Automated consumer goods transportation and mounting system

Abstract

To prevent the production of each packaging related device from being stopped by conveying and attaching consumables to each packaging related device with good timing by a smaller number of conveying robots than the number of packaging related devices.SOLUTION: This system is provided with winding film carry-in tables 3, 3' and 3"installed on the side of vertical pillow packaging machines 2, 2' and 2", a first unmanned carrier 6 for carrying the winding film MF consumed by the vertical pillow packaging machines 2, 2' and 2"and a winding film storage table 7, and a general integrated management computer 8. An automatic consumable material conveying system is constituted so that a first unmanned conveying vehicle 6 automatically conveys a winding film MF from a winding film storage stand 7 to winding film carrying-in stands 3, 3', 3"under the control of a general integrated control computer 8O based on the remaining amount of the winding film calculated by each consumable material remaining amount calculating means of packaging machine operation panels 30, 30', 30" of vertical pillow packaging machines 2, 2', 2".SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic consumer goods transport system and an automatic consumer goods transport and installation system that use transport robots such as automated guided vehicles to automatically transport and install consumer goods such as packaging materials to multiple packaging-related devices such as pillow packaging machines, wrapping packaging machines, overwrap packaging machines, box making machines, box filling machines, and sealing machines. [Background technology]

[0002] Large-scale food factories use production lines (food packaging production lines) that handle all processes from food manufacturing to packaging, boxing, and sealing. In this food packaging production line, food produced by food machinery is transported on a conveyor and distributed to multiple packaging machines, and each packaging machine produces packages by wrapping the food (packaged item) in packaging material (film).The produced packages are then packed into cardboard boxes from a box making machine by a box filling device, and the cardboard boxes containing the packages are sealed by a sealing machine and shipped. In this case, various consumable materials are consumed in the packaging machines, box making machines, box filling machines, sealing machines, etc. that make up the food packaging production line. For example, each packaging machine consumes packaging material to package the packaged items, and the packaging material is transported in the form of rolled up film from a rolled up film storage facility to each packaging machine and attached to the packaging material supply section of each packaging machine. In this case, an automatic roll film supply system is also adopted in which a transport robot such as an unmanned transport vehicle transports new roll film (hereinafter referred to as "new roll film") from the roll film storage facility to each packaging machine and automatically attaches it to the packaging material supply section of the packaging machine. In this automatic roll film supply system, because transport robots are expensive, it is desirable to use fewer transport robots than the number of packaging machines (for example, one transport robot for three packaging machines).If a transport robot is transporting or attaching new roll film to a packaging machine while the roll film being consumed by another packaging machine runs out, the transport robot will not be able to transport or attach the new roll film in time, causing the production of packages on the other packaging machines to stop and resulting in a production disruption. In the field of production machines that consume rolled consumables such as rolled film, various systems have been proposed that automatically supply rolled consumables from a warehouse to multiple production machines.

[0003] For example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 6-298418), a supply and recovery passageway is connected by slat conveyors 16 to 18 to a supply and recovery position P for base paper rolls 4 on the side of a plurality of mill roll stands 26 of a corrugating machine, and the transport of the base paper rolls 4 between the entrance and exit of this supply and recovery passageway and a warehouse 2 for the base paper rolls 4 is performed by carts 14 a and 14 b and a forklift 6, and the amount of base paper consumed at the mill roll stands 26 is detected by a detection means 39, and the amount of base paper consumed at each base paper roll is detected by a detection means 39. The system for supplying and recovering base paper rolls in a corrugating machine is disclosed in which the remaining amount is calculated by current length calculation means 40, and this remaining amount is stored in memory means 42 together with the type of paper.Based on the corrugated sheet production plan, an arrangement combination calculation means 44 calculates an arrangement combination of base paper rolls on slat conveyors 16 to 18 that minimizes the number of unused base paper rolls 4, and a control means 46 controls the movement of carts 14a, 14b and a forklift 6 as transport means. However, Patent Document 1 does not describe at what timing the carts 14a and 14b transport the base paper roll 4 to the entrance of the slat conveyors 16 to 18, and even if the system of Patent Document 1, which uses the forklift 6 and carts 14a and 14b to transport the base paper roll 4 from the base paper roll warehouse 2 to the entrance of the slat conveyors 16 to 18, is applied to the automatic winding film supply system of the packaging machine described above, it cannot solve the problem of production interruptions as described above.

[0004] In addition, Patent Document 2 (JP Patent Publication No. 2000-309453) discloses an automatic paper roll supplying device that supplies multiple rolls of paper to a paper feeding device, and is equipped with multiple self-propelled carts for transporting paper rolls and a control device that controls the transport of the paper rolls by the multiple self-propelled carts for transporting paper rolls, and is configured so that the control device individually controls the transport of the paper rolls by each self-propelled cart for transporting paper rolls based at least on the preparation time of each paper roll. In the automatic paper roll supplying device of Patent Document 2, in response to a request for paper roll 2 from paper feeder (paper feeder section) 1, AGV 3 (self-propelled cart for transporting paper roll) loads paper roll 2 and supplies it to paper feeder 1. However, Patent Document 2 does not describe at what timing a request for roll paper 2 is made from the paper feed device (paper feed section) 1, and even if the automatic roll paper supply device of Patent Document 2 is applied to the automatic roll film supply system of a packaging machine such as the one described above, it cannot solve the problem of production interruptions such as those described above, as with Patent Document 1. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-298418 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-309453 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The problem that the present invention aims to solve is to automatically transport and automatically attach consumable materials such as packaging materials to multiple packaging-related devices using transport robots that are fewer in number than the number of packaging-related devices, by having the transport robots transport and attach the consumable materials to each packaging-related device in a timely manner so that production at each packaging-related device does not stop. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The invention of claim 1 provides an automatic consumable goods transport system comprising a transport robot that transports consumable goods to a plurality of packaging-related devices to be consumed by the packaging-related devices, and a transport robot control means that controls the operation of the transport robot, wherein the number of the transport robots is less than the number of the packaging-related devices, each of the plurality of packaging-related devices is provided with a consumable goods remaining amount calculation means that calculates the remaining amount of consumable goods consumed by the packaging-related device, and the transport robot control means controls the operation of the transport robot based on the remaining amount of consumable goods calculated by the consumable goods remaining amount calculation means of the plurality of packaging-related devices, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem.

[0008] The invention of claim 2 solves the above-mentioned problem by providing an automatic consumable goods conveying system in which the packaging-related device is a packaging machine and the consumable goods are rolled film.

[0009] The invention of claim 3 provides an automatic consumable goods transport and attachment system comprising a transport robot that transports consumable goods consumed by a plurality of packaging-related devices to the consumable goods supply unit of the packaging-related devices, an automatic consumable goods attachment device that automatically attaches the consumable goods transported by the transport robot to the consumable goods supply unit, and a transport robot control means that controls the operation of the transport robot, wherein the number of the transport robots is less than the number of the packaging-related devices, each of the plurality of packaging-related devices is equipped with a consumable goods end time prediction device that predicts the end time until the consumable goods consumed by the packaging-related device are used up, and the transport robot control means controls the operation of the transport robot based on the end time predicted by the consumable goods end time prediction device of the plurality of packaging-related devices, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem.

[0010] The invention of claim 4 solves the above problem by providing an automatic consumable goods transport and installation system, wherein the consumable goods end time prediction device comprises a consumable goods remaining quantity calculation means for calculating the remaining quantity of the consumable goods consumed by the packaging-related device, a consumable goods consumption estimation means for estimating the unit consumption quantity, which is the consumption quantity per unit time of the consumable goods consumed by the packaging-related device, in accordance with the production status of the packaging-related device, an end time prediction means for predicting the end time until the consumable goods are used up based on the remaining quantity of the consumable goods calculated by the consumable goods remaining quantity calculation means and the unit consumption quantity estimated by the consumable goods consumption estimation means, and an end time output means for outputting the end time predicted by the end time prediction means.

[0011] The invention of claim 5 solves the above-mentioned problem by providing an automatic consumable goods conveying and mounting system in which the packaging-related device is a packaging machine and the consumable goods are rolled films. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] In the automatic consumable goods conveying system of the invention described in claim 1, when consumable goods such as packaging materials are automatically conveyed to multiple packaging-related devices using a number of conveying robots that is fewer than the number of packaging-related devices, the conveying robot control means controls the operation of the conveying robots based on the remaining amount of consumable goods calculated by the consumable goods remaining amount calculation means of the multiple packaging-related devices, thereby enabling the conveying robots to convey consumable goods to each packaging-related device in a timely and efficient manner, thereby preventing production at each packaging-related device from being stopped.

[0013] In the automatic consumable goods conveying system of the invention described in claim 2, when automatically conveying rolled film to multiple packaging machines using transport robots whose number is less than the number of packaging machines, the transport robot control means controls the operation of the transport robots based on the end times predicted by the rolled film end time prediction devices of the multiple packaging machines, thereby enabling the transport robots to transport consumable goods to each packaging machine in a timely and efficient manner, thereby preventing production by each packaging machine from being stopped.

[0014] In the automatic consumable goods transport and installation system of the invention described in claim 3, when automatic transport and installation of consumable goods such as packaging materials are performed for multiple packaging-related devices using a number of transport robots that is fewer than the number of packaging-related devices, the automatic transport of consumable goods by the transport robots and the automatic installation of consumable goods by the automatic consumable goods installation device can be performed in a timely manner for each packaging-related device, thereby achieving the effect of preventing production at each packaging-related device from being stopped.

[0015] The automatic consumable goods transport and installation system of the invention described in claim 4 further has the effect of being able to accurately predict the time until the consumable goods run out based on the most recent production performance of the packaging-related devices at the time of calculating the remaining amount of consumable goods, even if multiple packaging-related devices produce products at a speed that is less than the set production speed or production capacity and the actual production speed is not constant, thereby enabling the automatic transport of consumable goods by the transport robot and the automatic installation of consumable goods by the automatic consumable goods installation device to be carried out in a more timely manner.

[0016] In the automatic consumable product transport and attachment system of the invention described in claim 5, when automatic transport and attachment of the roll film are performed for a plurality of packaging machines using a number of transport robots that is less than the number of packaging machines, the automatic transport of the roll film by the transport robot and the automatic attachment of the roll film by the automatic roll film attachment device can be performed in a timely manner for each packaging machine, thereby preventing production stoppages for each packaging machine. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an automatic consumable product conveying system according to the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the automatic consumer goods conveying system shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first automated guided vehicle 6 and a second automated guided vehicle 6A. [Figure 4] 1 is a perspective view of a rolled film carrying-in table 3, a folded cardboard bundle carrying-in table 4, and a rolled sealing tape carrying-in table 5. FIG. [Figure 5] This is a diagram combining a schematic right side view of the vertical pillow packaging machine body with a block of the control section. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the vertical pillow packaging machine body shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 7] 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 and a packaging machine operation panel 30. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of a product parameter table 22a. [Figure 9] 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control section of the box former 50. FIG. [Figure 10] 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control part of the sealing machine 70. FIG. [Figure 11] 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control part of the automatic consumable product transport system 1. FIG. [Figure 12]10 is a flowchart showing the operation of computer 31 on packaging machine operation panel 30 of vertical pillow packaging machine 2 to predict the end time of rolled film M. [Figure 13] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating calculation of the remaining amount of rolled film MF by remaining film amount calculation section 31c. FIG. [Figure 14] 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a packaging machine operation panel, etc., of another vertical pillow packaging machine having a different configuration of the operation panel from that of vertical pillow packaging machine 2. FIG. [Figure 15] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of a computer 91 on an operation panel 90 of a vertical pillow packaging machine 2A to predict the end time of a rolled film M. [Figure 16] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the overall control computer 80 when the first automated guided vehicle transports the rolled film MF to each vertical pillow packaging machine in the consumer goods automatic transport system 1. [Figure 17] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the state in which the rolled film MF is transferred from the first automatic guided vehicle 6 onto the lifter 3d of the rolled film carry-in table 3. FIG. [Figure 18] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the overall control computer 80 when the second automated guided vehicle transports folded cardboard bundles FD to each box former in the automatic consumer goods transport system 1. [Figure 19] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a folded cardboard bundle FD is transferred from a second automatic guided vehicle 6A to a folded cardboard bundle carry-in table 4. FIG. [Figure 20] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the overall control computer 80 when the third automated guided vehicle transports the winding sealing tape MT to each sealing machine in the automatic consumer goods transport system 1. [Figure 21] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the state in which the winding sealing tape MT is transferred from the third automatic guided vehicle 6B to the winding sealing tape delivery table 5. FIG. [Figure 22] 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an automatic consumable product transport and mounting system of the present invention. [Figure 23] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main body of the automatic winding film attaching device 101. [Figure 24] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control part of the automatic winding film attaching device 101. [Figure 25] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic take-up film attachment control unit 120 when a new take-up film is attached to the film supply unit 11 of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 by the automatic take-up film attachment device. [Figure 26] 11A and 11B are explanatory diagrams illustrating the operation of removing and collecting the paper tube SK from the shaft 11b2. [Figure 27] 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of transferring a new roll of film from the first automatic guided vehicle to a lifter 111d of the roll of film carry-in table 111. FIG. [Figure 28] 11A and 11B are explanatory views illustrating the operation of attaching a newly taken-up film on lifter 111d to shaft 11b2 of shaft support arm 11a. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] [Configuration of automated consumer goods transport system] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an automatic consumable goods conveying system of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the automatic consumable goods conveying system shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is an automatic transport system for consumer goods, 2, 2', 2" are vertical pillow packaging machines, 3, 3', 3" are rolled film receiving tables, 4, 4', 4" are folded cardboard bundle receiving tables, 5, 5', 5" are rolled sealing tape receiving tables, 6 is the first automated guided vehicle, 6A is the second automated guided vehicle, 6B is the third automated guided vehicle, 7 is a rolled film storage table, 8 is a folded cardboard bundle storage table, 9 is a rolled sealing tape storage table, 40 is a packaging production line, 41 is a snack food transport conveyor, 42, 42', 42" are sorting conveyors, 4 3, 43', 43" are weighing machines, 44, 44', 44" are package conveyors, 45, 45', 45" are package box conveyors, 50, 50', 50" are box making machines, 60, 60', 60" are box filling devices, 70, 70', 70" are sealing machines, 80 is the overall management computer, MF is winding film, FD is folded cardboard bundles, MT is winding sealing tape, Sn is snack food, Pc, Pc', Pc" are packages, D1, D1', D1" are cardboard boxes, D2, D2', D2" are cardboard boxes containing packages, D3, D3', D3" are sealed cardboard boxes (packaging boxes), and Ta, Ta', Ta" are sealing tape. In the diagram, X is the left-right direction, Y is the front-back direction, and Z is the up-down direction. The automated consumer goods transport system 1 includes rolled film loading tables 3, 3', 3", folded cardboard bundle loading tables 4, 4', 4", rolled sealing tape loading tables 5, 5', 5", a first automated guided vehicle 6, a second automated guided vehicle 6A, a third automated guided vehicle 6B, rolled film storage table 7, folded cardboard bundle storage table 8, rolled sealing tape storage table 9, and an overall management computer 80. In the automatic consumer goods transport system 1, under the control of the overall supervisory management computer 80, the first automated guided vehicle 6 transports the rolled film MF stored on the rolled film storage table 7 to the rolled film carry-in tables 3, 3', and 3", the second automated guided vehicle 6A transports the folded cardboard bundles FD stored on the folded cardboard bundle storage table 8 to the folded cardboard bundle carry-in tables 4, 4', and 4", and the third automated guided vehicle 6B transports the rolled sealing tape MT stored on the rolled sealing tape storage table 9 to the rolled sealing tape carry-in tables 5, 5', and 5" (details will be described later).

