42d (notch 42k) of the stopper 42 in the Y direction.

[0040] Figure 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of rotating shaft support arm 11a to set its tilt angle to the take-up film mounting angle, where Figure 9(a) is a plan view of take-up film support device 11A and Figure 9(b) is a right side view of take-up film support device 11A, in which MF1 is the old take-up film mounted on shaft 11b1, 42CL is a vertical line passing through the center of backing plate 42d (notch 42k) in the Y direction, and shaft support arm 11a, shafts 11b1 and 11b2, and old take-up film MF1 before rotation are represented by dashed double-dashed lines. If the case where shaft support arm 11a is horizontal (tilt angle 0) is taken as the take-up film loading angle, and shaft support arm 11a is now tilted by angle θ with respect to the horizontal plane, support arm operation control unit 21a1 operates the motor to rotate shaft support arm 11a clockwise by angle θ, as shown by arrow AR1 in Figure 9(b), so that the axis of shaft 11b2 is aligned with vertical line 42CL, and the tilt angle of shaft support arm 11a becomes the take-up film loading angle. In this case, the old rolled film MF1 is held on the shaft 11b1 of the shaft support arm 11a, and as the shaft 11b1 rotates, film Fi is unwound from the old rolled film MF1 to produce the packaging body Pc, and the shaft support arm 11a rotates while unwound film Fi from the old rolled film MF1 held on the shaft 11b1.

[0041] If it is determined in step S3 that the shaft support arm 11a is at the winding film loading angle, a signal indicating that the shaft support arm 11a is at the winding film loading angle is sent from the transceiver 23 to the overall management computer 70 via communication line CL2, and width information on the film width W of the newly wound film managed by the overall management computer 70 is sent to the transceiver 33 of the packaging machine operation panel 30 via communication line CL3, and the film width information acquisition unit 31a acquires the width information on the film width W (S5). In this case, when production of the packaging body Pc begins in the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the width information of the film width W of the rolled film MF input from the input display unit 34 of the packaging machine operation panel 30 can be stored in the memory unit of the computer 31, and the film width information acquisition unit 31a can acquire the width information of the film width W stored in the memory unit of the computer 31 based on an instruction from the overall management computer 70. Next, the width information of the film width W acquired by the film width information acquisition unit 31a is sent from the transceiver unit 33 via communication line CL1 to the transceiver unit 23 of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20, and the width information of the film width W is sent from the transceiver unit 23 to the winding film positioning and moving device control unit 21b. In the winding film positioning and moving device control unit 21b, the stopper operation control unit 21b1 controls the operation of the stopper 42 based on the width information of the film width W sent from the transceiver unit 23, and first moves the stand 42a from the standby position (the left end position of the base table 41) in the X direction (to the right) along the top surface of the base table 41, and moves the stand 42a until the right side of the support plate 42d is at a position W / 2 away from the center of the width direction of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 (S6).

[0042] Figure 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of moving stand 42a until contact plate 42d is positioned W / 2 away from the center of the width of vertical pillow packaging machine 2, where Figure 10(a) is a plan view of the rolled film positioning and moving device 40 and its surroundings (including rolled film support device 11A and unmanned transport robot 50), and Figure 10(b) is a rear view of rolled film positioning and moving device 40 and its surroundings, where MCx is the center line of the width of vertical pillow packaging machine 2 (X direction), MCz is a vertical line passing through the center line of the width of vertical pillow packaging machine 2, MF2 is the new rolled film, and the stopper 42 before movement is represented by a dotted line. As shown in Figure 10, the stopper operation control unit 21b1 operates a horizontal movement mechanism provided inside the base table 41 to move the stand 42a from the standby position (the left end position of the base table 41) in the X direction (to the right) along the top surface of the base table 41, causing the backing plate 42d to move together with the stand 42a, and when the right side of the backing plate 42d reaches a position W / 2 away from the center line MCx (vertical line MCz), the stopper operation control unit 21b1 stops the movement of the stand 42a. In this case, in the winding film support device 11A, the old winding film MF1 is held on the shaft 11b1 of the shaft support arm 11a, and as the shaft 11b1 rotates, the film Fi is unwound from the old winding film MF1 to produce the package Pc. In addition, in the unmanned transport robot 50, the shaft 53a holds the newly wound film MF2 and is positioned below the box body 52 (slightly above the traveling base 51), the tip surfaces of the shafts 53a and 11b2 are close to each other in the X direction, and the Y direction position of the X direction axis of the shaft 53a coincides with the Y direction position of the X direction axis of the shaft 11b2.

