JP2007302312A - Grooved chuck rubber and article holder using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tilted groove structure for solving a cause of a drop in holding torque and surely clamp a cap even under wet conditions or in a moist atmosphere. <P>SOLUTION: A chuck rubber structure is provided on each claw 21a of a chuck 21 in contact with an article on a chuck mechanism for gripping an outer peripheral surface of a variety of articles including a container or a container cap without a slip. A grooved chuck rubber 10 is made of a synthetic rubber member with a predetermined width, each synthetic rubber member is stuck along the rotation direction of the claw, and slots in predetermined pitches are provided on a side of a contact surface of the chuck rubber with the article to intersect with a circumferential direction at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. An article holder 20 using the rubber 10 is also provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a groove structure of a grooved chuck rubber that can securely wind a cap even under conditions in which various articles such as a container cap are wet or in a steam atmosphere. Further, the present invention relates to an article gripping device such as a container cap or container having a chuck mechanism for the steam atmosphere or a wet cap provided with the grooved chuck rubber.

  Conventionally, in a container filling apparatus that automatically takes out containers sequentially from a row of containers moving on a belt conveyor, and fills and packs the contents such as a predetermined liquid, after the predetermined contents are put in the containers An apparatus having an article gripping mechanism for gripping the cap of the container or an article such as the container by a chuck mechanism having a chuck rubber, performing the tightening of the cap, or gripping the container itself and moving it in a rotational axis. It was used.

  However, when the gripping mechanism is used in an atmosphere where water vapor or an article such as a cap is wet, a film of water is formed between the article such as a cap and the chuck rubber even if the chuck rubber is provided. There was a problem that the friction coefficient was lowered and slip occurred.

  That is, in the chuck mechanism provided with the conventional chuck rubber, a preset winding torque (for example, 7 N · m) is not realized depending on the use conditions, and slips to stop the system.

  Even when the usage conditions are in water vapor or the article or cap to be grasped is wet, the article, cap, etc. can be securely grasped, and in particular, the cap can be securely grasped and tightly clamped A new chuck mechanism was eagerly desired.

  Conventionally, a structure has been proposed in which a groove is formed in the rubber-like rubber in order to reduce the slip between the rubber-like rubber chuck and the article in response to the problem.

  The invention described in Patent Document 1 is a structure in which a pattern composed of ridges and ridges for slip braking perpendicular to the traveling direction is provided on a stepped portion of a shoe sole. However, slip braking is too good with only the horizontal pattern. Therefore, an inclined groove pattern of about 45 degrees is provided in combination with the horizontal pattern on the arch that bends when walking, preventing cracks from occurring at the bent part, and using only the horizontal groove pattern. It was designed to reduce excessive braking and skidding.

  On the other hand, in order to grip the outer periphery of a cap such as a container, which is the object of the present invention, and rotate the shaft without slipping, there is no need to worry about excessive slip braking as in Patent Document 1. Therefore, in the conventional grooved chuck rubber, it has been considered that a chuck rubber having a groove perpendicular to the rotation axis or the circumferential direction around the outer periphery of the cap, that is, a chuck rubber having an axial groove can brake the slip most.

  However, the chuck rubber provided with grooves in the axial direction did not reach a predetermined tightening torque (for example, 7 N · m) under conditions where the steam atmosphere or the cap was wet with water, and the probability of slipping was high.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the groove direction of the grooved chuck rubber and the holding torque of the chuck mechanism. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the grooved chuck rubber provided with grooves in the direction perpendicular to the length direction of the tape-like rubber in the outer week direction such as a lid has the maximum braking force. However, it has been found that slipping often occurs due to the following reasons.

  That is, in the case of FIG. 4B, since the groove portions 11 are arranged in an axial straight straight groove shape, a portion (or a surrounding angle) that is not in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the article 1 is formed. Therefore, the outer peripheral surface of the article 1 in the range of the circumferential angle becomes a portion without a contact surface, and does not become a gripping surface, and the angle region reduces the overall gripping force and does not reach a predetermined torque value. It was. That is, a groove that prevents slipping due to a water film has caused a decrease in gripping force.

JP 2002-125705 A (2nd, 3rd page, FIG. 1)

  The present invention eliminates a portion (or circumferential angle) that is not in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the article to be gripped, prevents slipping due to a water film, and has an inclined groove structure that solves the cause of lowering holding torque, It is an object of the present invention to provide a grooved chuck rubber that enables the cap to be securely tightened even under conditions or in a steam atmosphere.

