PUSHER USED IN PACKAGING EQUIPMENT
The present invention aims to provide a pusher used in packaging equipment improved so that undesirable deformation of articles to be packaged can be effectively prevented. A pusher 1 used in the packaging equipment includes ahead unit 36 provided in its frontal end wall 46 with an air supply port 53 and in lateral walls 43 with air suction ports 52. The air supply port 53 is adapted to maintain fluid-communication between inside and outside of an envelope 2b as long as the frontal end wall 46 of the pusher 1 stays inside the envelope 2b. The air suction ports 52 are adapted to suck an amount of air inside the envelope 2b as the frontal end wall of the pusher 1 moves away from inside of the envelope 2b and thereby allow the open end of the envelope 2b to be formed with the gussets 57.
This application is a national stage application under 35 USC 371 of International Application No. PCT/JP2008/073037, filed Dec. 18, 2008, which claims the priority of Japanese Applications No. 2008-048441, filed Feb. 28, 2008, and No. 2008-084685, filed Mar. 27, 2008, the contents of which prior applications are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to pushers used in packaging equipments to push articles to be packaged into individual envelopes through each of an open end thereof and thereby to obtain packaged articles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIn packaging equipments, it is well known to use a pusher by which a plurality of articles to be packaged is into an envelope having a closed end and an open end opposite to the closed end, then to seal the open end and thereby to obtain a finished package. For example, the high-speed packaging machine described in JP 61-160002 Y (PATENT DOCUMENT 1) uses a plurality of transverse sealer and a cutter to obtain, from cylindrical plastic film, an envelope having a heat-sealed end and an open end opposite to the heat-sealed end. Using a pusher, an assembly comprising a given number of articles to be packaged is pushed in a lump into this envelope and then the open end is heat-sealed to obtain a finished package. In such packaging machine, it is also well known to form both side walls of the pusher with air suction ports, respectively. Specifically, air inside the envelope may be sucked through the air suction ports as the pusher moves away from the envelope after the pusher has pushed the articles to be packaged into the envelope. The open end of the envelope is formed with gussets as the pusher moves away from the envelope and finally the open end is heat-sealed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the pusher of prior art as has been exemplarily described above, the inside of the envelope is apt to be in a depressurized condition as the pusher moves away from the envelope. Particularly when the articles constituting the assembly to be packaged are of flexible nature and the envelope also is made of flexible material such as plastic film or paper, undesirable deformation of the envelope under the depressurized condition may cause the assembly of the articles to be undesirably deformed. As consequence, expected function of the individual articles may be deteriorated when these articles are actually used and, in addition, the appearance thereof also may be disfigured. Furthermore, the outer shapes of these individual articles may become uneven and make it difficult to stack the articles in an orderly fashion, for example, in the shop.
In the case of the prior art exemplarily described above, the pusher's forehead is preferably dimensioned to have the area as large as possible so that the forehead of the pusher may push the assembly of the articles over an area as large as possible. In fact, such measure is advantageous in that uniform suppress strength may be exerted on the assembly of the articles over an area as large as possible and damage of the individual articles due to use the pusher may be restricted. However, the larger the area of the pusher' forehead is, the more tightly the inner surface of the envelope comes in close contact with the pusher and, in consequence, it may become difficult for the envelope to be deformed neatly along the grooves of the pusher. As a result, it may become difficult to form instantly the envelope with neat gussets.
In view of the various problems as have been described above, it is a principal object of the present invention to improve the pusher used in the packaging equipment so that these problems involved with the assembly of the articles to be packaged as well as with the finished package may be effectively eliminated.
The present invention to achieve the object set forth above includes a first aspect and a second aspect. The object set forth above is achieved, according to the first aspect of the present invention, by an improvement in the pusher used in packaging equipment, the pusher operating to push articles to be packaged into an envelope having a closed end and an open end opposite to the closed end, then to seal the open end concurrently with formation of gussets on both sides of the open end and thereby to obtain a finished package comprising the envelope and the articles to be packaged.
The improvement according to the first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that: the pusher is adapted for to-and-fro movement in a forward direction in which the articles to be packaged are pushed into the envelope and in a rearward direction opposed to the forward direction and includes a head unit having a frontal end wall adapted to be pressed against the articles to be packaged and to move into the envelope, a rear end wall opposed to the frontal end wall and both lateral walls defined between the frontal end wall and the rear end wall and extending in parallel to each other in the forward direction; the frontal end wall is provided with an air supply port adapted to maintain a fluid-communication between inside and outside of the envelope by an intermediary of the pusher so long as the frontal end wall lies inside the envelope; and the lateral walls are respectively provided with air suction ports allowing the open end of the envelope to be formed with the gussets as the frontal end wall moves away from the inside of the envelope in the opposite direction.
