JP2009096509A - Cap seal mounting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cap seal mounting apparatus capable of further improving efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: A stack body 100, in which a plurality of cap seals 102 and single seal keeper 104 are arranged in layers, is set in the cap seal mounting apparatus. A suction nozzle 20 removes stack pieces 101 (cap seals 104 or seal keeper 102) one at a time from the stack body 100 conveyed to a predetermined removal position. When the overall length of the stack body 100 remaining in the removal position reaches a predetermined reference value or below, a new stack body 100 is added and supplied at any time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cap seal mounting device for shrink mounting a substantially cylindrical cap seal on a mouth of a container.

  Conventionally, there has been known a cap seal mounting device for mounting a cap seal, which is a substantially cylindrical member made of a flexible material such as a heat-shrinkable film, on the mouth of a container such as a beer barrel or a milk bottle. (For example, Patent Document 1 below). In the cap seal mounting device, the cap seals are set as a plurality of stacked cap seal groups. The cap seal mounting device is provided with an extraction mechanism for extracting the cap seals from the cap seal group one by one, a shooter for guiding the extracted cap seals to the container mouth portion, and the like.

  By the way, normally, the cap seal is transported as a stack body. The stack body includes a cap seal group in which a plurality of cap seals are stacked, and a seal keeper fitted to the rear end of the cap seal. The seal keeper is a cylindrical member made of plastic or the like, and the cap seal group can be prevented from being deformed by fitting the seal keeper.

Japanese Patent No. 3559103

  Since the cap seal is transported as a stack body, when setting the cap seal on a conventional cap seal mounting apparatus, the operator has to remove the seal keeper from the stack body. However, the work of removing the seal keeper is cumbersome and burdens the operator. Further, the removal work of the seal keeper has been a major cause of a reduction in processing efficiency. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cap seal mounting device that can be processed more efficiently.

  The cap seal mounting device of the present invention is a cap seal mounting device for shrink mounting a substantially cylindrical cap seal on the mouth of a container, and has a total length longer than the cap seal at the rear end of a group of caps in which a plurality of cap seals are stacked. A storage means for storing one or more stack bodies configured by inserting and inserting a high seal keeper, and a transport for taking out the stack bodies stored in the storage means one by one and transferring the stack bodies to a predetermined extraction position And a stacking means for sequentially pulling out stack pieces which are seal keepers or cap seals constituting the stack body from the stack body by moving while sucking and holding the tip of the stack body transferred to the extraction position by the transfer means , A detection means for detecting the length of the stack piece extracted by the extraction means, and a detection result by the detection means And determining means for determining whether or not the stack piece is a single cap seal, and the stack piece determined by the determining means as not being a single cap seal does not interfere with the cap seal attachment to the container. Discharging means for discharging to a place, and the transfer means takes out the new stack body from the storage means when the total length of the stack body remaining at the extraction position is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value, and The body is transported so as to be fitted into a seal keeper located at the end of the remaining stack body.

  In another preferred aspect, the predetermined reference value is greater than the total length of the number of stack pieces to be extracted within the time required to transfer the stack body from the storage means to the extraction position.

  In another preferred aspect, a discharge nozzle that discharges the stack pieces extracted by the extraction means to a place that does not interfere with the cap seal attachment to the container, and the stack pieces discharged by the discharge air A stack piece storage section for storing

  In another preferred aspect, when one or more grooves extending in the axial direction are formed on a side surface of the seal keeper, when the extraction means extracts the stack piece, it is near the lower end of the stack piece to be extracted. And air supply means for supplying separation air in the extraction direction.

  According to the present invention, since the seal keeper is sorted based on the length of the extracted stack piece, it is not necessary to remove the seal keeper in advance, and efficient processing is possible. Moreover, according to this invention, a new stack body is sequentially transferred so that it may fit in the seal keeper located in the tail end of the stack body which remains in the extraction position. As a result, the stack piece extraction process can be performed continuously, so that the efficiency of the extraction process and, consequently, the entire mounting process can be improved.

  Hereinafter, a cap seal mounting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of the cap seal mounting device, and FIG. 2 is a side view.

