阅读说明：本技术 气体封入方法和气体封入装置 (Gas encapsulation method and gas encapsulation device ) 是由 中本格卫 吉兼徹 于 2021-05-28 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供能够将气体迅速且可靠地封入具备内容物容纳部和气体容纳部的袋中的气体容纳部的气体封入装置和气体封入方法。气体封入方法包含以下工序：间歇性地移送袋(50)并将其配置于气体吹入处理位置(P1)；在气体吹入处理位置,将吹入喷嘴(11)插入袋中的与气体容纳部(54)相连通的气体引导路径(56)；在气体吹入处理位置,利用一对夹持构件(15)从袋的外侧夹持位于气体引导路径的吹入喷嘴；在气体吹入处理位置,在吹入喷嘴被一对夹持构件隔着袋夹持的状态下,从吹入喷嘴喷出气体,将气体送入气体容纳部；以及在气体吹入处理位置,在吹入喷嘴位于气体引导路径的状态下,将气体引导路径气密地封闭。(The invention provides a gas enclosing device and a gas enclosing method for a gas containing part, which can quickly and reliably enclose gas in a bag provided with a content containing part and the gas containing part. The gas encapsulation method includes the following steps: intermittently transporting the bag (50) and disposing it at a gas blowing treatment position (P1); a gas guide path (56) which is communicated with the gas containing part (54) and is used for inserting the blowing nozzle (11) into the bag at the gas blowing processing position; at the gas blowing treatment position, a blowing nozzle positioned on the gas guide path is clamped from the outer side of the bag by a pair of clamping members (15); at the gas blowing treatment position, in a state that the blowing nozzle is clamped by the pair of clamping members through the bag, gas is sprayed from the blowing nozzle and sent to the gas accommodating part; and hermetically closing the gas guide path in a state where the blowing nozzle is positioned in the gas guide path at the gas blowing treatment position.)

1. A gas sealing method for sealing a gas into a gas containing portion in a bag having the gas containing portion and the content containing portion,

the gas encapsulation method includes the steps of:

intermittently transferring the bag and disposing the bag at a gas blowing position;

a gas guide path communicating with the gas container and configured to insert a blowing nozzle into the bag at the gas blowing processing position;

clamping the blowing nozzle positioned in the gas guide path from the outside of the bag at the gas blowing treatment position by a pair of clamping members;

at the gas blowing treatment position, in a state where the blowing nozzle is sandwiched between the pair of sandwiching members, the gas is blown out from the blowing nozzle and sent into the gas containing section; and

in the gas blowing processing position, the gas containing section is hermetically closed in a state where the blowing nozzle is positioned in the gas guide path.

2. The gas encapsulation method according to claim 1,

the blowing nozzle is inserted into the gas guide path while movement of a film member forming the gas guide path in the bag is restricted by a restriction member.

3. A gas-enclosing device that encloses a gas into a gas containing section in a bag having the gas containing section and the content containing section,

the gas sealing device includes:

a bag transfer mechanism for intermittently transferring the bag;

a blowing nozzle that ejects the gas;

a nozzle moving mechanism that positions the blowing nozzle at a nozzle retreat position when the blowing nozzle is not disposed in a gas guide path communicating with the gas storage part in the pouch and at a nozzle blowing position when the blowing nozzle is disposed in the gas guide path;

a pair of clamping members;

a clamp moving mechanism that positions the pair of clamp members at a clamp retreat position when the pair of clamp members do not support the blowing nozzle located in the gas guide path from outside the bag, and at a clamp support position when the pair of clamp members clamp and support the blowing nozzle located in the gas guide path from outside the bag;

a sealing means that hermetically seals the gas container; and

a restricting member that restricts movement of a film member forming the gas guide path in the bag.

4. The gas enclosing device according to claim 3,

the blowing nozzle has a tip portion having a flat shape.

5. The gas enclosing device according to claim 3,

the gas sealing apparatus includes a sealing moving mechanism that moves the sealing device to a gas-tight sealing position when the sealing device is brought into contact with the bag and the sealing device hermetically seals the gas containing section and a sealing retracted position when the sealing device is separated from the bag and the sealing device does not hermetically seal the gas containing section.

6. The gas enclosing device according to claim 4,

the gas sealing apparatus includes a sealing moving mechanism that moves the sealing device to a gas-tight sealing position when the sealing device is brought into contact with the bag and the sealing device hermetically seals the gas containing section and a sealing retracted position when the sealing device is separated from the bag and the sealing device does not hermetically seal the gas containing section.

7. The gas enclosing device according to any one of claims 3 to 6,

the pouch includes a body part having a content storage part for storing content, a gas storage part for storing gas, and a content guide path communicating with the outside and the content storage part, and a protrusion part protruding from the body part,

the protruding portion has a gas guide path communicating with the outside and the gas containing portion.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a gas sealing method and a gas sealing apparatus.

Background

There is known a bag including not only a content storage portion for storing contents but also a gas storage portion for storing gas.

