JP2000171414A - Method and apparatus for inspection of inner surface and outer surface of lightweight container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a method and an apparatus in which the inner surface and the outer surface of an object to be inspected can be inspected efficiently by a method wherein the bottom part of the object in an erected state is sucked and held, the object is swiveled downward, static elimination air is sprayed on the inner surface and the outer surface, the object is held in a handstand state, a foreign matter is removed, and the inner surface and the outer surface are inspected. SOLUTION: This apparatus 10 is composed of an air suction belt 20, a static- elimination-air spraying device 30, an air suction device 40 and an inner-and-outer- surface inspection device 50. By this constitution, the objects W which are conveyed by a main conveyor are introduced sequentially to a suction belt 21. The bottom part Wc of every object W is held by an air suction hole, every object W is swiveled gradually downward, and air is sprayed by the static-elimination-air spraying device 30. The air is sprayed on both sides of every object W. Then, in an erected and held position in which the opening Wa of every object W is situated on the lower side, every object W is air-sucked by the air suction device 40, and a foreign matter is removed. Then, the inner surface and the outer surface of every object W are inspected by the inspection device 50.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of a lightweight container made of plastic or paper for the presence or absence of foreign matter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There have been proposed various methods and apparatuses for inspecting foreign substances on the inner and outer surfaces of beverage containers such as soft drinks and nutritional drinks. As foreign substances on the inside and outside of the container, there are burrs generated during the molding of the container, and other hair, dust, and stains on printing. These can be prevented to some extent by developing a micro filter, improving production process management, and improving the environment. It became so.

In addition, foreign matters, particularly inside the container, are mixed with the contents and become defective, so that strict control is required. Therefore, recently, a method has been proposed in which foreign matter in the container is removed by blowing air into the container or suctioning the air.

[0004] However, minute foreign substances such as hair and dust as described above adhere to the inner surface of the container due to static electricity generated in the container, and the foreign substances in the container can be completely removed even by the method of blowing or sucking air as described above. May not be removed.

Further, in the inspection of foreign matter on the inner and outer surfaces of the container, foreign matter in the container must first be removed as a separate step, and then the inner and outer surface must be inspected. There is a problem that the number of removal steps and inspection steps increases and the line becomes longer. In addition, since this kind of inspection is generally performed while holding and moving the side or head of the container, the inspection cannot be performed on that part, and the inner and outer surfaces of the container to be inspected are inspected. In order to provide a plurality of inspection devices for the container to be inspected and to pass the inspection device for each part to be inspected,
There was a problem that the working time and the equipment cost increased.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has a light weight capable of effectively removing foreign matter in a container and efficiently inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of the container. A method and apparatus for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of a container.

[0007]

That is, the present invention provides:
The bottom of the inspected article in the upright state is sucked and held by the air suction belt, turned downward, and after spraying static electricity removing air on the inner and outer surfaces of the inspected article, the inspected article sucked and held in the inverted state is returned. The present invention relates to a method for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of a lightweight container, which comprises removing foreign matter by applying air suction, and thereafter inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of the article to be inspected.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the bottom of the article to be inspected in an upright state is sucked and held by an air suction belt, turned downward and held in an inverted state, and then turned upward to become an upright state. An air suction belt device disposed so as to return, a static electricity removing air blowing device disposed outside the position of the downward turning portion of the air suction belt, and blowing static electricity removing air to the inner and outer surfaces of the article to be inspected; An air suction device that is disposed outside the lower position of the air suction belt and removes foreign matter by applying air suction to the inspection object suction-held in an inverted state; and a lower position or upward of the air suction belt. The present invention relates to an inner / outer surface inspection apparatus for a lightweight container, which has one or a plurality of inspection apparatuses arranged at a revolving portion position or an upper position for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of an article to be inspected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the air suction belt according to the second aspect, further comprising, outside the upper position of the air suction belt, a carry-in section for introducing an article to be inspected on a main conveyor into the air suction belt. The present invention relates to a light-weight container inner / outer surface inspection apparatus having a carry-out section for sending the above-mentioned inspected article to the main conveyor.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect, the air suction belt device has teeth formed at both ends on the back side and an air suction hole formed at a central portion of an inner flat portion of the teeth. Endless air suction belt, a pulley having a meshing portion meshing with a tooth portion of the air suction belt, and a vacuum having an air suction slit formed at a central position corresponding to an air suction hole of the air suction belt. The present invention relates to an inner and outer surface inspection device for a lightweight container having a box.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a schematic side view showing an apparatus for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of an article to be inspected according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, FIG.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the positional relationship between the apparatus of the present invention and the main conveyor.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and subsequent figures, the article to be inspected W will be described by taking as an example a lightweight plastic or paper container used for nutritional drinks and juices. First, the invention of claim 1 relates to the invention of the inspection method, and as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the bottom Wc of the inspected article W in the upright state is moved by the air suction belt 21 of the air suction belt device 20. After the suction-holding and turning downward, the static-removing air blowing device 30 sprays the static-removing air on the inner and outer surfaces of the inspection object, and then the air suction device 40 sucks the suction-holding inspection object in the inverted state. Is performed to remove foreign matter, and thereafter, the inner and outer surfaces of the article to be inspected are inspected by a predetermined inspection apparatus 50. Hereinafter, the inspection apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inspection apparatus 10 according to a second aspect of the present invention performs foreign matter removal and foreign matter inspection on the inner and outer surfaces of the article W to be inspected. The apparatus includes an apparatus 30, an air suction device 40, and an inner / outer surface inspection device 50 for inspecting the inner / outer surface of the inspected article W.

