Bag feeding device

Abstract

To provide a bag feeder capable of suitably feeding a bag to a next process.SOLUTION: A bag feeder 10 comprises a transportation belt 26 transporting a bag 100 along a transportation direction d1 while supporting the bag 100 from below and a plurality of feed belts 37 feeding the bag 100 along the transportation direction d1 while contacting the bag 100 from above. The feed belt 37 extends parallel to the transportation direction d1 when viewed from the above, and at least two of the plurality of feed belts 37 are swingable independently from each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a bag supplying device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a bag supplying device is used to supply bags to a bag processing machine such as a bag filling and packaging machine. Patent Document 1 discloses a bag replenishing device that includes a belt conveyor for transporting bags, a replenishing roll arranged above the belt conveyor, an actuator for moving the replenishing roll up and down, a stopper for blocking the bags, and a cup attached to a block that swings up and down. In this replenishing device, after the bags sent out by the belt conveyor and the replenishing roll are stopped by the stopper, they are sucked up by the cup and lifted up, and are supplied to the next process.

[0003] In recent years, bags of various shapes have been used as bags for containing packaged items. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a bag that includes a storage section surrounded by a peripheral seal and a wing section, the wing section having a communication section communicating with the storage section and a steam passage, and that can exhaust steam generated within the bag through the communication section and the steam passage when heated in a microwave oven. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Utility Model Registration No. 2563016 [Patent Document 2] JP 2020-93821 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] A bag supplying device normally supplies bags one by one to the next process. In such a bag supplying device, it is required to reliably supply bags of various shapes one by one to the next process.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a bag supplying device that can appropriately supply bags to the next process. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The bag supplying device according to the present invention comprises: a conveyor belt that supports the bag from below and conveys the bag along a conveying direction; a plurality of feed belts that contact the bag from above and feed the bag along the conveying direction, The feed belt extends parallel to the conveying direction when viewed from above, At least two of the plurality of feed belts are capable of swinging independently of each other.

[0008] In the bag supplying device according to the present invention, The plurality of feed belts include a first feed belt contacting the center of the bag; a second feed belt disposed on one side of the first feed belt in a lateral direction perpendicular to the conveying direction; The conveyor may be made up of three conveyor belts, including a third conveyor belt disposed on the other side in the lateral direction with respect to the first conveyor belt.

[0009] The bag supplying device according to the present invention comprises: a conveyor belt that supports the bag from below and conveys the bag along a conveying direction; a feed belt that contacts the bag from above and sends out the bag along the conveying direction, The transport belt has a step portion disposed downstream in the transport direction relative to the feed belt.

[0010] The bag supplying device according to the present invention comprises: a conveyor belt that supports the bag from below and conveys the bag along a conveying direction; a feed belt that is stretched around a plurality of rollers, contacts the bag from above, and sends out the bag along the conveying direction; a swing drive unit that swings the feed belt, At least one of the rollers has a suction portion that attracts the bag.

[0011] The bag supplying device according to the present invention comprises: a conveyor belt that supports the bag from below and conveys the bag along a conveying direction; a feed belt that contacts the bag from above and sends out the bag along the conveying direction; A swing drive unit that swings the feed belt; a stopper that comes into contact with the bag conveyed by the conveyor belt to stop the bag; A sensor for detecting the leading end position of the bag; a control unit that controls the conveyor belt and the swing drive unit, The control unit rotates the conveyor belt in the reverse direction based on the detection result of the sensor, and causes the swing drive unit to swing the feed belt upward.

[0012] In the bag supplying device according to the present invention, The force with which the feed belt presses the bags may be changed depending on the surface properties of the bags and / or the environmental conditions of the bag supplying device. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a bag supplying device that can appropriately supply bags to the next process. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention, and is a side view showing the overall configuration of a bag supplying device. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a top view of the bag supplying device of FIG. [Diagram 3]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the bag supplying device of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the second embodiment of the present invention, and is a side view showing a part of a bag supplying device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the bag supplying device of FIG. [Figure 6A] FIG. 6A is a diagram for explaining the operation of the bag supplying device when the conveyor belt of the bag supplying device does not have a step portion. [Figure 6B] FIG. 6B is a diagram for explaining the operation of the bag supplying device when the conveyor belt of the bag supplying device does not have a step portion. [Figure 6C] FIG. 6C is a diagram for explaining the operation of the bag supplying device when the conveyor belt of the bag supplying device does not have a step portion. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the third embodiment of the present invention, and is a side view showing the overall configuration of a bag supplying device. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the bag supplying device of FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and is a side view showing a part of a bag supplying device. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the bag supplying device of FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the bag supplying device of FIG. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the bag supplying device of FIG. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the bag supplying device of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] First embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a side view showing the overall configuration of a bag supplying device 10 of the first embodiment, Fig. 2 is a top view of the bag supplying device 10, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the bag supplying device 10.

[0016] The bag supplying device 10 is used to supply bags 100 to, for example, a bagging packaging machine or the like. The shape, type, and state of the bag 100 are not particularly limited. The bag 100 may have a rectangular planar shape or another planar shape. The bag 100 may have a bag body 102 to which a fitting such as a spout or a fastener is attached. The bag 100 may have wing parts 104 (see Figs. 5 to 6C) for discharging steam generated within the bag 100 when heated in, for example, a microwave oven. The bag may be an empty bag (for example, a flat bag) or may have contents contained therein.

[0017] The bag supplying device 10 includes a support 11, a conveying section 20 that conveys the bags 100, a bag separating section 30 that separates the bags 100 one by one, a sending section 40 that sends out the bags 100 and positions them in a take-out area, a take-out section 54 that takes out the bags 100 from the take-out area, and a control section 60 that controls the entire bag supplying device 10. In this specification, the direction in which the bags 100 are conveyed is defined as a conveying direction d1, and directions perpendicular to the conveying direction d1 are defined as a horizontal direction d2 and a vertical direction d3. The conveying direction d1, the horizontal direction d2, and the vertical direction d3 are perpendicular to each other. The horizontal direction d2 coincides with the horizontal direction. In this embodiment, the conveying direction d1 is slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal direction so as to become lower toward the downstream side. Therefore, the vertical direction d3 is also slightly inclined with respect to the vertical direction. This is not limited to this, and the conveying direction d1 may coincide with the horizontal direction, and the vertical direction d3 may coincide with the vertical direction. The vertical direction is the direction in which gravity acts. The bags 100 are conveyed from the upstream side to the downstream side along the conveying direction d1 by the conveying section 20. Note that Fig. 2 is a top view seen along the vertical direction d3.

[0018] The support 11 supports the conveying section 20, the bag separating section 30, the sending section 40 and the removal section 54. The support 11 may be attached to a base placed on the floor surface, or may be placed directly on the floor surface. The upper surface of the support 11 extends parallel to both the conveying direction d1 and the lateral direction d2, and functions as a placement section on which the bags 100 are placed. Note that in FIG. 1, a portion of the support 11 is omitted, and the inside state of the support 11 is shown.

