Bag making and packaging machine

Abstract

To provide a bag making and packaging machine that improves the quality of a manufactured article.SOLUTION: A bag making and packaging machine (100) for manufacturing successive packaging bags (C) obtained by integrally joining a plurality of bags (B) containing articles A and a header (H), comprises a film feed part (30), a sealing part, and a control part (90). The film feed part (30) feeds a cylindrical film (F). The sealing part seals the film (F) fed by the film feed part (30). The control part (90) controls operations of the film feed part (30) and the sealing part. The control part (90) changes related operations performed before and after the sealing operation for the film (F) when the successive packaging bags (C) change in bag length.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a bag-making packaging machine.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a bag-making packaging machine for manufacturing a multi-pack bag with a header, which includes a plurality of storage bags containing articles and a header provided on top of the plurality of storage bags. Such a bag-making packaging machine is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-83894). Patent Document 1 discloses that an end seal is applied at predetermined intervals in a direction intersecting the conveyance direction to a tubular film continuously conveyed by a film feeding mechanism, and a header that becomes an empty bag is continuously provided at one end of a plurality of storage bags containing articles.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0003] Since the header is an empty bag, it is generally shorter than the storage bag containing the article. Therefore, when manufacturing a multi-pack bag with a header using the bag-making packaging machine of Patent Document 1, the bag length of the storage bag and the bag length of the header change, so the positional relationship between each bag and the seal part changes. Also, along with the change in the bag length, the state of article insertion and the like change. For this reason, the change in the bag length may affect the bag-making state of the multi-pack bag with a header. In this case, the quality of the multi-pack bag with a header as a product deteriorates.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a bag-making packaging machine that improves the quality of the product to be manufactured.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The bag-making and packaging machine according to the first aspect is a bag-making and packaging machine that produces a continuous bag in which a plurality of bags containing articles and a header are integrally connected, and comprises a film feeding unit, a sealing unit, and a control unit. The film feeding unit feeds a tubular film. The sealing unit seals the film fed by the film feeding unit. The control unit controls the operation of the film feeding unit and the sealing unit. When the bag length of the continuous bag changes, the control unit changes the related operations performed before and after the film sealing operation.

[0006] In the bag-making and packaging machine relating to the first aspect, when there is a change in bag length, the control unit changes the related operations performed before and after the film sealing operation. This reduces the impact of changes in bag length on the bag-making condition. Therefore, the quality of the manufactured product can be improved.

[0007] The bag-making and packaging machine according to the second perspective is a bag-making and packaging machine according to the first perspective, wherein the multiple bags have multiple different bag lengths.

[0008] The bag-making and packaging machine relating to the second aspect can also be used to manufacture multiple bags with headers, where the bag lengths of the bags vary further.

[0009] A bag-making and packaging machine according to the third aspect is a bag-making and packaging machine according to the first or second aspect, wherein the sealing section includes a transverse sealing section that seals a tubular film transversely. It further includes a wringing section that performs a wringing operation on the film before the transverse sealing section seals the film transversely. The control unit changes the wringing operation when the bag length changes.

[0010] In the bag-making and packaging machine relating to the third aspect, the control unit changes the squeezing action of the squeezing section, which is linked to the lateral sealing section, when there is a change in bag length. Therefore, the impact of changes in bag length on the bag-making condition can be further reduced, thereby improving the quality of the manufactured products.

[0011] The bag-making and packaging machine relating to the fourth viewpoint is a bag-making and packaging machine relating to the first viewpoint and the third viewpoint, wherein the control unit omits the scraping operation in the scraping section at the timing of forming the header and the timing of forming the bag.

[0012] In the bag-making and packaging machine relating to the fourth aspect, the control unit omits the squeezing action at the timing of forming a header that does not contain goods, unlike the timing of forming a bag that contains goods. As a result, the squeezing action to remove the goods can be omitted when forming a header that does not contain goods, so continuous packaging bags can be manufactured efficiently.

[0013] The bag-making and packaging machine according to the fifth perspective is a bag-making and packaging machine according to the first and fourth perspectives, wherein the sealing section includes a lateral sealing section that performs a browsing operation to inflate the film after horizontal sealing the tubular film. The control unit changes the browsing operation when the bag length changes.

[0014] In the bag-making and packaging machine relating to the fifth aspect, the control unit changes the browsing operation performed after lateral sealing when there is a change in bag length. This reduces the impact of changes in bag length on the bag-making condition, thereby improving the quality of the manufactured products.

[0015] The bag-making and packaging machine relating to the sixth perspective is a bag-making and packaging machine relating to the first and fifth perspectives, wherein the control unit omits the browsing operation at the timing of forming the header and at the timing of forming the bag.