[0043] Next, the stopper operation control section 21b1 controls the lifting and lowering operation of the backing plate 42d, and raises the backing plate 42d to a predetermined height (S7). Furthermore, in the unmanned transport robot 50, the shaft lifting control unit 62 of the unmanned transport robot control device 60 controls the operation of the lifting mechanism provided inside the box body 52, and raises the shaft 53a so that it is at the same height as the shaft 11b2 (the centers of the YZ cross sections of both shafts are at the same height) (S8). Figure 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the upward movement of the support plate 42d and shaft 53a, where Figure 11(a) is a rear view of the take-up film support device 11A, the take-up film positioning and moving device 40, and the unmanned transport robot, and Figure 11(b) is a right side view of the take-up film support device 11A and the take-up film positioning and moving device 40, with the support plate 42c and the support plate 42d, the shaft 53a, and the new take-up film MF2 before they are raised indicated by dashed double-dashed lines. As shown in Figure 11, the stopper operation control unit 21b1 operates the lifting mechanism provided inside the stand 42a, raising the lifting rod 42b and raising the support plate 42c and backing plate 42d attached to the tip of the lifting rod 42b as shown by arrow AR3, and stops the raising of the backing plate 42d at a position where the shaft 11b2 is inside the notch 42k. In this case, as shown in Figure 11(b), the center of the notch 42k in the Y direction coincides with the center of the shaft 11b2 in the Y direction, and the width of the notch 42k in the Y direction is slightly smaller (a few mm or less) than the outer diameter of the shaft 11b2, so the backing plate 42d rises without coming into contact with the shaft 11b2. In addition, shaft lifting control unit 62 controls the operation of the lifting mechanism inside box body 52, causing lifting block 53c to rise along guide window 52m, which causes shaft 53a holding newly wound film MF2 to rise as shown by arrow AR4, and when shaft 53a reaches the same height as shaft 11b2 (the centers of the YZ cross sections of both shafts are at the same height), shaft lifting control unit 62 stops the lifting of lifting block 53c. At this time, the center position of the shaft 53a in the YZ cross section coincides with the center position of the shaft 11b2 in the YZ cross section.

[0044] Next, the rolled film push-out control unit 61 of the unmanned transport robot control device 60 controls the operation of the push-out mechanism provided in the lifting block 53c, moves the push-out block 53b to the left, and the push-out block 53b pushes the newly rolled film MF2 held on the shaft 53a along the shaft 53a, transferring it to the shaft 11b2, and moves the newly rolled film MF2 on the shaft 11b2 to a position where the left side of the newly rolled film MF2 abuts the contact plate 42d (S9). Figure 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of moving the new rolled film MF2 by the push-out block 53b, where Figure 12(a) is a plan view of the rolled film support device 11A, the rolled film positioning and moving device 40, and the unmanned transport robot, and Figure 12(b) is a rear view of the rolled film support device 11A, the rolled film positioning and moving device 40, and the unmanned transport robot, in which 53d is a push-out rod, and the push-out block 53b and the new rolled film MF2 before movement are represented by a two-dot chain line. As shown in Figure 12, the winding film push-out control unit 61 controls the operation of the push-out mechanism provided in the lifting block 53c, extending the push-out rod 53d to the left and moving the push-out block 53b attached to its tip to the left along the shaft 53a, so that the right side of the newly wound film MF2 is pushed by the push-out block 53b and moves to the left, and as shown by arrow AR5, the push-out block 53b and the newly wound film MF2 move from above the shaft 53a to above the shaft 11b2, and when the left side of the newly wound film MF2 hits the contact plate 42d, the winding film push-out control unit 61 stops extending the push-out rod 53d, and the movement of the push-out block 53b and the newly wound film MF2 stops. At this time, the right side of the support plate 42d is located at a distance W / 2 from the center line MCx (vertical line MCz) in the width direction (X direction) of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, and the left side of the film width W is also located at a distance W / 2 from the center line MCx (vertical line MCz), and the newly wound film MF2 is held by the shaft 11b2 at a position where the center of the width direction of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 coincides with the center of the width direction of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2.