First, the air suction belt device 20 holds the inspected article W in the upright state by sucking and holding the bottom portion Wc of the inspected article W with the air suction belt 21 and turns downward to hold the article W in an inverted state. Thereafter, it is arranged so as to turn upward and return to the upright state. Air suction belt device 20 of this example
As shown in FIG. 4 and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, teeth 22 are formed at both ends on the back side, and an air suction hole 24 is formed at the center of an inner flat portion 23 of the teeth 22. Endless air suction belt 21 and the air suction belt 21
Pulley 25 having an engaging portion 26 meshing with the tooth portion 22
And a vacuum box 60 having an air suction slit 61 formed at a central position corresponding to the air suction hole 24 of the air suction belt 21.

In the air suction belt device 20 configured as described above, the teeth 22 at both ends on the back side of the air suction belt 21 mesh with the teeth 26 of the pulley 25 to be driven continuously, Air is sucked from the air suction holes 24 of the inner flat portion 23 of the suction belt 21 and the bottom W
c is held by suction. The vacuum box 60 is provided inside the air suction belt 21 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and performs air suction by operating a vacuum device 65 outside the machine.

In particular, in this embodiment, the air suction belt 2
The pulley 25 is divided so as to hold both outer sides of the air suction belt 21 so that the article to be inspected W can be reliably held by air suction even at the portion of the pulley 25 which is the upper / lower turning position. Vacuum box 6
0 is also provided to enter between the two pulleys 25,25.
In the figure, reference numeral 66 denotes an air hose connected to the vacuum device 65.

The static elimination air blowing device 30 is disposed outside the position of the downward swiveling portion of the air suction belt device 20, and applies static electricity to the inner and outer surfaces of the article W to be inspected and held by the air suction belt 21. Spray the removal air. The static electricity removing air removes static electricity by ionizing the molecules of the compressed air into plus and minus and attracting and neutralizing opposite ions charged to the article to be inspected W.

The air suction device 40 is disposed outside the lower position of the air suction belt 21, blows the static elimination air by the static elimination air blowing device 30, and is suction-held in an inverted state. Air suction is performed on W to remove foreign matter on the inner and outer surfaces of container W.

The inspection device 50 (51, 52, 53, 54,
55) is disposed at one or more of the air suction belt 21 at a lower position or an upward turning portion position or an upper position. These inspection devices 50 inspect the inner and outer surfaces of the inspected article W from which foreign matter has been removed. In this example, the inner surface inspection 51, which is performed in an inverted state at a lower position,
52, a mouth inspection 53, and side inspections 54 and 55 performed in an upright state at the upper position. These inspections are, for example, known optical inspections.