According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention on the first aspect thereof, the air supply port provided in the frontal end wall of the head unit is kept in fluid-communication with ambient air between the frontal end wall and the rear end wall, on the rear end wall or behind the rear end wall.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention on the first aspect thereof, the air supply port provided in the frontal end wall of the head unit is adapted to supply an inside of the envelope with pressurized air.
According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention on the first aspect thereof, the lateral walls are respectively formed with V-shaped grooves extending from the frontal end wall toward the rear end wall and the V-shaped grooves are formed in respective surfaces thereof with the air suction ports.
The object set forth above is achieved, according to the second aspect of the present invention, by an improvement in the pusher used in packaging equipment, the pusher operating to push a plurality of articles to be packaged into an envelope having a closed end and an open end opposite to the closed end, then to seal the open end concurrently with formation of gussets on both sides of the open end and thereby to obtain a finished package comprising the envelope and the articles to be packaged.
The improvement according to the second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that: said pusher being characterized in that: the pusher is adapted for to-and-fro movement in a forward direction in which the articles to be packaged are pushed into the envelope and in a rearward direction opposed to the forward direction and includes a head unit having a frontal end wall adapted to be pressed against the articles to be packaged and to move into the envelope, a width direction extending orthogonally to the direction of the to-and-fro movement and a thickness direction extending orthogonally to both the direction of the to-and-fro movement and the width direction; the head unit is divided in two, i.e., a first plate and a second plate face each other in the thickness direction or divided in three, i.e., a first plate, a second plate and a third plate, the first plate being interposed between the second plate and the third plate wherein both sides of the first plate in the width direction are respectively formed with V-shaped grooves extending in the direction of the to-and-fro movement and utilized to form the gussets and the grooves are formed with ports connected to a vacuum suction source; the head unit operates in a manner such that, in a course of movement in the forward direction of the pusher, the second plate and the third plate cooperate with the first plate to push the articles to be packaged into the envelope and, in a course of movement in the rearward direction of the pusher occurring after the articles to be packaged have been fully pushed into the envelope, the second plate and the third plate move away from the envelope leaving the first plate therein, and thereafter the first plate moves away from the envelope to subject the envelope to vacuum from the vacuum suction source; and a frontal end sub-wall defined by any one of the first, second and third plates has an air supply port adapted to maintain fluid-communication between inside and outside of the envelope as long as the frontal end wall lies inside the envelope.
According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention on the second aspect thereof, the second plate and the third plate are integrated with each other behind the head unit.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention on the second aspect thereof, the air supply ports are adapted to supply an inside of the envelope with pressurized air.
The pusher according to the first aspect of the present invention has the air supply port provided in the frontal end wall of the head unit and the air suction ports provided in the both lateral walls. With such arrangement, there is practically no possibility that the central region of the envelope containing the articles to be packaged having pushed thereinto might be trapped in the depressurized condition even when air inside the envelope is sucked through the air suction ports in order to form the open end of the envelope with the gussets as the head unit moves away from the envelope after the articles to be packaged have been pushed into the envelope. In this way, undesirable deformation of the articles to be packaged due to formation of the gussets can be practically prevented.
The pusher according to the second aspect of the present invention includes the head unit comprising the first plate and the second plate overlapping each other in the height direction or comprising the first plate, the second plate and the third plate wherein the first plate interposed between the second and third plates so that only the second plate or the second plate and the third plate may move away from the envelope after the articles to be packaged have been pushed into the envelope and only the first plate may be used to form the gussets. With such unique arrangement, even if the envelope has been put in close contact with the head unit in the course of pushing the articles to be packaged into the envelope, the envelope is not in close contact with the head unit in the course of forming the gussets. Consequentially, even if the grooves of the first plate utilized to form the gussets are relatively deep, the envelope can quickly and smoothly move into the grooves to be deformed in accordance with the shape of the respective grooves. In this way, the neat gussets can be quickly obtained.
