JP2008056347A - Carton folding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a folding apparatus which is of a simple structure and accomplishes the sure and smooth bending of a panel. <P>SOLUTION: The folding apparatus comprises: holding plates 1 that hold down a cardboard carton with folding grooves; shafts 2 that are provided at the holding plates 1 and have arms 5 at one ends; a slide contact sections 25 provided at the ends of the arms 5; shaft holders 3 that rotatably pivot both ends of the shafts 2; and a guiding section 4 having guiding slits 4a disposed on one side of the shaft holder 3. When the guiding section 4 moves a prescribed amount in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the guiding slit 4a relative to the shaft holder 3, the sliding section 25 inserted into the guiding slit 4a vertically moves in slide contact with the inner peripheral surface 4c of the guiding slit, and the shaft 2 rotates through the arm 5 while the holding plate 1 makes an arc-rotation toward the cardboard carton side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a carton folding device that presses and folds a target portion along a folding groove formed in advance on the top of a carton.

Conventionally, when a carton for filling liquid such as milk is folded, the panel is bent by a pressing plate. For example, in the case of a gable roof carton, a folding groove corresponding to the triangular portion is formed on the top panel, while the triangular holding plate 1 is disposed in the vicinity of the triangular portion, and the shaft portion provided on the holding plate is Rotate. The presser plate that rotates in an arc by the rotation of the shaft portion pushes the triangular portion and bends it along the folding groove. Thereafter, the presser plate rotates in an arc in the opposite direction and returns to its original state. However, this conventional structure has a problem that it employs a complicated link mechanism for rotating the shaft portion, has a large number of parts, and takes time for adjustment and maintenance. In addition, noise problems cannot be overlooked.
JP-A-7-2203

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a folding device having a simple structure and capable of reliably and smoothly bending a panel. Another object is to provide a folding device that is easy to adjust and maintain.

  In order to solve such a problem, the present invention takes the following measures. That is, a presser plate that presses a carton with a fold groove, a shaft provided on the presser plate and having an arm at one end, a slidable contact portion provided at the tip of the arm, and both ends of the shaft can be rotated. And a guide portion having a guide slit disposed on one side of the shaft holder, and the guide portion is moved by a predetermined amount in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the guide slit with respect to the shaft holder. When the sliding contact portion inserted in the guide slit slides in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the guide slit and moves vertically, the shaft portion rotates through the arm and the presser plate rotates in an arc toward the carton side. .

The sliding contact portion includes an outer peripheral portion made of a material that reduces frictional force such as a synthetic resin.

effect

  The carton folding apparatus of the present invention has a simple structure with few components and can reliably fold the carton. In addition, maintenance and adjustment operations are easy, and reliability is increased. Further, since the frictional force of the sliding contact portion is small and the sliding contact portion is guided and moved smoothly in the guide slit, the carton can be accurately bent. In addition, noise during bending is reduced.

A rectangular carton 12 filled with milk, beverages such as liquor, and other liquids is formed of a paperboard coated with a thermoplastic. 3 and 4, the top panel is a gable roof. In other words, the gable roof is composed of a pair of roof plate panels 32 and a pair of other side plate panels 33 that are connected to the side panel 31. The panels 32 and 33 are bent inward, and the adhesive piece 34 at the tip is heated. It is formed by bonding (known structure). A folding groove for folding is formed in the top panel. In the case of the end panel 33, the triangular portion 35 is formed by the folding groove 33a. The presser plate 1 presses the top panel from the surface side and bends it along the folding groove. A pair of presser plates 1, 1 are arranged to face each other from both sides of the pair of end plate panels 33, 33, and the shape thereof is a triangular shape corresponding to the triangular portion 35 of the end plate panel. The shape of the presser plate 1 is appropriately selected according to the target site.

A shaft portion 2 is fixed to the presser plate 1, and both end portions of the shaft portion 2 provided on the presser plate 1 are rotatably supported by the shaft holder 3. That is, the shaft portion 2 and the presser plate 1 are configured integrally with the shaft holder 3. The shaft portion 2 is provided at the bottom side of the triangular presser plate 1, but is not limited thereto. The shaft portion 3 is provided with an arm 5 at one end. That is, one end of the shaft portion 3 is fixed to the base end portion of the arm 5. The arm 5 is preferably provided in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the shaft portion 3 (see FIG. 12). The arm 5 is provided at an angle with respect to the presser plate 1 (see FIG. 9 and the like). The inclination angle of the presser plate 1 is appropriately determined depending on the type of carton to be bent. The arm 5 and the shaft portion 3 are provided such that the arm 5 rotates about the shaft portion 3 as a central axis, and in the case of the drawing, the arm 5 and the shaft portion 3 are bent in a Z shape like the crankshaft. Further, the shape of the arm 5 is a rectangular parallelepiped, but any other shape such as a rod shape or an elliptical shape can be used, and the length and size can be appropriately selected.