[0019] [Automated guided vehicles, roll film loading tables, etc.] FIG. 3(a) is a perspective view of the first automatic guided vehicle 6, and FIG. 3(b) is a perspective view of the second automatic guided vehicle 6A, in which 6a, 6Aa, and 6Ba are the vehicle bodies, 6b is a recess, and 6c is a roller. The first automated guided vehicle 6 is an automated guided vehicle (AGV) that serves as the transport robot of the present invention, and as shown in Figure 3(a), it is equipped with a box-shaped transport vehicle body 6a and wheels (not shown), etc., and a recessed portion 6b is provided on the top surface of the transport vehicle body 6a, and rollers 6c are attached to the bottom surface of the recessed portion 6b. The second unmanned guided vehicle 6A is also an unmanned guided vehicle (AGV) that is the transport robot of the present invention, and as shown in Figure 3(b), it is equipped with a box-shaped transport vehicle body 6Aa and wheels (not shown), etc., and the upper surface of the transport vehicle body 6Aa is a slippery surface on which consumables placed on it can easily slide.The third unmanned guided vehicle 6B has the same structure as the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A. The first unmanned guided vehicle 6 places consumables (rolled film MF) in a recess 6b on the top surface of the vehicle body 6a and runs along a guide such as a magnetic tape installed on the floor, and the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A (third unmanned guided vehicle 6B) also places consumables (folded cardboard bundle FD, rolled sealing tape MT) on the top surface of the vehicle body 6Aa (6Ba) and runs along the guide. The transport robot of the present invention is not limited to an automated guided vehicle (AGV) that travels along a guide, but may be an autonomous mobile transport robot (AMR) that travels not by a guide but by teaching or the like.

[0020] Figure 4(a) is a perspective view of the rolled film feed table 3, Figure 4(b) is a perspective view of the folded cardboard bundle feed table 4, and Figure 4(c) is a perspective view of the rolled sealing tape feed table 5. In the figures, 3a, 4a, and 5a are bases, 3b, 4b, and 5b are movable stands, 3c, 4c, and 5c are push-in plates, 3d is a lifter, and 3e is a roller. In the figures, X is the left-right direction, Y is the front-back direction, and Z is the up-down direction. The rolled film feed table 3 is installed to the right of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 (vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10), and as shown in Figure 4(a), it comprises a base 3a, a movable stand 3b installed at the rear side of the base 3a, and a lifter 3d installed at the front left side of the base 3a, with a push plate 3c attached to the top of the movable stand 3b, a recessed portion provided on the top surface of the lifter 3d, and a roller 3e attached to the bottom surface of this recessed portion. The folded cardboard bundle loading platform 4 is installed to the right of the box making machine 50, and as shown in Figure 4(b), it comprises a base 4a and a movable stand 4b installed at the rear side of the base 4a, and the upper surface of the base 4a except for the rear side is a sliding surface on which the placed consumable goods (folded cardboard bundles) can slide easily, and a push plate 4c is attached to the top of the movable stand 4b. The reel-up sealing tape feed table 5 is installed to the right of the sealing machine 70, and as shown in Figure 4(c), it comprises a base 5a and a movable stand 5b installed at the rear side of the base 5a, and the upper surface of the base 5a, except for the rear side, is a sliding surface on which the placed consumable material (reel-up sealing tape) can slide easily, and a push-in plate 5c is attached to the top of the movable stand 5b. In this case, at the rolled film feed table 3, the movable stand 3b moves in the X direction (left and right direction) by a drive unit (not shown) attached inside the base 3a, and the lifter 3d moves up and down, and at the folded cardboard bundle feed table 4 and the rolled sealing tape feed table 5, the movable stands 4b and 5b move in the X direction (left and right direction) by a drive unit (not shown) attached inside the bases 4a and 5a. In addition, the rolled film feed tables 3', 3" have the same configuration and function as the rolled film feed table 3 and are installed to the right of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 2', 2" (vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10', 10"); the folded cardboard bundle feed tables 4', 4" have the same configuration and function as the folded cardboard bundle feed table 4 and are installed to the right of the box making machines 50', 50"; and the rolled sealing tape feed tables 5', 5" have the same configuration and function as the rolled sealing tape feed table 5 and are installed to the right of the sealing machines 70', 70".

[0021] The rolled film storage table 7 is a table for storing rolled film MF, which is a consumable material consumed by the vertical pillow packaging machines 2, 2', and 2''. On this rolled film storage stand 7, multiple rolls of rolled film MF (9 rolls of rolled film in the figure) are placed at predetermined positions on the top surface, and when the first unmanned guided vehicle 6 arrives at a predetermined position near the rolled film storage stand 7, a transfer device (not shown) transfers the rolled film MF located at a specific position on the top surface of the rolled film storage stand 7 to the recessed portion 6b of the first unmanned guided vehicle 6. The folding cardboard bundle storage table 8 is a table for storing folding cardboard bundles FD, which are consumable materials consumed by the box formers 50, 50', and 50". On this folded cardboard bundle storage table 8, multiple bundles of folded cardboard bundles FD (four bundles of folded cardboard bundles in the figure) are placed at predetermined positions on the top surface, and when a second unmanned guided vehicle 6A arrives at a predetermined position near the folded cardboard bundle storage table 8, a transfer device (not shown) transfers the folded cardboard bundle FD that is located at a specific position on the top surface of the folded cardboard bundle storage table 8 to the top surface of the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A. The reel sealing tape storage table 9 is a table for storing reel sealing tape MT, which is a consumable material consumed by the sealing machines 70, 70', and 70''. On this reel sealing tape storage stand 9, multiple reel sealing tapes MT (eight reel sealing tapes are shown in the figure) are placed at predetermined positions on the top surface, and when the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B arrives at a predetermined position near the reel sealing tape storage stand 9, a transfer device (not shown) transfers the sealing tape MT located at a specific position on the top surface of the reel sealing tape storage stand 9 to the top surface of the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B.

[0022] [Packaging production line] Next, a package production line 40 to which the automatic consumer goods conveying system 1 is applied will be described. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, package production line 40 is composed of a snack food manufacturing machine (not shown), which is a food machine, snack food transport conveyor 41, sorting conveyors 42, 42', 42", three weighing machines 43, 43', 43", three vertical pillow packaging machines 2, 2', 2", package conveyors 44, 44', 44", three box making machines 50, 50', 50", three box filling devices 60, 60', 60", three sealing machines 70, 70', 70", and packaging box conveyors 45, 45', 45", etc. The three weighing machines 43, 43', 43" have the same configuration, the three vertical pillow packaging machines 2, 2', 2" have the same configuration, the three box-making machines 50, 50', 50" have the same configuration, the three box-filling devices 60, 60', 60" have the same configuration, and the three sealing machines 70, 70', 70" have the same configuration. In the package production line 40, snack foods Sn such as potato chips produced by a snack food manufacturing machine are transported by a snack food transport conveyor 41, and the transported snack foods Sn are sorted by a sorting device (not shown) to sorting conveyors 42, 42', 42" that branch off from the snack food transport conveyor 41, and are then supplied to weighing machines 43, 43', 43". Each of the weighing machines 43, 43', 43'' weighs the snack food Sn to be supplied, and deposits a predetermined weight of the snack food Sn into a hopper (described later) at a fixed timing. Each vertical pillow packaging machine 2, 2', 2" produces packages Pc, Pc', Pc" by wrapping the snack foods Sn fed from each weighing machine 43, 43', 43" in film, and places the produced packages Pc, Pc', Pc" on package conveyors 44, 44', 44", respectively. Each box making machine 50, 50', 50" extracts folded cardboard one by one from a magazine (not shown), makes the cardboard into a box shape, applies tape to the bottom, and discharges cardboard boxes D1, D1', D1" with an open top. Each boxing device 60, 60', 60" packs packages Pc, Pc', Pc" transported by package conveyors 44, 44', 44" into cardboard boxes D1, D1', D1" discharged by box formers 50, 50', 50", and discharges cardboard boxes D2, D2', D2" containing the packages.

[0023] [Vertical pillow packaging machine] Figure 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the vertical pillow packaging machine in the automatic consumer goods conveying system shown in Figure 1, and is a diagram combining a schematic right side view of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body with a block of the control unit, and Figure 6 is an oblique view showing the overall configuration of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body shown in Figure 5. In the figure, 10 is the vertical pillow packaging machine body, 11 is a film (packaging material) supply section, 11a is a shaft support arm, 11b1 and 11b2 are shafts, 11c is an air chuck claw, 11M is a servo motor, 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, 12RE is a rotary encoder, 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 tube, 15 is a tube making section, 15a is a tube making device (former), 15b is a pressing member, 15c is a slide roller, and 16 is a film The feed section, 16a is a pulley, 16b is a feed belt, 16c is a length measuring device, 16c1 is a length measuring roller, 16c2 is a length measuring device rotary encoder, 16M is a servo motor, 16Ma is a rotating shaft, 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, 30 is a packaging machine operation panel, Fi is a film (packaging material), gr1 to gr4 are guide rollers, SK is a paper tube, ts is a vertical sealing section, and ys is a horizontal sealing section. In Figure 5, the film section is represented by a two-dot chain line. 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, and a packaging machine operation panel 30 that operates the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10.

[0024] [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 rolled film support device and a paper splicing table (not shown). The winding film support device includes a shaft support arm 11a, shafts 11b1 and 11b2 supported by the shaft support arm 11a, a servo motor 11M, etc. The servo motor 11M rotates the shafts 11b1 and 11b2, thereby rotating the winding film MF (paper tube SK) attached to the shafts 11b1 and 11b2 and fixed by the air chuck claws 11c. In the rolled film support device, the rolled film MF wound around a cardboard tube SK is attached to one shaft 11b1, which is rotated by a servo motor 11M, 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 (not shown in Figure 3). 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).

[0025] 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 12RE is attached to the rotating rod 12e. The rotation mechanism of the rotating arm 12a rotates the rotating arm 12a to raise the dancer rollers 12b, 12c to their upper limit positions, and is composed of, for example, an air cylinder and a stopper. The piston rod of the air cylinder extends and retracts to rotate the rotating arm 12a, and the rotating arm 12a hits the stopper to stop it. 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 about 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 the rotary encoder 12RE as the displacement of the dancer rollers 12b, 12c, and the tension of the film Fi is controlled (details will be described later). The date printing unit 13 includes a date printing device 13a, an elevating roller 13b, etc., and prints the date on the film Fi.

[0026] 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 length measuring device 16c, a film feed servo motor 16M, 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 of the packaged product supply section 14 detects that a packaged product has been placed into the filling tube 14b, the film feed servo motor 16M rotates the pulley 16a to move the feed belt 16b, and feeds the film Fi wrapping around the outer surface of the filling tube 14b downward by a certain length. The length measuring device 16c is equipped with a length measuring roller 16c1 and a length measuring rotary encoder 16c2. The length measuring roller 16c1 is attached so as to be pressed against the filling tube 14b via the film Fi. When the film Fi is fed downward, the length measuring roller 16c1 rotates, and the number of rotations is detected by the length measuring rotary encoder 16c2 to measure the feed amount of the film Fi. 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.

[0027] [Vertical pillow packaging machine control unit, packaging machine operation panel] Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 and the packaging machine operation panel 30, in which 21 is an arithmetic control unit, 21a is a drive equipment operation control unit, 21a1 is a film feed amount detection unit, 21a2 is a package number counting unit, 21b is a film tension control unit, 21b1 is a pivot arm rotation angle detection unit, 21b2 is a winding rotation speed detection unit, 22 is a memory unit, 22a is a product parameter table, 23 is a transmitter / receiver unit, 31 is a computer, 31a is a production capacity setting unit, 31b is a production quantity acquisition unit, 31c is a film remaining amount calculation unit, 31d is a film consumption estimation unit, 31e is an end time prediction unit, 33 is a transmitter / receiver unit, 34 is an input / display unit, and CL1 is a communication line. The vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 and the packaging machine operation panel 30 are connected via a communication line CL1. The vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 includes an arithmetic control unit 21, a memory unit 22, and a transmission / reception unit 23. The arithmetic control unit 21 includes a drive equipment operation control unit 21a and a film tension control unit 21b, and controls the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 in an integrated manner. The drive equipment operation control unit 21a includes a film feed amount detection unit 21a1 and a package number counting unit 21a2, and the film tension control unit 21b includes a pivot arm rotation angle detection unit 21b1 and a winding rotation number detection unit 21b2. The drive equipment operation control unit 21a controls the operation of the drive equipment of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, such as the servo motor 16M of the film feed unit 16 and the various heaters of the vertical sealing unit 17 and the end sealing / cutting unit 18, based on parameters (numeric values ​​representing the production capacity, bag length, product length, heater temperature, etc. set for each product produced by the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10) registered in the product parameter table 22a of the memory unit 22 for the product set on the packaging machine operation panel 30.

[0028] In this case, based on a detection signal from the packaged product detection sensor that detects that the packaged product has been placed in the filling tube 14b, the feeding of the film Fi is started by rotating the servo motor 16M, and the film feeding amount detection unit 21a1 detects the feeding amount of the film Fi based on a signal from the length measuring rotary encoder 16c2, and the operation of the servo motor 16M is controlled so that the feeding amount of the film Fi becomes the bag length, which is a parameter in the product parameter table 22a. Furthermore, the package number counting section 21a2 counts the number of times the horizontal sealing and cutting section 18 operates, and this count is sent to the transmitting / receiving section 23 as the number of packages Pc to be produced (number of packages). In the film tension control unit 21b, the pivot arm rotation angle detection unit 21b1 detects the tilt angle displacement of the pivot arm 12a of the tension adjustment unit 12 (displacement of the dancer rollers 12b, 12c) based on a signal from the rotary encoder 12RE, and the winding rotation speed detection unit 21b2 detects the rotation speed of the wound film MF based on a signal from the servo motor 11M. The rotation speed of the servo motor 11M (wound film MF) is controlled so that the tilt angle displacement of the pivot arm 12a (displacement of the dancer rollers 12b, 12c) falls within a certain range, thereby controlling the tension of the film Fi.

