Sealing device

Abstract

To provide a sealing device which prevents paper powder from being mixed into a content of a container during sealing, and can be manufactured at low cost with a simple configuration.SOLUTION: A sealing device is for sealing a lid body in an opening of a container, and includes: sealing means 2 for sealing the lid body to the container; container holding means 3 for holding the container; lid body storage means 4 for storing the lid body; removal means for taking out the lid body from the lid body storage means; and transfer means for transferring the lid body taken out by the removal means onto the opening of the container held by the container holding means, the container holding means includes the transfer means for transferring the container between a container holding position where the container is held and a position where the lid body is placed on the container and sealed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] The present invention relates to a sealing device for sealing a lid on a container.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a sealing device for sealing an opening of a container containing contents such as food and drink with a lid has been known. Examples of such a sealing device include those disclosed in Patent Document 1 shown below. The sealing device (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a "sealing device") disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a device body, a film mechanism for conveying a film used as a lid, and a film pressing mechanism for pressing the film conveyed by the film mechanism against a peripheral portion formed at the edge of the opening of the container. By sealing the film to the peripheral portion of the container, the opening of the container can be closed and sealed with the film.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] [[ID=Y]] Conventional sealing devices, such as the one disclosed in Patent Document 1, seal containers by conveying a film to be used as a lid and pressing it against the container, thereby sealing the film to the periphery of the container. However, in recent years, there has been a strong trend to reduce the amount of resin material used as a raw material for film, and paper-based materials are being used as an alternative to resin materials. However, supplying paper-based materials in roll form using the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 presents problems such as the risk of generating paper dust because the material is cut at a position close to the container when sealing the container. In addition, when sealing lids to containers using roll-shaped material, it is difficult to accommodate containers of different sizes. To solve this problem, it may become necessary to install cutters that can accommodate all types of container sizes in the sealing device, which would complicate the configuration of the sealing device and likely lead to other problems such as increased manufacturing costs. This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to provide a sealing device that prevents paper dust from being mixed into the contents of a container during sealing, and that has a simple structure and can be manufactured at a low cost. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present invention (1) A sealing device for sealing a lid over the opening of a container, comprising: sealing means for sealing the lid over the container; container holding means for holding the container; lid storage means for storing the lid; removal means for removing the lid from the lid storage means; and transfer means for transferring the lid removed by the removal means onto the opening of the container held by the container holding means, wherein the container holding means has a transfer means for transferring the container between a container holding position for holding the container and a position for placing the lid on the container and sealing it, wherein the container holding means comprises a holding space where the container is located when the container is held, and a container support portion surrounding the holding space, and the container support portion is It has a plurality of support members and a base member, each of the plurality of support members having a contact portion formed therein and being rotatably mounted to the base member,When the container is inserted into the holding space, it is in an open state, and when the container is located within the holding space... When the container comes into contact with the contact portion, the support member rotates in the closing direction. It is configured to be in a closed state. It is characterized by Sealing device. (2) The container support portion is rotatably mounted on a base portion formed separately from the container support portion. (1) The sealing device described. (3) The container support portion and the base portion are integrally formed. (1) The sealing device described. (4) The lid storage means is a sealing device according to (1) above, having a storage maintenance unit that maintains the stored lid in a stored state. (5) The removal means is the sealing apparatus described in (1) above, which removes the lids one by one from the lid storage means. (6) The sealing apparatus according to (1) above, wherein the removal means is located below the lid storage means, and the removal means removes the lid stored from the lower part of the lid storage means. (7) The sealing device according to (1) above, wherein the transfer means has a positioning unit that positions the transported lid at a position below the sealing means. (8) The container holding means described in (1) above is formed to be capable of holding multiple types of containers of different sizes. Sealing device . [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the present invention, a sealing device for sealing a lid over the opening of a container comprises sealing means for sealing the lid over the container, container holding means for holding the container, lid storage means for storing the lid, removal means for removing the lid from the lid storage means, and transfer means for transferring the lid removed by the removal means onto the opening of the container held by the container holding means, wherein the container holding means has a transfer means for transferring the container between a container holding position for holding the container and a position for placing the lid on the container and sealing it, thereby significantly reducing the amount of paper dust mixed into the contents of the container, and enabling a simple configuration that also reduces manufacturing costs. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of the sealing device according to the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the container holding section. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the container holding mechanism. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram showing a modified version of the container holding part. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the extraction mechanism and transfer section. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] Embodiments of the sealing device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this specification, "front side," "rear side," "upper side," "lower side," "left side," and "right side" of the sealing device and each component constituting the sealing device refer to the front side, rear side, upper side, lower side, left side, and right side when the sealing device is viewed from the front.

