EP1263652A1 - Orientation relative de corps et appareil associe - Google Patents

Orientation relative de corps et appareil associe

Info

Publication number
EP1263652A1
EP1263652A1 EP01904132A EP01904132A EP1263652A1 EP 1263652 A1 EP1263652 A1 EP 1263652A1 EP 01904132 A EP01904132 A EP 01904132A EP 01904132 A EP01904132 A EP 01904132A EP 1263652 A1 EP1263652 A1 EP 1263652A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
container
cylindrical body
code
coded region
data
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
EP01904132A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Javier Garcia-Tejedor Perez
Santiago Garcia Campo
Juan Saiz Goiria
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Fundacion Tecnalia Research and Innovation
Envases UK Ltd
Original Assignee
Fundacion Robotiker
Envases UK Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from GB0003033A external-priority patent/GB0003033D0/en
Application filed by Fundacion Robotiker, Envases UK Ltd filed Critical Fundacion Robotiker
Publication of EP1263652A1 publication Critical patent/EP1263652A1/fr
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B44—DECORATIVE ARTS
    • B44B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR TOOLS FOR ARTISTIC WORK, e.g. FOR SCULPTURING, GUILLOCHING, CARVING, BRANDING, INLAYING
    • B44B5/00—Machines or apparatus for embossing decorations or marks, e.g. embossing coins
    • B44B5/0004—Machines or apparatus for embossing decorations or marks, e.g. embossing coins characterised by the movement of the embossing tool(s), or the movement of the work, during the embossing operation
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D17/00—Forming single grooves in sheet metal or tubular or hollow articles
    • B21D17/02—Forming single grooves in sheet metal or tubular or hollow articles by pressing
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D51/00—Making hollow objects
    • B21D51/16—Making hollow objects characterised by the use of the objects
    • B21D51/26—Making hollow objects characterised by the use of the objects cans or tins; Closing same in a permanent manner
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D51/00—Making hollow objects
    • B21D51/16—Making hollow objects characterised by the use of the objects
    • B21D51/26—Making hollow objects characterised by the use of the objects cans or tins; Closing same in a permanent manner
    • B21D51/2646—Of particular non cylindrical shape, e.g. conical, rectangular, polygonal, bulged
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
    • B21D51/00—Making hollow objects
    • B21D51/16—Making hollow objects characterised by the use of the objects
    • B21D51/26—Making hollow objects characterised by the use of the objects cans or tins; Closing same in a permanent manner
    • B21D51/2692—Manipulating, e.g. feeding and positioning devices; Control systems
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65C—LABELLING OR TAGGING MACHINES, APPARATUS, OR PROCESSES
    • B65C9/00—Details of labelling machines or apparatus
    • B65C9/06—Devices for presenting articles in predetermined attitude or position at labelling station
    • B65C9/067—Devices for presenting articles in predetermined attitude or position at labelling station for orienting articles having irregularities, e.g. holes, spots or markings, e.g. labels or imprints, the irregularities or markings being detected
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D1/00—Containers having bodies formed in one piece, e.g. by casting metallic material, by moulding plastics, by blowing vitreous material, by throwing ceramic material, by moulding pulped fibrous material, by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
    • B65D1/12—Cans, casks, barrels, or drums
    • B65D1/14—Cans, casks, barrels, or drums characterised by shape
    • B65D1/16—Cans, casks, barrels, or drums characterised by shape of curved cross-section, e.g. cylindrical
    • B65D1/165—Cylindrical cans

