Packaging device

Abstract

To provide a packaging apparatus capable of packaging with appropriate dimensions according to a size of an object to be packaged.SOLUTION: A packaging apparatus 1 pulls out a film 12 wound in a roll-shape in a double-folded state, inserts a workpiece W between the film 12 in the double-folded state, and fuses three open sides of the film 12 so as to form a bag shape by using an L-shaped sealing member 40 in an L-shape in a plan view. The L-shaped sealing member 40 includes: a side seal 41 that extends in a transport direction of the workpiece W and welds and fuses one end of the film 12; and an end seal 42 that extends in a width direction orthogonal to the side seal 41 and fuses front and rear portions of the film 12 in the transport direction. The side seal 41 is movable along the end seal 42 in the width direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a packaging machine. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in the field of heat shrink packaging in which products are tightly packed with heat shrink film (shrink film), a method is known in which a rolled heat shrink film is pulled out in half, the packaged item is placed between the folded film, and the three open sides (front, back, and one end) of the film are thermally cut with an L-shaped sealing member to form a bag (for example, Patent Document 1). The L-shaped sealing member welds or cuts one end of the film with a first sealing part extending in the conveying direction of a conveyor that conveys the packaged item, and melts the front and back parts of the film in the conveying direction with a second sealing part extending in the width direction of the conveyor and extending in a direction approximately perpendicular to the first sealing part. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-130021 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] With the conventional L-seal method, the length of the bag in the conveying direction can be adjusted freely according to the size of the package by changing the fusion-cutting position in the conveying direction of the conveyor. However, the fusion-cutting position in the conveyor width direction cannot be freely changed.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a packaging device capable of packaging items with appropriate dimensions according to the size of the items to be packaged. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A packaging device according to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention is a packaging device that pulls out a rolled sheet folded in half, places an item to be packaged between the folded sheets, and forms a bag by joining and cutting three open sides of the sheet with an L-shaped sealing member that is L-shaped in a plan view, and seals the folded sheet at a reference position that is a predetermined distance from a folded part that is an end of the folded sheet on one side in a width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of the item to be packaged, so that the item to be packaged is placed between the folded sheet. The L-shaped sealing member includes a first sealing section that extends in the conveying direction of the packaged item and that sandwiches the packaged item between the folded portion and joins and cuts one end of the sheet on the opposite side in the width direction to the folded portion, and a second sealing section that extends in the width direction perpendicular to the first sealing section and joins and cuts front and rear portions of the sheet in the conveying direction, the second sealing section is fixedly disposed at a predetermined position in the conveying direction, and the first sealing section is movable along the width direction relative to the second sealing section. the sheet is a plastic film, the L-shaped sealing member welds and cuts the film, the one end of the sheet is a portion including an end portion on the other side in the width direction where the two sheets overlap and are not connected to each other, the end portion being opposite the folded portion which is an end portion on one side in the width direction of the sheet folded in half, the first sealing portion has a welding portion which welds the film, and a welding portion which is arranged parallel to the welding portion and which welds the film, the welding portion is arranged closer to the end portion on the other side of the film than the welding portion, and the welding portion and the welding portion are independently movable along the width direction relative to the second sealing portion. . Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, a packaging device can be provided that is capable of packaging with appropriate dimensions according to the size of the packaged item. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a packaging device according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an L-shaped seal member; [Diagram 3] A diagram explaining film melting using an L-shaped seal member for a small-sized workpiece [Figure 4] Diagram showing the difference in melting position depending on the size of the workpiece [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a moving structure of a side seal; [Figure 6] Flowchart of packaging control of workpieces by the packaging device of the embodiment [Figure 7] Diagram showing an example of adjusting the height of the seal position DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same components in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and duplicated description will be omitted.

[0010] In the following description, the x, y, and z directions are perpendicular to each other. The x and y directions are horizontal, and the z direction is vertical. The x direction is the direction in which the workpiece W is transported by the transport unit 30. The y direction is the width direction of the belt of the belt conveyor that constitutes the transport unit 30. In the following description, for convenience of explanation, the positive z direction side may be referred to as the upper side, and the negative z direction side may be referred to as the lower side.