In the apparatus of this embodiment, the article W to be inspected on the main conveyor 11 is sucked out of the upper position of the air suction belt 21 as shown in FIG. It has a carry-in section 13 for introducing the belt 21 into the belt 21 and a carry-out section 14 for sending out the articles W to be inspected on the air suction belt 21 to the main conveyor 11. The carry-in unit 13 sequentially introduces the articles W to be inspected conveyed by the main conveyor 11 outside the device 10 onto the air suction belt device 20 for inspection by the carry-in wheel 15 and the carry-in guide 16.
The unloading section 14 includes an unloading wheel 17 and an unloading guide 18.
The inspection target articles W that have been inspected by the apparatus 10 are sequentially returned to the main conveyor 11 again. By these,
This kind of inspection can be performed continuously and smoothly.

That is, in FIG.
Is a normal belt conveyor device that conveys products at a constant speed, and moves in the direction of arrow 11a. On the other hand, the air suction belt 21 rotates in the opposite direction 21 a on the same plane with respect to the main conveyor 11. The carry-in wheel 15 and the carry-out wheel 17 rotate in the directions of arrows 15a and 17a, respectively, and carry in or carry out the article W to be inspected along the guides 16 and 18, respectively. The illustrated carry-in wheel 15 and carry-out wheel 17 are circular in shape having a urethane rubber layer on the surface, and have the advantage that the inspected articles W can be carried in or carried out at random. It is to be noted that a so-called star wheel having accommodating recesses generally used at regular intervals (equal angles) may be used.

Next, an example of the method for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of the lightweight container by the above-described apparatus 10 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the inspection object W conveyed on the main conveyor 11 is moved by the carry-in foil 15 and the carry-in guide 16 of the carry-in section 13.
It is sequentially introduced on the air suction belt 21. The inspected article W placed on the air suction belt 21 has a bottom Wc.
Is sucked and held in the air suction holes 24 of the air suction belt 21 and transferred to the arrow 21a. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the inspected article W is gradually turned downward and the static electricity removing air blowing device 30 blows the static electricity removing air at the downward turning position. At this time, the static electricity removing air is also blown to the inside of the inspected article W so as to spread.

Next, at the lower position where the mouth Wa of the inspected article W is held upside down so as to face down, the inspected article W is subjected to air suction by the air suction device 40 to remove foreign matter. This air suction removes static electricity from the article W to be inspected as described above, and the article to be inspected W is in an inverted state in which the mouth Wa faces downward. Then, the foreign matter in the container W can be effectively removed.

After the foreign matter is removed from the inspected article W, the inspecting apparatus 50 (51, 52, 53, 54, 55) arranged at the lower position, the upward turning portion position, or the upper position moves the inside of the inspected article W. Perform an external inspection. In this inspection, in addition to the inner surface and mouth inspection of the inspected article W at the lower position shown in the drawing, and the side inspection at the upper position, one or a plurality of inspections may be provided at appropriate positions to inspect a predetermined portion of the inspected article W. It is possible.

The article W to be inspected, which has reached the upper position after the above-described inspection, is taken in the direction indicated by the arrow 17a in the reverse order of the procedure when the article W is taken into the apparatus 10 by the carry-in section 15, as shown in FIG.
By the unloading wheel 17 and unloading guide 18 rotating in the direction, the sheet is again transferred to the main conveyor 11 and transported to the next process.

In this holding device 10, since the article to be inspected W rotates 360 degrees downward as shown in FIG. 1, the article to be inspected W is in an inverted state, and foreign matter on the inner surface of the container is subjected to the action of gravity. In addition to the above, it is possible to efficiently remove the container, and it is possible to inspect the inner and outer surfaces of the container by selecting a desired angular position such as a horizontal (direct side) position or an inverted position.

The inspection of the article to be inspected W is a well-known optical inspection apparatus which is frequently used in this kind of inspection. Illumination means including a diffused light source (not shown) and the photoelectric conversion means such as a CCD camera are used. The image captured by the CCD camera is subjected to image processing and differentiation processing is performed to detect and determine foreign matter on the inner surface and the outer surface of the inspected article W.

