Packaging Systems

Abstract

To provide a packaging system capable of realizing efficient packaging.SOLUTION: This packaging system has an inspection position 6 set in a conveyance path 21 of an article W, and a branch path 23 provided between the inspection position 6 and a discharge position 3 to branch from a circular track 20. When good / bad determination means 27 and 40 at the inspection position 6 determine that the article W is good, a slider 10 traveling in accordance with a principle of a linear motor travels to the discharge position 3 to convey the article W to a packaging unit. Meanwhile, when the good / bad determination means 27 and 40 determines that the article W is not good, the slider 10 travels to the branch path 23. Thus, only good articles are conveyed to the packing unit while bad articles W are not conveyed to the discharge position 3.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a packaging system that conveys an article by a slider that runs on the principle of a linear motor. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a packaging system in which an article inspection device judges the quality of an article being conveyed in a conveying device that conveys articles, and then ejects defective articles from the system while transferring good articles to a packaging section for packaging. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a defective article detection device that judges the quality of an article based on image data of the article.

[0003] However, if inspection of products is performed and only non-defective products are supplied to the packaging section, as with the defective product detection device described in Patent Document 1, the supply of products to the packaging section becomes temporarily unstable, resulting in empty bags in a horizontal form-fill-seal machine. Meanwhile, Patent Document 2 discloses an empty bag prevention control device that temporarily stops the packaging operation in the packaging section of a form-fill-seal machine. This empty bag control device aims to prevent empty bags from occurring by temporarily stopping the feeding of packaging film until an article is transported toward the packaging section. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3359876 [Patent Document 2] Special Publication No. 5-75616 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The empty bag prevention control device described in Patent Document 2 can eliminate waste of packaging material and prevent defectively packaged products. However, when determining whether an item is defective before it is transferred to the packaging section and removing the item from the system, packaging operations such as feeding the packaging film are temporarily stopped until the next non-defective product arrives, which cannot be said to be good packaging production efficiency.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a packaging system that can realize efficient packaging. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the packaging system of the present invention takes the following measures. The conveying path (21) is provided with a coil (25) from a receiving position (2) for receiving an article (W) from a pre-processing process to a discharging position (3) for discharging the article (W) toward a packaging section, and the conveying path (21) is provided with a part of a track disposed along the conveying path (21) between the receiving position (2) and the discharging position (3), and a return path (24) connected to the part of the track. Orbit (20); a plurality of sliders (10) each having a permanent magnet (12) and transporting the article (W) from the receiving position (2) to the unloading position (3) when traveling around the orbit (20) in response to a change in magnetic flux generated by a coil (25) in the orbit (20); a quality determining means (27, 40) for determining whether the article (W) is good or bad at an inspection position (6) provided on the transport path (21); a branch path (23) which branches the slider (10) from the part of the track at a position (4) downstream of the inspection position (6) and upstream of the discharge position (3) and guides the slider (10) to travel on the return path (24) by changing a magnetic flux generated by the coil (25); and a rejection means (28) which rejects the article (W) determined to be defective by the pass / fail determination means (27, 40). When the article (W) is determined to be defective by the pass / fail determination means (27, 40), the slider (10) is After conveying the item (W) to the discharge position (3), the slider (10) travels along the return path (24) toward the receiving position (2), while if the item (W) is determined to be defective by the quality determining means (27, 40), the slider (10) does not travel toward the discharge position (3) but travels along the return path (24) toward the receiving position (2) via the branch path (23), and the removal means (28) removes the item (W) determined to be defective by the quality determining means (27, 40) from the system before the slider (10) returns to the receiving position (2) via the branch path (23). It is characterized by:

[0008] According to the invention of claim 1, the slider (10) travels along the circular track (20). The article (W) is supported by the slider (10) and transported from the receiving position (2) set on the circular track (20) to the discharge position (3), and is sent out toward the packaging section. An inspection position (6) is set on the transport path (21) for the article (W), and a branch path (23) branching off from the circular track (20) is provided between the inspection position (6) and the discharge position (3). If the article (W) is determined to be a non-defective product by the pass / fail determination means (27, 40) at the inspection position (6), the slider (10) travels to the discharge position (3), and the article (W) is sent to the packaging section. On the other hand, if the article (W) is determined to be a non-defective product by the pass / fail determination means (27, 40), the slider (10) travels along the branch path (23). In other words, defective products (W) are not transported to the discharge position (3), and only non-defective products can be sent to the packaging section. This eliminates the need to temporarily stop packaging operations, such as feeding the packaging film, in the packaging section to wait for the next non-defective product to arrive, allowing for efficient packaging.

