Hot melt adhesive coating condition inspection device for case

Abstract

To inspect with high accuracy whether post-molding case hot melt adhesion points are in good conditions.SOLUTION: When the operating speed of a transfer conveyor 4 is changed from high speed to low speed, a determination unit 9B measures an elapsed time tx from when hot melt HM is applied to adhesion points 2D (8 points) of a case 102 until thermal images are captured by a thermo camera 8, compares basic data on elapsed time and temperature change saved in advance with the elapsed time tx and adopts a temperature threshold of 36°C when the transfer conveyor 4 is operated at low speed. Next, the determination unit 9B sets a determination range A1 surrounding each adhesion point 2D in the thermal image (FIG. 3), obtains an area S2 of a portion having a temperature of 36°C or higher, and next, for all eight determination ranges A1, finds ratios RX1 to RX8 of the area S2 to an area S1 of the determination range A1 and determines that the adhesion points 2D of the case 102 are non-defective if their ratios are all within a given threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a hot melt application state inspection device for a case, and more specifically, to a hot melt application state inspection device for a case in which a sheet-like packaging material is folded to form a case and an article is stored inside, which inspects whether the flaps folded when forming the case and their adhesive points are properly adhered with hot melt (adhesive). [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, cases have been known in which required sections of a sheet-like packaging material are folded and the folded flaps are glued to the overlapping sections with hot melt to form a case. Furthermore, a case inspection device has been proposed for such a case, in which a temperature sensor detects the temperature of the outer surface of the glued sections where hot melt has been applied, and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is compared with a judged temperature to judge whether the hot melt supply condition is good or not (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5317683 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, in the so-called "wrap-around caser" disclosed in the above Patent Document 1, the conveying speed of the conveying means for conveying the packaging material and the case is changed according to the operating conditions of the processing devices arranged on the upstream and downstream sides. Specifically, when the containers stored in the case on the upstream side of the case are sufficiently stored, the conveying means is operated at a normal speed, and when the containers are not sufficiently stored or when the processing device on the downstream side of the case is stopped, the conveying speed of the conveying means is reduced. Therefore, in the conveying area where the supply state of the hot melt is inspected, the conveying speed of the case by the conveying means may be accelerated or decelerated due to the above-mentioned circumstances. In addition, immediately after the hot melt is applied to the outer surface of the folded inner flap and the outer flap is folded thereon to polymerize, in the final process of forming the case, the heat of the hot melt does not reach the surface (outer surface) of the outer flap, and a conveying section occurs in which the surface temperature of the outer flap rises. Furthermore, the surface temperature of the outer flap also changes depending on the time elapsed since the hot melt was applied to the outer surface of the inner flap. Therefore, the case inspection device of Patent Document 1 had a problem in that the inspection conditions varied from when the hot melt was applied to the required locations on the case until the temperature of the case was detected by the temperature sensor, making it difficult to perform high-precision inspection. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides an apparatus for inspecting the state of hot melt application of a case, the apparatus comprising: a conveying means for conveying a packaging material and a case into which the packaging material is folded and formed; a hot melt application means for applying hot melt to adhesive portions of the packaging material conveyed by the conveying means; a folding and pressing means for folding and superimposing a flap of the packaging material on the adhesive portions; a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the flap superimposed on the adhesive portions; and a judgment means for judging the quality of the adhesive portions based on the temperature detected by the temperature detection means, The temperature detection means is a thermo camera that takes a thermal image of the case, The judgment means stores in advance basic data relating to the elapsed time since the hot melt was applied to the packaging material and a threshold value for judging the quality of the adhesive portion, The judgment means is characterized in that it measures the elapsed time from when the hot melt application means applies hot melt to the adhesive portion of the packaging material to when the case is photographed by the thermal camera, and sets the threshold value corresponding to the elapsed time based on the basic data. Effect of the Invention

