JP2005170531A - Grouping device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a grouping device capable of preventing breakage of articles by allowing underpins to be correctly inserted between the articles. <P>SOLUTION: In the grouping device in which the moving speed of articles A and A is regulated by successively inserting underpins 11 and 11 moving at the speed lower than that of unit conveyors 13 and 13 from a lower side into the articles A and A in the carrying direction which are continuously carried by a feed conveyor 1 consisting of the plurality of unit conveyors 13 and 13 parallel to each other, and the articles A and A between the underpins 11 and 11 adjacent to each other in the carrying direction are taken out at the carrying speed of the feed conveyor 1 by dropping the preceding underpins 11 and 11 out of the underpins 11 and 11 and drawing them between the articles A and A, the underpins 11 and 11 are correctly inserted between the articles A and A. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a grouping apparatus that groups easily deformable articles such as plastic bottles that are continuously conveyed into a predetermined number of pieces.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a conventional grouping device (G), and FIG. 6 is a plan view thereof. A supply conveyor (1) for conveying articles (A) and (A), and a grouping chain that runs below the supply conveyor (1). It is configured by the combination of (10).
The supply conveyor (1) is constituted by narrow unit conveyors (13) and (13) running side by side, and at the positions along both sides of each unit conveyor (13) and (13) is a lane guide ( 15) (15) is provided.

  In the grouping chain (10), under pins (11) and (11) for grouping articles (A) and (A) are arranged at intervals (L) in the conveying direction, and the under pins (11 ) (11) moves between the unit conveyors (13) and (13), and the traveling speed of the grouping chain (10) is set slower than the traveling speed of the supply conveyor (1). ing. The distance between the underpins (11) and (11) in the conveyor width direction is set to be smaller than the diameter of the article (A). Underpins (11) and (11) enter the recesses (S) (see FIG. 6).

  Further, the grouping chain (10) is formed so that the subsequent underpins (11) and (11) begin to protrude from the conveying surface before the preceding underpins (11) and (11) descend from the conveying surface of the supply conveyor (1). ) Traveling locus and speed are set. Therefore, when the preceding underpin (11) (11) protrudes above the conveying surface of the supply conveyor (1), the underpin (11) (11) causes the articles (A) (A) to be supplied to the supply conveyor. In relation to (1), it is in a state of being relatively dammed, so that the dammed articles (A) and (A) are all subsequently conveyed to the upstream side of these articles. (A) The pressure of (A) (hereinafter referred to as “line pressure”) is applied. Then, the articles (A) and (A) in the damming state move downstream at a speed of the underpins (11) and (11) that is slower than the traveling speed of the supply conveyor (1).

After this, after the subsequent underpin (11) (11) protrudes above the conveying surface of the supply conveyor (1) at a position separated backward by the interval (L), the preceding underpin (11) (11) Descends from the conveying surface and exits from the group of articles (A) and (A). Then, the articles (A) and (A) are subjected to a speed regulating action (an action to keep the articles (A) and (A) at a lower speed than the supply conveyor (1)) by the lowered underpins (11) and (11). Since the article (A) (A) is transported at the speed of the supply conveyor (1), the subsequent article (A) (A) regulated by the subsequent underpin (11) (11) Separated forward from the group and grouped.
JP-A-11-180544 (FIGS. 9 and 10)

However, when grouping easily deformable articles (A) and (A) such as PET bottles in the above conventional grouping device, underpins (11) and (11) are formed on the bottom walls of the articles (A) and (A). There was a problem that it could be pierced and damaged.
The above problem will be further described in detail.
In the above conventional one, when the speed of the articles (A) and (A) is regulated by the underpins (11) and (11) protruding on the conveying surface of the supply conveyor (1), the articles (A) whose speed is regulated The line pressure acts on (A) as described above from the succeeding articles (A) and (A) on the upstream side.

  Then, the easily deformable articles (A) and (A) such as PET bottles are compressed in the transport direction by the line pressure to be slightly flattened, and thereby the underpins (11) that begin to protrude on the transport surface of the supply conveyor (1). ) (11) does not correspond exactly between the articles (A) and (A). As a result, the underpins (11) and (11) are pierced into the bottom walls of the articles (A) and (A) and are damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of such points.
`` The unit conveyors (A) and (A) in the conveying direction of the articles (A) and (A) continuously conveyed by a supply conveyor (1) configured by a set of a plurality of parallel unit conveyors (13) (13) (13) The article (A) (A) by sequentially inserting the underpins (11) (11) moving at a slower speed than the lower side between the sides of the unit conveyor (13) (13). While restricting the movement speed of
By lowering the preceding underpin (11) (11) among the underpins (11) and (11) and removing it from between the articles (A) and (A), the underpins (11) adjacent in the transport direction (11) ( 11) between the articles (A) and (A) in the grouping device for taking out the articles (A) and (A) between the supply conveyors (1) between the articles (A) and (A). It is an object to prevent the articles (A) and (A) from being damaged so as to enter accurately.

