Method for preparing items for shipment such as chives, and device for preparing items for shipment such as chives

Abstract

To solve such a problem that an article binding diameter is larger than expected, and a bag filling operation of the article after a binding operation is bothersome due to a configuration in which conventionally, two places in an article length direction are held by a holding arm, and an intermediate position of a holding part with the holding arm between the two places is bound by an adhesive tape.SOLUTION: An article shipment preparing method of Chinese chive or the like comprises the steps of: conveying a lateral movement path X in a horizontal direction by placing an article to a U-shaped bucket 10 whose upper portion is open; lowering a vertical movement path Y to a binding position in a state where the article is held at a terminal of the lateral movement path X by a holding arm 18 of the bucket 10; and binding the article with an adhesive tape 32 in a state where an article binding diameter is made to be smaller in diameter than a holding diameter via the holding arm 18 by a fastening device 60.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for preparing goods such as leeks for shipment and an apparatus for preparing goods such as leeks for shipment. [Background technology]

[0002] A known configuration includes a conveying device configured by arranging U-shaped buckets with open tops in a line in the conveying direction, a gripping device that grips the articles being conveyed by the buckets, and a bundling device that bundles the gripped articles, and the articles are gripped by the gripping arms and bundled together (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-96494 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-mentioned known example, the object is gripped at two points along its length by gripping arms and bound at the midpoint between the gripping points by the two gripping arms with adhesive tape. This causes the bound diameter of the object to be larger than expected, which makes it difficult to pack the object into a bag after the binding process. The present application aims to facilitate the bagging of articles after bundling by bundling them with a diameter smaller than the diameter of the article gripped by the gripping device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The invention of claim 1 is a method for preparing and shipping goods such as leeks, in which goods are placed in each of a plurality of U-shaped buckets 10 with their tops open, and transported along a horizontal lateral path X, and the goods are gripped by the gripping arms 18 of the buckets 10 at the end of the lateral path X, and the buckets 10 are lowered along a vertical path Y to a binding position, and a tightening device 60 presses a pressing body 61 against the outer part of the adhesive tape 32 wrapped around the goods, tightening the tape and making the bundle diameter of the goods smaller than the gripping diameter, thereby binding the goods. The invention of claim 2 is a clamping device 60, which includes a pressing body 61, By Bucket 10 of goods Transport This is a method for preparing goods for shipment, such as leeks, by pressing the bundle of goods against the outer periphery from a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement. The invention of claim 3 is a method for preparing articles for shipment, such as leeks, in which the adhesive tape 32 has an adhesive surface 62 coated on the inner surface thereof, and the tip of the adhesive tape 32 is held on the base 40 so that the adhesive surface 62 faces upstream in the direction of article movement and crosses the path of article movement, and when the article abuts against the adhesive tape 32 in this state and the adhesive tape 32 of the article on the opposite side of the base 40 becomes vertical, the movement of the article is stopped, and the pressing body 61 of the tightening device 60 is moved toward the base 40 to press the adhesive tape 32 outward, and at the same time the binding arm 31 of the binding device 15 rotates to bind the article. The invention of claim 4 is an apparatus for preparing goods for shipment such as leeks, which comprises a conveying device 11 configured by arranging a plurality of U-shaped buckets 10 with open tops in parallel in the conveying direction, each for placing an item thereon, a gripping device 17 having gripping arms 18 for gripping the items being conveyed by the buckets 10, and a binding device 15 having binding arms 31 for binding the gripped items, all mounted on a frame 1, and a tightening device 60 for tightening the bundle of goods to a diameter smaller than the gripping diameter of the gripping arms 18, and the tightening device 60 presses a pressing body 61 against the outer part of adhesive tape 32 wrapped around the goods to tighten the bundle, thereby binding the goods with the adhesive tape 32 in a diameter smaller than the gripping diameter. The invention of claim 5 is a clamping device 60, wherein the pressing body 61 is By Bucket 10This is an apparatus for preparing shipment of articles such as leeks, which is configured to move by a pressing cylinder 66 in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the articles. The invention of claim 6 is a device for preparing shipments of goods such as leeks, in which the arm support base 35 to which the base of the binding arm 31 of the binding device 15 is attached is provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y, and the application base 33 and tape holding roller 41 are provided on the rear side of the vertical movement path Y across the vertical movement path Y, and the pressing body 61 and pressing cylinder 66 of the tightening device 60 are attached via a stay 70 to the arm support base 35 provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y. In the invention of claim 7, the pressing body 61 and the pressing cylinder 66 are arranged in a substantially same straight line as the adhesive tape 32 in a plan view in the shipment preparation device for articles such as leeks. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] In the invention of claim 1, the tightening device 60 binds the bundle of articles with adhesive tape 32 in a state where the diameter of the bundle of articles is smaller than the diameter gripped by the gripping arm 18, so that the binding diameter of the bound part of the articles can be made smaller, making bagging easier. Claim 2 In this invention, the clamping device 60 presses the pressing body 61 against the outer periphery of the bundle of articles from a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the articles to bind them, so the movement mechanism of the pressing body 61 can be configured simply, the clamping device 60 can be provided at low cost, and it is also possible to retrofit the clamping device 60 as an option to existing articles such as leeks for shipping, thereby increasing product variations. Claim 3 In the invention, the adhesive surface 62 of the adhesive tape 32 is stuck to the outer periphery of the article, and the base part 40 of the adhesive tape 32 is also stuck to the holding side adhesive surface 62 with the cutting side adhesive surface 62 folded together, and at this time, the pressing body 61 of the tightening device 60 presses the adhesive tape 32 from the outside, so that the binding diameter of the binding part of the article can be made narrower and bagging work is made easier. Claim 4In this invention, a frame 1 having an article conveying device 11 is provided with a gripping device 17 for gripping articles and a binding device 15 having a binding arm 31 for binding the gripped articles, and a tightening device 60 is provided for binding the articles with adhesive tape 32 in a state where the article bundle diameter is smaller than the gripping diameter by the gripping arm 18, so that the binding diameter of the bound part of the articles can be made smaller, making bagging work easier. Claim 5 In this invention, the tightening device 60 presses a pressing body 61 from the outside of the bundle of articles held by the gripping arms 18, and the gripping arms 18 also make the bundle diameter of the articles smaller than the gripping diameter, so that the bundle diameter of the articles can be made thinner, making bagging easier. Claim 6 In this invention, the binding device 15 is configured such that an arm support base 35, to which the base of the binding arm 31 of the binding device 15 is attached, is provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y, and an application base 33 and a tape pressing roller 41 are provided on the rear side of the vertical movement path Y, across the vertical movement path Y, and the pressing body 61 and pressing cylinder 66 of the tightening device 60 are attached to the arm support base 35 provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y via a stay 70, so that the pressing body 61 can be abutted against the outside of the adhesive tape 32 in the middle of being wound around the article, making the tightening operation easier, resulting in a rational configuration and making the installation of the binding device 15 easier. Claim 7 In this invention, the pressing body 61 and the pressing cylinder 66 are arranged in approximately the same straight line when viewed in a plane, so that the pressing body 61 and the pressing cylinder 66 can press the outer surface of the adhesive tape 32 attached to the articles to tighten the bundle of articles, thereby effectively reducing the diameter of the bundle of articles. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an entire article shipment preparation device. [Figure 2] FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a base side bucket portion of the conveying device. [Figure 5] FIG. [Figure 6]FIG. [Figure 7] Same plan view. [Figure 8] FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a side view of the state in which the article is in contact with the adhesive tape. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a side view of the article moved to the binding position. [Figure 11] 4A and 4B are side views and enlarged views of the binding device and the fastening device in operation; [Figure 12] FIG. [Figure 13] FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0008] One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes the frame of an automatic binding device for items that are thin in length, such as green onions, spring onions, Chinese chives, mitsuba (Japanese cricket), and asparagus. A rear horizontal shaft 2 and an upper front horizontal shaft 3 are provided at a predetermined distance from each other on the upper side of the frame 1 (FIG. 3). A lower front horizontal shaft 4 is provided substantially directly below the upper front horizontal shaft 3. A plurality of gears 5 are provided at predetermined intervals on each of the rear horizontal shafts 2, upper front horizontal shaft 3, and lower front horizontal shaft 4, and an endless chain 6 is looped around each gear 5. Reference numeral 7 denotes a conveying motor that rotates the endless chain 6. Although not shown, a chain guide rail is provided in the path along which the endless chain 6 moves to support and guide its movement. For ease of understanding, the direction in which the articles are transported will be referred to as the front-to-back direction, and the following description will be given using directions such as front-to-back, left-to-right, and up-to-down based on this direction in which the articles are transported, but the configuration of the present invention is not limited to this.

