JP2005313984A - Cap holding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a chuck, in a screw capper, which smoothly channels and holds a cap with vertical channels. <P>SOLUTION: Three chuck members 6 are supported by a chuck body proper 4, the chuck members arranged in a form of a partitioned cylinder, and biassed toward inside by means of a coil spring 10. On the inside face of the chuck member 6, vertical protrusions 6aa and recessed channels 6ab are provided so that they become mutually engaged within protrusions 16c and vertical grooves 16d provided on the outer surface of the cap 16. A steel ball 12 is held at a through hole 6ad located further toward the tip end portion than the protrusions 6aa of the chuck member 6, the spherical surface of the tip of the steel ball 12 being projected out, while being elastically supported by a wire 14 from behind. When the cap 16 makes ingression from under, the steel ball 12 is channeled into the vertical groove 16d of the cap 16, after which the protrusion 6aa located at the same position becomes engaged within the vertical groove 16d in succession. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a cap holding device for a screw capper that holds a cap and winds it around a container, and more particularly, to a cap holding device suitable for holding a resin cap or the like having a knurled surface on its outer peripheral surface. Is.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a cap holding device that holds a cap having concave and convex portions formed by vertical peaks and valleys on an outer peripheral surface and winds the container is widely known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). ). The cap holding device described in Patent Document 1 supports a plurality of chucks so as to be swingable with an upper portion as a fulcrum, and the inner periphery of these chucks has a saw-like shape similar to a vertical groove formed on the outer periphery of a screw cap. The unevenness is formed. An elastic ring such as a tension spring is wound around the outer periphery of the chuck to give the chuck an elastic force to hold the screw cap.

  The cap holding device inserts the cap supplied from the chute into the center hole of the chuck, swings the chuck outwardly against the elastic ring, and holds the cap with the saw-like irregularities of the chuck. ing.

Further, a cap holding device described in Patent Document 2 (referred to as a cap holding part in Patent Document 2) includes a cylindrical main body having a hollow portion into which a synthetic resin cap is inserted, and a lower part of the main body. A plurality of through-holes formed in the vicinity of the side openings are fitted to the outer sides of the press balls, which are respectively provided so as to be able to advance and retract in the inner and outer directions and part of their tips protrude into the hollow portions. A rubber ring that urges these balls toward the hollow portion is provided. A hollow portion of the main body is formed to be slightly narrowed, and a holding portion knurl that fits into a cap knurl formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cap is formed on a peripheral wall portion surrounding the hollow portion.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-43598 (page 3-4, FIG. 4) Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-31693 (Specifications, pages 7-9, FIG. 1)

  In the configuration of the cap holding device described in Patent Document 1, when holding the cap, the unevenness of the chuck does not always match the unevenness of the cap, and the convex portion of the chuck rides on the convex portion of the cap. There is a case where it enters the recess from the state. Even in such a state, when the unevenness of the outer peripheral surface of the cap is small, there is not much problem, but when the width of the top surface of the convex portion is wide, there is a problem that conspicuous scratches occur.

  Further, as in the configuration described in Patent Document 2, when the hollow portion of the cylindrical main body is formed to be constricted, the cap may be held in an inclined state. Therefore, a pressing ball is provided near the opening of the main body to prevent the cap from being held obliquely. Thus, in order to prevent the cap from tilting, a certain amount of pressing force is required. When a pressing force is applied to the pressing ball, if the top surface of the convex part of the cap is wide, the pressing ball may bite because it is pressed while riding on the top surface, and the cap may be damaged. It was.

  The present invention includes a plurality of chuck members having a shape obtained by dividing a cylinder, elastic means for urging the chuck members inward, and a contact portion that contacts the top surface of the cap. An inner surface of the chuck member, wherein the inner surface of the chuck member has a convex portion engageable with a longitudinal groove formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cap, and holds the cap by the chuck member and winds the container. An engaging member having a spherical surface engageable with the longitudinal groove of the cap is formed on the tip side of the convex portion so that the convex portion and the circumferential position are aligned with each other. It is characterized in that a supporting means is provided for holding the engaging part so as to protrude from the opening toward the inner peripheral side of the chuck member, and elastically supporting the engaging member from behind.

  In the cap holding device of the present invention, the spherical surface of the engaging member is guided into the vertical groove of the cap, and the convex portion of the chuck member is securely fitted into the vertical groove of the cap by being guided by this. Even in the case of a wide cap, it can be prevented from being damaged by the convex portion of the chuck member. In addition, since it is not necessary to strongly press the engaging member from behind, there is no possibility that the cap is damaged by the engaging member.

  A convex portion that can be engaged with a longitudinal groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cap is formed on the inner surface of the chuck member having a shape obtained by dividing the cylinder, and the convex portion is aligned with the circumferential position so that the cap The engaging member having a spherical surface that can be engaged with the longitudinal groove is held in a protruding manner on the inner peripheral side, and the back is elastically supported by the supporting means, and the cap is held when holding the cap. Achieving the purpose of preventing damage.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cap holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. It shows the state attached to the spindle of the capping head. 3 is a front view with a cross section of a part of the cap holding device, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing a state in which the cap is fitted.

