JP2007168826A - Capping system and capping method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a capping system for mounting a cap on a container which has a high operational efficiency (operational throughput as an apparatus), and suppresses upsizing of an apparatus as a whole. <P>SOLUTION: The system has: a container conveyor 2; a cap conveyor 3 arranged so as to hold a parallel period against this; a capper 4 arranged in the parallel period of both conveyors 2 and 3; and a controller 5 for controlling their operational timings. The capper 4 has: a running base stand 23 moving back and forth in the conveying directions of both conveyors 2 and 3; a revolving tower 24 provided on this upper part so as to freely horizontally revolve; a handling part 25 provided on this so as to freely move up and down; and a work holding head 27 provided on the handling part 25. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a capping system and a capping method.

  An apparatus for automatically performing a work of attaching a cap to a container such as a bottle is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). This type of device removes the cap from the transport path of the cap by suction or handling, moves the removed cap above the transport path of the container, and moves the cap according to the transport direction and transport speed in which the container is transported. On the other hand, the cap is attached (fitted or screwed) to the container.

That is, the head portion that holds the cap from taking it out to mounting on the container, when viewed in plan, moves from the cap conveyance path toward the container conveyance path, moves along the container conveyance path to the downstream side thereof, and the container A planar box-shaped movement is performed in which the container moves from the conveying path toward the cap conveying path and then moves on the cap conveying path in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the container conveying path.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-37228 JP 2003-95384 A

  The conventional apparatus used for attaching the cap to the container has a cycle time for the head portion for handling the cap to perform the above-mentioned one-cycle plane box-shaped movement, and conveyance for conveying one pitch of the container. The time must be the same. In other words, since the container transport speed is governed by the cycle time of the cap handling head portion, it naturally becomes an upper limit for speeding up, and this is a major bottleneck for improving work efficiency. .

  In order to increase the work efficiency, it is necessary to increase the number of cap-handling head portions installed, but in that case, the size of the cap-handling head portions arranged in parallel along the container transport direction is The length increases with the size of the head portion. This leads to an increase in the overall length of the apparatus, and as a result, a significant adverse effect on the factory scale, such as an increase in line length.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a capping system and a capping method that have high work efficiency (operating efficiency as an apparatus) and can suppress an increase in the length of the entire apparatus. Objective.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has taken the following measures.
That is, a capping system according to the present invention includes a container conveyor that transports containers at a predetermined pitch, a cap conveyor that holds a parallel section with respect to the container conveyor and transports caps of containers at a predetermined pitch, and these container conveyors. It has a capper that is installed between both conveyors in a parallel section with the cap conveyor, and a controller that controls the operation timing of the container conveyor, the cap conveyor, and the capper.

  Among these, the capper is a traveling base that reciprocates along the conveying direction of both conveyors in a parallel section of the container conveyor and the cap conveyor, and a swivel tower that is provided so as to be horizontally swivel above the traveling base, A handling part provided at least at two positions that are at the opposite angles of 180 ° in plan view with respect to the swivel tower, and can be moved up and down via an elevating mechanism, and the upper region of the container conveyor and the cap conveyor with respect to these handling parts. It is assumed that it has a work holding head provided in a state where it is positioned in the upper region and capable of holding or releasing the cap independently.

In addition, the controller synchronizes the transport direction and speed of the container conveyor and the cap conveyor and the speed at which the traveling base of the capper moves in the transport direction of both the conveyors, and in the transport direction of the two conveyors by the travel base. During the movement, the operation of attaching the cap to the container by the handling unit and work holding head facing the container conveyor and the operation of receiving the cap by the handling unit and work holding head facing the cap conveyor are simultaneously executed, and the traveling base While the table is moving in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of both conveyors, the swivel tower can be swiveled so that the position of the handling part facing the container conveyor and the handling part facing the cap conveyor can be relatively exchanged. In such a configuration, one hand in the capper When the ring part and the work holding head are performing the operation of attaching the cap to the container, at the same time, the other handling part and the work holding head can be operated to receive the cap. Then, after the operation of attaching the cap to the container is finished, when the traveling base moves in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the container conveyor or the cap conveyor to return to the original position, the cap is received using this moving time. The other handling part and the work holding head are directed to the container conveyor side.

  In short, while the cap is attached to the container with one handling part and the work holding head, the cap has been refilled with the other handling part and the work holding head, and the preparatory time for the next step is used. The one-cycle operation can be shortened because the cap is moved to the loading position of the container. Therefore, work efficiency (operating efficiency as a device) can be increased.

