JP2007276974A - Vessel carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vessel carrying device, simple in a carrying mechanism, and easily switching the carrying direction. <P>SOLUTION: This vessel carrying device has a collar part 3 in a neck part 2, and is formed by respectively and oppositely arranging a chain 30 and a traveling guide 5 revolvable in a horizontal plane on both side of a vessel carrying passage, and supports an under surface of the collar part 3 from one side by the chain 30, and supports the under surface of the collar part 3 from the other side by the traveling guide 5, and carries a vessel 1 by making the collar part 3 follow revolution of the chain 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a container transport device that supports and transports the neck of a lightweight container such as a plastic bottle.

  When a container such as a PET bottle is transported in an upright position, special consideration is required for transport because the container itself is lightweight and lacks stability, and easily falls during transportation. Conventionally, when transporting such a lightweight container, it has been carried out using (supporting) a collar provided at the neck of the container, and as such a lightweight container transport device, for example, Patent Document 1 Patent Document 2 and the like have been proposed.

In Patent Document 1, a main transport device (chain conveyor or belt conveyor) that transports while supporting the bottom surface of a container, and a pair of endless transport bodies that circulate the lower part of the collar formed on the peripheral part of the container. A transport device having a guide transport device supported from both sides is disclosed, and Patent Document 2 supports a lower surface of a flange of a resin bottle formed on a neck portion from both sides by a pair of transport guides. There is disclosed a resin bottle transport device that transports propelling air to a resin bottle while the bottle is suspended.
JP 2000-289827 A JP 2000-289847 A

  However, since the disclosed technologies of Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above each include a main transport mechanism such as conveyor transport and air transport, the structure is complicated and the transfer direction is difficult to change. However, there are problems such as the need for speed matching (tuning) between the main transport device and the transport body and between the transport bodies.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a container transport device that has a simple transport mechanism and can easily change the transport direction.

That is, the present invention according to claim 1 is a container transport device having a collar at the neck, wherein a chain that can circulate in a horizontal direction is arranged on one side of the container transport path, and the other side of the container transport path The chain or the travel guide is disposed on the lower surface of the flange portion, and the lower surface of the flange portion is supported from the other side by the chain, and the lower surface of the flange portion is supported from the other side by the chain or the travel guide. The container is transported by moving the part.
Here, arranging a chain that can circulate in the horizontal direction is not only when the chain is arranged so that it can circulate in a horizontal plane, but the inclination of the chain in the transport direction is inclined within about ± 20 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane. It is meant to include the case where it is arranged.

  The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the container transport device according to claim 1, a head portion of a pin connecting the link of the chain is brought into contact with the lower surface of the flange portion.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the container transport device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a support rail that contacts the lower side of the chain to prevent the chain from swinging. It is characterized.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since both sides of the flange portion of the container are supported by the chain or by the chain and the traveling guide and the container is conveyed by the circulation of the chain, the conveyance mechanism can be simplified. In addition to going straight, it is possible to freely and easily change the direction of the carrying path, such as meandering, U-turn, uphill, downhill, etc. In addition, since the collar portion is driven by the chain, the conventional problem of synchronization of the carrier cannot occur, and therefore, the container can be easily positioned when the container is delivered.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since only the head of the pin of the chain comes into contact with the collar portion of the container, the contact area is extremely small. There is no risk of injury.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the support rail is provided on the lower side of the chain, the vertical movement of the chain is prevented, and the container can be transported in a stable state.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a container transport device according to the present invention will be described based on the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a container transport device according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the container transport device, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of the container transport device, and FIG.

1 and 2, reference numeral 40 denotes a container supply unit in which the container 1 is transported in a standing posture on the transport table 41, and the transport table 14 is positioned at a predetermined height on the floor surface 9 by the legs 8. It is supported and fixed to.
The container 1 may be one having a collar 3 around the neck 2 (mouth). For example, a plastic bottle or the like that contains a soft drink or a seasoning is a conveyance target.
Moreover, the conveyance means of the container supply part 40 should just be able to convey the container 1 in an upright state, such as air conveyance and belt conveyance, and the container 1 is provided with a pair of sides provided on both sides of the conveyance table 41 by these conveyance means. While being supported from both sides by the guide rails 42 and 42, it is transported in a close-contact state on the transport table 41, and is sequentially supplied from the outlet 44 at the downstream end thereof to the container transport device 20 of this embodiment described later. In addition, a pair of introduction guides 43 and 43 for guiding and aligning the containers 1 sequentially transferred from the upstream side to the central portion of the transport table 41 are provided in the vicinity of the outlet portion 44 of the transport table 41.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container transfer device 20 disposed at the outlet 44 of the transfer table 41 has a transfer path 4 that follows the transfer table 41, and the height position thereof is 41 is aligned with the height position of the collar portion 3 of the container 1 raised on the container 41.
A chain 30 that supports the lower surface of the flange 3 of the container 1 is disposed on one side of the conveyance path 4, and a travel guide 5 that supports the lower surface of the flange 3 is disposed on the other side of the conveyance path 4. . The container 1 supplied from the container supply unit 40 is supported in a suspended state by sandwiching the neck 2 between the chain 30 and the traveling guide 5, and is arranged in a row in the direction of the arrow with a predetermined interval. It is transported in the state. In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the conveyance path direction is changed 90 degrees toward the front side of the drawing in the middle of the conveyance path 4.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the chain 30 and the traveling guide 5 are provided on a pair of rectangular frames 6 and 7 disposed on both sides of the conveyance path 4 along the conveyance path 4. The frames 6 and 7 are supported and fixed at a predetermined height position on the floor surface 9 by a plurality of legs 8.
A driving sprocket 11 for driving a chain and a driven sprocket 12 for guiding a chain, to which a driving motor 10 is connected, are provided at appropriate positions on one side of the frame 6. ) Is arranged so as to be able to circulate in a horizontal plane, and the above-described traveling guide 5 is attached to the other frame 7 so as to face the chain 30.
As shown in FIG. 3, the traveling guide 5 is formed in a long and thin cross-sectional L shape along the transport direction, and its rising portion 5 a is fixed to the side of the frame 7 with a bolt (not shown). The upper surface of the horizontal portion 5b is in contact with the lower surface of the flange portion 3 of the container 1, and supports the flange portion 3 of the container 1 from below.