[0029] 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. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of the product parameter table 22a. Product parameter table 22a registers No. (registration number), product name, production capacity, bag length, folding diameter, heater temperature (vertical, vertical preheating, horizontal front, horizontal rear), etc. However, the item names themselves, such as "No. (registration number)," "product name," "production capacity," "bag length," "folding diameter," and "heater temperature (vertical, vertical preheating, horizontal front, horizontal rear)," are not registered; only the parts excluding the item names are registered. The No. (registration number) is a number that identifies the product produced by the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 (vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10), and is available in the range of 01 to 99. The No. and product name are entered from a product name registration screen (not shown) displayed on the input display unit 34 of the packaging machine operation panel 30, and are transmitted from the transceiver unit 33 to the transceiver unit 23 of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 via the communication line CL, received by the transceiver unit 23, and registered in the product parameter table 22a of the memory unit 22. 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. For example, the parameter "80" for "production capacity" means "80 bpm" (bpm is the number of bags produced per minute), i.e., 80 bags are produced per minute; the parameter "250" for "bag length" means "250 mm", i.e., the length of the bag in package Pc1 is 250 mm; the parameter "160" corresponding to "heater temperature - vertical" means "160°C", i.e., the temperature of the vertical heater is "160°C". The parameters are entered from various parameter setting screens displayed on the input display unit 34 of the packaging machine operation panel 30, and are transmitted from the transceiver unit 33 to the transceiver unit 23 of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 via communication line CL1, received by the transceiver unit 23, and registered in the product parameter table 22a of the memory unit 22. The transmitter / receiver unit 23 communicates with the transmitter / receiver unit 33 of the 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.

[0030] 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 calculation processing unit of the computer 31 includes a production capacity setting unit 31a, a production quantity acquisition unit 31b, a film remaining amount calculation unit 31c, a film consumption amount estimation unit 31d, and an end time prediction unit 31e. The production capacity setting unit 31a displays a production capacity setting screen on the input display unit 34, sets the values ​​entered on this screen as production capacity parameters to be registered in the product parameter table 22a, and sends them to the transmitting / receiving unit 33. The production quantity acquisition unit 31b acquires the number of packages counted by the package number counting unit 21a2 of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20, transmitted from the transceiver unit 23, and received by the transceiver unit 33 as the production quantity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 1 (vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10). The film remaining amount calculation unit 31c calculates the remaining amount of the wound film MF based on the number of rotations (rotation angle) of the wound film MF detected by the winding rotation number detection unit 21b2 of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20, the tilt angle displacement of the pivot arm 12a of the tension adjustment unit 12 detected by the pivot arm rotation angle detection unit 21b1, and the feed amount of the film Fi detected by the film feed amount detection unit 21a1. The film consumption estimation unit 31d estimates the unit consumption amount, which is the amount of film consumed per unit time, from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 31b within a set time period (from a certain time period before the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c until the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated). End time prediction unit 31e predicts the end time until the rolled film MF runs out based on the remaining amount of rolled film MF calculated by remaining film amount calculation unit 31c and the unit consumption amount estimated by film consumption amount estimation unit 31d. 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. Furthermore, the transmitting / receiving section 33 sends the remaining amount of wound film MF calculated by the remaining film amount calculating section 31c and the end time predicted by the end time predicting section 31e to the overall control computer 80 via the communication line. The input display unit 34 has a touch panel display screen and displays various screens created by a dedicated program built into the computer 31, such as a setting screen for various parameters and an operation screen for displaying the end time predicted by the end time prediction unit 31e.

[0031] Like the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the vertical pillow packaging machines 2' and 2" are composed of a vertical pillow packaging machine main body that produces the packages Pc' and Pc", a vertical pillow packaging machine control unit that controls the operation of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body, and a packaging machine operation panel that operates the vertical pillow packaging machine main body, and the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit and packaging machine operation panel are connected by a communication line. The configuration of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2', 2" is the same as the configuration of the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, the configuration of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2', 2" is the same as the configuration of the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20, and the configuration of the packaging machine operation panel of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2', 2" is the same as the configuration of the packaging machine operation panel 30. That is, the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit of vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2" has the same arithmetic control unit, memory unit, and transceiver unit as vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20, and this arithmetic control unit has the same drive equipment operation control unit, film feed amount detection unit, package number counting unit, film tension control unit, pivot arm rotation angle detection unit, and winding rotation number detection unit as arithmetic control unit 21, and this memory unit has the same product parameter table as memory unit 22. In addition, the packaging machine operation panel of the vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2" has the same computer, transmission / reception unit, and input display unit as the packaging machine operation panel 30, and the computer has the same production capacity setting unit, production quantity acquisition unit, film remaining amount calculation unit, film consumption amount estimation unit, and completion time prediction unit as the computer 31.

[0032] [Control part of the box making machine] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control part of box making machine 50, in which 51 is the box making machine main body, 52 is the box making machine control unit, 53 is the box making machine operation panel, 531 is a computer, 531a is a production capacity setting unit, 531b is a production quantity acquisition unit, 531c is a folding cardboard remaining amount calculation unit, 531d is a folding cardboard consumption amount estimation unit, 531e is an end time prediction unit, 533 is a transmission / reception unit, 534 is an input / display unit, and CL2 is a communication line. As shown in Figure 9, the box making machine 50 comprises a box making machine main body 51, a box making machine control unit 52 and a box making machine operation panel 53, and the box making machine control unit 52 and the box making machine operation panel 53 are connected by a communication line CL2. The box making machine main body 51 extracts folded cardboard boxes (folded cardboard boxes) one by one from a stack of folded cardboard boxes (folded cardboard boxes) that are consumable materials stored in a magazine (not shown), opens the folded cardboard boxes to form a box, attaches tape to the bottom, and discharges the cardboard box D1 with an open top. The box making machine control unit 52 comprises an arithmetic control unit, a memory unit, and a transceiver unit, and the arithmetic control unit comprises an operation control unit that controls the operation of the box making machine main body 51, and a cardboard box number counting unit that counts the number of cardboard boxes D1 made by the box making machine main body 51, and the memory unit stores parameters etc. used by the operation control unit to control the operation of the box making machine main body 51. The box former operation panel 53 includes a computer 531 , a transmitting / receiving unit 533 , and an input / display unit 534 . The computer 531 is equipped with an arithmetic processing unit and a storage unit, and is loaded with a dedicated program compatible with the box former main body 51, and performs various processes and controls the box former operation panel 53 in an integrated manner. The calculation processing unit of the computer 531 includes a production capacity setting unit 531a, a production quantity acquisition unit 531b, a folding cardboard remaining amount calculation unit 531c, a folding cardboard consumption amount estimation unit 531d, and a completion time prediction unit 531e.

[0033] The production capacity setting unit 531a displays a production capacity setting screen on the input display unit 534, sets the numerical value entered from this screen as a parameter for the production capacity of the box making machine main body 51 (the number of cardboard boxes D1 made per unit time), and sends it to the transmission / reception unit 533. The production capacity (parameters) sent to the transmitting / receiving unit 533 is sent to the box former control unit 52 via the communication line CL2 and stored in the storage unit thereof. The production quantity acquisition unit 531b acquires the number of cardboard boxes (the number of cardboard boxes D1 produced) counted by the cardboard box counting unit of the box making machine control unit 52 as the production quantity of the box making machine 50 (box making machine main body 51) via the communication line CL1 and the transceiver unit 533. The remaining folded cardboard quantity calculation unit 531c calculates the remaining folded cardboard quantity (the number of folded cardboard boxes remaining in the magazine) from signals, etc. from a folded cardboard quantity detector (a detector that detects the thickness or height of the bundles of folded cardboard boxes stocked in the magazine) installed in the magazine of the box making machine main body 51. The folded cardboard consumption estimation unit 531d estimates the unit consumption amount, which is the consumption amount of folded cardboard per unit time, from the production amount acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 531b within a set time period (from a certain time period before the calculation of the remaining amount of folded cardboard by the folded cardboard remaining amount calculation unit 531c to the time the remaining amount of folded cardboard is calculated).

[0034] The end time prediction unit 531e predicts the end time until the folded cardboard boxes stocked in the magazine run out, based on the remaining amount of folded cardboard boxes calculated by the remaining folded cardboard box calculation unit 531c and the unit consumption amount estimated by the folded cardboard box consumption estimation unit 531d. The transmitter / receiver unit 533 transmits various data sent from the computer 531 to the box-making machine control unit 52 via the communication line CL2, and receives various data sent from the box-making machine control unit 52 via the communication line CL2 and sends it to the computer 531. Furthermore, the transmitting / receiving section 533 sends the remaining number of folded cardboard boxes calculated by the remaining number of folded cardboard boxes calculation section 531c and the end time predicted by the end time prediction section 531e to the overall control computer 80 via a communication line. The input display unit 534 has a touch panel display screen and displays various screens created by a dedicated program built into the computer 531, such as a setting screen for various parameters and an operation screen for displaying the end time predicted by the end time prediction unit 531e.

[0035] Like box making machine 50, box making machines 50' and 50" are composed of a box making machine main body that discharges open-topped cardboard boxes D1' and D1", a box making machine control unit that controls the operation of the box making machine main body, and a box making machine operation panel that operates the box making machine main body, and the box making machine control unit and box making machine operation panel are connected by a communication line. The configuration of the box making machine main body of the box making machines 50', 50" is the same as the configuration of the box making machine main body 51, the configuration of the box making machine control unit of the box making machines 50', 50" is the same as the configuration of the box making machine control unit 52, and the configuration of the box making machine operation panel of the box making machines 50', 50" is the same as the configuration of the box making machine operation panel 53. That is, the box making machine control unit of box making machines 50', 50" has the same calculation control unit, memory unit, and transmission / reception unit as box making machine control unit 52, and the box making machine operation panel of box making machines 50', 50" has the same computer, transmission / reception unit, and input display unit as box making machine operation panel 53, and the computer has the same production capacity setting unit, production quantity acquisition unit, folding cardboard remaining amount calculation unit, folding cardboard consumption estimation unit, and completion time prediction unit as computer 531.

[0036] [Configuration of the control part of the sealing machine 70] Figure 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control part of the sealing machine 70, in which 71 is the sealing machine main body, 72 is the sealing machine control unit, 73 is the sealing machine operation panel, 731 is a computer, 731a is a production capacity setting unit, 731b is a production quantity acquisition unit, 731c is a sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit, 731d is a sealing tape consumption estimation unit, 731e is an end time prediction unit, 733 is a transmission / reception unit, 734 is an input / display unit, and CL3 is a communication line. As shown in FIG. 10, the sealing machine 70 comprises a sealing machine main body 71, a sealing machine control unit 72, and a sealing machine operation panel 73, and the sealing machine control unit 72 and the sealing machine operation panel 73 are connected by a communication line CL3. The sealing machine main body 71 folds the front, back, left and right flaps that form the top surface of the cardboard box D2 containing the packaged body discharged from the box packing device 60, unwinds and attaches consumable sealing tape Ta from a rewound sealing tape (sealing tape in a rewound state) attached to a sealing tape supply unit (not shown), and places the taped sealed cardboard box (packaging box) D3 on the packaging box conveyor 45 for discharge. The sealing machine control unit 72 comprises an arithmetic control unit, a memory unit, and a transceiver unit, and the arithmetic control unit comprises an operation control unit that controls the operation of the sealing machine main body 71, and a sealed cardboard box number counting unit that counts the number of sealed cardboard boxes D3 sealed by the sealing machine main body 71, and the memory unit stores parameters etc. used by the operation control unit to control the operation of the sealing machine main body 71. The sealing machine operation panel 73 includes a computer 731 , a transmitting / receiving unit 733 , and an input / display unit 734 . The computer 731 is equipped with an arithmetic processing unit and a memory unit, and is loaded with a dedicated program compatible with the sealing machine main body 71, and performs various processes and controls the sealing machine operation panel 73 in an integrated manner. The calculation processing unit of the computer 731 includes a production capacity setting unit 731a, a production quantity acquisition unit 731b, a sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit 731c, a sealing tape consumption amount estimation unit 731d, and an end time prediction unit 731e.

[0037] The production capacity setting unit 731a displays a production capacity setting screen on the input display unit 734, sets the numerical values ​​entered from this screen as parameters for the production capacity of the sealing machine main body 71 (the number of sealed cardboard boxes D3 sealed per unit time), and sends them to the transmission / reception unit 733. The production capacity (parameters) sent to the transmitting / receiving unit 733 is sent to the sealing machine control unit 72 via the communication line CL3 and stored in the memory unit thereof. The production quantity acquisition unit 731b acquires the number of sealed cardboard boxes (number of sealed cardboard boxes D3) counted by the sealed cardboard box counting unit of the sealing machine control unit 72 via communication line CL3 and the transceiver unit 733 as the production quantity of the sealing machine 70 (sealing machine main body 71). The sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit 731c calculates the remaining amount of sealing tape (the tape length of the wound sealing tape) based on signals from a wound sealing tape diameter detector that detects the radius of the wound sealing tape attached to the sealing tape supply unit of the sealing machine main body 71. The sealing tape consumption estimation unit 731d estimates the unit consumption amount, which is the amount of sealing tape consumed per unit time, from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 731b within a set time period (from a certain time before the sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit 731c calculates the sealing tape remaining amount to the time the sealing tape remaining amount is calculated) and the amount (length) of sealing tape used for one sealed cardboard box.

[0038] The end time prediction unit 731e predicts the end time until the rewound sealing tape attached to the sealing tape supply unit runs out based on the remaining sealing tape calculated by the sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit 731c and the unit consumption estimated by the sealing tape consumption amount estimation unit 731d. The transmitter / receiver unit 733 transmits various data sent from the computer 731 to the sealing machine control unit 72 via communication line CL3, and receives various data sent from the sealing machine control unit 72 via communication line CL3 and sends it to the computer 731. The transmitting / receiving section 733 also transmits the remaining sealing tape amount calculated by the remaining sealing tape amount calculating section 731c and the end time predicted by the end time predicting section 731e to the overall control computer 80 via a communication line. The input display unit 734 has a touch panel display screen and displays various screens created by a dedicated program built into the computer 731, such as a setting screen for various parameters and an operation screen for displaying the end time predicted by the end time prediction unit 731e.

[0039] Like sealing machine 70, sealing machines 70' and 70" are composed of a sealing machine main body that discharges sealed cardboard boxes D3' and D3", a sealing machine control unit that controls the operation of the sealing machine main body, and a sealing machine operation panel that operates the sealing machine main body, and the sealing machine control unit and sealing machine operation panel are connected by a communication line. The configuration of the sealing machine main body of sealing machines 70' and 70" is the same as the configuration of sealing machine main body 71, the configuration of the sealing machine control unit of sealing machines 70' and 70" is the same as the configuration of sealing machine control unit 72, and the configuration of the sealing machine operation panel of sealing machines 70' and 70" is the same as the configuration of sealing machine operation panel 73. That is, the sealing machine control unit of sealing machines 70' and 70" has the same calculation control unit, memory unit and transmission / reception unit as sealing machine control unit 72, and the sealing machine operation panel of sealing machines 70' and 70" has the same computer, transmission / reception unit and input display unit as sealing machine operation panel 73, and the computer has the same production capacity setting unit, production quantity acquisition unit, sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit, sealing tape consumption estimation unit and completion time prediction unit as computer 731.

