Bag conveying mechanism in bag supply device

Abstract

To provide a bag transport mechanism for dissolving the problem of a conventional bag transport mechanism in which a bag having a gusset Wm at the bottom of a bag W causes troubles that a folding back part Wmo of the gusset part Wm is hooked to a stopper 3 for temporarily stopping the bag to prevent preferable delivering, or fine flaws are caused on a surface of the bag by local contact of the bag W at a corner part of the stopper.SOLUTION: A bag transport mechanism 100 transports a bag W to a point abutting on a stopper 151 along a transport route, and delivers the bag to a packaging machine side. The stopper 151 protrudably / retractably moves, by an air cylinder 154 or the like over a projecting attitude of projecting upward from the transport route to abut on the bag and stopping, and a retreated attitude retreating from the transport route and not abutting on the bag W.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a bag conveying mechanism in a bag supplying device that stops a bag with a stopper and then supplies it to a packaging machine. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a large-capacity bag supplying device that stops bags, which are objects to be conveyed, at a predetermined location and then supplies the bags to a packaging machine.

[0003] As shown in Figure 14, in this type of conventional bag conveying mechanism 1, a stopper 3 consisting of a substantially square rod-shaped block is fixed to a bag receiving plate 2 that forms part of the leading end guide surface of the conveying path. Then, as shown in Figure 15(A), a bag W conveyed along the conveying path stops when the bag mouth leading end abuts against the stopper 3, and then the upper surface of the bag mouth side of the bag W is lifted up by, for example, sucking with a suction cup, so that the leading end of the bag W climbs over the stopper 3 as shown in Figure 15(B), and the bag W is supplied to the packaging machine side (conveying direction A) of the subsequent process by a delivery mechanism (not shown).

[0004] Incidentally, the bag W for packaging the packaged item may be a flat bag without a gusset, or may be a gusseted bag with a gusset Wm at the bottom as shown in Fig. 16. When such a bag W is a gusseted bag, the bottom of the bag W has a folded-back portion Wmo to the gusset Wm. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-131926 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in the conventional bag supplying device disclosed in Patent Document 1 and elsewhere, the stopper 3 is fixed to the bag receiving plate 2 and protrudes upward from the bag receiving plate 2. Therefore, when the bag W has a gusset, and is stopped by the stopper 3 and then handed over, the folded-back portion Wmo of the gusset Wm continuing from the main body of the bag W may get caught on the stopper 3, causing a problem in which the bag W cannot be handed over properly. Moreover, since the bag W is pulled while being locally in contact with the corners of the stopper 3, fine scratches may occur on the surface of the main body of the bag W.

[0007] One possible structure to eliminate this problem is to provide an air blower below that blows the bag W diagonally upward, and forcibly blows the rear (bottom side) of the bag W, which has the folded-back portion Wmo, diagonally upward with air so that it overcomes the stopper 3. However, this structure has drawbacks, such as the need to blow a large amount of air to forcibly blow the rear of the bag W with air, and the need to adjust the amount of air blown depending on the bag W.

[0008] In view of the above problems, the present invention has an object to provide a bag conveying mechanism in a bag supplying device that can not only stop bags properly but also supply them properly to the packaging machine. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention relates to a bag transport mechanism in a bag supplying device that includes bag stocking means for stocking upright bags and having a mechanism for guiding a group of stored bags to the leading end side, bag supplying means for transporting and supplying bags from the bag stocking means to a packaging machine side, and bag removing means between the bag stocking means and the bag supplying means for removing bags from the bag stocking means. The bag transport mechanism includes a transport path for transporting bags removed one by one by the bag removing means to the packaging machine side by a string belt conveyor, and a bag receiving plate is provided at the leading end of the bag transport mechanism for receiving from below the leading ends of the bags transported by the string belt conveyor, and an up-down actuator is provided below the bag receiving plate. a vertical actuator that is mounted on the bag receiving plate and a stopper that stops the bag is attached to the vertical actuator; the vertical actuator is driven to move the stopper up and down through a slit formed in the bag receiving plate, and the stopper can freely move in and out between a protruding position in which the stopper protrudes from the slit and comes into contact with the bag that has been conveyed along the conveying path and stops at a predetermined position, and a retracted position in which the stopper retracts downward from the conveying path and does not come into contact with the bag; when stopping the bag that has been conveyed, the stopper is in the protruding position in which it protrudes from the conveying path, and when delivering the bag to a packaging machine, the stopper retracts downward from the conveying path and does not come into contact with the bag. the vertical actuator is attached to a support bracket having the bag receiving plate attached to an upper portion thereof, the support bracket is fixed with screws onto a support base fixed at a predetermined position at a lower end of the tip of the bag conveying mechanism, and the support bracket is assembled in a state in which the position of the support bracket relative to the conveying direction of the bag can be adjusted by loosening the screws, and the positions of the bag receiving plate and the stopper can be set. It is characterized by: Effect of the Invention