In the air suction belt device 20 of the inner / outer surface inspection apparatus 10, since the bottom Wc of the article W to be inspected is suction-held and inverted, the body Wb of the article W to be inspected has a circular shape. However, for example, a square bottle or a deformed bottle can be held without any problem, and can be turned downward by turning. Furthermore, unlike the conventional inspection device, it does not hold the side of the container to be inspected or grips the head, but holds the bottom by suction, so that the inner and outer surfaces of the container can be inspected continuously. Can be done.

Further, in the apparatus 10 of the present invention, the bottom Wc of the article to be inspected W is sucked and held, and the article to be inspected W is caused to circulate downward. Of the inspection object and the inspection of the inner and outer surfaces, the foreign matter in the container can be effectively removed, and the inspection of almost all parts of the article to be inspected W can be performed by changing the arrangement of the inspection device 50. Can be performed.

[0030]

As shown and described above, according to the method for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of a lightweight container according to the present invention, an article to be inspected is sucked and held by an air suction belt device and turned downward to create an inverted state. Therefore, the foreign matter removing operation can be performed effectively, and a plurality of inspections can be performed reliably and continuously at a high speed from multiple angles.

Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, by installing the apparatus on the side of a normal conveyor belt conveyor (the main conveyor), it is possible to easily add the steps of removing foreign substances from the inner and outer surfaces of the container and inspecting them. Because it can
In particular, there is no need to move the product to another inspection device, which is both efficient and economical. In addition, since the inspection is performed by turning the inspection object downward, a plurality of inspection steps can be performed within a short linear distance, and the apparatus is compact and easy to install.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an inner / outer surface inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a positional relationship between the apparatus of the present invention and a main conveyor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 inner / outer surface inspection device 11 main conveyor 13 carry-in part 14 carry-out part 15 carry-in wheel 17 carry-out wheel 20 air suction belt device 30 static elimination air blowing device 40 air suction device 50 inspection device 60 vacuum box W inspected item

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Takagi 520 Nakasone-cho, Ogaki-shi, Gifu Prefecture N-Tech Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akihiko Ohno 520 Nakasone-cho, Ogaki-shi, Gifu N-Tech Co., Ltd. 520, Nakasone-cho, Ogaki-shi, Gifu Prefecture, Japan N-Tech Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Chizuka Kai 1-1-1 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Yakult Honsha (72) Inventor Tadayoshi Teramoto Nishinari, Osaka 1-16-5 Tamade Nishi-ku Toho Shoji Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2G051 AA11 AB06 AC04 CA03 CB01 CB02 DA01 DA06 DA13

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An article to be inspected in an upright state is sucked and held by an air suction belt and turned downward, and after spraying static electricity removing air on the inner and outer surfaces of the article to be inspected, the article held in an upright state by suction is held. A method for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of a lightweight container, wherein air foreign matter is removed by applying air suction to the inspected article, and thereafter the inner and outer surfaces of the inspected article are inspected. 2. The air arranged so that the bottom of the article to be inspected in an upright state is sucked and held by an air suction belt, turned downward and held in an inverted state, and then turned upward and returned to an upright state. A suction belt device, a static electricity removing air blowing device that is disposed outside a position of the downward turning portion of the air suction belt, and that blows static electricity removing air to the inner and outer surfaces of the article to be inspected; An air suction device that is disposed outside and applies air suction to the inspected article that is suction-held in an inverted state to remove foreign matter; and a lower position or an upward turning portion position or an upper position of the air suction belt. An inner / outer surface inspection apparatus for a lightweight container, comprising one or a plurality of inspection apparatuses arranged to inspect an inner / outer surface of an article to be inspected. 3. The inspection unit according to claim 2, further comprising: a carry-in unit for introducing an article to be inspected on a main conveyor into the air suction belt outside an upper position of the air suction belt; And a carry-out section for sending the container to the main conveyor. 4. The endless air according to claim 2, wherein the air suction belt device has teeth formed at both ends on the back side and an air suction hole formed at a center of an inner flat portion of the teeth. A lightweight container having an adsorption belt, a pulley having a meshing portion meshing with a tooth portion of the air suction belt, and a vacuum box having an air suction slit formed at a central position corresponding to an air suction hole of the air suction belt. Inside and outside inspection equipment.