In addition, the swirling tower of the capper may be provided with two handling portions arranged at the opposite positions of 180 ° in plan view. In this case, the swiveling tower can be intermittently swiveled every 180 °. And it is sufficient.
In short, it is sufficient to provide only two handling units, and it is preferable to suppress an increase in the size of the device more than necessary. In this case, the intermittent turning of the turning tower may be performed alternately in the forward and reverse directions or may be performed in one direction.

In addition, the controller independently controls each lifting mechanism of the capper so that the lifting timing and lifting speed of the handling part positioned in the upper area of the container conveyor and the handling part positioned in the upper area of the cap conveyor are appropriately adjusted. It is preferable that it can be held.
In the handling part of the capper, it is preferable that a plurality of work holding heads are arranged in parallel along the conveying direction in the upper area of the container conveyor and the upper area of the cap conveyor.

If it does in this way, work efficiency (operating efficiency as an apparatus) can be raised further. Moreover, it leads to being able to suppress the enlargement of the whole apparatus combined with improving work efficiency.
The container conveyor is provided with a rotational positioning device for the container that uniformly aligns the direction of the container being transported upstream from the capper, and the cap conveyor is provided upstream of the capper with the cap being transported. It is possible to provide a rotational positioning device for the cap that aligns the directions at a constant level.

Such a rotational positioning device for containers and a rotational positioning device for caps are required when the circumferential direction of the container or cap is determined.
It is preferable that the container conveyor is provided with a backup member that supports the transport surface on which the container is placed from below when the cap is mounted on at least the container on the conveyor, and can be moved along with this state. It becomes.

In this way, when a downward force (an action of pressing the cap) is generated on the container when the cap is attached to the container, it is possible to prevent a braking action from occurring on the conveying force of the container conveyor. Become.
The container conveyor has a pair of centering members that are relatively close to and away from both sides of the conveyor with respect to the center position of the conveyor width, and at least when the cap is mounted on the container on the conveyor, It is preferable to provide a container holding mechanism that is relatively close to each other and can press both side surfaces of the container.

  On the other hand, in the capping method according to the present invention, the container and the cap are transported in the same direction and at the same speed in a parallel state adjacent to each other, and the cap held by the work holding head is waited in advance in the upper area where the container is transported. The operation of lowering the work holding head above the container in the conveying state and mounting the holding cap on the container, and the cap in the conveying state different from the container adjacent to the container The workpiece is picked up from above by another workpiece holding head, simultaneously with the conveyance of the container and the cap, and the workpiece held for cap mounting after the cap is attached to the container and the cap is picked up is held. While raising both the head and the work holding head used for picking up the cap, The container and the cap are moved in the direction opposite to the transfer direction, and during this movement, the work holding head is moved relative to each other at the same time, and the operation for attaching the cap to the container and the operation for picking up the cap are started. This operation is repeated as a one-cycle operation until the time when both the work holding heads reach the point.

  With the capping system and the capping method according to the present invention, work efficiency (operating efficiency as an apparatus) can be increased, and the length of the entire apparatus can be suppressed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 8 show an embodiment of a capping system 1 according to the present invention. As is apparent from the overall layout diagram of FIG. 1, the capping system 1 includes a container conveyor 2, a cap conveyor 3, and a capper 4, and a controller 5 that controls the operation timing of these containers.

Container conveyor 2 is intended for transporting the container W ₁ at a predetermined pitch. Belt conveyors, rope conveyor, the roller roller conveyors, apron conveyors, chutes, etc., but it is possible to use various ones depending on the shape of the container W _1, can regulate the conveying pitch of the containers W _1, also maintains its conveying pitch What can be done is preferred. There is no particular limitation on whether continuous feed or intermittent feed is used, but continuous feed is preferable in terms of increasing operational efficiency.

In the present embodiment, the container W ₁ is transported toward the capping system 1 from an upstream, for example, a content filling process, and the container W ₁ is located at the transport upstream portion (right side in FIG. 1) corresponding to the entrance to the system. _It was assumed that a constant pitch cut-out device 10 for uniforming the conveyance pitch of ₁ and a rotational positioning device 11 for uniforming the circumferential direction of the container W ₁ were installed.