[0011] Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a packaging device 1 according to an embodiment. The packaging device 1 shown in Fig. 1 pulls out a rolled film 12 (sheet) folded in half, places a workpiece W (packaged item) between the film folded in half, and forms a bag by thermally fusing the three open sides of the film 12 with an L-shaped sealing member 40. Note that the packaging device 1 can also perform heat shrink packaging in which a film having heat shrinkability is used as the film 12, the heat shrinkable film is fusing to produce a bag body for accommodating the workpiece W therein, and then the bag body is heated and thermally shrunk to tightly pack the workpiece W.

[0012] In this embodiment, a plastic film is exemplified as an example of a sheet used by the packaging device 1, but the sheet is not limited to this. The sheet may be thin enough to be deformable so as to fit the three-dimensional shape of the workpiece W. The sheet includes a plastic sheet and a paper sheet. The plastic film 12 exemplified in this embodiment is an example of a plastic sheet.

[0013] The type of plastic film 12 includes a heat shrinkable film. Examples of materials for the plastic sheet (film) include polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), polyamide (PA), and low-density polyethylene (LPDE). The thickness of the plastic film is, for example, about 0.020 mm to 0.100 mm. In this embodiment, for example, a film 12 made of LPDE and having a thickness of 0.030 mm is used.

[0014] The packaging device 1 wraps the work W transported on the transport section 30 with the film 12, and stores the work W inside a sealed bag by welding and cutting the open end of the film 12. The packaging device 1 also attaches a label 53 to the surface of the bag B produced by welding and cutting the film 12.

[0015] The packaging device 1 includes a film supply section 10, a film reversing opening section 20, a conveying section 30, an L-shaped sealing member 40, a label application section 50, and a control section 60.

[0016] The film supply unit 10 supplies the film 12 to the film inverting opening 20. In the film supply unit 10, a roll film 11, which is formed by winding the folded film 12 around a paper tube or the like, is supported horizontally and placed on a fixed portion such as a frame (not shown), and a guide roller 13 is provided on the frame (not shown) between the roll film 11 and the film inverting opening 20. The folded film 12 pulled out from the roll film 11 reaches the film inverting opening 20 via the guide roller 13.

[0017] In the example of Fig. 1, film supply section 10 is disposed on the left side (negative y direction side) when viewed from the downstream side in the transport direction (positive x direction side) of film inversion opening 20, transport section 30, etc., and is disposed so as to pull out film 12 in the positive y direction side. In the section from roll film 11 to film inversion opening 20, of both ends in the width direction (short side), end 12A on the upstream side in the transport direction (negative x direction side) is a folded part that is folded in half. At end 12B on the opposite side (positive x direction side), two sheets of film overlap and are not connected to each other.

[0018] The film inversion opening 20 changes the moving direction (longitudinal direction) of the film 12 folded in half, which is supplied from the film supply unit 10, to the conveying direction. The film inversion opening 20 has two plate-like formers 21 formed in a shape of an approximately right-angled isosceles triangle. The two formers 21 are fixed horizontally on a frame body (not shown) so as to be arranged facing each other at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction. Each former 21 is arranged so that one side 21A that sandwiches the right angle is the base side extending in the conveyor width direction, and the other side 21B that sandwiches the right angle faces the guide roller 13 at an appropriate interval. The film 12 folded in half is folded back from the top and bottom to the inside at the oblique side part 21C of the former 21 so that the cross section becomes U-shaped, and the direction is changed by 90 degrees so that it is supplied in the same direction as the conveying direction of the work W.

