JP2001063799A - Cap fastening device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cap fastening device capable of fastening a cap while venting air in a container to evacuate the same in spite of a simple and compact structure. SOLUTION: When a pusher 33 is propelled by a grasping air cylinder 21 while the cap 51 of a bottle 50 is inserted in the empty chamber 17 of a body 4, an elastic sealing ring 9 is pressed by the pusher 33 to be elastically deformed and the outer periphery of a bottle main body 54 is airtightly tightened and grasped by the elastic sealing ring 9. When the empty chamber of the body 14 is evacuated, the air in the bottle main body 54 is vented to evacuate the bottle main body because the cap is not fastened. Next, when a cap fastening rotor 18 is pressed to the top surface of the cap 51 by a rotor pressing air cylinder 20 and rotated by a motor, the cap 51 is rotated while pressed by the cap fastening rotor 18 to be fastened to the bottle main body 54.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cap tightening device for closing a cap of a container such as a bottle and closing the cap airtightly.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional cap fastening device, for example, a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-29428 is known. This cap fastening device includes a clutch unit having a friction clutch built in a housing and a cap holding unit. The cap holding section has a cap holding cylinder fixed to a central shaft protruding from the housing of the clutch section, and an elastic ring body for fitting the outer periphery of the cap to the lower opening edge of the cap holding cylinder. A movable pressing member that presses and deforms the body and a cap top pressing member that presses and rotates the top surface of the cap are arranged concentrically in the cap holding cylinder. The cap top surface pressing body is fixed to the lower end of the center shaft in the cap holding cylinder, and the movable pressing body defines a pressure chamber above the movable pressing body.

In order to tighten the cap with this conventional cap tightening device, an unfastened cap placed on the mouth of a container is fitted to an elastic ring, and the top surface of the cap is placed on the lower surface of the cap top pressing body. After pressure contact, pressurized air is press-fitted into a pressure chamber on the movable pressing body through a pressure air passage provided on the central shaft. As a result, the movable pressing body presses the elastic ring to elastically deform it, so that the outer peripheral surface of the cap is held by the cap holding cylinder by tightening the elastic ring. When the center shaft is rotated in this state, the cap is rotated together with the cap top surface pressing body, and when the pressurization of the movable pressing body by the pressurized air is stopped during the rotation, the cap is temporarily fastened to the container. After this, the cap is fully tightened by the rotation of the cap top surface pressing body. When the tightening force exceeds a predetermined value, the friction clutch is disengaged.

[0004]

However, in this conventional cap fastening device, the outer peripheral surface of the cap is gripped by an elastic ring, and the cap top surface pressing body is pressed against the top surface of the cap. Since the cap is simply rotated by the pressing body to perform the temporary tightening and the final tightening, the cap cannot be tightened while evacuating the air in the container to create a vacuum.

[0005] Conventionally, there is a device for evacuating the inside of a container to close the cap, but it is not widely used because it is large and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a cap tightening device capable of tightening a cap while evacuating air from a container and creating a vacuum while having a simple and compact structure.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cap tightening apparatus comprising: a body having an empty chamber; a holding air cylinder provided in the body; and a pusher slidably moved in the body by the holding air cylinder. An elastic sealing ring attached to the lower opening edge of the body, pressed by a pusher and deformed to hermetically grip the outer periphery of the container body in a state where the container cap is inserted into an empty space of the body; and Vacuum means for evacuating the empty space of the body from outside the body, a rotor pressing air cylinder provided in the body, and a rotor pressing air cylinder which is pressed against the cap of the container in the chamber of the body by the rotor pressing air cylinder. And a cap tightening rotor that is rotated by the to close the cap.

According to such a cap tightening device, when the pusher is propelled by the gripping air cylinder after the cap of the container is inserted into the hollow space of the body, the pusher presses the elastic sealing ring to deform it elastically. . The outer periphery of the container body is airtightly clamped and held by the elastically deformed elastic sealing ring. In this state, when the empty space of the body is evacuated from the outside of the body, the air in the container is evacuated because the cap is not fastened, and the vacuum is created. Next, when the cap-tightened rotor is pressed against the top surface of the cap by the rotor pressing air cylinder and the cap-tightened rotor is rotated by the motor, the cap is rotated while being pressed by the cap-tightened rotor and tightened against the container body. It is.

For compactness, a shaft rotated by a motor is passed through a hollow rod slid by an air cylinder for pressing the rotor, and the rotor is fixed to the tip of the shaft. The rotor pressing air cylinder and the gripping air cylinder are provided concentrically in the body.

The elastic sealing ring is divided into a plurality of divided pieces in order to improve the resilience, and the ends of the divided pieces are
A spring for repelling the divided pieces is embedded.

[0011]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of the overall configuration of a cap fastening device according to the present invention. In this cap fastening device, a fastening mechanism 1 and a joint 2 above the fastening mechanism 1 are connected, and a rotor driving motor (electric servomotor) 3 is mounted on the joint 2. 4
Is fixed to the installation location using, for example, a mounting bracket 5 and a mounting bolt 6, and the whole is used in a vertical posture.