[0009] A plurality of buckets 10 for carrying and transporting the articles are attached to the endless chain 6 at predetermined intervals in the front-rear direction. That is, a plurality of buckets 10 are attached at predetermined intervals in the transport direction to form a transport device 11. Each bucket 10 is divided into multiple parts in the left-right direction and is configured to have at least a base bucket 10A, an intermediate bucket 10B, and a tip bucket 10C (Figure 1), and each bucket 10 has its mounting portion 12 attached to the endless chain 6. The bucket 10 receives an article from above between a pair of inclined portions 13 while moving horizontally approximately horizontally along the horizontal movement path X, which makes it easy to place an article between the rear horizontal shaft 2 and the front upper horizontal shaft 3, and the bucket 10 at the end of the horizontal movement, from the front upper horizontal shaft 3 to the front lower horizontal shaft 4, descends along the vertical movement path Y while holding the article, and when the article B reaches the binding position during the vertical movement, the conveyance is temporarily stopped, the article is bound, and the end is cut.

[0010] The bucket 10 is provided with a gripping device 17 that grips the received articles so as to fix the articles to the bucket 10 when they are bound by a binding device 15, which will be described later. The gripping device 17 is configured by attaching a gripping arm 18 to the bucket 10, which rotates between a gripping position where it overlaps the inclined portion 13 of each bucket 10 in a side view and a retracted position where it does not overlap, and by providing a gripping guide 19 which abuts against the gripping arm 18 at a predetermined position and rotates it to the gripping position. The gripping guide 19 is provided at a predetermined position on the vertical movement path Y of the gripping arm 18. The gripping guide 19 abuts against the front (back) surface of the gripping arm 18, causing the gripping arm 18 to rotate backward around the mounting shaft 21 and overlap with the rear inclined portion 13, thereby gripping the article in the bucket 10.

[0011] That is, the bucket 10, with an article placed between the front and rear inclined portions 13 standing upward, moves horizontally forward, and the gear 5 on the front upper horizontal shaft 3 changes the direction of movement of the endless chain 6 and the bucket 10 to vertical movement.When this direction of movement is changed, the gripping arm 18 hits the gripping guide 19 and rotates rearward in the direction of movement, ahead of the inclined portion 13 of the bucket 10, thereby overlapping with the inclined portion 13 of the bucket 10 in a side view and gripping the article. The gripping guide 19 is attached to the frame 1 side so that its position can be adjusted toward or away from the movement path of the gripping arm 18, and the amount of rotation of the gripping arm 18 can be adjusted, so that the size of the gripping space between the bucket 10 and the gripping arm 19 can be changed and adjusted to match the size of the object to be gripped. The gripping arm 18 of the base bucket 10A also serves as the front inclined portion 13 (Fig. 4).

[0012] Thus, the articles placed on the bucket 10 are gripped by the gripping arms 18, and a binding device 15 is provided to bind the base portion of the gripped articles. The binding device 15 comprises a binding arm 31 that rotates parallel to the conveying direction of the bucket 10, and an application table 33 that applies and holds the end of adhesive tape 32 carried by the binding arm 31 (Fig. 6). The binding arm 31 has a base portion rotatably attached to an arm support base 35 by a mounting shaft 36, and a rotation cylinder 37 for rotating the binding arm 31 is provided between the arm support base 35 and the binding arm 31. The application stand 33 is configured by providing a base 40 on the frame 1 side, and a tape pressure roller 41 on the rear side of the base 40. The tape pressure roller 41 is rotatably attached to an arm 42, and the arm 42 is rotatably attached to the frame 1 side by a shaft 43, and although the tape pressure roller 41 and the arm 42 are not shown, a spring urges the tape pressure roller 41 so that it is always in contact with the base 40.

[0013] The bundling device 15 holds the tip of the adhesive tape 32 between the tape press roller 41 and the application table 33, and waits with the adhesive tape 32 stretched between the tip of the bundling arm 31 and the application table 33 (Figs. 8 and 14). The bottom surface of the article comes into contact with the application surface of the adhesive tape 32 as it descends (Fig. 9). When the bucket 10 (article B) reaches the bundling position, the sensor 45 detects that the moving article or the bucket 10 has reached the bundling position (Figs. 10 and 11). The rotating cylinder 37 is extended to rotate the bundling arm 31 toward the application table 33, and the adhesive tape 32 between the article and the tip of the bundling arm 31 is applied to the top side of the article (Fig. 11). Next, the bundling arm 31 The guide portion 47 provided on the tip side of the binding arm 31 comes into contact with the tape pressure roller 41, causing the tape pressure roller 41 to rotate backward, and at the same time the cutting blade 46 provided on the binding arm 31 cuts off the tip of the adhesive tape 32 (Figure 12). When the guide portion 47 of the binding arm 31 comes into contact with the tape pressure roller 41, the switch 50 detects that the binding arm 31 has reached its maximum extension and causes the rotating cylinder 37 to begin retracting (Figure 12), returning the binding arm 31 to its standby position (Figure 14). When the switch 51 detects that the binding arm 31 has returned, it stops the retraction of the rotating cylinder 37, and then restarts driving the conveying motor 7, restarts the movement of the bucket 10, and repeats the above process.

