JP2001002218A - Holding and conveying device and inspecting device for lightweight article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a holding and conveying device for lightweight articles that is easy to connect with other conveyor lines and enable smooth conveyance of articles. SOLUTION: An air-suction belt conveyor device 20 is so framed that a belt member 25 whose belt surface 26 has air suction portions 27 for holding/ conveying transfer articles M via air suction is arranged, in an endless form, about a bed 40 with an air suction part. The bed 40 defines, in its upper portion 40u, front turnover portion 40f and rear turnover portion 40r, a first straight- ahead air suction path 31 and a second straight-ahead air suction path 32 extending parallel to the travel direction of the belt member 25, and in its lower portion 40d, a third or diagonal air suction path 33 interconnecting the front end of the first straight-ahead air suction path 31 and the rear end of the second straight-ahead air suction path 32.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a holding / transporting apparatus and an inspection apparatus for lightweight articles, and more particularly, to an apparatus for holding / transporting lightweight articles made of plastic, paper, or the like by an air suction belt conveyer apparatus. The present invention relates to an inspection device for inspecting inner and outer surfaces.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present applicant has previously disclosed Japanese Patent Application No. 10-350.
No. 177 proposes an air suction belt conveyor device for inspecting a lightweight container, in which the bottom of an article in an upright state is sucked by an air suction belt, turned downward, and sucked and held in an inverted state. According to this proposed technique, the light container to be inspected can be held at any angle position from the upright state to the inverted state, so that not only can the inner and outer surfaces be inspected in a variety of ways, but also the container can be held in the inverted state. There is a great advantage that foreign substances inside can be removed effectively.

[0003] In the proposed technique, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the article to be inspected W is sucked and held by the air suction unit (hole) 105 of the air suction belt 101 of the air suction belt conveyor device 100. However, in this device 100, the upper part of the air suction belt 101 is
A belt conveyor device 110 for loading and unloading articles W is provided side by side,
In the carry-in section 115, the article W1 conveyed by the conveyor belt 111 is loaded with the carry-in wheel 116 and the carry-in guide 1
17, the article W2 sucked and held on the air suction belt 101 is taken out by the unloading wheel 121 and the unloading guide 12 at the unloading section 120.
2 to the conveyor belt 111. However, in this device, as can be seen from the drawing, the traveling direction a1 of the air suction belt 101 of the air suction belt conveyor device 100 and the carry-in / out belt conveyor device 1
The traveling directions a2 of the ten conveyor belts 111 are opposite to each other.
17 and 122, the article W must be forcibly regulated and transported, so that the loading and unloading of the article W to and from the air suction belt conveyor apparatus 100 has to be complicated.

[0004] In view of the above, the present inventors have developed an apparatus which can more easily carry articles in and out of the air suction belt conveyor apparatus and can carry articles smoothly. In addition, an inspection device capable of efficiently and effectively inspecting articles using such an air suction belt conveyor device was developed.

[0005]

The present invention therefore provides:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a holding / transporting device for lightweight articles that can easily and smoothly convey articles with connection to another conveyor line. Another object of the present invention is to provide an inspection apparatus for a lightweight article that can efficiently and effectively inspect the inner and outer surfaces of an article as described above using the above-described holding and transporting apparatus.

[0006]

