DE29708849U1 - Device for separating bottles with a rotating body - Google Patents

Description

Patent attorneys .:l!^.J'· :"": ^Bi P ^k *: ^pl p ^{KonradScliaefer}

Schaefer & Emmel ^Djpl " ^{Bl0] Dr Tllomas Emmel}

European Patent Attorneys Tel:(0)-40-6562051 Fax:-6567919

Conimerzbank 22 / 58226 BIz 200 40 000 Gehölzweg 20, D-22043 Hamburg Postbank 225058 - 208 BIz 200 10 020

16 May 1997 Reference: 01642

Fehland Engineering GmbH

Device for separating bottles with a rotating body

The invention relates to a device of the type mentioned in the preamble of claim 1.

Such devices are known in the prior art, with the rotary bodies being designed as so-called separating claws, which, with a worm groove of increasing screw pitch, engage laterally with the bodies of the bottles in order to pull them apart.

The shape of the screw groove must be adapted as precisely as possible to the shape of the bottle body, otherwise the bottles will jam. Every time the device is changed to larger or smaller bottles, it must be converted to a different separator screw. Another disadvantage, especially with frequently reused bottles and especially with plastic bottles, is the visually disturbing surface damage caused by friction on the separator surface.

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The object of the present invention is to provide a device of the type mentioned above which can separate different bottle sizes without changing the device and without causing disturbing damage.

This object is achieved according to the invention with the features of claim 1.

The construction according to the invention can have several wedges arranged on circumferential sectors of the rotating body, but advantageously according to claim 2 only one wedge which extends over the circumference of the rotating body. When the rotating body rotates, the wedge engages with its tip running forward in the direction of rotation between two successive necks of the bottles which are abutting one another in the guide path. Its support edge supports the bottles in the bottle stream which are pushing up behind it and relieves a bottle which has already got behind the wedge from the pressure of the following bottles. After the end of a sector, when the next wedge has come into engagement between two bottles in the path of movement of the bottles or when the tip of the wedge has been bent again in the case of only one wedge according to claim 2, the next bottle is supported on the support edge behind the tip which is now following. The bottle which has already been separated from the bottle stream by the wedge is, in this rotational position of the wedge, spaced apart from the following bottle by the acceleration edge. This device can be used to process bottles of different diameters, whereby the smallest bottles that can be processed have a diameter that corresponds to the distance between the tip and the supporting edge parallel to the axis of rotation. If a bottle of the smallest diameter ends up just behind the tip of the following wedge, it supports the next bottle so far that the neck of the latter still reaches the tip. Each time the tip passes through the

During the movement of the bottles, only one bottle with the smallest diameter reaches behind a tip. The largest bottles that can be processed have a diameter that, on the line parallel to the axis through the tip, corresponds to the distance between the point on the support edge behind the tip and the corresponding point on the acceleration edge behind it. When the tip passes through the movement path, a bottle with the largest diameter is pushed far enough away from the tip by the acceleration edge that the next bottle just reaches behind the tip, so that again, with each pass of the tip through the movement path, only one bottle reaches behind the tip. All bottles of this diameter with the same body are pulled apart at the end of the sector to the same neck distance, which corresponds to the width of the wedge on the line parallel to the axis through the tip. Bottles with different body diameters can even be processed in mixed operation.

This results in a design that can process bottles in a range of sizes without having to make any changes to the device when changing to other bottle shapes. Such a device has significant advantages in terms of safety and costs compared to known separating devices and is particularly suitable for systems for sterile filling in sterile rooms, since the room does not need to be frequently re-sterilized after a maintenance intervention to change to a different bottle shape.

The device according to the invention is particularly advantageous for the separation of plastic bottles with neck collars, which are usually filled in guide tracks with their support on two lateral rails, which enable good lateral support of the bottles in the immediate vicinity of the wedge edges engaging in the mouth area of the bottles.

Another advantage is that the bottles are attacked in the mouth area, where any damage caused by the attack does not affect the commercially important visual impression of the bottle.

