JP2007152270A - Bottle washing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bottle washing apparatus making an occupied space of a carrying passage for washing bottles compact, effectively using the occupied space of the carrying passage, and enhancing work efficiency of the entire apparatus and work efficiency of a monitoring person. <P>SOLUTION: A holder member 4 with a bottle B mounted thereto at a mounting position S1 is intermittently moved along a circular carrying passage 3 of substantially square shape in a plan view, starting from the mounting position S1 and reaching a demounting position S12 via a waiting position S2, three washing positions S3-S5, a first draining position S6, four rinsing positions S7-S10, and a second draining position S11, and the bottle B is demounted and carried out to a bottle carrying out passage 22 at the demounting position S12. While, the holder member 4 with the bottle B demounted therefrom at the demounting position S12 is transferred to the mounting position S1 located in one position downstream side from the demounting position S12, and an empty bottle B is remounted by a bottle mounting device 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a bottle cleaning device for cleaning a bottle.

  Conventionally, a large-capacity bottle of about 3 gallons containing contents such as drinking water has been used repeatedly by being refilled with contents after being collected and washed after consumption of the contents. For example, a bottle cleaning device described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed as a bottle cleaning device that cleans such a large-capacity bottle and fills it with contents.

This bottle cleaning device is placed in an inverted state in which an empty bottle is turned upside down on a dedicated transport pallet, and the transport pallet is straightened from the upstream input position to the downstream reverse position (unloading position) by the transport device. During pre-conveying, pre-cleaning, alkali cleaning and finishing cleaning are performed. When the transport pallet reaches the reversal position, the empty bottle is picked up from the transport pallet and reversed, and the transport pallet from which the empty bottle has been removed is returned to the pallet return conveyor. To feed back to the loading position.
JP 2001-293444 A

  However, in the bottle cleaning device described above, since the transport device linearly transports the empty bottle from the upstream side to the downstream side of the transport line and performs the cleaning process on the empty bottle in the meantime, the linear transport line ( A long and narrow occupation space for securing the (transport path) is required. Such a long and narrow space is difficult to secure in view of the arrangement relationship with the process equipment before and after the bottle cleaning device. After all, in order to secure a transport line for cleaning the bottle, there is a large floor area with a margin. There was a problem that installation space was required.

  Also, a special pallet return conveyor is provided just to send the transport pallet that reaches the downstream side of the transport line to the input position, and the pallet return conveyor feeds the transport pallet empty. There is room for further improvement in operating efficiency of the entire bottle cleaning device in that it functions only to send it back to the position.

  In addition, since the loading position and the unloading position of the transfer device are separated from the upstream side and the downstream side of the transfer line, for example, when monitoring personnel are arranged on the transfer line, the monitoring personnel are respectively upstream and downstream of the transfer line. Or the range from the loading position to the reversal position is made to correspond to one monitor, but the former requires human costs and the latter increases the burden on one monitor.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and can occupy a space occupied by a conveyance path for performing a cleaning process on a bottle, and can effectively utilize the space occupied by the conveyance path. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle cleaning device capable of improving the overall operation efficiency and the work efficiency of a supervisor.

  In order to achieve this object, the bottle cleaning device according to claim 1 is for cleaning a bottle having a mouth, and is provided in a circular conveyance path provided in a substantially endless annular shape in plan view, and the circular conveyance path A plurality of processing positions arranged at predetermined intervals along the plurality of processing positions, and a plurality of processing positions provided at the intervals substantially equal to the arrangement intervals of the plurality of processing positions. By moving the holder member and all of the plurality of holder members all at once along the circumferential conveying path in the same circumferential direction at intervals of the processing position, each holder member is positioned A transfer means for transferring from one processing position to the next processing position, and a mounting position that is one of the plurality of processing positions and that mounts a bottle on the holder member And a detaching position that is one of the plurality of processing positions and is located upstream of the mounting position by one position in the conveying direction of the circular conveying path, and detaches the bottle from the holder member; And a cleaning means for injecting the cleaning liquid into the mouth of the bottle supported by the holder member at a cleaning position corresponding to at least one of the plurality of processing positions excluding the mounting position.

  According to the bottle cleaning device of the first aspect, all of the plurality of holder members are intermittently moved one position at a time in the same circumferential direction along the circumferential conveying path by the conveying means, so that each of the holder members is moved. The empty bottles supported by the members are simultaneously transferred from the upstream processing position to the downstream processing position along the circular conveyance path one by one. As a result, the bottles supported by each holder member are subjected to the necessary processing in order at each processing position.

  Here, if attention is paid to one of a plurality of holder members that intermittently move in the circumferential conveyance path, when the holder member is positioned at a mounting position that is one of the processing positions, the holder is in the mounting position. An empty bottle is attached to the member. Then, the holder member is sequentially transferred to the processing position downstream in the transport direction while supporting the bottle, and when it reaches a predetermined cleaning position, it is cleaned into the mouth of the bottle supported by the holder member. The cleaning liquid is sprayed by the means, and the inside of the bottle is washed.