[0040] [Overall control computer] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control part of the automatic consumer goods transport system 1, in which 6M1 is a first automatic guided vehicle drive unit, 6M2 is a second automatic guided vehicle drive unit, 6M3 is a third automatic guided vehicle drive unit, 3M is a roll-up film feed table drive unit, 4M is a folded cardboard bundle feed table drive unit, 5M is a roll-up sealing tape feed table drive unit, 7M is a roll-up film storage table drive unit, 8M is a folded cardboard bundle storage table drive unit, 9M is a roll-up sealing tape storage table drive unit, 30, 30', 30" are packaging machine operation panels, 53, 53', 53" indicates the box-making machine operation panel, 73, 73', 73" are the sealing machine operation panel, 80a is the conveying system general control unit, 80b is the automatic guided vehicle control unit, 80c is the roll-up film feed-in unit control unit, 80d is the folded cardboard bundle feed-in unit control unit, 80e is the roll-up sealing tape feed-in unit control unit, 80f is the roll-up film storage unit control unit, 80g is the folded cardboard bundle storage unit control unit, 80h is the roll-up sealing tape storage unit control unit, and CL4, CL4', CL4", CL5, CL5', CL5", CL6, CL6', CL6" are communication lines. In Figure 11, packaging machine operation panels 30' and 30" are packaging machine operation panels for packaging machines 2' and 2", box-making machine operation panels 53' and 53" are box-making machine operation panels for box-making machines 50' and 50", and sealing machine operation panels 73' and 73" are sealing machine operation panels for sealing machines 70' and 70". As shown in FIG. 11, the overall control computer 80 is connected to the packaging machine operation panels 30, 30', 30", the box-making machine operation panels 53, 53', 53", and the sealing machine operation panels 73, 73', 73" via communication lines CL4, CL4', CL4", CL5, CL5', CL5", CL6, CL6', CL6", and is also connected wirelessly to the first automatic guided vehicle drive unit 6M1, the second automatic guided vehicle drive unit 6M2, and the third automatic guided vehicle drive unit 6M3, and is connected wired or wirelessly to the roll-up film feed-in table drive unit 3M, the folded cardboard bundle feed-in table drive unit 4M, the roll-up sealing tape feed-in table drive unit 5M, the roll-up film storage table drive unit 7M, the folded cardboard bundle storage table drive unit 8M, and the roll-up sealing tape storage table drive unit 9M. In addition, the overall management computer 80 is equipped with a conveying system overall control unit 80a, an unmanned guided vehicle control unit 80b, a rolled film feed-in table control unit 80c, a folded cardboard bundle feed-in table control unit 80d, a rolled sealing tape feed-in table control unit 80e, a rolled film storage table control unit 80f, a folded cardboard bundle storage table control unit 80g, and a rolled sealing tape storage table control unit 80h.

[0041] The conveying system overall control unit 80a controls each control unit such as the automatic guided vehicle control unit 80b based on signals from the packaging machine operation panels 30, 30', 30", the box-making machine operation panels 53, 53', 53", and the sealing machine operation panels 73, 73', 73", such as the end time predicted by the end time prediction units 31e, 531e, 731e, etc., the remaining amount of rolled film MF calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c, etc., the remaining amount of folded cardboard calculated by the folded cardboard remaining amount calculation unit 531c, etc., and the remaining amount of sealing tape calculated by the sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit 731c, etc.), and also controls the overall overall management computer 80. The automated guided vehicle control unit 80b controls the first automated guided vehicle driving unit 6M1, the second automated guided vehicle driving unit 6M2, and the third automated guided vehicle driving unit 6M3 based on instructions from the transport system overall control unit 80a, and controls the operation (travel) of the first automated guided vehicle 6, the second automated guided vehicle 6A, and the third automated guided vehicle 6B. The rolled film loading platform control unit 80c controls the rolled film loading platform drive unit 3M based on instructions from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, and controls the transfer operation of the rolled film MF from the first unmanned guided vehicle 6 to the lifter 3d using the mobile stand 3b (push plate 3c). Based on instructions from the folding cardboard bundle loading platform control unit 80d and the conveying system general control unit 80a, the folding cardboard bundle loading platform drive unit 4M is controlled, and the transfer operation of the folding cardboard bundle FD from the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A to the base 4a by the moving stand 4b (push plate 4c) is controlled. The rewinding sealing tape loading platform control unit 80e controls the rewinding sealing tape loading platform drive unit 5M based on instructions from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, and controls the transfer operation of the rewinding sealing tape MT from the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B to the base 5a using the mobile stand 5b (push plate 5c). The rolled film storage table control unit 80f controls the rolled film storage table drive unit 7M based on instructions from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, and controls the transfer operation of the rolled film MF from the rolled film storage table 7 to the first unmanned guided vehicle 6 (recessed portion 6b) by the transfer device. The folded cardboard bundle storage table control unit 80g controls the folded cardboard bundle storage table drive unit 8M based on instructions from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, and controls the transfer operation of the folded cardboard bundle FD from the folded cardboard bundle storage table 8 to the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A by the transfer device. The rewinding sealing tape storage table control unit 80h controls the rewinding sealing tape storage table drive unit 9M based on instructions from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, and controls the transfer operation of the rewinding sealing tape MT from the rewinding sealing tape storage table 9 to the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B by the transfer device.

[0042] [Operation of the automated transport system for consumer goods] In the automatic consumer goods conveying system 1, the end time of the winding film MF of the vertical pillow packaging machine 1 or the like predicted by the end time prediction unit 31e or the like, the end time of the folding cardboard of the box making machine 50 or the like predicted by the end time prediction unit 531e or the like, the end time of the winding sealing tape of the sealing machine 70 or the like predicted by the end time prediction unit 731e or the like, or the remaining amount of the winding film MF calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c or the like, the remaining amount of the folding cardboard Based on the remaining amount of folded cardboard calculated by the remaining sealing tape calculation unit 731c etc., and the remaining amount of sealing tape calculated by the remaining sealing tape calculation unit 731d etc., the conveying system overall control unit 80a of the overall management computer 80 controls each control unit such as the unmanned guided vehicle control unit 80b, and the first unmanned guided vehicle 6 conveys the rolled film MF, the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A conveys the bundle of folded cardboard FD, and the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B conveys the rolled sealing tape MT. Therefore, first, the operation of calculating the remaining amount of consumable goods such as rolled film MF and predicting the end time will be explained.

[0043] [Calculating remaining film volume and predicting end time] The operation of calculating the remaining amount of winding film MF and predicting the end time in vertical pillow packaging machine 2 of packaging production line 40 will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of computer 31 on packaging machine operation panel 30 of vertical pillow packaging machine 2 to predict the end time of the rolled film MF. First, before the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 starts producing the packaging body Pc, various parameters such as the No. (registration number), product name and production capacity, bag length, folding diameter, heater temperature (vertical, vertical preheat, horizontal front, horizontal back), etc. are input from the input display unit 34 of the packaging machine operation panel 30, or by inputting the No. (registration number), the product name and various parameters linked to the No. (registration number) are automatically input, and the No. (registration number), product name and various parameters of the packaging body Pc to be produced are set in the product parameter table 22a. In setting these various parameters, the production capacity setting unit 31a sets (registers in the product parameter table 22a) the production capacity (for example, 80 bpm) of the vertical pillow packaging machine 1 (vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10) (S1). At this time, various parameters including production capacity are similarly set for the other vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2'', and the production capacity is set to the same production capacity as that of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 (for example, 80 bpm).

[0044] Once various preparation work and operations, including setting various parameters, have been completed for the three vertical pillow packaging machines 2, 2', 2", the snack food manufacturing machine begins manufacturing the snack food Sn, and the manufactured snack food Sn is supplied to the snack food transfer conveyor 41, the sorting conveyors 42, 42', 42", and the weighing machines 43, 43', 43". The weighing machine 43 then dumps the snack food Sn into the hopper 14a, and the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 begins producing the packages Pc. At the same time, the weighing machines 43', 43" dump the snack food Sn into the hoppers 14a', 14a", and the vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2" begin producing the packages Pc', Pc". In this case, the amount of snacks Sn distributed from the snack food conveyor 41 to the distribution conveyors 42, 42', 42" is not the same, and the amount of snacks Sn distributed to the conveyor 42 is less than the amount of snacks Sn distributed to the other distribution conveyors 42', 42". Therefore, the weight of snack foods Sn supplied to the weighing machine 43 per unit time is less than the weight of snack foods Sn supplied to the weighing machines 43', 43" per unit time, and the quantity of packages Pc produced by the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 per unit time is less than the quantity of packages Pc', Pc" produced by the vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2" per unit time. Specifically, vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2" produce packages Pc', Pc" at a production speed in accordance with the set production capacity (e.g., 80 bpm), and vertical pillow packaging machine 2 produces packages Pc at a production speed (e.g., 50 bpm) that is approximately 60% of the set production capacity (e.g., 80 bpm).

[0045] When the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 starts producing the packaged body Pc, the packaged product detection sensor detects that snack food Sn has been placed in the filling tube 14b, the servo motor 16M rotates, the film Fi is fed the bag length set in the product parameter table 22a, and the vertical sealing section 17 and the horizontal sealing and cutting section 18 operate to produce the packaged body Pc. The operation of this servo motor 16M, vertical sealing unit 17 and horizontal sealing and cutting unit 18 (to produce one packaging body Pc) is repeated intermittently, and the packaging body number counting unit 21a2 counts the number of times the horizontal sealing and cutting unit 18 operates, and this is transmitted as the production quantity (number of packaging bodies Pc produced) of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 from the transceiver unit 23 to the operation panel 30 via communication line CL1, and the production quantity acquisition unit 31b acquires the production quantity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 received by the transceiver unit 33 (S2). At this time, since the weight of snack foods Sn supplied to weighing machine 43 per unit time is less than the weight of snack foods Sn supplied to weighing machines 43', 43" per unit time, the production speed of vertical pillow packaging machine 2 (the number of packages Pc produced per unit time) is slower than the production speed of vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2" (approximately the same speed as the set production capacity, for example, 80 bpm), and vertical pillow packaging machine 2 produces packages Pc at a production speed (for example, 50 bpm) that is approximately 60% of the set production capacity (for example, 80 bpm). Therefore, the production quantity acquiring unit 31b acquires a production quantity per unit time that is lower than the production capacity set by the production capacity setting unit 31a.

[0046] Next, remaining film amount calculation section 31c calculates the remaining amount of rolled film MF, and the calculated remaining amount of rolled film MF is transmitted from transmitting / receiving section 33 to overall control computer 80 (S3). Figure 13 is an explanatory diagram that explains the calculation of the remaining amount of wound film MF by film remaining amount calculation unit 31c. Figure 13 shows the state in which servo motor 16M rotates to move feed belt 16b, film Fi (cylindrical film TFi) moves (feeds) from position P1 to position P2, pivot arm 12a rotates counterclockwise, and the outer periphery of the wound film MF rotates from position Q1 to position Q2. The pivot arm 12a before rotation is represented by a two-dot chain line, and the film Fi is represented by a solid line. Now, assume that the feed amount (distance from position P1 to position P2) of the film Fi detected by the film feed amount detection unit 21a1 based on the signal from the length measuring rotary encoder 16c2 is L, the tilt angle displacement (rotation angle) of the pivot arm 12a detected by the pivot arm rotation angle detection unit 21b1 based on the signal from the rotary encoder 12RE is θ, and the rotation angle of the wound film MF detected by the winding rotation speed detection unit 21b2 based on the signal from the servo motor 11M is φ. When the amount of decrease in the path length of the film Fi between the guide rolls gr2 and gr3 due to the tilt angle displacement (rotation angle) θ of the rotating arm 12a is ΔL and the radius of the wound film MF is R, the relationship between the feed amount L of the film Fi and the rotation angle φ of the wound film MF is as follows: R φ=L-ΔL And R=(L-ΔL) / φ This becomes: Since the relationship between ΔL and θ is fixed, the relationship between ΔL and θ is stored in advance in the remaining film amount calculation unit 31c. If the stored value is ΔL(θ), then: R=(L-ΔL(θ)) / φ This becomes: The relationship between the radius R of the rolled film MF and the remaining amount of the rolled film MF (the length of the film Fi unwound from the rolled film MF of radius R, or the number of packages Pc produced from the rolled film MF of radius R) is fixed, and this relationship is stored in advance in the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c. Therefore, the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c calculates the radius R of the rolled film MF from the feed amount L of the film Fi detected by the film feed amount detection unit 21a1, the rotation angle φ of the rolled film MF detected by the winding rotation speed detection unit 21b2, and the tilt angle displacement θ of the pivot arm 12a detected by the pivot arm rotation angle detection unit 21b1, and determines the remaining amount of the rolled film MF from the calculated radius R.

[0047] Next, the film consumption estimation unit 31d estimates the unit consumption amount, which is the amount of film consumed per unit time, from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 31b within a set time period (from a certain time period before the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c to the time the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated) (S4). In this case, within the set period of time means the period from a certain time (e.g., 5 minutes) before the remaining amount of the rolled film MF is calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c to the time the remaining amount of the rolled film MF is calculated, i.e., a certain time (e.g., 5 minutes) until the remaining amount of the rolled film MF is calculated. Specifically, if the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 31b during a certain time t (minutes) until the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated is N, and the bag length registered in the product parameter table 22a is X mm, the unit consumption (film consumption per unit time) f (mm / minute) estimated by the film consumption estimation unit 31d is as follows: f=X×(N / t) For example, if the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 31b during the five minutes up to the calculation of the remaining amount of rolled film MF is 250, and the bag length registered in the product parameter table 22a is 250 mm, the unit consumption amount f estimated by the film consumption estimation unit 31d will be as follows: f = 250 × (250 / 5) = 1250 (mm / min) In this way, the unit consumption estimated by the film consumption estimation unit 31d is the film consumption per unit time based on the average value of the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 for a certain period of time up to the calculation of the remaining amount of rolled film MF, i.e., the film consumption per unit time based on the most recent production results of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, and the film consumption estimation unit 31d estimates the unit consumption in accordance with the production status of the packaging body Pc of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2.