1. The invention according to claim 1 The technical means of the invention according to claim 1 for solving the above-mentioned problems is as follows:
`` Brake that clamps an article that is conveyed to the upstream side of an underpin (11) newly entering from below between articles adjacent in the conveyance direction from the conveyor width direction before the underpin (11) enters. Means are provided.
According to the above technical means, as described above, the articles on the supply conveyor (1), the speed of which is regulated by the preceding underpin (11), are subsequently transferred to the upstream side of these items. Line pressure is applied from the articles (A) and (A), and the articles (A) and (A) are compressed in the conveying direction by the line pressure, and are slightly flattened. In this state, when the subsequent underpin (11) (underpin (11) newly entering from below) protrudes between the unit conveyors (13) and (13) to the transport surface, before that, The article conveyed to the upstream side of the subsequent underpin (11) is pinched by the braking means from the conveyor width direction. As a result, the article upstream of the pinching portion is stopped or decelerated, and the line pressure acting on the article in front of the article disappears or decreases. Thereby, the compression flattening of the article is suppressed, and as a result, the subsequent underpin (11) accurately enters between the articles adjacent in the transport direction. Therefore, the inconvenience that the underpin (11) pierces the bottom wall of the article and breaks it is eliminated.

2. Invention of Claim 2 In the invention of Claim 1,
`` On the supply conveyor (1), lane guides (15) and (15) are provided in parallel with an interval substantially equal to the width of the article in the width direction of the conveyor,
The braking means includes a movable wall that is displaced outward by an increase in internal pressure and is pressed against the lower side of the article, and is disposed below the lane guides (15) and (15); And a pressure source for supplying pressurized air to the air.
In this case, if pressurized air is supplied from the pressure source into the expansion body before the underpin (11) enters between the conveyance directions of the article, the movable wall of the expansion body is displaced outward, and the movable wall is It is pressed against the lower part of the side of the article. This pressure contact operation is performed by the respective braking means disposed below the lane guides (15) and (15), whereby the lower side surfaces of the articles arranged in the conveyor width direction are pinched and braked. The

3. Invention of Claim 3 In the invention of Claims 1-2,
“The braking means simultaneously clamps a plurality of articles aligned in the transport direction”.
In this case, since a plurality of articles aligned in the transport direction are simultaneously clamped by the braking means, the clamping pressure is distributed to the plurality of articles. Therefore, when a single article is pinched, that is, when a pinching pressure is concentrated on a single article, the inconvenience of pinching flaws on the article can be avoided.

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, since the underpin (11) accurately enters between the articles as described above, the underpin (11) is stuck into the bottom wall of the article. The inconvenience of damaging this is eliminated.
Further, according to the invention according to claim 2, since the movable wall is moved by the air pressure from the pressure source, the structure is simplified and smooth operation is ensured as compared with the case where the movable wall can be moved mechanically, and the failure occurs. Less.
The movable wall of the expansion body is pressed against the lower part of the side surface of the article. Therefore, in the case of a bottle product such as a PET bottle, the vicinity of the bottom portion, which is stronger than the body portion, is pinched, and the bottle product can be reliably braked.
In the invention according to claim 3, since the clamping pressure by the braking means is distributed to a plurality of articles, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that pinching flaws are formed on the articles as described above.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A grouping apparatus (G) according to the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 groups articles (A) and (A) in which drinking water is filled in a square PET bottle.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the supply conveyor (1) for conveying articles (A) and (A) is constituted by narrow unit conveyors (13) and (13) that run side by side. The conveyor belts of the conveyors (13) and (13) are wound around the driving roller (16) and the driven roller (17). Lane guides (15a) (15b) (15b) are provided on the outer sides of the unit conveyors (13) (13) traveling on both sides and above the unit conveyors (13) (13). The distance between the lane guides (15a), (15b), and (15b) can be adjusted according to the body size of the article (A). For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3, the lane guide (15b) located between the unit conveyors (13) and (13) is connected to the belt-like plates (151) and (152) which are detachably stacked. A nut (153) (154) welded and fixed to the upper portion of the belt-like plate (151) (152), and the nut (153) (154) has an adjustment bolt (155) long in the conveyor width direction. While being screwed, reverse screws are engraved on the screwed portions of the nuts (153) and (154) in the adjusting bolt (155). Therefore, a reverse screw is also engraved on the nut (153) and the other nut (154). Therefore, when the adjustment bolt (155) is rotated, the belt-like plates (151) and (152) are brought into contact with and separated from each other, whereby the distance between the belt-like plates (151) and (152) can be adjusted. Further, the nut (154) is also fixed to the lane guide (15a) by welding, and the adjusting bolt (155) is screwed to the nut (154).