[0019] The conveying unit 20 has a function of conveying the bag 100 along the conveying direction d1. The conveying unit 20 has a conveying drive unit 21, a drive shaft 22, a drive roller 23, a driven shaft 24, a driven roller 25, and a conveying belt 26. The conveying drive unit 21 has a drive source such as a motor. The drive shaft 22 is connected to the drive source of the conveying drive unit 21 and rotates around its axis by the driving force of the drive source. The axis of the drive shaft 22 extends in the horizontal direction d2. The drive roller 23 is fixed to the drive shaft 22 and rotates together with the drive shaft 22. In FIG. 1, the drive shaft 22 and the drive roller 23 rotate clockwise. The driven shaft 24 is an axis arranged independently of the drive shaft 22. The axis of the driven shaft 24 extends in the horizontal direction d2. The driven shaft 24 is rotatable about its axis, but does not actively rotate because no drive source is connected to the driven shaft 24. The driven rollers 25 are fixed to the driven shaft 24 and rotate together with the driven shaft 24. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the conveying unit 20 has one drive roller 23 and two driven rollers 25.

[0020] The conveyor belt 26 is a member that supports the bag 100 from below and conveys it along the conveying direction d1. The conveyor belt 26 is an endless belt that is stretched around the driving roller 23 and the driven roller 25, and has a circular cross-sectional shape. However, the conveyor belt 26 is not limited to this, and can have any cross-sectional shape. In FIG. 1, the driving roller 23 rotates clockwise, and the conveyor belt 26 also rotates clockwise. The upper part of the conveyor belt 26 moves from the upstream side to the downstream side along the conveying direction d1. As a result, the bag 100 supported by the conveyor belt 26 is conveyed from the upstream side to the downstream side along the conveying direction d1. The height of the upper part of the conveyor belt 26 may be approximately the same as the height of the upper surface of the support 11. The height of the upper part of the conveyor belt 26 may be higher than the height of the upper surface of the support 11. The driven roller 25 also rotates clockwise with the rotation of the conveyor belt 26.

[0021] The conveying section 20 of this embodiment has a plurality of conveying belts 26 arranged in the horizontal direction d2. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the conveying section 20 has four conveying belts 26. However, this is not limited to this, and the conveying section 20 may have one conveying belt 26, or any number of conveying belts 26 equal to or greater than two. Each conveying belt 26 extends in a direction parallel to the conveying direction d1 when viewed from the vertical direction d3. The plurality of conveying belts 26 are arranged at equal intervals in the horizontal direction d2.

[0022] A plurality of bags 100 may be placed on the conveyor belt 26. The plurality of bags 100 may be placed on the conveyor belt 26 in a stacked state. For example, the plurality of bags 100 may be arranged in the conveyor belt 26 in the conveying direction d1, and may be stacked on one another in a state in which the front surface of one of the adjacent bags 100 (i.e., the bag 100 on the upstream side) and the back surface of the other bag (i.e., the bag 100 on the downstream side) are at least partially in contact with each other. The plurality of bags 100 on the conveyor belt 26 may be stacked on one another such that a bag located more upward in the stacking direction is located more downstream in the conveying direction d1. In this case, the bag separating unit 30 can separate the bag 100 located most upward in the stacking direction among the plurality of bags 100 on the conveyor belt 26 from the other bags 100 and send it out toward the sending unit 40.

[0023] The bag supplying device 10 has two guide portions 13 attached to the support 11. The guide portions 13 guide the bags 100 conveyed by the conveyor belt 26 in the conveying direction d1. The guide portions 13 are provided on one side and the other side of the conveyor belt 26 in the lateral direction d2. In other words, the conveyor belt 26 is located between the two guide portions 13 when viewed from the vertical direction d3. In FIG. 1, the guide portion 13 located on the front side is omitted, and only the guide portion 13 located on the back side is shown.

[0024] The bag separator 30 has a function of separating the bags 100 placed on the conveyor belt 26 one by one. The bag separator 30 has a belt drive unit 31, a drive shaft 32, a drive roller 33, a driven shaft 34, a driven roller 35, a feed belt 37, and a connecting member 36. The belt drive unit 31 has a drive source such as a motor. The drive shaft 32 is connected to the drive source of the belt drive unit 31 and rotates around its axis by the driving force of the drive source. The axis of the drive shaft 32 extends in the horizontal direction d2. The drive roller 33 is fixed to the drive shaft 32 and rotates together with the drive shaft 32. In FIG. 1, the drive shaft 32 and the drive roller 33 rotate counterclockwise. The bag supply device 10 has a support member 39 for supporting the drive shaft 32. The support member 39 is a member whose lower portion is fixed to the support body 11 and whose upper portion extends above the upper surface of the support body 11 .

[0025] The driven shaft 34 is a shaft disposed independently of the drive shaft 32. The axis of the driven shaft 34 extends in the horizontal direction d2. The driven shaft 34 is rotatable about its axis, but since no drive source is connected to the driven shaft 34, it does not actively rotate. The driven roller 35 is fixed to the driven shaft 34 and rotates together with the driven shaft 34. The connecting member 36 is a member that connects the drive shaft 32 and the driven shaft 34. In the example shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the connecting member 36 is a plate-shaped member.

[0026] The feed belt 37 is a member that contacts the bag 100 located at the top of the stacking direction, in other words, the bag 100 located at the most downstream in the conveying direction d1, among the multiple bags 100 placed on the conveyor belt 26, and sends the bag 100 downstream in the conveying direction d1. At this time, only the bag 100 that the feed belt 37 contacts, i.e., only the bag 100 located at the top of the stacking direction, is sent downstream in the conveying direction d1. Therefore, among the multiple bags 100 stacked on top of each other, the bag 100 located at the top of the stacking direction is separated from the other bags 100 and sent downstream in the conveying direction d1.

[0027] The feed belt 37 is an endless belt stretched over the drive roller 33 and the driven roller 35, and has a circular cross-sectional shape. However, the shape is not limited to this, and the feed belt 37 can have any cross-sectional shape. In FIG. 1, the drive roller 33 rotates counterclockwise, so that the feed belt 37 also rotates counterclockwise. With the rotation of the feed belt 37, the driven roller 35 also rotates counterclockwise. The part of the feed belt 37 located on the support 11 side (bag 100 side) moves from the upstream side to the downstream side along the conveying direction d1. In this embodiment, the drive shaft 32 is supported by a support part not shown. The connecting member 36 can swing around the drive shaft 32. In particular, the connecting member 36 can swing in a plane perpendicular to the lateral direction d2. Therefore, the driven shaft 34, the driven roller 35, and the feed belt 37 can swing around the drive shaft 32 together with the connecting member 36. In particular, the driven shaft 34, the driven roller 35, and the feed belt 37 can swing in a plane perpendicular to the lateral direction d2. The driven shaft 34, the driven roller 35, the feed belt 37, and the connecting member 36 receive a force due to gravity in a clockwise direction in FIG. 1 around the drive shaft 32. As a result, at least a part of the portion located on the lower side (support 11 side) of the feed belt 37 comes into contact with the bag 100 located at the topmost position in the stacking direction among the multiple bags 100 placed on the conveyor belt 26.