[0016] In the bag-making and packaging machine of the sixth perspective, the control unit omits the browsing operation at the timing of forming a header that does not contain goods, unlike the timing of forming a bag that contains goods. As a result, the browsing operation to inflate the bag can be omitted when forming a header that does not contain goods, so continuous packaging bags can be manufactured efficiently.

[0017] The bag-making and packaging machine according to the seventh aspect is the bag-making and packaging machine according to the first to sixth aspects, and manufactures a continuous packaging bag in which a first bag and a second bag are connected. The first bag contains a first article. The second bag has a bag length different from that of the first bag and contains a second article.

[0018] The bag-making and packaging machine according to the seventh aspect can also be used for manufacturing a continuous packaging bag having bags for containing different articles.

Advantages of the Invention

[0019] According to the present invention, the quality of the product to be manufactured can be improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0020] [Figure 1] It is a perspective view of a packaging machine including the bag-making and packaging machine of the embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a schematic diagram of a packaging machine including the bag-making and packaging machine of the embodiment. [Figure 3] It is a schematic diagram showing the continuous packaging bag of the embodiment. [Figure 4] It is a schematic side view showing the horizontal seal part, the bag, etc. of the embodiment. [Figure 5] It is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of the bag-making and packaging machine of the embodiment. [Figure 6] It is a block diagram of the bag-making and packaging machine of the embodiment. [Figure 7] It is a schematic diagram showing the process in which the bag-making and packaging machine of the embodiment manufactures a continuous packaging bag. [Figure 8] It is a schematic diagram showing the process in which the bag-making and packaging machine of the modification manufactures a continuous packaging bag.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0021] The bag-making and packaging machine 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the following description, expressions such as "front (front side)", "rear (back side)", "upper", "lower", "left", and "right" may be used to represent directions and the like. Unless otherwise specified, "front", "rear", "upper", "lower", "left", and "right" here follow the directions of the arrows attached to the drawings.

[0022] (1) Overall overview FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the packaging machine 1 including the bag-making and packaging machine 100 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the packaging machine 1 including the bag-making and packaging machine 100 of the present embodiment. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the packaging machine 1 includes a weighing machine 2 and a bag-making and packaging machine 100.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the continuous packaging bag C manufactured by the bag-making and packaging machine 100 of the present embodiment. The bag-making and packaging machine 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can manufacture a continuous packaging bag C in which a plurality of bags B containing the article A shown in FIG. 2 and a header H are integrally connected, and can also manufacture one non-connected bag B.

[0024] In the continuous packaging bag C, the plurality of bags B and the header H are connected to each other by a perforation S. The number of bags B constituting the continuous packaging bag C is not limited as long as it is 2 or more. In the present embodiment, a continuous packaging bag C having 4 bags B and a header H is manufactured. The plurality of bags B have the same bag length (distance in the vertical direction). The bag length of the header H is smaller than the bag length of each bag B. The article A is not accommodated in the header H. Further, a punch hole P is formed in the header H as a hanging portion. In FIG. 3, in the bags B constituting the continuous packaging bag C, in order from the front (manufactured), they are referred to as bag B1, B2, B3, B4 and the header H.

[0025] Each bag B constituting the continuous packaging bag C has a horizontal seal portion X and a vertical seal portion Y. The horizontal seal portion X is formed horizontally between the respective bags B. In FIG. 3, horizontal seal portions X0 to X4 are formed at the upper and lower ends of each bag B. A perforation S is formed in the horizontal seal portion X between the respective bags B. The vertical seal portion Y is formed in the vertical direction of each bag B.

[0026] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the weighing machine 2 weighs the item A to be placed in bag B. Item A is not particularly limited, but in this case it is a food item such as potato chips. The bag-making and packaging machine 100 is installed below the weighing machine 2. The bag-making and packaging machine 100 receives the item A from the weighing machine 2 and manufactures bag B by packaging the item A with a tubular film F (hereinafter also referred to as tubular film Fm).

[0027] The bag-making and packaging machine 100 comprises a film supply unit 10 shown in Figures 1 and 2, a former unit 20, a film feeding unit 30, a vertical sealing unit 40, a horizontal sealing unit 50, a squeezing unit 60 shown in Figure 4, a gas venting unit 70, a bag beating device 80 shown in Figure 5, and a control unit 90 shown in Figure 6. Figure 4 is a schematic side view showing the horizontal sealing unit 50, bag B, etc., of this embodiment. Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of the bag-making and packaging machine 100 of this embodiment. Figure 6 is a block diagram of the bag-making and packaging machine 100 of this embodiment.