  In the cap seal mounting device 10, the cap seal 102 is set as a stack body 100 in which a plurality of cap seals 102 and a single seal keeper 104 are stacked. The cap seal mounting device 10 extracts the cap seals 102 one by one from the set stack body 100 and puts them on the mouth 122 of the container 120 such as a via barrel. Then, the cap seal 102 placed on the container mouth portion 122 is heated and shrunk to attach the cap seal 102 to the container mouth portion 122. Hereinafter, the cap seal mounting device 10 will be described in detail.

  First, the stack body 100 set in the cap seal mounting device 10 will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the stack body 100. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the seal keeper 104 and the cap seal 102. As described above, the stack body 100 is formed by laminating a plurality of cap seals 102 and a single seal keeper 104. The cap seal 102 is set in the cap seal mounting device 10 with the stack body 100 as it is, in other words, with the seal keeper 104 fitted into the rear end.

  The cap seal 102 is a member that is shrink-mounted on the mouth portion 122 of the container 120 for the purpose of preventing dust intrusion and improving the design, and is made of a heat-shrinkable film. The cap seal 102 before the shrink attachment is preformed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and the top surface is closed with a top plate having a thickness of about 100 to 300 μm. Further, a taper or a step (taper in the illustrated example) is provided on the side surface of the cap seal 102, and the lower end inner diameter db is larger than the upper end outer diameter Da. The cap seal 102 is laminated by sequentially fitting the other cap seals 102 on the rear side of each cap seal 102 using the difference in diameter between the upper end outer diameter Da and the lower end inner diameter db.

  The seal keeper 104 is a member that is fitted into the tail end of the stack body 100 in order to prevent the cap seal 102 from being deformed. The seal keeper 104 is made of a material having a certain degree of shape retention, such as a plastic having a thickness of about 500 μm to 1 mm, for the purpose of preventing deformation. The seal keeper 104 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape with the top surface closed.

  The seal keeper 104 is roughly classified into an insertion portion 106 that fits into the cap seal 102 and a cylindrical tube portion 108 that is connected to the insertion portion 106. On the side surface of the insertion portion 106, the upper end outer diameter Dc is smaller than the cap seal upper end inner diameter da and the lower end outer diameter Dd is substantially equal to the cap seal lower end inner diameter db (Dc <da, Dd≈db). ), Tapered. Since the upper end outer diameter Dc of the insertion portion 106 is smaller than the cap seal upper end inner diameter da, the seal keeper 104 can be fitted into the cap seal 102 until the top surface contacts the top surface of the cap seal 102. As a result, deformation of the cap seal 102 can be prevented more reliably.

  Further, the total length Hc of the seal keeper 104 is larger than the total length Ha of the cap seal 102. More specifically, the overall length Hc of the seal keeper 104 is substantially equal to the height Hb of the laminate in which two cap seals 102 are laminated. Therefore, when the seal keeper 104 is inserted into the cap seal 102, the cylindrical portion 108 of the seal keeper 104 is exposed.

  A plurality of (for example, four) grooves 110 extending in the axial direction are formed on the side surface of the seal keeper 104. Each groove 110 extends from the vicinity of the lower end of the cylindrical portion 108 to the vicinity of the lower end of the insertion portion 106. The groove 110 functions as an air communication path. That is, when the seal keeper 104 is fitted into the cap seal 102, the air in the cap seal 102 is pushed outward by the seal keeper 104. The groove 110 provided in the seal keeper 104 functions as an escape path for the pushed-out air. Further, as will be described in detail later, when the cap seal 102 is removed from the seal keeper 104, separation air is supplied to the gap between the seal keeper 104 and the cap seal 102 in order to facilitate separation. The separation air is guided between the cap seal 102 and the seal keeper 104, so that the separation of both is promoted and the removal of the cap seal 102 is promoted. The groove 110 provided in the seal keeper 104 also functions as an introduction path for guiding the separation air between the cap seal 102 and the seal keeper 104.

  Both the cap seal 102 and the seal keeper 104 are constituent members of the stack body 100. In the following description, when the constituent members of the stack body 100 are meant, the cap seal 102 and the seal keeper 104 are not distinguished and are simply referred to as “stack pieces 101”.