  When the holder member passes from the mounting position through the cleaning position and reaches the detaching position, the holder member has moved all the processing positions and has made one round of the circular conveyance path. Then, the bottle is detached from the holder member that has reached the removal position, and the holder member is transferred to the attachment position that is one position downstream from the removal position in the transport direction, and the next empty bottle is attached at the attachment position. After mounting, the above-described series of operations is repeated again.

  The bottle cleaning device according to claim 2 is the bottle cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the transport unit is provided around the circumferential transport path, and the plurality of holder members are arranged at intervals of the processing positions. A transport chain that is attached at substantially equal intervals, a sprocket that is inscribed in the transport chain, is engaged with the transport chain, and is rotatably supported, and a rotational force is applied to the sprocket, along the circumferential transport path. Intermittent transfer means for intermittently transferring the transport chain at intervals of the processing positions.

  According to the bottle cleaning apparatus of the second aspect, the same action as that of the bottle cleaning apparatus of the first aspect is achieved, and when the sprocket is rotated by the intermittent transfer means, the conveying chain corresponds to the processing position arrangement interval. The holder member is intermittently moved by being transported along the circumferential conveyance path by the length.

  The bottle cleaning device according to claim 3 is the bottle cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the transport unit is disposed on the outer circumferential side of the transport chain along the circular transport path with a distance from the transport chain. The plurality of holder members are formed so as to be capable of circular movement along the circular conveyance path while being engaged with the guide rails, and the guide rails are further provided. And is held between the transport chains in a substantially horizontal posture.

  According to the bottle cleaning device of this third aspect, in addition to acting in the same manner as the bottle cleaning device of the second aspect, the holder member is held in a state of being laid between the transport chain and the guide rail, Since it is transported along the circular transport path, the resistance and load applied to the transport chain by the weight of the holder member and the bottle can be shared by the guide rail.

  For this reason, it is suppressed that the useless resistance load with respect to a conveyance chain acts, and it is suppressed that the link part of a conveyance chain extends, and the shift | offset | difference and slack of the conveyance chain resulting from such elongation are also suppressed. . As a result, the positional deviation of the holder member with respect to the processing position is also suppressed, and further, the problem that the cleaning liquid from the cleaning means is not accurately ejected to the bottle mouth is suppressed.

  In addition, since the holder member can be moved along the circular conveyance path while being engaged with the guide rail, the holder member can be prevented from rattling due to unnecessary vibration applied to the holder member as the conveyance chain is conveyed. The falling of the supported bottles is also suppressed.

  The bottle cleaning device according to claim 4 is the bottle cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein the holder member includes a pair of guide rollers that are rotatably supported by the holder member and sandwich the guide rail. The guide rail is movably engaged with the guide rail via the pair of guide rollers.

  According to the bottle cleaning device of the fourth aspect, the holder member is engaged by the pair of guide rollers that sandwich the guide rail, and operates in the same manner as the bottle cleaning device according to the third aspect. The guide roller is guided along the guide rail by rotating so as to roll in contact with the guide rail. Thus, since the holder member is engaged with the guide rail via a pair of guide rollers that rotate itself, the load resistance due to such engagement is suppressed from reaching the conveyance chain, and the holder member is It can be moved smoothly along the guide rail.

  The bottle cleaning device according to claim 5 is the bottle cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bottle that is arranged in parallel with the circumferential conveyance path and is detached from the holder member at the removal position is a next step. A bottle carrying-out path for carrying out the bottle in a direction opposite to the bottle carrying-out direction provided in parallel with the bottle carrying-out path and carrying the bottle into the mounting position. Yes.

  According to the bottle cleaning device according to claim 5, in the bottle cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the holder member detached from the holder member at the detaching position is carried out to the next process through the bottle carrying-out path. On the other hand, the empty bottle is carried into the mounting position through the bottle carrying-in path.

  Here, the bottle carry-in path for supplying bottles to the circumferential conveyance path is arranged in parallel although the conveyance direction is opposite to the bottle carry-out path for sending the bottle from the circumferential conveyance path to the next process. As a result, since the bottle inlet and outlet of the bottle cleaning apparatus are collected at one place, the entire apparatus contributes to downsizing and a reduction in the monitoring burden on the supervisor.

  According to the bottle cleaning device of the present invention, the plurality of processing positions for cleaning the plurality of bottles are provided along the endless circular circulation path in plan view, and the bottles processed at each processing position are The holder member is configured to sequentially pass through each processing position along the circumferential conveyance path. For this reason, it is not necessary to lay out a process line for cleaning an empty bottle in a straight line, and there is an effect that it can be installed without difficulty even in a narrow space with a limited floor area.

  In addition, the holder member that has supported the bottle and passed through all the processing positions and finished the cleaning process can be moved and moved one position intermittently after the cleaned bottle is removed at the removal position. Therefore, there is an effect that the operation efficiency of the entire apparatus can be improved without wastefully running the holder member in a state where the bottle is not supported. In addition, there is no need to add a mechanism or means different from the conveying means for returning from the attachment / detachment position to the attachment position, and there is an effect that the operating efficiency of the entire apparatus can be further improved.