[0028] The film supply unit 10 shown in Figures 1 and 2 supplies a sheet of film F, which will become bag B, to the former unit 20. The former unit 20 forms the incoming sheet of film F into a cylindrical shape. The film feeding unit 30 transports the cylindrical film F (cylindrical film Fm) downwards. The vertical sealing unit 40 seals the overlapping portion of the cylindrical film Fm in the vertical direction. The horizontal sealing unit 50 seals the cylindrical film Fm horizontally, thereby sealing the top and bottom ends of bag B. The squeezing unit 60 shown in Figure 4 performs a squeezing operation on the cylindrical film Fm before the horizontal sealing unit 50 seals it horizontally. The gas venting unit 70 discharges gas from the cylindrical film Fm before the horizontal sealing unit 50 seals it horizontally. The bag beating device 80 shown in Figure 5 beats the bag B that has been horizontally sealed by the horizontal sealing unit 50. The control unit 90 shown in Figure 6 changes the related operations performed before and after the sealing operation of the film F when the length of the continuous packaging bag C changes.

[0029] (2) Detailed configuration (2-1) Film supply unit The film supply unit 10 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is a unit that supplies a sheet of film F to the former unit 20. A film roll R on which the film F is wound is set in the film supply unit 10, and the film F is unwound from this film roll R. The material of the film F is not particularly limited and includes, for example, resin material, paper material, etc.

[0030] (2-2) Former Unit The former unit 20 is a molding mechanism that forms a sheet-like film F into a cylindrical shape. As shown in Figures 2 and 5, the former unit 20 has a sail 21 and a tube 22. The tube 22 extends in the vertical direction. The tube 22 is a partially cylindrical member with openings at its upper and lower ends. The item A, weighed by the weighing machine 2, is fed into the opening at the upper end of the tube 22.

[0031] The shear 21 is positioned to surround the tube 22. The sheet-like film F supplied from the film supply unit 10 is formed into a tubular shape as it passes between the shear 21 and the tube 22. The shear 21 and the tube 22 can be replaced depending on the size of the bag B to be manufactured.

[0032] (2-3) Film feed section The film feeding unit 30 feeds the tubular film Fm. Here, the film feeding unit 30 transports the film F pulled from the film roll R to the sealer 21. The film feeding unit 30 also transports the tubular film Fm formed in the sealer 21 to the lateral sealing unit 50. The film feeding unit 30 attracts the tubular film Fm wrapped around the tube 22 and transports it downwards.

[0033] In this embodiment, the film feeding unit 30 intermittently transports the tubular film Fm. Therefore, the film feeding unit 30 repeatedly feeds the film F and stops the film F.

[0034] The film feeding unit 30 is located below the sail 21. The film feeding unit 30 is also located on the left side (not shown) and the right side of the tube 22.

[0035] The film feeding unit 30 includes a belt 31, a drive roller 32, and a driven roller 33. The belt 31 has a suction function. The belt 31 is wrapped around the drive roller 32 and the driven roller 33. The drive roller 32 is connected to a roller drive motor (not shown) and driven by the roller drive motor. When the belt 31 is holding the film F in place and the drive roller 32 is driven by the roller drive motor, the tubular film Fm is conveyed downwards.

[0036] (2-4) Vertical seal section The vertical sealing section 40 forms a vertical sealing area Y shown in Figure 3 on the tubular film that has been formed into a cylindrical shape. The vertical sealing section 40 is a mechanism that seals vertically the overlapping portion (seam) of the tubular film Fm wrapped around the tube 22 by heating it while pressing it against the tube 22 with a constant pressure.

[0037] The vertical sealing section 40 includes a heater (not shown), a heater belt 41 (see Figure 1) that contacts the overlapping portion of the tubular film Fm, and a drive mechanism (not shown) that drives the heater belt.

[0038] The heater heats the heater belt 41. The drive mechanism drives the heater belt 41 in the forward and backward directions so that it moves closer to or away from the tube 22. When the heater belt 41 is driven by the drive mechanism to move closer to the tube 22, the overlapping portion of the tubular film Fm wrapped around the tube 22 is sandwiched between the heater belt 41 and the tube 22. The vertical seal portion 40 heat-seals the overlapping portion of the tubular film Fm in the vertical direction by pressing the heated heater belt 41 against the tube 22 with a predetermined pressure. This vertical seal forms a vertical seal portion Y on the bag B and the header H.

[0039] (2-5) Side seal section As shown in Figures 2 and 5, the lateral sealing section 50 is located below the tube 22. The lateral sealing section 50 seals the tubular film Fm laterally in a direction intersecting (orthogonal in Figures 2 and 5) the conveying direction of the tubular film Fm. Here, the lateral sealing section 50 seals the bag by sealing the upper and lower ends of the tubular film Fm in a lateral direction. The lateral sealing section 50 performs the lateral sealing when the film F is stopped.

