JP2005207931A - Can internal pressure inspecting apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a can internal pressure inspecting apparatus and method which achieve a reduction in costs while enabling the accurate measurement of the internal pressures of the cans. <P>SOLUTION: In a can internal pressure inspecting apparatus for inspecting the internal pressures of the bottle cans 8, a bottle can 8 carried on a conveyor is elastically grasped from both sides with a head 18 and a receiving roller 13 to detect a reaction with a load measuring part 19 provided on the side of the head 18. The outer circumferential wall 15 of the receiving roller 13 on the bottle can 8 is disposed on the upstream side from a contact surface 21 of the head 18. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a can internal pressure inspection device and a can internal pressure inspection method.

Conventionally, a can internal pressure inspection apparatus using a load measuring device is known. This can internal pressure inspection device detects a reaction force by pressing a can container filled with contents such as soft drinks (hereinafter referred to as a can) from the side of the can body while being conveyed by a conveyor, The can is inspected for leaks or insufficient filling. In addition, the internal pressure inspection apparatus for the can may be filled with liquid nitrogen and then filled with liquid nitrogen to apply an internal pressure, and this liquid nitrogen is inspected for insufficient filling.
Specifically, for example, the can is sandwiched between a receiving roller provided rotatably and a measuring roller disposed to face the receiving roller, and both sides of the can body are pressed. The reaction force from the can body against this pressing force is detected by the load measuring instrument connected to the measuring roller, and is detected as the internal pressure of the can. When the detected internal pressure falls below a predetermined value, it is determined that a leak or insufficient filling has occurred in the can.
By the way, in such a can internal pressure inspection apparatus, since the arrangement of the cans is transported in an irregular state within the width of the conveyor, it collides with any of the rollers before being sandwiched between the rollers. Will be. Therefore, there is a possibility that the can body of the can may be damaged, and further, it was not possible to sandwich and press all the cans conveyed by the conveyor with the same force using the roller. Therefore, in order to reduce damage to the can and equalize the pressing force, the receiving roller, the measuring roller, and the load measuring device are slidably provided via a spring in the width direction of the conveyor, and the can is displaced. There is something that can follow. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1.)
JP 62-162937 A

However, although the above-mentioned can internal pressure inspection apparatus can follow the cans arranged irregularly in the width direction of the conveyor, it does not follow until the can comes into contact with the rollers. Therefore, there is a problem that an irregular impact load according to the arrangement of the can is applied to the measurement roller, and this impact load is detected by the load measuring device as the reaction force.
Further, the can internal pressure inspection apparatus slides the load measuring device and each roller in conjunction with each other, so that the configuration of the can internal pressure inspection apparatus becomes complicated and the apparatus cost increases.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a can internal pressure inspection device and a can internal pressure inspection method that can accurately measure the internal pressure of the can and reduce the cost.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 includes a receiving portion (for example, the receiving roller 13 in the embodiment) and a can (for example, the bottle can 8 in the embodiment) conveyed on a conveyor. The reaction force is detected by a measuring instrument (for example, the load measuring unit 19 in the embodiment) that is elastically sandwiched from both sides with the measuring unit (for example, the head 18 in the embodiment), and provided on the measuring unit side (for example, the load measuring unit 19 in the embodiment). In a can internal pressure inspection apparatus for inspecting a can internal pressure, a contact surface (for example, the outer peripheral wall 15 in the embodiment) of a receiving portion is located upstream of a contact surface of the measurement unit (for example, a contact surface 21 in the embodiment). It is arranged.
By configuring in this way, the cans transported by the conveyor are rectified by contacting the receiving part at the contact surface prior to the measuring part, so that there is irregularity in the impact load applied to the measuring part. The relaxed and rectified can can be measured under substantially the same conditions, and the measurement accuracy of the load measuring instrument can be improved.

The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that at least one of the receiving portion and the measuring portion is a roller (for example, the measuring roller 30 in the embodiment).
By comprising in this way, it can prevent that the said roller rotates and a can is jammed in the said conveyance line.

The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that at least one of the receiving part and the measuring part is a roller forcibly rotating.
By comprising in this way, the said can can be pushed in between the said receiving part and a measurement part with the roller which rotates forcibly.
Further, the clogging can be prevented by forcibly pushing the can between the receiving portion and the measuring portion by a roller.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the receiving portion and the measuring portion are both rollers, and the upstream outer peripheral surface of the receiving portion is disposed upstream of the upstream outer peripheral surface of the measuring portion. Features.
With this configuration, the can that is being conveyed is brought into contact with the contact surface of the roller of the receiving portion before the contact surface of the roller of the measuring portion, and the impact load of the can is applied by the roller of the receiving portion. Further, the impact load at the time of contact with the contact surface of the measuring roller can be released to the downstream side in the conveying direction by each roller.

The invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that the central axis of the receiving part is arranged upstream of the central axis of the measuring part.
By comprising in this way, the contact surface of the said receiving part can be arrange | positioned upstream from the contact surface of the said measurement part, without expanding the dimension of the said receiving part.

The invention described in claim 6 is characterized in that the can that is carried in is received by the receiving portion and guided downstream, and then the internal pressure is detected from the reaction force when elastically sandwiched between the can and the measuring portion. .
By comprising in this way, since the said can is received and it guides to a measurement part, the influence of the impact load with respect to the internal pressure measurement of the said can can be eliminated.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the can transported by the conveyor is rectified by contacting the receiving portion at the contact surface before the measuring portion, there is no impact load applied to the measuring portion. Cans that have been rectified with relaxed regularity can be measured under substantially the same conditions, and the measurement accuracy of the load measuring instrument can be improved. Therefore, accurate can internal pressure inspection can be performed, and the cost can be reduced with a simple configuration. There is an effect that can be downed.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the roller can be prevented from rotating and clogging the can in the conveyance line of the can. There is an effect that can be inspected.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the can can be pushed between the receiving part and the measuring part by a forcibly rotating roller. Therefore, there is an effect that the influence of the impact load of the can can be reduced and the measurement accuracy of the load measuring instrument can be improved.
Moreover, clogging can be prevented by forcibly pushing the can between the receiving part and the measuring part with a roller.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effect of claim 1, the can that is conveyed is brought into contact with the contact surface of the roller of the receiving portion before the contact surface of the roller of the measuring portion, and The impact load of the can can be absorbed by the roller of the receiving portion, and the impact load when coming into contact with the contact surface of the measurement roller can be released to the downstream side in the transport direction by each roller. There is an effect that can internal pressure inspection can be performed.

According to the invention described in claim 5, in addition to the effects of any one of claims 1 to 4, the contact surface of the receiving portion is brought into contact with the measuring portion without enlarging the size of the receiving portion. Since it can be arranged on the upstream side of the surface, it is possible to reduce the cost and save space by reducing the size of the receiving portion while improving the measurement accuracy.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, since the can is received and guided to the measurement unit, the influence of the impact load on the internal pressure measurement of the can can be eliminated. There is an effect that the internal pressure of the can can be measured more accurately.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the can internal pressure test | inspection apparatus 1 is installed in the conveyance path 6 of the conveyor 7 which conveys the bottle can 8 with which the content was filled. The can internal pressure inspection device 1 includes a lower frame 4 that is attached to a gantry (not shown) and supports the conveyor 7, and a vertical frame 5 that stands on the lower frame 4. On the upper part of the vertical frame 5, a slider 5b is provided on a base 5a so as to be slidable in the vertical direction, and an upper frame 3 extending substantially parallel to the lower frame 4 is provided on the slider 5b. As the upper frame 3 moves up and down along the slider 5b, the height of the measuring device 12 and the receiving body 11 described later can be adjusted according to the height of the bottle can 8.
Here, the bottle can 8 filled with the contents is a container in which contents such as drinking water are filled in a container, liquefied nitrogen gas flows down, and a cap is attached and sealed (capped).

The upper frame 3 is provided with a support arm 9 provided on the base side and a support arm 10 provided on the tip side so as to hang down toward the lower frame 4, and the support arm 9 and the support arm 10 are respectively It is provided over a position slightly above the conveyor 7 surface. A U-shaped receiving portion main body 11 is attached to the lower end of the support arm 9 with the space portion 11 a facing the bottle can 8. On the other hand, a measuring device 12 is attached to the lower end of the support arm 10.
Then, the bottle can 8 is sandwiched between the receiving portion main body 11 and the measuring device 12.

