Packaging bag stocker

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a packaging bag stocker which increases the number of packaging bags that can be stored, reduces the installation footprint of a packaging machine, and enables packaging bags to be smoothly discharged. [Solution] A packaging bag stocker 10 has a bag feeding mechanism comprising: a main conveyance path 12A provided with a plurality of main partition members 22 arranged at predetermined intervals in a stocker body 11; and a sub conveyance path 12B provided with a plurality of sub partition members 32 arranged at the same intervals as the main partition members. The main partition members and the sub partition members partition and hold a plurality of bundles of packaging bags in a stock room 16 on a per-bundle basis, and sequentially feed the bundle of packaging bags at the lowermost end of the stock room into a discharge room 17, so that a discharge conveyor 50 smoothly discharges the packaging bags.

Description

Packaging Bag Stocker

[0001] The present invention relates to a packaging bag stocker for stocking a plurality of packaging bags, in which when a plurality of packaging bags are stacked with their orientations aligned, the bulk on the other end side is higher than the bulk on one end side.

[0002] A packaging machine that conveys packaging bags along a predetermined packaging path and fills the packaging bags with articles to be packaged to produce packaged products has a bag feeding device that supplies packaging bags to the packaging path. The bag feeding device is composed of a bag feeding conveyor on which packaging bags are sequentially arranged from the starting end to the terminal end, and a bag feeding arm which is arranged near the terminal end of the bag feeding conveyor and is provided with a suction cup at the tip end. The bag feeding arm sucks the packaging bag that has reached the terminal end of the bag feeding conveyor and sequentially delivers it to a gripper that moves along the packaging path, whereby the bag feeding device can feed packaging bags to the packaging path. Here, in order to easily increase the stock amount of packaging bags in the bag feeding device, it is sufficient to simply lengthen the bag feeding conveyor and increase the number of packaging bags arranged on the bag feeding conveyor. However, when the bag feeding conveyor is lengthened, a large planar space corresponding to the length of the bag feeding conveyor is required separately from the packaging path. In contrast, by providing a packaging bag stocker capable of stacking and stocking a plurality of packaging bags near the starting end of the bag feeding conveyor, the bag feeding conveyor can be shortened and the packaging machine can be made compact.

[0003] As shown in FIG. 7, the packaging bag stocker has a box-shaped stocker body installed on the starting end side 100a of the bag feeding conveyor 100. Inside the stocker body, a plurality of packaging bags are stacked and stored in a state where their orientations are aligned. And it is configured such that the packaging bags are carried out sequentially by the bag feeding conveyor 100 starting from the lowermost packaging bag.

[0004] No citation

[0005] In the case of flat bags where the thickness of the sealed end and the open end of the packaging bag are the same, there is no particular problem when stacking the packaging bags in a packaging bag stocker, as the stacked bags are less likely to collapse. However, with a zippered stand-up pouch B1 as shown in Figure 5, or a zippered flat bag B2 as shown in Figure 6, when the packaging bags are stacked with the orientation aligned, the side with the zipper becomes bulkier than the side without the zipper by the thickness of the zipper C. Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the state when multiple zippered stand-up pouches B1 are stacked. In this way, when multiple zippered packaging bags are stacked, the stacked packaging bags tilt toward the side without the zipper C. Therefore, there is a problem that the number of packaging bags that can be stored is reduced relative to the size of the packaging bag stocker. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7, when a packaging bag is pulled out from the bottom of a tilted bundle of packaging bags by a bag-feeding conveyor, the bundle of packaging bags may tip over inside the stocker body, causing the packaging bags to get caught or turned inside out at the discharge outlet, preventing smooth discharge, resulting in jams or a large number of packaging bags collapsing out of the discharge outlet at once.

[0006] Therefore, the problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide a packaging bag stocker that increases the number of packaging bags that can be stored, reduces the installation space of the packaging machine in a planar manner, and allows for smooth unloading.

[0007] The packaging bag stocker according to claim 1 is a packaging bag stocker having walls on all four sides that are erected to surround bundles of packaging bags, which are bundles of a predetermined number of packaging bags, where when multiple bags are stacked in the same orientation, the bulk of one end edge is greater than the bulk of the other end edge; a supply port on one open end side for supplying the bundles of packaging bags in bundles, and an outlet on the other open end side for removing one packaging bag at a time from the bundles of packaging bags, wherein multiple bundles of packaging bags are stored in the stock room, and the packaging bag stocker is provided with a bag feeding mechanism that has a transport path for transporting the bundles of packaging bags in bundles from the supply port to the outlet, wherein multiple partition members are arranged at predetermined intervals in the transport path, and the partition members divide and hold the multiple bundles of packaging bags in bundles.