[0006] With this configuration, even if the time that has elapsed since the hot melt applicator applied hot melt to the adhesive portion of the packaging material to the time the thermo camera photographs the case varies, the judging device can judge the quality of the adhesive portion based on the threshold value corresponding to the elapsed time on the basis of the basic data, thereby improving the inspection accuracy of the adhesive portion compared to the conventional method. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a case showing one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part of FIG. [Diagram 3] A thermal image of the side of the case taken with the thermal camera in Figure 1. [Figure 4] This figure shows basic data regarding the time elapsed since the application of hot melt and the temperature change at the bonding point, which is stored in the judgment unit of the case inspection device in Figure 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiment. In Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a case, which is a so-called "wrap-around case." This case 1 is formed by folding packaging material 2 as follows to form a case 102, and is adapted to accommodate a predetermined number of containers 3 therein. In other words, the front and rear side walls and top surface 2Aa of the main body 2A are folded vertically upward, so that the semi-finished packaging material 2 with both left and right sides open is transported in the direction of the arrow by a transport conveyor 4, maintaining a predetermined distance between them, and in the storage area A during the transport process, a predetermined number (10) of containers 3 are pushed from the side into each packaging material 2 by a pusher 5 to store it there. In the subsequent conveying process by the conveyor 4, the packaging material 2 containing the containers 3 has the top surface 2Aa and the main body flap 2Ab of the main body 2A, and the pair of inner flaps 2B on both the left and right sides folded at right angles by a folding and pressing means (not shown), and then hot melt HM (adhesive) is applied from the outside to four (total of eight) bonding points 2D on the outer surface of each of the inner flaps 2B on both the left and right sides by a hot melt application means 6 (see also FIG. 3). In other words, hot melt HM is applied to a total of eight bonding points 2D located on both sides of the packaging material 2. Then, each pair of outer flaps 2C on both the left and right sides is folded by the folding and pressing means and overlapped and pressed against the inner flap 2B, and the total of eight bonding points 2D of the overlapped flaps 2B and 2C are bonded by the hot melt HM. In this way, a case 102 containing a predetermined number of containers 3 is formed. A pair of left and right thermo cameras 8 are arranged in the inspection area B during the transport process of the transport conveyor 4, and the thermo cameras 8 take a thermal image of the outer surface of the outer flap 2C of the case 102 after it has contained the container 3 and been molded (see FIG. 3). As will be described in detail later, based on the thermal image of the outer surface of the outer flap 2C taken by the thermo camera 8, a judgment unit 9B of the control device 9 judges whether or not the total of eight bonding locations 2D on both flaps 2B, 2C with the hot melt HM are properly bonded. After each case 102 has been judged as good or bad by the judgment section 9B of the control device 9, it is transported by the transport conveyor 4 toward a downstream processing device (not shown), and cases 102 judged as defective by the judgment section 9B are removed from the transport path at a predetermined downstream position (not shown).

[0009] The caser 1 of this embodiment comprises a conveyor 4 for conveying semi-finished packaging material 2 and formed cases 102 as cases at a required conveying speed (operating speed), a pusher 5 arranged on one side of a storage area A in the conveyor 4 during the conveying process and for pushing a predetermined number of containers 3 into the packaging material 2 on the conveyor 4 to store them, and a pusher 6 arranged on the upper side extending from the storage area A to an area immediately before an inspection area B in the conveyor 4 during the conveying process to fold and press the main body 2A, inner flap 2B, outer flap 2C, etc. of the packaging material 2 (not shown). the hot melt application means 6 which injects and applies hot melt HM to the adhesive areas 2D on the outer surfaces of the left and right inner flaps 2B after they have been folded; a thermo camera 8 which is disposed in the inspection area B and takes a thermal image of the outer flap 2C including the adhesive areas 2D after the outer flap 2C has been folded and laminated and pressed against the inner flap 2B; and a control device 9 which controls the operation of each of these components and judges whether the adhesive areas 2D of the case 102 are good or bad based on the thermal image taken by the thermo camera 8.