The grouping section (12) in the middle of the traveling area of the supply conveyor (1) is provided with a grouping chain (10) located below the traveling area of the supply conveyor (1), as in the conventional case. Yes.
The grouping chain (10) is hung around the outer periphery of the drive sprocket (20) and the driven sprockets (21a) to (21d). In the present embodiment, there are 4 in the middle of the grouping chain (10). The underpins (11) and (11) are attached with an interval dimension capable of grouping the articles (A) and (A) of the book. Further, as indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 3, the grouping chain (10) is provided below the respective regions along the both sides of each unit conveyor (13) (13). Under the corners (C) (see Fig. 3 and Fig. 4) at the bottom of the front and rear surfaces of each of the six articles (A) and (A) arranged in the width direction, Pins (11) and (11) are inserted. Further, the traveling speed of the grouping chain (10) is set to a speed slower than the traveling speed of the supply conveyor (1) as in the conventional case.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, there are four lines arranged in the transport direction upstream of the grouping chain (10) in the supply conveyor (1) and below the lane guide (15). There are provided braking means (5) and (5) for clamping the articles (A) and (A) from the conveyor width direction.

  The braking means (5) includes a wall body (54) (54) erected below a lane guide (15a) (15b) from a base (52) through which a ventilation path (51) is provided, and the wall body (54) The diaphragm (57) (57), which is a movable wall covering the open ends of the air chamber (56) (56), which penetrates in the thickness direction of (54), and further the pressure on the air passage (51). The air supply path (51) is provided with an air supply valve (590). The downstream end of the air passage (51) formed in the base (52) is connected to the air chamber (56). In the present embodiment, the wall body (54) in which the air chamber (56) is formed and the diaphragms (57) and (57) covering the open ends of the both ends constitute an expansion body that is a specific matter of the invention described above. .

Further, on the upstream side of the supply conveyor (1), a wide transfer conveyor (8) is disposed, and the articles (A) and (A) supplied by the transfer conveyor (8) are lane guides (82). In (82), it is supplied to the supply conveyor (1) in six rows.
In addition, the article stock section (61) on the downstream side of the grouping section (12) in the supply conveyor (1) contacts the front row of the articles (A) and (A) grouped by the grouping section (12). The fall prevention guide (62) that moves in the conveying direction of the supply conveyor (1) in the state of being pushed, and the flip plate (63) that contacts the rear surface of the last row of articles (A) (A) in the article stock section (61) ) Is provided.

  In this case, when the six-row articles (A) (A) conveyed from the conveyor (8) are supplied between the lane guides (15) (15) on the supply conveyor (1), the articles ( A) and (A) move from the arrangement area of the braking means (5) and (5) to the article stock section (61) via the grouping section (12).

  Specifically, the drive roller (16) for the supply conveyor (1) and the drive sprocket (20) for the grouping chain (10) are rotationally driven by a servo motor (not shown). Then, the grouping chain (10) rotates at a slower speed than the supply conveyor (1), and the under pins (11) and (11) provided on the grouping chain (10) move the articles (A) and (A) in the conveying direction. The articles (A) and (A) are grouped in 4 rows and 6 columns while being divided into units of four.

  At this time, when the underpins (11) entering between the transporting directions of the articles (A) and (A) to be grouped reach the position immediately before entering as indicated by the broken line in FIG. ) Is opened. Then, the diaphragms (57) (57) (expanded body) which are movable walls of the wall bodies (54) (54) constituting the braking means (5) are displaced outward, and the diaphragms (57) (57) are moved to the article ( A) It is pressed against the lower part of the side of (A). As a result, the lower part of the articles (A) and (A) is pinched by the braking means (5) and (5) from the conveyor width direction to stop the conveyance (the articles (A) and (A) are brought into the braking means (5) ( You may decelerate by pinching in 5). Then, the line pressure from the articles (A) and (A) upstream of the clamping unit does not act on the downstream side of the articles (A) and (A) clamped by the braking means (5) and (5). As a result, the line pressure acting on the articles (A) and (A) of the grouping section (12) is reduced, and the articles (A) and (A) are hardly subjected to compressive deformation in the transport direction. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, four articles (A) 4 to the rear of the articles (A1) in the last row of the articles (A) and (A) located in the grouping section (12) are arranged. The articles (A) and (A) for the main part are clamped by the braking means (5) and (5), and located between the arrangement part of the braking means (5) and (5) and the grouping part (12). The line pressure of a single article (A2) acts on the articles (A) and (A) of the grouping section (12), but since the line pressure is small, the grouping operation is not adversely affected. However, it goes without saying that the article (A2) is preferably clamped by the braking means (5) and (5) from the viewpoint of reducing the line pressure. In the present embodiment, four articles (A) and (A) arranged in the transport direction are collectively clamped by the braking means (5) and (5). A) Disperse in (A). Therefore, compared with the case where a single article (A) is pinched, pinching flaws are less likely to be formed on the articles (A) and (A).