[0010] Also If the article (W) is judged to be defective by the pass / fail judgment means (27, 40), the defective article (W) judged to be defective can be removed from the system by the removal means (28) while the slider (10) returns from the inspection position (6) to the receiving position (2) again via the branch path (23). In addition, the slider (10) which has been emptied after the article (W) has been removed can return to the receiving position (2) without traveling to the discharge position (3).

[0011] next, Claim 1 Subordinate to Claim 2 The invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that the removal means (28) removes the article (W) with air supplied from an air source.

[0012] this Claim 2 According to the invention, the removal means (28) removes defective objects (W) from the system using an air source, such as a configuration in which air supplied from an air source is blown directly onto the objects (W) to remove them, a configuration in which an air cylinder is operated to remove the objects (W), etc. By using an air source for the removal means (28), the defective objects (W) can be removed well from the system without being affected by the magnetic field of the coil (25).

[0013] next, Claim 1 or claim 2 Subordinate to Claim 3 The present invention relates to a method for detecting a ground vehicle in the orbit (20). The part of the tracks is judged to be good by the quality judging means (27, 40). The slider (10) for transporting the article (W) only a retention area (29) for retaining a plurality of sliders (10), and the sliders (10) are sequentially moved toward the discharge position (3) so that the total number of the sliders (10) retained in the retention area (29) tends to decrease as the frequency of arrival of the sliders (10) in the retention area (29) decreases. The product is judged as good by the quality judging means (27, 40). The article (W) Towards the ejection position (3) The feature of this method is that it transports each of the above.

[0014] this Claim 3According to the invention, when the frequency of the sliders (10) arriving at the retention area (29) from the receiving position (2) decreases due to a delay in the receipt of the articles (W) from the pre-processing process or consecutively being judged as defective by the pass / fail judgment means (27, 40), the sliders (10) can be sent out sequentially toward the discharge position (3) so that the total number of sliders (10) retained in the retention area (29) tends to decrease. This allows the articles (W) to be supplied stably to the packaging section, so that the articles (W) can be packaged continuously without stopping the packaging operation in the packaging section. Effect of the Invention

[0015] The present invention can provide a packaging system that can realize efficient packaging. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a conveying device according to the embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a view of the slider as seen from the traveling direction. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the slider as viewed from the left and right direction. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the movement of a pusher and a second pusher at a discharge position. [Diagram 5] 5 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow V in FIG. 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] An embodiment of the packaging system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The packaging system according to this embodiment includes a conveying device that conveys an article W while supporting it with a slider 10 that travels on a predetermined travel path based on the principle of a linear motor, and a horizontal bag form-fill-seal machine (packaging section) that packages the article W.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, the conveying device includes a plurality of sliders 10 (see FIG. 2) each having a permanent magnet 12, and a circular track 20 as a circuit orbit for guiding each of the sliders 10 to travel in a circular manner. The circular track 20 is arranged in an elliptical shape. Therefore, the circular track 20 is formed endlessly by straight tracks arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval in the horizontal direction and curved tracks connected to the ends of the straight tracks. On one side of the straight track, a receiving position 2 for receiving an article W conveyed from a pre-processing process at irregular intervals and a discharging position 3 for discharging the received article W toward the packaging section are set in a straight line. A conveying path 21 from the receiving position 2 for the article W to the discharging position 3 is set along a part of the circular track 20. In addition, a branch point 4 is set in the middle of the conveying path 21, upstream of the discharging position 3, and a branching path 23 branching from the circular track 20 is provided.

[0019] On the downstream side of the conveying path 21, conveying beds (conveying surfaces) 26, 30 are disposed, which extend to a film forming means (not shown) in a horizontal bag making and filling machine (not shown) and constitute conveying surfaces 26a, 30a which are part of the conveying path for the articles W, and an overhead conveyor 32 is disposed above the conveying beds 26, 30. Here, the conveyor 32 pushes the articles W by second pushing bodies 32a provided at regular intervals on the outer periphery of an endless cord body shown in Fig. 4 in place of the pushing body 16 described later, and sends the articles W to the film F being formed by the film forming means (not shown).