  Next, the cap seal mounting apparatus 10 on which the stack body 100 is set will be described with reference to FIGS. The cap seal mounting device 10 is provided with a storage tray 12 that receives a set of stack bodies 100. The storage tray 12 has an inclined placement surface, and is large enough to store a plurality of stack bodies 100. The stack body 100 placed on the storage tray 12 rolls toward the lower end side by its own weight.

  The stack body 100 that has rolled to the lowermost end of the storage tray 12 is prevented from dropping by the stopper mechanism 14 and is sent out to the swinging rod 16. The configuration of the stopper mechanism 14 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic enlarged view around the stopper mechanism.

  The stopper mechanism 14 includes a movable body 40 provided near the lower end of the storage tray 12, a cylinder 46 that expands and contracts to rotate the movable body 40, and the like. The movable body 40 includes an accommodating portion 42 having a substantially L-shaped cross section and an arc portion 44 having a substantially arc-shaped cross section extending from one end of the accommodating portion 42. In the initial state, the movable body 40 assumes a posture in which one side 43b of the accommodating portion 42 having an L-shaped cross section is continuous with the placement surface of the storage tray 12 as illustrated in FIG. In this case, the stack body 100 placed on the storage tray 12 rolls to the accommodation portion 42 and is accommodated in the accommodation portion 42. When the stack body 100 is sent to the swing rod 16, the movable body 40 is centered on the rotation shaft 48 while the stack body 100 is housed in the housing portion 42 as shown in FIG. To approximately 90 degrees. In this case, one side 43 a of the accommodating portion 42 that has prevented the stack body 100 from falling is substantially parallel to the placement surface of the storage tray 12. As a result, the stack body 100 housed in the housing portion 42 falls from the housing portion 42 and is sent out to the swinging cage 16 installed below the stack body 100. At this time, the arc portion 44 rises to the upper side of the storage tray 12 and prevents the subsequent stack body 1 from falling.

  The swing rod 16 has a substantially V-shaped cross section, and has a size on which one stack body 100 can be placed. As shown in FIG. 1, the swing rod 16 is swingable about a predetermined swing shaft 50, and can take both a substantially horizontal horizontal posture and an inclined tilt posture. When the stack body 100 is supplied from the stopper mechanism 14, the swing rod 16 takes a horizontal posture. When the stack body 100 is supplied from the stopper mechanism 14, the swing rod 16 swings about the swing shaft 50 so that the top of the stack body 100 (the top surface side of the cap seal) is lowered. Take an inclined posture. The inclination angle at this time is an angle at which the mounted stack body 100 can slide and fall, and is an angle that is substantially parallel to the extraction drum 18 described later. When the rocking rod 16 is tilted to such an inclination angle, the stack body 100 placed on the rocking rod 16 slides along the rocking rod 16 due to gravity and is sent to the extraction drum 18. .

  FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view around the extraction drum 18. The sampling drum 18 is a substantially cylindrical member that is installed substantially in parallel with the swing rod 16 in the vicinity of the tip of the swing rod 16 in an inclined posture. A rear end (end portion of the swinging rod side) of the extraction drum 18 is opened, and entry of the stack body 100 that has slid along the swinging rod 16 is allowed. A stopper plate 51 is provided at the front end of the extraction drum 18 to stop the stack body 100 at a predetermined extraction position. The stopper plate 51 is a plate material that can be moved back and forth in the radial direction of the sampling drum 18. The stopper plate 51 advances toward the center of the sampling drum 18 to inhibit the downward movement of the stack body 100, and toward the outside of the sampling drum 18. The stack body 100 is allowed to be detached from the extraction drum 18 by retreating.

