Container sealing device

Abstract

To provide a container seal device allowing positioning of a film sheet with a container.SOLUTION: A tray container seal device 10 has: a delivery roller 13 continuously delivering a long film sheet S; a heat sealer 14 bonding the film sheet S overlapped on a tray container T to the tray container T; a sensor 26 detecting a mark M set to the film sheet S; a sealing support base 42 for holding the tray container T at the heat sealer 14; a moving mechanism 34 for moving the sealing support base 42 in the transporting direction; and a control part for controlling the delivery roller 13 and the movement of the moving mechanism 34. The control part controls delivering speed of the delivery roller 13 and the movement of the moving mechanism 34 so that the film sheet S is sealed at a predetermined position of the tray container T, on the basis of a signal from the sensor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a container sealing device that attaches a long film sheet to a plurality of containers that are conveyed. [Background technology]

[0002] A tray container sealing device is known that places food such as curry or stew roux into each storage pocket of a tray container that has multiple storage pockets arranged in a lattice pattern, and seals the opening of the tray container with a sealing material (top film) such as a resin film (Patent Documents 1 and 2). In this device, the tray containers are supplied in a connected state, and the sealing material is fed out so as to be layered on top of the tray containers. The sealing material is attached to the tray container by a heat sealer, and the sealed tray container is punched out and divided into units of a predetermined number of storage pockets. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-198570 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2013-6625 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Conventionally, endless patterned film that does not require alignment is used for the sealing material (top film) of tray containers, so there is no need to align the sealing material with the tray container. On the other hand, when placing a picture or letter printed on the sealing material at a predetermined position on the tray container, it is necessary to accurately align the sealing material with the tray container. However, the sealing material (top film) is a long film sheet wound into a roll, and since the film sheet expands and contracts, alignment adjustment is necessary. In particular, it is difficult to adjust the alignment while maintaining processing capacity.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a container sealing device capable of aligning a film sheet and a container. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The container sealing device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a feed roller that continuously feeds out a long film sheet so as to overlap the film sheet on the upper surfaces of a plurality of containers being conveyed, and a sealing means that attaches the overlapped film sheet to the containers. ,before a detection means for detecting a mark provided on the film sheet; and a holding member for holding a container in the sealing means; said sealing means; The holding member The container is integrated In the conveying direction Reciprocating a moving means for moving the feeding roller and the moving means Step and a control means for controlling the operation of the device, the control means comprising: The above The feeding speed of the feeding roller is controlled based on the detection signal of the detection means so that the film sheet is sealed at a predetermined position in the container. and The moving hand Step It is characterized by controlling the operation. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a tray container sealing device capable of aligning a film sheet and a tray container. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view of a tray container sealed by a tray container sealing device according to one embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1 is a partial plan view of a long film sheet attached to a tray container. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the arrangement of a tray container sealing device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a heat sealer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a plan view of a tray container sealed by a tray container sealing device according to one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of a long film sheet attached to the tray container. Fig. 3 is a schematic side view showing the arrangement of the tray container sealing device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] The tray container sealing device 10 of this embodiment is a device that overlaps and adheres a long film sheet S onto tray containers T that are supplied in a connected state. The tray container T has a plurality of storage pockets P (e.g., 4×4) in a lattice pattern, and an article is individually placed in each storage pocket P, and then the tray container T is supplied to the tray container sealing device 10. In this embodiment, for example, curry roux or stew roux is placed in the storage pocket P, but the article placed in the storage pocket P may be a product other than sweets or food, or even a liquid.

[0011] A large number of tray containers T are connected in one direction and supplied from the container supply conveyor 12 to the tray container sealing device 10. Products are placed in each storage pocket P of the tray containers T supplied from the container supply conveyor 12, and a long film sheet S is superimposed along the conveying direction on the upper surface of the tray container T transferred from the container supply conveyor 12 to the tray container sealing device 10. The timing at which the tray containers T are transferred from the container supply conveyor 12 to the tray container sealing device 10 is controlled to a predetermined timing by a mechanism not shown.

[0012] The long film sheet S has a desired label print L consisting of a pattern, symbol, character, etc. and a positioning mark (register mark) M described later provided at a predetermined interval at a predetermined position on the surface thereof, and is supplied from an original roll (not shown). In this embodiment, the label print L is, for example, a document such as a recipe. The film sheet S is unwound from the original roll at a desired speed by a unwind roller 13 via rollers such as an idler and a tension roller. The film sheet S is pressed against the upper surface of the tray container T by a pressure roller 17 above the downstream end of the container supply conveyor 12 and overlapped.

[0013] The tray container T, which is supplied from the container supply conveyor 12 and has the film sheet S superimposed on the upper surface, is then transported horizontally, passes through a heat sealer (sealing means) 14 and a cooling device (cooling means) 16, and is then transported between an anvil roll 18 and a die roll 20 (cutting means). The film sheet S is transported horizontally together with the tray container T, and, as will be described later, is attached to the surface of the tray container T in the heat sealer 14, is cooled in the cooling device 16, and is then cut into a predetermined number of tray containers T (two in the illustrated example) by the die roll 20. The cut tray containers T are sent to a container discharge conveyor 22, and the remaining portion of the film sheet S is taken up by a take-up roll 24 via the anvil roll 18.

[0014] The supply section of the film sheet S is provided with a sensor (detection means) 26 that detects a mark M printed on the surface of the film sheet S being fed. In this embodiment, the sensor 26 is disposed upstream of the feed roller 13. The mark detection signal output from the sensor 26 is sent to a control section (not shown).