[0045] Thereafter, in the take-up film positioning and moving device 40, the stopper operation control unit 21b1 of the take-up film positioning and moving device control unit 21b operates the lifting mechanism inside the stand 42a, lowers the lifting rod 42b, and lowers the support plate 42c and the backing plate 42d to their original height, and operates the horizontal movement mechanism inside the base stand 41 to move the stand 42a to the standby position, thereby returning the stopper 42 to its original position (S10). In addition, in the unmanned transport robot 50, the winding film extrusion control unit 61 of the unmanned transport robot control device 60 controls the operation of the extrusion mechanism of the lifting block 53c, moves the extrusion block 53b to the left and returns it to its original position, the shaft lifting control unit 62 controls the operation of the lifting mechanism inside the box body 52, lowers the lifting block 53c, lowers the shaft 53a to its original position, returns the shaft support unit 53 to its original position, the unmanned transport robot 50 moves to the standby position (S11), and the process ends. Figure 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the stopper 42 and the shaft support portion 53 have returned to their original positions, where Figure 13(a) is a plan view of the winding film support device 11A, the winding film positioning and moving device 40, and the unmanned transport robot, and Figure 13(b) is a rear view of the winding film support device 11A, the winding film positioning and moving device 40, and the unmanned transport robot. As shown in Figure 13, in the rolled film support device 11A, the old rolled film MF1 is held on shaft 11b1 and the new rolled film MF2 is held on shaft 11b2, and the centers of the old rolled film MF1 and the new rolled film MF2 in the film width direction coincide with the center of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 in the film width direction, and film Fi is unwound from the old rolled film MF1 to produce the package Pc. In the take-up film positioning and moving device 40, the support plate 42c and the contact plate 42d are at their lower end positions, and the stand 42a is at the left end position of the base table 41. Furthermore, in the unmanned transport robot 50, the new rolled film MF2 has been removed from the shaft 53a, the push-out block 53b is in a position in contact with the lift-up block 53c, and the shaft 53a, the push-out block 53b and the lift-up block 53c are in positions below the box body 52.

[0046] FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 and the unmanned transport robot 50 when the old rolled film or paper tube is automatically removed from the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 in the rolled film automatic loading system 1. The operation of automatically removing the old roll film or paper tube from the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 will be described below based on the flowchart of FIG. First, when the input display unit (not shown) of the operation panel of the overall management computer 70 or the operation button (not shown) of the input display unit 34 of the packaging machine operation panel 30 is operated, or after a certain period of time has passed since the new rolled film has been automatically loaded into the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the overall management computer 70 issues a command to the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 and the unmanned transport robot control device 60 to remove the old rolled film or paper tube (S21). Next, under the control of the unmanned transport robot control device 60, the unmanned transport robot 50 travels from a standby position (not shown) toward the film supply section 11 of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10 and stops at a predetermined position near the film supply section 11 (S22). In this case, the predetermined position is the same as the position when a new roll of film is automatically loaded, and is a position where, when the tilt angle of shaft support arm 11a is the roll of film loading angle, the tip surfaces of shafts 53a and 11b1 are close to each other in the X direction, and the position in the Y direction of the X-direction axis of shaft 53a coincides with the position in the Y direction of the X-direction axis of shaft 11b1. After this, just as when a new roll of film is automatically loaded, the vertical pillow packaging machine main body control unit 21a determines whether the shaft support arm 11a is at the roll of film loading angle (S23), and if the shaft support arm 11a is not at the roll of film loading angle, the support arm operation control unit 21a1 operates (rotates) the motor that rotates the shaft support arm 11a to rotate the shaft support arm 11a (S24), and sets the inclination angle of the shaft support arm 11a to the roll of film loading angle. In this case, the angle at which the rolled film is attached is the same as when a new rolled film is automatically attached, and is the inclination angle of the shaft support arm 11a so that the axis of the shaft 11b1 (11b2) is directly above the center of the Y-direction of the backing plate 42d (notch 42k) of the stopper 42.