[0009] The sealing device according to the present invention is for sealing a lid over the opening of a container. As shown in Figure 1, the sealing device 1 comprises a heater 2 as a sealing means for sealing a lid over a container, a container holding unit 3 as a container holding means for holding the container, a lid storage unit 4 as a lid storage means for storing lids, a removal mechanism 5 as a removal means for removing lids from the lid storage unit 4, and a transfer unit 6 as a transfer means for transferring the lids removed by the removal mechanism 5 onto the opening of the container held by the container holding unit.

[0010] As shown in Figure 1, the sealing device 1 according to the present invention is equipped with a housing 16, and the heater 2 and the like described above are provided inside the housing 16. The heater 2 is electrically connected to a power supply (not shown), and when the switch is turned on and power is supplied, it rises to a predetermined temperature. This rising temperature can be arbitrarily set by an operation panel (not shown), or it can be maintained at a predetermined temperature that has been set in advance. This heater is for sealing a container by heat-sealing a lid L to the container. When a drive switch (not shown) is turned on, a drive motor (not shown) lowers the heater and presses it against the upper surface of the lid L to heat it, thereby joining the container and the lid L. In this embodiment, an example using a heater as an example of a sealing means is described, but instead of heat sealing by a heater, for example, the lid may be joined to the container by ultrasonic bonding. When joining the lid L to the container by ultrasound, an anvil or the like may be used. The heater 2 can be any conventionally known heater that can join a lid to a container, and the shape of the heater can also be any conventionally known shape. For example, the heater 2 may be formed in a shape (e.g., a donut shape) that can heat only the area where the lid and the peripheral edge formed around the opening of the container are joined, or it may be formed in a disc shape or the like to heat the entire lid. In addition, the heater 2 may be movable, such as moving around the joint between the lid and the container, in addition to moving up and down, or it may be fixed, heating the entire lid when it is lowered.

[0011] In the example shown in Figure 1, the container holding section 3 is configured to be able to transport the container between a container holding position outside the housing 16 and a sealing position inside the housing 16. This transport can be performed, for example, by sliding it on a rail attached to the housing 16 via bearings, but other methods may also be used. The container holding section 3 has a base member 3a and a first support member 3b and a second support member 3c as support members, and the first support member 3b and the second support member 3c are attached to the base member 3a so as to be able to rotate by pin members or the like. These first support member 3b and the second support member 3c are formed to be able to open and close, and can rotate around a pivot point O between an open position as shown in Figure 2(a) and a closed position as shown in Figure 2(b). In addition, a first contact portion 3d is formed on the first support member 3b and a second contact portion 3e is formed on the second support member 3c. As shown in Figure 3, the first contact portion 3d and the second contact portion 3e are positioned so that they come into contact with the side wall of the container when the container is inserted into the holding space 3f in the container holding portion 3. As the container is inserted, the positions of the first contact portion 3d and the second contact portion 3e are displaced, and the first support member 3b and the second support member 3c rotate in the closing direction with the pivot point O as the pivot point. The container holding portion 3 is also configured so that the first support member 3b and the second support member 3c can rotate from the closed position to the open position by pulling the container, which is held by the base member 3a, the first support member 3b, and the second support member 3c, in the direction of removal.

[0012] The holding plate 7 is disposed below the container holding portion 3. When the container holding portion 3 is pressed by the heater 2, this holding plate 7 holds the container holding portion 3 so that the lid and the container are sufficiently joined, and also makes it easier for a person who supports the container (such as a purchaser of a beverage) to visually insert the container toward the container holding portion 3. Note that the container holding portion 3 and the holding plate 7 may be configured to reciprocate between a position corresponding to the initial position of the container holding portion 3 and a position corresponding to the retracted position, or the holding plate 7 may be fixed at a predetermined position of the housing, and only the container holding portion 3 may be configured to reciprocate between the above-described positions. This holding plate 7 is formed with an entry space 7a into which the container enters, and a first guide portion 7b and a second guide portion 7c as guide portions for guiding the movement of the container when moving the container into the entry space 7a. Note that since the holding plate 7 is provided for the purpose of holding the container holding portion 3 as described above, for example, when the container holding portion 3 is configured to have a strength capable of withstanding the pressing force of the heater 2, the holding plate 7 may not be provided.