As the constant pitch cutout device 10, a device that rotates the star wheel 12 at a constant speed in accordance with the conveyance speed of the container conveyor 2 can be adopted. Further the rotational positioning device 11, it is possible to employ such as to control the roller rotation amount of the roller head 13 for abutting the outer peripheral portion of the container W ₁ by the position detection signal such as an image processing method and the mark detection method.
The container W ₁ may be, for example, a cylindrical aluminum can or the like (see FIG. 8 described later) and filled with the contents when the container conveyor 2 is conveyed. However, the shape of the containers W _1, size, material, presence or absence of the filling of the contents is not limited in particular.

The container conveyor 2, the backup member 14 is provided on the lower side of the conveying surface 2a of the container W ₁ rests. As will be described later, the place where the backup member 14 is provided is in a span L including a region where the traveling base 23 of the capper 4 reciprocates (more specifically, the cap W ₂ is attached to the container W _1. Operating area).
As shown in FIG. 8 (an enlarged view of a portion G in FIG. 2, FIG. 8A is before the operation of the backup member 14 and FIG. 8B is after the operation), the backup member 14 is a container. A base plate 14a provided in the upper and lower spaces between the upper portion 2A and the lower portion 2B of the conveyor 2, and a pair of protrusions 14b that protrude from the base plate 14a toward the lower surfaces on both sides in the width direction of the upper portion 2A. It has become.

The base plate 14a is supported by a lifting / lowering driving tool 16 such as a fluid pressure cylinder by a bracket 15 that is framed in a state in which the undercoat portion 2B of the container conveyor 2 is sandwiched from both sides thereof. The lift driver 16 is provided on the traveling board 23 of the capper 4.
As shown in FIG. 8 (A), when the lifting drive 16 is in the lowered state, the backup member 14 is held in a state that does not interfere with the container conveyor 2 at all, but as shown in FIG. 8 (B). When the raising / lowering driving tool 16 moves up, the backup member 14 rises together with the bracket 15, and the projecting base 14 b comes into contact with the back surface of the upper portion 2 </ b> A of the container conveyor 2 at the upper end surface, resulting in the transport surface 2 a. Lift slightly.

As will be described later, since the traveling board 23 of the capper 4 can move at the same speed in the same direction as the conveying direction of the container conveyor 2, the backup member 14 moves along with the conveying surface 2a at this time. Will do. Result, when the cap W ₂ is mounted on the container W ₁ on the container conveyor 2, even if a downward force on the container W ₁ (effect of pressing the cap W ₂₎ is formed, which by the conveying force of the vessel conveyor 2 brakes It is possible to prevent the action from occurring.

In addition, the conveyor receiver 20 is provided in the position which pinches | interposes the width direction both outer sides rather than a pair of protrusion 14b in the backup member 14. As shown in FIG. 8A, these conveyor receivers 20 support the lower surface of the upper portion 2A of the container conveyor 2 when the lifting drive 16 is in the lowered state.
However, as shown in FIG. 8 (B), if the lifting / lowering driving tool 16 moves up, the conveying surface 2a (upper portion 2A) of the container conveyor 2 is lifted, so that the container conveyor 2 The lower surface of the upper portion 2A is separated. Further, the base plate 14 a of the backup member 14 does not come into contact with the lower end of the conveyor receiver 20.

Therefore, when a downward force occurs when the cap W ₂ is attached to the container W ₁ , the conveyor receiver 20 also does not cause a braking action on the conveying force of the container conveyor 2.
Cap conveyor 3, next to the container conveyor 2, which has been placed to hold the parallel sections substantially parallel to the container conveyor 2, which conveys the caps W ₂ to be mounted to the container W ₁ at a predetermined pitch It is. Similar to the container conveyor 2, its structure and feed mode (continuous feed or intermittent feed) are not limited.

In the present embodiment, a cap feeder 17 arranged in a vertical state with the cap W ₂ aligned in the vertical direction is installed at the transfer start position (right side in FIG. 1) of the cap conveyor 3, and at a downstream position of the cap feeder 17. , was that by installing a rotary positioning device 18 to align the cap W ₂ of the orientation in conveyance (nozzle direction and the contents removed, etc.) constant. This rotational positioning device 18 includes a star wheel 19 that can rotate at a constant speed, and also serves as a constant pitch cutting device that aligns the transport pitch of the cap W _{2 at} a constant level.