[0047] Figure 15 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of rotating the shaft support arm 11a to set its inclination angle to the take-up film mounting angle, where Figure 15(a) is a plan view of the take-up film support device 11A and Figure 15(b) is a right side view of the take-up film support device 11A, with the shaft support arm 11a, shafts 11b1 and 11b2, old take-up film MF1, and new take-up film MF2 before rotation shown by dashed double-dashed lines. As in the case of automatically loading a new roll of film, the roll of film loading angle is defined as the case where shaft support arm 11a is horizontal (tilt angle 0). If shaft support arm 11a is now tilted at angle θ with respect to the horizontal plane, then support arm operation control unit 21a1 will operate the motor to rotate shaft support arm 11a clockwise by angle θ, as shown by arrow AR11 in Figure 15(b), so that the axis of shaft 11b1 is aligned with vertical line 42CL, and the tilt angle of shaft support arm 11a will become the roll of film loading angle. In this case, the shaft 11b1 of the shaft support arm 11a holds the old rolled film MF1 that has finished being unwound, and the shaft 11b2 holds the new rolled film MF2, shaft 11b1 stops rotating, shaft 11b2 rotates, and film Fi is unwound from the new rolled film MF2 to produce the package Pc, and the shaft support arm 11a rotates while unwinding film Fi from the new rolled film MF2 held on shaft 11b2.

[0048] If it is determined in step S23 that the shaft support arm 11a is at the take-up film removal angle, a signal indicating that the shaft support arm 11a is at the take-up film removal angle is sent from the transceiver unit 23 to the overall management computer 70 via communication line CL2, and an operation command is sent from the overall management computer 70 to the take-up film positioning and moving device control unit 21b of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 and the unmanned transport robot control device 60. As a result, stopper operation control section 21b1 of take-up film positioning / moving device control section 21b controls the lifting and lowering operation of contact plate 42d, and raises contact plate 42d to a predetermined height (S25). In addition, the shaft lifting control unit 62 of the unmanned transport robot control device 60 controls the operation of the lifting mechanism provided inside the box body 52, and raises the shaft 53a so that it is at the same height as the shaft 11b1 (the centers of the YZ cross sections of both shafts are at the same height) (S26). Figure 16 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the upward movement of the support plate 42d and shaft 53a, where Figure 16(a) is a rear view of the take-up film support device 11A, the take-up film positioning and moving device 40, and the unmanned transport robot, and Figure 16(b) is a right side view of the take-up film support device 11A and the take-up film positioning and moving device 40, with the support plate 42c, the support plate 42d, and the shaft 53a before they are raised being represented by dashed double-dashed lines. As shown in Figure 16, the stopper operation control unit 21b1 operates the lifting mechanism provided inside the stand 42a, raising the lifting rod 42b and raising the support plate 42c and backing plate 42d attached to the tip of the lifting rod 42b as shown by arrow AR22, and stops the raising of the backing plate 42d at a position where the shaft 11b1 is inside the notch 42k. In this case, as shown in Figure 16(b), the center of the notch 42k in the Y direction coincides with the center of the shaft 11b1 in the Y direction, and the width of the notch 42k in the Y direction is slightly smaller (a few mm or less) than the outer diameter of the shaft 11b1, so the backing plate 42d rises without coming into contact with the shaft 11b1. In addition, the shaft lifting control unit 62 controls the operation of the lifting mechanism inside the box body 52, causing the lifting block 53c to rise along the guide window 52m, thereby causing the empty shaft 53a to rise as shown by arrow AR23, and when the shaft 53a reaches the same height as the shaft 11b1 (the centers of the YZ cross sections of both shafts are at the same height), the shaft lifting control unit 62 stops the lifting of the lifting block 53c. At this time, the center position of the shaft 53a in the YZ cross section coincides with the center position of the shaft 11b1 in the YZ cross section.