[0028] In the example shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the bag separation unit 30 has a first driven shaft 341, a first driven roller 351 fixed to the first driven shaft 341, a second driven shaft 342 arranged between the drive shaft 32 and the first driven shaft 341, and a second driven roller 352 fixed to the second driven shaft 342. The connecting member 36 connects the drive shaft 32, the first driven shaft 341, and the second driven shaft 342 to each other. In FIG. 1, the center of the second driven shaft 342 is located closer to the support 11 side (bag 100 side) than the line segment connecting the center of the drive shaft 32 and the center of the first driven shaft 341. The second driven roller 352 causes a part of the portion of the feed belt 37 located on the support 11 side (bag 100 side) to protrude toward the support 11 side (bag 100 side). In other words, the portion of the feed belt 37 located on the support body 11 side (bag 100 side) that is supported by the second driven roller 352 protrudes toward the support body 11 side (bag 100 side).

[0029] In the illustrated example, among the portions of the feed belt 37 located on the support 11 side (bag 100 side), a portion located between the portion supported by the first driven roller 351 and the portion supported by the second driven roller 352 contacts the bag 100 located at the top in the overlapping direction among the multiple bags 100 placed on the conveyor belt 26. This is not limited to the above, and among the portions of the feed belt 37 located on the support 11 side (bag 100 side), a portion including the portion supported by the first driven roller 351 may contact the bag 100 located at the top in the overlapping direction. Also, among the portions of the feed belt 37 located on the support 11 side (bag 100 side), a portion including the portion supported by the second driven roller 352 may contact the bag 100 located at the top in the overlapping direction.

[0030] In this embodiment, the bag separation section 30 has a plurality of feed belts 37. In particular, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the bag separation section 30 has four feed belts 37. The present invention is not limited to this, and the bag separation section 30 can have any number of feed belts 37, which is two or more. Each conveyor belt 26 extends in a direction parallel to the conveying direction d1 when viewed from above. Also, each conveyor belt 26 extends in a direction parallel to the conveying direction d1 when viewed from the vertical direction d3. The plurality of feed belts 37 are preferably disposed at positions symmetrical with respect to the lateral direction d2. The plurality of conveyor belts 26 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the lateral direction d2. For example, the plurality of conveyor belts 26 may be arranged at equal intervals in the lateral direction d2.

[0031] In this embodiment, the bag separation section 30 has a plurality of drive rollers 33. In particular, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the bag separation section 30 has three drive rollers 33. Also, the bag separation section 30 has three first driven rollers 351 and three second driven rollers 352. Furthermore, the bag separation section 30 has three connecting members 36. This is not limited to this, and the bag separation section 30 can have any number of drive rollers 33, first driven rollers 351, second driven rollers 352, and connecting members 36 that is two or more. The number of drive rollers 33, the number of first driven rollers 351, the number of second driven rollers 352, and the number of connecting members 36 may be the same. Also, the number of drive rollers 33, the number of first driven rollers 351, the number of second driven rollers 352, and the number of connecting members 36 may be different from each other.

[0032] The driving rollers 33, the first driven rollers 351, the second driven rollers 352, and the connecting members 36 are arranged in the horizontal direction d2. In the illustrated example, one driving roller 33, one first driven roller 351, and one second driven roller 352 are arranged in correspondence with one connecting member 36. This allows the connecting members 36 to swing independently of one another about the drive shaft 32. In particular, the connecting members 36 can swing independently of one another in a plane perpendicular to the horizontal direction d2. Therefore, the feed belts 37 can swing independently of one another about the drive shaft 32 together with the connecting members 36. In particular, the feed belts 37 can swing independently of one another in a plane perpendicular to the horizontal direction d2.

[0033] 2, two of the four feed belts 37 are stretched around the centrally arranged drive roller 33, first driven roller 351, and second driven roller 352 among three drive rollers 33, three first driven rollers 351, and three second driven rollers 352 arranged in the horizontal direction d2. Therefore, these two feed belts 37 can swing together around the drive shaft 32. In particular, these two feed belts 37 can swing together in a plane perpendicular to the horizontal direction d2.

[0034] Another one of the four feed belts 37 is stretched around the drive roller 33, the first driven roller 351, and the second driven roller 352 arranged on one side in the horizontal direction d2 with respect to the drive roller 33, the first driven roller 351, and the second driven roller 352 arranged in the center among the three drive rollers 33, the three first driven rollers 351, and the three second driven rollers 352 arranged in the horizontal direction d2. Another one of the four feed belts 37 is stretched around the drive roller 33, the first driven roller 351, and the second driven roller 352 arranged on the other side in the horizontal direction d2 with respect to the drive roller 33, the first driven roller 351, and the second driven roller 352 arranged in the center among the three drive rollers 33, the three first driven rollers 351, and the three second driven rollers 352 arranged in the horizontal direction d2.

[0035] Various kinds of bags 100 are used as the bags 100 handled by the bag supplying device 10. Some of these bags 100 have a uniform thickness, and some have a non-uniform thickness. In particular, bags 100 having a protrusion protruding in the thickness direction may be used. For example, a bag 100 having wing parts 104 (see Figs. 5 to 6C) for discharging steam generated in the bag 100 when heated in a microwave oven has a thickness of a part including the wing parts 104 that is greater than the thickness of other parts. Also, in a bag 100 having an exhaust hole for discharging steam generated in the bag 100, the thickness around the exhaust hole may be greater than the thickness of other parts. Also, in a bag 100 having a zipper for sealing the bag mouth, the zipper part may protrude in the thickness direction. In addition, in a bag 100 having a spout for filling the bag 100 with a packaged item or discharging it from the bag 100, the spout part protrudes in the thickness direction.

[0036] In the bag separation section 30, when the bag 100 having such a non-uniform thickness is sent downstream in the conveying direction d1, an unintended gap may be generated between the bag 100 and the feed belt 37. Specifically, when the feed belt 37 rides up on a thicker portion of the bag 100, a gap may be generated between a thinner portion of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37. This may cause a difference in the feed amount in the conveying direction d1 of the portion of the bag 100 that is in contact with the feed belt 37 (thicker portion) and the feed amount in the conveying direction d1 of the portion of the bag 100 that is not in contact with the feed belt 37 (thinner portion). In this case, the bag 100 may be deformed, such as wrinkled, or may rotate within its plane, resulting in improper conveyance.

[0037] In this embodiment, the bag separation section 30 has a plurality of feed belts 37, and at least two of the plurality of feed belts 37 are capable of swinging independently of each other. As a result, even if some of the feed belts 37 run over a thick portion of the bag 100, the other feed belts 37 capable of swinging independently of the feed belt 37 can continue to contact the thin portion of the bag 100. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent a difference from occurring between the feed amount of the thick portion of the bag 100 in the conveying direction d1 and the feed amount of the thin portion of the bag 100 in the conveying direction d1. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the bag 100 from being deformed, such as wrinkled, or from rotating within its plane, and to appropriately supply the bag 100 to the next process.

