Automatic carton opening system

Abstract

To provide a carton opening system capable of reducing the burden of packing work by dropping, in a more stable position, an inner bag housed in the carton into the reversing hopper, so that the package can be smoothly taken out from the inner bag without stopping the system or requiring human intervention.SOLUTION: An automated carton opening system includes a separation station 104 which is configured to separate an inner bag N from a carton C through an opened bottom of the carton C, and which includes outer flap guides 112 arranged to open outer flaps 15 during transfer of the carton C, and an inner flap guide 111 maintaining inner flaps 14 in a closed state, as well as, capable of moving the inner flaps 14 to a position allowing them to be freely opened.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to an automatic carton opening system that opens a carton containing an inner bag containing a large number of small items, such as caps for closing the mouths of containers, as packages, and further removes the packages from the inner bag. [Background technology]

[0002] In factories equipped with filling lines that fill and package bottle-shaped containers with beverages and other contents, caps are supplied in order to seal the mouths of the containers in accordance with the number of filled containers being transported. To supply these caps, a cap feeder with a capacity of tens of thousands of caps is provided on the filling line, and the caps are supplied sequentially from the cap feeder to the filling line. Although each cap weighs very little, the pressure acting on the cap at the bottom of the cap feeder is quite high, which may cause the cap to deform. Therefore, there is a limit to how much the cap feeder can increase its capacity.

[0003] Recently, filling lines have become faster, and there are an increasing number of lines that can fill and cap more than 600 bottles per minute (600 bpm or more). At this processing speed, even if the cap feeder is filled to capacity with caps, they will be used up in just a few tens of minutes. Therefore, for each filling line, it is necessary to open 10 to several hundred cartons and feed them into the cap feeder every day, although this varies depending on the line's operating hours. However, no machine has yet been developed that can automatically perform the entire process from opening the carton to removing the inner bag, removing the cap, and disposing of the used inner bag and empty carton. As a result, cartons are still periodically unpacked by hand, and the entire process, starting with opening the carton, is a burden on the operator.

[0004] Generally, not only bottle sealing caps but also relatively lightweight items such as plastic parts that are used in large quantities (hereinafter referred to as small items in this explanation) are placed in cartons, each containing an inner bag containing the small items, and the cartons are then palletized for distribution. When unpacking cartons to supply small items to a production line or the like, a similar problem arises in that the cartons must be unpacked periodically. BACKGROUND ART Various types of opening devices for packaging boxes, which generally cut the flap seal of a packaging box to open it, have been proposed, such as those shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2. Other proposals include a device that cuts the sealing tape on opened boxes and automatically folds and stacks cardboard boxes (see, for example, Patent Document 3), and a depalletizer and enveloper or enveloper and palletizer equipped with a robot (see Patent Document 4). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-91746 [Patent Document 2] Registered Utility Model No. 3036053 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-18932 [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 3-69432 [Patent Document 5] Patent No. 4058261 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] To solve these problems, the applicant proposed a carton opening system that uses a work robot to handle the carton, has a simple structure that saves space as much as possible, and does not rely on manual work, and that separates the inner bag contained within the carton from the carton, effectively removes the packaged material from the inner bag, and supplies it to the required production line (see Patent Document 5). This carton opening system solved the above problems, and the space-saving, simple structure of the device reduced the burden of unpacking work on the operator. However, when the inner bag N is dropped under its own weight from the bottom of the carton C into the reversing hopper 141 (temporary hopper 70 in Patent Document 5), the pair of inner flaps 14 open sequentially while the carton C is being transported.As a result, as shown in Figure 5, the inner flap 14 that opens first loses its support first, and a force is applied to rotate the inner bag N as it falls, which could occasionally cause the inner bag N to tilt and be stored in the reversing hopper 141. If the inner bag N is tilted and stored in the reversing hopper 141, it may not be possible to smoothly remove the packaged material even if the reversing hopper 141 is tilted, and in such cases the system must be stopped temporarily and manual intervention is required. Furthermore, as shown in the figure, when the reversing hopper 141 is tilted, there is a risk that the inner bag N may fall out.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a carton opening system that allows the inner bags contained in the carton to fall into the reversing hopper in a more stable position, thereby allowing the packaged items to be smoothly removed from the inner bags without stopping the system or requiring human intervention, thereby reducing the burden of unpacking work on the operator. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention provides an automatic carton opening system comprising: an input station into which cartons containing inner bags and with sealed bottom outer flaps are input; a bottom opening station for opening the bottom outer flaps of the cartons transferred from the input station; a separation station for separating the inner bags from the cartons through the opened bottoms of the cartons transferred from the bottom opening station; and a package receiving station for receiving packages contained in the inner bags from the inner bags separated from the cartons at the separation station. The separation station has an outer flap guide for guiding the opened outer flaps of the bottom of the carton and an inner flap guide for guiding the inner flaps of the bottom of the carton, the outer flap guide being positioned to open the outer flaps while the carton is being transferred; and the inner flap guide is movable to a position that keeps the inner flaps closed while the carton is being transferred so that the inner flaps can be freely opened, thereby solving the above problems. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the automatic carton opening system of the invention of claim 1, the inner flap guide keeps the inner flaps closed while the carton is being transported, and is movable to a position where the inner flaps can be opened freely.This allows the inner bag to reach the drop position (above the reversing hopper) while being supported within the carton by the closed inner flaps, and by quickly moving the inner flap guide while the carton is stationary at the drop position to open the inner flaps, the inner bag can fall straight without generating any rotational force, while maintaining its posture within the carton. This prevents the inner bag from tilting when it is dropped (inside the reversing hopper) and allows the packaged items to be smoothly removed from the drop destination, preventing the system from being stopped or requiring manual intervention, and also preventing the inner bag from falling out when the reversing hopper is tilted.

