The present disclosure relates to a package opening system for opening a package.
A package that hermetically stores a plurality of drug containers such as syringes and vials at regular intervals by using a nest has been conventionally used. Such a package is formed by bonding an outer peripheral edge of a sheet-like lid to a flange-shaped opening edge of a tub storing the plurality of drug containers and the nest with an adhesive.
An apparatus for opening a package including a tub and a lid as described above is disclosed in Patent Document 1. The apparatus peels off the lid from the tub by moving the tub while gripping an end of the lid by using a clamp.
However, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, the clamp may fail to grip the end of the lid. Further, the adhesive bonding the tub and the lid may fall off the lid or the tub when the lid is peeled off from the tub, which may cause contamination by the adhesive.
In view of this, an object of the present disclosure is to open a package in which an outer peripheral edge of a lid is bonded to an opening edge of a tub while preventing contamination by an adhesive.
In order to solve the above technical problem, one aspect of the present disclosure provides
a package opening system for opening a package in which an outer peripheral edge of a sheet-like lid is bonded to a flange-shaped opening edge of a tub storing a stored object, the package opening system including:
a cutter blade capable of cutting the lid; and
a cutter blade moving device configured to stick the cutter blade into the lid and moves the cutter blade stuck into the lid in a cutting path along at least part of a contour of an opening of the tub.
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to open a package in which an outer peripheral edge of a lid is bonded to an opening edge of a tub while preventing contamination by an adhesive.
A package opening system according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a package opening system for opening a package in which an outer peripheral edge of a sheet-like lid is bonded to a flange-shaped opening edge of a tub storing a stored object, the package opening system including: a cutter blade capable of cutting the lid; and a cutter blade moving device configured to stick the cutter blade into the lid and moves the cutter blade stuck into the lid in a cutting path along at least part of a contour of an opening of the tub.
According to the aspect, it is possible to open the package in which the outer peripheral edge of the lid is bonded to the opening edge of the tub while preventing contamination by an adhesive.
For example, the cutter blade moving device may be an articulated robot including the cutter blade as an end effector.
For example, in a case where the cutter blade moving device moves the cutter blade in an annular cutting path along an entire contour of the opening of the tub, the package opening system may further include a lid holding device configured to hold a portion of the lid surrounded by the annular cutting path during the cutting of the lid by the cutter blade.
For example, the package opening system may further include a disposal device for the lid. In that case, the lid holding device may carry the portion of the lid toward the disposal device when the held portion of the lid is separated from the tub.
For example, the package opening system may further include: a tub opening shape calculation unit configured to acquire a shape of a side wall of the tub defining the opening and calculate a shape of the opening on the basis of the shape of the side wall; and a cutting path calculation unit configured to calculate the cutting path on the basis of the shape of the opening calculated by the tub opening shape calculation unit.
For example, the package opening system may further include: a conveying device configured to carry the package to an opening position where the lid is cut and opened by the cutter blade; and first and second distance measuring sensors arranged on both sides of a measurement position through which the package being moved by the conveying device toward the opening position passes and configured to continuously measure a distance from the side wall until the package completely passes through the measurement position. In this case, the tub opening shape calculation unit may calculate the shape of the side wall on the basis of a change in distance measured by each of the first and second distance measuring sensors.
For example, the conveying device may be a belt conveyor. In this case, the package opening system may further include a clamping device configured to clamp and fix the tub of the package on the belt conveyor at the opening position.
For example, the stored object may include a plurality of drug containers.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, an example of a package that is opened by the package opening system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
Specifically, the package 100 includes a tub 104 that stores the plurality of drug containers 102 as a stored object and has an opening 104a for taking out the drug containers 102 and a lid 106 that covers the opening 104a of the tub 104. The package 100 also includes a plate-like nest 108 that holds the plurality of drug containers 102 at regular intervals.