  Furthermore, since the mounting position at which the bottle is mounted on the holder member is adjacent to the mounting position at which the bottle is mounted on the holder member, the mounting position and the mounting position can be easily monitored by a single monitor. Therefore, in the case of mobilizing the monitor, the human cost and labor burden related to the monitor are reduced, and the work efficiency of the monitor can be improved.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an internal structure of an apparatus main body 2 of a bottle cleaning apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This bottle cleaning device 1 cleans the inside and outside of a large-capacity bottle (hereinafter simply referred to as “bottle”) having an internal volume of about 1 gallon to about 5 gallons, and further fills the bottle with drinking water. An apparatus for filling with an apparatus (not shown), which is suitable for processing about 200 to about 300 per hour. The “gallon” used in this example refers to US liquid gallon (1 gallon≈3.785 liters).

  Here, with reference to FIG. 8, the bottle B used by description of a present Example is demonstrated. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the bottle B. As shown in FIG. 8, the bottle B is a container body in which a mouth b3 is opened at the top end face of the neck b2, and has an inner volume of approximately 3 gallons. The bottle B is a barrel having a relatively heavy weight, and the length of the neck b2 engaged in the bottle holding hole 5 is sufficiently long. The bottle B is turned upside down and inserted into the bottle holding hole 5. In this state, the distance from the holder member 4 to the position of the center of gravity of the bottle B is short, and the inverted posture inverted upside down can be stably maintained only by the support by the holder member 4.

  More specifically, the bottle B has a neck (b2) outer diameter of about 15% to about 25% of the outer diameter of the body (b1) and a neck (b2) length of the body (b1). About 25% to about 35% of the length, and the neck (b2) length is about 50% to about 60% of the distance from the base of the neck b2 to the center of gravity of the body b1, and the inclination of the shoulder b4 of the bottle B The angle is about 0 ° to about 30 ° with respect to the substantially horizontal line, and the weight is about 0.5 kg to about 1.5 kg. The synthetic resin material having impact resistance such as polycarbonate is used.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the bottle cleaning device 1 includes a device main body 2 that is formed so as to surround a rectangular interior space that is substantially horizontally long in a plan view. Is provided. The circumferential conveyance path 3 is a conveyance path that conveys a plurality of bottles B simultaneously upside down (inverted) in order to perform a cleaning process, and moves around the same at the same time. And is provided between a transport chain 7 and a guide rail 8 which will be described later.

  A total of twelve processing positions S1 to S12 are arranged in the circumferential conveyance path 3 along the circumferential conveyance path 3 at substantially equal intervals (see FIG. 2), and these processing positions S1 to S12 are In order to sequentially perform a series of processes such as washing, draining, rinsing and draining on the bottle B transported in the upside down posture along the circumferential transport path 3, the bottle B is disposed in advance on the circumferential transport path 3. Processing position (position).

  Further, one holder member 4 for supporting the bottle B, which is the object to be cleaned, is arranged one by one at the processing positions S1 to S12, and a total of twelve holder members 4 are disposed at the processing positions S1 to S12 in the entire circular conveyance path 3. It is provided along the circumferential conveyance path 3 at an interval substantially equal to the arrangement interval (hereinafter referred to as “processing position interval”) L of S12. Each of these holder members 4 is provided with a bottle holding hole 5 having an inner diameter into which the neck portion b2 of the bottle B can be inserted, and is formed in a substantially O shape in plan view.

  With reference to FIG. 2, functions of the processing positions S1 to S12 in total 12 positions will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the bottle cleaning device 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the above-described circumferential conveyance path 3 (one-dot chain line in the drawing) is formed in the apparatus main body 2 of the bottle cleaning apparatus 1, and is arranged at substantially equal intervals along the circumferential conveyance path 3. A total of 12 processing positions S1 to S12 are provided.

  The specific names of the twelve processing positions S1 to S12 are the mounting position S1, the standby position S2, and the three cleaning points in order in the circumferential conveyance direction of the circumferential conveyance path 3 (clockwise direction in FIGS. 1 and 2). Positions S3 to S5, first drainage position S6, four rinsing positions S7 to S10, second drainage position S11, and desorption position S12. The mounting position S1 is a position for mounting the bottle B to the holder member 4 by the bottle mounting device 30 and is on the extension line of the downstream end portion in the transport direction of the bottle carry-in path 24 to be described later, It is arranged at one corner (the corner where the driving sprocket 9 is disposed).

  The standby position S2 is arranged at one position downstream of the mounting position S1 in the circumferential conveyance direction, and the bottle B mounted on the holder member 4 at the mounting position S1 is left with the mouth b3 facing downward, In this position, the drinking water remaining inside the bottle B is dropped from the mouth b3 of the bottle B, or is left for a while after being attached to stabilize the bottle B on the holder member 4.