[0040] The lateral sealing section 50 has a pair of left and right first sealing jaws 51 and second sealing jaws 52. The pair of sealing jaws 51 and 52 have heaters inside. These heaters heat the sealing surfaces of the sealing jaws 51 and 52 (the surfaces that face each other during lateral sealing), and the tubular film Fm sandwiched between the sealing jaws 51 and 52 is heat-sealed laterally. This lateral sealing creates a lateral sealing area X (see Figure 3) on the bag B. The sealing jaws 51 and 52 are connected to a rotating shaft (not shown) via an arm member (not shown), and rotate around the rotating shaft. The rotating shaft rotates the sealing jaws 51 and 52 and moves horizontally so that they move closer to and further apart from each other, causing the sealing jaws 51 and 52 to sandwich the tubular film Fm at an appropriate timing.

[0041] Furthermore, the lateral sealing section 50 performs a browsing operation to inflate the tubular film Fm after sealing it horizontally.

[0042] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 2 and 4, the lateral sealing section 50 includes a cutting mechanism 53, a perforation mechanism 54, and a punching mechanism 55.

[0043] The cutting mechanism 53 cuts the upper and lower ends of bag B. More specifically, the cutting mechanism 53 cuts the tubular film Fm at the lateral sealing portion X of bag B. The cutting mechanism 53 includes a cutter 53a and a receiving portion 53b. The cutter 53a is provided on the first sealing jaw 51. The receiving portion 53b is provided on the second sealing jaw 52. The cutter 53a can be extended and retracted. The extended cutter 53a is housed in the receiving portion 53b. By extending the cutter 53a, the tubular film Fm is cut laterally at the lateral sealing portion X in the center in the transport direction.

[0044] The perforation mechanism 54 forms perforations S between connected bags B. In this embodiment, the perforation mechanism 54 is included in the cutting mechanism 53. Specifically, the cutter of the perforation mechanism 54 is the same as the cutter 53a of the cutting mechanism 53. When forming perforations S at the lateral seal portion X of the bag B, the cutter 53a is extended to the lateral seal portion X with a force weaker than the force applied when the cutting mechanism 53 cuts the lateral seal portion X, i.e., a force weak enough not to cut. As a result, at the lateral seal portion X, perforations S are formed in the lateral direction in the center of the tubular film Fm in the transport direction.

[0045] The punching mechanism 55 punches holes P in the already sealed portion of the tubular film Fm in time with the timing when the tubular film Fm is sealed laterally. The punched holes P are formed in the header H for, for example, to pass a hook through which a bag B filled with article A is suspended.

[0046] The punch mechanism 55 of this embodiment is located below the cutting mechanism 53. The punch mechanism 55 mainly includes a cylindrical punch 55a and a punch receiving pin 55b. The cylindrical punch 55a is housed in the second seal jaw 52. The punch receiving pin 55b is housed in the first seal jaw 51.

[0047] The cylindrical punch 55a has a cutting section for cutting the portion to be horizontally sealed to create a punch hole P. The cutting section is the end of the cylindrical punch 55a. A blade is attached to the tip of the cutting section.

[0048] The cylindrical punch 55a is a cylindrical metal component. The cylindrical punch 55a has a built-in punch heater. The punch heater is an electric heater used to heat the cutting area. The punch heater is electrically connected to an external power source (not shown) by heat-resistant lead wires, etc. These heat-resistant lead wires are embedded inside the seal jaw and covered with a glass tube or similar material.

[0049] The punch receiving pin 55b is fixed to the seal jaw 51 inside the seal jaw 51. The punch receiving pin 55b is a roughly cylindrical metal or resin component. The punch receiving pin 55b has a tapered pin tip. The pin tip is the part that fits into the cutting section of the cylindrical punch 55a.

[0050] (2-6) Hazing Section As shown in Figure 4, the stripping section 60 is linked to the lateral sealing section 50. The stripping section 60 moves downward at a speed faster than the conveying speed of the tubular film Fm. Specifically, the stripping section 60 strips the tubular film Fm by descending faster than the tubular film Fm being conveyed downward by the film feeding section 30, while in contact with the tubular film Fm before the lateral sealing section 50 laterally seals the tubular film Fm.

[0051] The squeezing section 60 squeezes the tubular film Fm (bag B) downwards, forcing the item A inside the tubular film Fm to fall downwards, thereby preventing the seal jaws 51 and 52 from getting caught on foreign objects such as item A in the laterally sealed portion of the tubular film Fm. Therefore, the squeezing section 60 can suppress the occurrence of sealing defects caused by the seal jaws 51 and 52.

