1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spout installation method and a spout installation apparatus for installing a spout to a pouch.
2. Description of Related Art
The following description sets forth the inventors' knowledge of related art and problems therein and should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art.
For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, in a pouch container SP1 with a spout to which a spout S1 serving as a tap or a pouring mouth is installed to the upper edge portion UE of the pouch P1 having a side gusset portion formed by a flexible sheet made of, e.g., a synthetic resin film, a pouch P1 having a non-heat-sealed upper edge portion UE is preliminarily manufactured, and then, after inserting a spout S1 into the opened upper edge portion UE of the pouch P1 as shown in FIG. 7B, the spout S1 is installed to the pouch P1 by heat sealing the upper edge portion UE. Such spout installation work is performed by, for example, a spout installation apparatus 50 as shown in FIG. 8. The shaded portion in FIGS. 7A and 7B denotes a heat sealed region of the pouch P1.
As shown in FIG. 8, the aforementioned spout installation apparatus 50 is provided with a spout supply unit 51 for sequentially supplying a spout S1 by conveying it, a pouch supply unit 52 for sequentially supplying a pouch P1 with a non-heat-sealed upper edge portion UE, a rotary type spout installation portion 53 provided with a plurality of spout installation heads, and a discharge unit 54 for sequentially discharging a pouch container SP1 with a spout formed by the spout installation portion 53. The spout installation unit 53 is configured to insert the spout S1 supplied from the spout supply unit 51 to the upper edge portion UE of the pouch P1 supplied from the pouch supply unit 52 and then heat seal the upper edge portion UE of the pouch P1 to thereby form the pouch container SP1 with a spout. The pouch supply unit 52 is configured to deliver the pouch P1 in a standing state such that the non-heat-sealed upper edge portion UE of the pouch P1 faces upward.
Each spout installation head of the spout installation unit 53 is provided with a spout clamper for holding a portion of a spout S1 between the upper and lower flange portions with a pair of holding arms, a pouch holder for sucking and holding both the front and rear surfaces of the pouch P1 with a pair of sucking and holding arms disposed at a lower side of the spout clamper, and a heat sealer having a pair of seal bars disposed between the spout clamper and the pouch holder. Thus, while conveying the spout S1 held by the spout clamper and the pouch P1 sucked and held by the pouch holder at the lower side of the spout S1 on the same conveyance line, the upper edge portion UE of the pouch P1 is opened by opening the pair of sucking and holding arms sucking and holding both the front and rear surfaces of the pouch P1, and then the sucking and holding arms are raised to insert the spout S1 into the opened upper edge portion UE of the pouch P1, and the upper edge portion UE is heat sealed by the heat sealer. (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-311851, and Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Publication No. H06-48401)
As such a pouch container with a spout, other than the aforementioned pouch container with a spout installed to the upper edge portion of the pouch, for example, there is a pouch container in which a spout S is installed to the angled side edge portion (spout installation edge portion) SE as shown in FIG. 9A. In the aforementioned spout installation apparatus 50, however, it is not considered to obliquely install a spout S to a non-heat-sealed spout installation portion SE of a pouch P. Therefore, a spout S cannot be installed to the angled side edge portion SE of the pouch P. The shaded portion in FIGS. 9A and 9B denotes a heat sealed region of the pouch P1.
On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Publication No. H06-48401 discloses an automatic filling-packing system in which a spout is installed to an angled side edge portion of a pouch in a standing state. This automatic filling-packing system is configured to intermittently perform various processing, such as, (a) supplying a pouch with a non-heat-sealed upper edge portion, (b) cutting the upper end corner portion of the pouch, (c) inserting a spout into the angled side edge portion formed by the cutting, (d) heat sealing the angled side edge portion in which the spout is inserted, (e) forming a filling opening for filling contents, (f) filling of contents, (g) heat sealing the filling opening, and (h) discharging a pouch container with a spout filled with contents, respectively, at each station. Therefore, there is a problem that this system is not suitable for high-speed processing.
The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. For example, certain features of the preferred embodiments of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages and/or providing certain advantages, such as, e.g., disadvantages and/or advantages discussed herein, while retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.