  The cleaning positions S3 to S5 are three positions that are continuously arranged with a shift of 1 to 3 positions downstream from the standby position S2 in the circumferential conveyance direction, and in particular, the third cleaning position S5 located on the most downstream side. Is arranged at the second corner of the circular conveyance path 3. At these three cleaning positions S3 to S5, an injection nozzle for cleaning the inside of the bottle B (see the injection nozzle 18 shown in FIG. 4; the same applies hereinafter) and a cleaning for the outside of the bottle B Both injection nozzles (not shown; the same applies hereinafter) are arranged, and at any of the cleaning positions S3 to S5, the inside (inner surface) and the outside (outside) of the bottle B are caused by the cleaning water containing the detergent injected from the injection nozzle. Both of the outer surfaces are cleaned. The cleaning water is a kind of cleaning liquid used in the present invention. In addition, illustration of the injection nozzle is abbreviate | omitted in FIG.

  The first drainage position S6 is arranged at a position downstream of the third cleaning position S5 on the most downstream side by one position on the downstream side in the circumferential conveyance direction, and is injected into the bottle B at the cleaning position S5 and remains. This is a position where the bottle B is left in order to drain the used cleaning water from the mouth b3 of the bottle B to the outside by free fall. By draining the used washing water from the inside of the bottle B at the first draining position S6, the used washing water remaining in the bottle B flows down from the bottle B at the next rinsing position S7, and the rinsing position. Mixing into the injection nozzle of S7 is prevented.

  The rinsing positions S7 to S10 are four positions that are continuously arranged with a shift of 1 to 4 positions on the downstream side in the circumferential conveyance direction from the first drainage position S6, and in particular, the first rinsing position on the most upstream side. The position S7 is disposed at the third corner portion of the circumferential conveyance path 3. The first rinsing position S7 is provided with an injection nozzle for rinsing the inside of the bottle B, and the rinsing water is injected from the injection nozzle into the mouth portion b3 of the bottle B. The inside is rinsed. The rinsing water is a kind of cleaning liquid used in the present invention, and specifically, is one using ordinary tap water (the same applies hereinafter).

  In the second rinsing position S8, an injection nozzle for rinsing the inside of the bottle B and an injection nozzle for rinsing the outside of the bottle B are respectively arranged. This second rinsing position In S8, the rinsing water is simultaneously ejected from the ejection nozzles, so that the inside and the outside of the bottle B are simultaneously rinsed. The third rinsing position S9 is provided with an injection nozzle for rinsing the outside of the bottle B, and the rinsing water is injected from the injection nozzle to the outside of the bottle B, so that the outside of the bottle B Is rinsed.

  The fourth rinsing position S10 on the most downstream side is provided with an injection nozzle for rinsing the inside of the bottle B and an injection nozzle for rinsing the outside of the bottle B, respectively. The outside of the bottle B is rinsed and washed by spraying the rinsing water to the outside of B. At the same time, the drinking water for the product is jetted into the mouth part b3 of the bottle B as the final rinse water. The interior is rinsed with final rinse water. The final rinse water is a kind of cleaning liquid used in the present invention.

  The second drainage position S11 is arranged at the fourth corner portion of the circumferential conveyance path 3 that is one position downstream of the fourth rinsing position S10 in the circumferential conveyance direction. At the fourth rinsing position S10, the bottle B In this position, the bottle B is left in order to drain the used final rinse water sprayed and remaining inside the bottle B from the mouth b3 of the bottle B to the outside by free fall.

  The detachment position S12 is arranged at one position downstream of the second drainage position S11 in the circumferential conveyance direction and at one position upstream of the mounting position S1 in the circumferential conveyance direction. It is a position for desorption. Further, the holder member 4 from which the bottle B has been attached / detached at the attaching / detaching position S12 is transferred again to the attaching position S1, and a new bottle B is attached.

  The plurality of holder members 4 positioned at the plurality of processing positions S <b> 1 to S <b> 12 are attached to the transport chain 7 of the transport mechanism device 6 via the bracket 16. The transport mechanism device 6 mainly includes a transport chain 7, a guide rail 8, sprockets 9 to 12, and an intermittent transfer motor 13 (see FIG. 3). The conveyance mechanism device 6 intermittently moves all the holder members 4 by a transfer pitch P substantially equal to the processing position interval L in the circumferential direction of the circumferential conveyance path 3 so that each holder member 4 This is a transition from the current position to the next position.

  The transport chain 7 is provided in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view along the circular transport path 3, and a guide rail 8 is omitted from the transport chain 7 at a predetermined interval on the outer peripheral side of the transport chain 7 in plan view. Circumferentially arranged in a square shape. Between the guide rail 8 and the transport chain 7, the plurality of holder members 4 described above are disposed so as to be movable along the circumferential transport path 3.

  A total of four sprockets 9 to 12 are arranged on the inner peripheral portion of the transport chain 7, one at each corner, and these four sprockets 9 to 12 are all in the transport chain 7. The teeth are in contact with each other. One of these four sprockets 9 to 12 is a driving sprocket 9 for transmitting a driving force for intermittently transporting the transport chain 7, and the remaining three are driven along the circular transport path 3. Are driven sprockets 10 to 12 for guiding them.

  FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view around the mounting position S1. As shown in FIG. 3, the upper end portion of the driving shaft 14 is passed through the central portion of the driving sprocket 9. The driving shaft 14 extends vertically downward from the driving sprocket 9 and is integrally connected to the output shaft of the reduction gear of the intermittent transfer motor 13 disposed in the apparatus main body 2. Further, the intermittent transfer motor 13 is mounted on a frame of the apparatus main body 2 located below the circulation transport path 3, and an upper portion thereof is covered with a motor cover 15.