A sliding contact portion 25 that protrudes forward is provided at the tip of the arm 5. The sliding contact portion 25 is formed in a direction parallel to the axis of the shaft portion 3. In FIG. 5, the sliding contact portion 25 includes an outer peripheral portion 24 having a center hole. That is, the outer peripheral portion 24 is rotatably mounted on a short shaft 25 a (for example, see FIG. 7) extending forward from the tip portion of the arm 5. Further, a bulging portion 25c having a diameter slightly larger than the center hole is provided at the tip of the short shaft 25a (see, for example, FIG. 6), so that the mounted outer peripheral portion 24 does not come off from the short shaft 25a. The outer peripheral portion 24 is formed of a material that reduces frictional force, such as a synthetic resin having a small friction coefficient and good durability. As will be described later, the sliding contact portion 25 is inserted into the guide slit 4a, but the sliding contact portion 25 formed of a material that reduces frictional force is smoothly guided and moved in the guide slit 4a.

  The structure, shape, size, and the like of the sliding contact portion 25 and / or the outer peripheral portion 24 are appropriately selected. The slidable contact portion 25 and the outer peripheral portion 24 only have to be slidable in the guide slit 4a. For example, the slidable contact portion 25 is constituted by a short shaft 25a (see FIG. 7), and the short shaft 25a is configured as the guide slit 4a. It may be inserted in a loosely fitted state. In addition, a short shaft 25a having a small diameter and a bulging portion 25c having a large diameter may be provided (see FIG. 6), and the shaft may be inserted into the guide slit 4a through the short shaft 25a having a small diameter. The shape of the outer peripheral portion 24 is an octagon, but other polygons and circles may be used. Moreover, you may fix the cylindrical outer peripheral part 24 to a short axis.

  A guide part 4 is arranged on one side of the shaft holder 3. The guide portion 4 facing the shaft holder 3 has a horizontally long guide slit 4a, and an arm sliding contact portion 25 is movably inserted into the guide slit 4a. As described above, the shaft portion 2 and the presser plate 1 are integrally formed with the shaft holder 3, but the guide portion 4 is not connected to the shaft holder 3. Therefore, when the guide portion 4 moves a predetermined amount with respect to the shaft holder 3 in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal axis direction of the guide slit 4a (vertical direction in FIGS. 2, 8, and 10), the sliding contact portion 25 inserted into the guide slit 4a is It slides in contact with the inner peripheral surface 4c of the guide slit and moves vertically. That is, the sliding contact portion 25 is guided by the guide slit 4 and moves along the guide slit 4.

There are two movements in the vertical direction with respect to the shaft holder 3 (and the shaft portion 2) of the guide portion 4 in the upward and downward directions. When the guide part 4 moves downward with respect to the shaft holder 3, the outer peripheral part 24 in the guide slit 4a rotating via the short shaft 25a changes its position downward and moves along the guide slit 4a (FIG. 9, 11). The arm 5 rotates by a predetermined angle around the shaft portion 3 provided at the base end portion of the arm 5 by the guide movement of the sliding contact portion 25 (or the outer peripheral portion 24). At the same time, the presser plate 1 arranged vertically as the shaft portion 3 rotates rotates in an arc, and the presser plate 1 inclined inwardly folds the triangular portion 35 of the top panel along the folding groove 33a.
The presser plate 1 rotates in a circular arc in the reverse direction by the rotation of the direction, and returns from the tilted state to the original vertical state. As described above, the slidable contact portion 25 formed of a material having a small frictional force slides smoothly in the guide slit 4a, but the guide portion 4 or the inner peripheral surface 4c of the guide slit has similar properties. You may form with a raw material.

  In the carton folding device, the lower end portion of the shaft holder 3 is fixed to the upper end portion of the cylindrical upper column 6 with a fixing bolt 13, and the upper end portion is connected with a tie rod 14. The lower support column 7 is slidably inserted into a cylindrical guide support column 15, and the upper portion thereof is inserted into the upper support column 6 so as to be slidable. Between the guide column 15 and the upper column 6, a positioning stopper 9 and a corresponding contact angle 8 are provided. A seat ring 10 is disposed below the upper column 6 and is fixed to the lower column 7. Further, a guide portion fixing column 12 is provided between the lower end of the guide unit 4 and the upper portion of the lower column 7, and the lower end thereof is fixed to the lower column 7 by the fixing ring 11 below the seat ring 10.