The tub 104 is made from, for example, a resin material and has a flange-shaped opening edge 104b. The tub 104 also has a shoulder 104c on which an outer peripheral edge of the nest 108 is placed. The shoulder 104c is formed between a first side wall 104d defining the opening 104a and extending from the opening edge 104b and a second side wall 104f extending from a bottom 104e. In the present embodiment, the opening 104a, the opening edge 104b, the first side wall 104d, and the second side wall 104f have a rectangular shape with rounded corners, as viewed in the height direction (u-axis direction) of the package 100.
The lid 106 is, for example, a sheet-like lid body made from a resin material. Specifically, an outer peripheral edge of the lid 106 is bonded to the opening edge 104b of the tub 104 via an adhesive, whereby the lid 106 covers the opening 104a of the tub 104.
The lid 106 is bonded to the opening edge 104b of the tub 104 so as to be peelable therefrom. The package 100 is opened by peeling off the lid 106 from the tub 104. However, the package opening system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure opens the package 100 without peeling off the lid 106.
Specifically, as illustrated in
The package opening system according to the present embodiment can also open the packages 100 having different sizes or the packages 100 having, in spite of the same size in design, a dimensional difference between individuals due to a variation factor or the like in manufacturing.
Hereinafter, details of the package opening system according to the present embodiment will be described.
As illustrated in
In the present embodiment, the conveying device 20 is a belt conveyor. Specifically, the conveying device 20 includes two endless conveyor belts 22 and 24 and a servomotor 26 that synchronously drives the two conveyor belts 22 and 24. The two conveyor belts 22 and 24 are arranged in parallel with a gap therebetween. The package 100 is placed on the two conveyor belts 22 and 24, and, in this state, the servomotor 26 drives the conveyor belts 22 and 24, thereby carrying the package 100 toward the opening position OP.
In the present embodiment, the package opening system 10 calculates a shape of the opening of the tub 104 of the package 100 in order to cope with the packages 100 having different sizes or having a dimensional difference between individuals in spite of the same size in design. In order to calculate the shape of the opening, the package opening system 10 includes a first distance measuring sensor 30 and a second distance measuring sensor 32.
Specifically, a measurement position MP is set upstream from the opening position OP in a conveying direction (X-axis direction) of the package 100. The first and second distance measuring sensors 30 and 32 are arranged on both sides of the package 100 at the measurement position MP.
As illustrated in
The calculation of the shape of the opening of the tub 104 of the package 100 based on the distances measured by the first and second distance measuring sensors 30 and 32 will be described later.
In the present embodiment, in order to fix the package 100 that has carried by the conveying device 20 and reached the opening position OP, the package opening system 10 includes a clamping device 40 that clamps the tub 104 of the package 100.
As illustrated in
The movable clamp bar 44 approaches or separates from the fixed clamp bar 42. Therefore, the package 100 at the opening position OP is pressed against the fixed clamp bar 42 and is sandwiched between the fixed clamp bar 42 and the movable clamp bar 44 in the width direction (s-axis direction). As a result, the package 100 is positioned in the width direction, that is, in the direction (Y-axis direction) orthogonal to the conveying direction (X-axis direction) of the conveying device 20. The fixed clamp bar 42 and the movable clamp bar 44 can also clamp the packages 100 having different sizes or having a dimensional difference between individuals in spite of the same size in design.
In the present embodiment, the fixed clamp bar 42 and the movable clamp bar 44 sandwich the first side wall 104d of the tub 104. Alternatively or additionally, the second side wall 104f may be clamped.
In order for the clamping device 40 to position the package 100 at the opening position OP, the package opening system 10 includes a third distance measuring sensor 46 for detecting the package 100 that has reached the opening position OP.