[0010] The conveyor 4 as a conveying means conveys the semi-finished packaging material 2 and the formed cases 102 in the direction of the arrow while maintaining a predetermined distance between the front and rear. In this embodiment, the packaging material 2 is conveyed by the conveyor 4 and formed into cases 102, which are then conveyed to the downstream processing device. The conveying speed (operating speed) of the conveyor 4 is controlled by the control device 9, and when the caser 1 starts to operate, the control device 9 operates the conveyor 4 at a high speed (e.g., 60 cm per minute) as the normal operating speed. The control device 9 accelerates or decelerates the operating speed of the conveyor 4 from the normal operating speed to a low speed (e.g., 48 cm per minute) as required. The packaging material 2 transported by the transport conveyor 4 has the front and rear side walls and top surface 2Aa of the main body 2A facing vertically upward until just before the storage area A, and the inner flap 2B and outer flap 2C are supplied onto the transport conveyor 4 in an unfolded semi-finished state and are transported to the storage area A. A container supply conveyor (not shown) is arranged parallel to the conveying conveyor 4 at an adjacent position in the upstream area of ​​the conveying conveyor 4, and this container supply conveyor intermittently supplies a predetermined number of containers 3 (for example, 10 containers) to a supply position C by a pusher 5. The container 3 is filled with beverage and has a cap attached to the mouth, and in this embodiment, it is assumed that ten containers 3 filled with 2 liters of beverage are stored in one case 102. A pusher 5 is disposed between a supply position C on the container supply conveyor and the transport conveyor 4 so as to be movable back and forth, and the operation of this pusher 5 is controlled by a control device 9. The pusher 5 is moved in the same direction as the travel of the transport conveyor 4 in synchronization with the travel of the transport conveyor 4, and is also movable back and forth between the supply position C and the transport conveyor 4 in a direction perpendicular to the transport conveyor 4. When a group of ten containers 3 is supplied to supply position C by the container supply conveyor, the pusher 5, which was at the rear end, is advanced from supply position C toward the transport conveyor 4, so that the ten containers 3 at supply position C are contained within the packaging material 2 moving through the storage area A. When the containers 3 are contained in the storage area A, the pair of front and rear inner flaps 2B on the packaging material 2 on the transport conveyor 4, which are opposite the pusher 5, are folded at a right angle toward the main body 2A by a folding and pressing means (not shown), thereby closing the opening on the left side in the transport direction. The ten containers 3 are contained within the packaging material 2 in this state by the pusher 5. A folding and pressing means (not shown) is arranged above the transport conveyor 4 from the storage area A to the area immediately before the inspection area B, and the operation of this folding and pressing means is controlled by the control device 9. Then, when the packaging material 2 after containing the ten containers 3 passes through the containing area A, the top surface 2Aa and the body flaps 2Ab of the main body 2A are folded at right angles by the folding and pressing means, and the pair of front and rear inner flaps 2B located on the pusher 5 side are also folded at right angles. Therefore, the packaging material 2 in a state where only the pair of upper and lower outer flaps 2C on both the left and right sides are not folded is transported to the position of the hot melt application means 6.

[0011] A pair of hot melt application means 6 is disposed on both sides of the transport area of ​​the transport conveyor 4, adjacent to and downstream of the storage area A, and the operation of the hot melt application means 6 is controlled by a control device 9. A detection sensor 7 for detecting the packaging material 2 on the transport conveyor 4 is disposed adjacent to and upstream of the hot melt application means 6. After the pusher 5 described above is moved backward from the transport conveyor 4 toward the supply position C, the packaging material 2 containing the container 3 is transported by the transport conveyor 4 and detected by the detection sensor 7, and the detection signal is sent to the control device 9. Then, the control device 9 simultaneously operates the hot melt application means 6 on both the left and right sides. As a result, the hot melt HM is simultaneously injected and applied to four locations on each of the outer surfaces of the inner flaps 2B on both the left and right sides (a total of eight bonding locations 2D) by the hot melt application means 6 (see FIG. 3). The hot melt HM is applied to the inner flap 2B in a horizontally long elliptical shape, and the temperature of the hot melt HM when injected from the hot melt application means 6 is set to, for example, 45°C. In addition, the time when the hot melt application means 6 is operated, i.e., the time when the hot melt HM (adhesive) is applied to the adhesive spot 2D of the inner flap 2B, is transmitted to the judgment unit 9B of the control device 9, and then the judgment unit 9B measures the elapsed time tx from the time when the hot melt HM is applied to the time when the thermo camera 8 is operated.