[0048] Next, the end time prediction unit 31e predicts the end time (remaining time) until the rolled film MF runs out based on the remaining amount of rolled film MF calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c and the unit consumption amount estimated by the film consumption amount estimation unit 31d (S5). Specifically, if the remaining amount of the rolled film MF calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c is Z (mm) and the unit consumption amount estimated by the film consumption amount estimation unit 31d is f (mm / min), the remaining time nt until the rolled film MF runs out is as follows: nt=Z / f For example, if the remaining amount of the rolled film MF calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c is 10,000 (mm) and the unit consumption estimated by the film consumption amount estimation unit 31d is 1,250 (mm / min), the remaining time nt until the rolled film MF runs out is as follows: nt=10000 / 1250=8(min) The end time (remaining time) until the rolled film MF runs out, predicted by this end time prediction unit 31e, is sent to the input display unit 34, displayed on its operation screen, and also transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 33 to the overall management computer 80 (S6). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the process should be continued (S7). If the process should be continued, the process returns to step S2, and if the process should not be continued, the process ends. Specifically, an end button is provided on the operation screen, and the process continues unless the end button is touched, and ends when the end button is touched. In this case, when continuing the processing, the processing from step S2 onwards may be carried out after a certain time has elapsed (for example, after one minute has elapsed), and after the certain time has elapsed, the end time (remaining time) displayed on the operation screen of the input display unit 34 and sent to the overall supervisory management computer 80 may be updated. Furthermore, a continue button and an end button may be provided on the operation screen of the input display unit 34, so that touching the continue button will continue the processing, and touching the end button will end the processing. The completion time (remaining time) of step S6 may be displayed not on the operation screen of the input display unit 34 of the operation panel 30, but on a monitor screen (e.g., a tablet display screen) that displays various information and is provided separately from the operation panel.

[0049] In this way, in the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 of the packaging production line 40, the production capacity setting unit 31a sets the production capacity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the production quantity acquisition unit 31b acquires the production quantity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c calculates the remaining amount of rolled film MF, the film consumption estimation unit 31d estimates the unit consumption amount from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 31b within the set time, and the end time prediction unit 31e predicts the end time (remaining time) until the rolled film MF runs out based on the remaining amount of rolled film MF calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 31c and the unit consumption amount estimated by the film consumption estimation unit 31d. Therefore, even if the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 produces products at a speed that is less than the set production capacity and the actual production speed is not constant, the completion time (remaining time) until the rolled film MF runs out can be accurately predicted based on the most recent production results of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 at the time the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated. Similarly, on the packaging machine operation panels 30', 30" of the vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2", similar to the packaging machine operation panel 30 of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, a production capacity setting unit sets the production capacity of the vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2", a production quantity acquisition unit acquires the production quantity of the vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2", a film remaining amount calculation unit calculates the remaining amount of rolled film MF, a film consumption estimation unit estimates the unit consumption amount from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit within a set time, and an end time prediction unit predicts the end time (remaining time) until the rolled film MF runs out based on the remaining amount of rolled film MF calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit and the unit consumption amount estimated by the film consumption estimation unit. The remaining amount of the rolled film MF calculated by the remaining film amount calculation unit is sent to the overall control computer 80, and the end time (remaining time) until the rolled film MF runs out predicted by the end time prediction unit is sent to the input / display unit 34 of the packaging machine operation panel 30', 30" and displayed on the operation screen while also being sent to the overall control computer 80. Therefore, even if the vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2" produce products at a speed that is less than the set production capacity and the actual production speed is not constant, the completion time (remaining time) until the rolled film MF runs out can be accurately predicted based on the most recent production results of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 at the time the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated.

[0050] [Another example of a vertical pillow packaging machine] Figure 14 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a packaging machine operation panel, etc., of another vertical pillow packaging machine having a different operation panel configuration from that of vertical pillow packaging machine 2. In the figure, 2A is the vertical pillow packaging machine, 90 is the packaging machine operation panel, 91 is a computer, 91a is a production capacity setting unit, 91b is a production quantity acquisition unit, 91c is a film remaining amount calculation unit, 91d is a film consumption estimation unit, 91e is an end time prediction unit, 91f is a speed change factor information acquisition unit, 93 is a transmission / reception unit, and 94 is an input / display unit. Components with the same configuration as that of vertical pillow packaging machine 2 shown in Figures 5 to 7 are given the same symbols. The vertical pillow packaging machine 2A is composed of a vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, a vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20, and an operation panel 90, and the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10 and the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 are the same as those of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2. The packaging machine operation panel 90 comprises a computer 91, a transmitting / receiving unit 93, and an input / display unit 94, and the transmitting / receiving unit 93 and the input / display unit 94 are the same as the transmitting / receiving unit 33 and the input / display unit 34 of the packaging machine operation panel 30. Like the computer 31 of the operation panel 30, the computer 91 is equipped with an arithmetic processing unit and a memory unit, and is equipped with a dedicated program corresponding to the vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10, performs various processes, and controls the packaging machine operation panel 90 in an integrated manner. The calculation processing unit of the computer 91 includes a production capacity setting unit 91a, a production quantity acquisition unit 91b, a remaining film amount calculation unit 91c, a film consumption amount estimation unit 91d, an end time prediction unit 91e, and a speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f, of which the production capacity setting unit 91a, the production quantity acquisition unit 91b, the remaining film amount calculation unit 91c, and the end time prediction unit 91e are the same as the production capacity setting unit 31a, the production quantity acquisition unit 31b, the remaining film amount calculation unit 31c, and the end time prediction unit 31e of the computer 31.

[0051] The speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f acquires speed change factor information that will cause the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A to change from the time when the remaining film amount calculation unit 91c calculated the remaining amount of winding film MF, based on signals from machines and devices operating in conjunction with the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 or other packaging-related devices, for example, signals from a conveyor that transports packaged items such as snacks to be supplied to the packaged item supply unit 14, signals from a food machine that produces the packaged items, or signals from other vertical pillow packaging machines. This speed change factor information includes a speed change index that indicates how much the production speed of vertical pillow packaging machine 2A should be changed. When the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f acquires speed change factor information, the film consumption estimation unit 91d estimates the unit consumption amount, which is the amount of film consumed per unit time, based on the production capacity set by the production capacity setting unit 91a and the speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f. In addition, if the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f does not acquire speed change factor information, the film consumption estimation unit 91d estimates the unit consumption amount, which is the amount of film consumed per unit time, from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 91b within a set time period (from a certain time period before the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 91c to the time the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated).

[0052] [Calculating remaining amount of film wound on vertical pillow packaging machine 2A and predicting completion time] In package production line 40 shown in FIG. 1, calculation of the remaining amount of winding film MF in vertical pillow packaging machine 2A and prediction of the end time when vertical pillow packaging machine 2 is replaced with vertical pillow packaging machine 2A will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of computer 91 on operation panel 90 of vertical pillow packaging machine 2A to predict the end time of winding film MF. First, as with the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, when inputting and setting various parameters before starting production of the packaging body Pc, the production capacity setting unit 91a sets the production capacity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A (e.g., 80 bpm) (S11). At this time, various parameters including production capacity are similarly set for the other vertical pillow packaging machines 2', 2'', and the production capacity is set to the same production capacity as that of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 (for example, 80 bpm). Once the various preparations and operations, including the setting of various parameters, have been completed for the three vertical pillow packaging machines 2A, 2', 2", the snack food manufacturing machine begins producing snack food Sn, and the vertical pillow packaging machines 2A, 2', 2" begin producing packages Pc, Pc', Pc". When production of packaging bodies Pc by the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A begins, as in the case of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the packaging body number counting unit 21a2 counts the number of times the horizontal sealing and cutting unit 18 operates, and transmits this as the production quantity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A (the number of packaging bodies Pc produced) from the transceiver unit 23 to the operation panel 90 via the communication line CL1, and the production quantity acquisition unit 91b acquires the production quantity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A received by the transceiver unit 93 (S12). Then, remaining film amount calculation section 91c calculates the remaining amount of the rolled film MF, and the calculated remaining amount of the rolled film MF is transmitted from transmitting / receiving section 33 to overall control computer 80 (S13). The operation of remaining film amount calculation unit 91c to calculate the remaining amount of rolled film MF is the same as the operation of remaining film amount calculation unit 31c in step S3 above to calculate the remaining amount of rolled film MF.

[0053] Next, it is determined whether the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f has acquired speed change factor information that will cause the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A to change from the time when the film remaining amount calculation unit 91c calculated the remaining amount of winding film MF (S14). For example, if the vertical pillow packaging machine 2'' malfunctions or the like and packaging bodies Pc'' are not produced, snack foods Sn will not be distributed from the snack food transport conveyor 41 to the distribution conveyor 42'', and the weight of snack foods Sn distributed to the distribution conveyor 42 will increase to the production capacity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A. In such a case, the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f acquires speed change factor information that will cause the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A (vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10) to change from the time when the remaining film amount calculation unit 91c calculated the remaining amount of winding film MF, based on a signal (a signal indicating an increase in the weight of the snack foods Sn being distributed to the distribution conveyors 42) from a distribution amount control device (not shown) that controls the amount of snack foods Sn distributed from the snack food conveyor 41 to the distribution conveyors 42, 42', 42". The speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f is not uniform, but includes a speed change index that indicates how much the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A should be changed. For example, the speed change index indicating that the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A should be increased to the set production capacity is "10," the speed change index indicating that the production speed should be increased to 90% of the set production capacity is "09," and the speed change index indicating that the production speed should be increased to 70% of the set production capacity is "07." When the weight of the snack foods Sn distributed to the distribution conveyor 42 increases to the production capacity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A as described above, the speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f includes a speed change index of "10" which indicates that the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A will be increased to the set production capacity.

[0054] Furthermore, if a situation arises in which the vertical pillow packaging machine 2" is unable to produce packages Pc" due to a malfunction or the like as described above, and the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A is increased to the set production capacity, and then the malfunction or the like of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2" is resolved and packages Pc" begin to be produced again, the weight of snack food Sn supplied to the weighing machine 43 per unit time will decrease and return to the original weight. At this time, the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f acquires speed change factor information that will cause the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A to change from the time when the remaining film amount calculation unit 91c calculated the remaining amount of winding film MF, based on a signal from the allocation amount control device (a signal indicating a decrease in the weight of the snack foods Sn allocated to the allocation conveyor 42). The speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f includes a speed change index (e.g., "06") indicating that the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 1 should be reduced from 100% to 60% of its production capacity. The speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f is not limited to information based on signals from the allocation amount control device as described above, but may also be information based on signals from the food machine (snack food manufacturing machine) indicating a change in the amount of packaged items (snack food Sn) produced per unit time by the food machine (snack food manufacturing machine), information based on signals from the weighing machine 43 indicating a change in the weight of snack food Sn supplied to the hopper 14a per unit time by the weighing machine 43, or information based on signals from the vertical pillow packaging machine 2', 2" or the boxing device 60', 60" indicating a malfunction of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2', 2" or the boxing device 60', 60".

[0055] If the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f acquires the speed change factor information in step S14, the film consumption estimation unit 91d estimates the unit consumption amount, which is the amount of film consumed per unit time, based on the production capacity set by the production capacity setting unit 91a and the speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f (S15). Specifically, if a situation occurs in which packaging bodies Pc" cannot be produced due to a breakdown or the like of vertical pillow packaging machine 2", and the production capacity set by production capacity setting unit 91a is 80 bpm and the speed change index of the speed change factor information acquired by speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f is "10", the film consumption estimation unit 91d will estimate the unit consumption (amount of film consumed per unit time) to be 80 x 250 = 20,000 (mm / min), which is the product of the production capacity of 80 bpm and the bag length (for example, 250 mm) registered in product parameter table 22a. Furthermore, when a malfunction or the like of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2" is resolved and packaging bodies Pc" begin to be produced again, if the production capacity set by the production capacity setting unit 91a is 80 bpm and the speed change index of the speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f is "06", the film consumption estimation unit 91d will estimate the unit consumption (amount of film consumed per unit time) to be 48 x 250 = 12,000 (mm / min), which is the production speed of 48 bpm (60% of the production capacity of 80 bpm) multiplied by the bag length (for example, 250 mm) registered in the product parameter table 22a. In this way, the unit consumption estimated by the film consumption estimation unit 91d is based on the production capacity set by the production capacity setting unit 91a and the speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f, and the speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f corresponds to the production status of the packaging body Pc of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A, and the film consumption estimation unit 91d estimates the unit consumption in accordance with the production status of the packaging body Pc of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A.

[0056] If the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f does not acquire speed change factor information in step S14 above, the film consumption estimation unit 91d estimates the unit consumption amount, which is the amount of film consumed per unit time, based on the production quantity of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 91b within a set time period (from a certain time period before the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 91c to the time the remaining amount of rolled film MF is calculated) (S16). The operation of film consumption estimating section 91d to estimate the unit consumption amount is the same as the operation of film consumption estimating section 31d to estimate the unit consumption amount in step S4. Next, the end time prediction unit 91e predicts the end time (remaining time) until the rolled film MF runs out based on the remaining amount of rolled film MF calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 91c and the unit consumption amount estimated by the film consumption estimation unit 91d in step S15 or S16 (S17). The operation of the end time prediction unit 91e to predict the end time (remaining time) is the same as the operation of the end time prediction unit 31e in step S5 to predict the end time (remaining time). The end time (remaining time) of the wound film MF predicted by the end time prediction unit 91e is sent to the input display unit 94 and displayed on its operation screen, and is also sent from the transmission / reception unit 93 to the overall control computer 80 (S18). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the process should be continued (S19). If the process should be continued, the process returns to step S12, and if the process should not be continued, the process ends. Specifically, an end button is provided on the operation screen, and the process continues unless the end button is touched, and ends when the end button is touched. In this case, when continuing the processing, the processing from step S12 onwards may be carried out after a certain time has elapsed (for example, after one minute has elapsed), and after the certain time has elapsed, the end time (remaining time) displayed on the operation screen of the input display unit 94 and sent to the overall supervisory management computer 80 may be updated. Furthermore, a continue button and an end button may be provided on the operation screen of the input display unit 94, so that touching the continue button continues the process, and touching the end button ends the process. As with the vertical pillow packaging machine 1, the completion time (remaining time) of step S18 may be displayed not on the operation screen of the input display unit 94 of the operation panel 90, but on a monitor screen (e.g., a tablet display screen) that displays various information and is provided separately from the operation panel.

[0057] In this way, in vertical pillow packaging machine 2A of packaging production line 40, production capacity setting unit 91a sets the production capacity of vertical pillow packaging machine 2A, production quantity acquisition unit 91b acquires the production quantity of vertical pillow packaging machine 2A, film remaining amount calculation unit 91c calculates the remaining amount of rolled film MF, and speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f acquires speed change factor information that is a factor that causes the production speed of vertical pillow packaging machine 2A to change from the time when film remaining amount calculation unit 91c calculated the remaining amount of rolled film MF. In this case, this speed change factor information includes a speed change index that indicates how much the production speed of vertical pillow packaging machine 2A will change, and film consumption estimation unit 91d estimates the production capacity of vertical pillow packaging machine 2A by production capacity setting unit 91a. The unit consumption amount, which is the amount of film consumed per unit time, is estimated based on the production capacity set by 91a and the speed change factor information acquired by the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f, and if the speed change factor information acquisition unit 91f does not acquire speed change factor information, the film consumption estimation unit 91d estimates the unit consumption amount, which is the amount of film consumed per unit time, from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 91b within the set time, and the end time prediction unit 91e predicts the end time (remaining time) until the rolled film MF runs out based on the remaining amount of rolled film MF calculated by the film remaining amount calculation unit 91c and the unit consumption amount estimated by the film consumption estimation unit 91d. Therefore, even if another vertical pillow packaging machine 2" or the like breaks down or a broken vertical pillow packaging machine 2" or the like is restored and the production speed of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2A changes, the time until the rolled film MF runs out can be accurately predicted. Furthermore, in the packaging production line 40 shown in Figure 1, the packaging machine operation panel of the vertical pillow packaging machine is not limited to the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, but either one or both of the packaging machine operation panel 30' of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2' or the packaging machine operation panel 30" of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2" may be replaced with the packaging machine operation panel 90 to predict the completion time of the winding film MF of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2' or the vertical pillow packaging machine 2".