[0008] The packaging bag stocker according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the transport path is configured to circulate between the vicinity of the supply port and the vicinity of the discharge port.

[0009] The packaging bag stocker according to claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the transport path is composed of a main transport path equipped with a power source and a secondary transport path arranged opposite the main transport path with the bundle of packaging bags in between.

[0010] The packaging bag stocker according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 3, the partition member is composed of a main partition member disposed in the main transport path and a secondary partition member disposed in the secondary transport path.

[0011] The packaging bag stocker according to the present invention is equipped with a bag feeding mechanism that has a transport path for transporting bundles of packaging bags from the supply port to the discharge port, and a plurality of partition members are arranged at predetermined intervals along the transport path to partition and hold multiple bundles of packaging bags one by one. As a result, even with resealable packaging bags, the partition members partition each bundle and store them, eliminating the difference in volume between the opening and bottom of the bag. Therefore, the number of packaging bags that can be stored can be increased, and the installation space of the packaging machine can be reduced in terms of planar space. Furthermore, since each bundle is held by a partition member, the load on the bottommost packaging bag in a stacked bundle is smaller than that on simply stacked packaging bags, so the bottommost packaging bag can be smoothly discharged from the packaging bag stocker on a conveyor. Preferably, the transport path is designed to circulate between the vicinity of the supply port and the vicinity of the discharge port of the packaging bag stocker. As a result, the partition members provided on the transport path can also circulate between the vicinity of the supply port and the vicinity of the discharge port, increasing the number of packaging bags that can be stored. Preferably, the transport path consists of a main transport path equipped with a power source and a secondary transport path positioned opposite the main transport path with the bundle of packaging bags in between. This allows the bags to be sequentially transported downwards to the stocker by the opposing main and secondary transport paths, enabling smooth transport of the packaging bags. Even more preferably, the main transport path has a main partition member and the secondary transport path has a secondary partition member. This allows partition members to be used to separate not only the end on the zipper side, which has a higher bulk, but also the end on the opposite side, which has a lower bulk, for each bundle of packaging bags. As a result, the number of packaging bags that can be stored can be increased, and the installation space of the packaging machine can be reduced in terms of planar space. Furthermore, since the main partition member is provided on the main transport path and the secondary partition member is provided on the secondary transport path, even if the opening end for filling the packaged goods is provided on the opposite side, which has a lower bulk, rather than on the zipper side, which has a higher bulk, the orientation of the packaging bag can be easily changed to accommodate this.

[0012] This is a perspective view showing an outline of the configuration of the packaging bag stocker according to the first embodiment. This is a plan view showing an outline of the configuration of the packaging bag stocker according to the first embodiment. This is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in Figure 2 to show an outline of the configuration of the packaging bag stocker according to the first embodiment. This is a side view showing an outline of the overall configuration of a bag dispensing device to which the packaging bag stocker according to the first embodiment is applied. This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of packaging bags stored in the packaging bag stocker according to the first embodiment. This is an explanatory diagram showing another example of packaging bags stored in the packaging bag stocker according to the first embodiment. This is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a conventional packaging bag stocker with the bundle of packaging bags shown in Figure 5 stored inside.

[0013] An embodiment of the packaging bag stocker according to the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the packaging bag stocker according to this embodiment.

[0014] As shown in Figure 1, the packaging bag stocker 10 consists of a stocker body 11, a bag feeding mechanism 12, and a bag leveling mechanism 13. As shown in Figure 1 or Figure 3, the stocker body 11 has four walls that are erected to surround the periphery of the packaging bag B, which is rectangular when viewed from above. One of the upper openings has a supply port 14 into which the packaging bag B is supplied, and the lower opening has an outlet port 15 into which the packaging bag B is discharged. The area from the supply port 14 to the middle of the stocker body 11 is a stock room 16 into which multiple bundles of packaging bags are stored, and the area near the outlet port 15 is an outlet room 17 into which the bundles of packaging bags to be discharged are set.