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to relative orientation of bodies and associated apparatus in a manufacturing process.
  • the invention relates to relative orientation of containers or generally cylindrical bodies, particularly thin walled metallic cylindrical bodies (such as aluminium containers) for embossing, marking or the like.
  • the present invention provides a method of relative orientation of a body (particularly a container or generally cylindrical body) and associated apparatus, the method comprising sampling a portion of a coded region of the body, comparing the sampled code portion to memory stored code data, determining the orientation correction to reorientate the relative position of the cylindrical body and the associated apparatus to a datum situation.
  • the coded region of the typically cylindrical body comprises a code carrying zone comprising one or more code strings each code string comprising a plurality of data points, the data points indicating one or other of contrasting data indicia.
  • the invention provides a reorientation system for co-ordination of a body (such as a container or cylindrical body) and associated body processing apparatus, the system comprising:
  • a processor arranged to process sampled code data comparing to memory stored code data and produce a correction output to re-orientate the body and body processing apparatus to a datum situation.
  • the invention provides a container or generally cylindrical body having a coded region comprising one or more code strings each code string comprising a plurality of data points, the data points indicating one or other of contrasting data indicia.
  • Figure 1 is a flow diagram of a process according to the invention
  • Figure 2 is a view of a container to be operated upon in accordance with the invention.
  • Figure 3 is a side view of the container of figure 2 in a finish formed state
  • Figure 4 is a 360 degree view of a positional code in accordance with the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of apparatus in accordance with the invention.
  • Figures 6 and 7 are half plan views of apparatus components of figure 5 ;
  • Figures 8,9 and 10 correspond to the views of figures 5,6 and 7 with components in a different operational orientation
  • Figure 11 is a schematic close up sectional view of the apparatus of the preceding figures in a first stage of the forming process;
  • Figure 11a is a detail view of the forming tools and the container wall in the stage of operation of figure 11;
  • Figures 12, 12a to 16,16a correspond to the views of figures 11 and 11a.
  • the apparatus and technique is directed to plastically deforming (embossing or debossing) the circumferential wall of an aluminium container 1 at a predetermined position relative to a preprinted decorative design on the external container wall .
  • a design 50 comprising a series of three axially spaced arc grooves is to be embossed at 180 degree opposed locations on the container wall (see figure 16a) .
  • the location at which the design 50 is embossed is coordinated with the printed design on the container 1 wall. Coordination of the container 1 axial orientation with the tooling to effect deformation is therefore crucial.
  • the forming apparatus 2 comprises a vertically orientated rotary table 3 operated to rotate (about a horizontal axis) in an indexed fashion to successively rotationally advanced locations. Spaced around the periphery of table 3 are a series of container holding stations comprising clamping chucks 4. Containers are delivered in sequence to the table in random axial rotational orientations, each being received in a respective chuck 4, securely clamped about the container base 5 .
  • a vertically orientated forming table 6 faces the rotary table 3 and carries a series of deformation tools at spaced tooling stations 7. Following successive rotary index movements of rotary table 3, table 6 is advanced from a retracted position (figure 5) to an advanced position (figure 8) . In moving to the advanced position the respective tools at tooling stations 7 perform forming operations on the container circumferential walls proximate their respective open ends 8. Successive tooling stations 7 perform successive degrees of deformation in the process. This process is well known and used in the prior art and is frequently known as necking. Necked designs of various neck/shoulder profiles such as that shown in figure 3 can be produced.
  • Necking apparatus typically operates at speeds of up to 200 containers per minute giving a typical working time duration at each forming station in the order of 0.3 seconds. In this time, it is required that the tooling table 6 moves axially to the advanced position, the tooling at a respective station contacts a respective container and deforms one stage in the necking process, and the tooling table 6 is retracted.
  • the tooling table in addition to the necking/shoulder-forming tooling at stations 7, the tooling table carries embossing toling 10 at an embossing station 9.
  • the embossing tooling (shown most clearly in figures 11 to 16) comprises inner forming tool parts 11a, lib of respective arms 11 of an expandible internal tool mandrel 15. Tool parts 11a, lib carry respective female embossing formations 12.
  • the embossing tooling 10 also includes a respective outer tool arrangement including respective arms 13 carrying tooling parts 13a, 13b having complementary male embossing formations 14.
  • a respective outer tool arrangement including respective arms 13 carrying tooling parts 13a, 13b having complementary male embossing formations 14.
  • the respective internal tool parts 11a, lib are positioned internally of the container spaced adjacently the container 1 wall; the respective external tool parts 13a, 13b are positioned externally of the container spaced adjacently the container 1 wall.
  • the internal mandrel 15 is expandible to move the tooling parts 11a , lib to a relatively spaced apart position in which they abut the internal wall of the container 1 (see figure 12) from the collapsed position shown in figure 11
  • An elongate actuator rod 16 is movable in a longitudinal direction to effect expansion and contraction of the mandrel 15 and consequent movement apart and toward one another of the tool parts 11a, lib.
  • a the cam head portion 17 of the actuator rod 16 effects expansion of the mandrel 15 as the actuator rod 16 moves in the direction of arrow A.
  • the cam head portion 17 acts against sloping wedge surfaces of the tool parts 11a, lib to cause expansion (moving apart) of the tool parts 11a, lib.