[0014] In this case, the diameter of the gripping by the gripping arm 18 can be changed by adjusting the position of the gripping guide 19 relative to the movement path of the gripping arm 18, but the adhesive tape 32 is simply wrapped around the outer circumference of the item being gripped by the gripping arm 18, and even though the binding arm 31 can adjust the tension of the adhesive tape 32 between the tip of the binding arm 31 and the application table 33 by contracting the rotating cylinder 37, as shown in Figure 9, the direction in which the adhesive tape 32 is stretched is diagonally forward and does not affect the direction in which the item is wrapped, so if the binding diameter of the item is thicker than expected, it can be difficult to pack the item into a bag after binding.

[0015] The present invention is configured so that the article B can be bound with adhesive tape 32 (FIG. 11) when the diameter of the article B is smaller than the diameter gripped by gripping arm 18 (FIG. 10). This allows the diameter of the bundled portion of the article to be made smaller, making bagging easier. That is, the gripping arms 18 grip the articles in the vicinity of the bundled portion in a narrow manner, and the bundle diameter of the articles is made smaller than the gripping diameter by the fastening device 60 when the articles are bundled. The clamping device 60 presses a pressing body 61 against the outer periphery of the bundle of articles from a direction intersecting the direction of movement of the articles, thereby reducing the diameter of the bundle of articles (FIG. 11). The clamping device 60 moves the pressing body 61 linearly from a direction intersecting the direction of movement of the articles, and presses it against the outer periphery of the article bundle to reduce the diameter of the bundle of articles (FIGS. 7 and 11).

[0016] The clamping device 60 moves the pressing body 61 linearly from a direction crossing the moving direction of the articles while it is in contact with the outer part of the adhesive tape 32 wrapped around the articles, and presses it against the outer periphery of the article bundle to reduce the diameter of the bundle of articles. That is, the pressing body 61 is moved from the opening of the bucket 10 toward the mounting portion 12 of the bucket 10, and while it is in contact with the outer portion of the adhesive tape 32 wrapped around the article, it is moved in a straight line and pressed against the outer periphery of the article bundle to reduce the diameter of the bundle of articles. In other words, the adhesive tape 32 has an adhesive surface 62 coated on the inner surface thereof, and the outer periphery of the moved article is brought into contact with the adhesive surface 62 of one end 64 already held and waiting on the application stand 33. The binding arm 31 is then rotated so that the middle part of the adhesive tape 32 at the tip end of the binding arm 31 goes around the outer periphery of the article and the other end 65 is bonded to the one end 64 to form a palm-to-palm bond (Figure 11). After the palm-to-palm bond, the other end 65 is cut by the cutting blade 46 to bind the article, but before binding with the adhesive tape 32, the pressing body 61 presses the article against the bottom of the bucket 10 so that the article is bound with a diameter smaller than the gripping diameter of the gripping arm 18.

[0017] Therefore, the bundle diameter of the articles can be made smaller than the diameter of the articles gripped by the gripping arms 18 of the bucket 10. Therefore, the pressing body 61 of the fastening device 60 is configured to press the article toward the mounting portion 12 of the bucket 10 from outside the non-adhesive surface of the adhesive tape 32 attached to the outer periphery of the article, thereby narrowing the binding diameter. Therefore, the bundle diameter of the articles can be effectively reduced. The clamping device 60 is configured by attaching the pressing body 61 to the tip of a rod 67 of a pressing cylinder 66 . The binding device 15 is configured such that an arm support base 35, to which the base of the binding arm 31 of the binding device 15 is attached, is provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y, and an application base 33 and a tape pressing roller 41 are provided on the rear side of the vertical movement path Y, across the vertical movement path Y, and the pressing body 61 and pressing cylinder 66 of the tightening device 60 are attached to the arm support base 35 provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y via a stay 70.