[0020] The horizontal form-fill-seal machine is a well-known packaging machine that obtains packaged products by feeding items W to the film at predetermined intervals while overlapping both ends of a strip-shaped film drawn from a raw roll serving as a film supply source with a film forming means (not shown) to form the film into a cylindrical shape, and applying vertical seals along the film feed direction where the film is overlapped, as well as horizontal seals along the left-right direction intersecting the film feed direction. The film forming means, horizontal sealing means, and vertical sealing means of the horizontal form-fill-seal machine according to this embodiment correspond to the "packaging section" according to the present invention. Note that the conveyor that transports the items W to the film forming means does not necessarily have to be integrally configured as the "packaging section," and may be configured, for example, by a conveyor of a transport device.

[0021] A plurality of sliders 10 each equipped with a permanent magnet 12 are arranged on the circular travel path 20 so as to travel in one direction. The circular travel path 20 is equipped with an electromagnetic coil 25 (coil), and guides the sliders 10 by changing the magnetic flux emitted by the electromagnetic coil 25. As shown in FIG. 1, each slider 10 can push an article W one by one on the conveying path 21 of the circular travel path 20, and convey the article W to the discharge position 3 every time the article W arrives at the receiving position 2.

[0022] The conveying device includes a conveying bed 26 that extends linearly along the conveying path 21. Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, the conveying bed 26 is arranged such that two flat plate-like members are spaced apart from each other on the left and right (in the width direction intersecting with the conveying direction) to form a groove therebetween, and forms a flat conveying surface 26a on which an article W received at the receiving position 2 can be placed and conveyed linearly in the horizontal direction. The conveying surface 26a of the conveying bed 26 is located above the traveling slider 10. The article W is placed so as to straddle the left and right conveying beds 26. The article W placed on the conveying surface 26a is pushed to the discharge position 3 by a pusher 16 that extends from the slider 10 above the conveying surface 26a. Although not shown, a groove is provided along the branch path 23 on the conveying bed 26 downstream of the branch point 4, which allows the pusher 16 to move without colliding with the conveying bed 26 when the slider 10 travels along the branch path 23.

[0023] The conveying device includes a control unit 40 as a control means for controlling the traveling operation (travel timing, traveling speed, traveling distance) of the sliders 10. The control unit 40 constantly grasps the position of each slider 10 by detecting the change in the magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet 12 embedded in the slider 10 through the electromagnetic coil 25. The control unit 40 issues a command to switch the magnitude of the magnetic field generated by the electromagnetic coil 25 so that the sliders 10 can travel independently on the circular traveling path 20 or the branch path 23. In addition to this command, the control unit 40 controls the traveling operation of the sliders 10 so that each traveling slider 10 transports the article W placed on the conveying surface 26a of the conveying bed 26 at the receiving position 2 based on arrival information of the article W at the receiving position 2 obtained from an article passing switch (not shown) or the like. The control unit 40 is connected to the quality determining means 27 and the rejecting means 28 described later.

[0024] An inspection position 6 for inspecting the article W is set on the conveying path 21 between the receiving position 2 and the branch point 4, and a quality determination means 27 for determining whether the article W is good or bad at the inspection position 6 is provided outside the conveying path 21. As the quality determination means 27, for example, an image processing determination device that processes data captured by a camera of the article W and determines the quality of the article W based on the shape of the article W, etc., can be used. When the article W is determined to be bad by the quality determination means 27, a signal (quality determination information) is sent to the control unit 40, and the slider 10 supporting the defective article W determined to be bad is diverted to the branch path 23 by a command from the control unit 40 before the defective article W reaches the discharge position 3.

[0025] The conveying device is provided with an excluding means 28 for excluding the defective object W from the system when the slider 10, which conveys the defective object W determined to be defective by the pass / fail determining means 27, travels along the circular travel path 20 or the branch path 23 until it returns to the receiving position 2. In this embodiment, the excluding means 28 is provided outside the conveying path 21 between the inspection position 6 and the branch point 4. As the excluding means 28, for example, a configuration in which air supplied from an air source is directly blown onto the object W to exclude it from the system, or a configuration in which an air cylinder is operated to push out and exclude the object W, etc. are applied. When the object W is determined to be defective by the pass / fail determining means 27, a signal is sent to the control unit 40, and the exclusion means 28 excludes the defective object W from the system in response to a command from the control unit 40.