[0015] As shown in Figure 3, an unloading conveyor 50 is positioned below the unloading outlet 14, and the bundles of packaging bags set in the unloading room 17 are unloaded by the unloading conveyor in order from the bottommost packaging bag. As shown in Figure 4, the unloading conveyor 50 forms part of the unloading path 50a, which is folded back so that the top and bottom of the packaging bags can be reversed. At the end of the unloading path 50a, the packaging bags are supplied from a bag supply device (not shown) to a packaging machine (not shown). As shown in Figure 2, the stocker body 11 has four walls that surround the periphery of the packaging bags B. Here, the wall on the side from which the unloading conveyor 50 unloads the packaging bags is called the first surface 11a, and the second surface 11b, third surface 11c, and fourth surface 11d are located clockwise in a plan view from the first surface 11a. In this embodiment, the storage body 11 is configured as a box-shaped storage body with fixed walls 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d, as shown in Figure 2. However, it is not limited to this configuration, and the walls 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d can be configured to move toward and away from each other, allowing the width between the walls 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d to be changed according to the size of the packaging bags. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the storage body 11 is configured as having walls erected on the discharge conveyor 50, as shown in Figure 1 or Figure 3. However, it is not limited to this configuration, and the storage body can be installed in accordance with the inclination of the discharge conveyor 50. Here, "matching the inclination of the discharge conveyor 50" means that when the discharge conveyor 50 is installed at an angle, the stocker body 11 can be installed at an angle to match that angle, or when the discharge conveyor 50 is arranged vertically, and the surface of the discharge conveyor is partitioned with rails or the like, and one packaging bag can be discharged from each partition, the stocker body 11 can be installed horizontally in order to discharge the packaging bags B vertically.

[0016] As shown in Figure 1 or Figure 3, the bag feeding mechanism 12 is installed in the stockroom 16 and consists of a main transport path 12A provided on the first surface 11a of the stocker body 11 and a secondary transport path 12B provided on the third surface 11c facing the first surface 11a.

[0017] As shown in Figure 1, the main conveying path 12A consists of a main conveyor, a first main roller 24 equipped with a first power source 23, and a first subordinate roller that follows the first main roller 24. The main conveyor consists of a main conveyor 20 made of a belt stretched between the first main roller 24 and the first subordinate roller with a predetermined tension, and a pair of sub-conveyors 21, 21 arranged on both sides of the main conveyor 20.

[0018] The main partition member 22 of the main conveyor 20 is made of a flat plate, and the tip of the flat plate is fixed so as to face the inside of the stocker body 11 and the base end is fixed at a predetermined angle to the main conveyor 20. As shown in Figure 3, the edges of the packaging bags are caught on the upper surface of the main partition member 22, so that multiple packaging bags can be stored in bundles of a predetermined number. As shown in Figure 3, each of the multiple main partition members 22 arranged in the stock room 16 can store bundles of packaging bags, so that the stocker body 11 can store a large number of bundles of packaging bags in the stock room 16. Note that the main partition member 22 is not limited to being fixed to the main conveyor 20, but may also be configured to move along the main transport path 12A and to collapse onto the main conveyor 20 when it turns around to the outside of the stocker body 11. Furthermore, although the main partition member 22 in this embodiment is made of a flat plate, it is not limited to this, and can be any shape that can support the bundle of packaging bags, such as a frame of a predetermined shape or a mesh-like plate. Moreover, the material of the main partition member 22 can be appropriately selected from wood, synthetic resin, metal, etc.

[0019] The sub-conveyor 21 is configured such that its belt surface is flush with the belt surface of the main conveyor 20 on the inside of the first surface 11a of the stocker body 11. This prevents the edges of the packaging bags from getting caught on the inside of the first surface 11a of the stocker body 11 due to friction, even if the bundles of packaging bags that are separated and stocked by the main partition member 22 tilt toward the first surface 11a, allowing the bundles of packaging bags to be smoothly sent toward the discharge room 17. In this embodiment, the main conveyor 20 and sub-conveyors 21, 21 are made of flat belts, but are not limited to this, and round belts or chains may be used instead of flat belts.

[0020] The first power source 23 is a motor whose output shaft rotates at a predetermined angular velocity. Alternatively, the first power source 23 may be a servo motor whose output shaft stops at predetermined angles and rotates and stops repeatedly at a predetermined cycle. Either the motor or the servo motor is configured to operate at the timing when the number of remaining packaging bags in the bundle of packaging bags being sequentially carried out in the discharge room 17 reaches a predetermined number, and the bottom bundle of packaging bags in the stock room 16 is sent in. This makes it possible to send the packaging bags to the discharge room 17 without interrupting the rows of packaging bags lined up on the discharge conveyor 50.