[0018] In this case, the pressing body 61 and the pressing cylinder 66 are arranged on approximately the same straight line in a plan view so that the pressing body 61 and the pressing cylinder 66 can press the adhesive tape 32 at its center in the left-right direction. Therefore, the pressing body 61 and the pressing cylinder 66 can press the outer surface of the adhesive tape 32 attached to the article to tighten the bundle of articles, and the article bundling diameter can be effectively made smaller than the article gripping diameter by the gripping arm 18 of the bucket 10. In addition, the center of the tape pressing roller 41 of the binding device 15, the upper surface position of the base portion 40, and the vertical center position of the pressing body 61 are arranged so as to be positioned on approximately the same straight line in a side view.

[0019] Therefore, the pressing body 61 and the pressing cylinder 66 can press the outer surface of the adhesive tape 32 attached to the articles to tighten the bundle of articles, thereby effectively reducing the diameter of the bundle of articles. The stroke of the rod 67 of the pressing cylinder 66 may be adjustable to change the amount of pressing of the article B. The stay 70 to which the pressing cylinder 66 is attached may be attached to the arm support base 35 so as to be movable back and forth, and the amount of pressing of the article B may be changed by moving the stay 70 back and forth. Furthermore, a plurality of types of pressing bodies 61 with different diameters may be prepared and selectively attached to the rod 67 in a detachable manner.

[0020] In addition, the tightening device 60 may be configured to be switchable to an inoperative state when the worker does not want to use it due to the nature of the goods to be bound or other reasons, during binding by the binding arm 31 of the binding device 15. The pressing force of the pressing body 61 against the articles B is set to a force that narrows the space between the bundle of articles B, and is set to be weaker than a pressing force that crushes the stems of the articles B. However, the vertical movement path Y of the bucket 10 is provided with a tape end processing device (not shown) having a contact member that processes the loose ends of the adhesive tape 32 after binding by adhering them to the outer periphery of the article or the adhesive tape 32. The contact member is made of an elastic material such as sponge, and moves in and out of the vertical moving path Y to stick the fluttering separated end of the adhesive tape 32.

[0021] A circular rotary blade (not shown) is provided on the path of movement of bucket 10, which holds an article with gripping arm 18 after the tape end processing by the tape end processing device, to cut and align the base side of the article so that it overlaps with the movement trajectory in a side view. 71 is a cutting motor that rotates the circular rotary blade, 72 is a cutting waste collection box, 73 is a transport conveyor that transports the bundled articles, 74 is a bundled article collection basket, 75 is an operation panel, and 76 is an emergency stop button.

[0022] (Operation of the embodiment) When the conveying motor 7 is energized, the endless chain 6 of the conveying device 11 moves the distance of one bucket 10 and stops for a predetermined time, then moves the distance of one bucket 10 and stops for a predetermined time, and this is repeated to move the bucket 10 intermittently. The base of the gripping arm 18 is rotatably attached to each bucket 10 by a mounting shaft 21, so that the gripping arm 18 can move laterally in an open state without the need for a special drive source such as a cylinder, making it easy to place an item on the bucket. Therefore, when weighed items such as chives or mitsuba are placed in the bucket 10 with the gripping arms 18 open, the bucket 10 moves to the end of the lateral movement path.

[0023] The bucket 10 is configured to move along a vertical movement path Y that moves downward at the end of a horizontal movement path X that makes it easy to place an item on it, and a gripping guide 19 is provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y at a predetermined distance, so that when the bucket 10 changes its position from upward to sideways, the gripping arm 18 abuts against the gripping guide 19 and rotates in the closing direction around the mounting shaft 21, and the item is gripped by the gripping arm 18 and the bucket 10. Since the gripping arm 18 of the gripping device 17 is not provided with a spring, durability is significantly improved. In other words, if a metal spring is provided on the mounting shaft 21 to bias the gripping arm 18 to always be open, the metal spring will deteriorate significantly due to the grass juice in the product and will quickly break, preventing the gripping arm 18 from opening. However, in the present application, as will be described later, the gripping device 17 is configured to mechanically open and close the gripping arm 18, thereby significantly improving durability.