  • the resilience of arms 11 biases the mandrel 15 to the closed position as the rod 16 moves in the direction of arrow B .
  • Outer tool arms 13 are movable toward and away from one another under the influence of closing cam arms 20 of actuator 21 acting on a cam shoulder 13c of respective arms 13. Movement of actuator 21 in the direction of arrow D causes the external tooling parts 13a to be drawn toward one another. Movement of actuator 21 in the direction of arrow E causes the external tool parts 13a to relatively separate. Arms 13 and 11 of the outer tool arrangement and the inner mandrel are retained by cam support ring 22. The arms 11, 13 resiliently flex relative to the cam support ring 22 as the actuators 21, 16 operate.
  • the operation of the embossing tooling is such that the internal mandrel 15 is operable to expand and contract independently of the operation of the external tool parts 13a .
  • the internal mandrel 15 (comprising arms 11) and the external tooling (comprising arms 13) connected at cam support ring 22, are rotatable relative to table 6, in unison about the axis of mandrel 15. Bearings 25 are provided for this purpose.
  • a servo-motor (or stepping motor) 26 is connected via appropriate gearing to effect controlled rotation of the tooling 10 relative to table 6 in a manner that will be explained in detail later.
  • the mandrel 15 is expanded by moving actuator rod 16 in the direction of arrow A causing the internal tooling parts 11a to lie against the internal circumferential wall of cylinder 1, adopting the configuration shown in figures 12, 12a.
  • Next actuator 21 moves in the direction of arrow D causing cam arms 20 to act on cam shoulder 13c and flexing arms 13 toward one another.
  • the external tooling parts 13a engage the cylindrical wall of container 1, projections 14 deforming the material of the container 1 wall into respective complementary receiving formations 12 on the internal tooling parts 11a.
  • An important feature is that the internal tooling parts 11a support the non deforming parts of the container wall during deformation to form the embossed pattern 50.
  • Next actuator 21 returns to its start position (arrow E) permitting the arms 13 of the external toling to flex outwardly to their normal position. In so doing tooling parts 13a disengage from embossing engagement with the container 1 external surface.
  • the situation is as shown in figures 14, 14a.
  • the next stage in the procedure is for the internal mandrel to collapse, moving tooling parts 11a out of abutment with the internal wall of the cylinder 1.
  • the situation is as shown in figures 15, 15a.
  • the rotary table is the indexed rotationally moving the embossed container to adjacent with the next tooling station 7, and bringing a fresh container into alignment with the embossing tooling 10 at station 9.
  • embossing stages described correspond to stages 106 to 112 in the flow diagram of figure 1.
  • this is conveniently achieved by reviewing the position of a respective container 1 whilst already securely clamped in a chuck 4 of the rotary table 3, and rotationally reorientating the embossing tooling 10 to the required position.
  • This technique is particularly convenient and advantageous because a rotational drive of one arrangement (the embossing tooling 10) only is required.
  • Chucks 4 can be fixed relative to the table 3 and receive containers in random axial rotational orientations. Moving parts for the apparatus are therefore minimised in number, and reliability of the apparatus is optimised.
  • the open ends 8 of undeformed containers 1 approaching the apparatus 2 have margins 30 printed with a coded marking band 31 comprising a series of spaced code blocks or strings 32 (shown most clearly in figure 4) .
  • Each code block/string 32 comprises a column of six data point zones coloured dark or light according to a predetermined sequence .
  • a charge coupled device (CCD) camera 60 views a portion of the code in its field of view.
  • the data corresponding to the viewed code is compared with the code band data stored in a memory (of controller 70) for the coded band and the position of the can relative to a datum position is ascertained.
  • the degree of rotational realignment required for the embossing tooling 10 to conform to the datum for the respective container is stored in the memory of a main apparatus controller 70.
  • the controller 70 when assessing the angular position of the tooling relative to the angular position to be embossed on the container utilises a decision making routine to decide whether clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the tooling 10 provides the shortest route to the datum position, and initiates the required sense of rotation of servo-motor 26 accordingly. This is an important feature of the system in enabling rotation of the tooling to be effected in a short enough time-frame to be accommodated within the indexing interval of the rotating table 3.
  • the coding block 32 system is in effect a binary code and provides that the CCD camera device can accurately and clearly read the code and determine the position of the container relative to the tooling 10 datum by viewing a small proportion of the code only (for example two adjacent blocks 32 can have a large number of unique coded configurations) .
  • the coding blocks 32 are made up of vertical data point strings (perpendicular to the direction of extent of the coding band 31) in each of which there are dark and light data point zones (squares) . Each vertical block 32 contains six data point zones. This arrangement has benefits over a conventional bar code arrangement, particularly in an industrial environment where there may be variation in light intensity, mechanical vibrations and like.
  • the coding band 31 includes a coding block pattern that repeats over 180 degree spans.
  • the position determination system and control of rotation of the tooling 10 are represented in blocks 102 to 105 of the flow diagram of figure 5.
  • the coding band 31 can be conveniently printed contemporaneously with the printing of the design on the exterior of the container. Forming of the neck to produce, for example a valve seat 39 (figure 3) obscures the coding band from view in the finished product.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
  • Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
  • Printing Methods (AREA)
  • Sampling And Sample Adjustment (AREA)
  • Investigating Or Analysing Biological Materials (AREA)

