MEASUREMENT CONTROL DEVICE, PACKAGING DEVICE AND MEASUREMENT CONTROL METHOD

Abstract

The present invention is to provide a measurement control device that makes it possible to: perform optimal film packaging; and perform film packaging that is visually appealing without wasting film. According to the present invention, a sensor unit 1 is arranged in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction that are orthogonal to the direction in which articles to be packaged G are conveyed are connected to a measurement control device body 2. To the side of the measurement control device body 2 are furnished a distance calculation unit that calculates the distances to the articles to be packaged G based on information from the sensor unit 1, a width/height calculation unit that calculates the width and height of the articles to be packaged G from the distances, and a shape computation unit that computes the shapes of the articles to be packaged G additionally including the length.

Claims

1. A measurement control device used for controlling a packaging device, in which a sensor unit in which a detection axis of a sensor is disposed in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction orthogonal to a traveling direction in which an article to be packaged is conveyed is connected to a measurement control device main body, the measurement control device comprising: a width/height calculation unit provided on a side of the measurement control device main body to calculate a distance between the sensor unit and the article to be packaged based on information from the sensor unit and to calculate a width and a height of the article to be packaged from the distance; and a shape calculation unit configured to calculate a shape of the article to be packaged comprising a length thereof.

2. The measurement control device according to claim 1, further comprising: a control command creation unit configured to create a control command based on a control program; and a drive control unit configured to control a drive unit such as a motor based on the control command.

3. The measurement control device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is configured by selecting one or more of an optical sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a mechanical sensor, and an image pickup sensor.

4. A packaging device which is equipped with the measurement control device according to claim 1.

5. A measurement control method in the measurement control device according to claim 1, the method comprising: a signal acquisition step of acquiring information signal from the sensor unit; a distance conversion step of converting the information signal acquired in the signal acquisition step into a distance; a width/height calculation step of calculating the width and the height of the article to be packaged from distance information converted in the distance conversion step; and an overall shape calculation step of further calculating the length, the width and the height of the article to be packaged, that is, an overall shape of the article to be packaged from the width and the height information of the article to be packaged obtained in the width/height calculation step.

6. The measurement control method according to claim 5, further comprising: a control amount calculation step of calculating a control amount for a drive unit based on overall shape information of the article to be packaged obtained in the overall shape calculation step; a control command creation step of creating a control command based on a calculation result obtained in the control amount calculation step; and an output process step of performing an output process of the control command created in the control command creation step.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0041] FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an arrangement of a measurement control device according to an embodiment.

[0042] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing an example in which a measurement control device according to the embodiment is applied to a packaging device.

[0043] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the measurement control device according to the embodiment.

[0044] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a process operation of the measurement control device according to the embodiment.

[0045] FIG. 5 is a graph showing a case in which a length of an article to be packaged is calculated and obtained.

[0046] FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which the article to be packaged is sensed by the measurement control device.

[0047] FIG. 7 is a side view showing a configuration example of a conventional packaging device.

[0048] FIG. 8 is a side view showing a situation in which an article to be packaged is sensed using a conventional measurement control device.

[0049] FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state which can occur as a result of sensing an article to be packaged using the conventional measurement control device.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0050] Hereinafter, embodiments of a measurement control device and a packaging device equipped with the measurement control device according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration Example of Sensor Unit]

[0051] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an arrangement example of a sensor unit of a measurement control device according to an embodiment.

[0052] Two sensors 1A and 1A are disposed in a horizontal direction orthogonal to a traveling direction in which an article G to be packaged is conveyed, one sensor (1B) is disposed in a vertical direction, and a sensor unit 1 is configured of the sensors 1A and 1A and the sensor 1B.

[0053] An optical type sensor or another type, for example, an ultrasonic sensor type or a mechanical type (a limit switch type) can be adopted as the sensors constituting the sensor unit 1. Further, in addition to an optical sensor, an image pickup device type sensor which can recognize an image can be used as the optical type sensor.

[0054] With such an arrangement, a width of the article G to be packaged can be accurately detected by the two sensors 1A and 1A disposed in the horizontal direction. Further, a height of the article G to be packaged can be accurately detected by the sensor 1B disposed in the vertical direction. When a calculation described later is performed based on the detected data, the width, the height, and the length of the article G to be packaged, in other words, an overall shape of the article G to be packaged can be accurately obtained by the calculation.

[Application Example of Measurement Control Device]

[0055] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a packaging device equipped with a measurement control device according to the embodiment, and the sensor unit 1 is disposed on the upstream side of a packaging device main body 5.

[0056] A measurement control device main body 2 receives a detection signal from the sensor unit 1, calculates the shape of the article G to be packaged, determines a control amount (a film length, a cut position, and the like) from the calculation results thereof, and drives a motor M on the packaging device main body 5 side based on the control amount thereof.

[System Configuration Example]

[0057] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a system configuration of the measurement control device according to the embodiment, and the sensor unit 1 is connected to a programmable logic controller (PLC) 2A via an I/O unit 2B. The PLC 2A is configured of one or more computers including a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), and a read only memory (ROM), and is configured to include a calculation unit 21, a local bus controller 22, and a control command unit 23 as functional blocks.