[0038] The bag separation unit 30 may have three feed belts 37 arranged in the horizontal direction d2. In particular, the multiple feed belts 37 may be composed of three feed belts: a first feed belt that contacts the center of the bag 100, a second feed belt that is arranged on one side of the first feed belt in the horizontal direction d2, and a third feed belt that is arranged on the other side of the first feed belt in the horizontal direction d2. The first feed belt may be arranged at the center of the horizontal direction d2 between the two guide units 13. In addition, the interval between the first feed belt and the second feed belt in the horizontal direction d2 and the interval between the first feed belt and the third feed belt in the horizontal direction d2 may be equal to each other. In this case, the first feed belt can be brought into contact with the center of the bag 100, the second feed belt can be brought into contact with a portion of the bag 100 closer to the end on one side of the horizontal direction d2 than the center, and the third feed belt can be brought into contact with a portion of the bag 100 closer to the end on the other side of the horizontal direction d2 than the center.

[0039] Depending on the type of bag 100, the thicker part may be located near the center in the horizontal direction d2. Also, the thicker part may be located on one side in the horizontal direction d2. Furthermore, the thicker part may be located on the other side in the horizontal direction d2. When the bag separation unit 30 has three feed belts 37 arranged in the horizontal direction d2, the feed belts 37 can be brought into contact with the thicker and thinner parts of the bag 100, regardless of whether the thicker part is located near the center in the horizontal direction d2, on one side in the horizontal direction d2, or on the other side in the horizontal direction d2. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively suppress the occurrence of a difference between the feed amount of the thicker part of the bag 100 in the conveying direction d1 and the feed amount of the thinner part of the bag 100 in the conveying direction d1. When the bag separation section 30 has three feed belts 37 arranged in the horizontal direction d2, it becomes easier to balance the feed amount in the horizontal direction d2, and deformation such as wrinkles in the bag 100 and rotation of the bag 100 within its plane can be further suppressed.

[0040] The sending unit 40 sends out the bags 100 on the conveyor belt 26 in the conveying direction d1 and positions them in a predetermined take-out area. The sending unit 40 shown in FIG. 1 has a rotating main body 46 fixedly attached to a drive shaft 44, and a plurality of flexible claws 48 extending so as to protrude radially from the periphery of the rotating main body 46 (i.e., in the radial direction of the rotating main body 46). The rotating main body 46 is actively rotated via the drive shaft 44 by a sending drive unit 42 (see FIG. 3 described later). The plurality of claws 48 are provided at equal angular intervals around the drive shaft 44, and move in the rotational direction around the drive shaft 44 in response to the rotation of the rotating main body 46.

[0041] While moving in the rotation direction, each of the claws 48 comes into contact with the bag 100 on the conveyor belt 26 from above, and then moves toward the stopper 15 while pressing the bag 100 against the conveyor belt 26 below. As a result, the bag 100 on the conveyor belt 26 receives a force from the claws 48 acting in the conveying direction d1, and is sent in the conveying direction d1 toward the stopper 15. Therefore, the send-out unit 40 shown in Fig. 1 rotates counterclockwise around the drive shaft 44. Then, when the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 reaches a position where it comes into contact with the stopper 15, the bag 100 is positioned in the removal area.

[0042] The sending-out unit 40 can be positioned at a sending-out position (shown by a solid line in FIG. 1) that is a position relatively close to the conveying unit 20 (particularly the conveyor belt 26), and at a retracted position (shown by a dashed line in FIG. 1) that is a position relatively far from the conveying unit 20. The bags 100 on the conveyor belt 26 are contacted and sent out by the sending-out unit 40 that is positioned at the sending-out position, but are not subjected to any force from the sending-out unit 40 that is positioned at the retracted position.

[0043] The stopper 15 is fixedly provided on the support 11 and protrudes upward from the upper surface of the support 11. The stopper 15 is located downstream of the sending-out section 40 in the conveying direction d1 and restricts the movement of the bag 100 sent from the sending-out section 40 in the conveying direction d1. The portion of the upper surface of the support 11 located between the conveyor belt 26 and the stopper 15 has the same height as the upper surface of the conveyor belt 26. The bag 100 sent out by the sending-out section 40 and placed in the take-out area is basically placed on the upper surface of the support 11 and the upper surface of the conveyor belt 26 with the leading portion 100a in contact with the stopper 15. Note that the bag 100 positioned in the take-out area does not necessarily need to be in strict contact with the stopper 15, and may be slightly (for example, several millimeters or less) away from the stopper 15 in the opposite direction to the conveying direction d1.

[0044] A sensor 52 is attached to the support 11 via a fixture (not shown). The sensor 52 monitors the presence or absence of a bag in the removal area through a through-hole (not shown) that the stopper 15 has.

[0045] The take-out unit 54 is driven by a take-out drive unit 56 (see FIG. 3 described later), and can be positioned at a take-out position (shown by a solid line in FIG. 1) that is a position relatively close to the conveyor unit 20 (particularly the conveyor belt 26), and a transfer position (shown by a dashed line in FIG. 1) that is a position relatively far from the conveyor unit 20. The take-out unit 54 that is positioned at the take-out position can hold the bag 100 positioned in the take-out area when the send-out unit 40 is positioned at the retracted position. In particular, the take-out unit 54 has an adsorption unit 58 at a portion that contacts the bag 100, and holds the bag 100 by adsorbing the bag 100 with this adsorption unit 58. Then, the take-out unit 54 moves from the take-out position to the transfer position while holding the bag 100.

[0046] The bag supplying device 10 includes a control unit 60 that controls various devices included in the bag supplying device 10. Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment. The control unit 60 is connected to, for example, a sensor 52, a conveyor drive unit 21 of the conveyor unit 20, a belt drive unit 31 of the bag separation unit 30, a delivery drive unit 42 of the delivery unit 40, and a take-out drive unit 56 of the take-out unit 54.

[0047] As described above, the sensor 52 detects the presence or absence of the bag 100 in the removal area, and transmits the detection result to the control unit 60. The sensor 52 can be configured by any sensor, and for example, the sensor 52 is configured by an optical sensor.

[0048] The conveyor drive unit 21 of the conveyor 20 drives the conveyor 20 under the control of the control unit 60 to convey the bags 100 in the conveying direction d1. In this embodiment, the conveyor drive unit 21 includes a drive source such as a motor for rotating the drive roller 23. For example, the conveyor drive unit 21 may intermittently rotate the drive roller 23 and intermittently run the conveyor belt 26 in the conveying direction d1.

[0049] The belt drive unit 31 of the bag separation unit 30 drives the bag separation unit 30 under the control of the control unit 60, and sends out the bags 100 from the bag separation unit 30 toward the sending unit 40. In this embodiment, the belt drive unit 31 includes a drive source such as a motor for rotating the drive roller 33.

[0050] For example, the belt driving unit 31 drives the bag separation unit 30 based on the detection result of the sensor 52. While the sensor 52 detects that a bag 100 is present in the take-out area (i.e., the area between the send-out unit 40 arranged at the send-out position and the stopper 15), the control unit 60 may control the belt driving unit 31 to stop the operation of the bag separation unit 30 so that a new bag 100 is not sent to the send-out unit 40. On the other hand, when the sensor 52 detects that a bag 100 is not present in the take-out area, the control unit 60 may control the belt driving unit 31 to operate the bag separation unit 30 so that a new bag 100 is sent to the send-out unit 40.