  It is another object of the present invention to provide a gripping device having a predetermined holding torque by using grooved chuck rubbers with inclined grooves for the chuck claws.

The grooved chuck rubber of the present invention has a chuck mechanism composed of a plurality of M claws on the same circumference for gripping the outer peripheral surface of various articles including a container or a container cap, and grips the article. A chuck rubber structure provided on each nail of the chuck that comes into contact with the article so that the nail can be gripped without causing a slip to at least a preset tightening torque when driving the nail in the rotation direction,
The chuck rubber is made of a synthetic rubber member having a predetermined width,
Each of the synthetic rubber members is affixed along the rotation direction of the M claws,
A groove having a predetermined pitch is provided on the side of the surface of each chuck rubber that contacts the article so as to intersect at an angle with respect to the circumferential direction.

  The grooves having the predetermined pitch are provided so as to cross at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the circumferential direction.

An article gripping device according to the present invention grips the outer peripheral surface of various articles including a container or a container cap, and has a plurality of M claws on the same circumference and provided with at least the grooved chuck rubber according to claim 1 A chuck mechanism having
M radial slide members connected to move the M pawls from the outer peripheral surface side on the same circumference toward the central axis,
An axial positioning member that moves the radial slide member only in the radial direction and restricts movement in the axial direction, and
An upper central shaft member provided with an air inflow portion on the upper side, and a lower central shaft member provided with a lower end connection portion on the lower side,
A mechanism member envelope that is fitted and connected to the cylindrical outer surface of the upper central shaft member and forms an envelope that houses the chuck mechanism below the fitting portion;
An axial slide member circumscribing the cylindrical inner curved surface of the mechanism member envelope, inscribed in the cylindrical outer curved surface of the lower central shaft member and sliding in the axial direction, and further having a circumferential positioning member;
Since the M radial slide members are slid in the central axial direction by pushing down the axial slide members with air, the radial slide members are formed so that a contact surface between the two slide members forms a conical curved surface. A first sliding surface provided on the second sliding surface, and a second sliding surface provided on the axial slide member;
A connecting portion that is connected to a lower end connecting portion of the lower central shaft member in alignment with the central axis, a spring end receiving groove provided in a peripheral circumferential portion thereof, and a gap between the groove and the lower side of the axial slide member And a central bearing member provided with a spring spring that is urged so as to be always expanded.

  The center bearing member may be provided with a permanent magnet and a fixing member for attracting the lower end of the article by a magnetic field at the lower end of the center.

  The grooved chuck rubber of the present invention and the article gripping apparatus using the same have the following effects. Grasping the outer periphery of an article such as a lid or cap of a container, and the atmosphere there is in a state where it is slippery in the direction of rotation when the atmosphere is in water vapor or when the article is wet. There is an effect of reliably achieving gripping with holding torque.

  For the gripper that grips the bottle part of the container itself, the inclined grooved chuck rubber is also brought into contact with the outer peripheral part of the container in the same manner, so that it can be reliably used even in the use condition in water vapor or when the article is wet. Gripping becomes possible. For this reason, there exists an effect which prevents generation | occurrence | production of the accident which a system stops by the slip of a holding | grip apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B are views showing the structure of a grooved chuck rubber according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. FIG. 1A is a plan view seen from the side in contact with the article 1.

  The grooved chuck rubber 10 is a rubber made of synthetic rubber, and the direction of the groove is inclined by about 45 degrees with respect to the length direction of the rubber.

  Here, 11 is a groove portion, and 12 is a protrusion that contacts the article 1. P is the pitch of the parallel grooves 11, 11, d is the groove width, and h is the rubber width.

The grooved chuck rubbers 10 are respectively attached to the contact sides of the claws 21 a of the three chucks 21 with the article 1. (See Figure 2)
That is, the three grooved chuck rubbers 10 are attached to the inside of the claws 21a of the chucks 21 so as to face each other along the circumferential direction of the article 1 or the circumferential direction of the lid and cap.

  In a gripping mechanism using a grooved chuck rubber that applies a force toward the central axis to the claws 21a of the three chucks 21 to grip and rotate the article 1 such as a cap from the periphery, the article to be gripped Alternatively, it is possible to obtain a larger holding torque than before without causing the lid and cap to slip even under wet conditions.