[0013] The lid storage portion 4 is provided at the rear portion of the housing in the sealing device. This lid storage portion 4 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape and is configured to be able to store a plurality of lids, for example, about 500 to 1000 lids, therein. The lower portion of this lid storage portion 4 is open, and the lids are taken out one by one from the opening in the lower portion. Further, a protruding portion that protrudes inward in the radial direction is formed at the opening in the lower portion, and the lid storage portion 4 of the lid storage portion 4 is configured not to drop when the taking-out mechanism 5 is not operating. Note that it is preferable that this protruding portion is formed such that the opposing surface facing the stored lids is an inclined surface that slopes downward toward the inside in the radial direction so that the lid can be easily taken out when the taking-out mechanism 5 takes out the lids one by one.

[0014] The taking-out mechanism 5 is provided below the lid storage part 4 and is for taking out the lids stored in the lid storage part 4 one by one from the opening at the lower part of the lid storage part 4. As shown in FIG. 4, a structure having a configuration that can suck and pull out the lid like a suction cup is used for this taking-out mechanism 5. Further, this taking-out mechanism 5 has a vacuum forming means such as a solenoid valve or a vacuum pump (not shown), and when the suction cup sucks the lid, the inside of the suction cup is made into a negative pressure, and it operates downward to pull out the adsorbed lid downward. The taking-out mechanism 5 places the pulled-out lid on the belt member or the guide rail constituting the transfer part 15 and releases the negative pressure state inside the suction cup. Note that this taking-out mechanism 5 is not limited to using a solenoid valve, and for example, it may be configured to perform vacuum suction using a syringe. The transfer part 15 is for transporting the lid taken out by the taking-out mechanism 5 to a position corresponding to the initial position. As shown in FIG. 10, this transfer part 15 includes a belt member and a drive motor for rotating the belt member, and the lid taken out by the taking-out mechanism 5 is placed on the belt member and moves along with the rotation of the belt member. The lid moved by the transfer part 15 moves to the positioning part 17 provided on the downstream side of the transfer part 15.

[0015] The positioning part 17 is provided at a position where the heater 2 is located above and the initial position of the container holding part 3 is located below. As shown in FIG. 4, this positioning part 17 has four grasping parts for grasping the conveyed lid formed thereon. And the arm part provided with this grasping part is configured to be able to rotate in a direction of expanding with respect to the double-sided direction of the lid. These arm parts, for example, when the heater 2 descends, perform an expanding operation along with the operation of the heater 2 and drop the lid grasped by the grasping part downward. At this time, the dropped lid drops to a position where it closes the opening of the container supported by the container holding part 3, and the lid is joined to the container by the subsequent operation of the heater 2. In this configuration, the sealing device operates as described below. First, the user picks up a container and inserts it into the container holder 3 for support. At this time, the container holder 3 is in its initial position, and the first and second support members are open. Since an insertion space is formed between the first and second support members in the open state, the user attempts to insert the container into the container holder 3 by passing it through the insertion space.

[0016] In this case, the retaining plate 7 provided below the container holding portion 3 has its first guide portion and second guide portion protruding forward of the container holding portion 3, making it easier to insert the container as a guide member. Furthermore, although the shape of the first guide portion and second guide portion can be arbitrarily selected, it is preferable to narrow the distance between the container and the first fitting portion and the second fitting portion, for example, because it makes it easier for the user to guide the container into the container holding portion 3 in order to pass through the portion of the container that is narrower in diameter than the upper end of the container.

[0017] When a user inserts a container into the container holder 3, predetermined locations on the container's side wall come into contact with the first and second contact points. When the container's side wall comes into contact with the first contact point, the container holder 3 rotates the first support member in a closing direction around the pivot point. Similarly, when the container's side wall comes into contact with the second contact point, the container holder 3 rotates the second support member in a closing direction around the pivot point. As a result, the container inserted into the container holder 3 is supported all around by the base, the first support member, and the second support member. Here, "all around" includes the concept of a slight gap between the container's side wall and the container holder 3.