[0051] For example, while sensor 52 does not detect that bags 100 are not present in the removal area, control unit 60 may control belt drive unit 31 so that bag separation unit 30 intermittently sends out bags 100 one after another at a constant rhythm. On the other hand, while sensor 52 detects that bags 100 are present in the removal area, control unit 60 may control belt drive unit 31 so that bag separation unit 30 does not send out bags 100.

[0052] The delivery drive unit 42 of the delivery unit 40 drives the delivery unit 40 under the control of the control unit 60. In this embodiment, the delivery drive unit 42 includes a drive source such as a motor for rotating the drive shaft 44.

[0053] For example, control unit 60 controls output drive unit 42 based on the detection result of sensor 52. While sensor 52 detects that bags 100 are present in the take-out area, control unit 60 may control output drive unit 42 to stop the rotation of output unit 40 so that new bags 100 are not sent to the take-out area. On the other hand, while sensor 52 detects that bags 100 are not present in the take-out area, control unit 60 may control output drive unit 42 to rotate output unit 40.

[0054] The delivery drive unit 42 may continue to rotate the delivery unit 40 regardless of the detection result of the sensor 52.

[0055] The take-out drive unit 56 of the take-out unit 54 drives and moves the take-out unit 54 under the control of the control unit 60, and places the take-out unit 54 at the take-out position and the transfer position. For example, while the send-out unit 40 is placed at the send-out position, the control unit 60 may control the take-out drive unit 56 to place the take-out unit 54 at the transfer position. On the other hand, while the send-out unit 40 is placed at the retracted position, the control unit 60 may control the take-out drive unit 56 to place the take-out unit 54 at the take-out position.

[0056] Next, a description will be given of an example of the operation of the bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment. The operation described below is performed by the control unit 60 appropriately controlling various devices provided in the bag supplying device 10.

[0057] With the sending section 40 disposed at the sending position and the removal section 54 disposed at the transfer position, the bag 100 is sent out toward the sending section 40 by the bag separation section 30. The driven shaft 34, the driven roller 35, the connecting member 36, and the feed belt 37 of the bag separation section 30 can swing about the drive shaft 32. Due to the action of gravity, at least a part of the portion located on the lower side (the support body 11 side) of the feed belt 37 contacts the bag 100 located at the top in the stacking direction among the multiple bags 100 placed on the conveyor belt 26. When the belt drive section 31 rotates the drive shaft 32 counterclockwise in FIG. 1, the feed belt 37 also rotates counterclockwise. As a result, the bag 100 in contact with the feed belt 37 is sent out downstream in the conveying direction d1 toward the sending section 40.

[0058] In this embodiment, the bag separation section 30 has a plurality of feed belts 37, and at least two of the plurality of feed belts 37 are capable of swinging independently of each other. As a result, even if some of the feed belts 37 run over a thicker portion of the bag 100, the other feed belts 37 capable of swinging independently of the feed belt 37 can continue to contact the thinner portion of the bag 100.

[0059] The bag 100 that has reached the delivery section 40 is delivered downstream in the conveying direction d1 by the rotating delivery section 40, and the leading portion 100a is pressed against the stopper 15. As a result, the bag 100 is disposed in the removal area.

[0060] When the bag 100 is placed in the take-out area, the claw portion 48 of the delivery unit 40 may rotate or may stop rotating. For example, if the bag 100 has a sufficiently high rigidity, even if the delivery unit 40 rotates and continuously presses the bag 100 against the stopper 15, the bag 100 will not be excessively bent or creased. When the claw portion 48 of the delivery unit 40 stops rotating when the bag 100 is placed in the take-out area, the bag 100 is placed in an appropriate state in the take-out area. When the delivery unit 40 stops rotating, the delivery unit 40 may be placed in a state in which it is free to rotate forward. In this case, it is possible to effectively prevent excessive force from being applied from the delivery unit 40 to the bag 100 placed in the take-out area.

[0061] Then, with bags 100 placed in the removal area, delivery section 40 is placed in the retracted position, and removal section 54 is placed in the removal position. As a result, bags 100 placed in the removal area are adsorbed and held by suction section 58 of removal section 54.

[0062] In this embodiment, with the sending-out unit 40 disposed at the sending-out position, the take-out unit 54 moves from the transfer position and is disposed at the take-out position. That is, the bag 100 positioned in the take-out area is held by the take-out unit 54 in a state where it is sandwiched between the upper surface of the support 11, the conveyor belts 26, and the sending-out unit 40. This allows the take-out unit 54 to hold the desired part of the bag 100 with high positional accuracy while the sending-out unit 40 and the like prevent the bag 100 from shifting in position. Thereafter, with the take-out unit 54 holding the bag 100, the sending-out unit 40 moves from the sending-out position and is disposed at the retracted position.

[0063] Thereafter, the removal unit 54 moves from the removal position to the transfer position while holding the bag 100. In order to prevent a collision between the removal unit 54 and the delivery unit 40, the delivery unit 40 may be disposed at the delivery position after the removal unit 54 retreats from the removal position. That is, while the removal unit 54 moves from the removal position to the transfer position while holding the bag 100, the delivery unit 40 may be placed at the retreat position.

[0064] By disposing the take-out unit 54 at the transfer position while holding the bag 100, the bag 100 is disposed at a position (i.e., a delivery position) for being handed over to a downstream device (not shown). The bag 100 is then handed over from the take-out unit 54 to the downstream device (e.g., a gripper) at the delivery position. A new bag 100 is then sent out from the bag separation unit 30 towards the delivery unit 40, and the bag supplying device 10 repeats the above-mentioned operations.

[0065] The bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment includes a conveying belt 26 that supports the bag 100 from below and conveys the bag 100 along the conveying direction d1, and a plurality of feed belts 37 that contact the bag 100 from above and send the bag 100 out along the conveying direction d1, the feed belts 37 extending parallel to the conveying direction d1 when viewed from above, and at least two of the plurality of feed belts 37 are capable of swinging independently of each other.

[0066] According to this bag supplying device 10, even if some of the feed belts 37 run over thicker portions of the bags 100, the other feed belts 37, which can swing independently of the feed belts 37, can continue to contact thinner portions of the bags 100. This makes it possible to effectively prevent a difference from occurring between the feed amount of the thicker portions of the bags 100 in the conveying direction d1 and the feed amount of the thinner portions of the bags 100 in the conveying direction d1. This makes it possible to prevent the bags 100 from becoming deformed, such as wrinkled, or from rotating within their plane, and to properly supply the bags 100 to the next process.

[0067] In the bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment, the multiple feed belts 37 consist of three feed belts 37: a first feed belt that contacts the center of the bag 100, a second feed belt that is arranged on one side of the first feed belt in a horizontal direction d2 perpendicular to the conveying direction d1, and a third feed belt that is arranged on the other side of the first feed belt in the horizontal direction d2.

[0068] According to such a bag supplying device 10, it becomes easier to balance the feed amount in the horizontal direction d2, and it is further possible to prevent the bag 100 from being deformed, such as wrinkled, or from rotating within its plane.