Abstract

Selon l'invention, une portion d'une zone codée (31) d'un corps (1) est échantillonnée et l'échantillon de code est comparé avec des données de code stockées en mémoire. Sur la base de la comparaison entre les données de code échantillonnées et stockées, une correction d'orientation est déterminée, puis la position relative du corps cylindrique (1) et de l'appareil associé est réorientée selon une situation de référence.
EP01904132A 2000-02-10 2001-02-09 Orientation relative de corps et appareil associe Ceased EP1263652A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0003033 2000-02-10
GB0003033A GB0003033D0 (en) 2000-02-10 2000-02-10 Deformation of cylindrical bodies
GB0026326 2000-10-27
GB0026326A GB0026326D0 (en) 2000-02-10 2000-10-27 Relative orientation of cylindrical bodies and apparatus
PCT/GB2001/000534 WO2001058763A1 (fr) 2000-02-10 2001-02-09 Orientation relative de corps et appareil associe

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1263652A1 true EP1263652A1 (fr) 2002-12-11

Family

ID=26243614

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP01904132A Ceased EP1263652A1 (fr) 2000-02-10 2001-02-09 Orientation relative de corps et appareil associe

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1263652A1 (fr)
AU (1) AU2001232051A1 (fr)
GB (1) GB2371257B (fr)
WO (1) WO2001058763A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
IT1320271B1 (it) * 2000-10-13 2003-11-26 Robino & Galandrino Spa Perfezionamento alle macchine di orientamento e applicazione dellecapsule di sigillo a bottiglie di vino spumante e simili.
ITBO20020806A1 (it) 2002-12-20 2004-06-21 Azionaria Costruzioni Acma Spa Macchina etichettatrice e/o marcatrice
ITPR20080083A1 (it) * 2008-12-10 2010-06-11 Marco Lottici Metodo per il controllo della posizione e/o verifica della presenza di scritte, serigrafie etichette applicate su contenitori in genere

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB9525391D0 (en) * 1995-12-12 1996-02-14 Metal Box Plc Orientation of cans
US5893286A (en) * 1996-07-19 1999-04-13 Aluminum Company Of America Apparatus and method for the registered embossing of containers

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO0158763A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU2001232051A1 (en) 2001-08-20
GB2371257B (en) 2003-07-09
GB2371257A (en) 2002-07-24
GB0208431D0 (en) 2002-05-22
WO2001058763A1 (fr) 2001-08-16

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