[0012] Thereafter, in the packaging material 2 with the hot melt HM applied to a total of eight bonding locations 2D of the left and right inner flaps 2B, in the process of being transported immediately before being transported by the transport conveyor 4 to the inspection area B, each pair of front and rear outer flaps 2C on both the left and right sides are folded at right angles toward the inner flaps 2B by a folding and pressing means (not shown) and overlapped and pressed thereon. As a result, the outer surfaces of the inner flaps 2B and the inner surfaces of the outer flaps 2C are mutually bonded by the hot melt HM at the four bonding locations 2D of each of the left and right inner flaps 2B, and a horizontally long case 102 is formed as a whole.

[0013] As described above, while the packaging material 2 is transported by the transport conveyor 4, the containers 3 are placed inside it and then formed into the case 102, but it is necessary to inspect the formed case 102 to see whether the adhesive bonding points 2D with the hot melt HM at a total of eight points on the left and right sides are properly bonded or not. Therefore, a thermo camera 8 is provided in the inspection area B adjacent to and downstream of the hot melt application means 6, and a judgment unit 9B of the control device 9 judges whether the adhesive bonding points of the case 102 are good or bad based on a thermal image of the case 102 taken by the thermo camera 8. This embodiment is characterized by focusing on the relationship between the elapsed time tx from the time when hot melt HM is applied to the adhesive spot 2D of the inner flap 2B of the packaging material 2 to the time when the outer flap 2C of the case 102 is photographed by the thermal camera 8 (inspection time) and the temperature change on the outer surface of the outer flap 2C due to the hot melt HM, and by determining whether the adhesive spot 2D of the case 102 is good or bad under inspection conditions that are essentially the same as those for the normal operating speed, even when the operating speed of the transport conveyor 4 is accelerated or decelerated from the normal operating speed (high speed).

[0014] In the inspection area B, a case detection sensor 12 is disposed which detects the case 2 transported by the transport conveyor 4 by projecting inspection light L from one side to the other of the transport conveyor 4, and immediately adjacent downstream is disposed a thermal camera 8 which simultaneously captures thermal images of the adhesive points 2D on the outer flaps 2C on both the left and right sides of the case 102. The thermal images of the bonding area 2D captured by the left and right thermo cameras 8 are transmitted to a judgment unit 9B of the control device 9, and the judgment unit 9B judges the quality of the bonding area 2D based on the thermal images captured by the thermo cameras 8. In this embodiment, the case detection sensor 12, the thermo cameras 8, and the judgment unit 9B of the control device 9 constitute a hot melt application state inspection device 13.