For example, a self-supporting bag disclosed in patent document 1 includes a storage portion for storing contents and an air layer in which air is sealed. The air layer makes it difficult for the shape of the entire bag to be deformed, and also makes it easy to maintain self-standing properties, and the portion near the air layer can be used as a handle.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2015-24855

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

In a bag provided with both a content storage section and a gas storage section, it is desired to quickly and reliably perform a process of sealing a gas in the gas storage section.

The bag provided with the content storage unit and the gas storage unit is not limited to the self-supporting bag of patent document 1. The bag can include a content storage unit and a gas storage unit in various forms. Therefore, a gas sealing method and a gas sealing apparatus that can be widely applied to bags having various types of content storage units and gas storage units are useful. Further, a bag suitable for enclosing gas in the gas storage portion is also useful.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a device and a method for a gas container portion capable of quickly and reliably enclosing a gas in a bag including the content container portion and the gas container portion.

Means for solving the problems

One aspect of the present invention relates to a gas sealing method for sealing a gas into a gas container portion in a bag including a content container portion and the gas container portion, the gas sealing method including: intermittently transferring the bag and disposing the bag at a gas blowing position; a gas guide path communicating with the gas container and having a blowing nozzle inserted into the bag at a gas blowing position; a gas blowing nozzle located in the gas guide path and held by a pair of holding members from the outside of the bag at a gas blowing treatment position; at the gas blowing treatment position, in a state that the blowing nozzle is clamped by the pair of clamping members through the bag, gas is sprayed from the blowing nozzle and sent to the gas accommodating part; and hermetically closing the gas containing section at the gas blowing processing position in a state where the blowing nozzle is positioned in the gas guide path.

The movement of the film member forming the gas guide path in the bag may be restricted by the restricting member, and the blowing nozzle may be inserted into the gas guide path.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to a gas sealing device for sealing a gas into a gas containing portion in a bag including the content containing portion and the gas containing portion, the gas sealing device including: a bag transfer mechanism for intermittently transferring the bags; a blowing nozzle that ejects gas; a nozzle moving mechanism for positioning the blowing nozzle at a nozzle retreat position when the blowing nozzle is not arranged on the gas guide path communicated with the gas containing part in the bag and a nozzle blowing position when the blowing nozzle is arranged on the gas guide path; a pair of clamping members; a clamping moving mechanism which positions the pair of clamping members at a clamping retreat position and a clamping support position, wherein the clamping retreat position is a position when the pair of clamping members do not support the blowing nozzle positioned on the gas guide path from the outer side of the bag, and the clamping support position is a position when the pair of clamping members clamp and support the blowing nozzle positioned on the gas guide path from the outer side of the bag; a sealing means for hermetically sealing the gas container; and a restriction member that restricts movement of the film member forming the gas guide path in the bag.

The blowing nozzle may have a flat tip.

The gas sealing apparatus may further include a sealing moving mechanism that moves the sealing device to a gas-tight sealing position when the sealing device is brought into contact with the bag and the sealing device hermetically seals the gas containing portion, and a sealing retreat position when the sealing device is separated from the bag and the sealing device does not hermetically seal the gas containing portion.

The bag may include a main body portion having a content storage portion for storing content, a gas storage portion for storing gas, and a content guide path communicating with the outside and the content storage portion, and a protruding portion protruding from the main body portion, the protruding portion having a gas guide path communicating with the outside and the gas storage portion.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, a gas container capable of quickly and reliably enclosing gas in a bag including a content container and a gas container is provided.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a bag disposed at a pretreatment position.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing an example of the bag disposed at the gas blowing treatment position.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the gas sealing method.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the gas sealing method.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the gas sealing method.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the gas sealing method.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the gas sealing method.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the gas sealing method.

Fig. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of the gas sealing method.

Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the gas sealing method.

Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the gas sealing method.

Fig. 12 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a gas supply circuit for supplying gas to the blowing nozzle.

Fig. 13 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a 1 st modification of the bag.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an example of the bag 50 disposed at the pretreatment position P0. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing an example of the bag 50 disposed at the gas blowing processing position P1. Fig. 3 to 11 are diagrams illustrating schematic configurations of the bag 50 and the gas sealing apparatus 10 disposed at the gas blowing processing position P1, and explaining an example of a gas sealing method. In fig. 1 and 2, the front side of the paper corresponds to the upper side of the actual gas sealing device 10 and the pouch 50, the depth side of the paper corresponds to the lower side of the actual gas sealing device 10 and the pouch 50, and the direction parallel to the paper corresponds to the horizontal direction of the actual gas sealing device 10 and the pouch 50. In fig. 3 to 11, the left side of the drawing corresponds to the upper side of the actual gas sealing device 10 and the pouch 50, the right side of the drawing corresponds to the lower side of the actual gas sealing device 10 and the pouch 50, and the vertical direction of the drawing and the direction perpendicular to the drawing correspond to the horizontal direction of the actual gas sealing device 10 and the pouch 50.

In the present description, unless otherwise specified, the horizontal direction means a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction in which gravity acts, and the vertical direction means a direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction.