[0019] In the film reversing opening 20, the folding direction of the end 12A of the folded portion side of the folded film 12 is reversed, and the moving direction is changed so that the left side (negative y direction side) of both ends in the conveyor width direction extends in the conveying direction when viewed from the downstream side (positive x direction side) in the conveying direction. In addition, the two overlapping films of the folded film 12 are separated by the formers 21 so as to have a predetermined distance in the vertical direction (z direction). As a result, the folded film 12 opens in the vertical direction between the two formers 21 when viewed from the upstream side (negative x direction side) in the conveying direction, and the work W can be introduced inside the folded film 12. Note that a driving means may be attached to the formers 21, and the height (i.e., the vertical distance between the two formers 21) may be dynamically changed depending on the height of the work W (particularly the type of article to be packaged).

[0020] The conveying unit 30 conveys the workpiece W in a conveying direction (x-positive direction). The conveying unit 30 is composed of a plurality of belt conveyors, for example as shown in FIG. 1, and has a feed position adjustment conveyor 31, a supply conveyor 32, a fusing conveyor 33, and a label application conveyor .

[0021] The feed position adjustment conveyor 31 adjusts the width direction position of the workpiece W introduced from the previous process so that it is at a predetermined workpiece reference position.

[0022] The supply conveyor 32 advances the workpiece W into the opening of the film reversing opening 20 and places the workpiece W between the film 12 folded in half. The supply conveyor 32 also operates intermittently in synchronization with the operation of the L-shaped seal member 40 to send out the workpiece W.

[0023] The fusing conveyor 33 receives the workpiece W whose opening in the film 12 is to be fusing-cut by the L-shaped sealing member 40 , and sends the resulting bag body B to the label application section 50 .

[0024] The labeling conveyor 34 receives the bag body B to which the label 53 is to be affixed in the labeling section 50, and sends the bag body B with the label 53 affixed thereto to a subsequent process.

[0025] In this embodiment, each of the conveyors 31-34 of the transport section 30 is a belt conveyor in which an endless belt is driven as a transport surface, as shown in Fig. 1. A chain, a roll conveyor, a slide table, or the like may be applied to each of the conveyors 31-34 of the transport section 30. Furthermore, the division of each of the conveyors 31-34 of the transport section 30 is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 1. For example, the multiple conveyors shown in Fig. 1 may be combined into one, or may be further divided.

[0026] The L-shaped seal member 40 is formed in an L-shape in a plan view. The L-shaped seal member 40 is formed by fusing and cutting the downstream side of the film 12 in the transport direction and the open end in the conveyor width direction to form a bag body B that hermetically packages the workpiece W with the film 12. The configuration of the L-shaped seal member 40 will be described later with reference to Figs. 2 to 5.

[0027] The label application unit 50 applies a label 53 to the surface of the bag body B. The label application unit 50 has, for example, a label printer 51 and a label receiving belt 52. The label printer 51 prints a label 53 according to various information such as the type of the work W contained inside the bag body B, and applies the printed label 53 to a predetermined application position (label application portion L). The label receiving belt 52 has the label application portion L of the bag body B placed thereon, and drives in synchronization with the label application conveyor 34.

[0028] Furthermore, a detection unit 35 that detects the size of the workpiece W in the width direction is provided upstream of the fusing position of the transport unit 30 (on the feed position adjustment conveyor 31 or the supply conveyor 32). The detection unit 35 is, for example, a line sensor arranged along the width direction of the belt conveyor.

[0029] The control unit 60 controls the operation of each element of the packaging device 1. In particular, in this embodiment, the control unit 60 performs control to adjust the melt-cut position in the width direction of the L-shaped sealing member 40 according to the size of the work W detected by the detection unit 35 so that the bag body B has an appropriate size.

[0030] The control unit 60 can be physically configured as a computer system including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory) as main storage devices, a communication module, an auxiliary storage device, etc. Each function of the control unit 60 according to this embodiment is realized by loading predetermined computer software into the CPU, RAM, etc., thereby operating various hardware under the control of the CPU and reading and writing data in the RAM.