1 pusher
2, 2a, 2b envelope
4 closed end
5 open end
10 packaging equipment
14 finished package
15, 15a assembly of individually packaged articles
36 head unit
41 front end wall
42 rear end wall
43 lateral walls
51 V-shaped grooves
52 air suction ports
53 air supply port
57 gussets
101 pusher
110 packaging equipment
136 head unit
141 frontal end wall
151 first plate (main plate)
152 second plate (upper sub-plate)
153 third plate (lower sub-plate)
156 grooves
157 ports (suction ports)
158 air supply ports
A to-and-fro movement direction (machine direction)
B width direction (cross direction)
T height direction
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONDetails of the pusher according to the present invention adapted to be used in the packaging equipment will be more fully understood from the description of preferred embodiments given hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the first feeding step 11 illustrated in
In the second feeding step 12 illustrated in
The packing step 13 in
In a phase illustrated by
In a phase illustrated by
In a phase of
According to the embodiment illustrated by
While the pusher 1 and packaging equipment 10 including this pusher 1 having been described hereinabove with reference to
In the first feeding step 11 illustrated in
In the second feeding step 12 illustrated in
The packing step 13 in
The main plate 151, the sub-plate 152 and the sub-plate 153 respectively have a main frontal end wall 151a, a frontal end sub-wall 152a and a frontal end sub-wall 153a integrated together to define a frontal end wall 141 of the pusher 101. These main front end wall 151a, the front end sub-wall 152a and the frontal end sub-wall 153a are regions cooperating together to be pressed against the assembly 15 as the pusher 101 moves forward. To prevent the contact pressure from being locally exerted on the assembly 15, the frontal end wall 141 of the pusher 101 integrally defined by the frontal surface wall 151a, 152a and 153a may be shaped and sized to be generally coincident with those of a region 19 of the assembly 15 facing the frontal end wall 141 of the pusher 101 or to be slightly smaller than the size of this region 19 of the assembly 15. In other words, the maximum dimension of the frontal end wall 141 as measured in the cross direction B and the height direction T may be set to be generally the same as or slightly smaller than the maximum dimension of the region 19 of the assembly 15.
The pusher 101 further includes a pair of lateral walls 142 symmetrically shaped as viewed in the cross direction B. Each of the lateral walls 142 comprises a main lateral wall 151c in the main plate 151, a lateral sub-wall 152c of the sub-plate 152 and a lateral sub-wall 153c of the sub-plate 153 wherein the main lateral wall 151c is formed with a groove 15 extending from the frontal wall 151 a in the machine direction A and having a V-shaped cross-section and the groove 151c is formed with a suction port 157. The suction port 157 is connected to an air suction source (not shown) such as a vacuum pump. The lateral sub-walls 152c, 153c are smoothly finished. Referring to
In a phase of
In a phase of
In a phase of
In a phase of
The process in which the gussets 61 are formed in the vicinity of the open end 5 in the step of
The unique arrangement of the head unit 136 as has been described above effectively facilitates the operation of deforming the envelope 2b along the grooves 156 as indicated by the imaginary lines and thereby forming the gussets 61 without damaging the assembly 15a. A beneficial effect can be expected from such head unit 136 when an open angle alpha of the groove 156 is set to be as small as possible and thereby a depth in the cross section B of the gusset 61 formed by the main plate 151 is set to be as large as possible.
In the case of the pusher 101 according to the present invention, the central region of the envelope 2 is assured to be maintained in fluid-communication with ambient air or supplied with compressed air via the air supply port 158 formed in the head unit 136 even the vacuum suction to form the envelope 2 with the gussets 61 begins. Consequentially, the envelope 2 would not be trapped in the depressurized condition. In this way, the individual packages 3 constituting the assembly 15 would not be compressed by depressurized envelope and thereby deformed. In addition, the finished package 14 would not be undesirably deformed and therefore it is facilitated to stack a plurality of the finished packages 14 for bale packaging or displaying. The air inlet 159 extending to the air supply port 158 functioning in the manner as has been described above may be provided in the rear end wall 151b of the main plate 151 or between the main frontal end wall 151a and the main rear end wall 151b or behind the main rear end wall 151b. The air inlet 159 may be connected to a pressurized air supply source such as a compressor so that the air inlet 159 may be used to supply the envelope 2b with pressurized air. In the pusher 101, timing control for starting and ending of air suction through the air suction port 157 and for starting and ending of air supply through the air supply port 158 can be done by providing the packaging equipment with control mechanisms (not shown) operatively associated with these timing control operations. In the pusher 101, the V-shaped grooves 156 in the illustrated embodiment may be replaced by U-shaped grooves or the other various types of grooves.
In the pusher 101 according to the present invention, it is possible to provide the upper sub-plate 152 or the lower sub-plate 153 also with the air supply ports functioning for the envelope 2b in order to prevent the envelope 2b from being trapped in the depressurized condition when these sub-plates 152, 153 move away from the envelope 2b. It is not essential to provide the main plate 151 with such air supply ports as in the illustrated embodiment but it is possible without departing from the scope of the invention to provide any one of the main plate 151, the upper sub-plate 152 and the lower sub-plate 153 depending on respective sizes of the envelope 2b, the assembly 15 and the head unit 136.