[0052] (2-7) Gas vent section The gas vent section 70 is located below the lateral sealing section 50. Here, the gas vent section 70 is located below the squeezing section 60. The gas vent section 70 discharges gas from the laterally sealed bag B.

[0053] The gas venting section 70 is connected to the squeezing section 60. The gas venting section 70 moves downward at a speed faster than the conveying speed of the tubular film Fm. Specifically, the gas venting section 70 discharges gas from inside the tubular film Fm by descending faster than the tubular film Fm being conveyed downward by the film feeding section 30, while in contact with the tubular film Fm before the lateral sealing section 50 laterally seals the tubular film Fm.

[0054] In the gas vent section 70 shown in Figure 4, the seal jaws 51 and 52 approach each other and come into contact with the tubular film Fm just before they laterally seal the tubular film Fm. This pushes the air inside the tubular film Fm upward and expels it, adjusting the thickness of the tubular film Fm.

[0055] (2-8) Beating device As shown in Figure 5, the bag-beating device 80 is positioned below the lateral sealing portion 50. With the lower end of the bag B laterally sealed and the upper end of the bag B open, and with the item A contained inside, the bag-beating device 80 uses a flat plate to beat the bottom of the lower end of the bag B, thereby reducing the bulk of the item A.

[0056] (2-9) Control Unit The control unit 90 shown in Figure 6 changes the related operations performed before and after the sealing operation of the film F when the length of the continuous packaging bag C changes. "Sealing operation" refers to an operation relating to at least one of the horizontal sealing section 50 and the vertical sealing section 40. "Related operations performed before and after the horizontal sealing operation" are, for example, browsing operations performed in conjunction with the horizontal sealing of the tubular film Fm, and operations performed in conjunction with the horizontal sealing section 50, such as the squeezing section 60, the gas venting section 70, and the bag beating device 80, which are connected to the horizontal sealing section 50. "Changing the operation" includes changing the amount of operation and omitting the operation.

[0057] In this embodiment, the control unit 90 obtains information regarding the bag length and number of bags B constituting the continuous packaging bag C, and the bag length of the header H, using a registration mark sensor 91 that detects the registration mark on the film F. Since the bag lengths of bag B and header H are different, the control unit 90 changes the operation of the lateral sealing section 50, the squeezing section 60, the gas venting section 70, and the bag beating device 80 between bag B and header H where the bag lengths change.

[0058] Specifically, the control unit 90 changes the squeezing operation when the bag length changes. That is, it changes the squeezing operation in the squeezing unit 60 at the timing of forming the header H and at the timing of forming the bag B. Here, the control unit 90 omits the squeezing operation in the squeezing unit 60 at the timing of forming the header H and at the timing of forming the bag B. Specifically, it omits the squeezing operation when laterally sealing the upper side of the header H where the next bag length will be longer. The upper side is the side of the header H that will later flow into the seal jaws 51 and 52.

[0059] Furthermore, the control unit 90 changes the browsing operation when the bag length changes. Here, the control unit 90 omits the browsing operation at the timing of forming the header H and the timing of forming the bag B. Specifically, it omits the browsing operation when horizontally sealing the lower side of the header H, which will result in the next shorter bag length. The lower side is the side that flows first to the sealing jaws 51 and 52 in the continuous packaging bag C.

[0060] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the continuous bag C in the direction of film feeding produced by the bag-making and packaging machine 100 of this embodiment. For example, as shown in Figure 7, the bag-making and packaging machine 100 will be described using the case in which it produces bags B1, B2, B3, B4 and header H in the order shown in Figure 7. When forming the lateral seal locations X1, X2, and X3 between the bags B, the control unit 90 performs a squeezing operation and a browsing operation. As a result, when producing bags B1 to B4 that contain article A, the browsing operation inflates the bags to make it easier to put in article A, and the squeezing operation removes article A before performing a lateral seal.

[0061] In this embodiment, when forming the lateral sealing areas X1, X2, and X3, the control unit 90 performs a gas venting operation using the gas venting unit 70 and a bag beating operation using the bag beating device 80.

[0062] Furthermore, when the control unit 90 forms the lateral seal area X4 between the bag B4 and the header H, it performs a squeezing operation but omits the browsing operation. That is, when the punching mechanism 55 forms punch holes P in the header H, it does not perform a browsing operation. In this way, when forming a header H that does not contain item A, the browsing operation that inflates the bag B is omitted.

[0063] In this embodiment, when forming the lateral sealing area X4, the control unit 90 performs a gas venting operation using the gas venting unit 70 and a bag beating operation using the bag beating device 80.