[0015] The case detection sensor 12 projects inspection light L from one side of the transport conveyor 4 to the other side. When a case 102 formed as described above is transported by the transport conveyor 4 at a position adjacent to the inspection area B upstream, the inspection light L is blocked and the case 102 is detected. When the case detection sensor 12 detects the case 102, a detection signal is transmitted to the control device 9. The control device 9 is equipped with an operation control unit 9A that controls the operation of the conveying conveyor 4, hot melt application means 6, folding and pressing means, thermo camera 8, etc., and a judgment unit 9B that judges the quality of the adhesive area 2D based on a thermal image of the outer flap 2C of the case 102 taken by the thermo camera 8. The operation control unit 9A controls the operating speed of the transport conveyor 4, the operation of the bending and pressing means, the operation and timing of the pusher 5, the operation of the hot melt application means 6, etc. as described above, and also controls the operation of the thermo camera 8 of the hot melt application state inspection device 13. When the case 1 is in operation, the operation control unit 9A operates the transport conveyor 4 at a normal operating speed (high speed) as a rule, and accelerates or decelerates the operating speed of the transport conveyor 4 when necessary. After the hot melt HM is applied and molded, the case 102 is transported by the transport conveyor 4 and detected by the case detection sensor 12. When the detection signal from the case detection sensor 12 is transmitted to the control device 9, the operation control unit 9A activates the left and right thermo cameras 8 when a predetermined time t2 (e.g., 2 seconds) has elapsed since receiving the signal. As a result, the case 102 detected by the case detection sensor 12 is simultaneously photographed by the thermo camera 8 of the outer surface of the outer flap 2C, including the total of eight bonding points 2D on both the left and right sides, and the thermal images of the outer flap 2C thus photographed are transmitted to the judgment unit 9B of the control device 9. FIG. 3 shows a thermal image of the outer surface of the left outer flap 2C of the case 102 photographed by the thermo camera 8. The four points indicated by ellipses in FIG. 3 are high-temperature parts of the outer flap 2C corresponding to the bonding points 2D.