The head unit 136 of the pusher 101 according to the present invention preferably comprises three components, i.e., three plates 151, 152 and 153 in the height direction T. However, it is possible without departing from the scope of the invention to replace the upper sub-plate 152 and the lower sub-plate 153 provided as the separate components in the illustrated embodiment by these sub-plates 152, 153 integrally connected to each other behind the head unit 136 so that these two sub-plates 152, 153 may move together forward or backward. It is also possible without departing from the scope of the invention to save one of the upper sub-plate 152 and the lower sub-plate 153. In other words, the head unit 136 comprising three components may be replaced by the head unit 136 comprising two components in the height direction.
Referring to
While the pusher 101 and packaging equipment 110 including this pusher 101 having been exemplarily described hereinabove with reference to
Claims
1. A pusher used in packaging equipment, said pusher operating to push articles to be packaged into an envelope having a closed end and an open end opposite to said closed end, then to seal said open end concurrently with formation of gussets on both sides of said open end and thereby to obtain a finished package comprising said envelope and said articles to be packaged, said pusher being characterized in that:
- said pusher is adapted for to-and-fro movement in a forward direction in which said articles to be packaged are pushed into said envelope and in an rearward direction opposed to said forward direction and includes a head unit having a frontal end wall adapted to be pressed against said articles to be packaged and to move into said envelope, a rear end wall opposed to said frontal end wall and both lateral walls defined between said frontal end wall and said rear end wall and extending in parallel to each other in said forward direction; and
- said frontal end wall is provided with an air supply port adapted to maintain a fluid-communication between inside and outside of said envelope by an intermediary of said pusher so long as said frontal end wall lies inside said envelope; and
- said lateral walls are respectively provided with air suction ports allowing said open end of said envelope to be formed with said gussets as said frontal end wall moves away from said inside of said envelope in said opposite direction.
2. The pusher defined by claim 1 wherein said air supply port provided in said frontal end wall of said head unit is kept in fluid-communication with ambient air between said frontal end wall and said rear end wall, on said rear end wall or behind said rear end wall.
3. The pusher defined by claim 1 wherein said air supply port provided in said frontal end wall of said head unit is adapted to supply an inside of said envelope with pressurized air.
4. The pusher defined by claim 1 wherein said lateral walls are respectively formed with V-shaped grooves extending from said frontal end wall toward said rear end wall and said V-shaped grooves are formed in respective surfaces thereof with said air suction ports.
5. A pusher used in packaging equipment, said pusher operating to push a plurality of articles to be packaged into an envelope having a closed end and an open end opposite to said closed end, then to seal said open end concurrently with formation of gussets on both sides of said open end and thereby to obtain a finished package comprising said envelope and said articles to be packaged, said pusher being characterized in that:
- said pusher is adapted for to-and-fro movement in a forward direction in which said articles to be packaged are pushed into said envelope and in a rearward direction opposed to said forward direction and includes a head unit having a frontal end wall adapted to be pressed against said articles to be packaged and to move into said envelope, a width direction extending orthogonally to said direction of said to-and-fro movement and a thickness direction extending orthogonally to both said direction of said to-and-fro movement and said width direction;
- said head unit is divided in two, i.e., a first plate and a second plate face each other in said thickness direction or divided in three, i.e., a first plate, a second plate and a third plate, said first plate being interposed between said second plate and said third plate wherein both sides of said first plate in said width direction are respectively formed with V-shaped grooves extending in said direction of said to-and-fro movement and utilized to form said gussets and said grooves are formed with ports connected to a vacuum suction source;
- said head unit operates in a manner such that, in a course of movement in said forward direction of said pusher, said second plate and said third plate cooperate with said first plate to push said articles to be packaged into said envelope and, in a course of movement in said rearward direction of said pusher occurring after said articles to be packaged have been fully pushed into said envelope, said second plate and said third plate move away from said envelope leaving said first plate therein, and thereafter said first plate moves away from said envelope to subject said envelope to vacuum from said vacuum suction source; and
- a frontal end sub-wall defined by any one of said first, second and third plates has an air supply port adapted to maintain fluid-communication between inside and outside of said envelope as long as said frontal end wall lies inside said envelope.
6. The pusher defined by claim 5 wherein said second plate and said third plate are integrated with each other behind said head unit.
7. The pusher defined by claim 5 wherein said air supply ports are adapted to supply an inside of said envelope with pressurized air.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 18, 2008
Publication Date: Feb 17, 2011
Applicant: Uni-Charn Corporation (Shikokuchuo-shi, EHIME)
Inventor: Joji Shibagaki (Kanonji-shi)
Application Number: 12/920,067
International Classification: B65B 5/00 (20060101);