[0064] Furthermore, when the control unit 90 forms the lateral seal portion X0 between the header H and the bag B1 of the next continuous packaging bag C, it performs a browsing operation but omits the wiping operation. That is, when the cutting mechanism 53 cuts the lateral seal portion X0, it does not perform a wiping operation. In this way, when forming a header H that does not contain any articles, the wiping operation to remove the article A is omitted.

[0065] In this embodiment, when the control unit 90 forms the lateral sealing portion X0, it omits the gas venting operation by the gas venting unit 70 and the bag beating operation by the bag beating device 80.

[0066] Furthermore, the control unit 90 changes the film feed rate when the bag length changes. Since the bag length of bag B and the bag length of header H are different, the control unit 90 controls the film feeding unit 30 so that the film feed rate is different for bag B and header H. In this way, the control unit 90 changes the film feed rate and the sealing operation of film F when the bag length changes.

[0067] (3) Operation of the bag-making and packaging machine As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the sheet-like film F supplied from the film supply unit 10 is transported to the former unit 20 by the film feeding unit 30. In the former unit 20, the sheet-like film F is passed through the gap between the sail 21 and the tube 22. The sail 21 folds the sheet-like film F into a cylindrical shape, and the tube 22 guides the cylindrical film F.

[0068] Meanwhile, the items A, weighed by the weighing machine 2, are sequentially dropped into the upper opening of the tube 22. At this time, the outer circumference of the tube 22 is covered with a tubular film Fm for packaging the items A.

[0069] The tubular film Fm formed by the former unit 20 is transported downward by the film feeding unit 30, and the overlapping portion of the tubular film Fm is sealed vertically by the vertical sealing unit 40. The tubular film Fm with the vertically sealed portion Y formed by the vertical sealing unit 40 is transported further downward by the film feeding unit 30, and the portions of the tubular film Fm that will become the upper and lower ends of the bag B are sealed horizontally by the horizontal sealing unit 50.

[0070] Here, we will explain the operation when the lateral sealing portion 50 forms the lateral sealing portion X1, which will be the top of bag B1 and the bottom of the subsequent bag B2. Here, the control unit 90 performs browsing, squeezing, gas release, and bag beating operations as related operations before and after the lateral sealing operation.

[0071] Immediately before forming the lateral seal X1, the stripping section 60, which moves at a speed faster than the conveying speed of the tubular film Fm, strips the article A filled in the bag B1 downwards.

[0072] Furthermore, immediately before the formation of the lateral seal X1, the air inside the bag B1 is pushed upward by the gas venting section 70, which moves at a speed faster than the conveying speed of the tubular film Fm.

[0073] Then, the pair of sealing jaws 51 and 52 sandwich the lateral sealing area X1 and seal it horizontally, and after the perforation mechanism 54 forms a perforation S, the sealing jaws 51 and 52 are raised. As a result, the tubular film above the sealing jaws 51 and 52 is lifted by the sealing jaws 51 and 52, causing the bag B to expand horizontally. This browsing motion increases the volume of the space inside the bag B2 above the sealing jaws 51 and 52, so that the article A is efficiently contained inside the bag B. Then, the bag beating device 80 beats the bottom of the bag B2 to suppress the bulkiness of the article A.

[0074] Furthermore, the operation when forming the lateral sealing points X2 and X3 is the same as that for the lateral sealing point X1. That is, the control unit 90 performs browsing, squeezing, gas release, and bag beating operations as related operations before and after the lateral sealing operation.

[0075] Unlike the operation for lateral sealing areas X1 to X3, the operation when forming the lateral sealing area X4 omits the browsing operation, which is a related operation performed before and after the lateral sealing operation, by the control unit 90. Here, when forming the lateral sealing area X4, the control unit 90 performs a squeezing operation, a gas venting operation, and a bag beating operation. The control unit 90 also forms punch holes P in the header H using the punch mechanism 55.

[0076] Unlike the operation for lateral seal areas X1 to X3, the operation when forming the lateral seal area X0 omits the related operations performed before and after the lateral seal operation, such as the squeezing operation, gas venting operation, and bag beating operation, by the control unit 90. Here, the control unit 90 performs a browsing operation when forming the lateral seal area X0. Also, immediately after the lateral seal area X0 is formed, the control unit 90 cuts the center of the lateral seal area X0 using the cutting mechanism 53.

[0077] By carrying out the above steps, a continuous packaging bag C having multiple bags B containing item A and a header H can be manufactured.

[0078] (4) Features (4-1) In the continuous packaging bag C, the length of the header H and the length of bag B are different. Therefore, if the bag length changes while the bag-making and packaging machine 100 is in operation, the state of the goods being loaded, the positional relationship with the sealing part, and the operation will change. As a result, the goods may get caught in the sealing part or wrinkles may occur on the goods. Thus, the inventor focused on the problem that a change in bag length while the bag-making and packaging machine 100 is in operation can affect the bag-making condition.