  The holding torque can be increased by providing an inclination angle between the length direction of the grooved chuck rubber 10, that is, the circumferential direction in which the cap or the like is rotated and the groove portion 11 of the grooved chuck rubber 10. This angle can maximize the holding torque when the inclination angle is about 45 degrees.

  If the inclination angle is closer to the vertical direction than 45 degrees, the position gradually becomes closer to the vertical groove (see FIG. 4B), and the position where the rubber does not exist in a certain angular range in the circumferential direction gradually increases, and the gripping force is increased. Decrease. On the other hand, when the inclination angle is made closer to the horizontal direction than 45 degrees, the height of the protrusion 12 in the vertical direction of the rubber is lowered, so that the rubber is easily pulled and deformed, and the gripping force may be reduced.

  Therefore, in consideration of both influences, an inclined groove of about 45 degrees having a height at which the rubber is present at all circumferential angles and the protrusion 12 is not easily deformed is in the best condition. Met. However, since the holding torque varies depending on the shape of the cap, it is desirable to appropriately select an inclination angle that matches the shape of the cap and to form an inclined groove with the largest holding torque.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the grooved chuck rubber 10 of the present invention is in contact with the entire outer surface of the article 1 by the inclined groove structure. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a slipping accident without causing a torque reduction.

  Next, an article gripping device 20 using the grooved chuck rubber 10 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of an article gripping apparatus provided with a grooved chuck rubber. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the chuck moving mechanism of the article gripping apparatus.

  The article gripping device 20 shown in FIG. 2 includes a chuck mechanism that drives the chuck 21 by air. The chuck 21 is closed on the right side of the center axis of the figure when the air is ON, and the cap or article installed at the lower center of the figure. A state diagram in which the circumference of one circle is gripped by claws 21a of three chucks 21 is shown. On the other hand, on the left side of the center axis of the figure, the chuck 21 is opened when the air is OFF, and the claw 21a of the three chucks 21 is separated from the circumference of the cap or the article 1 and is not gripped.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view with the cap or article 1 in the center removed, and shows the features of the grooved chuck rubber 10.

  With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the operation of the chuck mechanism when the air is turned on and off will be described below.

  2 and 3, the chuck 21 is composed of three claws 21a. In the open air OFF state, as shown in FIG. 3, the claw 21a has a predetermined gap between adjacent claws 21a along the circumference. The circumferential arc end of the claw 21a does not collide until the article 1 is gripped. Although the number of claws is 3 here, it may be any number.

  A grooved chuck rubber 10 is attached to each of the three claws 21a.

  The three claws 21a have a plurality of screw holes 21b, and are respectively connected to the radial slide member 22 by claw connection screws 22b.

  The radial slide member 22 is a member that moves only in the radial direction and does not move in the axial direction. For this purpose, the radial slide member 22 is provided with an axial positioning slit 22c.

  Reference numeral 25 denotes an axial positioning member, which is connected to the mechanism member envelope 24 of the article gripping device 20 via a connection screw 25a and a bearing 25b, and the distal end portion 25c of the axial positioning member 25 is provided at three locations. One hollow disc is inserted into the shaft positioning slit 22c. The distal end portion 25c corresponds to the inside of the hollow disc annular shape.

  Accordingly, the three radial slide members 22 move only in the radial direction through the axial positioning slit 22c of the axial positioning member 25, and the movement in the axial direction is restricted.

  On the other hand, the mechanism member envelope 24 accommodates the chuck mechanism members to protect the operation of the chuck mechanism, and is fitted and connected to the cylindrical outer surface of the upper central shaft member 26 of the central shaft of the article gripping device 20. As shown in FIG. 2, it is fixed with screws 26c so as not to move in the axial direction.

  In this embodiment, the upper center shaft member 26 and the lower center shaft member 27 below the upper center shaft member 26 are manufactured as one body, but for convenience of description, names are given. The upper and lower central shaft members may be manufactured and connected separately.

  The upper central shaft member 26 has a hollow cylindrical shape, and allows air to flow into the air inflow portion 26a of the hollow tunnel, and the air inflow portion 26a diverges into a plurality in the radial direction on the surface with the lower central shaft member 27. It becomes the air inflow part 26b of a hollow tunnel.

  Reference numeral 30 denotes a terminal fitting for the air introduction pipe.

  The lower center shaft member 27 has a lower end connection portion 27 b on the lower side thereof, and is screwed with a screw at the center of the center bearing member 28.