[0010] The bag conveying mechanism of the present invention, having the above-mentioned configuration, is capable of supplying bags to the packaging machine in an excellent manner. In addition, since the bag is not supplied while locally contacting the stopper, fine scratches are not generated on the surface of the bag. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a large-capacity bag supplying device equipped with a bag conveying mechanism of the present invention; [Diagram 2] Overall front view of large-capacity bag supply equipment [Diagram 3] Overall plan of large-capacity bag supply facility [Figure 4]FIG. 2 is a front view of a bag-taking mechanism and a bag-transfer mechanism constituting the bag-taking means; [Diagram 5] Side view of the bag placement table and the string belt conveyor of the bag transport mechanism [Figure 6] Perspective view of the bag installation stand [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bag rotating mechanism constituting a bag rotating means; [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bag receiving plate and stopper of the bag conveying mechanism of the present invention; [Figure 9] A side view of the bag receiving plate and stopper of the bag conveying mechanism of the present invention. [Figure 10] A front view of the bag receiving plate and stopper of the bag conveying mechanism of the present invention in use. [Figure 11] Partial view of the large-capacity bag supply device in use [Figure 12] Partial view of the large-capacity bag supply device in use [Figure 13] Partial view of the large-capacity bag supply device in use [Figure 14] FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a tip portion of a conventional bag conveying mechanism; [Figure 15] A diagram showing the state of use of stoppers and other components of a conventional bag conveying mechanism [Figure 16] Plan view of the bag (gusseted bag) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a large-capacity bag supplying device equipped with a bag conveying mechanism 100 of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view, and Fig. 3 is a plan view. In this embodiment, the bag conveying mechanism 100 is provided as part of the large-capacity bag supplying device. The large-capacity bag supplying device is a device that stores bags in an upright state and in large quantities, and removes bags one by one from this stocked bag group and supplies them to the packaging machine.

[0013] The large-capacity bag supplying device includes a bag stocking means that stocks upright bags W in large quantities and has a mechanism for guiding the stocked bags to the leading end side, and a bag supplying means that transports and supplies the bags W from the bag stocking means to the packaging machine side. Also, between the bag stocking means and the bag supplying means, there are provided a bag removing means that removes the bags W from the bag stocking means, a bag direction detecting means that detects the direction of the bags W removed by the bag removing means, and a bag rotating means that rotates the bags W in a set direction for transport by the bag supplying means based on the direction of the bags W detected by the bag direction detecting means. Each of these means will be described below.

[0014] (Bag stocking method) As shown in FIG. 1, a bag stock mechanism 50, which is a bag stock means, is disposed in front of the bag conveying mechanism 100, which is a bag supply means. The bag stock mechanism 50 has a bag stock passage 52 on a base 51, and a large amount of bags W, which are in an upright state and have their mouths facing sideways, are placed on the bag stock passage. The bags W are so-called gusseted bags having a folded part Wmo (see FIG. 16) at the bottom (bag bottom). However, the bags W are not limited to gusseted bags, and flat bags and the like can also be used. In a group of bags W, such as gusseted bags, which have different thicknesses at the bag mouth side and the bag bottom side, the difference in thickness between the bag mouth side and the bag bottom side increases as more bags W are stacked in the same direction, so that the group of bags is twisted in a fan shape, and the bags W do not stand up in the correct position in the bag stock mechanism 50, which may cause a bag removal means to make a mistake in removing the bags. For this reason, in this embodiment, a certain number of bags W, such as 10 or 20 bags, are stocked with the bag mouth and bag bottom sides reversed, the difference in thickness between the bag mouth and bag bottom sides is averaged, and the group of bags is aligned without distortion overall and stored in the bag stock passage 52.