  The intermittent transfer motor 13 is an electric motor with a speed reducer that applies rotational force (rotational power) to the driving sprocket 9 to intermittently transfer the transport chain 7 by a transfer pitch P. Specifically, the intermittent transfer motor 13 is driven so as to sequentially repeat an operation state in which the transport chain 7 is transferred by a fixed transfer pitch P via the driving sprocket 9 and a stop state of about 15 seconds. It is. And while this intermittent transfer motor 13 is stopped for about 15 seconds, necessary processing for the bottle B is performed at each of the processing positions S1 to S12.

  4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the holder member 4 is formed in a substantially hollow cylindrical shape, and a bottle holding hole 5 is formed through the center portion in the vertical direction. The holder member 4 supports the bottle B in a state where the neck portion b2 of the bottle B which is turned upside down and the mouth portion b3 faces downward is fitted in the bottle holding hole 5. The shoulder b4 of the bottle B is formed so as to be supported from below by the upper end side periphery.

  A bracket 16 is attached to one side of the holder member 4. The bracket 16 is an instrument for attaching the holder member 4 to the transport chain 7, and the holder member 4 is fixedly attached to the upper link plate in the transport chain 7 via the bracket 16. On the other hand, a set of guide rollers 17 is attached to the other side of the holder member 4. Each of the pair of guide rollers 17 is formed in a columnar shape, and is supported by the holder member 4 so as to be rotatable around a substantially horizontal axis center.

  Further, the holder member 4 is held in a substantially horizontal posture in a state of being laid between the guide rail 8 and the transport chain 7 via the bracket 16 and the pair of guide rollers 17. An injection nozzle 18 is disposed vertically below the holding hole 5 slightly away from the lower end surface of the holder member 4. The injection nozzle 18 is disposed at the second rinsing position S8 described above, and a nozzle hole 18a for injecting the liquid vertically upward is provided at the upper end surface thereof.

  According to the spray nozzle 18 for rinsing, the rinse water supplied to the spray nozzle 18 is sprayed vertically upward from the nozzle hole 18a into the mouth b3 of the bottle B fitted in the bottle holding hole 5. As a result, the inside of the bottle B is rinsed with the rinsing water. In FIG. 4, only the injection nozzle 18 disposed at the second rinsing position S8 is illustrated. However, in order to clean the inside of the bottle B, the cleaning positions S3 to S5 and other rinsing positions S7, S7, Also in S9 and S10, although not shown, an injection nozzle 18 having the same structure as that provided in the rinsing position S8 is provided. Further, in this embodiment, the illustration of the injection nozzle for cleaning the outside of the bottle B is omitted.

  Further, the toothed portion of the driven sprocket 10 is meshed with the inner periphery of the transport chain 7 to which the holder member 4 is attached, and the upper end portion of the rotating shaft 19 is formed at the center of the driven sprocket 10. It has been passed through. The rotating shaft 19 of the driven sprocket 10 is rotatably supported at its lower end by a bearing 20, and this bearing 20 is fixed to the apparatus main body 2. The driven sprocket 10 shown in FIG. 4 shows one of the three driven sprockets 10 to 12 in total, but the remaining two driven sprockets 11 and 12 similarly have a rotating shaft 19. Is rotatably supported via a bearing 20.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a chain frame 21 that supports the transport chain 7 is disposed below the transport chain 7, and an engagement block 22 is disposed above the chain frame 21. It is fixed. Further, on the upper surface of the engagement block 22, there is provided a lidless bottomless engagement recess 23 in which the roller of the transport chain 7 and the lower link plate are slidably engaged. The chain frame 21 and the engagement block 23 are arranged along each straight line portion excluding each corner portion of the circular conveyance path 3 shown in FIG. 1, and the conveyance chain 7 is arranged along the circular conveyance path 3. It functions as a regulating body for transfer.

  FIG. 5 is an arrow view of the holder member 4 as viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, a total of three guide rollers 17 attached to one holder member 4 form a set, two of which can rotate on the upper side and the remaining one on the lower side. It is attached to the shaft. The set of guide rollers 17, 17, 17 is engaged with the guide rail 8 by sandwiching the guide rail 8 from above and below, and the set of guide rollers 17 is in contact with the guide rail 8 while rotating. The holder member 4 is guided and moved along the guide rail 8 by moving. That is, the plurality of holder members 4 are circulated along the circular conveyance path 3 while being engaged with the guide rails 8 via the pair of guide rollers 17, 17, 17.

  FIG. 6 is a plan view of a bottle carry-in path 24 and a bottle carry-out path 25 that are provided alongside the circumferential conveyance path 3 of the bottle cleaning device 1. As shown in FIG. 6, a bottle carry-in path 24 and a bottle carry-out path 25 are provided in the circumferential conveyance path 3 provided in the apparatus main body 2 of the bottle cleaning apparatus 1. The bottle carry-in path 24 is configured by a roller conveyor that sequentially carries the bottles B toward the mounting position S1 on the circular conveyance path 3, and this roller conveyor is configured to transfer the bottles B placed on a plurality of rollers. It is the conveyor apparatus which conveys by the some roller rolling.