  The cap holding device (indicated by reference numeral 1 as a whole) includes a chuck body 4 attached to the spindle 2 of the capping head, and three chuck members 6 supported on the outer peripheral side of the chuck body 4. The lower side of each chuck member 6 is a cap holding portion 6a, and the cap holding portion 6a has a shape obtained by dividing a cylinder into three parts. The upper part is an attachment part to the chuck body 4, and each chuck member 6 has two parallel arms 6b and 6b. On the inner surface of the cylindrical cap holding part 6a, vertical convex parts 6aa are formed at equal intervals, and a concave groove 6ab is formed between these convex parts 6aa. In this embodiment, the convex portion 6aa and the concave groove 6ab are formed over a length of about two thirds of the upper side of the cap holding portion 6a, and the lower side thereof is a flat surface.

  Three support portions 4a are formed on the outer peripheral portion of the chuck body 4 so as to protrude outward at equal intervals. Two arms 6b and 6b of the mounting portion of each chuck member 6 are fitted to these support portions 4a from both sides, and are supported rotatably via pins 8. A circumferential groove 6ac is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cap holding portion 6a of each chuck member 6, and an elastic means (coil spring) 10 is fitted in the circumferential groove 6ac to hold the cap of these chuck members 6. The portion 6a is urged toward the inner peripheral side.

  Two through holes 6ad in the radial direction are opened on each flat surface formed at the lower part on the inner surface side of the cap holding portion 6a of each chuck member 6, and an engagement member (steel ball) is placed in each of these through holes 6ad. ) 12 is inserted. Further, a groove 6ae that is annular as a whole is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the portion where the through hole 6ad of the chuck member 6 is formed, and a wire 14 is fitted in the annular groove 6ae. The back of each steel ball 12 is elastically supported, and a repulsive force is generated so as to prevent the steel balls 12 from being pushed.

  The cap 16 held by the cap holding device 1 and wound around the container has a top surface 16a and a cylindrical portion 16b below the top surface 16a. On the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 16b, vertical protrusions 16c and vertical grooves 16d are alternately formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. When the convex portion 6aa of the chuck member 6 is fitted into the vertical groove 16d of the cap 16, the protruding portion 16c of the cap 16 is fitted into the concave groove 6ab of the chuck member 6. The top surface 16a of the cap 16 is flat, and the lower surface of the chuck body 4 constitutes a contact portion 4b that contacts the top surface 16a.

  The operation of the cap holding device 1 according to the above configuration will be described. In the capping head of the screw capper, the cap holding device 1 is attached to the lower end of the spindle 2, and the cap holding device 1 is lowered while rotating by driving the spindle 2. The cap holding device 1 approaches from above the cap 16 supplied by cap supply means (not shown), and the cap 16 enters the inside from the lower side of the three cylindrical chuck members 6.

  A steel ball 12 is held on the tip side (lower side), which is the inlet side of the cap 16 of the chuck member 6, with the spherical surface of the tip projecting toward the inner peripheral side. It is drawn into the vertical groove 16d formed on the outer peripheral surface. Even when the tip of the steel ball 12 hits the protrusion 16 c on the outer surface of the cap 16 when the cap 16 first enters the chuck member 6, the spherical surface of the tip of the steel ball 12 remains at the chuck member 6. Is inserted into the vertical groove 16d adjacent to the protrusion 16c of the cap 16.

  The vertical projections 6aa formed on the inner surface of the chuck member 6 and the steel balls 12 have the same radial position, and enter the inside of the chuck member 6 as the cap holding device 1 is lowered. In the coming cap 16, since the vertical groove 16d is drawn into the position of the steel ball 12, the vertical protrusion 6aa of the chuck member 6 is fitted into the vertical groove 16d. In this way, the vertical groove 16d of the cap 16 and the convex portion 6aa of the chuck member 6 are fitted to each other after the positions in the circumferential direction are matched by the steel ball 12, so that the protrusion between the vertical grooves 16d of the cap 16 Even if the width of 16c is wide, there is no possibility that the cap 16 is damaged by the convex portion 6aa of the chuck member 6. Further, in the configuration of the cap holding device 1, the cap 16 is positioned at the center of the cylindrical shape composed of the chuck members 6 by the urging force of the coil spring 10 to prevent the inclination. Since there is no possibility of holding the cap 16 in an inclined state as in the configuration, it is not necessary to press the steel ball 12 with a strong force, and it is only necessary to elastically support the back. Therefore, the cap 16 is not damaged by the steel ball 12.

It is a top view of a cap holding | maintenance apparatus. (Example 1) It is sectional drawing which follows the II-II line | wire of FIG. It is the front view which made a part of said cap holding | maintenance apparatus the cross section. It is a bottom view which shows the state which the cap fitted to the cap holding | maintenance apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cap holding device 4b Contact part 6 Chuck member 6aa Chuck member convex part 6ad Opening (through hole)
10 Elastic means (coil spring)
12 Engagement member (steel ball)
14 Support means (wire)
16 Cap 16a Top surface of the cap 16d Vertical groove of the cap

Claims (2)

A plurality of chuck members having a shape obtained by dividing a cylinder, elastic means for urging the chuck members inward, and a contact portion that comes into contact with the top surface of the cap. In a cap holding device that has a convex portion that can be engaged with a vertical groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cap, holds the cap by these chuck members, and tightens the container.
An engagement member having a spherical surface engageable with a longitudinal groove of the cap, the opening being formed on the tip side of the inner surface of the chuck member with the convex portion and the circumferential position aligned with each other. A cap holding device characterized in that a part of the spherical surface is held so as to protrude from the opening toward the inner peripheral side of the chuck member, and a support means for elastically supporting the engagement member from the back is provided. apparatus.   The cap holding device according to claim 1, wherein the cap is relatively moved toward the inner peripheral side while rotating the chuck member.

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