  The capper 4 is disposed between the conveyors 2 and 3 in a parallel section of the container conveyor 2 and the cap conveyor 3. The capper 4 includes a traveling base 23, a turning tower 24, and a handling unit 25. The swivel tower 24 is provided with an elevating mechanism 26 in a state corresponding to each handling part 25, and each handling part 25 is provided with a work holding head 27.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the traveling base 23 is guided by a guide rail 30 provided along the conveying direction of both conveyors 2 and 3 in the parallel section of the container conveyor 2 and the cap conveyor 3. The motor 31 is reciprocally movable and is driven by a motor 31. In the present embodiment, three guide rails 30 are provided, the sliding guide 32 provided on the back surface of the traveling base 23 is held in a slidable engagement state, and between the two appropriate guide rails 30. A feed screw mechanism in which a screw shaft 34 is provided and a nut member 35 screwed into the screw shaft 34 is provided on the back surface of the traveling base 23, and the screw shaft 34 is rotated by a motor 31.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the turning tower 24 is provided on the traveling base 23 so as to be horizontally turnable around a turning shaft 36. The turning power may be performed by a rotary cylinder or an electric motor incorporated in the tower base 37, arm driving by a cylinder provided on the outer peripheral side of the tower base 37, winding driving by an electric motor or gear driving, or the like. Also good.

  In this embodiment, a servo motor (for example, NSK product name: Megatorque Motor) is used as the turning power as a program for performing an intermittent turning operation while changing the turning direction forward and reverse every 180 ° in plan view. It was supposed to be controlled. In addition, a proximity sensor 38 is provided at the end of the turning operation so that the origin can be returned when a phase shift or the like occurs when a trouble occurs.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the handling unit 25 is provided in the upper part of the turning tower 24 via the lifting mechanism 26 at two locations that are exactly opposite to each other in a plan view of 180 °. In the present embodiment, the elevating mechanism 26 is movable up and down through two guide rails 42 whose longitudinal directions are directed up and down with respect to the standing side surface of the swivel tower 24, and slide guides 43 on these guide rails 42. Elevating board 44 provided, screw shaft 45 provided rotatably along guide rail 42, nut member 46 provided on the back surface of elevating board 44 in a state of being screwed to screw shaft 45, screw It has a motor 47 that rotationally drives the shaft 45 to constitute a feed screw mechanism.

The handling unit 25 has a work holding head 27 with respect to the lifting substrate 44. Work holding head 27 may be adopted that each may suitable holding or releasing operation in accordance with the shape and material of the cap W _2, for example, including those handling operation with a plurality of gripping fingers, air An apparatus that performs adsorption or magnetic adsorption can be used.
In each handling unit 25, a plurality (four in the illustrated example) of work holding heads 27 are provided. These work holding heads 27 are arranged in a row in each handling unit 25, and the arrangement rows are parallel to each other in a state in which both handling units 25 are viewed in plan view.

  That is, as described above, since the handling portions 25 are in a relationship of true reverse arrangement of the swivel tower 24 at the center of 180 ° in the plan view, one handling portion 25 is in a protruding state toward the upper region of the container conveyor 2. Then, the other handling part 25 will be in the state which protrudes toward the upper area of the cap conveyor 3. FIG. And in these handling parts 25, since each work holding head 27 is arranged in parallel in plan view, the work holding head 27 is transported in the upper area of the container conveyor 2 and the upper area of the cap conveyor 3. Positioning will be aligned along the direction.

Accordingly, when the work holding heads 27 of the handling units 25 are in a state of being aligned along the transport direction in the upper region of the container conveyor 2 or the upper region of the cap conveyor 3 as described above, it corresponds to each handling unit 25. When the lift mechanism 26 is lowered, all the work holding heads 27 are lowered directly above the container W ₁ being conveyed in the upper area of the container conveyor 2, and all the work holding heads are moved in the upper area of the cap conveyor 3. 27 is lowered directly above the cap W ₂ being conveyed.

In the present embodiment, the work holding head 27 descends on the container conveyor 2 so that the cap W ₂ held by each work holding head 27 is placed on the container W ₁ and is further pressurized to press the container W _1. It is assumed that the cap W ₂ is attached to the. Therefore, at this time or positional deviation or collapse the container W ₁ on the container conveyor 2, so as not to otherwise change their orientation, it is provided with a container holding mechanism 55 (see FIG. 2).

