JP2003294646A - Container inspecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a container inspecting apparatus for reducing a load applied to a support plate for reducing the deflection of the support plate, and for securing the flatness of the support plate required for retaining the function of a rotor. <P>SOLUTION: The container-inspecting apparatus has a rotor 2 that is classified into rotary and non-rotary sections, carries a container 1 to be inspected on a specific circular track by the rotor 2, and images the container 1 by a camera for inspection. In the container-inspecting apparatus, at least three columns 18 extended in a perpendicular direction are separately provided one another, an upper support plate 42 and a lower support plate 41 are erected at the upper and lower sides of the column 18, the rotary section of the rotor 2 is supported by the lower support plate 41, and at the same time non-rotary section of the rotor 2 is supported by the upper support plate 42. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container inspection device for inspecting a container such as a bottle by inspecting the container, and more particularly to a rotor for holding the container and rotating the container while revolving on a circular orbit. A container inspection device provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a container inspection device for optically inspecting a container, the container to be inspected is conveyed and projected onto the container, and transmitted light transmitted through the container or reflected light reflected from the container is imaged. A device for inspecting is known. Such a container inspection device is generally provided with a rotor that holds the container and revolves around the circular orbit while rotating the container, and holds the container by the rotor to orbit and rotate the container toward the container. The illumination device projects the light, and the inspection camera captures the transmitted light or the reflected light of the container.

The rotor is roughly divided into a rotating part which rotates while holding a container and a non-rotating part other than the rotating part. The rotating unit is composed of a suction head that suction-holds the container, a rotation shaft that rotationally drives the suction head, and the like.
The non-rotating portion is composed of a cam that moves up and down the suction head that holds the container by suction, and a fixed shaft to which the cam is fixed. When the rotor having the above-described structure is supported by the gantry frame, the rotating portion is installed via a bearing housing on a support plate called a top plate fixed to the gantry frame. The non-rotating portion has the fixed shaft fixed to the fixing frame fixed to the support plate of the gantry frame while being placed on the rotating portion.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned fixing frame is merely provided so that the fixed shaft does not rotate, and most of the load of the non-rotating portion is applied to the support plate via the rotating portion. Hanging. That is, most of the load of the rotor as a whole is received by the support plate, which causes the support plate to bend and the flatness required for maintaining the function of the rotor cannot be ensured.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and reduces the load applied to the support plate to reduce the deflection of the support plate and to ensure the flatness required for the rotor. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention comprises a rotor divided into a rotating portion and a non-rotating portion, and the container to be inspected by the rotating portion has a predetermined circular orbit. In a container inspection device for inspecting by imaging with a camera while conveying the top, three or more columns extending in the vertical direction are provided apart from each other, and an upper support plate and a lower support plate are provided on the upper side and the lower side of these columns. It is characterized in that the rotor is erected and the rotating portion of the rotor is supported by the lower support plate, and the non-rotating portion of the rotor is supported by the upper support plate. In this case, it is preferable that the supporting load supported by the lower supporting plate and the supporting load supported by the upper supporting plate are substantially equal.

According to the present invention, by mounting the upper support plate and the lower support plate on the upper and lower parts of the plurality of columns, and supporting a considerable part of the weight of the rotor, for example, about half, by the upper support plate, It is possible to reduce the load applied to the lower support plate. As a result, the amount of deflection of the lower support plate can be reduced, and the flatness required for the rotor can be secured.

