SHOCK-ABSORBING MATERIAL SUPPLY APPARATUS USED FOR ARTICLE PACKAGING DEVICE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a shock-absorbing material supply apparatus used for a device-article packaging device for putting and packaging articles and a shock-absorbing material together in a packaging box. The present invention relates to the shock-absorbing material supply apparatus used for the article packaging device for filling the empty inner space of a packaging box B, into which articles are put, with the shock-absorbing material so as to package the articles, the apparatus comprising: a shock-absorbing material manufacturing device; a first hopper; a shock-absorbing material supply conveyor; a shock-absorbing material accommodation part; and a shock-absorbing material guide part.

Claims

1. A shock-absorbing material supply apparatus that is used for an article packaging device that packages a shock-absorbing material in an empty internal space of a packaging box with an article therein, the shock-absorbing material supply apparatus comprising: a shock-absorbing material manufacturing device manufacturing a shock-absorbing material; a first hopper installed under the shock-absorbing material manufacturing device and keeping manufactured shock-absorbing materials; a shock-absorbing material supply conveyer installed under the first hopper and supplying a predetermined amount of shock-absorbing materials to a second hopper; a shock-absorbing material receiver being supplied with the shock-absorbing materials stored in the second hopper; and a shock-absorbing material guide guiding the shock-absorbing materials received in the shock-absorbing material receiver to empty internal spaces of packaging boxes.

2. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shock-absorbing material supply conveyer has guide plates disposed with regular intervals such that a predetermined amount of shock-absorbing materials are separately conveyed to the second hopper.

3. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second hopper is divided by several blades and a blade cover having a sufficient size that can cover a top inlet of the shock-absorbing material receiver is installed behind and under the blade.

4. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of claim 3, wherein the shock-absorbing material guide has an upper portion that is larger in area than the shock-absorbing material receiver and a lower portion that is smaller than the area of the top of a packaging box such that all of shock-absorbing materials can be guided to the packaging box from the shock-absorbing material receiver.

5. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of claim 1, wherein several first sensors are installed up and down on a side of the first hopper and the first sensors measure the amount of shock-absorbing materials stored in the first hopper, show the amount to the outside, and transmit the amount to a controller.

6. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of claim 1, wherein second sensors are installed on a side of the upper portion of the second hopper and, when shock-absorbing materials are supplied up to the top of the second hoper, the second sensors are turned on transmit a turning-on signal to a controller to stop the shock-absorbing material conveyer.

7. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of claim 1, wherein third sensors are installed on a side of the upper portion of the shock-absorbing material receiver and, when shock-absorbing materials are not received up to the top of the shock-absorbing material receiver, the third sensors are turned off and transmit a turning-off signal to a controller to stop operation of the article packaging device.

8. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shock-absorbing material receiver is formed in a cylindrical shape, a shock-absorbing material support plate moving up and down is installed inside the shock-absorbing material receiver, the shock-absorbing material support plate is moved up and down by a first LM guide installed at a side of the shock-absorbing material receiver, the shock-absorbing material support plate is opened when the shock-absorbing material support plate is moved down from shock-absorbing material receiver and a packaging box is stopped on a conveyer.

9. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of claim 8, wherein the shock-absorbing material is installed to be able to move up and down to correspond to the height of a packaging box stopped on the conveyer by a second LM guide installed at a side of the shock-absorbing material guide.

10. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of claim 8, wherein the shock-absorbing material support plate is controlled to move up and down such that the volume of the shock-absorbing material depending on movement of the shock-absorbing material support plate becomes the same as the volume of an empty internal space of a packaging box stopped on the conveyer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 is a conceptual view of an article packaging device to which the present invention is applied.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a conveyer line having three article packaging devices to which the present invention is applied.

[0029] FIG. 3 is a front view of a shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a side view of the shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 5 is a partial side view of the shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a first hopper of the present invention.

[0033] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the shock-absorbing material supply apparatus of the present invention.

[0034] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a second hopper of the present invention.

[0035] FIG. 9 is a side view of blades of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0036] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described hereafter in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0037] The present invention relates to a shock-absorbing material supply apparatus that is used for an article packaging device that packages a shock-absorbing material in an empty internal space of a packaging box B with an article therein. The shock-absorbing material supply apparatus includes: a shock-absorbing material manufacturing device 410 manufacturing a shock-absorbing material; a first hopper 420 installed under the shock-absorbing material manufacturing device 410 and keeping manufactured shock-absorbing materials; a shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430 installed under the first hopper 420 and supplying a predetermined amount of shock-absorbing materials to a second hopper 510; a shock-absorbing material receiver 520 being supplied with the shock-absorbing materials stored in the second hopper 510; and a shock-absorbing material guide 530 guiding the shock-absorbing materials received in the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 to empty internal spaces of packaging boxes B.