[0018] After the container is supported by the container holder 3, if the user applies force in the direction that moves the container holder 3 into the housing while holding the container, in this embodiment, both the container holder 3 and the holding plate 7 move from the initial position to the retracted position. At this time, if a member such as a cushioning material is provided that reduces the movement speed of the container holder 3 just before it reaches the retracted position, it becomes less likely for an impact to occur when the container holder 3 reaches the retracted position, and it is also possible to prevent the contents from spilling out of the container due to the impact. When the container holding unit 3 reaches the retraction position, a switch (not shown) turns on, and the sealing device starts to operate. In this example of the sealing device, the lid, which has been transported in advance, is held above the container at the retraction position by the positioning unit 17. Therefore, when the switch turns on and the heater 2 descends, the lid is released from the positioning unit when it has been processed to a predetermined position. The lid is then dropped onto the opening of the container, and immediately afterward, the heater 2 presses down on the top surface of the lid, heating it. After heating and pressing for a predetermined time, the heater 2 rises upward, and the joining of the lid to the container is completed. The removal mechanism 5 and the transfer unit 15, for example, when they detect that the positioning means has released its hold on the lid, start removing the lid and transporting the removed lid. The lid is then maintained in a state where it is held by the positioning means in preparation for the next sealing.

[0019] Once the container is sealed with the lid, the sealing device notifies the user that the container has been sealed. This notification may be made by illuminating a lamp or by making a sound. Other methods may also be used. Upon learning that the sealing is complete, the user picks up the container and pulls the container holder 3 forward from the pull-out position to the initial position. When the container holder 3 reaches the initial position, the first and second support members open, allowing the user to pick up the container with the lid sealed and perform actions such as drinking the beverage.

[0020] Thus, with the sealing device according to the present invention, the lid is joined to the container and sealed simply by the user inserting the container they are holding into the container holding part 3 for support, or by pushing the container and container holding part 3 inward or pulling it forward. Therefore, it becomes possible to seal containers very easily and conveniently.

[0021] Next, a modified example of the sealing device will be described. Figure 4 shows a modified example of the container holder. In this container holder, the base portion of the container holder described earlier, the first support member, and the second support member are integrally molded, and it is configured to hold a container by elastic deformation. In addition, the first support member and the second support member have guide portions formed to facilitate the insertion of a container. In the example shown in Figure 5, the first support member and the second support member are initially in a closed state with their tips in contact with each other, but the initial state may be open with the tips of the first support member and the second support member not in contact with each other. However, from the viewpoint of evenly applying the force when the heater 2 is pressed and heated and compressed to the container and lid, it is preferable that the first support member and the second support member are closed in the initial state. This is because in this state the container and lid can be supported as a whole, so the pressing force of the heater 2 can be applied evenly.

[0022] Thus, the sealing device 1 according to the present invention, by having the above-described configuration, can significantly reduce the amount of paper dust mixed into the contents of the container, and can also be manufactured at a low cost with a simple configuration. The above-described example is an example of a sealing device according to the present invention, and is not limited to the above example. It may be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0023] 1 Sealing device 2 Heater 3 Container holding part 4. Cover storage section 5 Removal mechanism 7 Support plate 15 Transfer section 16 cabinets

Claims

1. A sealing device for sealing a lid over the opening of a container, The container is provided with a sealing means for sealing the lid, A container holding means for holding the container, A lid storage means for storing the aforementioned lids, A removal means for removing the lid from the lid storage means, The system includes a transfer means for transferring the lid removed by the removal means onto the opening of the container held by the container holder, The sealing means is a heater, The container holding means includes a transport means for transporting the container between a container holding position for holding the container and a position for placing the lid on the container and sealing it. The container holding means includes a holding space in which the container is positioned when the container is being held, It comprises a container support portion surrounding the aforementioned holding space portion, The container support section comprises a plurality of support members and a base member. The support member has a contact portion and is rotatably mounted to the base member at a position between the support member and the contact portion. A sealing device characterized in that it is configured to be in an open state when the container is inserted into the holding space, and when the container is located within the holding space, the support member rotates in the closing direction as the container comes into contact with the contact portion, thereby closing and holding the upper end portion of the container.

2. The sealing device according to claim 1, wherein the container support portion is rotatably provided on a base portion formed separately from the container support portion.

3. The sealing device according to claim 1, wherein the container support portion and the base portion are integrally formed.

4. The sealing device according to claim 1, wherein the lid storage means has a storage maintenance unit that maintains the stored lid in a stored state.

5. The sealing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the removal means removes the lids one by one from the lid storage means.

6. The removal means is located below the lid storage means, The sealing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the removal means removes the lid stored from the lower part of the lid storage means.

7. The sealing device according to claim 1, wherein the transport means has a positioning unit that positions the transported lid at a position below the sealing means.

8. The sealing device according to claim 1, wherein the container holding means is formed to be capable of holding multiple types of containers of different sizes.

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