In the case of generic separating devices, the bottles are transferred to a suitable conveyor after separation, which transports the bottles further in a separated position. This can be a fan belt, a titanium point stem or, in the case of plastic bottles that are to be carried by the neck, a conveyor with U-shaped support members. Such a further-filling transport device can engage at the end of a wedge that extends over a sector or, according to claim 1, over 360° and take over the bottles that have been transferred precisely to the division from the end of the acceleration edge. However, the features of claim 3 are advantageously provided. The acceleration edge then continues to run, i.e. can push the bottles further forward in the filling line, whereby the division can be increased even further by increasing the screw angle. In particular, with this design, the transfer point to the further transport device can be moved to the rear. The bottles can also be held at a constant pitch in a group of 10 bottles on a very long acceleration edge, which extends, for example, over 10 revolutions with a constant screw angle, and can thus be fed directly by the singling device to 10 removal stations, where the bottles are removed in cycles for further processing.

The features of claim 4 are advantageously provided. Such a groove prevents operational disruptions caused by wobbling or tipping bottles by filling them on both sides.

The invention is illustrated schematically and by way of example in the drawings.

5
Show it:

Fig. 1: a side view of a device according to the invention,

Fig. 2: a plan view of the device according to Fig. 1,

Fig. 3: the development of the peripheral surface of the shown in Fig. 1

Dieli body when separating bottles of the smallest processable body diameter,

Fig. 4: the development of the peripheral surface of the shown in Fig. 1

Rotating body when separating bottles with the largest usable body diameter and

Fig. 5: the development of the peripheral surface of the shown in Fig. 1

Rotating body in a simpler form.

Figures 1 and 2 show a separating device according to the invention in a preferred embodiment. The separating device shown is, for example, part of a bottle treatment system in which the bottles from a previous treatment machine, for example an unpacker or a washing machine, arrive in a single-lane stream in order to be separated in the device shown at a predetermined fixed distance between the axes, which is determined, for example, by the distances between the treatment stations of a subsequent treatment machine.

The example in question involves the separation of plastic bottles 1 with a body 2 of larger diameter and a neck of narrower diameter, which has a neck collar 4 over which the

Neck 3 with a mouth area 5 continues up to the upper mouth of the bottle. The bottles are guided in a movement path 6 with two parallel guide rails 7 on which the neck collars 4 slide. The propulsion of the bottles in the transport clearance 8 takes place, for example, in the usual way with air nozzles (not shown).

A rotating body 9 is arranged above the movement path 6, which is only shown schematically with its outline in Fig. 2 to simplify the illustration. In the example, the rotating body 9 has a cylindrical peripheral surface 10 and is fastened concentrically to an axis 11, which is driven via the gear 12. Corresponding drive and bearing devices have been omitted to simplify the drawing.

A wedge 13 is attached to the cylindrical peripheral surface 10 of the rotating body 9, projecting radially beyond it, which can be milled out of a blank together with the peripheral surface, for example. The wedge begins with its tip S on a surface line shown in dashed lines parallel to the axis 11, which is designated as 0° (360°) in Figure 1, and forms a support edge A and an acceleration edge B that oppose the incoming bottle flow. The two edges A and B run helically around the circumferential surface 10 (straight on the development) by 360° and lie there, i.e. on the dashed surface line marked 0° (360°) with a distance a between the support edge A and the tip S and with a distance b between the support edge A and the acceleration edge B. Then, as shown, the acceleration edge B continues with the same gradient to the end of the rotating body 9. The support edge A then continues parallel to the acceleration edge B as a groove edge C, forming a parallel groove, the width of which corresponds to the external diameter of the mouth area 5 of the bottles with the required tolerance.

In the exemplary embodiment, the axis 11 is arranged exactly parallel to the movement beam 6, i.e. its guide rails 7. The peripheral surface 10 is exactly cylindrical. In variant embodiments, the axis 11 could also be arranged slightly obliquely to the movement path 6 and the peripheral surface 10 could be slightly conical.

It is important that the rotating body 9 is arranged at a height above the movement bellows 6 in such a way that the wedge 13 with its edges A, B, C engages the movement bellows of the bottles from above, so that the edges, as shown, come into lateral contact with the mouth area 5 of the bottles.

The rotating body 9 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is driven in such a way that the tip S of the wedge 13 moves forward in the direction of rotation. It therefore rotates clockwise, seen from the side of the gear 12. The drive is preferably continuous.

Bottles 1 driven by a conveyor device (not shown), such as air jets, move in the transport direction 8 against the rotary body 9 and their bodies 2 abut one another. The frontmost bottle, designated V in Fig. 1, rests against the support edge A, which runs with a small screw pitch. As the rotary body 9 continues to rotate, the frontmost bottle V finally reaches behind the tip S in the groove between the continuing edges B and C and is now accelerated and spaced apart by the acceleration edge B, which runs with a larger screw pitch. At the end of the groove, the bottles are transferred to a further conveyor 14, which takes over the bottles with the pitch specified at the end of the groove and maintains this.