[ bag ]

The pouch 50 includes a main body 51 and a protrusion 52 protruding from the main body 51. In the illustrated bag 50, the main body 51 extends in a substantially vertical direction as a whole, and the protruding portion 52 extends in a substantially horizontal direction as a whole.

The body portion 51 includes a front-side film member 57 and a back-side film member 58 disposed so as to face each other, and a bag mouth 61. The bag mouth 61 is held by a bag holding portion 24 constituting a part of the bag transfer mechanism 25. The illustrated bag mouth 61 has an annular flange 61a extending in the horizontal direction, and the bag 50 is suspended and held by the bag holding portion 24 by inserting the flange 61a in the horizontal direction with respect to the bag holding portion 24. The bag 50 is moved together with the bag holding portion 24 by the bag transfer mechanism 25. The bag transfer mechanism 25 of the present embodiment intermittently transfers the bags 50, and sequentially disposes the bags 50 at a plurality of processing positions including the pretreatment position P0 (see fig. 1) and the gas blowing processing position P1 (see fig. 2).

The protruding portion 52 includes a front-side film member 57 located on the upper side and a back-side film member 58 located on the lower side, and the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 are arranged so as to face each other. In the illustrated protruding portion 52, a single front-side film member 57 and a single back-side film member 58 are disposed so as to face each other, and are joined to each other at both side edge portions. In the present embodiment, at least a part of the tip portion on the outer side of the protruding portion 52, one of the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 protrudes from the other. In the illustrated example, the portions other than the both side edge portions (i.e., the edge seal portions 62) of the outer-side distal end portion of the back-side film member 58 forming the protruding portion 52 are cut out in a quadrangular shape, and the cut-out portions constitute the cutout portions 65. Therefore, the front-side film member 57 protrudes from the back-side film member 58 at a portion corresponding to the notch portion 65.

In the main body 51 and the protruding portion 52 of the bag 50, the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58, which are disposed so as to face each other, are joined to each other at the edge portions, and the edge seal portion 62 is formed by the joined edge portions. However, at least a part of the outer edge of the protruding portion 52 is formed with an opening 68 (see fig. 4) that allows the gas guide path 56 to be opened and closed, without the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 being joined to each other. The joining method for forming the edge seal 62 is not limited. The front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 may be bonded to each other with another member such as an adhesive or may be directly bonded to each other by thermocompression bonding or the like.

The main body portion 51 has a content containing portion 53 for containing the content, at least a part of a gas containing portion 54 for containing the gas, and a content guide path 55 communicating with the outside and the content containing portion 53. The protruding portion 52 has a gas guide path 56 communicating with the outside and the gas containing portion 54. The content housing portion 53, the gas housing portion 54, and the gas guide path 56 are formed by a space between the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58. The content guide path 55 is formed by a through hole provided in the bag mouth 61.

In the illustrated bag 50, the content storage portion 53 is covered with the gas storage portion 54 from the outside. As shown in fig. 7 to 11, at a portion of the main body portion 51 formed by overlapping the content housing portion 53 and the gas housing portion 54, the front-side film member 57 has an inner-side film member 57a and an outer-side film member 57b, and the back-side film member 58 has an inner-back-side film member 58a and an outer-back-side film member 58 b. The inner front-side film member 57a and the inner back-side film member 58a are disposed so as to face each other, and are joined to each other at the edge portions. The outer front-side film member 57b and the outer back-side film member 58b are disposed so as to face each other outside the inner front-side film member 57a and outside the inner back-side film member 58a, and are joined to each other at their edge portions. The inner surface film member 57a may be joined to the outer surface film member 57b, or may not be joined to the outer surface film member 57 b. The inner back-side film member 58a may be bonded to the outer back-side film member 58b, or may not be bonded to the outer back-side film member 58 b.

The content accommodation portion 53 is partitioned by an inner surface side film member 57a and an inner back side film member 58 a. The inner front-side film member 57a and the inner back-side film member 58a are joined to the bag mouth 61 in an airtight manner, and the through hole (i.e., the content guide path 55) of the bag mouth 61 communicates with the content storage portion 53. On the other hand, a part of the gas container 54 is defined by the inner surface side film member 57a, the outer surface side film member 57b, the inner back side film member 58a, and the outer back side film member 58b, and is disposed adjacent to the content container 53 with the inner surface side film member 57a and the inner back side film member 58a interposed therebetween. The outer front-side film member 57b and the outer back-side film member 58b are each connected to the back-side film member 58 of the protruding portion 52. The gas container 54 communicates with the gas guide path 56, but does not communicate with the content container 53.

[ gas-enclosing device ]

The gas filling device 10 fills the gas into the gas containing portion 54 of the bag 50 positioned at the gas blowing processing position P1 (see fig. 2).

The gas sealing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes a blowing nozzle 11, a nozzle moving mechanism 12, a pair of clamping members 15, a clamping moving mechanism 16, and a sealing device 20.