  Here, the suction nozzle 20 to be described later extracts the stack pieces 101 (cap seal 102 or seal keeper 104) one by one from the stack body 100 supplied to the extraction drum 18. Accordingly, the total length of the stack body 100 (the number of stack pieces 101) supplied to the extraction drum 18 gradually decreases as the extraction process proceeds. In order to detect a decrease in the total length of the stack body 100, an optical sensor 55 is provided in the vicinity of the rear end of the sampling drum 18, in other words, in the vicinity of the tenth stack piece 101 counted from the top. The optical sensor 55 includes a light projector 55a and a light receiver 55b arranged to face each other. A controller (not shown) of the cap seal mounting device 10 makes a determination regarding the total length of the stack body 100 based on whether or not the light receiver 55b has received the detection light emitted from the light projector 55a. Specifically, when the light receiver 55b cannot receive the detection light, the control unit determines that the total length (the number of stack pieces) of the stack body 100 is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value. On the other hand, when the light receiver 55b can receive the detection light, the control unit determines that the total length of the stack body 100 is less than a predetermined reference value. In this case, the control unit drives the stopper mechanism 14 and the swing rod 16 to instruct transfer of the new stack body 100b to the extraction drum 18. By this instruction, the stopper mechanism 14 and the swing rod 16 are driven, and a new stack body 100b is additionally supplied to the extraction drum 18. The additionally supplied new stack body 100 b slides along the inclination of the swing rod 16 and the extraction drum 18 and enters the rear end of the stack body 100 remaining on the extraction drum 18.

  That is, the head of the additionally supplied stack body 100 enters the rear side of the seal keeper 104 located at the rearmost end of the remaining stack body 100. In other words, the remaining stack body 100 and the new stack body 100b are fitted and connected. Thereby, after the sampling process regarding one stack body 100 (remaining stack body) is completed, it is possible to immediately shift to the sampling process regarding the next stack body 100b. As a result, the time during which the sampling process is temporarily interrupted can be reduced, and a more efficient mounting process can be performed.

  By the way, when the additionally supplied stack body 100b tries to enter the rear end of the remaining stack body 100, the additionally supplied stack body 100b is the outer peripheral edge portion of the lowermost end stack piece 101 of the remaining stack body 100. May come into contact with When the last stack piece 101 is a cap seal 102 made of a thin film, the last stack piece 101 (cap seal 102) may be deformed due to the impact of the contact. The shape loss of the cap seal 102 not only causes the appearance to deteriorate, but also causes various troubles, thereby causing a problem of reducing the processing efficiency. However, in the present embodiment, a seal keeper 104 having shape retention is provided at the rearmost end of each stack body 100. As a result, even if the additionally supplied stack body 100b comes into contact with the last stack piece 101 (seal keeper 104) of the remaining stack body 100, the cap seal 102 is not deformed, and the processing efficiency is reduced. Can be prevented.

  It is desirable that the new stack body 100b is additionally supplied before the stack piece 101 (seal keeper 104) located at the end of the remaining stack body 100 is extracted. Therefore, the predetermined reference value for determining that the new stack body 100b is additionally supplied is at least as many as the number of stack pieces to be extracted within the time required to transfer the stack body from the storage tray to the extraction drum. Desirably larger than the total length.

  The extraction drum 18 is further provided with a gripping claw 52 and an air supply nozzle 54 to prevent the plurality of stack pieces 101 from being extracted in a stacked state during the extraction process by the suction nozzle 20. A plurality of gripping claws 52 are provided in the circumferential direction of the stack body 100 and are claws that press and grip the outer periphery of the stack piece 101. The gripping claws 52 grip a position away from the top of the stack body 100 by the stacking height Hb of the two cap seals 102 (see FIG. 4).

  The air supply nozzle 54 is a nozzle that supplies separation air that promotes separation of the two stack pieces 101 between the two stack pieces 101 that are stacked and connected. The air supply nozzle 54 is disposed at a position separated from the top of the stack body 100 by a single cap seal full length Ha, in other words, in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the lower end of the cap seal 102 positioned at the top. Supply separation air toward the sampling direction.

  At a position facing the extraction drum 18, a suction nozzle 20 that can be moved forward and backward is provided. The suction nozzle 20 serves as an extraction means for extracting the stack pieces 101 one by one from the stack body 100 by retracting in a direction away from the extraction drum 18 (and thus the stack body 100) while sucking the front end surface of the stack body 100. Function. The suction nozzle 20 is connected to a negative pressure supply mechanism (not shown), and a negative pressure is appropriately supplied according to the progress of processing. The suction nozzle 20 can suck and hold the stack piece 101 by using the supplied negative pressure. Further, a suction pad 20 a made of an elastic material is provided at the tip of the suction nozzle 20 so that it can be in close contact with the surface of the stack piece 101.