[0038] FIGS. 1 and 2 show an article packaging device to which the present invention is applied. The present invention relates to a shock-absorbing material supply apparatus indicated by reference numerals 400 and 500 of the article packaging device, and components are separately described hereafter with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9.

[0039] [Shock-Absorbing Material Manufacturing Device 410]

[0040] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the shock-absorbing material manufacturing device 410 of the present invention is installed over the first hopper 420 to be described below. Several shock-absorbing material manufacturing devices 410 may be installed to be able to manufacture a large amount of shock-absorbing materials at once. As described above, by manufacturing and storing a large amount of shock-absorbing materials, it is possible to quickly supply a sufficient amount of shock-absorbing materials to packaging boxes B on a conveyer C.

[0041] The shock-absorbing material that is used in the present invention, for example, may be formed like an air capsule. However, the shock-absorbing material that is used in the present invention is not limited to the air capsule.

[0042] [First Hopper 420]

[0043] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the first hopper 420 of the present invention is installed under the shock-absorbing material manufacturing device 410. This is because the arrangement is convenient in that the shock-absorbing material manufactured by the shock-absorbing material manufacturing device 410 can be naturally dropped and stored.

[0044] Sensor holes are installed to be vertically elongated on the front and rear of the first hopper 420 and first sensors S1 are installed at three positions of the top, middle, and bottom. The first sensors S1 may be a projection/receiving photo sensor. That is, the first sensors S1 may be turned on when a shock-absorbing material is sensed in the first hopper 420 and may be turned off when a shock-absorbing material is not sensed. The turning-on/off is transmitted to a separate controller so that the entire article packaging device to which the present invention is applied can be generally controlled.

[0045] For example, when there is no shock-absorbing material in the first hopper 420, not only the lowermost first sensor S1 at the bottom, but the first sensor S1 at the middle and the first sensor S1 at the top are turned off. Accordingly, it is determined that there is no shock-absorbing material in the first hopper 420 and this information is transmitted to a separate controller, whereby the operation of the article packaging device to which the present invention is applied is stopped. Further, the shock-absorbing material manufacturing device 410 may be controlled to operate.

[0046] Next, a case may be considered where the lowermost first sensor S1 at the bottom of the first sensors S1 is turned on and the first sensor S1 at the middle and the first sensor S1 at the top are turned off. In this case, it is determined that the first hopper 420 is filled under the middle portion, so the article packaging device to which the present invention is applied is operated with the shock-absorbing material manufacturing device 410 kept operating such that shock-absorbing materials can be supplied into the first hopper 420.

[0047] Further, a case may be considered where the lowermost first sensor S1 at the bottom of the first sensors S1 and the first sensor S1 at the middle are turned on and only the first sensor S1 at the top is turned off. In this case, it is determined that the first hopper 420 is filled over the middle portion, so the article packaging device to which the present invention is applied is operated with the shock-absorbing material manufacturing device 410 kept operating such that shock-absorbing materials can be supplied into the first hopper 420.

[0048] Further, a case may be considered where all the first sensor S1 at the bottom the first sensor S1 at the middle, and the first sensor S1 at the top of the first sensors S1 are turned on. In this case, it is determined that the first hopper 420 is filled up to the top, so the article packaging device to which the present invention is applied is operated with the shock-absorbing material manufacturing device 410 stopped.

[0049] The operation of the article packaging device based on turning-on/off of the first sensors S1 is applied in the same way to second sensors S2 and third sensors S3.

[0050] [Shock-Absorbing Material Supply Conveyer 430]

[0051] As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430 supplies the shock-absorbing materials stored in the first hopper 420 to the second hopper 510 to be described below. The shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430 has guide plates 431 disposed with regular intervals such that a predetermined amount of shock-absorbing materials are separately conveyed to the second hopper 510. For example, if the amount of shock-absorbing materials that can be accommodated between guide plates 431 is 10, ten shock-absorbing materials are conveyed when one guide plate 431 of the shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430 is conveyed.

[0052] The shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430 is controlled by a separate controller. For example, the operation of the shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430 is controlled on the basis of information about the second hopper 510 to be described below and the size of empty internal space of a packaging box B, whereby a predetermined amount of shock-absorbing materials can be supplied.

[0053] [Second Hopper 510]

[0054] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the second hopper 510 stores the shock-absorbing materials supplied from the shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430 and supplies a predetermined amount of shock-absorbing materials to the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 to be described below.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 8, the second hopper 510 has a blade 511 and a blade cover 512 therein. Although the second hopper 510 is divided into two sections by installing the blade 511 at both sides of shaft in an embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the present invention does not limit the number of the blades 511, and three or more blades may be installed.

[0056] As shown in FIG. 8, the blade cover 512 having a sufficient size that can cover the top inlet 521 of the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 is attached to the blade 511 in an L-shape behind and under the blade 511 with respect to the rotational direction of the blade 511.