The blowing nozzle 11 ejects gas. That is, the blowing nozzle 11 has a nozzle tip 11a, a nozzle discharge port 11b formed in the nozzle tip 11a, and a nozzle air passage 11c communicating with the nozzle discharge port 11 b. The gas supplied to the blowing nozzle 11 is sent to the nozzle ejection port 11b through the nozzle air passage 11c, and is ejected from the nozzle ejection port 11 b. The gas ejected from the blowing nozzle 11 is not limited, and for example, air, an inert gas (nitrogen or the like), carbon dioxide, or another gas is ejected from the blowing nozzle 11. The blowing nozzle 11 may continuously discharge the gas during the operation of the gas sealing apparatus 10, or may be switched on/off depending on the arrangement position of the blowing nozzle 11 and other conditions. The pressure of the gas ejected from the blowing nozzle 11 may be substantially constant or may be varied. In the present embodiment, the pressure of the gas ejected from the blowing nozzle 11 can be switched between the 1 st adjustment gas pressure which is a relatively high pressure and the 2 nd adjustment gas pressure which is a relatively low pressure.

The nozzle tip portion 11a of the present embodiment has a flat shape. That is, the nozzle tip portion 11a has a width direction dimension (a left-right direction dimension in fig. 2) larger than a vertical direction dimension (a dimension in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of fig. 2). The nozzle tip portion 11a has a shape and a size of the gas guide path 56 into which the bag 50 can be inserted, and the width direction size of the nozzle tip portion 11a is smaller than the width direction size of the gas guide path 56. By providing the nozzle tip portion 11a with a flat shape, when the gas is discharged with the nozzle tip portion 11a positioned in the gas guide passage 56 as described later (see fig. 7), the gap formed between the bag 50 and the nozzle tip portion 11a can be made small, and high gas blowing efficiency can be maintained.

The nozzle moving mechanism 12 moves the blowing nozzle 11. The specific structure of the nozzle moving mechanism 12 is not limited. For example, the nozzle moving mechanism 12 may be configured by an actuator provided with an electric driving device (e.g., a solenoid or a motor), an actuator provided with a pressure device (e.g., a power cylinder such as an air cylinder), or other devices. The nozzle moving mechanism 12 of the present embodiment can position the blowing nozzle 11 at the nozzle retreat position Pn1 and the nozzle blowing position Pn 2. The nozzle retreat position Pn1 is a position at which the blowing nozzle 11 is not disposed inside the gas guide path 56 of the bag 50 positioned at the gas blowing processing position P1 (see fig. 2). The nozzle blowing position Pn2 is a position at which the blowing nozzle 11 is disposed inside the gas guide path 56 of the bag 50 positioned at the gas blowing processing position P1 (see fig. 5).

Each gripping member 15 is provided movably. The protrusion 52 (including the gas guide path 56) of the bag 50 disposed at the gas blowing processing position P1 is positioned between the clamping members 15. The two illustrated gripping members 15 move symmetrically in the vertical direction, and are disposed at equal distances from the nozzle tip end portion 11a of the blowing nozzle 11 disposed at the nozzle blowing position Pn 2. The illustrated width-directional dimension (i.e., the left-right-directional dimension in fig. 2) of each clamping member 15 is larger than the width-directional dimension of the protruding portion 52 of the pocket 50.

The pair of holding members 15 hold and support the blowing nozzle 11 from the outside of the bag 50 as described later (see fig. 6 and 7), thereby having a function of efficiently guiding the gas discharged from the blowing nozzle 11 to the gas storage portion 54. Therefore, in a state where the pair of holding members 15 hold and support the blowing nozzle 11 from the outside of the bag 50, the gap between each holding member 15 and the blowing nozzle 11 is preferably small. Therefore, the shape of the support surface of each clamping member 15 is preferably matched to the surface shape of the blowing nozzle 11 (particularly, the portion directly supported by each clamping member 15). However, the shape of the support surface of each of the holding members 15 may not necessarily match the shape of the surface of the blowing nozzle 11, and a gap may be present between each of the holding members 15 and the blowing nozzle 11 in a state where the pair of holding members 15 hold and support the blowing nozzle 11 from the outside of the bag 50.

The clamp moving mechanism 16 moves each clamp member 15. The specific structure of the gripping and moving mechanism 16 is not limited, and the gripping and moving mechanism 16 may be configured by an arbitrary driver or other device. The clamp moving mechanism 16 of the present embodiment moves the two clamp members 15 symmetrically in the vertical direction to position each clamp member 15 at each of the clamp retracted position Pc1 and the clamp support position Pc 2. The pair of clamping members 15 disposed at the clamping retreat position Pc1 do not support the blowing nozzle 11 located in the gas guide path 56 from outside the bag 50 (see fig. 5). On the other hand, the pair of holding members 15 arranged at the holding and supporting position Pc2 hold and support the blowing nozzle 11 positioned in the gas guide path 56 from the outside of the bag 50 (see fig. 6 to 8).