[0049] Next, the stopper operation control unit 21b1 controls the operation of the stopper 42, moves the stand 42a from the standby position (the left end position of the base table 41) in the X direction (to the right) along the top surface of the base table 41, and presses the left side of the old rolled film or paper tube with the support plate 42d, moving the old rolled film or paper tube held on the shaft 11b1 along the shaft 11b1 and transferring it to the shaft 53a (S27). Figure 17 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of moving the old rolled film MF1 using the support plate 42d and transferring it to shaft 11b1 and shaft 53a, where Figure 17(a) is a plan view of the rolled film support device 11A, rolled film positioning and moving device 40, and unmanned transport robot, and Figure 17(b) is a rear view of the rolled film support device 11A, rolled film positioning and moving device 40, and unmanned transport robot, with the stopper 42 and old rolled film MF1 before movement shown by a two-dot chain line. As shown in FIG. 17, stopper operation control unit 21b1 operates a horizontal movement mechanism provided inside base table 41, and moves stand 42a from the standby position (the leftmost position of base table 41) in the X direction (to the right) along the top surface of base table 41, as shown by arrow AR24, causing backing plate 42d to move together with stand 42a, so that the right side of backing plate 42d abuts against the left side of the old rolled film MF1, and backing plate 42d presses against the left side of the old rolled film MF1, causing the old rolled film MF1 to move up shaft 11b1 and straddle shaft 53a. When the old rolled film MF1 is completely off shaft 11b1 and reaches a position where it is held by shaft 53a, stopper operation control unit 21b1 stops the movement of stand 42a.

[0050] Thereafter, in the winding film positioning and moving device 40, the stopper operation control unit 21b1 operates the lifting mechanism inside the stand 42a, lowers the lifting rod 42b, and lowers the support plate 42c and the backing plate 42d to their original heights, and operates the horizontal movement mechanism inside the base 41 to move the stand 42a to the standby position, thereby returning the stopper 42 to its original position (S28). In addition, in the unmanned transport robot 50, the shaft lifting control unit 62 of the unmanned transport robot control device 60 controls the operation of the lifting mechanism inside the box body 52, lowers the lifting block 53c, and lowers the shaft 53a holding the old rolled film or paper tube to its original position, and the unmanned transport robot 50 moves to a storage location for the old rolled film or paper tube (not shown) and removes the old rolled film or paper tube from the shaft 53a (S29), thereby completing the process. Figure 18 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the stopper 42 and shaft 53a have returned to their original positions, where Figure 18(a) is a plan view of the winding film support device 11A, the winding film positioning and moving device 40, and the unmanned transport robot, and Figure 18(b) is a rear view of the winding film support device 11A, the winding film positioning and moving device 40, and the unmanned transport robot. As shown in Figure 18, in the winding film support device 11A, the old winding film MF1 has been removed from the shaft 11b1, leaving it empty, and a new winding film MF2 is held on the shaft 11b2, and film Fi is being unwound from the winding film MF2 to produce the packaging body Pc. In the take-up film positioning and moving device 40, the support plate 42c and the contact plate 42d are at their lower end positions, and the stand 42a is at the left end position of the base table 41. Furthermore, in the automatic guided robot 50, the old rolled film MF1 is held on the shaft 53a, and the shaft 53a, the push-out block 53b, and the lift-up block 53c are located below the box body 52.