[0026] The circular path 20 has a branch point 4 set between the inspection position 6 and the discharge position 3 of the conveying path 21, and a junction point 5 set on the straight path of the return path 24 opposite the conveying path 21. The conveying device is provided with a branch path 23 that branches off from the circular path 20 at the branch point 4 and merges with the circular path 20 at the junction point 5. That is, the branch path 23 is arranged downstream of the inspection position 6 on the conveying path 21, branching from the circular path 20 toward the inner periphery and merging with the straight path of the return path 24 opposite the conveying path 21. The branch path 23 is provided with an electromagnetic coil 25, and by changing the magnetic flux generated by the electromagnetic coil 25, the slider 10 that conveys the defective article W to the vicinity of the removal means 28 is branched off from the circular path 20 and guided to travel, and merges with the circular path 20 from the discharge position 3 to the receiving position 2.

[0027] A retention area 29 is provided between the position (branch point 4) where the branch path 23 is provided in the conveying path 21 and the discharge position 3. A plurality of sliders 10 can be retained in the retention area 29. The interval between the front and rear sliders 10 in the retention area 29 is approximately the same as the interval at which the conveyor 32 conveys the articles W to the packaging section, and the moving speed of the slider 10 that delivers the articles W from the retention area 29 to the conveyor 32 is approximately the same as the conveying speed at which the conveyor 32 conveys the articles W. When the frequency at which the sliders 10 arrive at the retention area 29 decreases, the sliders 10 are made to travel sequentially toward the discharge position 3 to convey the articles W, so that the total number of sliders 10 retained in the retention area 29 tends to decrease accordingly. By controlling the travel interval and the travel speed of the sliders 10 in this way, the articles W judged to be good are each conveyed in accordance with the timing at which they are supplied to the packaging section of the horizontal bag-filling and filling machine.

[0028] The slider 10 has a permanent magnet 12 and a plurality of wheels 14. Here, the front-rear direction of the slider 10 is defined as the direction along the traveling direction of the slider 10, and the up-down and left-right directions are defined as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 for explanation. The slider 10 has four rotatably supported wheels 14, and these wheels 14 are provided two on each of the upper and lower sides of the main body of the slider 10. The two wheels 14 on the upper side of the main body are disposed so as to be at different heights from each other, and the two wheels 14 on the lower side of the main body are also disposed so as to be at different heights from each other. In addition, permanent magnets 12 are embedded on both the left and right sides of the main body of the slider 10.

[0029] A pusher 16 is disposed above the main body of the slider 10, which contacts the rear of the article W placed on the conveying surface 26a of the conveying bed 26 to push the article W. The pusher 16 is rod-shaped and extends along the vertical direction of the slider 10, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and is disposed between the left and right conveying beds 26 so as to protrude above the conveying surface 26a. The pusher 16 is provided with a pin 16a as a cam follower at its lower end, and the pin 16a passes through a cam groove 34 provided in the front and rear vicinity including the discharge position 3. As a result, at the discharge position 3 set near the terminal end of the conveying bed 26, the pusher 16 gradually compresses the coil spring 16b and descends to a retracted position where the upper end of the pusher 16 is below the conveying bed 26.

[0030] Then, when the slider 10 travels a predetermined distance on the circular travel path 20 while maintaining the state in which the upper end of the pusher 16 is lowered to the retracted position below the transport bed 26, the cam groove 34 is terminated, and the pin 16a is released from engagement with the cam groove 34 and pushed by the coil spring 16b, so that the upper end of the pusher 16 returns to its original height position. This makes it possible to prevent the pusher 16 from contacting the transport bed 26, the transport bed 30, and the second pusher 32a described later when the slider 10 passes the discharge position 3 and travels on the circular travel path 20.

[0031] 4 and 5, the conveyor 32 has second pushers 32a provided at regular intervals on the outer periphery of the endless cord so as to move above the flat conveying surface 30a of the conveying bed 30 on which the article W sent out at the discharge position 3 is placed and to convey the article W to the packaging section. The article W placed on the conveying surface 26a and the conveying surface 30a is pushed by the second pushers 32a. The second pusher 32a contacts the rear of the article W with a fork-shaped member straddling the pusher 16 of the slider 10. This allows the article W to be conveyed without colliding with each other when transferring the article W from the pusher 16 to the second pusher 32a.