The closing means 20 hermetically closes the gas containing portion 54. The closure device 20 of the present embodiment is composed of two seal members provided so as to be movable in the up-down direction. These two sealing members weld the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 to each other in a state where the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 are sandwiched and bonded to each other. Thereby, the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 are hermetically joined to each other at the close contact portion (see "joining portion S" shown in fig. 11), and the communication between the gas storage portion 54 and the gas guide path 56 is blocked. The sealing method of the closure device 20 is not limited, and for example, the closure device 20 can be an ultrasonic sealing method or a heat sealing method.

The closure moving mechanism 21 moves the closure device 20 (i.e., the two sealing members). The specific structure of the closing movement mechanism 21 is not limited, and the closing movement mechanism 21 may be configured by an arbitrary actuator or other device. The closing movement mechanism 21 of the present embodiment moves the two seal members symmetrically in the vertical direction to position each seal member at each of the closing retreat position Ph1 and the airtight closing position Ph 2. The pair of sealing members disposed at the closing retreat position Ph1 are separated from the bag 50 to prevent the gas containing portion 54 from being hermetically closed, and the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 of the protruding portion 52 are not in close contact with each other (see fig. 7). On the other hand, the pair of sealing members disposed at the airtight sealing position Ph2 contact the protruding portion 52 of the bag 50 to hermetically seal the gas containing portion 54, and the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 of the protruding portion 52 are hermetically bonded to each other (see fig. 8).

The gas encapsulation apparatus 10 of the present embodiment further includes a restriction member 28 and an opening device 29 (see fig. 4).

The restriction member 28 restricts the movement of the film member forming the gas guide path 56 in the bag 50. The restricting member 28 of the present embodiment is provided at a position facing the front side film member 57 of the protruding portion 52 from above with respect to the front side film member 57 of the protruding portion 52, thereby restricting the front side film member 57 from moving upward. The illustrated restraining member 28 is formed of two fixing members. As shown in fig. 2, these fixing members are fixedly provided at positions spaced apart in the width direction, and these fixing members can be brought into contact with the edge seal portions 62 on both sides of the protruding portion 52, but do not come into contact with at least a part of the portion of the front-side film member 57 that defines the gas guide path 56.

The restricting member 28 may be movable. In this case, the regulating member 28 can be disposed at a regulating position (for example, the position of the regulating member 28 shown in fig. 3) for regulating the movement of the film member forming the gas guide path 56 in the bag 50 and a retracted position (not shown) for not regulating the movement of the film member. In the gas sealing method described later, the regulating member 28 may be disposed at the regulating position only in a step of requiring regulation of the movement of the film member forming the gas guide path 56 in the bag 50, and the regulating member 28 may be disposed at the retreat position in another step.

The opening device 29 opens the opening 68 of the gas guide path 56 of the bag 50, and maintains the open state of the opening 68. The opening device 29 shown in fig. 4 has a suction cup capable of sucking and holding the back-side film member 58 of the protruding portion 52. The opening device 29 sucks and holds the back-side film member 58 of the protruding portion 52 of the bag 50 positioned at the gas blowing processing position P1 by a suction cup, and opens the opening 68 of the gas guide path 56 by tilting the suction cup. The opening device 29 can switch on and off of suction of the suction pad, and by closing the suction of the suction pad, the suction pad can be separated from the back-side film member 58.

[ gas encapsulation method ]

Next, an example of a gas sealing method for sealing gas into the gas containing portion 54 of the bag 50 will be described.

The bag transfer mechanism 25 intermittently transfers the bags 50 to be processed and disposes the bags at the processing position P1 where gas is blown. That is, the bag 50 to be processed is moved from the pretreatment position P0 (see fig. 1) to the gas blowing processing position P1 (see fig. 2) by the bag transfer mechanism 25 while being held by the bag holding portion 24. The bag transfer mechanism 25 may transfer only 1 bag 50 at a time, or may transfer a plurality of bags 50 at a time. For example, the bag transfer mechanism 25 may include a plurality of bag holding portions 24 arranged at equal intervals in the horizontal direction, and the plurality of bags 50 held by the bag holding portions 24 may be intermittently moved to a plurality of processing positions, and each bag 50 may be subjected to processing at each processing position.

In a state where the bag 50 is positioned at the gas blowing treatment position P1, the blowing nozzle 11 is positioned at the 1 st nozzle retreat position Pn 1-a shown in FIG. 3. Thus, the nozzle tip portion 11a is disposed at a position that is substantially not in contact with the pouch 50 (particularly, the protruding portion 52) and faces the front film member 57 through the notch portion 65.

Then, the blowing nozzle 11 is moved from the 1 st nozzle retreat position Pn 1-a to be positioned at the 2 nd nozzle retreat position Pn 1-b shown in FIG. 4. Thereby, the blowing nozzle 11 (particularly, the nozzle tip portion 11a) is brought into contact with the front-side film member 57 (particularly, the portion facing the cutout portion 65), and the front-side film member 57 (particularly, the portion in contact with the nozzle tip portion 11a) is moved in a direction (in this example, the upward direction) away from the back-side film member 58. At this time, the movement of the front film member 57 is restricted by the restricting member 28. On the other hand, the back-side film member 58 is held by the aperture device 29, and the back-side film member 58 (particularly, the portion held by the aperture device 29) is moved in a direction (in this example, downward direction) away from the front-side film member 57.