[0021] As shown in Figure 1, the first main roller 24 is connected to the output shaft of the first power source 23 via a first pulley 23a and a first interlocking belt 23b. The first main roller 24 has a roller that drives the main conveyor 20 and a roller that drives the sub-conveyors 21, 21, all mounted coaxially. This allows the first main roller 24 to drive the main conveyor 20 and the sub-conveyors 21, 21 in a synchronous manner. The first subordinate roller, together with the first main roller 24, is configured to support the main conveyor 20 and the sub-conveyors 21, 21 and to move in accordance with the rotation of the first main roller 24. This allows the main conveyor 20 and the sub-conveyors 21, 21 to be tensioned and driven between the first main roller 24 and the first subordinate roller with a predetermined tension.

[0022] As shown in Figure 1, the secondary conveying path 12B consists of a secondary conveyor 30 positioned opposite the main conveyor 20 of the main conveying path 12A on the first surface 11a on the third surface 11c, and a pair of secondary rollers 31, 31 that tension the secondary conveyor 30. The secondary conveyor 30 is made of the same belt as the main conveyor 20 of the main conveying path 12A, and has a plurality of secondary partition members 32 arranged at predetermined intervals, the same as the main partition members 22 of the main conveyor 20. The secondary partition members 32 are made of the same plate material as the main partition members 22, and the flat plates are fixed so that their front ends face inward towards the stocker body 11 and their base ends form a predetermined angle with respect to the secondary conveyor 30. As shown in Figure 3, the edges of the packaging bags are caught near the upper surface of the secondary partition members 32, allowing them to work together with the main partition members 22 to separate and stock a plurality of packaging bags into bundles of a predetermined number. As shown in Figure 3, each of the multiple sub-partition members 32 arranged in the stockroom 16 can store bundles of packaging bags, so the stocker body 11 can store a large quantity of bundles of packaging bags in the stockroom 16. The sub-partition members 32 are not limited to being fixed to the sub-conveyor 30, but may be configured to move along the sub-transport path 12B and to collapse onto the sub-conveyor 30 when they move around to the outside of the stocker body 11. Also, the sub-partition members 32 in this embodiment are not limited to being flat plates, similar to the main partition members 22, but can be any shape that can support bundles of packaging bags, such as a frame of a predetermined shape or a mesh plate, and the material of the sub-partition members 32 can be appropriately selected from wood, synthetic resin, metal, etc.

[0023] The auxiliary rollers 31, 31 are positioned such that one auxiliary roller 31 is located near the upper end of the stocker body 11, and the other auxiliary roller 31 is located near the lower end of the stockroom 16, and an auxiliary conveyor 30 is installed between them. This allows the auxiliary conveyor 30 to be stretched between the auxiliary rollers 31, 31 with a predetermined tension. As shown in Figure 1 or Figure 3, neither of the auxiliary rollers 31, 31 is connected to a power source. However, even without a power source connected to the auxiliary rollers 31, as shown in Figure 3, the auxiliary partition member 32 is configured to support the bundle of packaging bags together with the opposing main partition member 22, so that the auxiliary conveyor 30 of the auxiliary transport path 12B and the main conveyor 20 of the main transport path 12A can be operated in sync, and the bundle of packaging bags can be transported. Alternatively, one or both of the auxiliary rollers 31, 31 may be provided with a predetermined brake mechanism to prevent the bundle of packaging bags from being sent downward before the main transport path 12A. In this way, the secondary transport path 12B can eliminate the power source, thereby achieving power savings, further reducing the weight of the device, and lowering costs by eliminating the number of parts such as link mechanisms and manufacturing processes.

[0024] As shown in Figure 1 or Figure 3, the bag leveling mechanism 13 is provided near the outlet 15 of the discharge room 17 and consists of a leveling belt 40 for leveling the bundles of packaging bags stored in the discharge room 17, a second main roller 41 equipped with a second power source 43 for driving the leveling belt 40, and a second subordinate roller 42 that moves in accordance with the second main roller 41.

[0025] The leveling belt 40 consists of multiple round belts installed between the second main roller 41 and the second sub-roller 42. The round belts reduce the contact area near the edges of the packaging bags, thus preventing smudging of the ink printed on the packaging bags. The leveling belt 40 and the surface of the discharge conveyor 50 form an outlet 15 that tapers toward the discharge direction, as shown in Figure 3. As the leveling belt 40 and the discharge conveyor 50 move toward the outlet 15 together, the bundles of packaging bags stacked in the discharge room 17 can be transformed into a series of packaging bags in which parts of the packaging bags to be drawn later overlap the packaging bags that have been drawn earlier, and then drawn out sequentially.