[0079] Furthermore, separate from the control required when manufacturing bags of a constant length, we diligently studied how to control situations where the bag length changes, and as a result, we arrived at the bag-making and packaging machine 100 of this embodiment.

[0080] In other words, the bag-making and packaging machine 100 according to this embodiment is a bag-making and packaging machine that makes a continuous bag C in which a plurality of bags B containing articles A and a header H are integrally connected, and comprises a film feeding unit 30, a sealing unit (vertical sealing unit 40 and horizontal sealing unit 50 in Figure 2), and a control unit 90. The film feeding unit 30 feeds a tubular film Fm. The sealing unit seals the tubular film Fm fed by the film feeding unit 30. The control unit 90 controls the operation of the film feeding unit 30 and the sealing unit. When the bag length of the continuous bag C changes, the control unit 90 changes the related operations performed before and after the sealing operation of the tubular film Fm.

[0081] In the bag-making and packaging machine 100 of this embodiment, when there is a change in the bag length between bag B and header H, the control unit 90 changes the related operations performed before and after the sealing operation of the tubular film Fm. As a result, even if the positional relationship between each bag and the sealing part changes due to the change in bag length, or if the input state of item A changes, the impact of the change in bag length on the bag-making state can be reduced. Therefore, the quality of the continuous packaging bag C as a manufactured product can be improved.

[0082] (4-2) The bag-making and packaging machine 100 of this embodiment includes a lateral sealing section 50 that seals the tubular film Fm laterally. Before the lateral sealing section 50 seals the tubular film Fm laterally, it further includes a wringing section 60 that performs a wringing operation on the tubular film Fm. The control unit 90 changes the wringing operation when the bag length changes.

[0083] Here, the control unit 90 changes the squeezing operation of the squeezing unit 60, which is linked to the lateral sealing unit 50, when there is a change in the bag length. As a result, the impact of changes in bag length on the bag manufacturing state can be further reduced, thereby improving the quality of the continuous packaging bag C as a manufactured product.

[0084] (4-3) In this embodiment, the bag-making and packaging machine 100 has a control unit 90 that, at the timing of forming the header H and the timing of forming the bag B, omits the scraping operation in the scraping unit 60 at the timing of forming the header H.

[0085] Here, the control unit 90 omits the squeezing operation at the timing of forming the header H, which does not contain item A, unlike the timing of forming the bag B, which contains item A. This eliminates the need for the squeezing operation to remove item A when forming the header H, which does not contain item A. In this way, by omitting operations that are unnecessary for the characteristics of the header H and bag B, the continuous packaging bag C can be manufactured efficiently.

[0086] (4-4) The bag-making and packaging machine 100 of this embodiment includes a lateral sealing section 50 that performs a browsing operation to inflate the tubular film Fm after horizontal sealing the tubular film. The control unit 90 changes the browsing operation when the bag length changes.

[0087] Here, the control unit 90 changes the browsing operation performed after lateral sealing when there is a change in the bag length. This reduces the impact of changes in bag length on the bag manufacturing state, thereby improving the quality of the continuous packaging bag C as a manufactured product.

[0088] (4-5) In this embodiment, the bag-making and packaging machine 100, the control unit 90 omits the browsing operation at the timing of forming the header H and at the timing of forming the bag B.

[0089] Here, the control unit 90 omits the browsing operation at the timing of forming the header H, which does not contain item A, unlike the timing of forming the bag B, which contains item A. This eliminates the need for the browsing operation to inflate the bag when forming the header H, which does not contain item A. In this way, by omitting operations that are unnecessary for the characteristics of the header H and bag B, the continuous packaging bag C can be manufactured efficiently.

[0090] (5) Variant The following shows modifications of the above embodiment. Note that some or all of the modifications may be combined with the above embodiment or other modifications, to the extent that they do not contradict each other.

[0091] (5-1) Variation A In the above embodiment, as an example of changing the related operations performed before and after the sealing operation of the film F when the length of the continuous packaging bag C changes, the control unit 90 omits the browsing operation at the lateral sealing area X4 between the upper end of the bag B4 and the lower end of the header H, but it is not limited to this. Since the browsing operation has the effect of smoothing out wrinkles in the bag, the control unit 90 in this modified example performs the browsing operation when forming the lateral sealing area X4 according to the shape of the header H. In this case, the aesthetic appearance of the product can be improved.

[0092] (5-2) Variation B In the above embodiment, the control unit 90 changes the related operations performed before and after the lateral sealing operation of the film F when the length of the continuous packaging bag C changes, but is not limited to this. In this modified example, the control unit 90 changes the related operations performed before and after the vertical sealing operation of the film F when the length of the continuous packaging bag C changes.