[0015] 4 is a cross-sectional view of the heat sealer 14. In this embodiment, two sealing heads 14A are arranged along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. Each sealing head 14A is supported from above by a support part 28, and the support part 28 is mounted on a base 32 so as to be movable up and down by a head lifting mechanism 30. The base 32 can be reciprocated in the conveying direction by a moving mechanism (moving means) 34 using a linear actuator, a servo motor, or the like.

[0016] A pair of rails 36 are provided below the sealing head 14A to support from below the flanges extending outward from both side edges of the tray container T, and the rails 36 are supported by fixed parts (not shown). That is, the tray container T supplied from the container supply conveyor 12 to the heat sealer 14 is pushed onto the rails 36 and can move while sliding on the rails 36.

[0017] The bottom surfaces of the tray containers T held on the rails 36 are supported by tray receivers 38. The tray receivers 38 are fixed to the base 32 and can reciprocate integrally with the base 32 in the conveying direction.

[0018] Further, a sealing support base (holding member) 42 is provided on the base 32 via a support base lifting mechanism 40. The sealing support base 42 can be raised and lowered by the support base lifting mechanism 40, and can be moved back and forth in the conveyance direction together with the base 32 by the moving mechanism 34. The sealing support base 42 has a shape that abuts against the underside of the adhesive surface of the tray container T with the film sheet S (around the storage pocket P), and when raised, supports the underside of the adhesive surface of the tray container T and sandwiches the stacked tray container T and film sheet S between it and the sealing head 14A.

[0019] The cooling device 16 has a structure in which the sealing head 14A of the heat sealer 14 is replaced with a cooling head 16A. Therefore, in Fig. 3, the same reference numerals as those of the heat sealer 14 are used for components having the same functions as the sealing head 14A.

[0020] Next, a description will be given of the sealing operation in the tray container sealing device 10, i.e., the heat sealer 14. The head lifting mechanism 30 and the support table lifting mechanism 40 are driven synchronously, so that when one of the sealing head 14A and the sealing support table 42 is lowered, the other is raised. In addition, the sealing head 14A and the sealing support table 42 are reciprocated integrally in the conveying direction by the moving mechanism 34.

[0021] The lowering of the sealing head 14A and the raising of the sealing support base 42 by the head lifting mechanism 30 and the support base lifting mechanism 40 are stopped when the tray container T and the film sheet S are sandwiched. After that, the sealing head 14A and the sealing support base 42 move toward the downstream in the conveying direction in accordance with the movement of the film sheet S while sandwiching the film sheet S and the tray container T, and during this, the film sheet S is adhered to the adhesive surface surrounding the periphery of the storage pocket P of the tray container T. At the timing when the attachment of the film sheet S to the tray container T is completed, the sealing head 14A is raised by the head lifting mechanism 30, and the sealing support base 42 is lowered by the support base lifting mechanism 40, and further moved to the upstream side in the conveying direction by the moving mechanism 34. As a result, the sealing head 14A and the sealing support base 42 are returned to their original positions by a box motion.

[0022] At this time, the rotation speed (feed-out speed) of the feed roller 13, and the drive of the head lifting mechanism 30, the moving mechanism 34, and the support table lifting mechanism 40 of the heat sealer 14 are controlled by a control unit (not shown) in accordance with the timing of supply of the film sheet S based on the mark detection signal of the sensor 26, and the tray container T is positioned so as to be sealed at a predetermined position on the film sheet S in the conveying direction. In this embodiment, the head lifting mechanism 30, the moving mechanism 34, and the support table lifting mechanism 40 of the heat sealer 14 are controlled so that each storage pocket P of the tray container T is positioned in an area corresponding to the label print L on the film sheet S.

[0023] In addition, in this embodiment, the drive of the head lifting mechanism 30, moving mechanism 34, and support table lifting mechanism 40 of the cooling device 16 is also controlled by a control unit (not shown) in accordance with the supply timing of the film sheet S based on the mark detection signal of the sensor 26, similar to the heat sealer 14, and the rotation speed of the die roll 20 arranged downstream of the cooling device 16 is also controlled in accordance with the mark detection signal and the supply timing of the tray container T so as to cut the tray container T at the appropriate position of the connected tray container T.

[0024] As described above, according to this embodiment, the film sheet and the tray container can be accurately aligned in accordance with, for example, the expansion / contraction and misalignment of the film sheet while performing the sealing process at high speed.

[0025] In this embodiment, the drive of each device is controlled based on the tray container supply timing and the mark detection signal, but the tray container supply timing may be detected by a sensor.

[0026] In this embodiment, a tray container has been described as an example, but the present invention can also be used to attach a film sheet to containers of other types, such as cup containers. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] 10 Container sealing device 12 Container supply conveyor 13 Payout roller 14 Heat sealer (sealing means) 14A sealing head 16 Cooling device 16A cooling head 18 Anvil Roll 20 Die Roll 26 Sensor (detection means) 30 Head lift mechanism 34 Mobility mechanism (means of movement) 40 Support platform lifting mechanism 42 Seal support (holding member) M Positioning mark (register mark) P storage pocket S film sheet T Tray container (container)

Claims

[Claim 1] a feed roller that continuously feeds out a long film sheet so as to overlap the film sheet on the upper surfaces of the plurality of containers being conveyed; a sealing means for attaching the overlapped film sheets to the container; a detection means for detecting a mark provided on the film sheet; a holding member for holding a container in the sealing means; a moving means for integrally moving the sealing means and the holding member back and forth in a container conveying direction; A control unit is provided for controlling the operation of the delivery roller and the moving unit, The control means controls the feeding speed of the feeding roller and the operation of the moving means based on the detection signal of the detection means so that the film sheet is sealed at a predetermined position in the container. A container sealing device comprising:

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