[0026] The second main roller 41 is equipped with a second power source 43 consisting of a motor, and is connected to the output shaft of the second power source 43 via a second pulley 43a and a second interlocking belt 43b. The second sub-roller 42 is connected to the second main roller 41 via a leveling belt 40 and is configured to move in accordance with the rotation of the second main roller 41. When the second power source 43 is driven and power is transmitted to the second main roller 41, the leveling belt 40, which is operated by this power, works in cooperation with the discharge conveyor 50 below the discharge room 17 to level the bundle of packaging bags and push each individual packaging bag toward the discharge port 15. In this way, the bag leveling mechanism 13 levels the bundle of packaging bags stacked in the discharge room 17 for easy discharge and can form a row of packaging bags in which packaging bags pulled out later overlap packaging bags pulled out earlier by the discharge conveyor 50.

[0027] The packaging bag stocker 10 having the above configuration operates as follows. This will be explained with reference to the attached drawings.

[0028] As shown in Figure 3, the packaging bag stocker 10 sequentially supplies bundles of packaging bags from the supply port 14 of the stocker body 11 to the stockroom 16, which is divided into sections by a main partition member 22 and a sub-partition member 32. In this embodiment, the packaging bags stocked in the packaging bag stocker 10 are stand-up pouches B1 with a zipper C as shown in Figure 5. Since the opening end for filling the contents to be packaged is located on the bag opening side OP1 where the zipper C is provided, the stand-up pouch B1 is stocked with the bag opening OP1 facing the discharge port 15. As a result, when the packaging bags are supplied to the packaging machine via the bag feeding device, the opening end faces upward, allowing the contents to be filled into the bag from above. Note that if a flat bag B2 with a zipper C as shown in Figure 6 is used, when it is stocked, the zipper C on the bag opening side is closed and the bottom of the bag becomes the opening end OP2, so the orientation of the packaging bag is reversed, and the side that is bulkier faces the third surface 11c of the stockroom 16. Even when using flat bags B2 in this way, the packaging bag bundle can be supported between the main partition member 22 and the sub-partition member 21, and multiple partition members can partition and hold the packaging bag bundles made of flat bags B2 in the stockroom 16, one bundle at a time.

[0029] The bag feeding mechanism 12 uses a main transport path 12A and a sub-transport path 12B that work together at a predetermined cycle to supply the bundle of packaging bags at the bottom of the stockroom 16 shown in Figure 3 to the discharge room 17. The bundle of packaging bags supplied to the discharge room 17 is discharged onto the discharge conveyor 50, starting from the bottommost bag, and then discharged one by one from the discharge port 15 of the stocker body 11. At this time, the surface of the discharge conveyor 50 has greater friction than the underside of the next bag stacked on top of the discharged bag. Therefore, the bottommost bag is pulled out from the discharge port 15 by the discharge conveyor 50. When the bottommost bag has been pulled out to a certain extent, the underside of the next bag comes into contact with the surface of the discharge conveyor 50. As a result, the bottommost bag and the bags stacked on top of it are pulled onto the discharge conveyor 50 in a row resembling sashimi served on a plate, while still overlapping. If a large number of packaging bags are dropped into the discharge room 17, the bags that are sequentially pulled out will be stacked on top of the bags below, potentially causing them to clump together and block the discharge port 15. However, in this embodiment, the number of packaging bag bundles dropped into the discharge room 17 can be controlled by the main partition member 22 and the sub-partition member 32 of the bag feeding mechanism 12. Furthermore, even if the packaging bag bundles fall towards the discharge port 15 in a clump, the bag leveling mechanism 13 can shift each stacked packaging bag bundle one by one to facilitate discharge and send them to the discharge port 15. As a result, a row of packaging bags, overlapping appropriately like slices of sashimi and formed in a line, is discharged from the discharge port 15.

[0030] As shown in Figure 4, the discharge conveyor 50 forms part of the discharge channel 50a, which is folded so that the top and bottom of the packaging bags can be reversed. As shown in Figure 3, the row of packaging bags pulled out from the outlet 15 has the bottom front portion of the packaging bag that is pulled out later overlapping the top rear portion of the packaging bag that was pulled out earlier. By folding this row of packaging bags in the discharge channel 50a, it can be reversed into a row of packaging bags where the top front portion of the packaging bag that is pulled out later overlaps the bottom rear portion of the packaging bag that was pulled out earlier. When the row of packaging bags is reversed in this way, when the bag feeding device picks up the packaging bags in order at the end of the discharge channel 50a and feeds them to the packaging machine, the bags can be fed in order from the top of the row of packaging bags. This prevents the printed text from being smudged by overlapping packaging bags rubbing against each other, and also prevents the packaging bags from sticking together due to static electricity when feeding earlier bags, thus preventing the row of packaging bags from becoming disordered.