[0031] 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the L-shaped seal member 40. The L-shaped seal member 40 includes a movable part 40A arranged on the upper side and a fixed part 40B arranged on the lower side. The fixed part 40B receives the fused portion of the film 12 surrounding the workpiece W transported on the fusing conveyor 33. The movement of the fixed part 40B in the vertical direction is restricted. The movable part 40A is movable relative to the fixed part 40B in the vertical direction as shown by the arrow A in FIG. 2, and the distance between the movable part 40A and the movable part 40A can be changed as desired.

[0032] In addition, when changing the vertical distance between the two formers 21 as described above, the fixed part 40B may also be made movable in the vertical direction, and the distance between the movable part 40A and the fixed part 40B may be changed according to the distance between the formers 21.

[0033] A side seal 41 and an end seal 42, which will be described later, are provided on the lower end surface of the movable part 40A. When the film 12 is introduced between the movable part 40A and the fixed part 40B, the movable part 40A comes into contact with the fixed part 40B, so that the portion of the film 12 on the fixed part 40B can be welded and cut by the side seal 41 and the end seal 42.

[0034] Side seal 41 (first seal portion) extends in the transport direction (x direction) and welds and melts one end of film 12 on the positive y direction side. End seal 42 (second seal portion) extends in the width direction (y direction) perpendicular to side seal 41 and melts the portion of film 12 on the upstream side in the transport direction.

[0035] The end seal 42 is restricted in its movement in the x and y directions (horizontal directions) and welds and cuts the film 12 at a predetermined position in the conveying direction. The downstream leading portion of the film 12 conveyed on the fusing conveyor 33 is welded and cut by the end seal 42 during the film fusing process of the previous work W, and is the portion separated from the bag body B in which the previous work is packaged and conveyed downstream. Therefore, when focusing on one bag body B, the end seal 42 welds and cuts the front and rear portions in the conveying direction. These fusing portions D by the end seal 42 are indicated by dashed lines on the bag body B1 in FIG. 4.

[0036] On the other hand, the side seal 41 is movable in the width direction relative to the end seal 42 as shown by an arrow B in FIG.

[0037] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the film melt-cutting by the L-shaped seal member 40 in the case of a small-sized work W. In the conventional L-shaped seal member, the L-shaped melt-cutting position is fixed. Therefore, when the width dimension of the work W is sufficiently small relative to the width direction of the melt-cutting conveyor 33, the melt-cutting position in the width direction is far from the work W, and the excess part of the bag body increases, making it impossible to package the work W in an appropriate size. In contrast, in this embodiment, since the side seal 41 is movable in the width direction, in the case of a small-sized work W, as shown by the arrow C in FIG. 3, the side seal 41 is moved in the negative y direction to bring the side seal 41 sufficiently close to the work W, and then one end of the film 12 is melt-cut. This makes it possible to reduce the excess part of the bag body B relative to the work W.

[0038] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the difference in the melting position depending on the size of the workpiece W. When the size of the workpiece W is large, the bag body B1 is located at the furthest side in the y positive direction in the width direction, and the bag body B1 is also the largest size. On the other hand, when the size of the workpiece W is small, the bag body B2 is located at the furthest side in the y negative direction in the width direction, and the bag body B2 is also the smallest size. When the size of the workpiece W is medium, the bag body B3 is located at an intermediate position in the width direction between the large and small cases, and the bag body B3 is also of medium size.

[0039] In Fig. 4, fusion-cut portion E of side seal 41 is shown by a two-dot chain line on bag body B1. Fig. 4 also shows edge portion (remaining portion) 12C of film 12 after bag bodies B1, B2, and B3 have been fusion-cut, and the shape of edge portion 12C also shows that the fusion-cutting position in the width direction has been changed.