At this time, the arrangement positions of the restricting member 28 and the opening device 29 with respect to the protruding portion 52 are not limited. From the viewpoint of enabling the blowing nozzle 11 to be smoothly inserted into the gas guiding path 56, the regulating member 28 and the opening device 29 are preferably provided to support (i.e., contact) a portion of the protruding portion 52 in the vicinity of the opening portion 68. The illustrated opening device 29 holds the outer-side tip portion of the back-side film member 58, which is the portion of the back-side film member 58 facing the restriction member 28 and is the protrusion 52.

The blowing nozzle 11 of the present embodiment can facilitate the opening of the opening 68 by blowing gas toward the opening 68 in a state shown in fig. 4. As described above, in the present embodiment, the blowing nozzle 11, the regulating member 28, and the opening device 29 integrally function as each other, and thereby the opening portion 68 of the gas guide path 56 is appropriately opened.

Then, the blowing nozzle 11 is moved in the horizontal direction from the 2 nd nozzle retreat position Pn 1-b and positioned at the nozzle blowing position Pn2 shown in fig. 5. Thereby, the distal end side portion of the blowing nozzle 11 (including the nozzle distal end portion 11a) is inserted into the gas guide path 56, and the nozzle distal end portion 11a is positioned between the clamping members 15 arranged at the clamping retreat position Pc 1. In particular, in the present embodiment, in a state where the opening portion 68 of the gas guide path 56 is opened by the opening device 29 (see fig. 4), the movement of the film member forming the gas guide path 56 (i.e., the front-side film member 57) is restricted by the restricting member 28, and the blowing nozzle 11 is inserted into the gas guide path 56 through the opening portion 68. Thus, the blowing nozzle 11 is smoothly and reliably inserted into the gas guide path 56 at the gas blowing processing position P1.

Further, after a part of the blowing nozzle 11 enters the gas guiding path 56, the suction holding of the back-side film member 58 by the opening device 29 is released. For example, while the blowing nozzle 11 is moving toward the nozzle blowing position Pn2 or after the blowing nozzle 11 is positioned at the nozzle blowing position Pn2, the suction cup of the opening device 29 may be released from holding the back-side film member 58 and positioned at the retracted position (not shown).

In the present embodiment, the gas is ejected from the blowing nozzle 11 at least for a certain period of time during the movement from the 2 nd nozzle retreat position Pn 1-b (see fig. 4) to the nozzle blowing position Pn2 (see fig. 5), or the gas is ejected from the blowing nozzle 11 for the entire movement from the 2 nd nozzle retreat position Pn 1-b (see fig. 4) to the nozzle blowing position Pn2 (see fig. 5). This promotes separation between the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 that form the gas guide path 56, and ensures a travel space for the blowing nozzle 11 to travel through the gas guide path 56. In this case, the pressure of the gas discharged from the blowing nozzle 11 is lower than the pressure of the gas discharged from the blowing nozzle 11 in a step (see fig. 7) to fill the gas containing portion 54 with the gas. By thus ejecting the gas of low pressure (i.e., 2 nd adjusted gas pressure) from the blowing nozzle 11, the blowing nozzle 11 can be appropriately inserted into the gas guide passage 56 while suppressing excessive swinging of the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58.

Further, by bringing the blowing nozzle 11 close to the opening 68 of the gas guide path 56 while the gas is ejected from the blowing nozzle 11, the opening of the opening 68 can be promoted. In the case where the opening 68 can be opened to such an extent that the blowing nozzle 11 can sufficiently enter only by the gas ejected from the blowing nozzle 11, the opening device 29 may be omitted.

Then, with the blowing nozzle 11 positioned at the nozzle blowing position Pn2, each gripping member 15 is moved from the gripping retreat position Pc1 and positioned at the gripping support position Pc2 shown in fig. 6. Thus, in the gas blowing processing position P1, the blowing nozzle 11 positioned in the gas guide path 56 is held and supported by the pair of holding members 15 from the outside of the bag 50 (particularly, the protruding portion 52). As a result, the space between the bag 50 (i.e., the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58) and the blowing nozzle 11 (particularly, the nozzle tip portion 11a) is reduced, and gas leakage through the space can be suppressed. In addition, the positional deviation between the blowing nozzle 11 (particularly, the nozzle tip 11a) and the bag 50 can be prevented.

Then, at the gas blowing processing position P1, in a state where the blowing nozzle 11 is held and supported by the pair of holding members 15 with the bag 50 interposed therebetween, the gas is blown out from the blowing nozzle 11 and sent into the gas containing portion 54. Thereby, the gas containing portion 54 bulges as shown in fig. 7. At this time, the gas ejected from the blowing nozzle 11 has a high pressure (i.e., the 1 st adjusted gas pressure).