[0051] As described above, the automatic winding film loading system 1 includes the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the unmanned transport robot 50, and the unmanned transport robot control device 60. The vertical pillow packaging machine 2 includes the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20, the packaging machine operation panel 30, and the winding film positioning and moving device 40. The vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10 includes the film supply unit 11 having shafts 11b1 and 11b2. The vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 includes the stopper operation control unit 21b1. The packaging machine operation panel 30 includes the film width information acquisition unit 31a. The winding film positioning and moving device 40 includes the stopper 42 having the contact plate 42d. The unmanned transport robot 50 includes the shaft support unit 53 having the shaft 53a and the extrusion block 53b. The unmanned transport robot control device 60 includes the winding film extrusion control unit 61. When attaching the newly rolled film, based on the width information of the newly rolled film acquired by film width information acquisition unit 31a, stopper operation control unit 21b1 moves contact plate 42d to the side position of the newly rolled film when the center of the width of the newly rolled film coincides with the center position of the width of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, and rolled film extrusion control unit 61 moves extrusion block 53b, transfers the newly rolled film held by shaft 53a to shaft 11b2 (11b1), and moves the newly rolled film to a position where its side contacts contact plate 42d.Therefore, even if the width of the newly rolled film is not constant, the newly rolled film can be attached to packaging material supply unit 11 so that its center of the width is positioned at the center of the width of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, eliminating the need for widthwise positioning of the newly rolled film and enabling completely unmanned operation of film supply unit 11 of vertical pillow packaging machine 2. [Industrial Applicability]

[0052] The automatic roll film loading system of the present invention automatically attaches a new roll film to the packaging material supply section so that its widthwise center is positioned at the widthwise center of the packaging machine, even if the width of the new roll film is not constant, eliminating the need for widthwise positioning of the new roll film and enabling completely unmanned operation of the packaging material supply section, and can be used with packaging machines such as vertical pillow packaging machines, horizontal pillow packaging machines, wrapping packaging machines, and overwrap packaging machines. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 1 Automatic film loading system 2 Vertical pillow packaging machine 10 Vertical pillow packaging machine body 11 Film (packaging material) supply section 11A Winding film support device 11a Shaft support arm 11b1, 11b2 shaft 11c Arm Support Stand 11d Rotation axis 12 Tension adjustment section 12a Rotating arm 12b, 12c Dancerola 12d Fixed Roller 12e Rotating Rod 13 Date printing section 13a Date printing device 13b Lifting roller 14 Packaged product supply section 14a Hopper 14b Filling cylinder 15. Cylinder manufacturing section 15a Cylinder maker (former) 15b holding member 15c slide roller 16 Film feed section 16a pulley 16b Feed belt 17 Vertical seal 17a, 17b Vertical seal block 18 Horizontal seal and cutting section 18a, 18b Horizontal seal block 19 Package discharge section 19a conveyor belt 20 Vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 21 Calculation control unit 21a Vertical pillow packaging machine main body control unit 21a1 Support arm operation control section 21b Winding film positioning and moving device control section 21b1 stopper operation control section, 22 Memory section 22a Product Parameter Table 23 Transmitter / Receiver 30 Packaging machine operation panel 31 Computer 31a Film width information acquisition unit 33 Transmitter / Receiver 34 Input display section 40 Winding film positioning and moving device 41 Base 42 Stopper Stand 42a 42b Lifting rod 42c support plate 42d Backing plate 42k notch 42CL Plumb Line 50 Unmanned transport robot 51 Running base 52 Box body 52m guide window 53 Shaft support 53a shaft 53b Extrusion Block 53c Lifting block 53d Extrusion Rod 60 Unmanned transport robot control device 61 Winding film extrusion control section 62 Shaft lift control section 70 General management computer CL1, CL2, CL3, CL4 communication lines FL floor Fi film (packaging material) gr1~gr4 guide rollers MCx center line MCz plumb line MF winding film MF1 Old rewind film MF2 New Winding Film ts Vertical seal part ys Horizontal seal part