[0032] As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the conveying device is provided with a first guide rail 35 that supports and guides each slider 10. The first guide rail 35 is an annular track laid on the inner periphery of a part of the circular travel path 20 and on the inner periphery of the branch path 23, that is, the annular track when the slider 10 travels on the branch path 23 and returns to the receiving position 2, and is composed of an upper rail and a lower rail that are arranged opposite each other above and below (see Fig. 2). The upper rail and the lower rail of the first guide rail 35 are positioned so that the wheels 14 of the slider 10 can roll on the rail. An electromagnetic coil unit (electromagnetic coil 25) is arranged between the upper rail and the lower rail. In addition, the upper rail is provided with two grooves 36 extending along the travel direction of the slider 10 so as to engage with the upper two wheels 14 of the slider 10, respectively.

[0033] In response to a command from the control unit 40, power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 is switched, and the magnetic flux generated by the electromagnetic coil 25 changes. The magnitude of the attractive force generated between the changed magnetic flux and the permanent magnet 12 of the slider 10 changes, causing the slider 10 to run along the first guide rail 35.

[0034] The electromagnetic coil unit is covered with a ferromagnetic material on the side of the electromagnetic coil 25 facing the circuit path 20. This prevents the slider 10 from falling even when the power supply is turned off due to the magnetic force acting between the permanent magnet 12 embedded in the slider 10 and the ferromagnetic material. The slider 10 is formed so as to be spaced a certain distance, though it is small, from the electromagnetic coil unit.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 1, the conveying device is provided with a second guide rail 37 that supports and guides each slider 10 along the track from the branch point 4 to the junction point 5 on the circular travel path 20, i.e., along the track on which the slider 10 travels via the discharge position 3. The second guide rail 37 is arranged on the inner periphery of the circular travel path 20, facing each other vertically in the same manner as the first guide rail 35, and is composed of an upper rail and a lower rail (see FIG. 2). An electromagnetic coil unit (electromagnetic coil 25) is arranged between the upper rail and the lower rail of the second guide rail 37. In addition, the upper rail of the second guide rail 37 is provided with grooves 36 that engage with the two upper wheels 14 of the slider 10, respectively, in the same manner as the first guide rail 35.

[0036] As shown in Fig. 1, the conveying device is provided with a third guide rail 38 and a fourth guide rail 39 that support and guide each slider 10 on the outer periphery of the circular travel path 20. The third guide rail 38 is arranged vertically opposite to each other along the conveying path 21 from upstream to downstream near the branch point 4 on the circular travel path 20, and is composed of an upper rail and a lower rail. The fourth guide rail 39 is arranged vertically opposite to each other along the return path 24 from upstream to downstream near the junction 5 on the circular travel path 20, and is composed of an upper rail and a lower rail. As with the first guide rail 35, the third and fourth guide rails 38, 39 are each provided with an electromagnetic coil unit (electromagnetic coil 25) and grooves 36 that engage with the upper two wheels 14 of the slider 10.

[0037] In the case where the slider 10 does not travel on the branch path 23 but travels circulating along the circular travel path 20, when the slider 10 arrives at the area where the first guide rail 35 and the third guide rail 38 face each other, power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the first guide rail 35 side is stopped, and power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the third guide rail 38 side is started. As a result, the permanent magnet 12 receives the force of the magnetic flux generated by the electromagnetic coil 25 on the third guide rail 38 side, and the slider 10 travels along the conveying path 21. Then, when the slider 10 arrives at the area where the second guide rail 37 and the third guide rail 38 face each other, power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the third guide rail 38 side is stopped, and power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the second guide rail 37 side is started.

[0038] When the slider 10 passes the discharge position 3 and arrives at the area where the second guide rail 37 and the fourth guide rail 39 face each other, power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the second guide rail 37 side is stopped, and power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the fourth guide rail 39 side is started. Then, when the slider 10 arrives at the area where the first guide rail 35 and the fourth guide rail 39 face each other, power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the fourth guide rail 39 side is stopped, and power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the first guide rail 35 side is started. The permanent magnet 12 receives the force of the magnetic flux of the electromagnetic coil 25 to which power is supplied, and the slider 10 runs along the circular running path 20.