[0015] Side feed conveyors 53 are arranged on both sides of the bag stock passage 52, and a string belt 72 stretched across a front drive pulley 55 and a rear driven pulley (not shown) rotates to slowly feed the bags forward. The side feed conveyors 53 are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the base 51 and are mounted on a frame 56 which is slidable in the width direction of the base 51 via an installation rod 57. By rotating a handle 58 shown in Fig. 2, the distance between the frames 56, and therefore the distance between the side feed conveyors 53, can be adjusted according to the size of the bags W.

[0016] A bag pushing belt 59 is laid down in the center of the bottom in the longitudinal direction of the bag stock passage 52, and a bag pushing member 60 is set vertically and detachably on this bag pushing belt 59. When the bag pushing belt 59 is driven to rotate, the bag pushing member 60 moves slowly forward, pushing the group of bags stocked in the bag stock passage 52 from the rear to the front, and sending them out toward the bag removing means.

[0017] 1 to 3, a gate-shaped plate 61 is provided at the tip of frame 56 on which side feed conveyor 53 is mounted, and a locking plate 62 is installed between the upper tips of plate 61. The side feed conveyor 53 and bag pushing member 60 lock the leading bag W of the group of bags pushed forward in bag stock passage 52 so that it does not fly out, and locks the leading bag Wa until it is delivered to bag removal means described later. A bag detection piece (not shown) provided at the tip of bag stock passage 52 detects the leading bag Wa.

[0018] (Bag removal method) The bag removal means is a mechanism that removes the bag W located at the tip of the bag stock mechanism 50 and transfers it to the bag rotating means. As shown in Fig. 4, in this embodiment, the bag removal means is composed of a bag removal mechanism 63 that removes the bag W from the bag stock mechanism 50, and a bag transfer mechanism 64 that receives the bag W removed from the bag removal mechanism 63 and transfers it to the bag rotating means described below.

[0019] The bag removal mechanism 63 is supported in the horizontal direction by a parallel rod 66 at the side of the first drive box 65. As shown in FIG. 1, the parallel rod 66 is composed of a main rod 67 that is driven to rotate and a sub-rod 68, and both ends of these rods 67, 68 are connected by a connecting plate 69. A screw rod 70 is rotatably supported in the middle of the main rod 67 and the sub-rod 68, and a handle 71 is provided at the end of this screw rod 70. By rotating this handle 71, a pair of slide plates 75 that screw into the female thread of the screw rod 70 slide in opposite directions in the width direction (i.e., approaching and separating). The horizontal spacing of suction cups 76 attached to the slide plates 75, which will be described later, can be adjusted in accordance with the sliding of these slide plates 75.

[0020] In addition, the bag removal mechanism 63 has a mounting plate 78 attached so as to be movable forward and backward by an air cylinder 77 attached to the lower end of a slide plate 75, and a slide rod 79 attached in parallel to the mounting plate 78. Two suction cups 76 are fixed to one slide rod 79 via screws 80 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction, and a total of four suction cups 76 are fixed to the two slide rods 79. Depending on the shape of the bag W, only the lower two left and right suction cups 76 may be used.

[0021] The bag transfer mechanism 64 receives the bag W from the bag removal mechanism 63 and places the bag W on a bag mounting table 90 of the bag rotation means described later. The bag transfer mechanism 64 is adjacent to the bag removal mechanism 63 and is supported so as to protrude horizontally from the first drive box 65. An outer shaft 82 and a center shaft 83 are stored in a rotating cylinder 81 of the bag transfer mechanism 64, and a sliding guide 84 attached to the outer shaft 82 and protruding outward rotates in forward and reverse directions with the rotation of the outer shaft 82. A main body plate 86 is attached to a sliding part 85 slidably attached to the sliding guide 84. The main body plate 86 and the center shaft 83 of the rotating cylinder 81 are connected via a dogleg-shaped link 89, and the sliding part 85 reciprocates along the sliding guide 84 due to the bending motion of the link 89 when the center shaft 83 rotates. An air cylinder 87 is attached to the main body plate 86, and a clamping portion 88 is journaled at the tip of the main body plate 86. The rod of the air cylinder 87 is connected to the clamping portion 88, and the clamping portion 88 opens and closes as the rod of the air cylinder 87 expands and contracts to grasp the bag W.