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the bottom surface (M) of the conveyed article (M) is provided on the belt surface (26).
b) A belt member (25) having an air suction part (27) for holding and transporting the air by suction is transferred from the upper surface part (40u) of the machine base (40) provided with the air suction part to the front reversing part (40f).
Through the lower surface portion (40d) and the rear inversion portion (40r)
An air suction belt conveyor device (20) disposed endlessly so as to reach the upper surface portion of the machine base and the front reversing portion and the rear reversing portion with respect to the traveling direction of the belt member. A first straight air suction path (31) and a second straight air suction path (32) formed in parallel are formed, and the first air suction path (32) is formed on the lower surface of the machine base.
A third skewed air suction path (33) for connecting a front end of the direct air suction path and a rear end of the second direct air suction path is formed, and is held and transported for lightweight articles. Related to the device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the air suction portion of the belt member is an air suction hole formed on the entire belt surface, and the machine base is an air suction box, A first air suction slit (4) formed in parallel with the traveling direction of the belt member at the upper surface portion of the box, the front reversing portion and the rear reversing portion.
1) and a second straight air suction slit (42) are formed, and the first box is formed on the lower surface of the air box.
The present invention relates to a holding / transporting device for a lightweight article having a third oblique air suction slit (43) for connecting a front end of the direct air suction slit and a rear end of the second air suction slit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the skew guide device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the skew guide device is configured to contact and guide the side (Ms) of the article to be conveyed along the third skew air suction path.
The present invention relates to a holding / transporting device for a light-weight article provided with:

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the skew guide device includes a pair of belt conveyor devices (51) for sandwiching a side portion of the article to be conveyed. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for performing inspection by holding and transporting an article to be inspected to the holding and transporting apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the inspection object is provided on the air suction conveyor apparatus. An inspection unit (60) for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of the article is provided, and a cleaning mechanism (7) for the inspected article held upside down by the third oblique air suction path.
0) is provided.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the cleaning mechanism according to the fifth aspect, wherein the cleaning mechanism is a foreign matter removing mechanism (71) on the inner and outer surfaces of the container to be inspected or a chip removing mechanism (75) at the container opening. The present invention relates to an inspection device for articles.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an overall outline of an air suction path in a holding and conveying device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall schematic side view of one embodiment of the holding and conveying device, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line -3, FIG.
Is a bottom view of the same, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the belt member, and FIG.
Is a top view of the air suction box with the belt member cut off, FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the same, FIG. 9 is a side view partially showing an example of the inspection apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. It is a side view showing other examples similarly. FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram in which the transport path of the present invention and the transport path of the conventionally proposed apparatus are compared in plan view.

The holding and conveying apparatus 10 shown in the embodiment is for holding and conveying as a conveyed article M a lightweight article made of plastic or paper used as a packaging container for a juice beverage or the like. It is advantageously used for the appearance inspection of the inner and outer surfaces of the device. The holding / transporting device 10 of the present invention can be used not only for inspection but also for switching and changing the conveyor line of articles.

First, the overall structure of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
0 is a belt member 25 having an air suction section 27 for holding and transporting the bottom portion Mb of the conveyed article M by air suction on the belt surface 26 as defined in the first aspect of the present invention, and an air suction section. From the upper surface 40u of the machine base 40 to the front reversing unit 4
The air suction belt conveyor device 20 is disposed endlessly so as to reach the rear inversion portion 40r via the lower surface portion 40d via 0f. The air suction belt conveyor device 20 has a machine base 40 as shown by the thick line in FIG.
Of the belt member 25 in the upper surface portion 40u and the front reversing portion 40f and the rear reversing portion 40r.
a first straight air suction path 31 and a second straight air suction path 32 formed in parallel to
In the lower surface 40d of the machine base 40, a third oblique air suction passage 33 connecting a front end 31f of the first straight air suction passage 31 and a rear end 32r of the second straight air suction passage 32 is formed. It is characterized by being formed. The details will be described below with reference to the drawings in FIG.

FIG. 2 shows an apparatus defined as the second aspect of the present invention. That is, here, the air suction portion on the belt surface of the belt member is an air suction hole 27 formed on the entire surface of the belt surface 26 like the belt member 25 shown in FIG. 7 and 8
And an air suction box 40 as shown in FIG. Then, in the upper surface portion 40u of the air suction box 40 and the front reversing portion 40f and the rear reversing portion 40r,
As shown in FIG. 7, a first orthogonal air suction slit 41 formed parallel to the traveling direction 25a of the belt member 25.
And a second direct air suction slit 42 is formed,
As shown in FIG. 8, a front end portion 41 of the first orthogonal air suction slit 41 is provided on a lower surface portion 40d of the air box 40.
f and the rear end 42r of the second straight air suction slit 42
A third skewed air suction slit 43 is formed to connect the air suction slits.