A receiving roller 13 (receiving portion) is provided in the space portion 11 a of the receiving portion main body 11. The receiving roller 13 is formed of a hard member such as stainless steel, and is rotatably supported by a rotating shaft 14 supported by the upper frame 3 and penetrating the receiving portion main body 11. The outer peripheral wall 15 as a contact surface of the receiving roller 13 has a diameter such that the outer peripheral wall 15 slightly protrudes toward the support arm 10 from the guide bar 16 described later so that the outer peripheral wall 15 contacts the bottle can 8. Yes. Here, the contact surface is a range of 90 degrees surrounded by a two-dot chain line drawn from the center of the receiving roller toward the carrying-in direction of the bottle can 8 and a two-dot chain line drawn in the width direction of the conveyor 7 as shown in FIG. Say X part.
The rotating shaft 14 forcibly rotates the receiving roller 13 in the conveying direction of the bottle can 8 by a driving source (not shown) provided on the upper frame 3.

  Guide bars 16 and 16 are attached to the end surface of the receiving portion main body 11 on the support arm 10 side along the conveyance path 6. On the other hand, guide bars 17 and 17 are attached to the upper and lower portions of the side wall of the measuring device 12 so as to face the guide bars 16 and 16, respectively, along the conveyance path 6. The distance between the guide bars 16 and 16 and the guide bars 17 and 17 is set slightly wider than the diameter of the bottle can 8.

The measuring device 12 includes a head 18 (measuring unit), a load measuring unit 19 and an input member 20. The load measuring unit 19 measures a load using a load cell. The input member 20 protrudes to the support arm 9 side. When pressure is input from the support arm 9 side, the pressure is transferred from the input member 20 to the load cell ( The strain gauge attached to the detection member detects the strain generated by the pressure and measures the pressure based on the degree of strain (output).
The head 18 having a spherical contact surface 21 that comes into contact with the bottle can 8 is attached to the input member 20.
The distance between the head 18 and the receiving roller 13 is set to be shorter than the diameter of the bottle can 8.

As schematically shown in FIG. 2, the outer peripheral wall 15, which is the contact surface of the receiving roller 13 with respect to the bottle can 8, is located upstream of the conveyor 7 than the contact surface 21 of the head 18 with respect to the bottle can 8. It is like that. Specifically, the contact surface is formed without displacing the diameter of the receiving roller 13 by displacing the receiving roller 13 by an offset amount A to the upstream side of the conveyor 7 by a center axis (indicated by a one-dot chain line in the figure). The outer peripheral surface 15 is arranged on the upstream side with respect to 21.
The receiving roller 13 is forcibly rotated so as to guide and flow the bottle can 8 being conveyed in the downstream direction.
Even if the center of the receiving roller 13 is not offset upstream in the conveying direction, the outer peripheral wall of the receiving roller 13 is reduced by reducing the size of the head 18 or increasing the diameter of the receiving roller 13. You may provide in the upstream of a conveyance direction. For the sake of illustration, the rotating shaft of the receiving roller 13 is omitted in FIG. 2 (hereinafter the same applies to FIGS. 4 and 5).

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG.
In the following description, in order to clarify the state where the bottle can 8 comes into contact with the receiving roller 13, the bottle can 8 is conveyed while being offset largely toward the receiving roller 13 in the width direction of the conveyor 7. However, in actuality, the bottle can 8 is conveyed between the head 18 and the receiving roller 13.
First, the bottle can 8 conveyed on the conveyor 7 from the upstream side first comes into contact with the outer peripheral wall 15 of the receiving roller 13 located on the upstream side in the conveying direction. Next, the bottle can 8 is pushed into the space between the head 18 and the receiving roller 13 while rotating reversely to the receiving roller 13 by the receiving roller 13.

Here, the head 18 is pushed toward the load measuring unit 19 by the pushed bottle can 8 and presses the outer peripheral wall 15 of the bottle can 8.
And the reaction force from the said bottle can 8 is detected by the load measurement part 19 via the said head 18, and the bottle can 8 is discharged | emitted to the downstream of a conveyance direction. At this time, the internal pressure of the bottle can 8 is obtained based on the reaction force obtained by the load measuring unit 19, and when the internal pressure is equal to or higher than a reference value, the bottle can 8 is normal, while the internal pressure is lower than the reference value. Is smaller, it can be detected that the bottle can 8 is leaking or insufficiently filled.

FIG. 3 shows the accuracy (vertical axis) which is the absolute value of the difference between the measured value of the can internal pressure and the true value with respect to the true value (horizontal axis) of the bottle can internal pressure after capping.
Here, the measurement results are shown together when the offset amount A shown in FIG. 2 is set to 0.0 mm, 1.0 mm, and 2.5 mm.
The accuracy value indicates that the smaller the value, the smaller the measurement error. The true value is the pressure when the internal pressure of the can is measured with a highly accurate measuring instrument.