[0016] The determining unit 9B of the control device 9 determines the quality of the bonded portion 2D based on the thermal image of the outer surface corresponding to the bonded portion 2D of the outer flap 2C transmitted from the thermo camera 8 as follows. Here, as mentioned above, the judgment unit 9B of the control device 9 measures the elapsed time tx from the time when the hot melt HM is applied to the adhesive spot 2D of the inner flap 2B of the case 102 (packaging material 2) by the hot melt application means 6 to the time when the outer flap 2C is photographed by the thermal camera 8. First, as shown by imaginary lines in Figure 3, the judgment unit 9B sets a rectangular judgment range A1 surrounding the adhesion points 2D at locations corresponding to the total of eight adhesion points 2D to which hot melt HM has been applied, and calculates and stores the area S1 of the judgment range A1. Next, the determination unit 9B obtains the area S2 of the portion having a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature (for example, 38° C. or higher) as a threshold value for each of the eight bonded points 2D in the determination range A1. Thereafter, the judgment unit 9B calculates, for each of the eight judgment ranges A1, the ratios RX1 to RX8 of the area S2 of the portion within the judgment range A1 that is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature (38°C) that is the threshold value, to the area S1 of the judgment range A1. That is, for the judgment ranges A1 corresponding to the eight bonding points 2D, the ratios RX1 to RX8 of the area ratios S2 / S1 are calculated. Then, the judgment unit 9B checks whether each of the ratios RX1 to RX8 found for the eight locations is within a predetermined threshold value (for example, within ±10%), and if any one of the ratios RX1 to RX8 for the eight locations is outside the predetermined threshold value, it judges that the amount of hot melt HM supplied to the bonding location 2D of the case 102 is insufficient or excessive, and that the inspected case 102 is a defective product. On the other hand, if all of the ratios RX1 to RX8 for the eight locations are within the predetermined threshold value (within ±10%), the judgment unit 9B judges that the inspected case 102 is a non-defective product. The above is the judgment process by the judgment unit 9B when the operation of the case 1 is started and the transport conveyor 4 is operating at the normal operating speed (high speed), but there are cases where the transport conveyor 4 is decelerated from the normal operating speed (high speed) to a low speed for some reason. For example, this may be the case when the container supply conveyor supplies too many containers 3 to the container supply position C or when a processing device (not shown) downstream of the transport conveyor 4 stops. When the operating speed of the conveyor 4 is switched from high to low in this manner, the elapsed time tx from when the hot melt HM is applied to the adhesive spot 2D of the inner flap 2B of the packaging material 2 to when the outer flap 2C is photographed by the thermal camera 8 in the inspection area B becomes slower than when the conveyor 4 transports the case 102 at the normal operating speed (high speed). When the elapsed time tx is slow, the area S2 of the portion having a predetermined temperature of 38° C. or higher, which is the subject of calculating the area S2 in the thermal image of the portion corresponding to the bonding portion 2D, becomes smaller compared to the case where the transport conveyor 4 runs at the normal operating speed (high speed). In other words, even if the thermal image of the outer flap 2C of the case 102 is taken with the thermal camera 8, when the transport conveyor 4 runs at a slower speed compared to the case where the transport conveyor 4 runs at the normal operating speed (high speed), the conditions for taking a thermal image of the outer flap 2C with the thermal camera 8 after the hot melt HM is applied will be different. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the transport conveyor 4 is switched from the normal operating speed (high speed) to the low speed, the judgment unit 9B corrects the predetermined temperature of 38°C, which is the threshold value for calculating the above-mentioned area S2, and performs the above-mentioned judgment process at the temperature that is the corrected threshold value. Here, the judgment unit 9B stores beforehand basic data relating to the time that has elapsed since the hot melt HM was applied to the adhesion portion 2D of the packaging material 2 and the temperature change on the outer surface of the adhesion portion 2D of the outer flap 2C, based on sampling before the operation of the caser 1 and past performance data, etc. Fig. 4 shows the basic data stored in the judgment unit 9B relating to the time that the hot melt HM was applied, the elapsed time thereafter, and the temperature change. When the conveyor 4 is switched from the normal operating speed (high speed) to low speed, the judgment unit 9B measures the elapsed time tx from when the hot melt HM is applied to the inspected case 102 (packaging material 2) by the hot melt application means 6 until the outer flap 2C is photographed by the thermal camera 8, and compares the elapsed time tx with the basic data in Figure 4, and adopts a temperature threshold of 36°C as the threshold for calculating the above-mentioned area S2 instead of the temperature threshold of 38°C for the medium speed. Thereafter, in the same manner as in the processing for the normal driving speed described above, the judgment unit 9B calculates the area S2 of the parts where the corrected temperature is equal to or higher than the threshold value of 36°C at the locations corresponding to the eight adhesion locations 2D photographed by the thermal camera 8, and calculates the ratios RX1 to RX8 of the areas S2 calculated for each adhesion location 2D to the area S1 of the judgment range A1. Next, if any one of the ratios RX1 to RX8 obtained for the eight locations falls outside the predetermined threshold value (within ±10%), the judgment unit 9B judges that the bonding point 2D of the case 102 being inspected is defective; on the other hand, if all of the ratios RX1 to RX8 obtained for the eight locations are within the predetermined threshold value (within ±10%), the judgment unit 9B judges that the bonding point 2D of the case 102 being inspected is pass.

[0017] As described above, in the hot melt application state inspection device 13 for the case 1 in this embodiment, if the transport conveyor 4 is accelerated or decelerated from the normal operating speed (high speed) for some reason, the judgment unit 9B refers to the basic data shown in Figure 4 and corrects the temperature threshold value for determining the area S2 in the above judgment process in accordance with the fluctuation in the elapsed time tx from the time when the hot melt HM is applied to the adhesive portion 2D of the packaging material 2 to the time when the outer flap 2C is photographed by the thermo camera 8, and makes a pass / fail judgment based on the corrected threshold value. Therefore, even if the transport speed of the case 102 (packaging material 2) by the transport conveyor 4 fluctuates and the elapsed time tx from the time when the hot melt HM is applied to the time when the thermo camera 8 photographs the case 102 varies, the inspection conditions at the time when the thermo camera 8 photographs the corresponding part of the adhesive part 2D of the outer flap 2C of the case 102 can be made substantially the same, thereby suppressing the variation. Therefore, according to the hot melt application state inspection device 13 of this embodiment, the inspection accuracy of the pass / fail judgment of the adhesive part 2D of the case 102 can be improved.