  The suction nozzle 20 that has extracted the stack piece 101 moves the stack piece 101 to the vicinity of the upper end of the first shooter. At this position, a length measuring sensor (not shown) for measuring the entire length of the extracted stack piece 101 is provided. The length measuring sensor measures the total length of the extracted stack piece 101 and outputs the measurement result to the control unit. The control unit determines whether or not the extracted stack piece 101 can be transferred to the first shooter 22 based on the measurement result of the length measurement sensor.

  That is, when the total length of the extracted stack piece 101 is substantially the same as the total length Ha of the single cap seal 102, the control unit permits the transfer of the stack piece 101 to the shooter. In this case, the suction nozzle 20 releases the suction holding of the stack piece 101. As will be described later, the stack piece 101 released from the holding spontaneously falls to the first shooter 22. The cap seal 102 dropped on the first shooter 22 slides and falls on the first shooter 22 and the second shooter 24 and is finally attached to the container mouth portion 122. Instead of dropping the extracted cap seal 102 onto the shooters 22, 24, the cap seal 102 is transferred to the container mouth 122 by changing the posture and position of the suction nozzle 20 that sucks and holds the cap seal 102. Thereafter, the cap seal 102 may be attached to the container mouth portion 122 by releasing the suction by the suction nozzle 20.

  On the other hand, when the total length of the extracted stack piece 101 is larger than the total length Ha of the single cap seal 102, the extracted stack piece 101 is a laminated body in which a plurality of cap seals 102 are stacked, or a seal keeper 104. It can be judged that. In this case, the control unit drives a discharge nozzle 26, which will be described later, to move the stack piece 101 to the outside of the first shooter 22, in other words, to a place that does not interfere with the work of attaching the cap seal 102 to the container port 122. Let it drain.

  The discharge nozzle 26 is a nozzle that discharges discharge air that lifts the stack piece 101 that is about to fall when the suction holding by the suction nozzle 20 is released. The stack piece 101 pushed up by the discharge air is transferred to a guide tube 28 installed outside the first shooter 22. The guide tube 28 is a tube that guides the discharged stack piece 101 to the storage container 30. The rear end of the guide tube 28 is connected to the storage container 30. Therefore, the stack piece 101 that has moved along the guide tube 28 eventually naturally falls into the storage container 30 and is stored in the storage container 30.

  The first shooter 22 is a tube that guides the cap seals 102 that are individually separated to a predetermined mounting position. As shown in FIG. 1, the first shooter 22 is curved in a substantially square shape. The cap seal 102 transferred to the first shooter 22 falls along the first shooter 22 due to gravity. Finally, it reaches the second shooter 24 provided at the lower end of the first shooter 22.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view around the tip of the second shooter 24. The second shooter 24 is a shooter that is connected to the first shooter 22 and is rotatable about a support shaft 64 (see FIG. 1) provided near the lower end of the first shooter 22. The cap seal 102 that has fallen along the first shooter 22 enters the second shooter 24. A pair of leaf springs 60 that hold the outer periphery of the leading cap seal 102 from both sides are provided at the tip of the second shooter 24. The leaf spring 60 prevents the cap seal 102 that has entered from falling unintentionally. Further, the leaf spring 60 is elastically deformed, so that the cap seal 102 can be detached from the second shooter 24.

  On both sides of the second shooter 24, a pair of contact bodies 62 that contact the peripheral edge 124 of the container 120 are provided. The distance between the pair of contact bodies 62 is smaller than the diameter of the container 120 and larger than the diameter of the container mouth portion 122. Therefore, the abutment body 62 abuts only on the peripheral edge 124 of the container 120 and does not abut on the container opening 122. The abutment body 62 abuts on the peripheral edge 124 of the container, so that the second shooter 24 swings in the direction in which the tip rises. Further, the bottom surface of the contact body 62 is lower than the bottom surface of the cap seal 102 accommodated in the second shooter 24. Therefore, when the contact body 62 contacts the container peripheral edge 124, the cap seal 102 is positioned slightly above the container peripheral edge 124.