The inside of both ends of the belt member 25 is shown in FIG.
(And FIGS. 7 and 8), the meshing portion 29 is formed continuously. As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the teeth 23 of the pulleys 21 and 22 arranged before and after the air suction box 40 mesh with the teeth 29 and the belt member 25 moves continuously. (The pulley drive unit is not shown). The belt member 25 has its belt surface 2 as described above.
6, an air suction hole 27 is formed on the entire surface, and the air suction hole 27 slides on the surface of the air suction box 40 to be moved. The air suction box 40 is provided with an air suction section (vacuum device) 45. The air suction box 40 is provided with a first direct air suction slit 41, a second direct air suction slit 42, and a third oblique air suction slit 43. It is designed to suck air. And these air suction slits 41, 42, 4
Reference numeral 3 denotes a first straight air suction path 31 corresponding to the slits 41, 42, and 43 in the belt member 25, and a second straight path through the suction hole 27 of the belt member 25 sliding on the surface of the air suction box 40. An air suction path 32 and a third oblique air suction path 33 are formed.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the air suction belt conveyor device 20. The belt surface 26 of the belt member 25 has a first straight air suction path 31 and a first air suction path 41 corresponding to the air suction slits 41 and 42 of the air suction box. Second straight air suction path 32
Is formed, and as shown in the figure, the belt surface 2 of the belt member 25 is formed.
6 is conveyed through the air suction hole 27 of FIG.
b is adsorbed by air, the first direct air adsorbing path 31 and the second
It is transported along the direct air suction path 32. Reference numeral 11 in the figure
Is a carry-in unit provided at the rear end 31r of the first direct air suction path 31, 12 is a carry-in guide device composed of a pair of belt conveyor devices sandwiching the side portion Ms of the conveyed goods M,
Reference numeral 15 denotes an article discharge section provided at the front end 32f of the second straight air suction path 32, and reference numeral 16 denotes a discharge guide device including a pair of belt conveyor devices that sandwich the side portion Ms of the conveyed article M.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the air suction belt conveyor device 20. On the lower surface side, similarly, the front end 31f of the first orthogonal air suction passage 31 and the second orthogonal air suction passage 32 correspond to the air suction slit 43 of the air suction box.
A third skewed air suction passage 33 is formed to connect the rear end 32 r of the belt member 25 to the air suction hole 2 in the belt surface 26 of the belt member 25.
7, the bottom portion Mb of the article M to be conveyed is sucked by air and conveyed along the third oblique air suction path 33.

The third skewed air suction path 33 is guided along the third skewed air suction path 33 in contact with the side portion Ms of the article M to be conveyed along the third skewed air suction path 33. It is proposed that a skew guide device 50 be provided.
As the skew guide device 50, a guide bar or the like can be used.
It is advantageous to use a pair of belt conveyor devices 51 for holding the side portion Ms of the article M to be conveyed as shown in FIG.