[0022] (Bag orientation detection means) The bag direction detection means is a mechanism that detects, by a detection unit 91, in which direction the bag W that has been hung from the bag transfer mechanism 64 onto the bag hanging table 90 is being hung. This detection unit 91 uses an image sensor such as a CCD camera, and recognizes an image of the bag W in the process of taking out the bag W from the bag stock mechanism 50 and handing it over to the bag rotating means, and an image of the bag W placed on the bag hanging table 90, to determine the orientation of the bag W. In FIG. 2, the CCD camera is installed under the bag hanging table 90, but the installation position may be changed appropriately to a position suitable for recognizing the orientation of the bag W. Note that the detection unit 91 is not limited to a CCD camera, and may detect the orientation of the bag W by measuring the thickness of the bag W with a laser, such as a laser sensor, or by mechanically clamping the bag W between detected plates to measure the thickness of the bag W as in Patent Document 1.

[0023] (bag rotation means) The bag rotating means includes a bag installation stand 90 for suspending the bags W taken out from the bag stock mechanism 50. FIG. 5 is a side view of the bag installation stand 90, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view. The bag installation stand 90 has two parallel counter sections 92 made of long, inverted L-shaped steel members arranged in parallel. As shown in FIG. 5, the upper horizontal section is the counter section 92, and the lower inner horizontal section is a side plate 102, but as shown in FIG. 6, the side plate 102 partially protrudes slightly horizontally inward like an eave. The distance between the counter sections 92 is set shorter than the longitudinal dimension of the bag W and longer than the width dimension of the bag W, and the width can be adjusted according to the type of bag W by using a handle 93 and a screw. Therefore, with respect to the bag mounting stand 90 shown in Figure 6, when a bag W is mounted in the longitudinal direction, the bag mouth side and the bag bottom side are placed on the counter portion 92, and when a bag W is rotated in the width direction, both side portions do not rest on the counter portion 92 but descend and transfer onto the side plates 102 and at the same time transfer onto the string belt conveyor 101 of the bag transport mechanism 100 described later.

[0024] On both outer sides of each counter portion 92 of the bag installation stand 90, a U-shaped holding plate 94 is disposed to press and hold the mouth and bottom sides of the bag W installed in the longitudinal direction. The upper back surface of this holding plate 94 contacts the counter portion 92, clamping the mouth and bottom sides of the bag W installed on the counter portion 92, so that the bag W will not come off the bag installation stand 90 even if a bag rotating suction cup 107, which will be described later, rises from below and sucks it in. The lower end of the holding plate 94 is connected to an air cylinder 95, and the holding plate 94 can move up and down by extending and retracting the rod of the air cylinder 95 to hold or release the bag W on the counter portion 92.

[0025] 7 is a perspective view of a bag turning mechanism 105 constituting a part of the bag turning means. This bag turning mechanism 105 is installed under the bag setting table 90, and is a mechanism for rotating the bag W set on the bag setting table 90 in the forward and reverse directions. The role of this bag turning mechanism 105 is to turn the bag W in a predetermined direction and deliver it to the bag conveying mechanism 100. That is, since the bags W are stocked in the bag stocking mechanism 50 with the bag mouth and the bag bottom reversed, if the bags W are conveyed in this state by the bag conveying mechanism 100 and delivered to the packaging machine, some bags W will be delivered to the packaging machine in the reversed state with the bag bottom side up, which is inconvenient. Therefore, the bag W conveyed by the bag conveying mechanism 100 is rotated by the bag turning mechanism 105 so that the bag mouth faces the downstream side after detecting the direction of the bag W on the bag setting table 90 by the bag direction detection means, so that the bag mouth lift mechanism 106 can always suck the bag mouth side.