  The articles (A) and (A) positioned upstream from the grouping unit (12) are clamped from the conveyor width direction by the braking means (5) and (5), and the last row of the grouping unit (12). Servo motors for driving the grouping chain (10) and the supply conveyor (1) so that the underpin (11) is inserted between the article (A1) and the article (A2) adjacent to the upstream side from below. (Not shown). Then, at this time, as described above, the articles (A) and (A) of the grouping unit (12) are hardly subjected to compressive deformation (compression deformation due to line pressure) in the transport direction, so that the underpin (11) is It accurately enters between the article (A1) in the last row of the grouping part (12) and the article (A2) adjacent to the upstream side thereof, so that the underpin (11) passes through the bottom wall of the article (A2). The risk of breaking through can be avoided.

Then, after the underpin (11) enters between the article (A1) in the last row of the grouping part (12) and the article (A2) in the upstream adjacent part, the preceding underpin (11) It descends from the transport surface of (1). Then, the article (A) (A) on the upstream side of the article (A2) is in a state where the speed is regulated by the underpin (11), while the article (A) (A) on the downstream side of the article (A1) The material is conveyed to the article stock section (61) on the downstream side by the supply conveyor (1) at a higher speed than the underpin (11). That is, due to the difference in speed between the supply conveyor (1) and the grouping chain (10), the articles (A) and (A) on the grouping section (12) are separated from the underpin (11) that has entered from the lower side, upstream of the article. The articles (A) and (A) gradually move away in the transport direction, and thereby the articles (A) and (A) on the grouping unit (12) are grouped. When the articles (A) and (A) grouped by the grouping section (12) are transported to the article stock section (61), the overturn prevention guide (62) is placed in the front row of the articles (A) and (A). It moves in a contact state, thereby preventing the front row of articles (A) from falling. Further, when the grouped articles (A) and (A) reach the article stock section (61), the upright plate (63) rises, and thereby, the last row of articles (A in the article stock section (61)). ) Is pressed by the raising and lowering plate (63), and the fall is prevented.
In the above embodiment, the case where the articles (A) and (A) in which the drinking water is filled in the plastic bottles is grouped has been described as an example, but in the present invention, the container having a large variation in the outer diameter, the elastic The present invention can also be applied to easily deformable products and other various articles (A) and (A).

The side view of the principal part of the packaging apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention The top view of the principal part of the packaging apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention Longitudinal sectional view of the arrangement of the braking means (5) (5) of the packaging device according to the embodiment of the present invention Enlarged plan view of the abutting part of the article (A) (A) and the underpin (11) (11) Illustration of conventional example Illustration of conventional example

Explanation of symbols

(1) ... Supply conveyor
(11) ・ ・ ・ Underpin
(13) ・ ・ ・ Unit conveyor
(15) ... Lane guide
(A) ... Goods

Claims (3)

The unit conveyors (13) are connected to each other in the conveying direction of articles (A) (A) continuously conveyed by a supply conveyor (1) configured by a set of parallel unit conveyors (13) (13). ) (13) The underpins (11) and (11) that move at a slower speed are sequentially inserted from below between the sides of the unit conveyors (13) and (13), thereby the articles (A) and (A). While restricting the moving speed,
By lowering the preceding underpin (11) (11) among the underpins (11) and (11) and removing it from between the articles (A) and (A), the underpins (11) adjacent in the transport direction (11) ( 11) In a grouping device that takes out articles (A) and (A) at a conveying speed of the supply conveyor (1),
Braking means for clamping an article conveyed upstream of an underpin (11) newly entering from below between articles adjacent in the conveying direction from the conveyor width direction before the underpin (11) enters. A grouping device. In the grouping device according to claim 1,
Above the supply conveyor (1), lane guides (15) and (15) are provided in parallel with an interval substantially equal to the width of the article in the conveyor width direction,
The braking means includes a movable wall that is displaced outward by an increase in internal pressure and is pressed against the lower side of the article, and is disposed below the lane guides (15) and (15); And a pressure source for supplying pressurized air to the grouping device. In the grouping device according to claim 1 or 2,
The braking device is a grouping device that simultaneously clamps a plurality of articles aligned in the transport direction.

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