  The container 120 is transferred by a conveyor mechanism 32 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) disposed on the lower side of the mounting device 10. The conveyor mechanism 32 transfers the container 120 placed on the upper surface thereof to the lower side of the above-described second shooter 24 and then further transfers it to a superheater (not shown). The heating unit heat-shrinks the cap seal 102 placed on the container opening 122. In addition, since the well-known well-known technique can be utilized for the specific structure of this conveyor mechanism 32 and a heating part, detailed description here is abbreviate | omitted.

  Next, the flow of processing by the cap seal mounting device 10, particularly the flow of transfer of the cap seal 102 will be described. When driving the cap seal mounting device 10, the operator supplies containers to the conveyor mechanism 32. Further, the operator or the robot for transferring the stack body supplies the stack body 100 to the storage tray 12. The stack body 100 placed on the storage tray 12 rolls downward due to gravity and reaches the accommodating portion 42 of the movable body 40 provided in the stopper mechanism 14. When the stack body 100 reaches the accommodating portion 42, the control portion keeps the swing rod 16 in a horizontal posture and rotates the movable body 40 to swing the stack body 100 accommodated in the accommodating portion 42. Send to へ 16. If the stack body 100 is transferred to the swing rod 16, the control unit swings the swing rod 16 into an inclined posture. As the swing rod 16 is inclined, the stack body 100 placed on the swing rod 16 slides and drops onto the extraction drum 18.

  The stack body 100 that has entered the extraction drum 18 is regulated in its leading position by a stopper plate 51 provided on the extraction drum 18. When the head of the stack body 100 reaches the stopper plate 51, the control unit drives the suction nozzle 20 and the like to execute the extraction process of the stack piece 101.

  Specifically, the control unit first advances the suction nozzle 20 to contact the front end surface of the stack body 100. Subsequently, negative pressure is supplied to the suction nozzle 20, and the suction nozzle 20 sucks and holds the front end surface of the stack body 100. Further, the gripping claws 52 are driven to grip the outer periphery of the stack piece 101.

  At this time, when the first stack piece 101 is the cap seal 102, the gripping claws 52 grip the second stack piece 101. The grip prevents the second stack piece 101 from being pulled out together with the first stack piece 101.

  On the other hand, when the top stack piece 101 is the seal keeper 104, the following occurs. As described above, the gripping claws 52 grip a position away from the front end surface of the stack body 100 by the height Hb (≈Hc) where two cap seals 102 are stacked. The total length Hc of the seal keeper 104 is substantially the same as the stacked height Hb. Therefore, when the top stack piece 101 is the seal keeper 104, the gripping claws 52 grip the seal keeper 104. In other words, in this case, the second stack piece 101 from the top is not gripped.

  However, in this case, since the connecting force between the seal keeper 104 as the first stack piece 101 and the second stack piece 101 is small, the second stack piece 101 is not pulled out together with the seal keeper 104. That is, the seal keeper 104 is the stack piece 101 located at the end of one stack body 100. Even if a new stack body 100 b is additionally supplied to the rear side of the seal keeper 104, the coupling force between the new stack body 100 b and the seal keeper 104 is larger than the coupling force between the stack pieces 101 in the same stack body 100. Small. For this reason, even if the seal keeper 104 is extracted without gripping the stack piece 101 following the seal keeper 104, the subsequent stack piece 101 is not extracted.

  If gripping by the gripping claws 52 is performed, the control unit subsequently retracts the stopper plate 51 to the outside of the extraction drum 18 and releases the position restriction by the stopper plate 51. In this state, the suction nozzle 20 is retracted to the vicinity of the upper end of the first shooter 22. As the suction nozzle 20 is retracted, the stack piece 101 sucked and held by the suction nozzle 20 is detached from the stack body 100 and extracted.

  At the same time as the suction nozzle 20 is retracted, the separation air is supplied through the air supply nozzle 54. At this time, when the top stack piece 101 is the cap seal 102, the air supply nozzle supplies separation air around the lower end of the top stack piece 101. This separation air enters between the first stack piece 101 and the second stack piece 101 and promotes the separation of the two. This more reliably prevents the second stack piece 101 from being pulled out together with the first stack piece 101. On the other hand, when the top stack piece 101 is the seal keeper 104, the separation air is supplied to the side surface of the seal keeper 104 and does not contribute to the separation of the stack pieces 101. However, as described above, since the seal keeper 104 has a small coupling force with the subsequent stack piece 101, there is no problem even if the separation air is not supplied to an appropriate position.