[0026] The bag rotation mechanism 105 is provided with a bag rotation suction cup 107 at the upper end of a suction pipe 108, which sucks the center of the bag W held by a holding plate 94 from below on the bag installation stand 90, and a suction hose (not shown) is connected to the elbow at the lower end of the suction pipe 108. The suction pipe 108 is connected to the rotation shaft of a rotation actuator 110 via a bracket 109, and is rotated 90 degrees in the forward and reverse directions by the air-driven rotation actuator 110. The rotation actuator 110 is set slidably on a base plate 112, and by rotating a handle 114 attached to a screw 113 as a position adjustment mechanism, the rotation actuator 110 slides on the base plate 112, and the position of the bag rotation suction cup 107 can be adjusted. The bag rotation suction cup 107 can be set so that the bag rotation suction cup 107 is located at the center position of the bag W by rotating the handle 114 and sliding the rotation actuator 110 according to the dimensions of the bag W.

[0027] This bag rotation mechanism 105 supports the base plate 112 from below and moves up and down by means of a lifting unit 115 that can be raised and lowered (see FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 5, the lifting unit 115 causes the bag rotation suction cups 107 to suck the bag W suspended on the bag mounting stand 90 from below, rotate the bag W 90 degrees in either the forward or reverse direction, and lower it to the bottom end position, where it is placed on the side plate 102 and the string belt conveyor 101.

[0028] (Bag supply means) The bag transport mechanism 100 according to the embodiment of the bag supply means is a transport mechanism that supplies bags arranged from the lower part of the bag setting table 90 to the packaging machine side, and is equipped with a string belt conveyor 101 that transports bags W from the lower part of the bag setting table 90 to a bag mouth lift mechanism 106 described later. This string belt conveyor 101 is arranged in the center between the counter portions 92 below the bag setting table 90, and is at the same height as the side plates 102. As shown in Fig. 5, the distance between the side plates 102 is smaller than the width of the bag W, and the bag W rotated by the bag rotating mechanism 105 passes between the counter portions 92 of the bag setting table 90, descends, and is placed on both side plates 102 and on the string belt conveyor 101. Both side portions of the bag W are placed on the side plates 102, and the center portion is placed on and supported by the string belt conveyor 101, so that the bag W is transported to the bag mouth lift mechanism 106 side by the rotation of the string belt conveyor 101.

[0029] As shown in Figures 3 and 8, three optical sensors 103 are provided at the tip of the bag conveying mechanism 100. One optical sensor 103 behind the center of the tip is provided to detect when a bag W approaches the tip and to slow down the speed of the string belt conveyor 101 to prevent the bag W from overrunning. The two sensors located on either side of the center of the tip are provided to detect whether or not both sides of the tip of the bag W have stopped accurately at predetermined positions at the tip of the bag conveying mechanism 100 without tilting.

[0030] 8 to 10, at the tip of bag conveying mechanism 100, there are provided a bag receiving plate 150 which is arranged along the conveying path and receives from below the tip of bags W conveyed by string belt conveyor 101, and a stopper 151 which the tip of the bag W conveyed along the conveying path abuts against to stop the bag. Bag receiving plate 150 is formed with a slit 152 (a hole through which stopper 151 enters and exits) extending in the width direction and a through hole 153 which transmits light from optical sensor 103, and an up-down actuator 154 is attached below bag receiving plate 150.

[0031] The vertical actuator 154 allows the stopper 151 to freely move between a protruding position (see FIG. 10(A)) in which the stopper 151 protrudes above the conveying path and abuts against the bag W (specifically, the tip of the bag W), and a retracted position (see FIG. 10(B)) in which the stopper 151 retracts downward from the conveying path and does not contact the bag W. The vertical actuator 154 is preferably driven vertically by air, and an air pipe is connected to an elbow connected to the vertical actuator 154 in FIG. 8, but this is not limited thereto, and the vertical actuator 154 may be structured to be driven vertically electrically by a solenoid or the like. In this embodiment, the left and right stoppers 151 are attached to the rod 154a of the vertical actuator 154 via a mounting bracket 155 as shown in FIG. 9, but this is not limited thereto, and the number of stoppers 151 may be one or three or more.

[0032] 9, the vertical actuator 154 is attached to an L-shaped support bracket 156 with the bag receiving plate 150 attached to its upper portion. The support bracket 156 is attached in such a manner that its position in the conveying direction can be adjusted by loosening screws 158 on a support base 157 fixed in a predetermined position. Also, a scale portion 159 for setting the positions of the support bracket 156, the bag receiving plate 150, the stopper 151, etc. is attached to the support base 157.