  Inside the mechanism member envelope 24 is an axial slide member 23. The axial slide member 23 circumscribes the cylindrical inner curved surface of the mechanism member envelope 24 and also inscribes the cylindrical outer curved surface of the lower central shaft member 27 and slides in the axial direction.

  Furthermore, it has a circumferential positioning member 23b so as to restrict the rotation of the axial slide member 23. The circumferential positioning member 23b is a protruding member at the top of the axial slide member 23, and slides in a hole inside the top of the mechanism member envelope 24.

  Since the three radial slide members 22 are simultaneously slid in the central axis direction by pushing down the axial slide member 23 with air, the contact surface between the radial slide members 22 and the axial slide member 23 is a conically curved surface. The first sliding surface 22 a provided on the lower inner surface of the radial sliding member 22 and the second sliding surface 23 a provided on the upper outer surface of the axial sliding member 23 are formed.

  By the first sliding surface 22a and the second sliding surface 23a, the downward pressure applied by the air to the shaft is transmitted to the three radial slide members 22, and the three radial slide members 22 are simultaneously moved to the central axis. The article is moved and gripped.

  Further, the center bearing member 28 is provided with a spring end receiving groove 28b for receiving one end of the urging helical spring 28a around the central axis. In a natural state where the air is OFF, the urging helical spring 28a in the axial length direction is provided. Thus, as shown in the left side of FIG. 2, the axial slide member 23 moves upward, the radial slide member 22 is slidable in the radial direction away from the central axis, and the chuck 21 is opened.

  Here, if the air is turned ON, the axial slide member 23 is compressed against the urging helical spring 28a, and the three radial slide members 22 slide toward the central axis, and the article is moved by the chuck 21. Hold 1

  Further, in order for the air when air flows in to efficiently push down the axial slide member downward, an air packing 23c is provided between the outer cylindrical wall of the axial slide member 23 and the inner inner wall of the mechanism member envelope 24. At the same time, an air packing 27c is provided between the inner cylindrical wall of the axial slide member 23 and the wall of the lower central shaft member 27 to prevent air leakage.

  A magnet fixing member 29a for fixing the permanent magnet 29 is provided below the center of the center bearing member 28, and an iron cap or the like is attracted to a predetermined center position until just before being gripped by the chuck. In addition, when dealing with a cap that does not work with magnetic force, the permanent magnet 29 need not be used. Even in that case, the cap can be sufficiently tightened only by the gripping force of the grooved chuck rubber.

  Next, experimental results obtained by acquiring a target (7.00 N · m) of holding torque that has not been achieved by the grooved chuck rubber 10 with the inclined groove provided in the article gripping device 20 are shown below.

  The measurement conditions of the holding torque of the grooved chuck rubber 10 with the inclined groove are shown below.

The dimensions of the grooved chuck rubber 10 were as follows.
Tape width h = 10 mm, groove pitch p = 6.5 mm, groove width d = 1 mm
Tape length 58mm, inclined groove inclination angle 45 degrees Rubber material Commercially available high performance synthetic rubber with high durability
Hardness 65 ± 5 °

Object (a) Metallic container cap for food containers
(B) Aluminum machined cylinder (aluminum cylinder)
(C) Aluminum painted cylinder (painted cylinder)

Note that (a) is shown as a circle, (b) as a square, and (c) as a triangle.
In a steam atmosphere at 120 ° C., water is added for each test for evaluation.

  FIG. 5 shows measured values of holding torque (N · m) (vertical axis) with respect to air pressure (Mpa) (horizontal axis) under the above conditions.

The grooved chuck rubber 10 in FIG. 5 has the inclined groove structure of FIG. 1, but in order to compare the presence or absence of the groove, FIG. 6 shows the measured value of the holding torque when there is no inclined groove.
5 and 6 both measured the torque repeatedly for each air pressure five times, and showed the average value of the five times. Further, water was applied to the target article every time when the measurement was performed five times.

  As is apparent from a comparison of FIGS. 5 and 6, in wet conditions such as a water vapor atmosphere, the holding torque is lower in a rubber with a groove than a rubber without a groove from a low pressure range of 0.1 Mpa where the air pressure is weak and the gripping force is weak. Can be confirmed to be 1.5 to 2 times higher. From the results, it is estimated that there is a drainage effect due to the grooves.

  When the target article 1 is an aluminum machined cylinder (b), it is most likely to slip and difficult to grip, but even in such a case (b), the holding torque reaches 7.00 N · m at an air pressure of about 0.3. It is clear from FIG. The white cap of (a) sufficiently exceeds the holding torque of 7.00 N · m at an air pressure of 0.1. In addition, the experiment shown to FIG. 5, 6 has not measured 8.00 N * m or more.