  The bottle carry-out path 25 is extended in the same direction (vertical direction in FIGS. 1 and 2) as the short side part of the short side part (right side in FIGS. 1 and 6) of the circular transport path 3, and is the detaching position. It is arranged in parallel in the circumferential conveyance path 3 so as to be adjacent to S12. The bottle carry-out path 25 is constituted by a roller conveyor that sequentially carries out the bottle B detached from the holder member 4 at the desorption position S12 of the circular conveyance path 3 toward the next process, and the conveyance direction by the bottle carry-in path 24 The bottle B is carried out in the opposite direction. The bottle carry-out path 25 is composed of the same type of roller conveyor as the bottle carry-in path 24.

  Further, the bottle carry-out path 25 is arranged in parallel with the bottle carry-in path 24, and as a result, in the bottle cleaning device 1, the carry-in port and the carry-out port for the bottle B are collected at one place. Further, the bottle cleaning device 1 is positioned at the bottle mounting device 30 for mounting the bottle B at the downstream end in the transport direction of the bottle carry-in path 24 on the holder member 4 positioned at the mounting position S1, and at the detaching position S12. A bottle detaching device 50 that detaches the bottle B from the holder member 4 and sends it to the bottle carry-out path 25 is disposed.

  The bottle detaching device 50 is in an upside down posture by tilting the holder member 4 that has reached the detaching position S12 toward the bottle unloading path 25 by the air cylinder 51 disposed on the inner peripheral portion of the circular conveyance path 3. By tilting the bottle B and dropping the bottle B onto the bottle carry-out path 25, the neck portion b2 of the bottle B is removed from the bottle holding hole 5 of the holder member 4, and the bottle B is removed from the bottle B. It is a device that stands in a posture in which the mouth b3 faces upward on the carry-out path 25.

  On the other hand, the bottle mounting device 30 is a device for mounting the bottle B on the holder member 4 located at the mounting position S1. The bottle mounting device 30 is disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction of the bottle carry-in path 24. The bottle B is turned upside down by 180 °, and the neck portion b2 of the bottle B is directed downward with the mouth b3 of the bottle B facing downward. Is a device in which the bottle B is placed on the holder member 4 in a state where the bottle B is fitted into the bottle holding hole 5 of the holder member 4.

  The bottle mounting device 30 mainly includes a reverse clamp device 31 that clamps and reverses the body portion b1 of the bottle B on the bottle carry-in path 24 up and down by 180 °, and a neck of the bottle B reversed by the reverse clamp device 31. The portion b2 is clamped and moved to the mounting position S1, the clamp is released above the holder member 4 located at the mounting position S1, the bottle B is dropped, and the neck portion b2 of the bottle B is held in the holding hole. And a transfer clamp device 32 to be fitted in.

  The reverse clamp device 31 includes a support frame 33, a pair of body clamps 34 and 35, a clamp air cylinder 36, a clamp arm 37, and a reverse motor 38. The support frame 33 is erected in the vertical direction with respect to the bottle carry-in path 24, and a pair of body clamps 34, 35, a clamp air cylinder 36, a clamp arm 37, and an inversion are provided on the support frame 33. A motor 38 is provided. A pair of body clamps 34 and 35 is disposed on each side of the bottle carrying-in path 24 in the transverse direction (left and right direction in FIG. 6). One of the body clamps 34 includes a clamp air cylinder 36. It is connected.

  The clamping air cylinder 36 pushes one barrel clamp 34 in the approaching direction with respect to the other barrel clamp 35 to hold the barrel b1 of the bottle B on the bottle carry-in path 24 from both the left and right sides. It is fixed to the clamp arm 37 together with a pair of body part clamps 34 and 35. The clamp arm 37 is a support body for the pair of body part clamps 34 and 35, and extends from one end side in the transverse direction (right side in FIG. 6) to the other end side (left side in FIG. 6). For this reason, the bottle B that has reached the downstream end of the bottle carry-in path 24 is temporarily dammed by the clamp arm 37.

  The reversing motor 38 is an electric motor fixed to the upper portion of the support frame 33, and the rotation shaft 38 a is directed in the transverse direction of the bottle carry-in path 24. A clamp arm 37 is connected to the rotating shaft 38a of the reversing motor 38, and the clamp arm 37 is rotated by approximately 180 ° around the rotating shaft 38a of the reversing motor 38, whereby a pair of body clamps 34, The bottle B sandwiched by 35 is turned upside down.

  The transfer clamp device 32 includes a pair of neck clamps 39, 40, a pair of clamp arms 41, 42, a clamp motor 43, a support frame 44, and a transfer air cylinder 45 (see FIG. 7). Yes. The pair of neck clamps 39 and 40 in the transfer clamp device 32 are separately disposed on both sides in the transverse direction of the bottle carrying-in path 24, and the outer shape of the neck b2 of the bottle B is formed on the opposing surface thereof. A recess adapted to is formed. The pair of clamp arms 41, 42 have neck clamps 39, 40 individually attached to the distal ends thereof, and the base ends thereof are attached to the movable parts of the clamp motor 43, respectively. .