The body 4 comprises a cylindrical lower portion 4a, a rectangular intermediate portion 4b and a rectangular upper portion 4c. As shown in FIG. 2, the lower surface of the lower part 4a of the body 4 is open,
An annular seat 8 having an inclined surface 8a is formed at the inner peripheral edge of the lower surface opening 7, and an elastic sealing ring 9 is installed in the lower portion 4a of the body 4 so as to rest on the inclined surface 8a. I have.

The fastening mechanism 1 and the joint 2 are
They are connected by a cylindrical hollow rod 10. The hollow rod 10 slidably and airtightly penetrates through the upper cover 11 of the body 4 and protrudes into the intermediate portion 4b of the body 4, and a shaft 12 is rotatably supported in the hollow rod 10. Through. The shaft 12 is connected to an output shaft 16 of the motor 3 by couplings 14 and 15 in a box 13 also serving as a base of the motor 3, and rotates integrally with the output shaft 16.

A disk-shaped cap-tightening rotor 18 is fixed to the lower end of the shaft 12 in an empty space 17 of the body 4. On the lower surface of the cap-tightened rotor 18,
An elastic pad 19 made of urethane rubber or the like is fixed.

In the body 4, two air cylinders, that is, a rotor pressing air cylinder 20 and a gripping air cylinder 21, are provided concentrically around the hollow rod 10.

The rotor pressing air cylinder 20 includes:
A tube 23 is fixed between the upper cover 11 of the body 4 and the tube holder 22 in the intermediate portion 4b to form a piston chamber 24, and a piston 25 fitted in the piston chamber 24 so as to be slidable up and down is hollow rod 10 The piston 25 slides up and down integrally with the hollow rod 10 by supplying and discharging compressed air through an air supply / discharge port 32 provided in the upper portion 4c of the body 4. The hollow rod 10 also slidably penetrates the tube holder 22 in an airtight manner.

Accordingly, when the hollow rod 10 moves up and down by the rotor pressing air cylinder 20, the joint 2 and the motor 3 move up and down integrally therewith. The joint 4 moves up and down but does not rotate.
A non-rotating rod 27 erected on the upper portion 4c is fitted in a guide groove 28 provided in the box 13 of the joint portion 2 slidably up and down.

The gripping air cylinder 21 has a flanged inner tube 29 fixed between the intermediate portion 4b and the upper portion 4c of the body 4 and is installed in the intermediate portion 4b. A piston chamber 30 is formed between the piston chamber 30 and the piston chamber 30;
The piston 31 slides up and down by supplying and discharging compressed air through an air supply / discharge port 26 provided in the intermediate portion 4b.

The piston 31 has a cylindrical pusher 33.
Are integrally protruded downward. This pusher 33
Are slidably penetrated in an airtight manner through the inner peripheral surface of a small diameter portion 4d in which the inner diameter of the intermediate portion 4b of the body 4 is small, and
7 has entered. The pusher 33 has an annular projection 33a on the inner peripheral edge of the opening at the lower end in order to increase the contact area with the elastic sealing ring 9.

The elastic sealing ring 9 is made of an elastic material such as urethane rubber and formed into five parts as shown in FIG. 3, and a spring 34 for repelling the divided parts is provided at the end of the five divided parts 9a. It is buried. The cross-sectional shape of the elastic sealing ring 9 is sector-shaped, and a part of the arc surface 9 b on the outer periphery thereof is always in contact with the inclined surface 8 a of the seat 8 of the body 4. The inner diameter of the elastic sealing ring 9 is smaller than the inner diameter of the seat 8, and a part of the elastic sealing ring 9 projects inside the lower surface opening 7 formed by the seat 8. A convex portion 9c is formed on an upper portion of the inner peripheral surface of the elastic sealing ring 9.

The upper part 4c of the body 4 is provided with a vacuum suction port 35 and a vacuum measurement port 36 for evacuating the inside of the empty space 17.

The present cap fastening device has a structure as described above.
A quick lock type bin 50 as shown in FIG. 7 is preferred. In the illustrated bottle 50, a seal rubber 52 is attached to the inner surface of the head of the cap 51, and lock claws 53 are provided at a plurality of positions on the inner peripheral surface. When the cap 51 is placed on the mouth of the bottle body 54, the bottle 50 becomes substantially horizontal. Cap 5 in state
When the dial 1 is slightly turned, the lock claw 53 enters the lock claw receiving portion 55 on the outer periphery of the mouth of the bottle main body 54, and the cap 51 is locked.

Next, the cap 51 of such a bottle 50
The operation of tightening with the present cap tightening device will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, the bottle 50 is raised and lowered by setting the cap 51 to a state immediately before locking the bottle main body 54 containing the contents (a state in which the sealing rubber 52 is not in close contact with the mouth of the bottle main body 54). Place on the table 56 and place the cap 51
The bin 50 is lifted by the bin elevator 56 to a predetermined position where the upper part of the bin main body 54 enters the vacant space 17 of the body 4.