  Therefore, according to the first embodiment, the bottle can 8 conveyed on the conveyor 7 is elastically sandwiched between the head 18 and the receiving roller 13, and the input member 20 is held on the head 18. In the can internal pressure inspection apparatus 1 that detects the reaction force from the bottle can 8 by the load measuring unit 19 connected via the pin, and inspects the internal pressure of the bottle can 8, By disposing the contacting outer peripheral wall 15 upstream of the contact surface 21 of the head 18 in the conveying direction, the bottle can 8 is placed on the outer peripheral wall 15 of the receiving roller 13 before the contact surface 21 of the head 18. Since the flow is abutted and rectified, the irregularity of the impact load applied to the head 18 is relaxed, and the rectified bottle can 8 can be measured with substantially the same impact load. Therefore, the accuracy of measurement by the load measuring unit 19 can be improved, the accurate internal pressure inspection of the bottle can 8 can be performed, and the cost can be reduced because a simple configuration is sufficient.

  In addition, since the receiving roller 13 is provided as the receiving portion, it is possible to prevent the bottle can 8 from being clogged in the conveying line of the bottle can 8 by rotating the receiving roller 13, so that the bottle can 8 can be quickly and accurately. In addition, the internal pressure of the bottle can 8 can be inspected.

The bottle can 8 can be pushed between the head 18 and the receiving roller 13 by forcibly rotating the receiving roller 13 in the conveying direction. Therefore, the influence of the impact load of the bottle can 8 is reduced by that amount, and the measurement accuracy of the load measuring unit 19 can be improved. Further, the bottle can 8 can be forcibly pushed between the receiving portion roller and the head 18 by the receiving roller 13 to prevent clogging.
In the above-described embodiment, the range of X is the contact surface, but the range actually varies depending on the distance between the guide bars 16 and 17, and the distance between the guide bars 16 and 17 is the can. If the diameter is substantially equal to the diameter, the contact surface is the portion closest to the head 18 in the width direction of the conveyor 7 in the X range.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the spherical head 18 which is the measurement unit of the first embodiment described above is replaced with a rotatable measurement roller 30. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals for description.
As shown in FIG. 4, a measuring roller 30 is connected to the load measuring unit 19 via an input member 20. The measuring roller 30 is made of a hard material, and is rotatably provided by a rotating shaft (not shown).

Here, the diameter of the measuring roller 30 is sufficiently shorter than the diameter of the receiving roller 13, that is, the measuring roller 30 is formed with a large curvature. The outer peripheral wall 15 of the receiving roller 13 is disposed upstream of the contact surface 31 of the measuring roller 30 by a length B in the conveying direction, and further, the receiving roller 13 is further than the center of the measuring roller 30. Is centered by a length C on the upstream side in the transport direction.
Note that the receiving roller 13 may be appropriately selected to be freely rotated or forcibly rotated in accordance with inspection conditions such as a conveyance speed (the same applies to the third embodiment hereinafter).

  Therefore, according to the second embodiment, the receiving roller 13 and the measuring roller 30 are provided, and the outer peripheral wall 15 of the receiving roller 13 is arranged upstream of the contact surface 31 of the measuring roller 30 in the transport direction. Therefore, the bottle can 8 can be brought into contact with the outer peripheral wall 15 of the receiving roller 13 before the contact surface 31 of the measuring roller 30 to absorb the impact load of the bottle can 8. In particular, since the measuring roller 30 is also rotated in the transport direction and the impact load can be released to the downstream side in the transport direction, the impact load is surely released and a more accurate internal pressure inspection of the bottle can 8 can be performed.

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the third embodiment, the receiving roller 13 which is the receiving portion of the second embodiment described above is replaced with an arc-shaped receiving head 32. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals for description.
As shown in FIG. 5, a measuring roller 30 is connected to the load measuring unit 19 via an input member 20. The measuring roller 30 is made of a hard material, and is rotatably provided by a rotating shaft (not shown). The receiving portion main body 11 is provided with a spherical receiving head 32 made of a hard material. The curvature of the receiving head 32 is formed to be equal to the curvature of the measuring roller 30, and the distance from the center of the receiving head 32 to the upstream end surface in the conveying direction and the upstream of the measuring roller 30 in the conveying direction. The distance to the side end face is set equal.
The center of the receiving head 32 is offset from the center of the measuring roller 30 by a length D upstream in the transport direction. That is, the contact surface 33 of the receiving head 32 is provided upstream of the contact surface 31 of the measuring roller 30 by the length D in the transport direction.
The measuring roller 30 may be freely rotated or may be forcibly rotated in the transport direction by providing a drive source.