[0024] Furthermore, since the gripping arm 18 rotates and grips the article simply by contacting the gripping guide 19, the gripping device 17 does not require a special drive source such as a cylinder, and can be simply configured, resulting in significantly reduced costs. Furthermore, the gripping guides 19 are arranged side by side on the left and right so as to abut against the gripping arms 18 of the base bucket 10A and the intermediate bucket 10B at predetermined positions and rotate them to the gripping position, and therefore the gripping arms 18 of the intermediate bucket 10B rotate around the mounting shaft 21 by the gripping guides 19 to grip the article. Therefore, the article moves down the vertical path Y while being gripped at two locations, the base bucket 10A and the intermediate bucket 10B.

[0025] Since the adhesive tape 32 is stretched on the vertical movement path Y of the bucket 10 with the adhesive surface facing upward between the tip of the binding arm 31 and the application table 33, the binding arm 31 is rotated downward to bring the tip of the binding arm 31 into contact with the application table 33, and the adhesive tape 32 of the binding device 15 is made to wait in a direction intersecting the vertical movement path Y. The application table 33 is configured by providing a base portion 40 on the frame 1 side and a tape pressure roller 41 on the rear side of the base portion 40, the tape pressure roller 41 being rotatably attached to an arm 42, the arm 42 being rotatably attached to the frame 1 side by an axis 43, and the tape pressure roller 41 being biased by a spring so that it is always in contact with the base portion 40, so that the tip of the adhesive tape 32 is clamped between the tape pressure roller 41 and the application table 33 and the adhesive tape 32 waits in a stretched state between the tip of the binding arm 31 and the application table 33, and when the bucket 10 reaches the binding position, the detection sensor 45 detects this and activates the rotating cylinder 37, bringing the application surface of the adhesive tape 32 into contact with the top of the article from the bottom.

[0026] When the binding arm 31 rotates to the bundling speed completion position, the pressing piece 46A adheres the other end 65, which is the middle part of the adhesive tape 32, to the adhesive surface 62 of one end 64 that has already been adhered to the application table 33, creating a palm-attached adhesive tape, and the cutting blade 46 cuts the palm-attached adhesive tape 32, and at approximately the same time, the guide part 47 provided on the tip side of the binding arm 31 releases from the tape pressure roller 41, rotating the tape pressure roller 41 forward, and the tip of the adhesive tape 32 is held by the tape pressure roller 41 and the application table 33. The gripping diameter of the gripping arm 18 can be changed by adjusting the position of the gripping guide 19 relative to the movement path of the gripping arm 18, but the adhesive tape 32 is simply wrapped around the outer circumference of the item being gripped by the gripping arm 18. Furthermore, although the binding arm 31 can adjust the tension of the adhesive tape 32 between the tip of the binding arm 31 and the application table 33 by contracting the rotating cylinder 37, as shown in the figure, the tension of the adhesive tape 32 is in the diagonal forward direction and does not act in the direction in which the item is wrapped, so the binding force for the item is weak and the binding diameter varies depending on the properties of the item, making the subsequent bagging work troublesome.

[0027] Therefore, the present invention is configured so that articles with a smaller diameter than the gripping diameter of the gripping arm 18 can be bound with adhesive tape 32, so that the binding diameter of the bound part of the article can be made smaller, making bagging easier. In other words, the gripping arm 18 grips the article narrowly near the bundled portion, and the bundle diameter of the article is made smaller than this gripping diameter by the tightening device 60, so that the gripping diameter of the gripping arm 18 is greater than the bundle diameter of article B, making it easier to bag the articles. The clamping device 60 presses the pressing body 61 against the outer periphery of the bundle of goods from a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the goods to reduce the bundle diameter of the goods, so the movement mechanism of the pressing body 61 can be configured simply, the clamping device 60 can be provided at low cost, and furthermore, the clamping device 60 can be retrofitted as an option to existing shipment preparation of goods such as leeks, thereby increasing product variations.

[0028] The fastening device 60 moves the pressing body 61 linearly from a direction intersecting the direction of movement of the articles, pressing it against the outer periphery of the article bundle to reduce the diameter of the bundle of articles, so the movement mechanism of the pressing body 61 can be configured even more simply. The fastening device 60 moves the pressing body 61 in a straight line from a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the articles while it is in contact with the outer part of the adhesive tape 32 wrapped around the articles, and presses it against the outer periphery of the bundle of articles to reduce the bundle diameter of the articles, so that the diameter of the bundle of articles can be reduced during the wrapping operation with the adhesive tape 32, and as a result, the adhesive tape 32 can hold the reduced diameter of the bundle of articles, making it easier to pack the articles into bags.