According to another preferred aspect of the present invention, at least two frames are fixed on the upper support plate,
The non-rotating portion of the rotor is fixed to a holding plate installed between the frames of the book, and between the upper support plate and the holding plate,
A pressing member for pressing the holding plate upward is provided. In this case, the pressing member is preferably an elastic body. According to the present invention, by pushing up the holding plate with the pressing member, it is possible to correct the downward deflection amount of the upper support plate and adjust the position of the non-rotating portion.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a container inspection device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition,
In this embodiment, before the plastic bottle is molded,
The case where the present invention is applied to an apparatus for inspecting a preform called a so-called preform is shown. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing the entire container inspection device according to the present embodiment. 2 is a view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a line III-I of FIG.
It is a II sectional view.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment has a preform 1 to be inspected.
2 for inspecting the rotor, an inlet star wheel 3 for loading the preform 1 into the rotor 2, and an outlet star wheel 7 for unloading the preform 1 that has been inspected from the rotor 2.
It has and. Guide rails 4 and 4 are provided along the circular orbits of the inlet star wheel 3 and the rotor 2, and the guide rails 4 and 4 are connected to the guide rails 4 and 5, and the inlet side guide rails 5 and 5 are connected.
Is provided. Guide rails 8, 8 are provided along the circular orbits of the outlet star wheel 7 and the rotor 2, and adjacent to the outlet star wheel 7, outlet side guide rails 9, 9 are provided.
Is provided.

Inside the pitch circle of the rotor 2, an illuminating device 10 for projecting light toward the preform 1 conveyed on a circular orbit is installed. The illuminating device 10 is arranged on the pitch circle of the rotor 2. It has an arcuate front surface along it. Further, outside the pitch circle of the rotor 2, three image pickup camera units 11 for picking up the light transmitted through the preform 1,
12 and 13 are installed. Each imaging camera unit 1
1, 12 and 13 are mirrors 11A, 12A and 1 respectively
3A and CCD cameras 11B, 12B, 13B, and the transmitted light of the preform 1 reflected by the mirrors 11A, 12A, 13A is reflected by the CCD cameras 11B, 12B, 1
The image is picked up at 3B.

On the outside of the pitch circle of the rotor 2, a rotation belt 15 for rotating the preform 1 at the time of image pickup is arranged. A braking belt 16 for stopping the rotation of the preform 1 is arranged on the downstream side of the rotation belt 15.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, at each corner of the container inspection apparatus according to this embodiment, four pillars 18 extending vertically from the installation surface to the top and separated from each other are provided.
(Hereinafter, referred to as a through pillar) is provided. Each through pillar 1
An upper support plate 42 is horizontally installed at a portion near the upper end of 8, and a lower support plate 41 is horizontally installed at a position below the upper support plate 42. The inlet star wheel 3, the rotor 2, and the outlet star wheel 7 are installed on the lower support plate 41.

FIG. 3 is a view showing the detailed structure of the rotor 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the rotor 2 includes a rotating shaft 21 that is rotationally driven by a drive source (not shown), and a first disk 22 that is fixed to the rotating shaft 21 and rotates integrally with the rotating shaft 21.
A second disk 23 disposed above the first disk 22 and a plurality of suction heads 29 that suction-hold the preform 1.

The rotary shaft 21 is supported by a lower support plate 41 via a bearing housing 25 in which a bearing 24A is installed. Above the rotary shaft 21, a fixed shaft 31 is arranged coaxially with the rotary shaft 21. ing. The upper end of the fixed shaft 31 is supported by the upper support plate 42 via the holding plate 46, and the lower end of the fixed shaft 31 holds the bearing 24B and is housed in the bearing housing 30 fixed to the first disk 22. Has been inserted.

A plurality of guide bars 26 are provided around the upper surface of the first disk 22, and the upper ends of the guide bars 26 are fixed to the lower surface of the second disk 23. Each guide bar 26 has a slide member 2 having a cam follower 28.
7 is attached so that it can move up and down. A suction head 29 is rotatably supported on each slide member 27 via a bearing 24C, and the suction head 29 and the slide member 2 are supported.
It is designed to move up and down together with 7.

The cam follower 28 of each slide member 27
Is the cam groove 32a of the cylindrical body 32 fixed to the fixed shaft 31.
Is engaged with. The cam groove 32a is formed with a height difference over the entire outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 32. Then, as the rotor 2 rotates, the cam follower 28 follows the cam groove 32a and moves up and down, whereby the slide member 27 and the suction head 29 move up and down along the guide bar 26.