[0040] By making the end seal 42 movable in the width direction in this manner, it becomes possible to melt-cut the film 12 at an appropriate position according to the width-wise size of the work W. Also, although the horizontal movement of the end seal 42 is restricted, by adjusting the amount of movement in the conveying direction of the work W, it becomes possible to weld and melt-cut the film 12 at an appropriate position according to the size of the work W in the conveying direction. Therefore, the L-shaped sealing member 40 of the packaging device 1 of this embodiment makes it possible to package the work W with appropriate dimensions according to its size.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 2 and other figures, the side seal 41 has a welding portion 43 and a melting portion 44. The welding portion 43 and the melting portion 44 are both provided to extend in the conveying direction (x direction) and are arranged in parallel. The melting portion 44 is arranged on one end side of the film 12 in the y positive direction from the welding portion 43. The melting portion 44 melts the film 12. The welding portion 43 melts and welds the film 12. In this embodiment, "melting" means that two opposing films 12 are melted and fixed by heating. "Melt-cutting" means that two opposing films 12 are melted and cut by heating. "Melt-cutting" means that two opposing films are melted and cut by heating. "Melt-cutting" means that two opposing films are melted and cut along the extension direction within the predetermined width of the welded portion. In the "welding and cutting" method, the internal space is kept sealed by welding two films 12 together, while the excess part outside the welded part can be cut off.

[0042] "Welding" is an example of "joining," and "melting" is an example of "cutting." Joining includes welding by heat as well as adhesion by adhesives. Cutting includes cutting by blades, lasers, etc. as well as melting by heat.

[0043] As long as the welding portion 43 can reliably weld the film 12, the fusing portion 44 may be configured to perform only fusing instead of welding and fusing.

[0044] 3, receiving portion 40B1 of fixed portion 40B, which receives welding portion 43 and fusion portion 44 of side seal 41, is configured to be movable in the width direction similar to side seal 41. When side seal 41 moves in the width direction, receiving portion 40B1 also moves in the width direction in accordance with the movement of side seal 41, and can maintain the state in which it receives welding portion 43 and fusion portion 44.

[0045] By providing the welding portion 43 and the fusion-cutting portion 44 in this manner, a rectangular flat portion that is separated from the space in which the work W is accommodated can be formed on the y positive side of the bag body B. This flat portion can be used as the above-mentioned label attachment portion L. In Fig. 4, the fusion-cut portion E of the side seal 41 caused by the fusion-cutting portion 44 is shown by a two-dot chain line on the bag body B1, and the fusion portion F caused by the welding portion 43 is shown by a dotted line on the bag body B1.

[0046] Furthermore, the welded portion 43 and the fusion-cut portion 44 can move integrally along the width direction (y direction) relative to the end seal 42. For example, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, even when the fusion-cutting position is changed, the side seal 41 moves while keeping the distance in the y direction between the welded portion 43 and the fusion-cut portion 44 constant.

[0047] With this configuration, even if the size of the bag body B is changed according to the size of the workpiece W, the label attachment portion L can always be formed with the same width, as shown in Fig. 4. If the label attachment portion L can be made with the same width, the label attachment unit 50 can use labels 53 of the same size, and since it is not necessary to change the labels 53 created by the label printer 51 according to the size of the bag body B, the configuration of the label attachment unit 50 can be simplified.

[0048] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the moving structure of the side seal 41. As shown in Fig. 5, the movable part 40A of the L-shaped seal member 40 has an electric slider 45, a slide table 46, a base 47, and a pair of arms 48, 49. The base 47 is a member extending in the y direction like the end seal 42, and the end seal 42 is installed below (z negative direction). The electric slider 45 is installed on the surface of the base 47 on the x positive direction side, and connects the slide table 46 to be slidable in the y direction. The slide table 46 is configured to be able to move in the y direction by the driving force output by the electric slider 45.

[0049] A pair of arms 48, 49 are installed on the slide table 46 so as to extend in the x positive direction. The arms 48, 49 are, for example, plate-like members having main surfaces in the y direction, and are arranged substantially parallel to each other with their main surfaces facing each other. The electric slider 45, slide table 46, base 47, and arms 48, 49 are part of movable part 40A, and are configured to be movable in the up and down direction integrally with movable part 40A, as shown by arrow A in FIG. 5.