[0057] Since the blade cover 512 is attached to the blade 511 as described above, the shock-absorbing material supplied from the shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430 is stored at a side of the second hopper 510 divided by the blade 511. Accordingly, as the blade 511 is rotated, the stored shock-absorbing material is pushed into the top inlet 521 of the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 and the blade cover 512 covers the top inlet 521 of the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 to prevent the shock-absorbing material stored at the other side other than the shock-absorbing material stored at a side of the second hopper 510 from being pushed into the shock-absorbing material receiver 520.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 7, second sensors S2 are installed at the upper portion of the second hopper 510. The second sensors S2 are turned on when shock-absorbing materials are excessively supplied from the shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430, that is, when the second hopper 510 is fully filled with shock-absorbing materials, and in this case, the shock-absorbing material supply conveyer 430 is controlled to stop by a separate controller.

[0059] [Shock-Absorbing Material Receiver 520]

[0060] As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 7, the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 receives and keeps the shock-absorbing materials stored in the second hopper 510, that is, receives shock-absorbing materials from the second hopper 510 through the top inlet 521 that communicates with the second hopper 510.

[0061] The shock-absorbing material receiver 520 has a shock-absorbing material support plate 522 at the bottom and the shock-absorbing material support plate 522 adjusts the space that can accommodate shock-absorbing materials by moving up and down. The shock-absorbing material support plate 522 moves up and down to correspond to the empty internal space of the packaging box B stopped on the conveyer C under the shock-absorbing material guide 530.

[0062] The up-down movement of the shock-absorbing material support plate 522 is controlled by a separate controller.

[0063] The shock-absorbing material support plate 522 is vertically moved up and down according to a sub-motor and a first LM guide 523 installed at a side of the shock-absorbing material receiver 520.

[0064] As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 7, the shock-absorbing material received in the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 is supplied to packaging box B stopped on the conveyer C through the shock-absorbing material guide 530 to be described below by opening the shock-absorbing material support plate 522.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 7, third sensors S3 are installed at the top of the shock-absorbing material receiver 520. The third sensors S3 sense the supply of shock-absorbing materials. When the third sensors S3 do not sense the supply of a shock-absorbing material, that is, when shock-absorbing materials are not supplied up to the positions of the third sensors S3, it means that shock-absorbing materials are not normally supplied. Accordingly, the third sensors S3 are provided to show this abnormal state.

[0066] That is, when the third sensors S3 are turned off, it means that the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 is not filled with shock-absorbing materials, so the operation of the article packaging device to which the present invention is applied is stopped.

[0067] [Shock-Absorbing Material Guide 530]

[0068] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the shock-absorbing material guide 530 is provided to guide shock-absorbing materials supplied from the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 to packaging boxes B while covering the outer side of the shock-absorbing material receiver 520.

[0069] The shock-absorbing material guide 530 guides shock-absorbing material to packaging boxes B while moving up and down.

[0070] For example, depending on the heights of packaging boxes B, that is, when the height of a packaging box is high, the shock-absorbing material guide 530 is moved up such that the bottom ascends, and when the height of a packaging box B is low, the shock-absorbing material guide 530 is moved down such that the bottom descends in order to prevent the shock-absorbing materials supplied from the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 from being dropped outside.

[0071] This is because when a shock-absorbing material is an air capsule, the shock-absorbing material itself is light, so a space should not be formed between the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 and the shock-absorbing material guide 530. The bottom of the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 and the top of the shock-absorbing material guide 530 may always overlap each other.

[0072] In other words, the shock-absorbing material guide 530 is controlled such that the top always covers the shock-absorbing material receiver 520 and the bottom can be positioned inside the wings of a packaging box B stopped on the conveyer C.

[0073] The shock-absorbing material guide 530, similar to the shock-absorbing material receiver 520, is vertically moved up and down by a sub-motor and a second LM guide 531 installed at a side of the shock-absorbing material guide 530.

[0074] The above description is provided as an example of the present invention and the embodiments described herein are provided to describe the present invention rather than limiting the spirit of the present invention, so the present invention may be changed and modified in various ways by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the protective range of the present invention should be construed on the basis of claims and the contents in the equivalent range should also be construed as being included in the range of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0075] B: packaging box [0076] C: conveyer [0077] 410: shock-absorbing material manufacturing device [0078] 420: first hopper [0079] S1: first sensor [0080] 430: shock-absorbing material supply conveyer [0081] 510: second hopper [0082] S2: second sensor [0083] 511: blade [0084] 512: blade cover [0085] 520: shock-absorbing material receiver [0086] 521: top inlet [0087] 522: shock-absorbing material support plate [0088] 523: first LM guide [0089] S3: third sensor [0090] 530: shock-absorbing material guide [0091] 531: second LM guide