[0069] Various modifications can be made to the first embodiment described above. Other embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In the following description and the drawings used in the following description, the same reference numerals as those used for the corresponding parts in the first embodiment described above will be used for parts that can be configured similarly to the first embodiment described above, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted.

[0070] Second embodiment FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention, and is a side view showing a part of bag supplying device 10, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of bag supplying device 10 of the present embodiment.

[0071] In the bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment, the conveyor belt 26 of the conveying section 20 has a step portion 27. The step portion 27 is disposed downstream in the conveying direction d1 with respect to the feed belt 37 of the bag separating section 30. The step portion 27 is a portion that protrudes upward in a portion of the conveyor belt 26 that is exposed on the upper surface of the support body 11, i.e., a portion of the conveyor belt 26 that may come into contact with the bag 100.

[0072] In the example shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, the conveying section 20 has a stepped roller 28 for forming a stepped portion 27 in the conveying belt 26. The stepped roller 28 is fixed to a driven shaft 29 and rotates together with the driven shaft 29. The driven shaft 29 is a shaft that is disposed independently of the driving shaft 22. The axis of the driven shaft 29 extends in the horizontal direction d2. No driving source is connected to the driven shaft 29, and the stepped roller 28 and the driven shaft 29 do not actively rotate.

[0073] The feed belt 37 is stretched across the drive roller 23, the two driven rollers 25, and the stepped roller 28. The stepped roller 28 is disposed so that the upper end of the stepped roller 28 protrudes further upward from the upper surface of the support 11. As a result, a stepped portion 27 is formed in the portion of the conveyor belt 26 supported by the stepped roller 28.

[0074] 6A to 6C are diagrams for explaining the operation of bag supplying device 10 when conveyor belt 26 does not have step portion 27. For example, when bags 100 have wing portions 104 for discharging steam generated within bags 100 when heated in a microwave oven, leading portion 100a of a following bag 100 may get between bag body 102 and wing portion 104 of bag 100 located relatively forward (downstream in conveying direction d1), and these bags 100 may not be completely separated in bag separating section 30. In this case, these bags 100 may be disposed in the removal area through delivery section 40 without being completely separated (see FIG. 6A).

[0075] In the removal area, while these bags 100 are not completely separated, the bag 100 located at the front side is sucked and held by the suction portion 58 of the removal section 54 (see FIG. 6B).

[0076] When the take-out unit 54 moves from the take-out position to the transfer position (see FIG. 6C), the bag 100 located at the front side in the take-out area is lifted up. At this time, the following bag 100 falls out from between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 of the bag 100 located at the front side, and falls into the take-out area or an area adjacent to the take-out area. For example, the following bag 100 falls onto the stopper 15. The dropped bag 100 may further hinder the conveyance of the following bag 100 or the take-out by the take-out unit 54. Furthermore, if the following bag 100 does not fall out from between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 of the bag 100 located at the front side, the two bags 100 are delivered to a downstream device (e.g., a gripper) without being separated.

[0077] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the bag 100 sent out by the bag separation unit 30 toward the delivery unit 40 rises up from the conveyor belt 26 when it passes over the step portion 27. In particular, when the rear end of the bag 100 (the end on the upstream side in the conveying direction d1) is located between the first driven roller 351 of the bag separation unit 30 and the conveyor belt 26, when the front portion of the bag 100 (the portion including the leading portion 100a) passes over the step portion 27, the front portion rises up from the conveyor belt 26. At this time, the wing portion 104 of the bag 100 located below the bag body 102 starts to hang down from the bag body 102 due to the action of gravity, and the gap between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 becomes larger. As a result, the leading portion 100a of the following bag 100 separates from the gap between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 of the bag 100 located on the front side. Therefore, even if the leading portion 100a of the following bag 100 gets stuck between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 of the bag 100 located at the front side, these bags 100 can be separated.

[0078] The bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment comprises a conveying belt 26 that supports the bag 100 from below and conveys the bag 100 along the conveying direction d1, and a feed belt 37 that contacts the bag 100 from above and sends the bag 100 out along the conveying direction d1, and the conveying belt 26 has a step portion 27 arranged downstream of the feed belt 37 in the conveying direction d1.

[0079] With this bag supplying device 10, even if the leading portion 100a of a following bag 100 is caught between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 of the bag 100 located at the front side, it is possible to separate these bags 100. Therefore, the bags 100 can be appropriately supplied from the bag supplying device 10 to the next process.

[0080] Third embodiment FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the third embodiment of the present invention, and is a side view showing the overall configuration of the bag supplying device 10. As shown in FIG.

[0081] In the bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment, the bag separation section 30 has a swinging drive section 38 that actively swings the feed belt 37. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the bag supplying device 10 has a support member 39 for supporting the drive shaft 32 and the swinging drive section 38. The support member 39 is a member whose lower part is fixed to the support body 11 and whose upper part extends above the upper surface of the support body 11. The swinging drive section 38 is, for example, an actuator that can actively expand and contract. In the example shown, one end of the swinging drive section 38 is attached to the upper part of the support body 11, and the other end of the swinging drive section 38 is attached to the connecting member 36 of the bag separation section 30. When the swinging drive section 38 expands, the connecting member 36 swings and descends, and the feed belt 37 also descends. When the swinging drive section 38 contracts, the connecting member 36 swings and ascends, and the feed belt 37 also ascends. Such an operation of the swinging drive section 38 is controlled by the control section 60. In addition, the swing drive unit 38 is not limited to the expandable actuator described above, as long as it can swing the feed belt 37.

[0082] In this embodiment, at least one of the rollers 33, 351, 352 of the bag separation unit 30 has an adsorption portion 72 that adsorbs the bag 100. Specifically, at least one of the drive roller 33, the first driven roller 351, and the second driven roller 352 of the bag separation unit 30 has an adsorption portion 72. In the example shown in Fig. 7, the first driven roller 351 has the adsorption portion 72. The adsorption portion 72 has a function of adsorbing and holding the bag 100.

[0083] The suction unit 72 includes suction holes 73 communicating with the circumferential surface of the first driven roller 351 and an suction drive unit 74 that applies suction force to the suction holes 73. The suction holes 73 are open in a portion of the circumferential surface of the first driven roller 351 that is exposed from the feed belt 37. In the example shown in FIG. 7, six suction holes 73 are provided at equal angular intervals along the circumferential direction of the first driven roller 351, and these six suction holes 73 are connected inside the first driven roller 351. The suction drive unit 74 includes a drive source that generates negative pressure. The suction holes 73 and the suction drive unit 74 are connected by a pipe (not shown), and the negative pressure generated by the suction drive unit 74 acts on each suction hole 73. The operation of the suction drive unit 74 is controlled by the control unit 60. The specific number and arrangement pattern of the suction holes 73 are arbitrary.

[0084] 8 is a block diagram of the bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the control unit 60 is connected to, for example, the sensor 52, the conveyor drive unit 21 of the conveyor unit 20, the belt drive unit 31 of the bag separation unit 30, the swing drive unit 38, the suction drive unit 74, the delivery drive unit 42 of the delivery unit 40, and the take-out drive unit 56 of the take-out unit 54.