[0058] [Calculating remaining amount of folding cardboard and predicting completion time] The operation of predicting the completion time of folding cardboard boxes in the box-making machines 50, 50', 50" of the packaging production line 40 will be described. In the box former 50, the computer 531 of the box former operation panel 53 predicts the completion time of folding the cardboard box in the following manner, using a flow similar to that shown in the flow chart of FIG. First, the production capacity setting unit 531a sets the production capacity of the box making machine 50 (see S1), then the production quantity acquisition unit 531b acquires the production quantity of the box making machine 50 (see S2), then the folded cardboard remaining quantity calculation unit 531c calculates the remaining quantity of folded cardboard, and the calculated remaining quantity of folded cardboard is sent to the overall general management computer 80 (see S3), then the folded cardboard consumption estimation unit 531d estimates the unit consumption quantity from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 531b within a set time period (see S4). For example, if the production quantity (number of folded cardboard boxes D1 produced) acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 531b in the 10 minutes prior to the calculation of the remaining amount of folded cardboard by the remaining folded cardboard calculation unit 531c is 30 boxes, the folded cardboard consumption estimation unit 531d estimates the following unit consumption (number of folded cardboard boxes consumed per minute): 30 / 10=3(sheets / min) Next, the end time prediction unit 531e predicts the end time (remaining time) until the folded cardboard boxes run out based on the remaining amount of folded cardboard boxes calculated by the folded cardboard remaining amount calculation unit 531c and the unit consumption amount estimated by the folded cardboard consumption amount estimation unit 531d (see S5). For example, if the remaining number of folded cardboard boxes calculated by the folded cardboard remaining amount calculation unit 531c is 60 and the unit consumption amount estimated by the folded cardboard consumption amount estimation unit 531d is 3 (boxes / minute), the end time prediction unit 531e predicts the following end time. 60 / 3=20(minutes) The completion time (remaining time) until the folded cardboard boxes are used up, predicted by this completion time prediction unit 531e, is sent to the input display unit 534, displayed on its operation screen, and also transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 533 to the overall control computer 80 (see S6). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the process should be continued (see S7). If the process should be continued, the process returns to the second step (see S2), and if the process should not be continued, the process ends. Specifically, an end button is provided on the operation screen, and the process continues unless the end button is touched, and ends when the end button is touched. In this case, when continuing the processing, the processing from the second step onwards may be carried out after a certain time has elapsed (for example, after one minute has elapsed), and after the certain time has elapsed, the end time (remaining time) may be displayed on the operation screen of the input display unit 534 and sent to the overall supervisory management computer 80, and may be updated.

[0059] In box making machines 50, 50', and 50", as in box making machine 50, a production capacity setting unit sets the production capacity of box making machines 50' and 50", a production quantity acquisition unit acquires the production quantity of box making machines 50' and 50", a remaining folded cardboard calculation unit calculates the remaining amount of folded cardboard, a folded cardboard consumption estimation unit estimates the unit consumption amount from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit within a set time, and an end time prediction unit predicts the end time (remaining time) until the folded cardboard runs out based on the remaining amount of folded cardboard calculated by the remaining folded cardboard calculation unit and the unit consumption amount estimated by the folded cardboard consumption estimation unit. The remaining amount of folded cardboard boxes calculated by the remaining folded cardboard box amount calculation unit is sent to the overall control computer 80, and the end time (remaining time) until the folded cardboard boxes run out predicted by the end time prediction unit is sent to the input and display units of the box-making machine operation panels 53', 53" and is displayed on the operation screen and also sent to the overall control computer 80. After this, it is determined whether or not to continue the process. If so, the process returns to the second step; if not, the process ends.

[0060] [Calculating remaining amount of reel sealing tape and predicting end time] The operation of predicting the end time of the winding sealing tape in the sealing machines 70, 70', 70'' of the packaging production line 40 will be described. In the box former 70, the computer 731 of the sealing machine operation panel 73 predicts the end time of the winding sealing tape in the following manner, in the same manner as the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the production capacity setting unit 731a sets the production capacity of the sealing machine 70 (see S1), then the production quantity acquisition unit 731b acquires the production quantity of the sealing machine 70 (see S2), then the sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit 731c calculates the remaining amount of sealing tape, and the calculated remaining amount of sealing tape is sent to the overall management computer 80 (see S3), then the sealing tape consumption estimation unit 731d estimates the unit consumption amount from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 731b within the set time period (see S4). For example, if the production quantity (number of sealed cardboard boxes D3) acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit 731b in the 10 minutes prior to the sealing tape remaining quantity calculation by the sealing tape remaining quantity calculation unit 731c is 25 boxes, and the amount (length) of sealing tape used for one sealed cardboard box is 800 mm, the sealing tape consumption estimation unit 731d estimates the following unit consumption (length of sealing tape consumed per minute): (25 / 10) x 800 = 2000 (mm / min) Next, the end time prediction unit 731e predicts the end time (remaining time) until the rewound sealing tape runs out based on the remaining sealing tape calculated by the sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit 731c and the unit consumption amount estimated by the sealing tape consumption amount estimation unit 731d (see S5). For example, if the remaining sealing tape amount calculated by the sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit 731c is 30,000 mm and the unit consumption amount estimated by the sealing tape consumption amount estimation unit 731d is 2,000 (mm / min), the end time prediction unit 731e predicts the following end time. 30000 / 2000=15(minutes) The end time (remaining time) until the rewound sealing tape runs out, predicted by this end time prediction unit 731e, is sent to the input display unit 734, displayed on its operation screen, and also transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 733 to the overall management computer 80 (see S6). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the process should be continued (see S7). If the process should be continued, the process returns to the second step (see S2), and if the process should not be continued, the process ends. Specifically, an end button is provided on the operation screen, and the process continues unless the end button is touched, and ends when the end button is touched. In this case, when continuing the processing, the processing from the second step onwards may be carried out after a certain time has elapsed (for example, after one minute has elapsed), and after the certain time has elapsed, the end time (remaining time) may be displayed on the operation screen of the input display unit 734 and sent to the overall supervisory management computer 80 may be updated.

[0061] In sealing machines 70' and 70", as with sealing machine 70, a production capacity setting unit sets the production capacity of sealing machine 70' and 70", a production quantity acquisition unit acquires the production quantity of sealing machine 70' and 70", a sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit calculates the remaining amount of sealing tape, a sealing tape consumption estimation unit estimates the unit consumption amount from the production quantity acquired by the production quantity acquisition unit within a set time, and an end time prediction unit predicts the end time (remaining time) until the rolled sealing tape runs out based on the remaining amount of sealing tape calculated by the sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit and the unit consumption amount estimated by the sealing tape consumption estimation unit. The remaining amount of sealing tape calculated by the sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit is sent to the overall unified management computer 80, and the end time (remaining time) until the wound sealing tape runs out predicted by the end time prediction unit is sent to the input display unit of the sealing machine operation panel 73', 73'', and is displayed on the operation screen and also sent to the overall unified management computer 80. After this, it is determined whether or not to continue the process. If so, the process returns to the second step; if not, the process ends.

[0062] [Consumable goods transport operation in an automated consumer goods transport system] FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation of the overall control computer 80 when the first automated guided vehicle transports the roll film MF to each vertical pillow packaging machine in the automated consumer goods transport system 1. Now, assume that the first automated guided vehicle is waiting at a predetermined position (waiting position) near the winding film storage table 7. First, based on a command from the transportation system overall control unit 80a, the winding film storage table control unit 80f controls the winding film storage table drive unit 7M, and the winding film MF is transferred from the winding film storage table 7 to the first automated guided vehicle 6 (recess 6b) by the transfer device (S21). Next, the transportation system overall control unit 80a acquires the winding film end times (winding film end times ET1, ET1', ET1" predicted by the end time prediction units of the packaging machine operation panels 30, 30', 30") transmitted from the packaging machine operation panels 30, 30', 30", and the remaining amounts of the winding film MF (remaining amounts ZR1, ZR1', ZR1" of the winding film MF calculated by the respective film remaining amount calculation units) (S22). Then, the transportation system overall control unit 80a selects, from the vertical pillow packaging machines 2, 2', 2", the vertical pillow packaging machine with the shortest winding film end time or the vertical pillow packaging machine with the least remaining amount of the winding film MF as the vertical pillow packaging machine for transporting the winding film MF (S23). In this case, whether to select the vertical pillow packaging machine for transporting the winding film MF as the vertical pillow packaging machine with the shortest winding film end time or the vertical pillow packaging machine with the least remaining amount of the winding film MF is set in advance in the transportation system overall control unit 80a. For example, if it is set that the selected vertical pillow packaging machine is the one with the shortest winding film end time, and assuming that the shortest among the winding film end times ET1, ET1', ET1" is ET1" (ET1 < ET1', ET1 < ET1"), the transportation system overall control unit 80a selects the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 with the winding film end time ET1 as the vertical pillow packaging machine for transporting the winding film MF. Also, the vertical pillow packaging machine to be selected is set to be the vertical pillow packaging machine with the least remaining amount of the winding film. Assuming that the least among the remaining amounts ZR1, ZR1', and ZR1" of the winding film MF is ZR1 (ZR1 < ZR1', ZR1 < ZR1"), the transport system overall control unit 80a selects the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 at the winding film end time ZR1 as the vertical pillow packaging machine for transporting the winding film MF.

[0063] Next, based on the command from the transport system overall control unit 80a, the AGV control unit 80b controls the first AGV drive unit 6M1, and the first AGV 6 carrying the winding film MF travels from the standby position of the winding film storage table 7 to the winding film loading table of the selected vertical pillow packaging machine, and the winding film MF is transported (S24). For example, if the selected vertical pillow packaging machine is the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the winding film MF is transported to the winding film loading table 3. Then, based on the command from the transport system overall control unit 80a, the winding film loading table control unit 80c controls the winding film loading table drive unit 3M, and the moving stand 3b (pushing plate 3c) moves from right to left in the left - right direction (X - direction), and the winding film MF is moved in the same direction and transferred from the first AGV 6 to the lifter 3d of the winding film loading table (S25). For example, if the selected vertical pillow packaging machine is the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the winding film MF is transferred from the first AGV 6 to the lifter 3d of the winding film loading table 3. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the state where the winding film MF is transferred from the first AGV 6 to the lifter 3d of the winding film loading table 3. FIG. (a) of the same figure shows the state where the first AGV 6 carrying the winding film MF stops at a predetermined position near the winding film loading table 3, and FIG. (b) of the same figure shows the state where the moving stand 3b (pushing plate 3c) moves from right to left and the winding film MF is transferred to the lifter 3d. Next, based on a command from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, the automatic guided vehicle control unit 80b controls the first automatic guided vehicle drive unit 6M1 to move the first automatic guided vehicle 6 from near the rolled film loading table to a waiting position near the rolled film storage table 7 (S26). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the process should be continued (S27). If the process should be continued, the process returns to step S21 and the subsequent processes are carried out, and if the process should not be continued, the process ends.

[0064] FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the overall control computer 80 when the second automated guided vehicle transports the folded cardboard bundles FD to each box former in the automated consumable goods transport system 1. It is assumed that the second automated guided vehicle is currently waiting at a predetermined position (standby position) near the folded cardboard bundle storage table 8. First, based on a command from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, the folded cardboard bundle storage table control unit 80g controls the folded cardboard bundle storage table drive unit 8M, and transfers the folded cardboard bundle FD from the folded cardboard bundle storage table 8 to the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A using the transfer device (S31). Next, the conveying system general control unit 80a acquires the folding cardboard completion time (the folding cardboard completion time ET2, ET2', ET2") predicted by each completion time prediction unit of the box-making machine operation panels 53, 53', 53") and the remaining number of folding cardboard boxes (the remaining number of folding cardboard boxes ZR2, ZR2', ZR2") calculated by each remaining number of folding cardboard boxes calculation unit (S32). Then, the conveyance system overall control unit 80a selects, from among the box formers 50, 50', 50", the box former with the shortest time to finish folding cardboard boxes or the box former with the least amount of remaining folded cardboard boxes, as the box former to convey the folded cardboard bundle FD (S33). In this case, whether the box-making machine to transport the folded cardboard bundle FD is selected as the box-making machine with the shortest folding time or the box-making machine with the least remaining amount of folded cardboard is set in advance in the conveying system general control unit 80a. For example, if the selected case-making machine is set to be the case-making machine with the shortest folding cardboard completion time, and assuming that the shortest among the folding cardboard completion times ET2, ET2', and ET2" is ET2 (ET2 < ET2', ET2 < ET2"), the transport system overall control unit 80a selects the case-making machine 2 with the folding cardboard completion time ET2 as the case-making machine for transporting the folded cardboard bundle FD. Also, if the selected case-making machine is set to be the case-making machine with the least remaining amount of folding cardboard, and assuming that the least among the remaining amounts ZR2, ZR2', and ZR2" of the folding cardboard is ZR2 (ZR2 < ZR2', ZR2 < ZR2"), the transport system overall control unit 80a selects the case-making machine 50 with the folding cardboard remaining amount ZR2 as the case-making machine for transporting the folded cardboard bundle FD.

[0065] Next, based on a command from the transport system overall control unit 80a, the AGV control unit 80b controls the second AGV drive unit 6M2, and the second AGV 6A carrying the folded cardboard bundle FD travels from the standby position of the folded cardboard bundle storage table 8 to the folded cardboard bundle loading table of the selected case-making machine, and the folded cardboard bundle FD is transported (S34). For example, if the selected case-making machine is the case-making machine 50, the folded cardboard bundle FD is transported to the folded cardboard bundle loading table 4. Then, based on a command from the transport system overall control unit 80a, the folded cardboard bundle loading table control unit 80d controls the folded cardboard bundle loading table drive unit 4M, and the moving stand 4b (pushing plate 4c) moves from right to left in the horizontal direction (X direction), moving the folded cardboard bundle FD in the same direction and transferring it from the second AGV 6A to the folded cardboard bundle loading table (S35). For example, if the selected case-making machine is the case-making machine 50, the folded cardboard bundle FD is transferred from the second AGV 6A to the cardboard bundle loading table 4. Figure 19 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the folded cardboard bundle FD is transferred from the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A to the folded cardboard bundle loading platform 4, with Figure 19(a) showing the state in which the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A carrying the folded cardboard bundle FD has stopped at a predetermined position near the folded cardboard bundle loading platform 4, and Figure 19(b) showing the state in which the mobile stand 4b (push plate 4c) has moved from right to left and the folded cardboard bundle FD has been transferred to the folded cardboard bundle loading platform 4. Next, based on instructions from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, the unmanned guided vehicle control unit 80b controls the second unmanned guided vehicle drive unit 6M2 to cause the second unmanned guided vehicle 6A to travel from near the folded cardboard bundle loading table to a waiting position near the folded cardboard bundle storage table 8 (S36). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the process should be continued (S37). If the process should be continued, the process returns to step S31 and the subsequent processes are carried out, and if the process should not be continued, the process ends.