  The clamping motor 43 moves both of the pair of clamp arms 41 and 42 in the same direction as the transverse direction of the bottle carry-in path 24 by using the rotational force of the built-in electric motor, so that the pair of clamp arms 41 and 42 It is a power unit which expands and contracts the space | interval between 42. According to the clamping motor 43, the neck b2 of the bottle B is clamped by the pair of neck clamps 39, 40 by moving the clamp arms 41, 42 in the approaching direction to reduce the distance between them. Then, the clamp arms 41 and 42 are moved away from each other and the distance between them is increased, whereby the clamp by the pair of neck clamps 39 and 40 is released.

  7 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the support frame 44 is a support body that supports the clamp motor 43 and is connected to the transfer air cylinder 45, and is a movable rod 45 a that protrudes and retracts from the main body of the transfer air cylinder 45 by air pressure. It is fixed to the tip of the. The transfer air cylinder 45 is a power device for transferring the bottle B, the neck b2 of which is clamped by a pair of neck clamps 39, 40, from the downstream end of the bottle carry-in path 24 toward the mounting position S1. is there.

  When the neck b2 of the bottle B is transferred to the position just above the bottle holding hole 5 of the holder member 4 located at the mounting position S1 by the transfer air cylinder 45, a pair of necks is moved by the clamping motor 43. The clamps by the clamps 39 and 40 are released. Then, the bottle B is dropped, and the neck portion b2 of the bottle B is inserted into the bottle holding hole 5 of the holder member 4 at the mounting position S1.

  Next, a method for cleaning the bottle B using the bottle cleaning apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. First, in the apparatus main body 2, the intermittent transfer motor 13 is driven to rotate at a constant angle intermittently at intervals of approximately 15 seconds. In response to this, the driving sprocket 9 is intermittently fixed around the driving shaft 14. The conveyor chain 7 is rotated by an angle, and the conveyance chain 7 is intermittently transferred along the circular conveyance path 3 by a length corresponding to the processing position interval L in the clockwise direction of FIG.

  Then, a total of twelve holder members 4 attached to the conveyance chain 7 are moved one position downstream from the upstream processing position in the circumferential conveyance direction in the clockwise direction in FIG. Transfer to the processing position on the side. When the intermittent transfer of the transport chain 7 is repeated 12 times, all the holder members 4 make one round of the circular transport path 3 and return to the original processing position. As a result, the plurality (total 12) of bottles B supported by all the holder members 4 can be rotated around the circular conveyance path 3 in the vertically inverted posture.

  While the plurality of holder members 4 repeat the intermittent transition described above, an empty bottle B is carried toward the apparatus main body 2 by the bottle carry-in path 24. When the bottle B reaches the downstream end in the transport direction of the bottle carry-in path 24, the bottle B is dammed by the clamp arm 37 of the reverse clamp device 31 and is inverted approximately 180 ° up and down by the reverse clamp device 31. After this reversal, the neck b2 of the bottle B is clamped by the neck clamps 39 and 40 of the transfer clamp device 32, and then the clamped state of the body b1 of the bottle B by the reverse clamp device 31 is released.

  Thereafter, the bottle B in the upside down state is transferred to the upper position of the holder member 4 located at the mounting position S1 by the transfer air cylinder 45 while being clamped by the transfer clamp device 32, where the transfer clamp device When the clamped state by 32 is released, the bottle B is dropped, the neck portion b2 of the bottle B is inserted into the bottle holding hole 5 of the holder member 4 at the mounting position S1, and the bottle B moves down the mouth portion b3. It is supported by the holder member 4 in a state of being directed to.

  The holder member 4 to which the bottle B is mounted at the mounting position S1 is transferred from the mounting position S1 to the standby position S2 by the intermittent circular transfer of the transport chain 7 described above and left for about 15 seconds, and then the first A total of approximately 45 seconds of cleaning is performed on the inside and the outside of the bottle B during the period from the transfer to the third cleaning position S3 until the passage through the three cleaning positions S3 to S5. Thereafter, the holder member 4 is transferred to the first drainage position S6 while supporting the bottle B, where it is left for about 15 seconds in order to drain the used washing water from the inside by free fall.

  After being left at the first drainage position S6, the holder member 4 that supports the bottle B is transferred to the downstream side by one position and transferred to the first rinse position S7, for a total of four rinse positions S7 to S10. The bottle B is rinsed for about 30 seconds with rinsing water, drained by free fall for about 15 seconds, and finally rinsed for about 15 seconds. The outside of the bottle B is left for about 15 seconds and rinsed with rinsing water for about 45 seconds.

  After passing through these four rinsing positions S7 to S10, the holder member 4 that supports the bottle B is transferred to the second drainage position S11, where it is left for about 15 seconds, from the mouth b3 of the bottle B. The finale rinse water is drained by free fall. Thereafter, when the holder member 4 is further moved downstream by one position and reaches the attachment / detachment position S12, the air cylinder 51 of the bottle attachment / detachment device 50 is used for approximately 15 seconds when the holder member 4 stops at the attachment / detachment position S12. The holder member 4 is tilted toward the bottle carry-out path 25, and the bottle B in the upside down posture is tilted.