  If the suction nozzle 20 is retracted to a predetermined position, the control unit advances the stopper plate 51 provided on the extraction drum 18 and re-enables the position restriction by the stopper plate 51. Further, the gripping of the stack piece 101 by the gripping claws 52 is released. By releasing the gripping claws 52, the stack body 100 is allowed to slide. As a result, the stack body 100 advances (slids) to a position where the front end surface thereof abuts against the stopper plate 51.

  The control unit determines whether the total length of the stack body 100 at this time is less than a predetermined reference value based on the detection result of the optical sensor 55 provided on the sampling drum 18. As a result of the determination, when the total length of the stack body 100 is equal to or larger than the predetermined reference value, the state is maintained as it is. On the other hand, as a result of the determination, when the total length of the stack body 100 is equal to or less than the predetermined reference value, the control unit drives the stopper mechanism 14 and the swing rod 16 to additionally supply a new stack body 100. The additionally supplied stack body 100b slides along the swing rod 16 and the extraction drum 18, and is fitted into the rear side of the remaining stack body.

  In this manner, the stack piece 101 can be continuously extracted by supplying the new stack body 100b while the stack body 100 (stack piece 101) remains on the extraction drum 18. Therefore, the processing efficiency can be further improved.

  In addition, as the new stack body 100b slides and drops, the front end of the new stack body 100b and the rear end of the remaining stack body 100 may come into contact with each other. However, even in this case, since the seal keeper 104 having a shape retaining property is disposed at the rearmost end of the remaining stack body 100, there is no problem such as a loss of shape of the cap seal 102. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the appearance from deteriorating and the occurrence of troubles due to the loss of shape.

  In parallel with the total length measurement process of the stack body 100, the length measuring sensor measures the total length of the stack piece 101 extracted by the suction nozzle 20. The control unit determines whether the extracted stack piece 101 is a single cap seal 102 based on the measurement result. If it is determined that the cap cap 102 is a single cap seal 102, the suction holding by the suction nozzle 20 is released, and the cap seal 102 is dropped onto the first shooter 22.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the extracted stack piece 101 is not a single cap seal 102, in other words, a stack of a plurality of cap seals 102 or a seal keeper 104, the control unit The nozzle 26 is driven to discharge the extracted stack piece 101 to the outside of the first shooter 22. Specifically, the suction holding by the suction nozzle 20 is released and the discharge air is discharged from the discharge nozzle 26. The stack piece 101 pushed upward by the discharge air moves along the guide tube 28 and is transferred to the storage container 30.

  As described above, the type of the stack piece is discriminated based on the total length measurement result of the extracted stack piece 101, and further, the operator moves the stack piece in advance by changing the transfer destination of the stack piece according to the type. There is no need to remove the seal keeper 104 from the body 100. Further, in the present embodiment, the transfer destination change of the stack piece 101 according to the type is realized by using the discharge air discharge force. Therefore, only by providing the discharge nozzle 26, the transfer destination of the stack piece 101 can be changed according to the type. In other words, it is not necessary to provide a complicated mechanism for changing the transfer destination of the stack piece 101.

  The cap seal 102 supplied to the first shooter 22 falls along the first shooter 22. Finally, it reaches the second shooter 24 and covers the container mouth portion 122. The procedure for attaching the cap seal to the container opening 122 will be described with reference to FIG. When the container 120 is located at a position away from the mounting position in the vicinity of the lower end of the second shooter 24 (FIG. 8A), the second shooter 24 stands by in a state where the cap seal 102 is accommodated. . When the container 120 is transferred by the conveyor mechanism 32 and reaches the vicinity of the attachment position, the contact body 62 contacts the container peripheral edge 124 as shown in FIG. By this contact, the second shooter 24 swings around the support shaft 64 in the direction in which the lower end thereof rises. In this state, when the transfer of the container 120 further proceeds, the contact body 62 gets over the container peripheral edge 124. When the contact body 62 gets over the container peripheral edge 124, the lower end of the second shooter 24 pushed upward is lowered by its own weight.