When the gripping air cylinder 21 is operated to lower the piston 31 while the bin 50 is maintained at this position, the pusher 33 integrated with the piston 31 raises the elastic sealing ring 9 as shown in FIG. , The elastic sealing ring 9 is deformed, and the convex portion 9c of the elastic sealing ring 9 is pressed against the body of the bottle main body 54 to grip the bottle 50 in an airtight manner.

Thereafter, when the air in the empty chamber 17 is evacuated by vacuum suction from the vacuum suction port 35 while measuring the degree of vacuum using the vacuum measurement port 36, the air in the bottle 50 is also evacuated, and As in the case of 17, a vacuum is created. In FIG.
The area indicated by the crossed diagonal lines is the vacuum area.

Next, the rotor pressing air cylinder 2
When the piston 25 is lowered as shown in FIG. 6, the hollow rod 10 and the shaft 12 are integrated therewith.
Is moved downward, so that the elastic pad 19 of the cap tightening rotor 18 is in close contact with the top surface of the cap 51, and the cap 5
1 is pressed from above by the cap fastening rotor 18.

Thereafter, when the rotor driving motor 3 is driven to rotate the shaft 12, the cap tightening rotor 18 also rotates integrally therewith, so that the cap 51 is rotated by the cap tightening rotor 18 and the cap 51 is locked. The claw 53 is a lock claw receiving portion 5 on the outer periphery of the mouth of the bottle body 54.
5, the cap 51 is locked.

The piston 25 of the air cylinder 20 for pressing the rotor and the piston 3 of the air cylinder 21 for gripping
1 is lifted up, the cap-tightened rotor 18 is separated from the cap 51, the gripping of the bottle body 54 by the elastic sealing ring 9 is released, and then the bin elevator 56 is lowered. Removed from the cap tightening device.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the cap can be tightened while evacuating the air in the container and evacuating it while having a simple and compact structure.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a shaft rotated by a motor is passed through a hollow rod slid by an air cylinder for pressing a rotor, and a rotor is fixed to a tip of the shaft. In the invention according to
Since the rotor pressing air cylinder and the gripping air cylinder are provided concentrically in the body, a compact structure can be achieved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the elastic sealing ring is divided into a plurality of divided pieces, and an end of the divided piece is
Since the spring for repelling the divided pieces is embedded, the elastic sealing ring has good resilience.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an entire cap fastening device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cap fastening device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an elastic sealing ring.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the bottle is raised and fed into the cap fastening device.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the bottle is gripped and evacuated.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a state where the cap is tightened to a lock position.

7A and 7B show an example of a bottle of a target product, wherein FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of the cap, FIG. 7B is a bottom view of the cap, FIG. 7C is a plan view of the bottle main body, and FIG. (E) is a side view of a state where the cap is placed on the mouth of the bottle main body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tightening mechanism part 2 Joint part 3 Rotor drive motor 4 Body 4a Lower part 4b Intermediate part 4c Upper part 4d Diameter detail 5 Bracket 6 Mounting bolt 7 Lower surface opening 8 Seat 8a Inclined surface 9 Elastic sealing ring 9a Dividing piece 9b Arc surface 9c convex Part 10 Hollow rod 11 Upper cover 12 Shaft 13 Box 14 ・ 15 Coupling 16 Output shaft 17 Empty room 18 Cap-tightened rotor 19 Elastic pad 20 Rotor pressing air cylinder 21 Air cylinder for gripping 22 Tube holder 23 Tube 24 Piston chamber 25 Piston 26 air supply / discharge port 27 detent rod 28 guide groove 29 inner tube with flange 30 piston chamber 31 piston 32 air supply / discharge port 33 pusher 33a annular protrusion 34 spring 35 vacuum suction Port 36 Vacuum measurement port 50 Bin 51 Cap 52 Seal rubber 53 Lock claw 54 Bottle body 55 Lock claw receiving portion 56 Bin lift

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A body having an empty chamber, a gripping air cylinder provided in the body, a pusher slidable in the body by the gripping air cylinder, and attached to a lower opening edge of the body, An elastic sealing ring that grips the outer periphery of the container body in a state in which the container cap is inserted into the chamber of the body by being pressed and deformed by the pusher, and for evacuating the chamber of the body from outside the body. Vacuum evacuation means, a rotor pressing air cylinder provided on the body, and a cap tightening rotor which is pressed by a rotor pressing air cylinder against the cap of the container in the chamber of the body and rotated by a motor to close the cap. A cap fastening device comprising: 2. A rotor according to claim 1, wherein a shaft rotated by a motor is passed through a hollow rod slid by an air cylinder for pressing the rotor, and a rotor is fixed to a tip of the shaft. Cap fastening device. 3. The cap fastening device according to claim 1, wherein the air cylinder for pressing the rotor and the air cylinder for gripping are provided concentrically in the body. 4. The cap fastening device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic sealing ring is divided into a plurality of divided pieces, and a spring for repelling the divided pieces is embedded at an end of the divided pieces. apparatus.