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the container holding mechanism 55 has a pair of centering members 57 arranged separately on both sides of the container conveyor 2, and these centering members 57 are located at the center position of the conveyor width. Relative proximity and separation are possible at the boundary. Each centering member 57 is provided with the same number of container pushers 58 as the number of work holding parts 27 provided in one handling part 25.

These container pushers 58 are set to have a mutual interval in accordance with the transport pitch of the containers W ₁ transported on the container conveyor 2, and the container W ₁ is in a state where the container W ₁ is in contact with the side surface of the container W _1. The tip is formed in a V-shape so as not to cause the. Further, the container W ₁ is formed of resin or the like so as not to be damaged.
In order to bring each centering member 57 close to and away from each other, both the centering members 57 are slidably held by a common guide rail 60, and a feed screw mechanism 61 that supports one centering member 57, and the other The feed screw mechanism 62 that supports the centering member 57 is placed in a state of being reversely fed to each other so that the winding transmission means 64 is skillfully passed between a plurality of rolling wheels 63 (pulleys or sprockets). A structure in which the hanging transmission means 64 is driven by a motor 65 is employed (see FIG. 7B).

Since the container holding mechanism 55 is provided on the traveling base 23 of the capper 4 as a whole including the feed screw mechanism, when the traveling base 23 moves along the container conveyor 2, it is integrated. Move.
The controller 5 adopts computer control or the like, and makes the transport direction and speed of the container conveyor 2 and the cap conveyor 3 coincide, and the traveling base 23 of the capper 4 moves in the transport direction of both the conveyors 2 and 3. Synchronize the speed to do.

In the capper 4, while the traveling base 23 is moving in the same direction as the conveying direction of the two conveyors 2 and 3, the container 25 on the container conveyor 2 is handled by the handling unit 25 and the work holding head 27 facing the container conveyor 2. The operation of attaching the cap W ₂ to W ₁ and the operation of receiving the cap W ₂ on the cap conveyor 3 by the handling unit 25 and the work holding head 27 facing the cap conveyor 3 are simultaneously executed.

At this time, the raising / lowering timing and the raising / lowering speed of the handling part 25 positioned in the upper area of the container conveyor 2 and the handling part 25 positioned in the upper area of the cap conveyor 3 are controlled separately so as to be respectively optimal conditions. To do.
Contrary to the above, while the traveling base 23 is moving in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the two conveyors 2 and 3, the handling unit 25 facing the container conveyor 2 and the handling unit 25 facing the cap conveyor 3 are provided. The swivel tower 24 is swung to relatively change the position.

In this way, the operation timing of the container conveyor 2, the cap conveyor 3 and the capper 4 is controlled.
Next, a capping method according to the present invention will be described based on the operation status of the capping system 1. In addition, the operation timing of each part at the time of operation | movement of the capping system 1 was shown with the time chart in FIG.

In the container conveyor 2, the containers W ₁ are conveyed at regular intervals and in the same direction, and on the cap conveyor 3, the caps W ₂ are conveyed at regular intervals and in the same direction. At this time, the container conveyor 2 and the cap conveyor 3 have the same transport direction and speed.
Now, in the capper 4, one handling part 25 is directed to the upper area of the container conveyor 2, and the work holding head 27 of the handling part 25 has already been in the state of holding the cap W ₂ , and the other handling part 25 is directed upward region of the cap conveyor 3, the workpiece holding head 27 of the handling unit 25 is assumed to become empty (the cap W ₂ is not held).

That is, on the container conveyor 2 side, the cap W ₂ is directed downward with respect to the container W ₁ while being transported, and the cap W ₂ is being prepared for mounting, and on the cap conveyor 3 side, the cap W ₂ being transported. On the other hand, it is ready to pick it up from above.
Here, in the capper 4, the handling bases 25 on both sides are lowered by the operation of the elevating mechanism 26 while the traveling base 35 moves while matching the transport direction and speed with the container conveyor 2 and the cap conveyor 3.

At this time, the container holding mechanism 55 drives the winding transmission means 64 by the motor 65 to bring the pair of centering members 57 arranged separately on both sides of the container conveyor 2 into close proximity. Therefore, the containers W ₁ on the container conveyor 2 are pressed against both side surfaces. Since the container holding mechanism 55 is provided on the traveling base 23 of the capper 4, the container holding mechanism 55 is not moved relative to the transfer surface 2 a of the container conveyor 2, and the transfer posture of the container W ₁ is a stable state without rattling. It becomes.