Then, at the gas blowing processing position P1, in a state where the blowing nozzle 11 is positioned in the gas guide path 56 and the gas is filled in the gas containing portion 54 to have a sufficient pressure, as shown in fig. 8, the gas containing portion 54 is closed by the closing means 20. In the illustrated example, the two sealing members of the closure device 20 hermetically join the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 across both the main body portion 51 and the protruding portion 52. By forming the joint S (see fig. 11) in both the main body portion 51 and the protruding portion 52 of the bag 50 in this manner, even if the protruding portion 52 is separated from the main body portion 51 in a subsequent step, the state in which the gas is enclosed in the gas containing portion 54 can be appropriately maintained.

From the viewpoint of appropriately filling the gas containing portion 54 with the gas, it is preferable to continue to eject the gas from the blowing nozzle 11 at least until the closing device 20 completes the closing of the gas guide path 56. After the closing device 20 completes the closing of the gas guide path 56, the ejection of the gas from the blowing nozzle 11 may be continued or the ejection of the gas from the blowing nozzle 11 may be stopped.

Thereafter, the gripping member 15 is moved to the gripping retreat position Pc1 (refer to fig. 9), the blowing nozzle 11 is moved to the nozzle retreat position Pn1 (refer to fig. 10 and 11), and the closing device 20 is moved to the closing retreat position Ph1 (refer to fig. 11).

The pouch 50 in which the gas is sealed in the gas storage portion 54 may be conveyed to the subsequent stage by the pouch conveying mechanism 25, or may be subjected to another process (for example, a process of introducing the content into the content storage portion 53) at the gas blowing process position P1.

[ mechanism for adjusting pressure of ejected gas ]

Next, an example of a gas supply circuit that supplies gas to the blowing nozzle 11 will be described.

Fig. 12 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a gas supply circuit for supplying gas to the blowing nozzle 11.

The gas supply circuit of the present embodiment includes a gas pipe 80 for supplying gas to the blowing nozzle 11, a gas supply source 71 for supplying compressed gas to the gas pipe 80, and a pressure adjusting device 76 for adjusting the pressure of the gas flowing through the gas pipe 80.

The gas pipe 80 includes an upstream gas pipe 80a connected to the gas supply source 71, a downstream gas pipe 80d connected to the blowing nozzle 11, and a 1 st branch gas pipe 80b and a 2 nd branch gas pipe 80c connected in parallel to the upstream gas pipe 80a and the downstream gas pipe 80d, respectively.

The pressure adjusting device 76 shown in fig. 12 includes a 1 st pressure regulator 72 and a 1 st opening/closing valve device 74 attached to a 1 st branch gas pipe 80b, and a 2 nd pressure regulator 73 and a 2 nd opening/closing valve device 75 attached to a 2 nd branch gas pipe 80 c.

The 1 st pressure regulator 72 regulates the pressure of the gas flowing through the 1 st branch gas pipe 80b to a 1 st regulated gas pressure higher than the ambient pressure (for example, atmospheric pressure). The 2 nd pressure regulator 73 regulates the pressure of the gas flowing through the 2 nd branch gas pipe 80c to a 2 nd regulated gas pressure higher than the ambient pressure and lower than the 1 st regulated gas pressure. The 1 st opening/closing valve device 74 opens and closes the flow path of the 1 st branch gas pipe 80 b. The 2 nd opening/closing valve device 75 opens and closes the flow path of the 2 nd branch gas pipe 80 c. The supply adjusting means for adjusting the supply of the gas to the blowing nozzle 11 by opening and closing the flow path of the gas pipe 80 is configured by a combination of the 1 st opening and closing valve device 74 and the 2 nd opening and closing valve device 75.

The gas supply source 71 sends compressed gas having a pressure higher than the ambient pressure, the 1 st regulated gas pressure, and the 2 nd regulated gas pressure to the upstream gas pipe 80 a. The high-pressure gas sent from the gas supply source 71 to the upstream gas pipe 80a is adjusted to the 1 st adjustment gas pressure and the 2 nd adjustment gas pressure in the 1 st pressure regulator 72 and the 2 nd pressure regulator 73, respectively, and then flows downstream. The 1 st pressure regulator 72 and the 2 nd pressure regulator 73 can have any structure capable of adjusting the pressure of the supplied gas to a desired pressure. The 1 st pressure regulator 72 and the 2 nd pressure regulator 73 of the present example are constituted by devices that reduce the pressure of the supplied gas to a desired pressure. However, when the pressure of the gas sent from the gas supply source 71 to the upstream gas pipe 80a is lower than the 1 st adjustment gas pressure and the 2 nd adjustment gas pressure, the 1 st pressure regulator 72 and the 2 nd pressure regulator 73 may be configured by a device that increases the pressure of the supplied gas to a desired pressure.

The 1 st opening/closing valve device 74 and the 2 nd opening/closing valve device 75 are electrically connected to the discharge pressure control device 70, respectively. The 1 st opening/closing valve device 74 and the 2 nd opening/closing valve device 75 open and close the flow paths of the 1 st branch gas pipe 80b and the 2 nd branch gas pipe 80c, respectively, under the control of the discharge pressure control device 70.