A ring-shaped wheel 35 is supported on the first disk 22 by an arm 38, and the wheel 35 rotates integrally with the first disk 22. On the outer peripheral edge of the wheel 35, a plurality of arcuate pockets 35a that engage with the body of the preform 1 are formed.

The lower end of the suction head 29 has the preform 1
It has a convex portion 29a that engages with the mouth portion of the. The suction head 29 has a communication hole 29b therein. One end of the communication hole 29b is opened at the tip of the convex portion 29a, and the other end is connected to the vacuum source (via the tube 36 and the rotary joint 37). (Not shown). A pulley 17 that engages with the rotation belt 15 is provided above the suction head 29.

As shown in FIG. 3, the holding plate 46 is installed on the two frames 43, 43 fixed to the upper support plate 42, and the fixed shaft 31 is fixed to the holding plate 46. There is. A disc spring 44 is interposed between the holding plate 46 and the upper support plate 42, and the disc spring 44 serves as the upper support plate 42.
It is held by a bolt 45 that is screwed into. The disc spring 44 presses the lower surface of the holding plate 46 upward. By adjusting the screwing amount of the bolt 45 into the upper support plate 42, the disc spring 44 presses the holding plate 46 with a pressing force. Can be adjusted. The disc spring 44 constitutes an elastic body that is a pressing member that presses the holding plate upward. Further, as the pressing member, an elastic body other than the disc spring may be used, and for example, another type of spring may be used.

Four disc springs 44 are arranged in total,
The position where each disc spring 44 is arranged will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the rotor according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the four disc springs 44 are arranged at positions slightly closer to the center from the four corners of the holding plate 46. According to the disc spring 44 arranged at this position,
If the upper support plate 42 bends downward due to the large weight of the fixed shaft 31, etc., the four disc springs 44 push the holding plate 42 upward to increase the amount of downward deflection of the upper support plate 42. Can be corrected.

Next, the operation of the container inspection device constructed as described above will be described. The preform 1 is supplied to the inlet star wheel 3 from the inlet side guide rails 5 and 5. Preform 1 transferred by entrance star wheel 3
Engages with the pocket 35a of the wheel 35 with the collar 1a supported by the guide rails 4, 4.

When the preform 1 is transferred to the rotor 2, the suction head 29 is lowered by the action of the cam follower 28 (see FIG. 3), and the suction head 29 is moved to the preform 1.
The suction head 29 is contacted with the vacuum source through the tube 36, the rotary joint 37, etc., and the vacuum suction of the preform 1 is started. At this time,
The convex portion 29 a of the suction head 29 engages with the mouth portion of the preform 1.

In order to image the body of the preform 1, it is necessary to raise the suction head 29 so that the bottom of the preform 1 is located above the pocket 35. For this reason, as shown on the left side of FIG. 3, the cam groove 32a is formed so that the suction head 29 moves up in the area where the preform 1 is imaged. With the preform 1 being raised by the suction head 29, the rotation belt 1
The preform 1 is rotated by the action of 5, and the preform 1 is revolved by the rotation of the rotating portion of the rotor 2. During this period, the preform 1 is projected onto the preform 1 from the illumination device 10 while the image pickup camera unit is used. 11, 12,
The image is taken by 13.

After the image capturing is completed, the preform 1 stops rotating due to the action of the brake belt 16. After that, the preform 1 is transferred from the rotor 2 to the exit star wheel 7, and the normal preform 1 is transferred by the exit star wheel 7 and transferred to the next process via the exit side guide rails 9, 9. On the other hand, the preform 1 which has been determined to be defective is released from the defective product discharge chute 47 after the support by the exit star wheel 7 is released at the position of the defective product discharge chute 47.

Here, the rotor 2 constructed as described above
Are roughly divided into a rotating part that rotates while holding the container and a non-rotating part. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the rotating portion of the rotor shown in FIG. 3 with diagonal lines, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the non-rotating portion of the rotor shown in FIG. 3 with diagonal lines.