Claims

1. a roll film transport means for transporting a new roll film to be used in the packaging machine to a packaging material supply unit of the packaging machine; a winding film moving means for moving the newly wound film held by the winding film conveying means toward a shaft holding the winding film of the packaging material supply unit; a take-up film positioning means for determining a position on the shaft of the newly taken-up film that is moved toward the shaft by the take-up film moving means; width information acquisition means for acquiring width information representing the width of the newly wound film; a winding film position control means for controlling the operations of the winding film moving means and the winding film positioning means based on the width information acquired by the width information acquisition means so that the center of the new winding film moving on the shaft coincides with the center position of the packaging machine in the width direction; An automatic winding film loading system comprising:

2. 2. The automatic winding film loading system according to claim 1, wherein the winding film transport means is an unmanned transport robot that moves by itself while holding the newly wound film, and the winding film moving means is an extrusion means provided on the unmanned transport robot that extrudes the newly wound film held by the unmanned transport robot toward the shaft.

3. the take-up film positioning means includes a stopper that abuts against a side surface of the newly taken-up film moving on the shaft, and a stopper moving means that moves the stopper in the axial direction of the shaft, 3. The automatic winding film loading system according to claim 2, wherein the winding film position control means controls the operation of the stopper moving means so that the center of the new winding film in the width direction coincides with the width direction position of the packaging machine when the side of the new winding film moving on the shaft abuts against the stopper.

4. 4. The automatic winding film loading system according to claim 3, wherein the stopper and the stopper moving means serve as old winding film removal means for pushing the side of the consumed old winding film attached to the shaft and moving it toward the unmanned transport robot.

5. The automatic roll film loading system according to claim 3, further comprising a new roll film automatic loading control means for controlling the operation of the unmanned transport robot and the extrusion means so that the unmanned transport robot holds the new roll film and automatically transports it to the packaging material supply section, and the extrusion means automatically moves the new roll film held by the unmanned transport robot toward the shaft.

6. 5. The automatic winding film loading system according to claim 4, further comprising an old winding film removal control means for controlling the operation of the stopper moving means and the unmanned transport robot so that the stopper and the stopper moving means automatically push the side of the old winding film attached to the shaft to move it toward the unmanned transport robot, and the unmanned transport robot holds the old winding film and automatically transports it to a storage location for the old winding film.

7. a shaft position moving means for moving the position of a shaft of a packaging material supply unit that holds the rolled film; a shaft position control means for controlling the operation of the shaft position moving means so as to move the shaft to a position where it can receive a new roll of film that is automatically transported by an unmanned transport robot; a winding film positioning means for determining a position on the shaft of the newly wound film that is moved from the automatic guided vehicle toward the shaft; width information acquisition means for acquiring width information representing the width of the newly wound film; a winding film position control means for controlling the operations of the winding film moving means and the winding film positioning means based on the width information acquired by the width information acquisition means so that the center of the new winding film moving on the shaft in the width direction coincides with the position of the packaging machine in the width direction; A packaging machine comprising:

8. the take-up film positioning means includes a stopper that abuts against a side surface of the newly taken-up film moving on the shaft, and a stopper moving means that moves the stopper in the axial direction of the shaft, 8. The packaging machine according to claim 7, wherein the winding film position control means controls the operation of the stopper moving means so that when the side of the newly wound film moving on the shaft abuts against the stopper, the center of the newly wound film in the width direction coincides with the width direction position of the packaging machine.

9. 9. The packaging machine according to claim 8, wherein the stopper and the stopper moving means serve as a used roll film removing means that is attached to the shaft and pushes the side of the consumed used roll film to move it toward the unmanned transport robot.

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