[0093] (5-3) Modification C In the embodiment described above, the film feeding unit 30 intermittently conveys the tubular film Fm, but is not limited to this. In this modified example, the film feeding unit 30 continuously conveys the tubular film Fm.

[0094] (5-4) Modification D In the above embodiment, a connected bag C having multiple bags B of the same length was used as an example, but the invention is not limited to this. In this modified example, the multiple bags B have different lengths. For example, in Figure 3, bags B1 to B3 have the same length, and bag B4 has a different length from bags B1 to B3. In this case, the control unit 90 changes the related operations performed before and after the lateral sealing operation at the lateral sealing location X3 where the bag length changes.

[0095] As shown in this modified example, the bag-making and packaging machine 100 can also be used to manufacture multiple bags C with headers, in which the bag lengths of the bags B vary further.

[0096] (5-5) Variation E In the above embodiment, a connected bag C having multiple bags B for containing article A was described as an example, but the invention is not limited to this. In this modified example, different articles are contained in at least two of the multiple bags B.

[0097] For example, in Figure 3, bags B1 to B3 contain the first item, and bag B4 contains the second item. The first item and the second item are different. Also, as in Modification D, the lengths of bags B1 to B3 are the same, while the length of bag B4 is different from the lengths of bags B1 to B3. That is, the lengths of bags B1 to B3 containing the first item and the length of bag B4 containing the second item are different.

[0098] Thus, the bag-making and packaging machine 100 of this modified example manufactures a continuous bag C in which a first bag and a second bag are connected. The first bag contains a first article. The second bag has a different length from the first bag and contains a second article. In this way, the bag-making and packaging machine of this modified example can also be used to manufacture a continuous bag C having multiple bags B that contain different articles.

[0099] In this modified example, a connected packaging bag C is manufactured having two types of bags, each containing two types of articles. However, a connected packaging bag C may also be manufactured having three or more bags B, each containing three or more types of articles.

[0100] (5-6) In the above embodiment, a bag-making and packaging machine 100 that manufactures continuous bags C sequentially from the bottom is used as an example, but the invention is not limited to this. In this modified example, the bag-making and packaging machine manufactures continuous bags C sequentially from the top.

[0101] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing the continuous bag C in relation to the film feeding direction produced by the bag-making and packaging machine of this modified example. For example, as shown in Figure 8, the case in which the bag-making and packaging machine 100 produces bags in the order of header H, bag B4, bag B4, bag B2 and bag B1 in one continuous bag C will be explained.

[0102] In this modified example, the control unit 90 performs a scraping operation instead of a browsing operation when forming the lateral sealing portion X0 on the lower side of the header H. Here, the browsing operation is not performed when the lateral sealing portion X0 is cut by the cutting mechanism 53 and when the punch hole P is formed in the header H by the punch mechanism 55.

[0103] Furthermore, when the control unit 90 forms the lateral seal area X4 on the upper side of the header H, i.e., between the bag B4 and the header H, it omits the squeezing operation and performs a browsing operation.

[0104] Furthermore, when forming the lateral sealing points X1, X2, and X3 between the bags B, the control unit 90 performs a squeezing operation and a browsing operation, similar to the embodiment described above. [Explanation of symbols]

[0105] 1: Packaging machine 2: Weighing machine 10: Film supply unit 20: Forma Unit 30: Film feed section 40: Vertical seal section 50: Side seal section 60: Hazing Department 90: Control Unit 100: Bag making and packaging machine A:Goods B,B1,B2,B3,B4: Bag H: Header C: Continuous bag F, Fm: Film [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0106] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2009-83894

Claims

1. A bag-making and packaging machine that produces a continuous bag in which multiple bags containing goods and a header are integrally connected, A film feeding section that feeds a cylindrical film, A sealing section that seals the film being fed by the film feeding section, A control unit that controls the operation of the film feeding unit and the sealing unit, Equipped with, The sealing portion includes a lateral sealing portion that performs a browsing operation to inflate the film after lateral sealing the tubular film, The aforementioned horizontal sealing section further comprises a wringing section that performs a wringing operation on the film before horizontal sealing is performed on the film. The control unit, When forming the horizontally sealed portion that is to be horizontally sealed first in the header, the browsing operation is omitted. When forming a lateral sealing area in the header that will be laterally sealed, the aforementioned squeezing operation is omitted. Bag making and packaging machine.

2. The multiple bags have multiple different bag lengths. The bag-making and packaging machine according to claim 1.

3. A continuous packaging bag is manufactured, comprising a first bag containing a first article and a second bag having a different length from the first bag and containing a second article, connected together. The bag-making and packaging machine according to claim 1 or 2.

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