[0010] According to the configuration described in claim 2, the outer flap guides are positioned on both sides of the inner flap guide at a lower position than the inner flap guides, making it possible to open the outer flaps to the minimum extent necessary, thereby reducing the surrounding space required for carton movement. According to the configuration described in claim 3, when the reversing hopper is tilted to remove the packaged item, the inner bag is fixed to the bottom, so that the packaged item can be removed more smoothly without the inner bag falling out, and it is also possible to automatically and quickly recover the empty inner bag after the packaged item has been removed. According to the configuration of claim 4, the inner flap guide and the outer flap guide can be fixed integrally, which improves the degree of freedom in arranging the actuator for moving the inner flap guide. According to the configuration of claim 5, one work robot can be responsible for many different tasks, and the entire system can be made space-saving and have a simple structure. According to the configurations described in claims 6 and 7, the inner bag does not fall even when the inner flap is opened, and can be moved downward by the descent of the inner bag support member, further making it possible to suppress changes in the posture of the inner bag. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an automatic carton opening system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a side view of the bottom opening station and separation station of FIG. 1; [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bottom opening station and separation station of FIG. 1; [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of carton C seen from diagonally below. [Figure 5] 10 is an explanatory diagram of the rotation of the inner bag when dropped into the reversing hopper. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Example]

[0012] As shown in Figure 1, the automatic carton opening system 100 is configured by placing a work robot 109 at a central position and arranging multiple stations around the work robot 109 to perform the tasks necessary to open a carton C. The carton C is a box in which lightweight small items such as bottle caps are loosely packed in an inner bag N. It is preferable that the entire work space be set up in a clean room that is isolated from the outside and has controlled air conditioning, but the surrounding environment does not have to be a clean room as long as it is clean enough to prevent foreign matter from getting into the cap.

[0013] As shown in Figure 4, the carton C used in this embodiment is composed of a rectangular cylindrical body-shaped side panel portion 11, a bottom flap 12 that is formed so as to be bendable along a crease formed along the lower end of the side panel portion 11, and a top flap 13 that is formed so as to be bendable along a crease formed along the upper end of the side panel portion 11, and the structure itself is no different from that of conventional structures. The bottom flaps 12 are made up of inner flaps 14, 14 which form one pair and are folded inside the carton 10 first, and outer flaps 15, 15 which form the other pair and are superimposed on both the inner flaps 14, 14 and sealed.

[0014] In the illustrated example, the inner flaps 14, 14 and the outer flaps 15, 15 are sealed together by adhering the seams 15b of the outer flaps 15, 15 with tape 18. If there is a risk that the seal of the bottom flaps 12 will be broken by the weight of the package if only the tape 18 is used to seal the bottom flaps 12, tape 18a is applied across the side edge 15a of each outer flap 15 and the side panel portion 11, and the tape 18 and the tape 18a are joined together to form an H-shaped seal as a whole, thereby reinforcing the sealing strength of the bottom flaps 12 of the carton 10. The seals between the inner and outer flaps may be formed by bonding with an adhesive 19 such as hot melt instead of tape 18, 18a. Similar to the structure of the bottom flap 12, the top flap 13 is made up of inner flaps 16, 16 and outer flaps 17, 17 that are overlapped on the inner flaps 16, 16 and sealed with tape 88. To improve the sealing performance of the top flap 13, tape 88a is applied across the side edge 17a of each outer flap 17 and the side panel 11, and the tape 88 and tape 88a together form an H-shaped seal as a whole.