By installing such a skew guide device 50 (51), smooth and reliable oblique conveyance becomes possible, and it is possible to cope with high-speed conveyance. In particular, the third skewed air suction path 33 holds and conveys the article to be conveyed M upside down. For example, when holding and conveying a container or the like for inspection as described later, the container is A pair of belt conveyor devices 51 capable of effectively performing cleaning of the inner and outer surfaces of the inverted and held portion, and in such a case, securely holding the side portion of the article as in the invention of claim 4. Is convenient.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, a description will be given of an inspection apparatus according to a fifth or sixth aspect of the present invention, in which an inspection is performed by holding and transporting the article P to be inspected by the above-described holding and transporting apparatus. As shown in FIG. 9, the invention according to claim 5 further includes an inspection unit 60 for inspecting the inner and outer surfaces of the inspection object P sucked and held by the air suction conveyor device 20, and the third oblique inspection device. The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus 90 for a lightweight article, which is provided with a cleaning mechanism 70 for the article P1 to be inspected held upside down in the row air suction path 33.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the first direct air suction path 3
An air blower 80 for removing static electricity is disposed below the front reversing portion 31A. This static elimination air blowing device 8
0 removes static electricity by ionizing the molecules of the compressed air into plus and minus and attracting and neutralizing the opposite ion charged on the inspected article P;
Blowing or floating foreign matter such as fine dust by blowing air on the inner and outer surfaces of the article. A cleaning mechanism 70 including an air suction device is provided in the third skewed air suction path 33, and the foreign matter inside and outside the inspected article P1 held in an inverted state by the third skewed air suction path 33 is provided. Is removed. Since the inspected article P is in an inverted state, for example, in the case of a container or the like, foreign substances inside the container can be effectively removed by suction. Note that the above-described static elimination air blowing device 80 is not always necessary.

The inspection of the inspection object P is performed by, for example, a known optical inspection. In the case where it is desirable to perform the inspection after removing the foreign matter from the inspected article P from the viewpoint of inspection accuracy, the inspection is performed after the cleaning. Inspection unit 6
The reference numeral 0 indicates, for example, an inner surface inspection unit 61 and a mouth inspection unit 62 performed in an inverted state of an article, or a side inspection unit 63 and a label inspection unit 64 performed in an upright state of an article. These inspection sections 60 may include a first orthogonal air suction path 31 (including a front inversion section 31A), a second orthogonal air suction path 32 (including a rear inversion section 32A), and a third It can be appropriately arranged along the oblique air suction path 33.

In FIG. 10, the cleaning mechanism 70 is a foreign matter removing mechanism 71 on the inner and outer surfaces of the container as the article P to be inspected or a chip removing mechanism 75 at the container mouth, as defined in the sixth aspect of the present invention. The present invention relates to an inspection device 95 for lightweight articles. In the example of the figure, the third inspection object P is in an inverted state.
Air suction device 7 provided along skewed air suction passage 33
A brush part 75 is formed at the upper part of the container 1 so as to be in contact with the mouth of the container P1 in an inverted state, thereby removing chips (burrs) at the mouth Pm of the container and removing foreign substances on the inner and outer surfaces thereof. I have. Before these, it is free to provide the static elimination air blowing device 80 as described in FIG. FIG.
At 0, the same members and devices as those in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 11 shows the transport path (A) of the apparatus 10 of the present invention and the transport path (B) of the previously proposed apparatus 100 described above.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a comparison between the two in a plan view, but as shown in the figure, according to the device 10 of the present invention, the mechanisms of the loading unit 11 and the unloading unit 15 can be greatly simplified, and the entire device can be simplified. can do. Since the feed direction of the conveyed article can always be one direction, as shown in the comparative example (B), the apparatus 10
Since it is not necessary to turn 180 degrees in the plane direction at the time of carry-in to 0 and then turn 180 degrees again at the time of carry-out, articles can be stably and smoothly conveyed.
Naturally, troubles such as falling, jumping out, and falling off during turning can be eliminated. Further, as can be easily understood from the drawings, the connection between the carry-in section 11 and the carry-out section 15 is easy, and if necessary, the change of these conveyor lines can be easily performed.

Further, when the invention apparatus 10 is used as an inspection apparatus, as can be seen from the figure, almost no space is required for carrying in and out the articles to be inspected, and the entire apparatus 10 can be used as an inspection line. In addition, while it is possible to increase the space for the inspection unit, it is also possible to greatly contribute to miniaturization and space saving of the apparatus.