[0031] In the packaging bag stocker 10 according to this embodiment, the main partition member 22 and the sub-partition member 32 partition and hold the bundles of packaging bags in the stock room 16. This makes it possible to suppress the tilting of the bundles of packaging bags when stocking a large number of them. Furthermore, multiple bundles of packaging bags partitioned within the stocker body 11 are stacked and held. This makes it possible to reduce the installation space relative to the number of bags stocked compared to simply forming rows of packaging bags on the discharge path 50a, and consequently, to make the packaging machine more compact. In addition, stacking within the stocker body 11 makes it easier to increase the number of bags stocked compared to forming rows of packaging bags on the discharge path 50a, and the cost per unit of stock can be kept low.

[0032] Furthermore, in the conventional method of forming a row of packaging bags on the discharge path 50a, a new row of packaging bags must be supplied so that it partially overlaps with the last packaging bag in the row of packaging bags being sent to the packaging machine, thereby enabling continuous supply by the bag feeding device. To achieve this, a new bundle of packaging bags must be placed on top of the last packaging bag, and the bundle of packaging bags must be supplied by pulling it backward along the discharge path 50a. In other words, in the row of packaging bags laid out on the discharge path 50a, the lower front portion of the packaging bag to be drawn later overlaps the upper rear portion of the packaging bag to be drawn earlier. This increases the risk of the packaging bags rubbing against each other, and if the row of packaging bags is not formed neatly, it cannot be supplied smoothly to the bag feeding device, thus increasing the burden on the worker. In contrast, with the packaging bag stocker 10 according to this embodiment, packaging bags can be fed in bundles from the supply port 14 of the stocker body 11, allowing the row of packaging bags to be drawn out from the discharge port 15. Furthermore, in combination with the discharge path 50a equipped with a reversing mechanism, the burden on the worker can be reduced.

[0033] 10...Packaging bag stocker, 11...Stocker body, 11a...First side, 11b...Second side, 11c...Third side, 11d...Fourth side, 12...Bag feeding mechanism, 13...Bag leveling mechanism, 14...Supply port, 15...Outlet port, 16...Stock room, 17...Outlet room, 20...Main conveyor, 21...Sub-conveyor, 22...Main partition member, 23...First power source, 23a...First pulley, 23b...First interlocking belt, 24...First main roller, 30...Sub-conveyor, 31...Sub-roller, 32...Sub-partition member, 40...Leveling belt, 41...Second main roller, 42...Second sub-roller, 43...Second power source, 43a...Second pulley, 43b...Second interlocking belt, 50...Outlet belt, 50a...Outlet path, C... Zipper, B1... Stand-up pouch, OP1... Opening end of stand-up pouch, B2... Flat bag, OP2... Opening end of flat bag, 100... Bag feeding conveyor, 100a... Starting end of bag feeding conveyor.

Claims

1. A packaging bag stocker comprising: a stockroom having walls on all four sides that surround bundles of packaging bags, each bundle containing a predetermined number of packaging bags, where the bulk of one end edge is greater than the bulk of the other end edge when stacked in a line; a supply port on one open end side for supplying the bundles of packaging bags in bundles, and an outlet on the other open end side for removing packaging bags one by one from the bundles of packaging bags, wherein multiple bundles of packaging bags are stored in the stockroom, the packaging bag stocker comprising a bag feeding mechanism with a transport path for transporting the bundles of packaging bags in bundles from the supply port to the outlet, and a plurality of partition members arranged at predetermined intervals in the transport path, wherein the partition members partition and hold multiple bundles of packaging bags in bundles.

2. The packaging bag stocker according to claim 1, characterized in that the transport path is configured to circulate between the vicinity of the supply port and the vicinity of the discharge port.

3. The packaging bag stocker according to claim 1, characterized in that the transport path comprises a main transport path equipped with a power source and a secondary transport path positioned opposite the main transport path with the packaging bag bundle in between.

4. The packaging bag stocker according to claim 3, characterized in that the partition member is composed of a main partition member disposed in the main transport path and a secondary partition member disposed in the secondary transport path.

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