[0050] The welded portion 43 and the fusion portion 44 of the side seal 41 are fixedly provided below (in the negative z direction) the arm portions 48, 49, respectively. As a result, the welded portion 43 and the fusion portion 44 are controlled so that they can be positioned at any position in the y direction by being moved integrally with the slide table 46 and the arm portions 48, 49 in the y direction by the driving force of the electric slider 45, as shown by arrow B in Fig. 5.

[0051] 6 is a flowchart of packaging control of the workpiece W by the packaging device 1 of the embodiment. The control unit 60 controls the operation of each element of the packaging device 1, which is the subject of each process in the flowchart of FIG. 6, and transmits and receives information to and from each element.

[0052] In step S01, the detection unit 35 detects the work width (dimension in the y direction) of the work W carried from the previous process to the conveying unit 30 by the packaging device 1. The detection unit 35 outputs the obtained information on the work width to the control unit 60.

[0053] In step S02, the workpiece W is adjusted to a reference position in the width direction by the feed position adjustment conveyor 31. The reference position is a position that is a predetermined distance from the end of the conveyor in the negative y direction of the conveyor of the transport unit 30 in the width direction, as shown in Fig. 1 for example. This keeps the distance from the end 12A of the folded portion side of the film 12 folded in half to the end of the workpiece W in the negative y direction constant regardless of the size of the workpiece W.

[0054] Any method can be applied as a method for positioning the workpiece W by the feed position adjustment conveyor 31. For example, the feed position adjustment conveyor 31 can be configured to have a sensor that measures the position of the y negative side end of the workpiece W and the above-mentioned reference position, and a positioning mechanism that presses the workpiece W toward the y negative side to position the workpiece W. In this configuration, the widthwise position of the workpiece W can be adjusted by operating the positioning mechanism based on position information from the sensor. Alternatively, a well-known alignment conveyor that can align the widthwise position of the workpiece W may be applied as the feed position adjustment conveyor 31. Alternatively, a guide member that can align the widthwise position of the workpiece W to the above-mentioned reference position may be installed on the transport path of the feed position adjustment conveyor 31.

[0055] The feed position adjustment conveyor 31 transports the workpiece W whose position has been adjusted to the supply conveyor 32.

[0056] In step S03, the supply conveyor 32 introduces the workpiece W positioned at the workpiece reference position between the folded film 12 opened by the film reversing opening 20, and transports it to the fusing conveyor 33.

[0057] In step S04, the fusing conveyor 33 determines whether the workpiece W has reached the fusing position. If the workpiece W has not reached the fusing position (No in step S04), the conveyance continues. If the workpiece W has reached the fusing position (Yes in step S04), the process proceeds to step S05.

[0058] In step S05, the widthwise position of the side seal 41 of the L-shaped sealing member 40 is adjusted in accordance with the workpiece width by the electric slider 45 and slide table 46. For example, based on information on the workpiece width of the workpiece W acquired by the detection unit 35 in step S01, the control unit 60 determines that a position spaced a distance of the workpiece width in the y positive direction from the workpiece reference position is the position of the end of the workpiece W on the y positive side. Then, the side seal 41 is moved so that the welding and melting position by the side seal 41 is located further in the y positive direction from this end position.

[0059] In step S06, the L-shaped sealing member 40 is lowered to weld and cut the film 12, thereby forming a bag body B with the workpiece W sealed inside. The fusing conveyor 33 transports the bag body B to the labeling conveyor 34.

[0060] In step S07, the label application unit 50 applies a label 53 to the label application portion L of the bag body B. When the process of step S07 ends, this control flow ends, and the workpiece W packaged in the bag body B is transported to a subsequent process.

[0061] Here, the label 53 used in this embodiment has, for example, information for identifying each package written on it. The specific structure of the label 53 is, for example, an RFID tag, and the above-mentioned information is stored in an IC chip of the RFID tag. Moreover, "information for identifying each package" includes, for example, information for identifying the contents of the package, the shipping destination, the orderer, and the like.

[0062] As described above, the packaging device 1 of this embodiment includes a control unit 60 that controls the movement of the side seal 41 of the L-shaped sealing member 40, and a detection unit 35 that detects the widthwise size of the work W. The control unit 60 adjusts the widthwise position of the side seal 41 in accordance with the size of the work W detected by the detection unit 35.