Similarly to the first and second distance measuring sensors 30 and 32 described above, the third distance measuring sensor 46 measures a distance from (the tub 104 of) the package 100. Specifically, the third distance measuring sensor 46 is arranged to irradiate, with the laser light LL, a leading surface (a leading surface in the conveying direction (X-axis direction) of the conveying device 20) of the tub 104 of the package 100 located at the opening position OP. Therefore, the third distance measuring sensor 46 can detect arrival of the package 100 at the opening position OP by measuring a predetermined distance (a distance obtained when the package 100 is located at the opening position OP). When the third distance measuring sensor 46 measures the predetermined distance, (the servomotor 26 of) the conveying device 20 stops. Therefore, the package 100 is stopped while being positioned in the length direction (t-axis direction), that is, in the conveying direction (X-axis direction) of the conveying device 20. As a result, the clamping device 40 can clamp the tub 104 of the package 100.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the present embodiment, the cutter blade moving device 50 is an articulated robot including the cutter blade CB capable of cutting the lid 106 as an end effector. The cutter blade moving device 50 can change a spatial position (a position in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction) of the cutter blade CB and can also change a posture of the cutter blade CB.
When the cutter blade moving device 50 sticks the cutter blade CB into the lid 106 and moves the cutter blade CB stuck into the lid in the cutting path CR, a portion 106a of the lid 106 surrounded by the cutting path CR is separated from the tub 104. As a result, the package 100 is opened.
The lid 106 is held by a lid holding head (lid holding device) 62 of a lid collection device 60 while the lid 106 is being cut by the cutter blade CB.
In the present embodiment, the package opening system 10 includes the lid collection device 60 that carries the portion 106a of the lid 106 cut by the cutter blade CB and separated from the tub 104 to a disposal position DP.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The portion 106a of the lid 106 cut by the cutter blade CB and separated from the tub 104 as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Instead of using the suction table 70 and the disposal device 74, the lid collection device 60 may dispose of the portion 106a of the lid 106 separated from the tub 104 in a trash can (not illustrated).
The configuration of the package opening system 10 has been described so far. Hereinafter, a control system of the package opening system 10 will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
The control device 80 includes, for example, a CPU and a storage device such as a memory and a hard disk. The CPU operates according to programs stored in the storage device (the storage unit 94), thereby functioning as the conveyance control unit 82, the tub opening shape calculation unit 84, the cutting path calculation unit 86, the clamp control unit 88, the lid cutting control unit 90, and the lid collection control unit 92.
The conveyance control unit 82 of the control device 80 controls the conveying device 20, that is, the servomotor 26 in the present embodiment, thereby controlling conveyance of the package 10.
The tub opening shape calculation unit 84 of the control device 80 acquires (calculates) a shape of the first side wall 104d of the tub 104 on the basis of a change in distances measured by the first and second distance measuring sensors 30 and 32. The shape (contour) of the opening 104a of the tub 104 is calculated on the basis of the acquired shape of the first side wall 104d. Details of the tub opening shape calculation unit 84 will be described.
As described above and as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The tub opening shape calculation unit 84 calculates positions of a plurality of measurement points PA(1) to PA(n) and PB(1) to PB(n) on the package 100 (the first side wall 104d) at which the respective distances are measured as the plurality of distances LA(1) to LA(n) and LB(1) to LB(n). Specifically, the position of the package 100 in the direction (Y-axis direction) orthogonal to the conveying direction (X-axis direction) is calculated.
The tub opening shape calculation unit 84 calculates the position of each of the plurality of measurement points PA(1) to PA(n) and PB(1) to PB(n) in the conveying direction (X-axis direction) of the package 100 on the basis of a pitch interval Δp between the measurement points. The pitch interval Δp can be calculated by a product of a conveying speed V of the package 100 and a time interval Δt. The conveying speed V can be obtained on the basis of a rotation speed of the servomotor 26 of the conveying device 20.
Next, based on a position on a horizontal plane (X-Y plane) of each of the plurality of measurement points PA(1) to PA(n) and PB(1) to PB(n) on the first side wall 104d of the package 100, the tub opening shape calculation unit 84 calculates the shape of the first side wall 104d, that is, a contour shape on the horizontal plane.
