JP2002326068A - Lid removing apparatus for precleaning equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lid removing apparatus for precleaning equipment which can ensure reliable removal of lids by using a simple structure and can accelerate operation speed. SOLUTION: This lid removing apparatus is placed above a carrier conveyer 10, and has a plurality of sets of vertical movement shafts 25 and 25 disposed around a rotary shaft 22, and a plurality of sets of suction cups 21 of negative pressure sucking type horizontally arranged at the lower part of each vertical movement shaft 25. Each vertical movement shaft 25 is constituted vertical movably so that lids B are sucked when the suction cups 21 of each shaft revolve above the carrier conveyer 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pre-cleaning apparatus for cleaning a container with a lid such as a lunch box, and more particularly to a pre-cleaning apparatus for removing a lid from a container body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant has previously proposed a pre-cleaning device provided with a lid removing device as Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-184513. Referring to FIG. 8, the pre-cleaning apparatus includes an endless conveyor a for reversing a container during conveyance, a swing type lid removing device b disposed above the conveyor a, and a plurality of cleaning nozzles c. I have it. The lid removing device b comprises a U-shaped swing arm e provided with a suction cup d of a negative pressure suction type and an inclined plate f fixed to the swing arm e, and the swing arm e is synchronized with the passage timing of the container. When the rocker swings once in the vertical direction, the suction cup d is attracted to the lid g and is separated from the container body h and lifted up. The lid g slides down from the inclined plate f onto the conveyor a. In the lid removing device, the pivotal support of the swing arm e is set at a predetermined height such that the open peripheral edge of the suction cup d is substantially parallel to the upper surface of the lid g during suction.

[0003]

The pre-cleaning apparatus described above has the following problems. <A> As shown in FIG. 9, at the time of suction, the suction cup d comes into contact with the cover g in an oblique state, so that a gap is generated between the open periphery of the suction cup d and the cover g, and a predetermined negative pressure suction force is generated. It takes time to occur. <B> If the height of the lidded container is different, the parallelism between the suction cup d and the lid g is impaired when the swing arm e reaches the lowest position,
The adsorbability of the lid g deteriorates. <C> Not only does a large torque be required to drive the swing arm e, but also as the swing speed of the swing arm e increases, the suction time becomes shorter, and the certainty of the suction decreases. <D> Due to the reasons (1) to (3) above, there is a limit in increasing the operating speed of the apparatus. <E> In order to wash the lid g and the container main body h together, the lid g and the container main body h must be manually separated after the cleaning, and the sorting operation requires much labor.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lid removing device in the following pre-cleaning device. A lid removal device in a pre-cleaning device that can reliably remove the lid with a simple structure. A lid removal device in a pre-cleaning device that can increase the operating speed and improve the cleaning efficiency. A lid removing device in a pre-cleaning device, which can save labor by separating a lid and a container body manually after cleaning. A lid removal device in a pre-cleaning device that can save energy and reduce costs.

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In a pre-cleaning device that reverses the container body with the lid removed on the transport path of the container with the lid and sprays the cleaning liquid into the container body for cleaning, a negative pressure suction type disposed above the transport path of the container with the lid is used. Sucker, swiveling means for swiveling the suction cup between a transfer path and a lid collection point on the side of the transfer path, elevating means for raising and lowering the suction cup on the transfer path, and means for generating a negative pressure on the suction cup So that a negative pressure is generated in the suction cup over the section from the point of contact with the lid on the transport path to the lid collection point, and the negative pressure of the suction cup is cut off when reaching the lid collection point. A lid removing device in a pre-cleaning device, wherein the lid removing device is set. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pre-cleaning apparatus for reversing a container body with a lid removed on a transport path of a container with a lid, and spraying a cleaning liquid into the container body to perform cleaning. A plurality of sets of elevating shafts are arranged around the rotating shaft in a vertical direction, and a plurality of sets of elevating shafts are arranged around the rotating shaft so as to ascend and descend in the vertical direction while rotating around the rotating shaft. Suction-type suction cups are arranged horizontally, and each set of suction cups is configured to be able to move up and down so that the suction cups of each set can be adsorbed to the lid when rotating above the conveyor, and the points of contact with the lids Wherein a negative pressure is generated in the suction cup over a section from to the collection point of the lid, and the negative pressure of the suction cup is cut off at the collection point of the lid. It is. The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2,
The pre-cleaning device is characterized in that the pre-cleaning device is provided with a rotation correction mechanism in which the vertically moving suction shaft is rotated at a point where the suction cup abuts on the lid so that each set of horizontally arranged suction cups moves in parallel along the transport direction of the container. It is a lid removal device.