  Below the guide column 15, the lower column 7 is connected by a connecting rod 16. Below that, a cam (swinging means) 17 having a shape corresponding to a predetermined folding process of the top of the carton is disposed, and the lever 18 having the driven pin 18A is pivotally attached to the base end portion thereof, The central portion of the connecting rod 16 is connected by a link rod 19. Further, pull-down springs 20 are attached to both sides of the connecting rod 16.

In the carton loading / unloading process, the driven pin 18a is in the vicinity of the highest position due to the rotation of the cam 17 (high position range). Therefore, the lower column 7 is pushed up, the seat ring 10 abuts against the lower end of the upper column 6 and pushes up the upper column 6, and the shaft portion 2 is in an upper position range exceeding the height of the carton 21. During this time, the folded carton 21 is carried out on the intermittently moving transport device 23, while the folding carton 21 is carried into the folding position and stopped.

  Next, when the follower pin 18a is lowered (intermediate position range), the lower support column 7 is lowered together with the upper support column 6 via the link rod 19. When the presser plate 1 comes to an opposing position in the vicinity of the triangular portion 35, the tip 27 of the contact angle 8 comes into contact with the positioning stopper 9, and the shaft holder 3 and the shaft portion 2 supported by the shaft holder 3 are stopped. On the other hand, the guide part 4 that is fixed to the guide part fixing column 12 and not coupled to the shaft holder 3 continues to descend together with the guide part fixing column 12. That is, the guide portion 4 moves downward with respect to the shaft holder 3 and the shaft portion 2. At this time, as described above, the sliding contact portion 25 in the guide slit 4a is driven according to the downward movement of the guide portion 4, the shaft portion 3 is rotated via the arm 5, and the presser plate 1 is rotated in an arc toward the container side. To do. Reference numeral 23 denotes a conveying device that intermittently conveys a carton to be bent.

  When the bending is finished, the driven pin 18A rises from the lowest position (low position range). That is, the guide portion fixing column 12 and the guide unit 4 rise together with the lower column 7. Then, by the action opposite to that at the time of lowering, the presser plate 1 rotates in an arc in the reverse direction to be in a vertical state, and the cam 17 further rotates to return to the initial position (intermediate position range). During this time, the lower support column 7 and the upper support column 7 both rise, and the shaft portion 2 returns to the initial position.

  It is a perspective view of the carton folding apparatus of this invention.   It is an upper front view of the folding device.   FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of a carton including a top panel.   It is a perspective view which shows the press plate and axial part (part) which oppose the same top panel.   It is an expansion perspective view of the axial part which has a sliding contact part and an arm, and is provided with a pressing plate.   It is an expansion perspective view of the coaxial part which has a sliding contact part of another structure.   Furthermore, it is an expansion perspective view of the coaxial part which has a sliding contact part of another structure.   It is a left side view which shows a guide part and a shaft holder in a folding device, and shows that a press plate is in a perpendicular state.   It is explanatory drawing which shows the slidable contact part in FIG. 8, an arm, a shaft part, and the presser plate of a perpendicular state.   It is a guide part and a shaft holder in a folding device, and is a left side view showing that a presser plate is in an inclined state.   It is explanatory drawing which shows the press plate in the sliding contact part in FIG.   It is a partial expanded sectional view which follows the A-A 'line in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Presser plate 2 Shaft part 3 Shaft holder 4 Guide part 4a Guide slit 6 Cylindrical upper support pillar 7 Lower support pillar 8 Angle per contact 9 Positioning stopper 10 Seat ring 11 Fixing ring 12 Guide part fixing support 13 Fixing bolt 14 Tie rod 15 Guide support

Claims (2)

Rotating the presser plate that presses the carton with the fold groove, the shaft provided on the presser plate and having an arm at one end, the sliding contact part provided at the tip of the arm, and both ends of the shaft A shaft holder that is pivotally supported, and a guide portion having a guide slit disposed on one side of the shaft holder, the guide portion being orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the guide slit with respect to the shaft holder The sliding contact portion inserted into the guide slit is in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the guide slit, and the shaft portion is rotated through the arm and the presser plate is rotated in the carton. A carton folding device that rotates in an arc toward the side. The carton folding device according to claim 1, wherein the sliding contact portion includes an outer peripheral portion made of a material that reduces frictional force, such as a synthetic resin.

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