[0085] The swing drive unit 38 is driven under the control of the control unit 60 to swing the feed belt 37. In this embodiment, the swing drive unit 38 includes an actuator that can actively expand and contract.

[0086] The suction driving unit 74 is driven under the control of the control unit 60, and adsorbs the bag 100 through the suction hole 73 provided in at least one of the plurality of rollers 33, 351, 352. In this embodiment, the suction driving unit 74 includes a drive source that generates a negative pressure.

[0087] In this embodiment, when the swing drive unit 38 is extended and the feed belt 37 is lowered, the suction drive unit 74 sucks through the suction hole 73. When the feed belt 37 is driven and the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 located at the top of the multiple bags 100 on the conveyor belt 26 in the stacking direction is positioned between the first driven roller 351 and the conveyor belt 26, the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 is sucked to the suction hole 73. When the swing drive unit 38 is contracted in this state, the first driven roller 351 and the feed belt 37 rise. At this time, the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 is sucked to the suction hole 73, so that it rises together with the first driven roller 351. That is, the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 is lifted by the suction unit 72. As a result, the bag 100 is separated from the following bag 100.

[0088] It is preferable that the height of the bottom of the feed belt 37 when the first driven roller 351 and the feed belt 37 are raised is lower than the corresponding height of the guide portion 13. More specifically, it is preferable that the height of the bottom of the portion of the feed belt 37 supported by the first driven roller 351 when the first driven roller 351 and the feed belt 37 are raised is lower than the height of a portion of the guide portion 13 located in the lateral direction d2 of the first driven roller 351. This makes it possible to prevent the subsequent bag 100 separated from the bag 100 lifted by the suction portion 72 from falling onto the guide portion 13 or outside the guide portion 13.

[0089] For example, when the bag 100 has a wing portion 104, the leading portion 100a of the following bag 100 may get caught between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 of the bag 100 located on the front side (downstream side in the conveying direction d1). When the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 located on the front side is lifted by the suction portion 72, the wing portion 104 located below the bag body 102 hangs down from the bag body 102 due to the action of gravity. Therefore, the gap between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 becomes larger. As a result, the leading portion 100a of the following bag 100 leaves the gap between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 of the bag 100 located on the front side. Therefore, even when the leading portion 100a of the following bag 100 gets caught between the bag body 102 and the wing portion 104 of the bag 100 located on the front side, these bags 100 can be separated.

[0090] After the bag 100 located at the front side is separated from the succeeding bag 100, the swing drive unit 38 may be extended to lower the feed belt 37, and the bag 100 located at the front side may be sent to the sending-out unit 40 by the feed belt 37 and the conveyor belt 26. Alternatively, after the bag 100 located at the front side is separated from the succeeding bag 100, the feed belt 37 may be driven with the first driven roller 351 kept lifted, and the bag 100 located at the front side may be sent downstream in the conveying direction d1 by an arbitrary distance, and then the swing drive unit 38 may be extended to lower the feed belt 37. When the feed belt 37 is lowered, the bag 100 located at the front side is sent to the sending-out unit 40 by the feed belt 37 and the conveyor belt 26.

[0091] The bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment comprises a conveying belt 26 that supports the bag 100 from below and conveys the bag 100 along the conveying direction d1, a feed belt 37 that is stretched around multiple rollers 33, 351, 352 and contacts the bag 100 from above and sends the bag 100 out along the conveying direction d1, and an oscillating drive unit 38 that oscillates the feed belt 37, and at least one of the multiple rollers 33, 351, 352 has an suction unit 72 that adsorbs the bag 100.

[0092] According to this bag supplying device 10, by driving the swing drive unit 38 to raise the suction unit 72, the bag 100 adsorbed to the suction unit 72 can be lifted. This allows the bag 100 adsorbed to the suction unit 72 to be sufficiently separated from the following bags 100. Therefore, the bag 100 can be appropriately supplied from the bag supplying device 10 to the next process.

[0093] Fourth embodiment FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and is a side view showing a part of the bag supplying device 10. As shown in FIG.

[0094] The bag supplying device 10 of the present embodiment has a swing drive unit 38 and a support member 39. The swing drive unit 38 and the support member 39 of the present embodiment may be configured similarly to the swing drive unit 38 and the support member 39 of the third embodiment.

[0095] 10 is a block diagram of the bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the control unit 60 is connected to, for example, the sensor 52, the conveyor drive unit 21 of the conveyor unit 20, the belt drive unit 31 and the swing drive unit 38 of the bag separation unit 30, the delivery drive unit 42 of the delivery unit 40, and the take-out drive unit 56 of the take-out unit 54.

[0096] The swing drive unit 38 is driven under the control of the control unit 60 to swing the feed belt 37. In this embodiment, the swing drive unit 38 includes an actuator that can actively expand and contract.

[0097] 11 to 13 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the bag supplying device 10 of the present embodiment.

[0098] With the sending-out section 40 disposed at the sending position and the take-out section 54 disposed at the transfer position, the bag 100 is sent out towards the sending-out section 40 by the bag separation section 30. The bag 100 that has reached the sending-out section 40 is sent out downstream in the conveying direction d1 by the rotating sending-out section 40, and the leading portion 100a is pressed against the stopper 15. As a result, the bag 100 is placed in the take-out area.

[0099] At this time, as shown in Fig. 9, the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 may curl upward. In this case, the position of the bag 100 in the removal area is significantly shifted from its original position. If the position of the bag 100 is shifted, the height of the bag 100 when it is sucked and held by the suction portion 58 of the removal unit 54 changes. This may cause problems in the transfer of the bag 100 from the removal unit 54 to a downstream device (e.g., a gripper).

[0100] In this embodiment, when the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 placed in the take-out area curls upward, this leading portion 100a is detected by the sensor 52. In other words, the sensor 52 can detect that the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 placed in the take-out area has curled upward.

[0101] When the control unit 60 receives a signal from the sensor 52 indicating that the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 placed in the take-out area has curled upward, it controls the swing drive unit 38 to raise the feed belt 37 (see FIG. 11). This causes the feed belt 37 to move away from the bag 100 placed on the conveyor unit 20. In other words, a gap is formed between the feed belt 37 and the bag 100 placed on the conveyor unit 20.

[0102] Next, the control unit 60 controls the conveying drive unit 21 and the output drive unit 42 to move the bag 100 arranged in the take-out area upstream in the conveying direction d1. Specifically, the control unit 60 rotates the conveying drive unit 21 and the output drive unit 42 in the reverse direction. As a result, the bag 100 arranged in the take-out area is moved upstream in the conveying direction d1 by the conveying belt 26 of the conveying unit 20 and the claw portion 48 of the output unit 40 (see FIG. 12). At this time, the rear end of the bag 100 (the end on the upstream side in the conveying direction d1) may enter the gap between the feed belt 37 and the bag 100 placed on the conveying unit 20. However, this is not limited thereto, and the bag 100 arranged in the take-out area and with the leading portion 100a curled upward may be moved upstream in the conveying direction d1 at least to such an extent that the curl of the leading portion 100a is eliminated and the leading portion 100a is separated from the stopper 15.