[0063] With this configuration, the position of the side seal 41 of the L-shaped sealing member 40 can be automatically adjusted to match the width dimension of each work W being transported into the conveying section 30 of the packaging device 1, making it possible to package the work W with appropriate dimensions according to its size with greater precision and ease.

[0064] Furthermore, even if a mixture of multiple workpieces W of various types and sizes are continuously fed through the conveying section 30, the packaging device 1 can automatically perform packaging according to each workpiece W, thereby improving the versatility of the packaging device 1. In particular, in cases where a large amount of the same or multiple types of items are divided into predetermined or various quantities and individually packaged, the shape of the workpieces W is relatively small, and if the packaging size can be changed as desired in both the conveying direction and the width direction, packaging in a more appropriate size is possible, so application of the packaging device 1 of this embodiment is particularly effective.

[0065] Furthermore, when multiple small workpieces are packaged (wrapped) in one bag B, if there are large gaps in the packaging, the workpieces inside may collide with each other during transportation, resulting in damage to the workpieces, and therefore it is preferable to optimize the packaging. In this embodiment, by appropriately adjusting the widthwise position of the side seal 41, it is possible to package the multiple workpieces contained in one bag B in such a way that their relative positions do not shift during transportation, and this allows the packaging to be optimized according to the workpieces W.

[0066] In addition, in a general distribution system, products of various sizes, such as small, medium, and large, may be sorted from a common line to individual size conveying lines, and each conveying line may individually package the products according to their size and number. In a conventional packaging device that cannot adjust the widthwise position of the side seal 41, when the device is to be applied to such a distribution system, it is necessary to install an L-shaped seal member with a different widthwise seal position for each packaging device installed on the conveying line based on the size of the products on each conveying line. However, in this embodiment, if the same packaging device 1 is applied to each of these multiple conveying lines, the widthwise position of the side seal 41 of the L-shaped seal member 40 can be appropriately adjusted based on the size of the products on each conveying line, and appropriate packaging can be performed for each line without prior work such as part replacement. The advantage of being able to individually package a wide variety of products using a single conveying device 1 is ideal for distribution applications.

[0067] In this embodiment, as shown in steps S01 and S05 of the flowchart in FIG. 6, the control unit 60 controls the fusing position of the L-shaped seal member 40 in the width direction so that the bag body B has an appropriate size according to the work width of the work W detected by the detection unit 35. However, the realization method is not limited to this control as long as the fusing position of the L-shaped seal member 40 in the width direction can be appropriately adjusted. For example, the control unit 60 may acquire information on the width direction position in advance from a higher-level device such as a management device that manages the entire conveying system including the packaging device 1, and adjust the width direction position of the L-shaped seal member 40 in advance based on the acquired information before the work W reaches the fusing position.

[0068] Similarly, in this embodiment, as shown in step S04 of the flowchart in Fig. 6, the control unit 60 performs the fusing after confirming that the workpiece W has reached the fusing position, but the timing of the fusing is not limited to this. For example, the control unit 60 may acquire information on the feed amount in advance from a higher-level device such as the above-mentioned management device, and the conveyor may move the workpiece W by a predetermined feed amount based on the acquired information on the feed amount, so that the workpiece W is automatically sent to the fusing position. In this case, the fusing is performed when the conveyor has operated a predetermined amount, without detecting the presence or absence of the workpiece W.

[0069] Also, the height of the sealing position of the L-shaped sealing member 40 may be adjusted according to the vertical thickness of the workpiece W. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of adjusting the height of the sealing position. Fig. 7(A) shows the height position when the vertical thickness of the workpiece W1 is small (thin), and Fig. 7(B) shows the height position when the vertical thickness of the workpiece W2 is large (thick).