When the pressure of the gas discharged from the blowing nozzle 11 is to be adjusted to the 1 st adjusted gas pressure, the discharge pressure control device 70 opens the 1 st opening/closing valve device 74 and closes the 2 nd opening/closing valve device 75. Thus, the gas is not substantially positively fed from the 2 nd branch gas pipe 80c to the downstream gas pipe 80d, and the gas whose pressure is adjusted by the 1 st pressure regulator 72 flows from the 1 st branch gas pipe 80b to the downstream gas pipe 80d and is supplied to the injection nozzle 11.

On the other hand, when the pressure of the gas discharged from the blowing nozzle 11 is to be adjusted to the 2 nd adjustment gas pressure, the discharge pressure control device 70 sets the 1 st opening/closing valve device 74 in the closed state and sets the 2 nd opening/closing valve device 75 in the open state. Thus, the gas is not substantially positively fed from the 1 st branch gas pipe 80b to the downstream gas pipe 80d, and the gas whose pressure has been adjusted by the 2 nd pressure regulator 73 flows from the 2 nd branch gas pipe 80c to the downstream gas pipe 80d and is supplied to the injection nozzle 11.

As described above, according to the gas sealing apparatus 10 and the gas sealing method of the present embodiment, the blowing nozzle 11 is smoothly and accurately disposed in the gas guide path 56, and the high-pressure gas can be discharged through the gas guide path 56. Accordingly, the gas storage 54 can be reliably and quickly filled with the high-pressure gas, and the gas guide path 56 is hermetically closed, whereby the high-pressure gas can be enclosed in the gas storage 54.

Further, the bag 50 of the present embodiment has a structure suitable for the process of enclosing the gas in the gas containing portion 54, and can quickly and reliably enclose the gas at a desired pressure in the gas containing portion 54 by the gas enclosing apparatus 10 and the gas enclosing method.

[ 1 st modification ]

Fig. 13 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a 1 st modification of the bag 50. In fig. 13, a part of the elements constituting the gas sealing apparatus 10 (for example, the blowing nozzle 11 and the like) is not illustrated.

The shape of the notch 65 of the bag 50 is not limited to the above-described rectangular shape (see fig. 1 and 2), and may have any shape. The notch 65 shown in fig. 13 has a shape in which a rectangle and a semicircle are combined.

The blowing nozzle 11 (particularly, the nozzle tip portion 11a (including at least a portion of the tip side portion)) preferably has a shape and a size that can pass through the notch portion 65. As described above, in order to open the opening 68 before the blowing nozzle 11 is inserted into the gas guide path 56, the blowing nozzle 11 preferably presses the front-side film member 57 so that the front-side film member 57 is separated from the back-side film member 58 (see fig. 3 and 4). Therefore, the blowing nozzle 11 is moved so as to pass through the cutout portion 65 and press the portion of the front-side film member 57 exposed from the cutout portion 65, whereby the front-side film member 57 can be moved away from the back-side film member 58.

The opening device 29 (see fig. 4) may hold the back-side film member 58 so as not to cover the notch portion 65, or may hold the back-side film member 58 so as to cover the notch portion 65. However, in the case where the opening device 29 holds the back-side film member 58 by negative pressure, the opening device 29 (e.g., the suction pad) preferably holds the back-side film member 58 so as not to cover the notch portion 65.

[ other modifications ]

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications. For example, various modifications may be applied to the respective elements of the above-described embodiment and modified examples. The configurations of the above-described embodiment and modified examples may be combined in whole or in part.

For example, in the above embodiment, the opening 68 of the gas storage 54 is promoted by moving the blowing nozzle 11 from the 1 st nozzle retreat position Pn 1-a (see fig. 3) to the 2 nd nozzle retreat position Pn 1-b (see fig. 4) through the notch 65. In the case where the opening 68 can be sufficiently opened only by the gas ejected from the blowing nozzle 11, the bag 50 may not have the notch 65.

In the above embodiment, the intensity of the pressure of the gas ejected from the blowing nozzle 11 is switched in two stages (i.e., the 1 st regulated gas pressure and the 2 nd regulated gas pressure), but the pressure may be switched in three or more stages, or may be switched in only one stage.

In the above embodiment, the gas containing portion 54 is provided only on the main body portion 51 of the bag 50, but the gas containing portion 54 may be provided on both the main body portion 51 and the protruding portion 52. In this case, the sealing device 20 may be configured to hermetically join the front-side film member 57 and the back-side film member 58 at a position spaced apart from the main body portion 51 in the protruding portion 52, and to block communication between the gas containing portion 54 and the gas guide path 56.

In the pouch 50, the relative arrangement relationship of the content housing portion 53 and the gas housing portion 54 is not limited. For example, as in the self-standing bag of patent document 1, the content storage section 53 may be located outside the gas storage section 54. Even when the content storage section 53 is not located inside the gas storage section 54, the gas storage section 54 can be quickly filled with the gas at a desired pressure by using the above-described gas filling method and gas filling apparatus 10. As described above, the gas sealing method and the gas sealing apparatus 10 can be widely applied to the pouch 50 including the content storage portion 53 and the gas storage portion 54 in various forms.