  Therefore, according to the third embodiment, since the center of the receiving head 32 is arranged upstream of the center of the measuring roller 30 in the transport direction, the bottle can 8 is positioned ahead of the contact surface 31 of the measuring roller 30. Since the impact load of the bottle can 8 can be absorbed by being brought into contact with the contact surface 33 of the receiving head 32, the impact load of the bottle can 8 can be released to the downstream side in the transport direction even with the measurement roller 30. Thus, it is possible to perform a more accurate internal pressure inspection of the bottle can 8.

  In addition, the center of the receiving head 32 is disposed upstream of the center of the measuring roller 30 in the conveying direction, so that the contact surface 33 of the receiving head 32 comes before the contact surface 31 of the measuring roller 30. Since it can be brought into contact with the can 8, the measurement accuracy can be improved, and the receiving head 32 can be downsized to reduce costs and save space.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the fourth embodiment, the receiving roller 13 as the receiving portion of the first embodiment described above is replaced with an arc-shaped receiving head 32. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals for description.
As shown in FIG. 6, a head 18 is connected to the load measuring unit 19 via an input member 20. The head 18 has a spherical surface formed of a hard material, and a receiving head 32 of the same material and shape is provided to face the head 18. The center of the receiving head 32 is offset from the center of the head 18 by a length E on the upstream side in the transport direction. That is, the contact surface 33 of the receiving head 32 is provided upstream of the contact surface 21 of the head 18 by the length E in the transport direction.

  In the fourth embodiment, since a rotating body such as the receiving roller 13 and the measuring roller 30 is not used as in each of the above-described embodiments, the bottle is interposed between the head 18 and the receiving head 32 as usual. A flat belt (not shown) for pushing the can 8 is provided, and the upper and lower surfaces of the bottle can are sandwiched by this flat belt and urged in the advancing direction to prevent clogging or stalling of the bottle can.

  Therefore, according to the fourth embodiment, the bottle can 8 conveyed by the conveyor 7 comes into contact with the contact surface 33 of the receiving head 32 before the contact surface 21 of the head 18 and is rectified. Therefore, the bottle can 8 that has been rectified with the irregularity of the impact load applied to the head 18 relaxed can be measured with substantially the same impact load, and therefore the internal pressure inspection of the bottle can 8 can be accurately performed. . Further, since each of the heads has a simple structure, the cost can be reduced.

In addition, this invention is not restricted to each embodiment mentioned above, For example, can containers of various aspects other than a bottle can may be sufficient, and it is suitable for the internal pressure measurement of a can container which does not have a side surface junction part.
Further, the diameter dimension of each roller may be appropriately selected according to the inspection speed of the apparatus.

1 is a side view of a first embodiment of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a arrow line view of 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a graph of the can internal pressure measurement result of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure equivalent to FIG. 2 of 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a figure equivalent to FIG. 2 of 3rd embodiment of this invention. It is a figure equivalent to FIG. 2 of 4th embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

7 Conveyor 8 Bottle can (can)
13 Receiving roller (receiving part)
15 Outer wall (contact surface)
18 heads (measurement unit)
19 Load measuring unit (measuring instrument)
21 Contact surface 30 Measuring roller

Claims (6)

  In the can internal pressure inspection device that inspects the internal pressure of the can by detecting the reaction force with a measuring device provided on the measurement unit side, elastically sandwiching the can conveyed on the conveyor from both sides with the receiving unit and the measuring unit, A can internal pressure inspection device, wherein the contact surface of the receiving portion with respect to the can is arranged upstream of the contact surface of the measurement portion.   The can internal pressure inspection device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the receiving portion and the measuring portion is a roller.   The can internal pressure inspection device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the receiving portion and the measuring portion is a roller that is forcibly rotated.   The receiving part and the measuring part are both rollers, and the upstream outer peripheral surface of the receiving part is disposed upstream of the upstream outer peripheral surface of the measuring part. Can internal pressure inspection device.   The can internal pressure inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a central axis of the receiving portion is arranged upstream of a central axis of the measuring portion. A can internal pressure inspection method characterized in that an internal pressure is detected from a reaction force when it is received by a receiving portion and guided downstream by a receiving portion and then elastically pinched with a measuring portion.

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