As shown in FIG. 5, the rotating part is the rotating shaft 2
1, first disc 22, second disc 23, wheel 3
5, the suction head 29 and the like, and the non-rotating portion, as shown in FIG. 6, includes a fixed shaft 31, a cylindrical body 32, and the like. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the rotating portion is the bearing housing 2
It is supported by the lower support plate 41 via 5. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the non-rotating portion is supported by the upper support plate 42 via the holding plate 46.

Next, the ratio of the load of the rotor 2 having the above-described structure supported by the upper support plate 42 and the lower support plate 41 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the constituent members of the rotor supported by the lower support plate by hatching, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the constituent members of the rotor supported by the upper support plate by hatching.

As shown in FIG. 8, the slide member 27 and the suction head 29, which constitute the rotating portion, are supported by the cylindrical body 32, which is the non-rotating portion, via the cam groove 32a and the cam follower 28. The loads of 27 and the suction head 29 are applied to the upper support plate 42. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the load supported by the lower support plate 41 is the load of the components excluding the slide member 27 and the suction head 29 from the rotating portion shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the upper support plate 4
The load applied to 2 and the load applied to the lower support plate 41 are substantially equal.

In the present embodiment in which the load of the rotor 2 is dispersed by the upper support plate 42 and the lower support plate 41 fixed to the upper and lower portions of the through column 18, in the present embodiment, the lower support plate 41.
Since the load applied to the lower support plate 41 is reduced, the amount of deflection of the lower support plate 41 can be reduced, and as a result, the flatness of the lower support plate 41 required for the rotor 2 can be secured.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By mounting an upper support plate and a lower support plate on the upper and lower parts of a plurality of through columns and supporting a considerable part of the weight of the rotor, for example, about half by the upper support plate, the load applied to the lower support plate is reduced. It becomes possible. As a result, the amount of deflection of the lower support plate can be reduced, and the flatness required for the rotor can be secured. Further, by supporting the non-rotating portion via the holding plate and pushing up the holding plate by the pressing member, it becomes possible to correct the amount of downward deflection of the upper support plate and adjust the position of the non-rotating portion. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an entire container inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II-II of FIG.

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

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a rotor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing a rotating portion of the rotor shown in FIG. 3 by hatching.

6 is a diagram in which a non-rotating portion of the rotor shown in FIG. 3 is indicated by hatching.

FIG. 7 is a diagram in which the constituent members of the rotor supported by the lower support plate are shown by hatching.

FIG. 8 is a diagram in which the constituent members of the rotor supported by the upper support plate are shown by hatching.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 preform 2 rotor 3 entrance star wheel 4 guide rails 5 Entrance side guide rail 7 exit star wheel 8 guide rails 9 Exit side guide rail 10 Lighting device 11, 12, 13 Imaging camera unit 15 Belt for rotation 16 Brake belt 17 pulley 18 through columns 21 rotation axis 22 1st disc 23 Second Disk 24 bearing 25 Cylindrical support 26 Guide bar 27 Slide member 28 Cam Follower 29 Suction head 31 fixed axis 32 cylindrical body 35 wheels 36 tubes 37 Rotary joint 38 arms 41 Lower support plate 42 Upper support plate 43 frames 44 Disc spring 45 volts 46 holding plate 47 Defective product discharge chute

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A container inspection device comprising a rotor divided into a rotating part and a non-rotating part, wherein the container conveys a container to be inspected on a predetermined circular orbit while inspecting the image with a camera. Three or more columns extending in the vertical direction are provided apart from each other, an upper support plate and a lower support plate are installed on the upper side and the lower side of these columns, and the rotating portion of the rotor is supported by the lower support plate. A container inspection device, wherein the non-rotating portion of the rotor is supported by the upper support plate. 2. The container inspection device according to claim 1, wherein a supporting load supported by the lower supporting plate and a supporting load supported by the upper supporting plate are substantially equal to each other. 3. At least two frames are fixed on the upper support plate, and a non-rotating portion of the rotor is fixed to a holding plate installed between the two frames, the upper support plate and the The container inspection device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a pressing member that presses the holding plate upward between the holding plate and the holding plate. 4. The container inspection device according to claim 3, wherein the pressing member is an elastic body.