At this time, the backup member 14 provided on the container conveyor 2 is raised by the operation of the lifting / lowering driving tool 16 to support the transport surface 2a from below. Since the backup member 14 is also provided on the traveling base 23 of the capper 4, there is no relative movement with respect to the transport surface 2 a of the container conveyor 2.
In this way, the caps W ₂ are respectively attached to the containers W ₁ (four in this embodiment) being conveyed by the container conveyor 2. Downward force to the container W ₁ when mounting the cap W ₂ to the container W ₁ (effect of pressing the cap W _2), since is supported by the backup member 14 in a state sandwiching the conveyance surface 2a, the container conveyor 2 There is no braking effect on the transport force.

Simultaneously with these, on the side of the cap conveyor 3, the caps W ₂ being transported (also four) are picked up.
A mounting cap W ₂ with respect to the container W ₁ In this way, when the O picks up the cap W ₂ is completed, the next capper 4, the handling portion 25 that is subjected to the mounting of the cap W ₂ on the container conveyor 2 (cap An elevating mechanism includes an empty state in which W ₂ is not held and a handling unit 25 that is used to pick up the cap W ₂ on the cap conveyor 3 (the cap W ₂ is supplemented and held). 26 are raised together.

At this time, the handling base 25 is moved in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the container conveyor 2 and the cap conveyor 3 by the operation of the traveling base 23. Furthermore, the handling portions 25 on both sides are relatively repositioned by the turning operation of the turning tower 24.
The releasing operation of the centering member 57 in the container holding mechanism 55 and the lowering of the backup member 14 are also performed during this time.

Thus, when the traveling base 23 returns to the original position (the start point of the operation of attaching the cap W ₂ to the container W ₁ and the operation of picking up the cap W ₂ ), both handling parts 25 are raised to a predetermined height at this position. Thus, one cycle operation is completed.
Thereafter, this cycle operation is repeated.
As described above, in the capping method according to the present invention, while the cap W ₂ is attached to the container W ₁ by the one handling portion 25, the other handling portion 25 completes the filling of the cap W ₂ and One cycle operation can be shortened because the cap W ₂ that has been replenished is moved to the loading position of the container W ₁ using the time to move. Accordingly, the work efficiency (operating efficiency as the apparatus) can be increased, and in conjunction with this, the increase in the length of the entire apparatus can be suppressed.

By the way, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can change suitably according to embodiment.
For example, in the capper 4, a total of four handling portions 25 may be provided at four equal positions (every 90 °) in plan view with respect to the turning tower 24.

1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a capping system according to the present invention. It is an AA arrow line view of FIG. It is a BB line arrow directional view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line CC in FIG. 2. It is the D section enlarged view of FIG. It is the EE arrow directional view of FIG. (A) is the figure which demonstrated the drive system intelligibly based on FIG. 6, (B) is a FF line arrow directional view with respect to (A). FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a G part in FIG. 2, where (A) shows before operation of the backup member and (B) shows after operation. It is a time chart which showed the operation timing of each part at the time of operation of a capping system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Capping system 2 Container conveyor 3 Cap conveyor 4 Capper 5 Controller 11 Rotation positioning device (for containers)
14 Backup member 18 Rotary positioning device (cap)
23 travel base 24 pivoting the tower 25 handling portion 26 lifting mechanism 27 work holding head 55 container holding mechanism 57 centering member W ₁ container W ₂ caps

Claims (8)