[0027]

As shown and described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a holding / transporting device for lightweight articles which can be easily connected to another conveyor line and can transport articles smoothly. I was able to. In addition, it is possible to provide an inspection apparatus for a lightweight article that can efficiently and effectively inspect the inner and outer surfaces of the article by using the above holding and conveying apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an overall outline of an air suction path in a holding and conveying apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall schematic side view of an embodiment of a holding and conveying device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the present apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a belt member.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the air suction box with the belt member cut away.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the same.

FIG. 9 is a side view, partly omitted, showing an example of the inspection apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing another example.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a transport path of the present invention and a transport path of a conventionally proposed apparatus in a planar manner.

FIG. 12 is a top view of a conventionally proposed air suction belt conveyor device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 air suction belt conveyor device 25 belt member 26 belt surface 27 air suction section (hole) 31 first straight air suction path 32 second straight air suction path 33 third oblique air suction path 40 machine base (air suction box) 40u Upper surface portion 40f Front reversing portion 40d Lower surface portion 40r Rear reversing portion 41 First straight air suction slit 42 Second straight air suction slit 43 Third skew air suction slit 50 Skew guide device 51 Belt conveyor device 60 Inspection unit 70 Cleaning Mechanism 71 Foreign matter removal mechanism 75 Chip removal mechanism

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────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. (72) Inventor Sen Chika Kai 1-1-19 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tadayoshi 1-16-5 Tamade Nishi, Nishinari-ku, Osaka Toho Shoji Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2G051 AA11 AB20 DA01 DA06 DA17 2G059 AA10 BB15 CC20 DD12 3F024 AA12 CA04 DA02 DA12 3F025 BA02 BB01 BC10

Claims (6)

[Claims] A belt member (25) having an air suction portion (27) for holding and transporting a bottom portion (Mb) of a conveyed article (M) by air suction on a belt surface (26) is provided with an air suction portion. An air suction belt disposed endlessly from the upper surface (40u) of the machine base (40), through the front reversing portion (40f), through the lower surface (40d) to the rear reversing portion (40r). A conveyor device (20), wherein a first straight air suction path (31) formed parallel to a traveling direction of the belt member at an upper surface portion of the machine base and a front reversing portion and a rear reversing portion; A second straight air suction path (32) is formed, and a front end of the first straight air suction path and a rear end of the second straight air suction path are connected on a lower surface of the machine base. The third oblique air suction path (33) is formed. Holding and conveying device for weight article characterized by. 2. The air suction unit according to claim 1, wherein the air suction portion of the belt member is an air suction hole formed on the entire surface of the belt surface, the machine base is an air suction box, In the front reversing part and the rear reversing part, a first orthogonal air suction slit (41) and a second orthogonal air suction slit (42) formed parallel to the traveling direction of the belt member are formed. A third oblique air suction slit (43) for connecting a front end of the first orthogonal air suction slit and a rear end of the second orthogonal air suction slit is formed on a lower surface of the air box. Holding and conveying device for goods. 3. The lightweight article according to claim 1, further comprising a skew guide device (50) for guiding the article to be conveyed along the third skew air suction path by contacting the side portion (Ms) of the article to be conveyed. For holding and transporting equipment. 4. The holding and conveying device according to claim 3, wherein the skew guide device includes a pair of belt conveyor devices (51) that sandwich a side portion of the conveyed article. 5. An apparatus for inspecting an article by holding and transporting the article to be inspected and held by the holding and transporting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus inspects the inner and outer surfaces of the article to be inspected on the air suction conveyor device. An inspection unit (60) is provided,
An inspection apparatus for a lightweight article, wherein a cleaning mechanism (70) is provided for the article to be inspected invertedly held in the third oblique air suction path. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said cleaning mechanism is a mechanism for removing foreign matter on the inner and outer surfaces of a container as an article to be inspected.
1) An inspection device for a lightweight article that is a chip removal mechanism (75) at a container mouth.