[0070] In this case, the fixed part 40B of the L-shaped seal member 40 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction, similar to the movable part 40A. The seal positions S1 and S2 of the workpieces W1 and W2 can be set to a height that is approximately half the thickness of the workpieces W1 and W2 in the vertical direction. The control unit 60 acquires information on the height of the seal positions S1 and S2 in advance from a higher-level device such as the above-mentioned management device. Alternatively, the control unit 60 may be configured to measure the thickness of the workpiece W in the vertical direction moving on the conveyor using a sensor or the like, and calculate the seal positions S1 and S2 based on the information on the measured thickness. Then, the control unit 60 moves the fixed part 40B of the L-shaped seal member 40 to the height of the seal positions S1 and S2 acquired or calculated.

[0071] As shown in Fig. 7(A), in the case of a thin workpiece W1, the height position of the fixing part 40B is close to the conveyor transport surface, and the sealing position S1 is set relatively low. On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 7(B), in the case of a thick workpiece W2, the height position of the fixing part 40B is located upwardly away from the conveyor transport surface, and the sealing position S2 is set relatively high.

[0072] The present embodiment has been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific examples. Any design modifications made by a person skilled in the art to these specific examples are also included within the scope of the present disclosure as long as they have the features of the present disclosure. The elements of each of the above-mentioned specific examples and their arrangements, conditions, shapes, etc. are not limited to those exemplified and can be changed as appropriate. The combination of each of the elements of each of the above-mentioned specific examples can be changed as appropriate as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

[0073] In the above embodiment, the welding portion 43 and the fusion portion 44 of the side seal 41 are configured to be movable integrally along the width direction (y direction) relative to the end seal 42, but they may be configured to be movable individually along the width direction relative to the end seal 42. This allows the width dimension of the label attachment portion L provided on the positive y direction side of the bag B to be any size, thereby improving the versatility of the packaging device 1.

[0074] In the above embodiment, the side seal 41 has the welding portion 43 for welding the film 12 and the fusing portion 44 for fusing the film 12, but the side seal 41 may have only one of these portions. In other words, the side seal 41 may have any portion that can either fuse or fusing the film 12. [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 1 Packaging equipment 12 Film (sheet) 35 Detection unit 40 L-shaped seal member 41 Side seal (first seal part) 42 End seal (second seal part) 43 Welded area 44 Melting point 60 Control section W Work (packaged item) B Bag body

Claims

1. A packaging device that pulls out a rolled sheet in a folded state, places an item to be packaged between the folded sheet, and forms a bag by joining and cutting three opening sides of the sheet with an L-shaped sealing member that is L-shaped in a plan view, a feed position adjustment conveyor that adjusts the widthwise position of the packaged item so that the packaged item is placed between the folded-in-half sheet at a reference position that is a predetermined distance from a folded-in-half portion that is an end portion of the folded-in-half sheet on one side in a width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of the packaged item; The L-shaped sealing member includes a first sealing portion that extends in the conveying direction of the packaged item and that sandwiches the packaged item between the folded portion and joins and cuts one end of the sheet on the opposite side in the width direction to the folded portion, and a second sealing portion that extends in the width direction perpendicular to the first sealing portion and joins and cuts front and rear portions of the sheet in the conveying direction, The second seal portion is fixedly disposed at a predetermined position in the conveying direction, The first seal portion is movable along the width direction relative to the second seal portion, the sheet is a plastic film, The L-shaped seal member welds and cuts the film, the one end of the sheet is a portion including an end portion on the other side in the width direction of the sheet in the folded state, the end portion being opposite to the folded portion in the width direction, where the two sheets overlap and are not connected to each other; The first sealing portion has a welding portion that welds the film, and a fusing portion that is arranged parallel to the welding portion and melts the film, the fusion portion is disposed closer to the other end of the film than the welding portion is, The welding portion and the fusing portion are individually movable along the width direction relative to the second seal portion. packaging equipment.

2. A control unit that controls the movement of the first seal portion; A detection unit that detects the size of the packaged item in the width direction, The control unit adjusts the position of the first seal portion in the width direction according to the size of the packaged item detected by the detection unit.

2. The packaging device of claim 1.

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