The rotating body 9 can be extended as desired with its peripheral surface 10 and the groove B, C on its side facing the gear wheel 12. The groove, which then preferably continues with a constant screw pitch, would transport several bottles at the distance of the desired pitch, for example to the treatment stations of a downstream bottle treatment machine, where the bottles are removed from the groove, for example by lowering them.

In the example, the conveyor 14 is shown for explanatory purposes as a belt 16 running around wheels 15, on which U-shaped holders 17 are provided, which, as shown in Fig. 1, grip the neck 3 of the bottles under the collar 4. The strand of the conveyor 14 that transports the bottles away runs at a slight angle to the movement path 6 in order to be able to enter it laterally to take over the bottles, as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 shows the circumferential surface 10 of the rotating body 9 with the wedge 13 in development on the drawing plane over a little more than two revolutions, with the wedge 13 returning as 13' and 13". Below the illustration, the angles are indicated, starting with 0°, corresponding to the dashed 0° line, as shown in Fig. 1.

The dashed line 6 shows the center of the movement path for the bottles. Some bottles are marked on the movement path 6 with their body 2 and the mouth area 5.

The bottles with the smallest diameter of the body 2 that can still be processed with the geometry of the wedge 13 shown are shown. It can be seen here that with these smallest processable bottles, the diameter of the body 2

such that the foremost bottle V of the incoming bottle stream is held at a distance from the bottle lying in front of it, which has already entered the groove between the edges B and C, which keeps it in front of the tip S, so that the bottle V cannot enter the groove, but can only enter the next groove A, B between the wedges 13 and 13' after one revolution of the rotating body 9. The diameter of the smallest bottle that can be processed is therefore determined by the distance a between the tip S and the support edge A on the 0° line. In other positions, bottles are shown - for the sake of simplicity of the drawing, only with their mouth areas 5 - namely in positions 6i, 62, 63, 64, which represent the path of movement when the rotating body 9 is rotated by one angle. It can be seen that when the rotating body 9 rotates (in Fig. 3, the development shown runs from left to right in relation to the path of movement), the bottles standing in a jam in the path of movement slowly advance in support on the support edge A according to its gradient. Bottles that have already entered the groove between the edges B and C are accelerated with a greater gradient.

It can be seen here that the acceleration edge B alone is sufficient to accelerate the bottles. However, as shown, it is advantageous to limit the groove by the support edge A, which continues as groove edge C, so that the bottles can be felt with only a small amount of play and therefore cannot rattle.

Fig. 4 shows the same development as in Fig. 3, but with bottles of maximum body diameter 2, whereby, as is usual in the drinks industry, the diameter of the mouth area 5 remains the same as that of the small bottles for processing reasons. Here you can see that these larger bottles are in the queue in front of the rotating body 9 at a greater distance from the neck. In this case, it must again be ensured that after each rotation a bottle gets behind the tip S. Therefore, in the 0° position or the 360° position, the frontmost bottle must

V behind the tip S. This means that the bottle in front of it, which is already running in the groove, must be further forward by at least the diameter of the body. This gives the minimum distance b between the support edge A and the acceleration edge B on the 0° line passing through the tip S.

The comparison of Figures 3 and 4 shows that bottles with a diameter that lies between the bottle diameters shown in Figures 3 and 4 can also be processed. In the entire diameter range between the bottles shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4, it is ensured that one bottle per revolution runs into a groove, even if bottles with different body diameters are delivered mixed together.

Fig. 5 shows a simplified embodiment in a development corresponding to that of Figures 3 and 4, in which the wedge 13 ends after one revolution, i.e. on the line 0° (360°). In this embodiment, the groove that continues after the end of the wedge 13 is omitted compared to the previously described embodiment. The transfer to the continuing conveyor 14 or another corresponding conveyor must therefore take place at the end of the acceleration edge B, i.e. at the end of the wedge 13. In this embodiment, too, the largest and smallest bottles can be separated, as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4.

Since there is no clean bottle guide in a groove, other means must be used to ensure that the bottles are always kept in clean contact with the acceleration edge, for example by braking the bottles accordingly.