[0006]

Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<A> Overall Configuration of Preliminary Cleaning Apparatus FIGS. 2 to 4 show an example of the preliminary cleaning apparatus. The preliminary cleaning apparatus is disposed at least on an endless conveyor 10 and above the conveyor 10. The apparatus includes a swiveling and lifting type lid removing device 20 and one or more washing nozzles 30 arranged around the conveyor 10. The present invention is an improvement on the lid removing device 20, and the configuration of the pre-cleaning device excluding the lid removing device 20, which will be described later, can employ various known types. Hereinafter, the main components will be described in detail.

<B> Conveyors As shown in FIG. 2, the conveyor 10 is a sprocket 1
The endless belt 13 is wound between the sprockets 1 and 12, and the belt 13 rotates by receiving the driving force of one of the sprockets 11 and 12. Although the belt body 13 may be a belt-shaped belt, as shown in FIG. 4, the belt body 13 is constituted by a chain of a plurality of pieces 13a, and the entire length thereof is set long so that the lower half of the belt body 13 hangs. A plurality of protrusions 14 are provided on the surface at predetermined intervals. A water shield plate 15 for regulating the permeation of the washing water is disposed inside the conveyor 10. An arcuate curved guide 40 is arranged on the end side of the conveyor 10 (to the left in FIGS. 2 and 3). The curved guide 40 is configured by arranging a plurality of arc plates 41 at predetermined intervals, and serves as a guide member when the container body A is turned over, and also includes foreign matter such as chopsticks and spoons left in the container body A. And a member for ensuring smooth rotation of the conveyor 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, an auxiliary conveyor 50 is arranged below the conveyor 10 in parallel with the conveyor 10. The auxiliary conveyor 50 is a transfer tool for transferring the inverted container body A, and is composed of, for example, sprockets 51 and 52 and a plurality of chain members 53 wound and arranged between the sprockets 51 and 52. Projections (not shown) are provided at intervals. This projection is an inverted container body A
It is intended to be transported by hooking on. Reference numeral 54 denotes a “saw-shaped” floor provided between the chain bodies 53, 55 denotes an unloading conveyor disposed on an extension of the auxiliary conveyor 50,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a garbage tank installed below the auxiliary conveyor 50.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a collection conveyor 57 for collecting a lid is arranged on the side of the conveyor 10. In the pre-cleaning apparatus, the lid B removed from the container body A is removed from the pre-cleaning route and collected. The collected lid B is cleaned by a cleaning device (not shown). In this example, the case where the collecting means of the lid B is a conveyor will be described. However, the collecting means of the lid B is not limited to the conveyor, and may be directly dropped into a collecting tank (not shown) to be collected or slid like a slide. It is also possible to collect by conveying the conveyor 1
It is only necessary that the lid B can be collected on the side of 0.

<C> Cleaning Nozzles As shown in FIG. 2, cleaning nozzles 30 and 31 are disposed above the end of the conveyor 10 and inside the auxiliary conveyor 50, respectively. The cleaning nozzle 30 is formed, for example, by forming a small hole in the peripheral surface of the hollow tube, and is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the container body A.

<D> Lid Removal Apparatus FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lid removal apparatus 20, and FIG. The lid removing device 20 disposed above the conveyor 10 is provided with a negative pressure suction type suction cup 21.
And the suction cup 21 can be moved up and down with respect to the transport conveyor 10,
Further, there is provided a means for running between the conveyor 10 and the collection conveyor 57 so as to be pivotable about the rotating shaft 22.

[Rotary Axis] As shown in FIG. 4, a rotary shaft 22 that rotates in one direction under the drive of a motor (not shown) hangs vertically from a stationary member 60 of the apparatus main body. An upper rotating plate 23 and a lower rotating plate 24 are fixed to an intermediate portion and a lowermost portion of the rotating shaft 22 horizontally, respectively.

[Elevating shaft] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, two sets of elevating shafts 25, 25 are penetrated between both ends of both rotating plates 23, 24. Rotating plate 23, 2
4 can be moved up and down. Both ends of a pair of bar-shaped guides 27, 27 arranged on both sides of each elevating shaft 25 are fixed to both rotating plates 23, 24.