[0066] FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the operation of the overall control computer 80 when the third automated guided vehicle transports the retractable sealing tape MT to each sealing machine in the automated consumable goods transport system 1. It is assumed that the third automatic guided vehicle is currently waiting at a predetermined position (standby position) near the winding sealing tape storage table 9. First, based on an instruction from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, the rewinding sealing tape storage unit control unit 80h controls the rewinding sealing tape storage unit drive unit 9M, and transfers the rewinding sealing tape MT from the rewinding sealing tape storage unit 9 to the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B using the transfer device (S41). Next, the conveying system general control unit 80a obtains the winding sealing tape end time (winding sealing tape end time ET3, ET3', ET3") predicted by each end time prediction unit of the sealing machine operation panel 73, 73', 73") and the remaining sealing tape (remaining sealing tape amount ZR3, ZR3', ZR3") calculated by each sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit) transmitted from the sealing machine operation panel 73, 73', 73" (S42). Then, the conveying system overall control unit 80a selects, from the sealing machines 70, 70', 70", the sealing machine with the shortest winding and sealing tape end time or the sealing machine with the least remaining amount of the winding and sealing tape as the sealing machine for conveying the winding and sealing tape MT (S43). In this case, whether to select the sealing machine for conveying the winding and sealing tape MT as the sealing machine with the shortest winding and sealing tape end time or the sealing machine with the least remaining amount of the winding and sealing tape is set in the conveying system overall control unit 80a in advance. For example, if it is set that the selected sealing machine is the sealing machine with the shortest winding and sealing tape end time, and if the shortest among the winding and sealing tape end times ET3, ET3', ET3" is ET3 (ET3 < ET3', ET3 < ET3"), then the conveying system overall control unit 80a selects the sealing machine 70 with the winding and sealing tape end time ET3 as the sealing machine for conveying the winding and sealing tape MT. Also, if it is set that the selected sealing machine is the sealing machine with the least remaining amount of the winding and sealing tape, and if the least among the remaining amounts ZR3, ZR3', ZR3" of the winding and sealing tape is ZR3 (ZR3 < ZR3', ZR3 < ZR3"), then the conveying system overall control unit 80a selects the sealing machine 70 with the winding and sealing tape end time ZR3 as the sealing machine for conveying the winding and sealing tape MT.

[0067] Next, based on the command from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, the unmanned carrier vehicle control unit 80b controls the third unmanned carrier vehicle driving unit 6M3, and the third unmanned carrier vehicle 6B carrying the winding and sealing tape MT is driven from the standby position of the folding and winding and sealing tape storage table 9 to the winding and sealing tape loading table of the selected sealing machine, and the winding and sealing tape MT is conveyed (S44). For example, if the selected sealing machine is the sealing machine 70, the winding and sealing tape MT is conveyed to the winding and sealing tape loading table 5. Then, based on a command from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, the rewinding sealing tape loading platform control unit 80e controls the rewinding sealing tape loading platform drive unit 5M, and the mobile stand 5b (push plate 5c) moves from right to left in the left-right direction (X direction), moving the rewinding sealing tape MT in the same direction and transferring it from the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B to the rewinding sealing tape loading platform (S45). For example, if the selected sealing machine is the sealing machine 70, the rewound sealing tape MT is transferred to the rewound sealing tape delivery table 5 from the third automatic guided vehicle 6B. Figure 21 is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the retractable sealing tape MT is transferred from the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B to the retractable sealing tape loading platform 5, where (a) of the figure shows the state in which the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B carrying the retractable sealing tape MT is stopped at a predetermined position near the retractable sealing tape loading platform 5, and (b) of the figure shows the state in which the mobile stand 5b (push plate 5c) moves from right to left and the retractable sealing tape MT is transferred to the folded retractable sealing tape loading platform 5. Next, based on an instruction from the conveying system overall control unit 80a, the unmanned guided vehicle control unit 80b controls the third unmanned guided vehicle drive unit 6M3 to cause the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B to travel from near the retracted sealing tape loading table to a waiting position near the retracted sealing tape storage table 9 (S46). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the process should be continued (S47). If the process should be continued, the process returns to step S41 and the subsequent processes are carried out, and if the process should not be continued, the process ends.

[0068] [Automatic transport and mounting system for consumables] FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the automatic consumable product conveying and mounting system of the present invention. In the figure, 100 is an automatic consumer goods transport and mounting system, 101, 101', 101" are automatic winding film mounting devices, 102, 102', 102" are automatic folding cardboard bundle mounting devices, and 103, 103', 103" are automatic winding sealing tape mounting devices. In the figure, X is the left-right direction, Y is the front-back direction, and Z is the up-down direction, and the same symbols are used for components that are the same as those in the automatic consumer goods transport system 1 shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 22, the automatic consumer goods transport and attachment system 100 is configured by replacing the rolled film feed tables 3, 3', 3" with automatic rolled film attachment devices 101, 101', 101", the folded cardboard bundle feed tables 4, 4', 4" with automatic folded cardboard bundle attachment devices 102, 102', 102", and the rolled sealing tape feed tables 5, 5', 5" with automatic rolled sealing tape attachment devices 103, 103', 103".

[0069] [Configuration of automatic winding film mounting device] FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the main body of the automatic winding film attaching device 101, and FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control section of the automatic winding film attaching device 101. In the drawing, 11d is a rotary shaft, 110 is a main body of the automatic winding film attachment device, 111 is a winding film carrying-in table, 111a is a base, 111b is a moving stand, 111c is a push-in plate, 111d is a lifter, 111e is a roller, 111M1 is a moving stand drive unit, 111M2 is a push-in plate drive unit, 111M3 is a lifter drive unit, 112 is a paper core removal device, 112a is a lifting block, 112b is a claw, 112c is a guide groove, 11 2M is a paper tube removal drive unit, 113 is a paper tube recovery device, 113a is a rotating arm, 113b is a support shaft, 113c is a paper tube holding rod, 113M is a paper tube recovery drive unit, 120 is a winding automatic attachment control unit, 120a is an automatic attachment general control unit, 120b is a mobile stand control unit, 120c is a push plate control unit, 120d is a lifter control unit, 120e is a paper tube removal control unit, 120f is a paper tube recovery control unit, and CL7 and CL8 are communication lines. The automatic winding film attachment device 101 comprises an automatic winding film attachment device main body 110 and an automatic winding film attachment control unit 120, which is connected to the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 via communication line CL7 and to the overall management computer 80 via communication line CL8.

[0070] [Configuration of the automatic winding film mounting device] Figure 23 shows the state in which, in the film supply section 11 of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, the film splicing is completed and the shaft support arm 11a is rotated 180 degrees around the pivot axis 11d, with the winding film MF attached to the front shaft 11b1 and the paper tube SK (the paper tube around which the film was wound) attached to the rear shaft 11b2. As shown in FIG. 23, the automatic winding film attachment device main body 110 includes a winding film carry-in table 111, a paper core removal device 112, and a paper core recovery device 113. The rolled film feed tray 111 corresponds to the rolled film feed tray 3 of the automatic consumer goods conveying system 1 shown in Figure 1, and is installed near the right side of the film supply section 11 (shaft support arm 11a of the rolled film support device) of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2, and is equipped with a base 111a which is shaped like a flat rectangular parallelepiped with the lower right side cut out, a movable stand 111b installed to the right of base 111a, and a lifter 111d installed on the front center of base 111a, with a push plate 111c attached to the top of movable stand 111b, and a recessed portion provided on the top surface of lifter 111d, and a roller 111e attached to the bottom surface of this recessed portion. The paper tube removal device 112 has a horizontally long box-shaped lifting block 112a that rises and falls relative to the base 111a of the rolled film loading table 111, and the lifting block 112a has a guide groove 112c that extends in the left-right direction (X direction), and is equipped with a claw 112b that moves along the guide groove 112c. The paper tube recovery device 113 comprises a rotating arm 113a, a support shaft 113b, and a paper tube holding rod 113c, with the support shaft 113b attached to the front right side of the base 111a of the rolled film feed table 111, one end of the rotating arm 113a attached to the support shaft 113b, and when the support shaft 113b rotates, the rotating arm 113a also rotates, and the paper tube holding rod 113c is attached to the other end of the rotating arm 113a.

[0071] [Configuration of automatic winding film loading control unit] As shown in FIG. 24, the automatic winding film attachment control unit 120 includes an automatic attachment general control unit 120a, a moving stand control unit 120b, a pusher plate control unit 120c, a lifter control unit 120d, a paper core removal control unit 120e, and a paper core recovery control unit 120f. The automatic attachment overall control unit 120a controls each control unit such as the mobile stand control unit 120b based on instructions from the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 and the overall management computer 80, and also controls the automatic winding film attachment control unit 120 overall. Based on instructions from the automatic attachment overall control unit 120a, the mobile stand control unit 120b controls the mobile stand drive unit 111M1 of the rolled film automatic attachment device main body 110, and controls the transfer operation of the rolled film MF from the first unmanned guided vehicle 6 to the lifter 111d by the mobile stand 111b (push plate 111c), and the operation of attaching the rolled film MF transferred to the lifter 111d to the shaft 11b2 of the film supply unit 11 of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2. Based on commands from the automatic attachment overall control unit 120a, the pusher plate control unit 120c controls the pusher plate drive unit 111M2 of the automatic rolled film attachment device main body 110, and controls the movement of the pusher plate 111c up and down relative to the moving stand 111b. The lifter control unit 120d controls the lifter driving unit 113M3 of the automatic winding film attaching device main body 110 based on commands from the automatic attaching overall control unit 120a, and controls the lifter 111d moving up and down relative to the base 111a. Based on instructions from the automatic attachment overall control unit 120a, the paper core removal control unit 120e controls the paper core removal drive unit 112M of the rolled film automatic attachment device main body 110, and controls the movement of the lifting block 112a up and down relative to the base 111a and the movement of the claw 112b along the guide groove 112c. Based on instructions from the automatic attachment overall control unit 120a, the paper core recovery control unit 120f controls the paper core recovery drive unit 113M of the rolled film automatic attachment device main body 110, and controls the operation of rotating the support shaft 113b and also rotating the rotating arm 113a.

[0072] [Operation of automatic winding film attachment device] Figure 25 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic roll-up film attachment control unit 120 when a new roll-up film is attached to the film supply unit 11 of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 by the automatic roll-up film attachment device, Figure 26 is an explanatory diagram explaining the operation of removing and recovering the paper tube SK from the shaft 11b2, Figure 27 is an explanatory diagram explaining the operation of transferring the new roll-up film from the first unmanned guided vehicle to the lifter 111d of the roll-up film loading table 111, and Figure 28 is an explanatory diagram explaining the operation of attaching the new roll-up film on the lifter 111d to the shaft 11b2 of the shaft support arm 11a, in which MF1 is the old roll-up film and MF2 is the new roll-up film. Now, in the film supply section 11 of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 (vertical pillow packaging machine main body 10), the film splicing is completed and the shaft support arm 11a is rotated 180 degrees around the pivot axis 11d, and as shown in Figure 23, the rolled film MF is attached to the front shaft 11b1, and the paper tube SK from which the rolled film has been removed is attached to the rear shaft 11b2, and the air chuck claws 11c that secure the paper tube SK to the shaft 11b2 are released (retracted).

[0073] First, in the winding film automatic attachment control unit 120, the automatic attachment general control unit 120a receives a command to remove the cardboard tube from the shaft from the vertical pillow packaging machine control unit 20 of the vertical pillow packaging machine 2 (S51). Next, based on a command from the automatic attachment general control unit 120a, the paper tube removal control unit 120e controls the paper tube removal drive unit 112M, and the paper tube recovery control unit 120f controls the paper tube recovery drive unit 113M to remove and recover the paper tube SK from the shaft 11b2 (S52). Specifically, by controlling the paper tube removal drive unit 112M by the paper tube removal control unit 120e, in the paper tube removal device 112, as shown in Figure 26(a), the lifting block 112a rises to a position where the upper end of the claw 112b is slightly higher than the lower end of the paper tube SK of the shaft 11b2, and the claw 112b moves along the guide groove 112c. As a result, as shown in FIG. 26(b), the claw 112b pushes the paper tube SK, moves it in the X direction, and removes it from the shaft 11b2, and the paper tube holding rod 113c of the paper tube recovery device 113 holds the paper tube SK. In addition, by controlling the paper tube recovery drive unit 113M by the paper tube recovery control unit 120f, in the paper tube recovery device 113, as shown in Figure 26 (c), with the paper tube SK held by the paper tube holding rod 113c, the rotation of the support shaft 113b causes the rotating arm 113a to rotate, and the paper tube SK moves to the recovery position. At this recovery position, the paper tube SK is removed from the paper tube holding rod 113c by a paper tube discharge device (not shown) or by an operator, and is discharged from the vertical pillow packaging machine 2. Meanwhile, in the paper core removal device 112, the paper core removal control unit 120e controls the paper core removal drive unit 112M to return the lifting block 112a and the claws 112b to their original positions.

[0074] Thereafter, under the control of the overall supervisory control computer 80, the first automated guided vehicle 6 carries the new rolled film MF2 and stops at the notch in the base 111a of the rolled film feed tray 111, as shown in FIG. 27(a). In the rolled film automatic attachment control unit 120, the automatic attachment overall control unit 120a receives a command from the overall supervisory control computer 80 to transfer the new rolled film MF2 to the rolled film feed tray 111 (S53). Next, based on a command from the automatic attachment overall control unit 120a, the mobile stand control unit 120b controls the mobile stand drive unit 111M1, and as shown in Figure 27(b), on the rolled film carry-in table 111, the mobile stand 111b (push plate 111c) moves in the X direction, and the push plate 111c pushes the end face of the newly rolled film MF2 in the X direction, transferring the newly rolled film MF2 from the first automatic guided vehicle 6 (recessed portion 6b) to the recessed portion on the top surface of the lifter 111d (S54). Next, based on a command from the automatic attachment general control unit 120a, the push plate control unit 120c controls the push plate drive unit 111M2, and at the same time, the lifter control unit 120d controls the lifter drive unit 113M3, so that, as shown in Figure 28(a), the push plate 111c rises on the rolled film loading table 111, and at the same time, the lifter 111d rises until the center position of the new rolled film MF2 coincides with the center position of the shaft 11b2. In this state, based on a command from the automatic attachment overall control unit 120a, the movable stand control unit 120b controls the movable stand drive unit 111M1, and as shown in Figure 28(b), the movable stand 111b (push plate 111c) moves in the X direction, and the push plate 111c pushes the end face of the newly taken up film MF2 in the X direction, moving the newly taken up film MF2 from the lifter 111d and attaching it to the shaft 11b2 (S55). Finally, based on a command from the automatic installation general control unit 120a, the mobile stand control unit 120b controls the mobile stand driving unit 111M1, the push plate control unit 120c controls the push plate driving unit 111M2, and the lifter control unit 120d controls the lifter driving unit 113M3, and as shown in Figure 28(c), the mobile stand 111b, the push plate 111c, and the lifter 111d return to their original positions (S56), and the processing ends.