As shown in FIG. 4, a known chain 30 is used in which the outer ring 32 and the inner ring 31 having the roller 34 are alternately combined and connected by a pin 33. The attachment positions of the sprockets 11 and 12 are set so that one head 33a contacts the lower surface of the flange 3 of the container 1.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the frame 6 is provided with a support rail 13 that supports the lower side of the chain 30. The support rail 13 is bent in a stepped shape, and its upper horizontal portion 13a is fixed to the bottom of the frame 6 with a bolt (not shown) so that the upper surface of the lower horizontal portion 13b supports the lower side of the chain 30 from below. It has become. Further, the guide rail 14 in which the head 33a of the pin 33 can be inserted is formed in a belt-like shape along the transport direction in the support rail 13 at a portion where the other head 33a of the pin 33 of the chain 30 contacts. Yes.

In the above configuration, the container 1 transferred from the container supply unit 40 is guided to the center of the transport table 41 along the introduction guide 43 in the vicinity of the outlet unit 44, and is transferred from the outlet unit 44 to the transport path 4 of the container transport device 20. be introduced. In the transport path 4, the lower surface of the flange 3 of the container 1 is supported in a suspended state from both sides by the chain 30 and the traveling guide 5, and the friction resistance (pin) is generated by the rotation of the chain 30 by the drive motor 10. The frictional resistance between the head 33a of the head 33 and the flange 3) causes the container 1 to rotate while one side of the flange 3 is driven by the chain 30 and the other side is supported and slidably contacted by the travel guide 5. However, it is conveyed in a line along the conveyance path 4.
In this case, since the transfer speed of the container 1 by the chain 30 is set faster than the transfer speed of the container supply unit 40, the container 1 does not stay in the container supply part 40 and is introduced into the transport path 4. The containers 1 are sequentially and smoothly conveyed at predetermined intervals without contacting each other.

Further, when it is necessary to increase the conveyance speed during container conveyance, a chain 30 that can circulate in a horizontal plane is provided in the conveyance section instead of the travel guide 5, and the flange 3 of the container 1 is provided. What is necessary is just to make it drive | work the both sides of each chain 30 around the circumference | surroundings. In this case, both chains 30 have the same speed and the rotating direction is opposite.
Thereby, the conveyance speed of the container 1 can be doubled, and for example, the shift to a low-speed conveyance path or the like can be easily and reliably performed.

As described above, in the present invention, the chain 30 that supports the flange 3 of the container 1 is disposed on one side of the transport path 4, and the travel guide 5 that supports the flange 3 is disposed on the other side of the transport path 4. Since the one side of the collar 3 is driven by the circumference of the chain, the transport mechanism of the container transport device 20 is simplified, and if the chain is driven, the transport path is as shown in FIG. The direction of 4 can be changed by 90 degrees, or although not shown, various directions can be changed freely and easily with a relatively simple mechanism, such as meandering, 180-degree change, uphill and downhill with an inclination angle of about 20 degrees or less. It becomes like this.
Further, if one side of the collar 3 is driven by the chain 30, there is no problem of chain mutual synchronization as in the prior art. Therefore, the container when the container 1 is transferred from the container supply unit 40 to the container transporting device 20. Positioning 1 is easy, and a smooth transition can be made, and smooth conveyance can be performed even during container conveyance.

  Further, since the head portion 33a of the pin 33 of the chain 30 is in contact with the flange portion 3 of the container 1, the contact area is extremely small. Therefore, there is no possibility that the container 1 is damaged by the chain 30 when the container is transported.

  Further, by providing the support rail 13 on the lower side of the chain 30, it is possible to prevent the chain 30 from being shaken at the time of transportation, and the container 1 can be supported and transported in a stable state. Further, when the guide groove 14 is provided in the support rail 13 and the head 33a of the pin 33 is immersed in the guide groove 14, the rolling of the chain 30 is suppressed by the guide action.

The side view which shows the whole structure of the container conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention. The top view which shows the whole structure of a container conveyance apparatus similarly. The principal part enlarged view of a container conveyance apparatus. The figure which shows the structure of a chain.

Explanation of symbols

1 container 2 neck 3 buttock 4 container transport path (transport path)
5 Traveling Guide 13 Support Rail 20 Container Transport Device 30 Chain 31, 32 Link 33 Pin 33a Head

Claims (3)

A container transport device having a collar at the neck,
A chain that can circulate in the horizontal direction is arranged on one side of the container conveyance path, the chain or the traveling guide is arranged on the other side of the container conveyance path, and the lower surface of the flange portion is supported from one side by the chain, and Support the lower surface of the flange from the other side with a chain or a travel guide,
A container transporting device, wherein the container is transported by following the collar around the chain. The container transport device according to claim 1, wherein a head portion of a pin that connects the link of the chain is brought into contact with a lower surface of the flange portion. The container transport device according to claim 1, further comprising a support rail that abuts on a lower side of the chain to prevent the chain from swinging.

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