[0029] That is, the pressing body 61 is moved from the opening of the bucket 10 toward the mounting portion 12 of the bucket 10, and while it is in contact with the outer portion of the adhesive tape 32 wrapped around the goods, it is moved in a straight line and pressed against the outer periphery of the goods bundle to reduce the bundle diameter of the goods, so that the adhesive tape 32 can hold the reduced diameter of the goods bundle, making it easier to bag the goods. In other words, the adhesive tape 32 has an adhesive surface 62 coated on the inner surface thereof, and the outer periphery of the moved article is abutted against the adhesive surface 62 of one end 64 already waiting on the application table 33, and the binding arm 31 is rotated so that the middle part of the adhesive tape 32 at the tip side of the binding arm 31 goes around the outer periphery of the article and the other end 65 is bonded to the one end 64 to form a palm-to-palm bond, and the cutting blade 46 cuts the palm-to-palm bonded adhesive tape 32, but before binding with this adhesive tape 32, the pressing body 61 presses the article against the bottom of the bucket 10 so that the article is bound to a diameter smaller than the gripping diameter of the gripping arm 18, thereby effectively narrowing the binding diameter of the article.

[0030] Therefore, the pressing body 61 of the fastening device 60 is configured to press the article toward the mounting portion 12 of the bucket 10 from the outside of the non-adhesive surface pressing cylinder 66 of the adhesive tape 32 attached to the outer periphery of the article, thereby narrowing the binding diameter, thereby effectively narrowing the binding diameter of the article. The clamping device 60 has the pressing body 61 attached to the tip of the rod 67 of the pressing cylinder 66, so that the clamping device 60 can be constructed simply. The binding device 15 is configured such that an arm support base 35, to which the base of the binding arm 31 of the binding device 15 is attached, is provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y, and an application base 33 and a tape hold-down roller 41 are provided on the rear side of the vertical movement path Y, across the vertical movement path Y, and the pressing body 61 and pressing cylinder 66 of the tightening device 60 are attached to the arm support base 35 provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y via a stay 70, so that the pressing body 61 can be abutted against the outside of the adhesive tape 32 in the middle of being wound around the item B to perform the tightening work, and the binding diameter of the item B can be easily reduced, resulting in a rational configuration which makes it easy to install the binding device 15.

[0031] In this case, the pressing body 61 and pressing cylinder 66 are formed with a width (which may be wider or narrower) that is approximately the same as the left and right width of the adhesive tape 32, and are positioned so as to overlap the binding arm 31 (adhesive tape 32) when viewed in a plane, so that the pressing body 61 and pressing cylinder 66 can press the outer surface (non-adhesive surface) of the adhesive tape 32 attached to the articles and tighten the bundle of articles, thereby effectively reducing the diameter of the bundle of articles. In addition, the center of the tape pressing roller 41 of the binding device 15, the upper surface position of the base portion 40, and the vertical center position of the pressing body 61 are arranged so as to be located on approximately the same straight line when viewed from the side, so that the pressing body 61 and the pressing cylinder 66 can press the outer surface of the adhesive tape 32 attached to the articles to tighten the bundle of articles, thereby effectively reducing the diameter of the bundle of articles.

[0032] Once the items have been bound by the binding device 15, the conveying motor 7 is energized again, and the items are gripped by the gripping arms 18 and the inclined portions 13 of the bucket 10 as they move down the vertical path Y until they reach the circular rotary blade, where they are cut and aligned while being gripped by the base of the items by the gripping arms 18. Next, as the bucket 10 descends further, the gripping arms 18 move away from the gripping guides 19 and rotate in the opening direction under their own weight, and the articles are guided by the inclined portions 13 of the bucket 10, which are downwardly slanted at the front, and fall forward under their own weight. A recovery basket 74 is installed in front of the vertical transport path Y, so that the articles that fall from the bucket 10 are recovered in the recovery basket 74.