[0075] The automatic roll film attachment devices 101' and 101" are equipped with an automatic roll film attachment device main body 110 and an automatic roll film attachment control unit 120, which have the same configurations as those of the automatic roll film attachment device 101, and perform the same operations as the automatic roll film attachment device 101. Furthermore, similar to the automatic winding film attachment devices 101, 101', 101", the automatic folded cardboard bundle attachment devices 102, 102', 102" are equipped with an automatic folded cardboard bundle attachment device that automatically attaches folded cardboard bundles FD to the folding cardboard supply section of the box formers 50, 50', 50", and an automatic folded cardboard bundle attachment control section that controls the operation of the automatic folded cardboard bundle attachment device, and under the control of the automatic folded cardboard bundle attachment control section, the folded cardboard bundles FD transported by the second automated guided vehicle 6A are automatically attached to the folding cardboard supply section of the box formers 50, 50', 50". Furthermore, like the automatic winding film applying devices 101, 101', 101", the automatic winding sealing tape applying devices 103, 103', 103" are also equipped with an automatic winding sealing tape applying device that automatically applies the winding sealing tape MT to the winding sealing tape supply section of the sealing machine 70, 70', 70", and an automatic winding sealing tape applying control section that controls its operation, and under the control of the automatic winding sealing tape applying control section, the sealing tape MT transported by the third unmanned guided vehicle 6B is automatically applied to the winding sealing tape supply section of the sealing machine 70, 70', 70".

[0076] As described above, the automatic consumer goods conveying system 1 is applied to a packaging production line 40 equipped with vertical pillow packaging machines 2, 2', 2", box formers 50, 50', 50", and sealing machines 70, 70', 70". The automatic consumer goods conveying system 1 is equipped with roll-up film receiving tables 3, 3', 3", folded cardboard bundle receiving tables 4, 4', 4", roll-up sealing tape receiving tables 5, 5', 5", a first automatic guided vehicle 6, a second automatic guided vehicle 6A, a third automatic guided vehicle 6B, roll-up film storage table 7, folded cardboard bundle storage table 8, roll-up sealing tape storage table 9, and an overall management computer 80. Based on the end time of the rolled film predicted by the end time prediction section of each packaging machine operation panel 30, 30', 30" of packaging machines 2, 2', 2", or the remaining amount of rolled film calculated by each remaining film calculation section, first automated guided vehicle 6 automatically transports rolled film MF from rolled film storage table 7 to rolled film carry-in tables 3, 3', 3", under the control of overall general management computer 80. Therefore, one automated guided vehicle can be used for three vertical pillow packaging machines, and rolled film can be transported to each vertical pillow packaging machine in a timely and efficient manner, thereby reducing the production time of each vertical pillow packaging machine. Further, under the control of the overall management computer 80, the second automated guided vehicle 6A automatically transports the folded cardboard bundles FD from the folded cardboard bundle storage table 8 to the folded cardboard bundle carry-in tables 4, 4', 4'', based on the folding cardboard completion time predicted by the completion time prediction section of each of the box-making machine operation panels 53, 53', 53" of the box-making machines 50, 50', 50'', or the remaining amount of folded cardboard calculated by each remaining amount calculation section of each of the box-making machines. Therefore, one automated guided vehicle is used for three box-making machines, and the transportation of the folded cardboard bundles to each box-making machine can be timed. This allows for efficient and timely operation, preventing the production of each box-making machine from being stopped. Furthermore, under the control of the overall management computer 80, the third automated guided vehicle 6B automatically transports the rewound sealing tape MT from the rewound sealing tape storage table 9 to the rewound sealing tape delivery tables 5, 5', 5'', based on the rewound sealing tape end time predicted by the end time prediction section of each sealing machine operation panel 73, 73', 73" of the sealing machines 70, 70', 70'', or the remaining amount of rewound sealing tape calculated by each sealing tape remaining amount calculation section. Therefore, one automated guided vehicle can be used for three sealing machines,The transport of the wound sealing tape to each sealing machine can be carried out efficiently and in a timely manner, preventing the production of each sealing machine from being stopped.

[0077] In addition, the automatic consumer goods transport and attachment system 100 replaces the roll film feed tables 3, 3', 3" in the automatic consumer goods transport system 1 with automatic roll film attachment devices 101, 101', 101", replaces the folded cardboard bundle feed tables 4, 4', 4" with automatic folded cardboard bundle attachment devices 102, 102', 102", and replaces the roll sealing tape feed tables 5, 5', 5" with automatic roll sealing tape attachment devices 103, 103', 103", thereby automatically transporting roll film to each vertical pillow packaging machine of the automatic consumer goods transport system 1, automatically transporting folded cardboard bundles to each box making machine, and automatically attaching roll sealing tape to each sealing machine. In addition to automatic transport, the system automatically attaches the rolled film to the film supply section of each vertical pillow packaging machine, automatically attaches the folded cardboard bundle to the folding cardboard supply section of each box making machine, and automatically attaches the rolled sealing tape to the sealing tape supply section of each sealing machine.This means that the rolled film can be attached to the film supply section of each vertical pillow packaging machine, the folded cardboard bundle to the folding cardboard supply section of each box making machine, and the rolled sealing tape to the sealing tape supply section of the sealing machine can be attached in a timely and efficient manner, preventing production at each vertical pillow packaging machine, each box making machine, and each sealing machine from stopping. [Industrial Applicability]

[0078] The automatic consumer goods conveying system and automatic consumer goods conveying and mounting system of the present invention uses a conveying robot to automatically convey and mount consumer goods such as packaging materials to multiple packaging-related devices, and the conveying robot can transport and mount the consumer goods to each packaging-related device in a timely manner so that production by each packaging-related device does not stop.The system can be used in a production line of packaging-related devices consisting of multiple pillow packaging machines, wrapping packaging machines, overwrapping packaging machines, box making machines, box filling machines, sealing machines, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0079] 1. Automated transport system for consumer goods 2, 2', 2", 2A vertical pillow packaging machine 3, 3', 3" Roll film loading platform 3a, 4a, 5a base 3b, 4b, 5b Mobile Stand 3c, 4c, 5c pusher plates 3d lifter 3e Coro 3M Winding film loading platform drive unit 4, 4', 4" folding cardboard bundle loading platform 4M folding cardboard bundle loading platform drive unit 5, 5', 5" Reel sealing tape loading table 5M Winding Sealing Tape Feeder Drive Unit 6. First automated guided vehicle 6A 2nd automated guided vehicle 6B 3rd automated guided vehicle 6a, 6Aa, 6Ba transport vehicle body 6b Recessed part 6c Coro 6M1 First automated guided vehicle drive unit 6M2 2nd automated guided vehicle drive unit 6M3 3rd automated guided vehicle drive unit 7 Roll film storage stand 7M Winding film storage stand drive unit 8 Folding cardboard bundle storage stand 8M Folding Cardboard Bundle Storage Table Drive Unit 9. Rewind sealing tape storage stand 9M Winding Sealing Tape Storage Stand Drive Unit 10, 10', 10" vertical pillow packaging machine body 11 Film (packaging material) supply section 11a Shaft support arm 11b1, 11b2 shaft 11c air chuck jaws 11d Rotation axis 11M servo motor 12 Tension adjustment section 12a Rotating arm 12b, 12c Dancerola 12d Fixed Roller 12e Rotating Rod 12RE rotary encoder 13 Date printing section 13a Date printing device 13b Lifting roller 14 Packaged product supply section 14a, 14a', 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 16c length measuring device 16c1 Measuring roller 16c2 Length measuring rotary encoder 16M servo motor 16Ma Rotating Axis 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 Operation control section 21a1 Film feed amount detection unit 21a2 Package Counting Unit 21b Film tension control section 21b1 Rotating arm rotation angle detection unit 21b2 Winding rotation speed detection unit 22 Memory section, 22a Product Parameter Table 23 Transmitter / Receiver 30, 30', 30" packaging machine operation panel 31 Computer 31a Production Capacity Setting Department 31b Production quantity acquisition section 31c Film remaining amount calculation section 31d Film Consumption Estimation Section 31e End time prediction section 33 Transmitter / Receiver 34 Input display section 40 packaging production lines 41 Snack food conveyor 42, 42', 42" sorting conveyor 43, 43', 43” weighing machine, 44, 44', 44" package conveyor 45, 45', 45" Packing Box Conveyor 50, 50', 50” box making machine 51 Box making machine body 52 Box making machine control unit 53, 53', 53" Box-gluing machine operation panel 531 Computer 531a Production Capacity Setting Department 531b Production Quantity Acquisition Department 531c Folding cardboard remaining amount calculation unit 531d Folding Cardboard Consumption Estimation Department 531e End time prediction section 533 Transmitter / Receiver 534 Input display unit 60, 60', 60" Boxing Equipment 70, 70', 70" sealing machine 71 Sealing machine body 72 Sealing machine control unit 73, 73', 73" sealing machine operation panel 731 Computer 731a Production Capacity Setting Department 731b Production Quantity Acquisition Department 731c Sealing tape remaining amount calculation unit 731d Sealing Tape Consumption Estimation Department 731e End time prediction section 733 Transmitter / Receiver 734 Input display unit 80 Overall control computer 80a Transport system general control section 80b Automatic guided vehicle control unit 80c Roll film loading table control unit 80d Folding cardboard bundle loading platform control unit 80e Winding sealing tape loading unit control unit 80f Roll film storage stand control unit 80g folding cardboard bundle storage stand control unit 80h Winding sealing tape storage unit control unit 90 Packaging machine operation panel 91 Computer 91a Production Capacity Setting Department 91b Production quantity acquisition section 91c Film remaining amount calculation section 91d Film Consumption Estimation Department 91e End time prediction section 91f Speed ​​change factor information acquisition section 93 Transmitter / Receiver 94 Input display section 100 Automatic transport and mounting system for consumer goods 101, 101', 101" Automatic winding film mounting device 102, 102', 102" Folding cardboard bundle automatic attachment device 103, 103', 103" Automatic winding sealing tape attachment device 110 Automatic winding film mounting device body 111 Rolled film loading platform 111a Base 111b Mobile Stand 111c Push-in plate 111d Lifter 111e Coro 111M1 Mobile stand drive unit 111M2 Push plate drive unit 111M3 Lifter drive unit 112 Paper core removal device 112a Lifting block 112b Nails 112c Guide groove 112M Paper core removal drive unit 113 Paper tube recovery device 113a Rotating arm 113b Support shaft 113c Paper tube holding rod 113M Paper core recovery drive unit 120 Automatic winding and installation control unit 120a Automatic installation control unit 120b Mobile stand control unit 120c Pusher plate control section 120d Lifter control unit 120e Paper core removal control unit 120f Paper core collection control unit CL1, CL2, CL3, CL4, CL4', CL4”, CL5, CL5', CL5”, CL6, CL6', CL6”, CL7, CL8 communication lines Fi film (packaging material) gr1~gr4 guide rollers MF winding film FD Folding cardboard bundle MT rewind sealing tape D1, D1', D1" cardboard boxes D2, D2', D2" cardboard box containing packaging D3, D3', D3" sealed cardboard boxes (packaging boxes) Pc, Pc', Pc” packaging SK paper tube Sn Snacks ts Vertical seal part ys Horizontal seal part Ta, Ta', Ta” sealing tape

Claims

1. An automated consumer material transport system comprising a transport robot for transporting consumer materials consumed by a plurality of packaging-related devices, and a transport robot control means for controlling the operation of the transport robot, The number of transport robots is less than the number of packaging-related devices, and one transport robot transports the consumables to the multiple packaging-related devices. Each of the aforementioned plurality of packaging-related devices is equipped with a means for calculating the remaining amount of consumables consumed by the packaging-related device, An automated consumer goods transport system characterized in that the transport robot control means selects the packaging device with the smallest remaining consumer goods from among the multiple packaging devices whose remaining consumer goods amount calculation means calculates the smallest remaining consumer goods, and controls the operation of the one transport robot to transport the consumer goods to the selected packaging device.

2. The automatic conveying system for consumer goods according to claim 1, characterized in that the packaging-related device is one of a packaging machine, a box-making machine, or a sealing machine, and the consumer goods are one of a roll of film, folded cardboard, or roll of sealing tape.

3. An automated consumable material transport system comprising a transport robot that transports consumable materials consumed by a plurality of packaging-related devices to the consumable material supply section of the packaging-related devices, and a transport robot control means for controlling the operation of the transport robot, The aforementioned packaging-related equipment includes a box-making machine that forms folded cardboard boxes and discharges cardboard boxes with the tops open, or a sealing machine that winds up sealing tape, unwinds it from the sealing tape, applies it to cardboard boxes containing the packaged items, and discharges sealed cardboard boxes with the tape applied. The aforementioned consumable material is the folded cardboard used in the box-making machine or the rolled sealing tape used in the sealing machine. The number of transport robots is less than the number of packaging-related devices, and one transport robot transports the consumables to the multiple packaging-related devices. Each of the aforementioned plurality of packaging-related devices is equipped with a consumable end time prediction device that predicts the end time until the consumables consumed by the packaging-related device run out. An automated consumer goods transport system characterized in that the transport robot control means selects the packaging-related device with the shortest end time among the end times predicted by the consumer goods end time prediction device of the plurality of packaging-related devices, and controls the operation of the one transport robot to transport the consumer goods to the selected packaging-related device.

4. The aforementioned consumer material end-of-life prediction device is A means for calculating the remaining amount of consumables consumed by the aforementioned packaging-related device, A means for estimating the unit consumption amount, which is the amount of consumable material consumed per unit time by the packaging-related equipment, in accordance with the production status of the packaging-related equipment, A completion time prediction means predicts the time until the consumable is used up, based on the remaining amount of the consumable calculated by the consumable remaining amount calculation means and the unit consumption amount estimated by the consumable consumption amount estimation means. The end time output means outputs the end time predicted by the end time prediction means. The consumer goods automatic transport system according to claim 3, characterized by being equipped with the following:

5. The automatic conveying system for consumables according to claim 1 or claim 3, further comprising an automatic consumables attachment device for automatically attaching consumables conveyed by the conveying robot to the consumables supply unit.

Images