  From the above results, it can be confirmed that the article gripping device 20 sufficiently achieves the target holding torque of 7.00 N · m by the grooved chuck rubber 10.

  Note that the holding torque against the air pressure of 0.1 to 0.15 under dry conditions is not 8.00 N · m in any case, not in the water vapor atmosphere and wet wet conditions as shown in FIGS. That was all. Although not shown, the result is that the holding torque is slightly higher in the grooveless chuck rubber having a larger contact area with the article under dry conditions.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the chuck rubber with a groove | channel of this invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is XX sectional drawing of (a). It is a structural diagram of the article | item holding apparatus provided with the grooved chuck rubber. It is a perspective view of the chuck moving mechanism of the article gripping device. It is explanatory drawing of the relationship between the groove direction of a chuck rubber with a groove | channel, and the holding torque of a chuck mechanism. It is a figure which shows the holding torque measurement result of a chuck rubber with a groove | channel. It is a figure which shows the holding torque measurement result of a flat chuck rubber without a groove | channel.

Explanation of symbols

1 Goods (containers, container caps)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Groove chuck rubber 11 Groove part 12 Protrusion part 20 Article gripping device 21 Chuck 21a Claw (M plural pieces)
21b Screw hole 22 Radial slide member (M pieces)
22a First sliding surface 22b Claw connecting screw 22c Axial positioning slit 23 Axial sliding member 23a Second sliding surface 23b Circumferential positioning member 23c Air packing 24 Mechanism member envelope 24a Fitting portion 25 Axial positioning Member 25a Connection screw 25b Bearing 25c Tip 26 Upper center shaft member 26a Air inflow portion 26b Air inflow portion 26c Screw 27 Lower center shaft member 27b Lower end connection portion 27c Air packing 28 Center bearing member 28a Energizing spiral spring 28b Spring end receiving groove 29 Magnet 29a Magnet fixing member 30 End fitting

Claims (4)

When a chuck mechanism composed of a plurality of M claws on the same circumference that grip the outer peripheral surface of various articles including a container or a cap of the container grips the article and drives each claw of the chuck in the rotation direction, A chuck rubber structure provided on each claw of the chuck that comes into contact with the article so that it can be gripped at least up to a preset tightening torque without causing a slip,
The chuck rubber is made of a synthetic rubber member having a predetermined width,
Each of the synthetic rubber members is affixed along the rotation direction of the M claws,
A grooved chuck rubber, characterized in that grooves of a predetermined pitch are provided on the contact surface side of each chuck rubber with respect to the article so as to intersect at an angle with respect to the circumferential direction.   The grooved chuck rubber according to claim 1, wherein the grooves having the predetermined pitch are provided so as to intersect at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to a circumferential direction. A chuck mechanism having a plurality of M pawls on the same circumference and having at least the grooved chuck rubber according to claim 1 for gripping outer peripheral surfaces of various articles including a container or a container cap,
M radial slide members connected to move the M pawls from the outer peripheral surface side on the same circumference toward the central axis,
An axial positioning member that moves the radial slide member only in the radial direction and restricts movement in the axial direction, and
An upper central shaft member provided with an air inflow portion on the upper side, and a lower central shaft member provided with a lower end connection portion on the lower side,
A mechanism member envelope that is fitted and connected to the cylindrical outer surface of the upper central shaft member and forms an envelope that houses the chuck mechanism below the fitting portion;
An axial slide member circumscribing the cylindrical inner curved surface of the mechanism member envelope, inscribed in the cylindrical outer curved surface of the lower central shaft member and sliding in the axial direction, and further having a circumferential positioning member;
Since the M radial slide members are slid in the central axial direction by pushing down the axial slide members with air, the radial slide members are formed so that a contact surface between the two slide members forms a conical curved surface. A first sliding surface provided on the second sliding surface, and a second sliding surface provided on the axial slide member;
A connecting portion for connecting the lower end connecting portion of the lower central shaft member with the central axis aligned, a spring end receiving groove provided in a peripheral circumferential portion thereof, and between the groove and the lower side of the axial slide member And a center bearing member provided with a spring spring that is urged so as to be always expanded. 4. The article gripping apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a permanent magnet and a fixing member for adsorbing the lower end of the article by a magnetic field are provided at a center lower end of the center bearing member.

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