Because the first side wall 104d defines the opening 104a of the tub 104, the tub opening shape calculation unit 84 calculates the shape of the opening 104a of the tub 104 on the basis of the shape of the first side wall 104d. For example, the shape of the opening 104a of the tub 104 is calculated by correcting the shape of the first side wall 104d in consideration of a thickness and draft of the first side wall 104d. Information regarding the thickness and draft of the first side wall 104d is stored in the storage unit 94 in advance.
Returning to
Specifically, in the present embodiment, the cutting path calculation unit 86 calculates an annular cutting path CR for the cutter blade CB to move along the entire contour of the opening 104a without coming into contact with the first side wall 104d defining the opening 104a of the tub 104. For example, the cutting path CR is calculated in consideration of the draft of the first side wall 104d. The cutting path CR is calculated so that an opening of the lid 106 cut by the cutter blade CB has a size that allows the nest 108 to pass therethrough. Therefore, the cutting path CR in which the cutter blade CB moves along the contour of the opening 104a while having a distance of, for example, 1 mm from the contour is calculated.
The clamp control unit 88 of the control device 80 controls the movable clamp bar 44 of the clamping device 40 to clamp the package 100 that has reached the opening position OP as illustrated in
The lid cutting control unit 90 of the control device 80 controls the cutter blade moving device 50 to move the cutter blade CB in the cutting path CR calculated by the cutting path calculation unit 86 as illustrated in
The lid collection control unit 92 of the control device 80 controls the lid collection device 60 to carry the portion 106a of the lid 106 cut by the cutter blade CB and separated from the tub 104 from the opening position OP to the disposal position DP.
According to the present embodiment described above, it is possible to open the package 100 in which the outer peripheral edge of the lid 106 is bonded to the opening edge 104b of the tub 104 while preventing contamination by an adhesive.
Further, according to the present embodiment, because the cutting path CR of the cutter blade CB is calculated on the basis of the shape of the first side wall 104d defining the opening 104a of the tub 104, it is possible to open the packages 100 having different sizes or having a dimensional difference between individuals in spite of the same size in design.
According to the present embodiment, it is possible to open the package 100 while maintaining adhesion between the opening edge 104b of the tub 104 and the outer peripheral edge of the lid 106, that is, without peeling off the lid 106 from the tub 104. Therefore, the adhesive is prevented from falling off the tub 104 or the lid 106, and thus contamination by the adhesive is prevented.
Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the above-described embodiment, the embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the shape of the opening 104a of the tub 104 is calculated in order to calculate the cutting path CR of the cutter blade CB. In order to calculate the shape of the opening 104a of the tub 104, the shape of the first side wall 104d defining the opening 104a of the tub 104 is calculated as illustrated in
In the above-described embodiment, the cutter blade moving device 50 that moves the cutter blade CB is an articulated robot. However, the embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. That is, any device may be used as long as the device can move the cutter blade CB in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction and rotate the cutter blade CB around a rotation center line extending in the vertical direction.
In the above-described embodiment, the cutting path CR of the cutter blade CB is annular along the entire contour of the opening 104a of the tub 104 as illustrated in
In the above-described embodiment, a belt conveyor is used as an example of the conveying device 20, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any linear motion device may be used as long as the linear motion device can measure a moving amount of the package 100.
In the above-described embodiment, the plurality of drug containers 102 is stored in the package 100 as a stored object as illustrated in
That is, a package opening system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is, in a broader sense, a package opening system for opening a package in which an outer peripheral edge of a sheet-like lid is bonded to a flange-shaped opening edge of a tub storing a stored object includes: a cutter blade capable of cutting the lid; and a cutter blade moving device configured to stick the cutter blade into the lid and moves the cutter blade stuck into the lid in a cutting path along at least part of a contour of an opening of the tub.
The present disclosure is applicable to opening of a package in which an outer peripheral edge of a sheet-like lid is bonded to a flange-shaped opening edge of a tub.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2019-223879 | Dec 2019 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2020/045097 | 12/3/2020 | WO |