[0033] (Bag opening lift mechanism) 2 is a mechanism that sucks up and lifts the bag mouth of the bag W that has been transported to the tip of the bag conveying mechanism 100, so that a subsequent bag delivery mechanism (not shown) can receive the bag W. The bag delivery mechanism delivers the bag W received from the bag mouth lift mechanism 106 to a packaging machine such as a rotary packaging machine.

[0034] As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the bag mouth lift mechanism 106 is provided in a second drive box 117 adjacent to the first drive box 65. In this bag mouth lift mechanism 106, a link 118 is rotatably supported on a rotation shaft that protrudes laterally from the second drive box 117, and a triangular plate 122 is attached to this link 118. Furthermore, a parallel bar 121 is attached to the triangular plate 122, and two blocks 120 to which suction cups 119 are fixed are slidably attached to this parallel bar 121.

[0035] In the bag mouth lift mechanism 106, one end of a link 118 rotates clockwise by the drive mechanism in a second drive box 117, and a suction cup 119 lowers to suck the bag mouth side of a bag W stopped at the tip of the bag conveying mechanism 100. When one end of the link 118 rotates counterclockwise, the suction cup 119 is lifted upward. As the suction cup 119 lifts the bag mouth side of the bag W, the bag delivery mechanism for the next process receives it and delivers it to the rotary packaging machine.

[0036] The large-capacity bag supplying device described above can set, for example, about 3,000 bags at a time, and if the capacity is 50 bags / minute, it can operate continuously for 60 minutes, making it possible for the worker who replenishes the bags to do the same job. Furthermore, the bags W can be set upright sideways, and a system that automatically detects the bag opening is adopted, making it possible to set large quantities of gusseted bags, etc.

[0037] Next, the usage state of the large-capacity bag supplying device will be described. Figures 11 to 13 show the use of a large-capacity bag supplying device equipped with a bag conveying mechanism of the present invention. In the bag stocking mechanism 50 on the left side of Figure 11 (1), a large number of bags W are stored in a large volume in a bag stock passage 52 in an upright position with the bag mouths and bag bottoms reversed to the left and right to average out the difference in thickness between the two sides of the group of bags, and the group of bags is generally parallel.

[0038] First, Figure 11 (1) shows the state in which the parallel rod 66 of the bag removal mechanism 63 rotates clockwise around the main rod 67 to pick up the bag W. With the suction surface of the suction cup 76 facing parallel to the face of the bag Wa at the tip of the bag stock mechanism 50, the operating rod of the air cylinder 77 is extended. The bag Wa at the tip of the bag stock mechanism 50 is picked up by the suction cup 76 attached to the slide rod 79. When the suction cup 76 adsorbs the bag Wa at the tip, the operating rod of the air cylinder 77 is retracted. However, the bag delivery mechanism 64 is still stopped and waiting.

[0039] 11(2), the bag removal mechanism 63, which has sucked the bag Wa at the tip of the bag stock mechanism 50, rotates the parallel rod 66 45 degrees counterclockwise around the main rod 67. At the same time, in order to receive the bag Wa from the bag removal mechanism 63, the bag transfer mechanism 64 rotates the outer shaft 82 45 degrees clockwise while sliding the sliding part 85 downward by the link 89 with the clamping part 88 open. Then, when the clamping part 88 reaches a position to clamp the bag W held by the suction cup 76 of the bag removal mechanism 63, the air cylinder 87 is activated and the clamping part 88 clamps the bag mouth side of the bag W.

[0040] Figure 12(3) is a front view and a side view of the bag stock mechanism 50 and the bag conveying mechanism 100. In Figure 12(3), the bag transfer mechanism 64 receives the bag W from the bag removal mechanism 63, then rotates downward and places the bag W on the bag mounting table 90. The bag W is now mounted between the counter sections 92 of the bag mounting table 90, so that it is placed on the bag mounting table 90 as shown in the right diagram of Figure 12(3). At this stage, the bag mouth and bag bottom of the bag W are not yet pressed down onto the bag mounting table 90 by the holding plates 94.