[0039] In the case where the track on which the slider 10 travels is branched from the conveying path 21 to the branch path 23, when the slider 10 arrives in the area where the first guide rail 35 and the third guide rail 38 face each other, power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the third guide rail 38 side is stopped, and power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the first guide rail 35 side is started. The permanent magnet 12 receives the force of the magnetic flux of the electromagnetic coil 25 to which power is supplied, and the slider 10 travels on the branch path 23. Then, when the slider 10 arrives in the area where the first guide rail 35 and the fourth guide rail 39 face each other, power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the fourth guide rail 39 side is stopped, and power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 on the first guide rail 35 side is started. The slider 10 travels on a track that merges with the return path 24 of the circular travel path 20 and returns to the receiving position 2.

[0040] Next, the flow of transport of the article W in the packaging system will be described. At the receiving position 2, the article W transported from the pre-processing process is placed on the transport surface 26a of the transport bed 26. The article W is pushed by the pusher 16 of the slider 10 along the transport path 21. At the inspection position 6, the article W is judged as good or bad by the quality judging means 27.

[0041] A defective article W determined to be defective by the quality determining means 27 is removed from the system by the removing means 28. The slider 10 from which the article W has been removed travels along the branch path 23 in response to a command from the control unit 40, merges with the return path 24 of the circular travel path 20, and returns to the receiving position 2.

[0042] The article W judged as good by the quality judging means 27 is transported to the retention area 29 while being pushed by the pusher 16 of the slider 10. In the retention area 29, the spacing between the front and rear of the slider 10 is maintained so that the spacing between the front and rear of the article W is approximately the same as the spacing at which the conveyor 32 transports the article W to the packaging section. For example, even if the acceptance of the article W from the pre-processing process to the receiving position 2 is delayed or the quality judging means 27 judges the article W as bad consecutively, and the supply amount of the article W transported to the discharge position 3 is temporarily reduced, the spacing between the front and rear of the slider 10 in the retention area 29 is adjusted so that the article W is stably discharged to the conveyor 32. That is, the transport device transports the articles W by sequentially running the slider 10 toward the discharge position 3 so that the total number of sliders 10 staying in the retention area 29 tends to decrease as the frequency of arrival of the slider 10 at the retention area 29 decreases.

[0043] At the discharge position 3, the article W is transferred from the retention area 29 to the conveyor 32. The moving speed of the slider 10 at this time is substantially the same as the speed at which the conveyor 32 transports the article W. The article W is pushed by the second pusher 32a of the conveyor 32 and transferred from the transport surface 26a to the transport surface 30a, and then transported to the packaging section by the second pusher 32a.

[0044] After discharging the article W, the slider 10 passes through the discharge position 3 while lowering the pusher 16, travels along the circular travel path 20, and returns to the receiving position 2 via the return path 24.