[0018] In the above embodiment, the judgment unit 9B corrects the temperature threshold value when determining the ratios RX1 to RX8 used as the basis of the judgment process in accordance with the variation in the elapsed time from the application of the hot melt HM to the case 102 (packaging material 2) to the photographing of the case 102 by the thermo camera 8, but the following processing may be performed. That is, regarding the variation in the elapsed time from the application of the hot melt HM to the case 102 (packaging material 2) to the photographing of the case 102 by the thermo camera 8, basic data may be created in advance regarding the area of ​​a portion having a predetermined temperature (e.g., 38°C) or higher and the elapsed time, and the data may be stored in the judgment unit 9B, and the judgment unit 9B may compare the basic data regarding the area and elapsed time stored in advance with the elapsed time tx of the case 102 photographed by the thermo camera 8 in the judgment process, and may adopt the area according to the elapsed time tx as the threshold value of the corrected area when performing the above judgment process, and may perform the above-mentioned pass / fail judgment process based on the basic data. In addition, the temperature threshold value used to determine the ratio RX on which the judgment process by the judgment unit 9B is based may be corrected according to changes in room temperature in the building in which the case 1 is located and fluctuations in the outside air temperature at that time. [Explanation of symbols]

[0019] 1...Caser 2...Packaging material 2A…Main body 2B…Inner flap 2C…Outer flap 2D…Gluing point 3...container (item) 4...transport conveyor (transport means) 6...Hot melt application means 8...Thermal camera (temperature sensor) 9...Control device 9B...Determination unit (determination means) 13...Hot melt application condition inspection device 102…Case

Claims

1. 1. An apparatus for inspecting the state of hot melt application of a case, comprising: a conveying means for conveying a packaging material and a case formed by folding the packaging material; a hot melt application means for applying hot melt to adhesive portions of the packaging material conveyed by the conveying means; a folding and pressing means for folding and superimposing a flap of the packaging material on the adhesive portions of the packaging material; a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the flap superimposed on the adhesive portions; and a judgment means for judging the quality of the adhesive portions based on the detected temperature detected by the temperature detection means, The temperature detection means is a thermo camera that takes a thermal image of the case, The judgment means stores in advance basic data relating to the elapsed time since the hot melt was applied to the packaging material and a threshold value for judging the quality of the adhesive portion, The above-mentioned judgment means measures the elapsed time from when the hot melt application means applies hot melt to the adhesive portion of the packaging material to when the case is photographed by the thermal camera, and sets the threshold value corresponding to the elapsed time based on the above-mentioned basic data.

2. The basic data is a relationship between the elapsed time after the hot melt is applied to the packaging material and the temperature change of the flap superimposed on the adhesive portion, 2. The hot melt application state inspection device for cases as described in claim 1, wherein the judgment means measures the elapsed time from when the hot melt is applied to the packaging material to when the case is photographed, sets a threshold temperature corresponding to the elapsed time based on the basic data, and further sets a judgment range surrounding the bonded point in the thermal image taken by the thermo camera, calculates the ratio of the area of ​​the judgment range to the area of ​​the portion of the bonded point where the temperature is equal to or higher than the threshold temperature, and if the ratio is within a predetermined range, judges that the bonded point of the photographed case is normal.

3. The basic data is a relationship between the time elapsed since the hot melt was applied to the packaging material and the change in area at the adhesive portion at a predetermined temperature, 2. The hot melt application state inspection device for cases as described in claim 1, wherein the judgment means, when measuring the elapsed time from when the hot melt is applied to the packaging material to the time when the case is photographed, sets a threshold area corresponding to the elapsed time based on the basic data, further sets a judgment range surrounding the bonded points in the thermal image taken by the thermo camera, calculates the ratio of the area of ​​the judgment range to the threshold area of ​​the bonded points, and if the ratio is within a predetermined range, judges that the bonded points of the photographed case are normal.

Images