  When the container mouth portion 122 reaches the vicinity of the lower end of the second shooter 24 in a state where the lower end of the second shooter 24 is lowered, as shown in FIG. The seal 102 a is engaged with the container mouth portion 122. Then, when the container 120 is transferred in this engaged state, the leading cap seal 102 a engaged with the container opening 122 moves to the downstream side together with the container 120 and is detached from the second shooter 24. As a result, the cap seal 102 a is attached to the container mouth portion 122.

  The control unit drives the conveyor mechanism 32 to transfer the cap seal 102 attached to the container port 122 together with the container 120 to the heating unit. Then, when the cap seal 102 is heated and contracted in the heating portion and brought into close contact with the container mouth portion 122, the processing is completed.

  As is clear from the above description, the cap seal mounting device 10 of the present embodiment can be set as it is without removing the seal keeper 104 from the stack body. As a result, the work amount of the worker can be greatly reduced. Moreover, since the new stack body 100 is additionally supplied at any time to the extraction position for extracting the stack piece 101 from the stack body 100, the efficiency of the extraction process can be further improved. Further, since the seal keeper 104 is set in the apparatus 10 with the seal keeper 104 mounted, the cap seal 102 does not lose its shape when the new stack body 100 is additionally supplied.

It is a front view of the cap seal mounting apparatus which is embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of a cap seal mounting apparatus. It is a perspective view of a stack body. It is sectional drawing of a seal keeper and a cap seal. It is an enlarged view around a stopper mechanism. It is an enlarged view around a sampling drum. It is an enlarged view around the front-end | tip of a 2nd shooter. It is a figure which shows a motion of the 2nd shooter.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cap seal mounting apparatus, 12 Storage tray (storage means), 14 Stopper mechanism, 16 Oscillating rod (transfer means), 18 Extraction drum, 20 Adsorption nozzle (extraction means), 22 1st shooter, 24 2nd shooter, 26 Discharge nozzle, 28 guide tube, 30 storage container (stack piece storage part), 32 conveyor mechanism, 40 movable body, 46 cylinder, 51 stopper plate, 52 gripping claw, 54 air supply nozzle, 55 optical sensor, 60 leaf spring, 62 Contact body, 100 stack body, 101 stack piece, 102 cap seal, 104 seal keeper, 120 container.

Claims (4)

A cap seal mounting device for shrink mounting a substantially cylindrical cap seal to the mouth of a container,
A storage means for storing one or more stack bodies configured by inserting a seal keeper having a higher overall length than the cap seal at the rear end of the cap group in which a plurality of cap seals are stacked;
A transfer means for taking out the stack bodies stored in the storage means one by one and transferring the stack bodies to a predetermined extraction position;
The extraction means for sequentially removing the stack pieces that are the seal keeper or the cap seal constituting the stack body by moving while sucking and holding the tip of the stack body transferred to the extraction position by the transfer means,
Detection means for detecting the length of the stack piece extracted by the extraction means;
Determination means for determining whether or not the stack piece is a single cap seal based on the detection result of the detection means;
Discharging means for discharging the stack piece determined not to be a single cap seal by the determining means to a place where it does not interfere with the cap seal attachment to the container;
With
When the total length of the stack body remaining at the extraction position is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value, the transfer means takes out a new stack body from the storage means, and removes the new stack body from the tail end of the remaining stack body. A cap seal mounting device, wherein the cap seal mounting device is moved so as to be fitted into a seal keeper located at a position. The cap seal mounting device according to claim 1,
The cap seal mounting device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined reference value is larger than the total length of the number of stack pieces to be extracted within a time required for transferring the stack body from the storage means to the extraction position. The cap seal mounting device according to claim 1 or 2,
The discharging means is
A discharge nozzle for discharging discharge air that discharges the stack piece extracted by the extraction means to a place that does not interfere with the cap seal attachment to the container;
A stack piece storage section for storing the stack pieces discharged by the discharge air;
A cap seal mounting device comprising: The cap seal mounting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
When one or more grooves extending in the axial direction are formed on the side surface of the seal keeper,
further,
A cap seal mounting device comprising air supply means for supplying separation air toward the extraction direction near the lower end of the extracted stack piece when the extraction means extracts the stack piece.

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