[0103] Thereafter, the control unit 60 controls the swing drive unit 38 to lower the feed belt 37. As a result, the feed belt 37 comes into contact with the returned bag 100. The control unit 60 controls the bag separation unit 30 to send the bag 100 again toward the output unit 40. The bag 100 that has reached the output unit 40 is sent downstream in the conveying direction d1 by the rotating output unit 40, and the leading portion 100a is pressed against the stopper 15. As a result, the bag 100 is positioned again in the removal area (see FIG. 13).

[0104] When the control unit 60 does not receive a signal from the sensor 52 indicating that the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 placed in the take-out area has curled upward, it controls the take-out drive unit 56 to perform a take-out operation by the take-out unit 54. The take-out operation in this embodiment is similar to the take-out operation in the first embodiment.

[0105] On the other hand, when control unit 60 receives a signal from sensor 52 indicating that leading portion 100a of bag 100 placed in the take-out area has curled upward, it repeats the operation described with reference to Figures 11 to 13. If this operation has been repeated a predetermined number of times and sensor 52 still outputs a signal indicating that leading portion 100a of bag 100 placed in the take-out area has curled upward, control unit 60 may stop the operation of bag supplying device 10 as a whole and notify that an abnormality has occurred in bag supplying device 10.

[0106] The bag supplying device 10 of this embodiment includes a conveying belt 26 that supports the bag 100 from below and conveys the bag 100 along the conveying direction d1, a feed belt 37 that contacts the bag 100 from above and sends the bag 100 out along the conveying direction d1, a swing drive unit 38 that swings the feed belt 37, a stopper 15 that abuts against the bag 100 conveyed by the conveying belt 26 to stop the bag 100, a sensor 52 that detects the tip position of the bag 100, and a control unit 60 that controls the conveying belt 26 and the swing drive unit 38, and based on the detection result of the sensor 52, the control unit 60 reverses the rotation of the conveying belt 26 and causes the swing drive unit 38 to swing the feed belt 37 upward.

[0107] According to the bag supplying device 10, when the sensor 52 detects that the leading portion 100a of the bag 100 arranged in the take-out area has curled upward, the bag 100 can be moved upstream in the conveying direction d1 and rearranged in the take-out area again. This makes it possible to prevent the arrangement position of the bag 100 in the take-out area from being significantly shifted from its original position. Therefore, the height of the bag 100 when the bag 100 is sucked and held by the suction portion 58 of the take-out unit 54 can be maintained within a predetermined range. This allows the bag 100 to be stably delivered from the take-out unit 54 to a downstream device (e.g., a gripper). Therefore, the bag 100 can be appropriately supplied from the bag supplying device 10 to the next process.

[0108] As a modification of this embodiment, the force with which feed belts 37 press bags 100 may be changed depending on the surface properties of bags 100 and / or the environmental conditions of bag supplying device 10. Specifically, control unit 60 may control swing drive unit 38 so that the force with which feed belts 37 press bags 100 is changed depending on the surface properties of bags 100 and / or the environmental conditions of bag supplying device 10. The force with which feed belts 37 press bags 100 refers to the force with which feed belts 37 press bags 100 against the upper surface of support body 11 or conveyor belt 26 of conveyor unit 20.

[0109] As the surface property of the bag 100, for example, the magnitude of friction of the surface of the bag 100 can be used. More specifically, the coefficient of friction between the surface of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37 of the bag separation section 30 can be used. For example, when the coefficient of friction between the surface of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37 of the bag separation section 30 is small, that is, when slippage is likely to occur between the surface of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37, the force with which the feed belt 37 presses the bag 100 can be increased. On the other hand, when the coefficient of friction between the surface of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37 of the bag separation section 30 is large, that is, when slippage is unlikely to occur between the surface of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37, the force with which the feed belt 37 presses the bag 100 may be reduced. Note that this is not limited to this, and the force with which the feed belt 37 presses the bag 100 may be changed depending on other surface properties of the bag 100.

[0110] The environmental conditions of the bag supplying device 10 may be, for example, the temperature and humidity of the space in which the bag supplying device 10 is installed. For example, when the temperature of the space in which the bag supplying device 10 is installed is low, the material constituting the bag 100 becomes relatively hard and slippage is likely to occur between the surface of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37, so the force with which the feed belt 37 presses the bag 100 may be increased. On the other hand, when the temperature of the space in which the bag supplying device 10 is installed is high, the material constituting the bag 100 becomes relatively soft and slippage is unlikely to occur between the surface of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37, so the force with which the feed belt 37 presses the bag 100 may be decreased. Also, for example, when the humidity of the space in which the bag supplying device 10 is installed is low, slippage is likely to occur between the surface of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37, so the force with which the feed belt 37 presses the bag 100 may be increased. On the other hand, when the humidity of the space in which the bag supplying device 10 is installed is high, slippage is unlikely to occur between the surface of the bag 100 and the feed belt 37, so the force with which the feed belt 37 presses the bag 100 may be decreased. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the force with which the feed belts 37 press the bags 100 may be changed depending on other environmental conditions of the bag supplying device 10.

[0111] In the bag supplying device 10 of this modified example, the force with which the feed belts 37 press the bags 100 is changed depending on the surface properties of the bags 100 and / or the environmental conditions of the bag supplying device 10.

[0112] According to this bag supplying device 10, the force with which the feed belts 37 press the bags 100 is changed depending on the degree of slipperiness between the surface of the bags 100 and the feed belts 37, which is due to the surface properties of the bags 100 and / or the environmental conditions of the bag supplying device 10, so that the bags 100 can be stably separated in the bag separating section 30. This allows the bags 100 to be appropriately supplied from the bag supplying device 10 to the next process. [Explanation of symbols]

[0113] 10 Bag feeding device 11 Support 13 Guide section 15 Stopper 20 Conveyor section 21 Conveyor drive unit 22 Drive shaft 23 Drive roller 24 Driven axis 25 Driven roller 26 Conveyor belt 27 Step 28 Step roller 29 Driven axis 30 Bag separation section 31 Belt drive unit 32 Drive shaft 33 Drive roller 34 Driven axis 341 1st driven axis 342 2nd driven axis 35 Driven roller 351 First driven roller 352 Second driven roller 36 Connecting members 37 Feed belt 38 Swing drive unit 40 Transmission section 42 Delivery drive unit 52 Sensors 54 Removal part 60 Control section 72 Adsorption part 74 Adsorption drive unit 100 bags 102 Bag body 104 Wing d1 Transport direction d2 horizontal direction d3 Vertical

Claims

[Claim 1] a conveyor belt that supports the bag from below and conveys the bag along a conveying direction; a feed belt that contacts the bag from above and sends out the bag along the conveying direction; A swing drive unit that swings the feed belt; a stopper that comes into contact with the bag conveyed by the conveyor belt to stop the bag; A sensor for detecting the leading end position of the bag; A control unit that controls the conveyor belt and the swing drive unit, The control unit rotates the conveyor belt in a reverse direction based on a detection result of the sensor, and causes the swing drive unit to swing the feed belt upward. A bag supplying device in which the force with which the feed belt presses the bags is changed depending on the surface properties of the bags and / or the environmental conditions of the bag supplying device.

Images