  Then, the bottle B supported by the holder member 4 is dropped toward the bottle carrying-out path 25, and the neck portion b2 of the bottle B is pulled out from the bottle holding hole 5 of the holder member 4 with the fall. Then, the bottle B is detached from the holder member 4 and is erected so that the mouth b3 faces upward on the bottle carry-out path 25. Thus, the bottle B standing up with the mouth b3 facing upward is transported by the bottle unloading path 25 and unloaded to the next process.

  On the other hand, the holder member 4 from which the bottle B is attached / detached is returned to a substantially horizontal posture by the air cylinder 51 of the bottle attaching / detaching device 50 while being located at the attaching / detaching position S12. Thereafter, the holder member 4 is transferred from the attachment / detachment position S12 to the attachment position S1 further downstream by one position, and the empty bottle B is attached again by the bottle attachment device 30. Thereafter, the series of intermittent operations described above is performed. Will be repeated.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various improvements and modifications can be easily made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It can be guessed. For example, the bottle size, the number of holder members, the stop time at each processing position, the planar form of the circulating conveyance path 3, or the processing content at each processing position may be modified as appropriate.

It is a top view which shows the internal structure of the apparatus main body of the bottle washing apparatus which is one Example of this invention. It is a plane schematic diagram of a bottle cleaning apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view around a mounting position. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in the IV-IV line of FIG. It is the arrow view which looked at the holder member from the arrow A direction of FIG. It is a top view of the bottle carrying-in path and bottle carrying-out path which are attached to the circumference conveyance path of a bottle washing | cleaning apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in the VI-VI line of FIG. It is sectional drawing of a bottle.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bottle washing apparatus 3 Circulation conveyance path 4 Holder member 7 Conveyance chain (conveyance chain, a part of conveyance means)
8 Guide rail (guide rail, part of transport means)
9 Driving sprocket (sprocket, part of transport means)
13 Intermittent transfer motor (intermittent transfer means, part of transport means)
17 Guide roller 18 Spray nozzle (cleaning means)
24 Bottle carry-in path 25 Bottle carry-out path B Bottle b3 Portion S1 to S12 Processing position S1 Mounting position (mounting position, part of processing position)
S12 Desorption position (desorption position, part of processing position)
S3 to S5 Cleaning position (part of cleaning position, part of processing position)
S7-S10 Rinse position (part of cleaning position, part of processing position)

Claims (5)

In a bottle cleaning device for cleaning a bottle having a mouth,
A circular conveyance path provided in a substantially endless annular shape in plan view;
A plurality of processing positions arranged at predetermined intervals along the circular conveyance path;
A plurality of holder members that are provided in plural along the circumferential conveyance path at intervals substantially equal to the arrangement intervals of the plurality of processing positions, and are formed so as to be able to support the bottles, respectively;
By moving all of the plurality of holder members all at once along the circumferential conveyance path in the same circumferential direction by the arrangement interval of the processing positions, each holder member is moved from the processing position where each holder member is located. Conveying means for transferring to the next processing position;
A mounting position that is one of the plurality of processing positions and that mounts a bottle on the holder member;
A desorption position that is one of the plurality of processing positions and is located upstream of the mounting position by one position in the conveyance direction of the circumferential conveyance path and demounts the bottle from the holder member;
Cleaning means for injecting a cleaning liquid into a mouth of a bottle that is disposed at a cleaning position corresponding to at least one of the plurality of processing positions excluding the detaching position and the mounting position and supported by the holder member. A bottle cleaning device characterized by comprising: The transport means is provided around the circumferential transport path, and the transport chain has the plurality of holder members attached at substantially the same interval as the processing position.
A sprocket that is inscribed and meshed with the transport chain and is rotatably supported;
The bottle cleaning according to claim 1, further comprising intermittent transfer means for applying a rotational force to the sprocket and intermittently transferring the transfer chain along the circular transfer path at intervals of the processing positions. apparatus. The transport means includes a guide rail provided around the circumferential transport path on the outer peripheral side of the transport chain with a spacing from the transport chain.
The plurality of holder members are formed to be capable of circular movement along the circular conveyance path in a state of being engaged with the guide rail, and are further installed between the guide rail and the conveyance chain so as to have a substantially horizontal posture. The bottle cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the bottle cleaning device is held by the bottle.   The holder member includes a pair of guide rollers rotatably supported by the holder member and sandwiching the guide rail, and is movable with respect to the guide rail via the pair of guide rollers. The bottle cleaning device according to claim 3, wherein the bottle cleaning device is engaged. A bottle carry-out path that is arranged in parallel with the circumferential conveyance path and carries out the bottle detached from the holder member at the desorption position to the next process;
A bottle carrying-in path that is arranged in parallel with the bottle carrying-out path and transports the bottle in a direction opposite to the bottle carrying-out direction by the bottle carrying-out path and carries the bottle into the mounting position. The bottle cleaning and filling apparatus according to any one of 1 to 4.

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