[Suckers] At lower ends of the lifting shafts 25, 25, suction plates 26, 26 are provided integrally with each other horizontally.
A plurality of suction cups 21 are arranged on the lower surfaces of the suction plates 26 and 26 at predetermined intervals toward the rotation shaft 22. The negative pressure suction mechanism of the suction cup 21 will be described later.

[Swirl Means and Elevating Means] The rotational force of the rotating shaft 22 is transmitted to the suction plates 26, 26 via the two rotating plates 23, 24 and the respective lifting shafts 25, 25, and each set of suction cups 21 is rotated by the rotating shaft. It is possible to turn around 22.

An elevating body 28 is slidably inserted through each elevating shaft 25 and the pair of guides 27, 27.
An elevating shaft 28 located above the elevating body 28 has an elevating body 28
Are formed integrally with each other so as not to pass through.
The collar body 29 functions as a stopper member that regulates the sliding of the elevating body 28 relative to the elevating shaft 25. That is,
The elevating body 28 abuts on the flange body 29 to support the elevating shaft 25 and allow relative rotation with the elevating shaft 25. Guide 2
7, 27 penetrate so as to restrict the blind movement of the elevating body 25 and allow only the elevating.

An idling guide roller 28a provided on the outer side surface of each elevating body 28 has an annular elevating plate cam 61 fixedly provided outside the rotation locus of the elevating shafts 22,22.
Is engaged. The total weight of the suction plate 26 having the suction cup 21, the lifting shaft 25, and the lifting body 28 is supported by a lifting plate cam 61.

The lifting plate cam 61 has a horizontal guide surface 61a.
And a descending surface 61b depressed in a substantially U-shape. The descending surface 61b cooperates with the guide roller 28a to move the elevating shaft 2
5 and the suction cup 21 are derivatives that give rise and fall movements. In this example, a case will be described in which only one portion is formed in accordance with the removal position of the lid B. good.

[Negative Pressure Suction Mechanism] In FIG. 4, a donut-shaped distributor 70 for distributing negative pressure is mounted on the upper rotary plate 23 through the rotary shaft 22. The distributor 70 is connected to the hanging member 62 extending from the stationary member 60 of the apparatus main body,
It is fixed so as not to rotate together with the upper rotating plate 23. On the lower surface of the distributor 70, an arc-shaped negative pressure groove 71 and an atmospheric hole 72 connected to a compressor are formed on the same circular line as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the hose 73 and the shaft 25a
A flow path is formed so that suction force can be transmitted to each set of suction cups 21 through the like, and one end of the hose 73 is exposed on the upper surface of the upper rotary plate 23. When the exposed end of the hose 72 communicating with the upper rotary plate 23 passes through the negative pressure groove 71 of the distributor 70 that continuously generates negative pressure, each set of suction cups 2
The suction force is transmitted to the first pressure member 1 and the negative pressure is cut off after passing through the negative pressure groove 71. Therefore, the negative pressure groove 71 only needs to be formed over a section of about 180 degrees extending from the position where the cover B is removed on the transport conveyor 10 to above the recovery conveyor 57.

<E> Turning Correction Mechanism Each suction cup 2 linearly arranged on the suction plate 26 as described later.
When 1 reaches the orthogonal position of the conveyor 10 with the rotation shaft 22 as the center, the suction cup 21 moves up and down to remove the lid B. Here, considering the operation trajectory and movement of each set of suction cups 21 when the lid B is detached based on FIG. 3, each suction cup 21 turns in series along the centripetal direction of the rotating shaft 22, There is a difference in the peripheral speed (revolution speed) between the one near the shaft 22 and the one far from the shaft 22, and a biasing force that causes each cover B to approach the rotating shaft 21 acts to disturb the containers on the conveyor 10. You. In addition, when each suction cup 21 is viewed alone, when the suction cup 21 comes into contact with the lid B, the suction cup 21 rotates relatively clockwise to cause a problem of wear of the suction cup 21.