Container conveyor (2) for conveying containers (W ₁ ) at a predetermined pitch;
A cap conveyor (3) which is installed while holding a parallel section to the container conveyor (2) and conveys the cap (W ₂ ) of the container (W ₁ ) at a predetermined pitch;
A capper (4) installed between the conveyors (2, 3) in a parallel section of the container conveyor (2) and the cap conveyor (3);
A controller (5) for controlling the operation timing of the container conveyor (2), the cap conveyor (3) and the capper (4);
The capper (4) includes a traveling base (23) that reciprocates along the conveying direction of both conveyors (2, 3) within the parallel section of the container conveyor (2) and the cap conveyor (3), and the traveling base. A swivel tower (24) provided so as to be able to swivel horizontally at the upper part of the table (23), and at least two positions opposite to the swivel tower (24) at 180 ° in plan view via an elevating mechanism (26). And a handling part (25) provided so as to be movable up and down, and each handling part (25) is provided in a state positioned above the container conveyor (2) and above the cap conveyor (3). And a work holding head (27) capable of holding or releasing the cap (W ₂ ),
In the controller (5), the conveying direction and speed of the container conveyor (2) and the cap conveyor (3), and the traveling base (23) of the capper (4) are moved in the conveying direction of both the conveyors (2, 3). While the traveling speed is synchronized, the handling unit (25) and the work holding head (upward) on the container conveyor (2) are moved during the movement of the two conveyors (2, 3) in the transport direction by the traveling base (23). 27) the operation of attaching the cap (W ₂ ) to the container (W ₁ ) and the operation of receiving the cap (W ₂ ) by the handling part (25) facing the cap conveyor (3) and the work holding head (27). When the traveling base (23) is moved in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the two conveyors (2, 3), the handling unit (25) and the carrier facing the container conveyor (2) are moved. Pukonbea (3) capping system, wherein a handling portion facing the top (25) so as to relatively position exchanged swivel tower and (24) has a pivotable operation.   The swiveling tower (24) of the capper (4) is provided with two handling portions (25) arranged at the opposite positions of 180 ° in plan view, and the swiveling tower (24) can be turned intermittently every 180 °. The capping system according to claim 1, wherein:   The controller (5) controls the upper and lower mechanisms (26) of the capper (4) by independently controlling the handling unit (25) positioned above the container conveyor (2) and the upper area of the cap conveyor (3). The capping system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each of the lifting timing and the lifting speed with respect to the handling portion (25) positioned in the position can be appropriately maintained.   In the handling part (25) of the capper (4), a plurality of work holding heads (27) are arranged in the upper area of the container conveyor (2) and the upper area of the cap conveyor (3) along their conveying directions. The capping system according to claim 1, wherein the capping system is provided. The container conveyor (2) is provided with a rotational positioning device (11) for the container (W ₁ ) that aligns the direction of the container (W ₁ ) being conveyed at a certain upstream side of the capper (4). At the same time, the cap conveyor (3) is provided with a rotational positioning device (18) for the cap (W ₂ ) that keeps the direction of the cap (W ₂ ) being conveyed at a constant position upstream of the capper (4). The capping system according to claim 1, wherein the capping system is provided. Wherein the container conveyor (2), when the cap to the container at least on the conveyor (W ₁₎ (W ₂₎ is attached, while supporting the container (W ₁₎ is conveying surface resting (2a) from bottom The capping system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a backup member (14) that can be moved along. The container conveyor (2) has a pair of centering members (57) that are relatively close to and away from both sides of the conveyor at the center position of the conveyor width, and caps at least the containers (W ₁ ) on the conveyor. A container holding mechanism (55) is provided in which, when (W ₂ ) is mounted, the centering member (57) is brought relatively close to each other so that both side surfaces of the container (W ₁ ) can be pressed correspondingly. The capping system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. In the capping method of attaching the cap (W ₂ ) of the container (W ₁ ) to the container (W ₁ ),
The container (W ₁ ) and the cap (W ₂ ) are placed next to each other in parallel and conveyed at the same direction and at the same speed,
The cap (W ₂ ) held by the work holding head (27) is made to wait in advance in the upper area where the container (W ₁ ) is conveyed,
The operation of lowering the work holding head (27) above the container (W ₁ ) in the conveying state and mounting the holding cap (W ₂ ) on the container (W ₁ ), and the next to the container (W ₁ ) Then, the operation of picking up the cap (W ₂ ) in the transport state different from the container (W ₁ ) from above by the work holding head (27) different from the above is referred to as the container (W ₁ ) and the cap ( W ₂ ) is performed simultaneously with the transport of
Container (W ₁₎ caps to (W ₂₎ mounting and the cap (W ₂₎ cap after picking is completed in (W ₂₎ subjected to be subjected to mounting the work holding head (27) cap (W ₂₎ picked up The workpiece holding heads (27) are lifted together, and both the workpiece holding heads (27) are moved in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the container (W ₁ ) and the cap (W ₂ ). Simultaneously move these work holding heads (27) relative to each other,
The above-described operation of mounting the cap (W ₂ ) on the container (W ₁ ) and the point of time when both the work holding heads (27) reach the starting point of the above-mentioned operation of picking up the cap (W ₂ ) are defined as one cycle operation. A capping method characterized by repetition.

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