[0045] The packaging system according to the above embodiment has the following advantages. (1) In the above-mentioned conveying device, the slider 10 travels along the circular travel path 20 (circular track). The article W is conveyed while being supported by the slider 10 from the receiving position 2 set on the circular travel path 20 to the discharge position 3, and is sent out toward the packaging section. An inspection position 6 is set on the conveying path of the article W, and a branch path 23 branching off from the circular travel path 20 is provided between the inspection position 6 and the discharge position 3. If the article W is judged to be a non-defective item by the quality determination means 27 at the inspection position 6, the slider 10 travels to the discharge position 3, and the article W is sent to the packaging section. On the other hand, if the article W is judged to be a non-defective item by the quality determination means 27, the slider 10 travels on the branch path 23. That is, the defective article W is not conveyed to the discharge position 3, and only non-defective items can be sent to the packaging section. Therefore, in the packaging section, it is not necessary to temporarily stop the packaging operation, such as feeding the packaging film, to wait for the arrival of the next non-defective item, and efficient packaging can be realized. In other words, in the packaging system of this embodiment, which transports items W from a manufacturing machine in the previous process, etc., toward the packaging section, the slider 10, which removes items W that have been repeatedly determined to be defective by the pass / fail determination means 27 from the system and becomes empty, branches off from the conveying path 21 and runs using the principle of a linear motor, making it possible to achieve continuous and efficient packaging without stopping the packaging operation. (2) When the quality determining means 27 determines that the article W is defective, the defective article W can be removed from the system by the removing means 28 while the slider 10 returns from the inspection position 6 to the receiving position 2 again via the branch path 23. In addition, the slider 10, which has been emptied after the article W has been removed, can return to the receiving position 2 without traveling to the discharge position 3. (3) The removal means 28 may be configured to directly blow air supplied from an air source onto the articles W to remove them, or may be configured to operate an air cylinder to remove the articles W. By using an air source for the removal means 28, the articles are less susceptible to the influence of the magnetic field of the electromagnetic coil 25, and defective articles W can be effectively removed from the system. (4) Between the branch point 4 of the conveying path 21 and the discharge position 3, a retention area 29 is provided to retain a plurality of sliders 10. As a result, when the supply amount of the articles W conveyed to the discharge position 3 decreases due to a delay in the receipt of the articles W from the pre-processing process to the receiving position 2 or when the quality determining means 27 consecutively determines that the articles W are defective, i.e., when the frequency of the sliders 10 arriving at the retention area 29 decreases, the sliders 10 can be sequentially sent toward the discharge position 3 so that the total number of sliders 10 retained in the retention area 29 tends to decrease. Therefore, the articles W are stably supplied to the packaging unit, and the articles W can be continuously packaged without stopping the packaging operation in the packaging unit. (5) According to the packaging system described above, when pillow-packaging the articles W, the slider 10 can be made to travel at the same interval between the articles W as the interval at which the articles W are supplied to the packaging section and at the same conveying speed as the supply speed of the articles W sent out to the packaging section so that each of the articles W judged to be good is supplied to the packaging section of the horizontal bag-making and filling machine at the same timing. Therefore, continuous packaging can be achieved without producing empty bags, even without controlling the film feed to stop intermittently in order to prevent the production of empty bags that do not contain any articles W. (6) By configuring the removal means 28 to remove defective articles W that are determined to be unacceptable on the conveying path 21, the structure of the conveying device can be simplified. (7) By configuring the slider 10, which becomes empty by removing defective articles W on the conveying path 21, not to travel through the retention area 29, it is possible to prevent empty bags from being produced in the packaging section. (8) A third guide rail 38 is provided along the conveying path 21 on the outer periphery of the circular traveling path 20 near the branch point 4. When the article W is determined to be good by the quality determining means 27, power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 of the third guide rail 38 is switched, so that the slider 10 can be made to travel along the third guide rail 38 and guided to a track toward the discharge position 3. (9) A fourth guide rail 39 is provided along the return path 24 on the outer periphery of the circular travel path 20 near the junction 5. When the slider 10 passes the discharge position 3 and travels along the circular travel path 20 and approaches the junction 5, power supply to the electromagnetic coil 25 of the fourth guide rail 39 is switched, whereby the slider 10 can be made to travel along the fourth guide rail 39 and guided to a track toward the receiving position 2.