[0015] In the automatic carton opening system 100 shown in FIG. 1, cartons C are carried into a carry-in station 101 in a palletized state, with a plurality of cartons C stacked on a pallet. The carton C carried into the carrying-in station 101 is transferred by the work robot 109 from the carrying-in station 101 to the preliminary opening station 103 or directly to the bottom opening station 102, where the seal on the bottom flap of the carton C is opened. The carton C, with the bottom flap seal now open, is then transferred to a separation station 104 where the inner pouch N is separated from the carton C through the already opened bottom flap. The inner bag N separated from the carton C at the separation station 104 receives the cap as a package at the package receiving station 105. The stations are arranged in a working range (shown as a circle in FIG. 1) around the work robot 109. This arrangement minimizes the amount of work performed by the work robot 109 at each station and the amount of movement of the cartons C between stations, shortening the distance and time that the cartons C must travel, thereby improving the work efficiency of the work robot 109.

[0016] In order to collect the empty bags separated in the separation station 104 and from which the contents have been removed, an empty bag collecting station 106 can be provided which sucks and collects the empty bags from the separation station 104 through a vacuum duct 171. The empty bags can be easily collected by sucking them from the separation station 104 through the vacuum duct 171. Also provided are a top opening station 107 for opening the seals on the top flaps of the empty cartons C separated from the inner bags N at the separation station 104, and an empty carton recovery station 108 for recovering the empty cartons C whose seals on the top flaps have been opened and flattened at the top opening station 107. Since the empty cartons C separated from the inner bags N at the separation station 104 are bulky as they are, it is preferable to open the seals on the top flaps of the empty cartons C at the top opening station 107, flatten the empty cartons C that have become cylindrical after the seals on the top flaps have been opened, and then collect the reduced volume empty cartons C at the empty carton collection station 108.

[0017] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottom opening station 102 has a bottom seal opener 121 fixed to the path along which the carton C moves. By moving the carton C relative to the bottom seal opener 121, the outer flaps of the bottom flaps of the carton C are forced downward, forming a gap between them and the inner flaps, and the bottom seal opener 121 penetrates between the outer and inner flaps and moves relatively forward, opening the seal of the bottom flap, releasing the mutual constraint between the inner and outer flaps and separating both outer flaps from the inner flap.

[0018] A fixed flap guide 110 is provided from the bottom opening station 102 to the separation station 104 . The fixed flap guide 110 is composed of a fixed outer flap guide 110b that guides the outer flaps of the opened carton C at the bottom, and a fixed inner flap guide 110a that guides the inner flaps of the opened carton C at the bottom. The fixed inner flap guide 110a is disposed in the center of the moving path of the carton C, and is configured to keep the inner flaps closed at all times while the carton C is being transported. The fixed outer flap guide 110b is positioned so as to gradually move away from the vicinity of the fixed inner flap guide 110a on the bottom opening station 102 side, and is positioned so as to extend diagonally on both sides of the fixed inner flap guide 110a to a position lower than the fixed inner flap guide 110a, and is configured to open the outer flaps as the carton C is transported. In this embodiment, both the fixed inner flap guide 110a and the fixed outer flap guide 110b slide on the inner and outer flaps of the carton C, and are therefore made of smooth metal round bars.

[0019] At a position above the reversing hopper 141 of the separation station 104, there are provided an inner flap guide 111 that is continuous with the fixed inner flap guide 110a and keeps the inner flaps closed at all times while the carton C is being transported, and an outer flap guide 112 that is continuous with the fixed outer flap guide 110b and keeps the outer flaps open while the carton C is being transported. The inner flap guide 111 is configured to be movable (in this embodiment, it can slide to the left as shown) to a position where the inner flap can be freely opened by the flap guide moving mechanism 113, and is configured so that the inner bag N containing the packaged material can fall under its own weight into the reversing hopper 141 provided below. The carton C transported to above the reversing hopper 141 of the separation station 104 remains supported by the work robot 109, but as the inner flap guide 111 moves, the bottom flap of the carton C is immediately opened by the weight of the inner bag N, and the inner bag N falls through the opened bottom flap and is dropped into the reversing hopper 141. The gap between the inner flap guide 111 and the bottom of the carton C when the carton C is moving can be adjusted appropriately by the work robot 109, taking into consideration the ease with which the inner bag N falls, the dimensional tolerance of the carton C, the weight of the inner bag N, and the ease with which the inner flaps can be opened when the inner flap guide 111 is opened. For example, in the case of an inner bag N containing loose plastic bottle caps, it is preferable to adjust the gap between the inner flap guide 111 and the bottom surface of the carton C to about 0 to 100 mm. In this embodiment, the outer flap guide 112 is configured to slide integrally with the inner flap guide 111, but it is also possible to move only the inner flap guide 111. Furthermore, any mechanism or structure for movement may be used.