In the present invention, a turning correction mechanism is provided in order to eliminate such inconvenience. That is, as shown in FIGS.
The levers 80, 80 are provided on the upper portions of the 5, 25. Elevating shaft 2
5 is fitted to the lever 80 so as to be slidable (movable up and down) in the penetrating direction and to be able to transmit a rotational force. Such a motion transmitting mechanism can employ a fitting structure having a cross-sectional shape such as a spline. The lever 80 has a guide roller 81 at its free end. Concentrically of the rotating shaft 22,
An annular correcting plate cam 63 engageable with the guide roller 81
And the lever 80 and the upper rotating plate 23 are fixed.
And a spring 82 is stretched between them. As shown in FIG. 6, a guide surface 63a having the same radius from the rotating shaft 22 and a guide surface 63a are provided on the side surface of the correction plate cam 63 with which the guide roller 81 contacts.
A receding surface 63b recessed inward from 3a is formed continuously. The guide roller 81 has the retreating surface 63b.
b, to apply a counterclockwise rotational force to the revolving elevating shaft 25 when revolving, and as shown in FIG. The suction cups 2 which are rotated clockwise and arranged in line with the suction plate 26
1 is formed so as to be able to move in parallel along the conveying direction of the conveyor 10. That is, for the lid B that moves linearly, the suction cup 21 that circularly moves about the rotation shaft 22 is caused to make a movement that is almost almost linear. Receding surface 63
The formation position of b corresponds to the position where the lifting shaft 25 is moved up and down to remove the lid B.

[0023]

Next, the operation of the lid removing device will be described.

<A> Transfer of Container with Lid In FIGS. 2 and 3, the transport conveyor 10 transports the container from the right to the left at a predetermined interval.

<B> Cover Attachment The cover removing device 20 starts rotating the rotary plates 23 and 24 in one direction with the rotation of the rotary shaft 22, and the lift shafts 25 of each set.
And a suction plate 26 equipped with a suction cup 21 or the like turns around the rotation shaft 22. The rotation speed of the rotating shaft 22 is controlled by the suction cup 21 on the peripheral edge.
Is set to be equal to or higher than the peripheral speed of the conveyor 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the lifting shafts 25 of each set rotate above the transport conveyor 10 and the recovery conveyor 57 while being supported by the lifting plate cam 61 via the guide rollers 28a. Each set of suction cups 21 has a dispenser 70
, A negative pressure is generated in a section from the position where the lid B is removed on the conveyor 10 to the position where the lid B is recovered on the recovery conveyor 57.

When the set of suction plates 26 reaches the crossing (crossing) position of the conveyor 10, the lifting shaft 25, which will be described in detail below,
Of the suction cup 2 by the simultaneous operation of lifting and lowering of the
1 moves up and down, and removes the lid B.

That is, as shown in FIG.
The guide roller 28 rotating along the first guide surface 61a
When passing through the descending surface 61b, the suction cup 21 descends together with the suction plate 26 as the elevating shaft 25 descends, and is adsorbed on the upper surface of the lid B. At this time, the elevating shaft 25 descends while being fitted to the lever 80.

In parallel with this, as shown in FIG. 6, the rotating guide roller 81 is engaged with the correction plate cam 63 and the revolving guide roller 81 is rotated.
3b, when the lever 80 swings,
5 rotates counterclockwise. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the suction cup 21 moves in parallel with the suction plate 26 along the transport direction of the container. In this way, by performing the descent and rotation of the elevating shaft 22 in synchronization with each other, the suction cup 21 does not rotate and is adsorbed on the upper surface of the lid B. In particular, in the present invention, since the suction cup 21 moves linearly toward the lid B, the entire open end of the suction cup 21 comes into contact at the same time, so that a high suction force can be secured early while having a small suction force. By correcting the rotation of the elevating shaft 25, the swiveling motion of the suction cups 21 is changed to a parallel movement motion along the transport direction of the container, and each suction cup 21 is rotated relative to the lid B that moves linearly. Wear can be eliminated.

<C> Removal of Lid After the lid B has been sucked, the guide roller 28a engaging with the descending surface 61b of the elevating plate cam 61 shown in FIG.
By returning to 1a, the lifting shaft 25 rises, and the suction force of the suction cup 21 rises while being suctioned to the lid B by this lifting force.
The lid B is separated from the container body A and lifted.

<D> Separation / Transportation of Lid The suction cup 21 holding the lid B by suction is driven by the rotating shaft 22 and passes above the collecting conveyor 57 shown in FIGS. At this time, the negative pressure of the suction cup 21 is cut off, and the cover B is transferred to the collection conveyor 57, and the cover on the collection conveyor 57 is subjected to the next cleaning step.