[0041] In FIG. 12(4), the bag removal mechanism 63 rotates 45 degrees left to pick up the next bag W to the bag stock mechanism 50, but the bag transfer mechanism 64 leaves the bag W on the bag installation table 90 and operates the air cylinder 95 to hold the bag mouth side and bag bottom side of the bag W on the bag installation table 90 with the holding plate 94. As described above, the bag W is stored in the bag stock mechanism 50 with the bag mouth and bag bottom reversed, so whether the bag mouth is on the left or right depends on the state at the time of storage. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the posture of the bag W is photographed from below by the CCD camera of the detection unit 91. The bag bottom has a folded part Wmo, and illustrations or the like are printed on the front and back sides of the bag W, so it is possible to determine which is the bag mouth or the bag bottom by imaging the detection unit 91.

[0042] In Figure 12 (4), the bag rotation mechanism 105 is further lifted by the lifting section 115 of the bag rotation mechanism 105, and at the same time, the bag rotation suction cup 107 rises and adsorbs the rotation center of the back surface of the bag W held by the holding plate 94 of the bag mounting table 90.

[0043] In FIG. 13(5), the bag transfer mechanism 64 is about to receive the next bag W from the bag removal mechanism 63. Then, after the control device determines the rotation direction of the bag rotation suction cup 107 based on the result of the detection unit 91, the air cylinder 95 is actuated to raise the holding plate 94 and release the bag W. After that, the rotation actuator 110 in FIG. 7 is actuated to rotate the suction pipe 108 90 degrees via the bracket 109. The rotation direction of the bag W is set so that when the bag W is conveyed by the bag conveying mechanism 100 in a later process, the bag mouth side faces downstream (the tip side of the bag conveying mechanism 100) and the suction cup 119 of the bag mouth lift mechanism 106 sucks the bag mouth. In this way, the bag rotation mechanism 105 rotates the bag W to the left or right so that the bag mouth lift mechanism 106 can suck the bag mouth.

[0044] 13(6), with the bag W rotated 90 degrees in the appropriate direction in the previous step being sucked by the bag rotation suction cups 107, the bag rotation mechanism 105 is lowered by the lifting section 115, and the bag W is placed on the side plate 102 and the string belt conveyor 101 of the bag transport mechanism 100, as shown in Fig. 5. When the bag W sucked by the bag rotation suction cups 107 is rotated 90 degrees, the upper bag W shown in Fig. 5 rotates so as to face in the width direction of the bag W, so that the bag W hung across the bag hanging table 90 can pass between the counter sections 92 and be placed on the side plate 102 and the string belt conveyor 101.

[0045] The bag W placed on the side plates 102 and the string belt conveyor 101 is conveyed downstream by the string belt conveyor 101 and stops at a position determined by a stopper 151 at the tip of the bag conveying mechanism 100. Thereafter, the link 118 of the bag mouth lift mechanism 106 rotates downward and the stopped bag W is adsorbed by the suction cups 119, after which the bag W from the bag mouth lift mechanism 106 is received by a bag delivery mechanism (not shown) and delivered to a rotary packaging machine (not shown). In the rotary packaging machine, the bag W is filled with the packaged material and the mouth of the bag W is sealed.

[0046] In the bag conveying mechanism 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the stopper 151 is driven by the operation of the up and down actuator to freely move between a protruding position where it protrudes from a slit 152 in the conveying path (bag receiving plate 150) and stops when it comes into contact with the bag W, and a retracted position where it retracts downward from the conveying path and does not come into contact with the bag W. When stopping the bag W, the stopper 151 is in the protruding position (see FIG. 10(A)) where it protrudes from the conveying path, whereas when delivering the bag W to the packaging machine, the stopper 151 is in the retracted position (see FIG. 10(B)) where it retracts downward from the conveying path and does not come into contact with the bag W.