[0020] The separation station 114 is provided with an inner bag support member 114 that rises from below to support the inner bag N inside the carton C whose bottom has been opened, relative to the carton C positioned above the inverting hopper 141. The inner bag support member 114 rises to a position where it contacts the inner bag N just before the inner flap guide 111 moves, and descends after the inner flap guide 111 moves, thereby suppressing changes in the posture of the inner bag N when it falls. In this embodiment, the inner bag support member 114 is configured as two rods that pass between the outer flap guides 112 on both sides, sandwiching the inner flap guide 111, and is formed in a shape that can pass between the bottom of the inverting hopper 141 and the closed inner flaps of the carton C, and the upper end surfaces of each are configured to be adsorbed to the inner bag N by a vacuum mechanism. This allows the posture of the inner bag N to be more stable when descending.

[0021] The inner surface (bottom and side) of the reversing hopper 141 is provided with suction fixing portions 143 that introduce negative pressure and suction the inner bag N to the inner surface to prevent the inner bag N from dropping during the reversing drive. The reversing hopper 141 is driven to reverse toward the package receiving station 105, and the cap is removed from the inner bag N to the package receiving station 105. The bottom of the reversing hopper 141 is provided with a suction hole 142 that is connected to a vacuum duct 171 when the reversing hopper 141 is in the upright position. After the caps have been removed, the reversing hopper 141 returns to its original upright position, and the empty bags are collected into the empty bag collecting station 106 through the vacuum duct 171 connected to the suction hole 142 . The vacuum duct 171 is configured to be selectively connected to the suction hole 142, the inner bag support member 114, and the suction fixing portion 143, respectively, by a switching means (not shown) such as a damper that switches between three systems, and is configured to perform switching operation using an air cylinder or the like. The reversing hopper 141 may be driven to turn over by the working robot 109, or may be provided with a separate driving mechanism. [Explanation of symbols]

[0022] 100 ··· Automatic carton opening system 101 Loading Station 102 Bottom Opening Station 103 ··· Spare Opening Station 104 Separation Station 105 Package receiving station 106 ··· Empty bag collection station 107 ··· Top opening station 108 Empty carton collection station 109 ··· Work robot 110 Fixed flap guide 110a··· Fixed inner flap guide 110b Fixed outer flap guide 111 Inner flap guide 112 Outer flap guide 113 Flap guide movement mechanism 114 Inner bag support member 121 Bottom Seal Opener 141 ··· Inverting hopper 142... Suction hole 143... Suction fixing part 171 ··· Vacuum duct C··· Carton N ··· Inner bag 14 Inner flap 15 ··· Outer flap

Claims

1. 1. An automatic carton opening system comprising: an input station into which cartons containing inner bags and having sealed bottom outer flaps are input; a bottom opening station for opening the bottom outer flaps of the cartons transferred from the input station; a separation station for separating the inner bags from the cartons through the opened bottoms of the cartons transferred from the bottom opening station; and a package receiving station for receiving packages contained in the inner bags from the inner bags separated from the cartons at the separation station, The separation station has an outer flap guide for guiding the opened outer flap at the bottom of the carton, and an inner flap guide for guiding the inner flap at the bottom of the carton, the outer flap guides are positioned to open the outer flaps during carton transport; The automatic carton opening system is characterized in that the inner flap guide keeps the inner flaps closed during carton transport and is movable to a position where the inner flaps can be freely opened.

2. The inner flap guide is disposed at the center of the carton moving path, 2. The automatic carton opening system according to claim 1, wherein the outer flap guides are disposed on both sides of the inner flap guide at positions lower than the inner flap guides.

3. 3. The automatic carton opening system according to claim 1, wherein the separation station is provided with an inversion hopper that supports the inner bags separated from the carton and inverts them to discharge the packages from the inner bags to the package receiving station, and a vacuum duct that sucks the inner bags into the bottom of the inversion hopper and recovers them.

4. 4. The automatic carton opening system according to claim 1, wherein the outer flap guide is configured to be movable integrally with the inner flap guide.

5. The automatic carton opening system includes a work robot, the stations are arranged around a work robot; 5. The automatic carton opening system according to claim 1, wherein the work robot is configured to grasp a carton and move the carton within each of the stations and between each of the stations.

6. 6. The automatic carton opening system according to claim 1, wherein the separation station has an inner bag support member that rises from below the carton and supports the inner bag in the opened bottom carton from below.

7. The inner flap guide is disposed at the center of the carton moving path, The outer flap guides are disposed on both sides of the inner flap guide, 7. The automatic carton opening system according to claim 6, wherein the inner bag support member is configured to be able to move up and down between the inner flap guide and the outer flap guide.

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