[0046] <Example of change> The present invention is not limited to the configurations described in the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications, additions, and deletions are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. (1) As the packaging section, a horizontal form-fill-seal machine that applies vertical and horizontal seals to a cylindrically formed tubular film has been exemplified, but other form-fill-seal packaging machines or box-packaging machines such as cartoners and casers for packaging goods W may also be used. (2) Although an example has been shown in which the removal means 28 is provided to remove defective articles W being transported on the transport path 21, the present invention is not limited to this, and the removal means 28 may be provided to remove articles W determined to be defective while the slider 10 is traveling on the branch path 23 or while traveling on the circular travel path 20 (circular orbit) from the branch path 23 toward the receiving position 2. Also, a passage for transporting defective articles W along the branch path 23, etc. may be provided. (3) Although an example has been shown in which the items W are sequentially received in a single line at the receiving position 2, the configuration may be adapted to accommodate various methods of receiving and transferring the items W, such as having multiple sliders 10 simultaneously place items W transported in multiple lines. (4) Although an example in which one branch path 23 is provided has been shown, a plurality of branch paths 23 may be provided so as to branch off from a plurality of locations on the circular travel path 20 as long as the slider 10 is structured to return to the receiving position 2 . (5) The receiving position 2 and the unloading position 3 may be provided at various positions on the circuit path 20 as required. (6) The present invention can be applied to various embodiments in which a plurality of receiving positions 2 and a plurality of discharging positions 3 are provided. (7) In the conveying path 21 where the articles W move linearly along the circular path 20 on which the slider 10 runs, an example has been shown in which each article W placed on the conveying surface 26a of the conveying bed 26 is pushed from behind by the pusher 16 arranged on the slider 10, but a configuration in which the article W is placed on the slider 10 and conveyed toward the packaging section may be adopted, such as providing a platform on which the article W to be conveyed is placed as a support means arranged on the slider 10. Also, a configuration in which a chucking means is arranged on the slider 10 to grip the article W and convey it toward the packaging section may be adopted. (8) Although the example has been shown in which the circuit path 20 is arranged so that the slider 10 circulates in a horizontal direction as the circuit orbit, the path of the slider 10 may be a circuit orbit that rotates vertically in a vertical direction. (9) As the quality determining means 27, an example has been shown in which the control unit 40 receives quality determining information such as the shape of the article W by an image processing determining device, but the quality determining means may be configured so that the control unit 40 receives photographic data of the article W obtained by a camera and data information such as the weight of the article W, and the control unit 40 determines the quality of the shape, printing condition, quantity, weight, etc. of the article W. Furthermore, the types of quality determining of the article W are not limited to the shape, printing condition, and weight of the article W, but include various determinations such as the expiration date of the article W, the glue condition, the sealing condition of the pillow packaging bag, and scratches and dirt on the exterior surface. (10) If the total number of sliders 10 remaining in the retention area 29 continues to increase or decrease for a specified period of time without showing any signs of improvement, the packaging capacity (number of packages per minute) of the packaging machine may be automatically changed to perform continuous packaging. (11) The branch path 23 may be arranged so that the height of the branch path 23 gradually decreases after the slider 10 transfers onto the branch path 23, and the upper end of the pusher 16 may be lowered below the conveying bed 26, thereby avoiding interference between the pusher 16 and the conveying bed 26 when switching from straight-line running to curved running. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] W: Item 2: Receiving position 3: Discharging position 4: Branching point 5: Junction 6: Inspection position 10: slider 12: permanent magnet 14: wheel 16: pusher 20: Circulating track (circulating orbit) 21: Transport track 23: Branch track 24: Return track 25: Electromagnetic coil (coil) 26: Transport bed 27: Good / bad judgment means 28: Rejection means 29: retention area 30: transport bed 32: conveyor 32a: second pusher 35: First guide rail 37: Second guide rail 38: Third guide rail 39: Fourth guide rail 40: Control unit

Claims

1. A conveying path from a receiving position that receives an article from a pre-processing process to a discharging position that discharges the article toward a packaging section; a circulating track including a part of the track arranged along the conveying path between the receiving position and the discharging position, and a return path connected to the part of the track; a plurality of sliders each having a permanent magnet, the sliders transporting the article from the receiving position to the discharging position when traveling around the orbit by a change in magnetic flux generated by a coil in the orbit; a quality determining means for determining whether the article is good or bad at an inspection position provided on the transport path; a branch path including a coil, the branch path being configured to branch the slider from the portion of the track at a position downstream of the inspection position and upstream of the ejection position by changing a magnetic flux generated by the coil, and to guide the slider to travel along the return path; a rejection means for rejecting the article determined to be defective by the defective / non-defective determining means, When the article is judged to be good by the quality determining means, the slider transports the article judged to be good by the quality determining means to the discharge position and then travels along the return path toward the receiving position, whereas when the article is judged to be bad by the quality determining means, the slider does not travel toward the discharge position but travels along the return path toward the receiving position via the branch path, The packaging system according to claim 1, wherein the rejection means rejects from the system the article that is determined to be defective by the defective / non-defective determining means before the slider returns to the receiving position via the branch path.

2. 2. The packaging system of claim 1, wherein the evacuating means evacuates the articles with air supplied from an air source.

3. The packaging system described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a retention area is provided in the portion of the orbit of the circular track in which only the sliders transporting the items judged to be good by the quality determination means are retained, and the sliders are caused to run sequentially toward the discharge position so that the total number of the sliders retained in the retention area tends to decrease as the frequency of arrival of the sliders at the retention area decreases, thereby transporting each of the items judged to be good by the quality determination means toward the discharge position.

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