[0047] With the above-mentioned configuration, when the bag W is stopped, the stopper 151 is in a protruding position where it protrudes from the slit 152 of the conveying path and the bag W comes into contact with it and stops, so that the bag W can be stopped well. Furthermore, when the bag W is delivered to the packaging machine side, the stopper 151 is in a retracted position where it retracts from the conveying path and does not contact the bag W, so that the folded-back portion Wmo of the bag W does not get caught by the stopper 151, and therefore the bag W can be delivered well to the packaging machine side without being dropped. Note that the slit 152 has a small hole dimension in the conveying direction of the bag W, so that the folded-back portion Wmo of the bag W does not get caught by the slit 152 after the stopper 151 retracts. Furthermore, when the bag W is delivered to the packaging machine side, the bag W does not come into contact with the stopper 151, so that the tip of the stopper does not come into local contact with the surface of the bag W and cause fine scratches.

[0048] It is also possible to provide a number of small holes (not shown) near the slits 152 and send air through them to lift up the bags W. Even in this case, the amount of air sent can be extremely small, and this configuration makes it possible to prevent fine scratches on the surface of the bags W caused by contact between the bags W and the bag receiving plate 150.

[0049] In the above embodiment, the bag W transported to the tip of the bag conveying mechanism 100 is lifted by the bag mouth lift mechanism 106 and supplied to the packaging machine in the subsequent process, but this is not limited to the above, and the bag conveying mechanism 100 can also be applied to a case where the bag W transported to the bag conveying mechanism 100 is directly delivered to the packaging machine in the subsequent process. Also, in the above embodiment, the bag W is described as a gusseted bag, but the bag supply device may also be used for normal flat bags. [Industrial Applicability]

[0050] The present invention is useful in a bag conveying mechanism that supplies bags W from a bag stocking mechanism 50 that stocks bags W to a packaging machine. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 50 Bag Stock Mechanism 63 Bag removal mechanism 64 Bag Delivery Mechanism 90 Bag mounting stand 91 Detection unit 100 Bag conveying mechanism 101 String belt conveyor 102 Side Panel 103 Light Sensor 105 Bag rotation mechanism 106 Bag mouth lift mechanism 110 Rotation Actuator 150 Bag receiving plate 151 Stopper 152 Slit 153 Through hole 154 Up / Down Actuator 156 Support bracket 157 Support stand

Claims

1. A bag conveying mechanism for a bag supplying device, comprising: bag stocking means for stocking upright bags and having a mechanism for guiding a group of stored bags to a tip end side; bag supplying means for conveying and supplying bags from the bag stocking means to a packaging machine side; and bag removing means, disposed between the bag stocking means and the bag supplying means, for removing bags from the bag stocking means, the bag conveying mechanism includes a conveying path for conveying the bags taken out one by one by the bag taking means to a packaging machine side by a string belt conveyor, a bag receiving plate is provided at a tip end of the bag conveying mechanism for receiving from below the tip end of the bag conveyed by the string belt conveyor, a vertical actuator is attached below the bag receiving plate, and a stopper is attached to the vertical actuator for stopping the bag; the stopper is driven by the vertical actuator to move up and down through a slit formed in the bag receiving plate, and is freely retractable between a protruding position in which the stopper protrudes from the slit and stops at a predetermined position when the stopper comes into contact with the bag conveyed along the conveying path, and a retracted position in which the stopper retracts downward from the conveying path and does not come into contact with the bag, When stopping the transported bag, the stopper is in a protruding position protruding from the transport path, while when delivering the bag to a packaging machine, the stopper is in a retracted position retracted downward from the transport path so as not to come into contact with the bag, The vertical actuator is attached to a support bracket having the bag receiving plate attached to the upper portion, and the support bracket is fixed with screws onto a support base fixed at a predetermined position at the lower end of the tip of the bag conveying mechanism, and is assembled in a state in which the position relative to the bag conveying direction can be adjusted by loosening the screws, and the positions of the bag receiving plate and the stopper can be set. A bag conveying mechanism in a bag supplying device.

2. The bag conveying mechanism in the bag supplying device described in claim 1, characterized in that the bag receiving plate has at least two sensors on both sides of the center of the tip to detect whether or not the both sides of the tip of the bag have stopped accurately without tilting, a sensor to prevent the bag from overrunning is located at the rear center of the tip, slits are formed outside the two sensors on both sides of the center of the tip through which the stopper moves in and out, and a plurality of holes are formed for sending in air to prevent fine scratches on the bag surface due to contact between the bag and the bag receiving plate.

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