As shown in Figures 3 to 5, the rotating body 9 can also be equipped with several wedges across its circumference if its circumference is increased accordingly. If it had two wedges, for example, the angle shown in Fig. 3 would be

angle 720° actually corresponds to the circumference of the rotating body, i.e. a real 360°. There could also be more wedges, e.g. 10, which would each be arranged from tip to tip at a circumferential angle distance of 36°.

In the embodiments shown, the support edge A is shown as straight between 0° and 360°. However, the only important thing is its position at the end of the sector, i.e. at 360°, when it is behind the next peak S. There it must maintain the distance a. In the intermediate area, the support edge does not have to be straight. It can have almost any course (curved, bent) and can, for example, run perpendicular to the axis 11 of the rotating body, i.e. parallel to the front edge of the peripheral surface 10, up to just before the end of the sector. The groove formed between the support edge A, which continues as the groove edge C, and the acceleration edge B does not have to be straight. The straight course is, however, the best solution for guiding the bottles continuously at a uniform speed, with a kink only occurring at the transition from the support edge A to the groove edge C, which continues in the groove, where the bottles are suddenly accelerated. A rounded transition can reduce the jolt during bottle transport.

The wedge 13 shown in the embodiment of Fig. 5 differs slightly from the wedge shown in the embodiments of Fig. 1 - 4. Its tip is not rounded, but ideally pointed. The slope of the support edge A is accordingly somewhat flatter. As Fig. 5 shows, bottles with a much smaller body diameter can be processed with this design, where, as Fig. 5 shows, the body diameter is only slightly larger than the neck diameter. This hypothetical example would therefore involve bottles that are practically cylindrical in shape. Of course, the embodiment of Fig. 5 can also be used to process bottles with a body diameter, as shown in Fig. 4.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, the scope for working with bottles is therefore considerably larger.

Since in the embodiment of Fig. 1 - 4 the diameter clearance does not have to be so large, the smallest bottles can therefore be as large as shown in Fig. 3, the tip S can be wider and more rounded, as shown in Fig. 3 and 4.

Claims (4)

Patent attorneys _#: ·[ «J · \J \[[^ ^&Rgr; ^&PSgr; ^Konrad Schaefer & Emmel ^&ngr;^&tgr;^&Egr;™** European Patent Attorneys Tel:(0)-40-6562051 Fax:-6567919 Commerzbank 22 / 58226 BIz 200 40 000 Gehölzvveg 20, D-22043 Hamburg Postbank 225058 - 208 BIz 200 10 020 16 May 1997 Reference: 01642 Fehland Engineering GmbH PATENT CLAIMS: 1. Device for separating bottles (1) which have a neck (3, 5) which is narrower in diameter than their body (2), with guides (7) for single-coil guidance of the bottles in a movement path (6) with mouths (5) at the same height, and with a rotating body (9) which is continuously driven in rotation about an axis (11) which is essentially parallel to the movement path (6) and which engages in the movement path with projections (13) in order to pull the bottles apart from their central axes to a certain distance (b), characterized in that the rotating body (9) is arranged above the movement path (6) and on a surface (19) which is essentially cylindrical about its axis (11) in each circumferential sector (0 ° - 360 °) with a universal angle of 360 °n, where &eegr; is a natural number, carries a wedge (13) formed by two radially projecting edges (A, B) extending below the bottle mouths (5), the tip (S) of which is located at the beginning (0°) of the sector leading in the direction of rotation, the supporting edge (A) of which, facing the incoming flow of bottles, is located at the end of the sector (360°) in the direction of support (8) of the bottles at a distance Kl[-l ^J :\IIWSlJI-\WFWANMV\LL(l02.VKTI ^r (a) to the tip located there, which corresponds to the body diameter of the smallest bottles that can be processed (Fig. 3), and whose acceleration edge (B) at the end of the sector (360°) in the transport direction (8) of the bottles is at a distance (b) from the support edge (A) that corresponds to the body diameter of the largest bottles that can be processed (Fig. 4). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that η = 1 and only one wedge (13) is formed over the circumference of the rotary body (9). 3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the acceleration edge (B) continues after the sector end (360°) with a screw angle which is not smaller than the screw angle of the acceleration edge (B) between the tip (S) and the sector end (360°). 4. Device according to claim 1 or claim 3, characterized in that the support edge (A) continues after the sector end (360°) as a groove edge (C) parallel to the acceleration edge (B) of the wedge (13') there, forming a groove.