[0058] The calculation unit 21 performs various calculations, but in the case of the present embodiment, the calculation unit 21 is further divided into functional blocks, and is configured to include: [0059] a sensor signal conversion unit 21a which processes a signal from the sensor unit 1 so that a calculation of the calculation unit 21 is enabled, [0060] a width/height calculation unit 21b which calculates a width and a height of the article G to be packaged from the sensor signal, [0061] a length/width/height calculation unit 21c which further calculates a length, the width and the height of the article G to be packaged from the sensor signal, and [0062] a control amount calculation unit 21d which calculates a film length, a cut position, a control amount of a drive unit 25, and the like from the obtained length, width and height of the article G to be packaged.

[0063] The I/O unit 2B to which the sensor unit 1 is connected is connected to the local bus controller 22, and the local bus controller 22 is connected to the calculation unit 21. The local bus controller 22 controls a bus line which connects each of the functional blocks inside the PLC 2A, and controls the bus line so that functions of the PLC 2A are fully exhibited.

[0064] The calculation unit 21 is connected to the control command unit 23, and the control command unit 23 is connected to the local bus controller 22. The calculation unit 21 has a function of performing almost all of various calculation processes inside the PLC 2A, and performs many calculation processes including the above-described calculation processes.

[0065] The local bus controller 22 is also connected to a drive control unit 24 outside the PLC 2A, and the drive control unit 24 is connected to the drive unit 25. The drive unit 25 is configured to drive a cutter 28 and the like.

[Process Operation Example]

[0066] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a process operation in the calculation unit 21 of the measurement control device according to the embodiment.

[0067] First, In Step S1, acquisition of an information signal from the sensor unit 1 start.

[0068] When the acquisition of the information signal from the sensor unit 1 is completed in Step S1, the process proceeds to Step S2, and in Step S2, the information signal from the sensor unit 1 is converted into a distance.

[0069] When the information signal from the sensor unit 1 is converted into a distance in Step S2, the process proceeds to Step S3, and the width and the height of the article G to be packaged are calculated from the distance information converted in Step S2.

[0070] Next, the process proceeds to step S4, and the width, the height and the length (including a contour length), that is, an overall shape and profile of the article G to be packaged are calculated from the width and height information of the article G to be packaged obtained in Step S3.

[0071] Next, the process proceeds to step S5, and a process of calculating a control amount (a film length, a determination of a cut position, a drive amount of the drive unit 25, and the like) with respect to the drive unit 25 is performed based on the overall shape and profile information of the article G to be packaged obtained in Step S4.

[0072] Next, the process proceeds to step S6, a control command is created based on the calculation results obtained in Step S5, then the process proceeds to Step S7, an output process of the control command is performed in Step S7, and then the process operation is terminated.

[0073] FIG. 5 is a graph showing a process of obtaining the contour length of the article G to be packaged by a calculation. First, the length of the article G to be packaged is obtained by a determination of whether or not a signal of the sensor can be detected. Additionally, the height of each of plot points is also obtained. The contour length of the article G to be packaged can be obtained by integrating the obtained height and length information. At the same time, since the width information at each of the plot points is also obtained, the overall shape (profile) of the article G to be packaged is obtained.

[0074] FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which the article G to be packaged shaped like a croissant is sensed by the measurement control device according to the present embodiment.

[0075] When the article G to be packaged having the shape shown in the drawing is sensed, it is impossible to obtain an accurate length of the article G to be packaged with the conventional one (refer to FIG. 8), but it is shown that the length, the width, the height, and the contour length (the overall profile) of the article G to be packaged can be accurately obtained using the measurement control device according to the present embodiment.

[0076] According to the measurement control device according to the above-described embodiment, since the sensor unit is disposed in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, it is possible to accurately calculate the size and shape of the article to be packaged including the width, the height, and the length (including the contour length). Thus, even in the case in which articles to be packaged having different sizes and shapes, such as agricultural products and bread, are packaged, it is possible to optically perform optimal film packaging, and film packaging with a good appearance can be performed without wasting the film.

[Modification Example]

[0077] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above in detail, the above description is merely an example of the present disclosure in all respects. Needless to say, various improvements and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0078] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the number of sensors 1B disposed in the vertical direction is one, but in another embodiment, a plurality of sensors 1B may be disposed, and detection accuracy due to the sensor 1B can be further improved by disposing the plurality of sensors 1B.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0079] The present disclosure can be widely used in industrial fields such as packaging lines for film packaging of an article to be packaged, or a packaging system including the packaging lines.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0080] 1 Sensor unit

[0081] 1A Sensor (horizontal direction)

[0082] 1B Sensor (vertical direction)

[0083] 2 Measurement control device main body

[0084] 2A PLC

[0085] 2B I/O unit

[0086] 21 Calculation unit

[0087] 21a Sensor signal conversion unit

[0088] 21b Width/height calculation unit

[0089] 21c Length/width/height/calculation unit

[0090] 21d Control amount calculation unit

[0091] 22 Local bus controller

[0092] 23 Control command unit

[0093] 24 Drive control unit

[0094] 25 Drive unit

[0095] 26 Cutter

[0096] M Motor

[0097] 5 Packaging device main body

[0098] 50 Packaging device main body

[0099] 60 Article detection sensor

[0100] 70 Control device

[0101] C Supply conveyance

[0102] G Article to be packaged