[0033] Thus, the bucket 10 that has released the article near the front lower horizontal shaft 4 moves toward the rear horizontal shaft 2. A receiving guide 20 is provided extending from the rear side of the rear horizontal shaft 2 upward, and has an arc-shaped guide surface that approaches the rear horizontal shaft 2 from the arc centered on the rear horizontal shaft 2. The guide surface of the receiving guide 20 faces the movement path of the gripping arm 18, so that when the front and rear inclined portions 13 of the bucket 10 (root side bucket 10A and middle side bucket 10B) reach the rear horizontal shaft 2 and change their posture from downward to upward, they are guided by the guide surface and rotate about the mounting shaft 21, forcibly rotating the gripping arm 18 from the gripping position to the receiving position. That is, when the bucket 10 rotates around the rear horizontal shaft 2, the gripping arm 18 rotates downward around the mounting shaft 21 due to its own weight and assumes the gripping position. The guide surface of the receiving guide 20 then forcibly returns the gripping arm 18 from this gripping position to the receiving position (Figure 3). [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1...frame, 2...rear horizontal shaft, 3...front upper horizontal shaft, 4...front lower horizontal shaft, 5...gear, 6...endless chain, 7...conveyor motor, 10...bucket, 11...conveyor device, 10...bucket, 12...mounting portion, 13...inclined portion, 15...binding device, 17...gripping device, 18...gripping arm, 19...gripping guide, 21...mounting shaft, 31...binding arm, 32...adhesive tape, 33...adhesive base, 35...arm support base, 36...mounting shaft, 37...rotating cylinder, 40...base portion, 41...tape pressure roller, 42...arm, 43...shaft, 45...detection sensor, 46...cutting blade, 46A...pressing body, 47...guide portion, 50...switch, 51...switch, 60...tightening device, 61...pressing body, 62...adhesion surface, 64...one end portion, 65...other end portion, 66...pressing cylinder, 67...rod, 70...stay, B...article, K...light.

Claims

1. This method for preparing and shipping goods such as leeks involves placing goods in each of a plurality of U-shaped buckets 10 with their tops open, transporting them along a horizontal lateral path X, and lowering the buckets 10 along a vertical path Y to a bundling position while the goods are gripped by the gripping arms 18 of the buckets 10 at the end of the lateral path X, and then using a tightening device 60, pressing a pressing body 61 against the outer portion of the adhesive tape 32 wrapped around the goods to tighten the tape and bundle the goods to a diameter smaller than the gripping diameter, thereby bundling the goods.

2. 2. The method for preparing articles for shipment, such as leeks, according to claim 1, wherein the fastening device 60 fastens the pressing body 61 against the outer periphery of the article bundle from a direction intersecting the direction of conveyance movement of the articles by the bucket 10 to bind the articles.

3. In claim 1 or claim 2, the adhesive tape 32 has an adhesive surface 62 formed by applying an adhesive to the inner surface of the adhesive tape 32, and the tip of the adhesive tape 32 is held on the base part 40 so that it waits crossing the movement path of the article with the adhesive surface 62 facing upstream in the direction of movement of the article, and in this state the article abuts against the adhesive tape 32, and when the adhesive tape 32 of the article on the opposite side of the base part 40 becomes vertical, the movement of the article is stopped, and the pressing body 61 of the tightening device 60 is moved toward the base part 40 to press the adhesive tape 32 outward, and at the same time the binding arm 31 of the binding device 15 rotates to bind the article.

4. The apparatus for preparing and shipping leeks and other articles is configured such that a conveying device (11) is arranged in a row in the conveying direction, each of which has a U-shaped bucket (10) with an open top, each of which carries an article, a gripping device (17) having gripping arms (18) for gripping the articles being conveyed by the bucket (10), and a bundling device (15) having bundling arms (31) for bundling the gripped articles, is mounted on a frame (1), and the frame (1) is provided with a tightening device (60) for making the diameter of the bundle of articles smaller than the diameter gripped by the gripping arms (18), and the tightening device (60) presses a pressing body (61) against the outer portion of adhesive tape (32) wrapped around the articles to tighten the bundle, and binds the articles with the adhesive tape (32) in a state where the diameter of the bundle of articles is smaller than the diameter gripped by the adhesive tape (32).

5. 5. The shipment preparation device for articles such as leeks, wherein the fastening device is configured such that the pressing body is moved by a pressing cylinder in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the article by the bucket.

6. In claim 4 or claim 5, the binding device 15 is configured such that an arm support base 35 to which the base of the binding arm 31 of the binding device 15 is attached is provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y, and an application base 33 and a tape pressing roller 41 are provided on the rear side of the vertical movement path Y across the vertical movement path Y, and the pressing body 61 and pressing cylinder 66 of the tightening device 60 are attached via a stay 70 to the arm support base 35 provided on the front side of the vertical movement path Y.

7. 7. The shipment preparation device for articles such as chives according to claim 6, wherein the pressing body and the pressing cylinder are arranged in substantially the same straight line as the adhesive tape in a plan view.

Images