<E> Preliminary Cleaning of the Container Body As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the container body A from which the lid B has been removed reaches the end of the conveyor 10, the container body A is poured with water by the washing nozzle 31 and It reverses along the curved guide 40. The auxiliary conveyor 50 reverses and sequentially transports the container body A from the left to the right in the drawing with the opening facing downward. When passing through the separate washing nozzle 30, the container body A is washed, and foreign matter is collected in the garbage tank 56.

[0032]

Second Embodiment In the first embodiment of the present invention, a case has been described in which a plurality of containers with lids are arranged in a row in the transport direction and a plurality of lids B are simultaneously removed. When transporting the containers in the column direction, the revolution correction mechanism may be omitted.

The means for raising and lowering the shaft 25 and the means for rotating the revolution correcting mechanism are not limited to the above-described embodiments.
Various known mechanisms can be applied.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. <A> Since the operation of the suction cup is a linear reciprocating motion toward the lid, the lid can be reliably brought into contact with the lid without releasing the negative pressure, and the lid can be reliably removed with a simple structure. <B> Since only the suction cup is swiveled and raised and lowered, unlike the conventional swing type, a large driving torque and a large driving source are not required, so that significant energy saving and cost reduction can be achieved. <C> The lid can be reliably removed even when the suction and lifting speed of the lid is increased, and the operating speed of the preliminary cleaning device can be increased accordingly. <D> The lid removed from the container body can be separately collected, and there is no need to manually separate the container body and the lid.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lid removing device with a part omitted.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a pre-cleaning device.

3 is a view taken in the direction of arrows III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a lifting / lowering means of a suction cup.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a turning correction mechanism.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the operation of a suction plate having a suction cup when the lid is removed.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a lid removing device based on the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of the suction operation of the lid removing device shown in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conveying conveyor 20 Lid removing device 21 Suction cup 22 Rotating shaft 23, 24 Rotating plate 25 Elevating shaft 30, 31 Cleaning nozzle 40 Curved guide 50 Auxiliary conveyor 60 Stationary member 70 Distributor A Container body B Lid

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Noriaki Takaoka 6-12-1, Tsunashimahigashi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Koyo Automatic Machinery Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Joji Kageyama 6 Tsunashimahigashi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa No.12-1 Koyo Machine Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 3B082 AA01 AA03 AA06 3B116 AA23 AB14 AB27 AB47 BB21 3B201 AA26 AB14 BB21 BB92 3F072 AA07 GA10 KC01 KC07 KC09 KC10 KC12 KC17 KC18

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pre-cleaning apparatus for reversing a container body with a lid removed on a transport path of a container with a lid and spraying a cleaning liquid into the container body to clean the container body, wherein the pre-cleaning apparatus is disposed above a transport path of the container with a lid. Negative pressure suction type suction cups, turning means for turning the suction cups between a transfer path and a lid collection point on the side of the transfer path, lifting means for raising and lowering the suction cups on the transfer path, A negative pressure is generated in the suction cup over the section from the point where the lid contacts the lid on the transport path to the lid collection point, and the negative pressure of the suction cup is reached when reaching the lid collection point. A lid removing device in a pre-cleaning device, wherein the pressure is set to be released. 2. A pre-cleaning apparatus for reversing a container body with a lid removed on a transport path of a container with a lid and spraying a cleaning liquid into the container body to clean the container body, wherein a rotating shaft is provided above a transport conveyor for the container with a lid. Are arranged in the vertical direction, and a plurality of sets of elevating shafts are arranged around the rotating shaft, which vertically move while rotating around the rotating shaft, and a plurality of sets of negative pressure suction type are provided below the elevating shaft. The suction cups are provided in a horizontal arrangement, and the lifting shafts of each set are configured to be able to move up and down so that the suction cups of each set are attracted to the lids when rotating above the transport conveyor. A lid removing device in a pre-cleaning device, wherein a negative pressure is generated in a suction cup over a section up to a collection point, and negative pressure of the suction cup is cut off at a collection point of the lid. 3. A rotating correction mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the vertically moving shaft is rotated at a point where the suction cup abuts on the lid so that each set of horizontally arranged suction cups is moved in parallel along the transport direction of the container. A lid removing device in a pre-cleaning device, characterized in that: