JP2009126703A - Gripper - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a disinfectant medium such as an electron beam, etc. contact with even a part held with a gripper of a resin made bottle. <P>SOLUTION: This gripper includes four pieces of container holding parts to make contact with an outer surface of a neck part of the resin made bottle, a cam 42 for opening and closing arranged at a central part of these container holding parts and a rotating means (pinion gear and sector gear, etc.) to rotate the container holding parts around the circumference of this cam 42 for opening and closing. A large diameter part is formed on the cam 42 for opening and closing so as to push a piece of the container holding parts outward. The container holding parts rotating around the circumference of the cam 42 for opening and closing are pushed outward one by one and separated from the resin made bottle when the resin made bottle held by four pieces of the container holding parts is rotated on a front surface of an electron beam irradiation device and the resin made bottle comes to be in a state held by three pieces of the container holding parts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gripper that holds and conveys a neck portion of a resin bottle, and particularly relates to a gripper that is suitable for use in a sterilization apparatus that performs sterilization by bringing a sterilization medium into contact with a held resin bottle. It is.

A gripper that holds and conveys a neck portion of a resin bottle has been widely used conventionally (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The gripper described in Patent Document 1 (referred to as clamp 26 in Patent Document 1) includes two arms 36 extending vertically, and each arm 36 supports a gripping claw 38 at the lower end thereof. is doing. These two claws 38 face each other and have a contact surface 40 that allows the hollow body 16 (PET bottle) to be grasped by the neck.
Japanese Patent No. 3787328 (page 3-4, FIG. 4)

  When the gripper configured as described above is applied to a sterilization apparatus that sterilizes a resin bottle with a sterilization medium such as an electron beam or hydrogen peroxide gas, a portion where the gripper on the outer surface of the resin bottle is in direct contact, There is a problem that the sterilization medium does not reach the part that is not in contact but is behind the gripper and cannot be completely sterilized. Thus, there existed problems, such as having to sterilize separately in parts other than the main sterilization room which sterilize about the part in which sterilization is insufficient.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. The outer surface of a resin bottle to be sterilized is free from a portion where a sterilization medium such as an electron beam or hydrogen peroxide gas does not come into contact, and is completely sterilized. It is an object of the present invention to provide a gripper that can be performed.

  The present invention is provided in a sterilization apparatus that performs sterilization by bringing a sterilization medium into contact with a resin bottle, and in the gripper that holds the resin bottle, at least four container holding portions that contact the outer surface of the resin bottle; Drive means for individually separating these container holding parts from the resin bottles, and holding all the resin bottles while holding the resin bottles by at least two or more container holding parts during the sterilization treatment of the resin bottles Are sequentially separated from the resin bottle.

  The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the driving means includes a cam provided at the center of a plurality of container holding portions, an engagement member provided at each container holding portion and engaged with the cams, Rotating means for relatively rotating the cam and the container holding portion is provided.

  Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 3, the driving means is provided in the center of the plurality of container holding portions, and a magnet member having a magnet embedded in the outer periphery thereof, and a magnet provided in the container holding portion; Rotating means for relatively rotating the magnet member and the container holding portion is provided.

  The gripper of the present invention includes at least four container holding portions, and each container holding portion is sequentially separated from the surface of the resin bottle in a state where the resin bottle is securely held by at least two container holding portions. As a result, while the sterilization process is being performed, the surface of the resin bottle is no longer in contact with the container holding part, and the entire surface of the resin bottle can be brought into contact with the sterilization medium. Can be sterilized.

  The gripper is provided in a sterilization apparatus that performs sterilization by bringing a sterilization medium into contact with a resin bottle, and holds the resin bottle. The gripper includes at least four container holding portions that contact the surface of the resin bottle; And a drive means capable of independently separating the container holding parts from the surface of the resin bottle. During the sterilization of the resin bottle, the resin bottle is held by at least two container holding parts. In this state, the container holding unit is sequentially separated from the outer surface of the resin bottle by the driving means, so that the sterilization medium is brought into contact with the entire surface of the resin bottle to completely sterilize. Achieve.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a gripper according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a simplified overall configuration of an electron beam sterilizer equipped with the gripper. The container 4 held by the gripper 2 according to this embodiment is a resin bottle and has a flange 4c near the lower portion of the neck portion 4a (the entire portion having a small diameter above the inclined shoulder portion 4b is called a neck portion). Are formed, and cylindrical portions 4d and 4e having small diameters are provided above and below.

  The resin bottle 4 is continuously conveyed by the air conveying conveyor 6 and is carried into the introduction chamber 10 while being separated at a predetermined interval by the infeed screw 8. A supply wheel 12 in which container holding means (not shown) are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction is installed in the introduction chamber 10. The supply wheel 12 is pitch-cut by the infeed screw 8 at a predetermined interval. The bottles 4 are handed over to the container holding means one by one and rotated.

  Following the introduction chamber 10, when the resin bottle 4 is sterilized by electron beam irradiation, a sterilization chamber 14 made of a lead wall that shields the electron beam and X-rays (braking X-rays) from leaking to the outside is provided. is set up. On the inlet side of the sterilization chamber 14, an inlet wheel 16 provided with neck grippers at equal intervals in the circumferential direction is arranged. The resin bottle 2 is received from the supply wheel 12 in the introduction chamber 10 and rotated and conveyed. To do. An opening (not shown) through which the resin bottle 4 can pass is formed on the chamber wall surface 10a where the resin bottle 4 is carried into the introduction chamber 10 from the air conveying conveyor 6. An opening (not shown) through which the resin bottle 4 can be transferred is formed on the wall surface 14a of the supply unit that transfers the supply bottle 12 to the inlet wheel 12 in the sterilization chamber 14.

  On the front side of the sterilization chamber 14 (upper side in FIG. 2), an electron beam irradiation device (the whole is omitted and only the irradiation window 18 for irradiating the electron beam is shown) is installed. As is well known, the electron beam irradiation apparatus heats the filament in a vacuum in a vacuum chamber to generate thermoelectrons, accelerates the electrons with a high voltage to form a high-speed electron beam, and then enters the irradiation window 18. It is taken out into the atmosphere through a metal window foil made of Ti or the like and attached to the irradiated article (resin bottle 4 in this embodiment) placed in the irradiation area A in front of the opening range of the irradiation window 18. Apply the wire to perform sterilization.

  At the center of the sterilization chamber 14, a rotary container transport device 20 for transporting the resin bottle 4 is installed in front of the irradiation window 18 of the electron beam irradiation device. The gripper 2 shown in FIG. 1 is provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction in the container transport device 20, and the irradiation area in front of the irradiation window 18 while rotating and transporting the resin bottle 4 received from the inlet wheel 16. By moving the inside of A, the outer surface of this resin bottle 4 is irradiated with an electron beam and sterilized.

  On the outlet side of the sterilization chamber 14, an outlet wheel 22 provided with neck grippers at equal intervals in the circumferential direction is arranged, and the resin bottle 4 sterilized while being transported by the container transport device 20 Received from the gripper 2 and rotated and conveyed. An intermediate chamber 24 is arranged continuously on the outlet side of the sterilization chamber 14, and the resin bottle 4 held and rotated by the neck gripper of the outlet wheel 22 is circled on the intermediate wheel 26 in the intermediate chamber 24. It is delivered to a container holding means (not shown) provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction and sent to the next step. An opening (not shown) through which the resin bottle 4 can be transferred is formed on the wall surface 14 b of the transfer portion from the exit wheel 22 of the sterilization chamber 14 to the intermediate wheel 26 of the intermediate chamber 24.

  Next, the configuration of the gripper 2 provided in the container transport device 20 will be described with reference to FIG. Circular holes 28Aa and 28Ba are respectively formed in the upper and lower disks 28A and 28B constituting the rotating body 28 of the container transport device 20, and the ball bearings 30 and 32 are disposed in the upper and lower circular holes 28Aa and 28Ba. The rotating cylinder 34 is rotatably supported. A vertical rod 36 is inserted through the inside of the rotating cylinder 34. The upper end of the vertical rod 36 is connected to a support 38 fixed on the upper disk 28A via a bracket 40. A circular cam (opening / closing cam) 42 (see FIG. 3 to be described later) is attached to a lower end portion of the vertical rod 36 protruding downward from the rotating cylinder 34. The opening / closing cam 42 is fixed to the disk 28A above the rotating body 28 via the vertical rod 36 as described above, and rotates integrally with the rotating body 28 and does not rotate relative thereto. Yes.

  A horizontal mounting plate 46 is fixed to the lower end of the rotating cylinder 34 via a connecting annular body 44. Four container holding portions 48 are attached to the horizontal attachment plate 46 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, that is, every 90 degrees so as to face in the vertical direction (see FIG. 3). These container holding portions 48 are spring bodies and are in elastic contact with the outer peripheral cam surface of the opening / closing cam 42 by their own spring properties. A ring-shaped engagement member (cam follower) 50 is fitted to a portion of each container holding portion 48 that is in elastic contact with the opening / closing cam 42, and when the container holding portion 48 rotates as will be described later, these rings The shaped engaging member 50 moves on the cam surface of the opening / closing cam 42. The four container holding portions 48 have lower end portions 48 a bent inward, and the bent claw-shaped portions abut on the cylindrical portion 4 e on the lower surface side of the flange 4 c of the resin bottle 4. Thus, the resin bottle 4 is held.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the inlet wheel 16 includes an openable neck gripper 52, and the neck of the resin bottle 4 is rotated by rotating one of the pair of grip members 52A and 52B (right side in FIG. 4). The portion 4a (in this embodiment, the cylindrical portion 4d above the flange 4c of the neck portion 4a) is gripped. Thus, in order to avoid interference when opening and closing one grip member 52B, one of the four container holding portions 48 (the container holding portion indicated by reference numeral 48A in FIG. 1) greatly bulges outward. It has a shape. When delivering from the neck gripper 52 of the inlet wheel 16 to the gripper 2 of the container transport device 20, four bottles are provided near the delivery part B (see FIG. 2) while the resin bottle 4 is gripped by the neck gripper 52. By pushing between the container holding portions 48, the container holding portion 48 is pushed outward and inserted into the central portion thereof. Thereafter, the container holding portion 48 returns by its own elasticity, and elastically contacts the cylindrical portion 4e on the lower surface side of the flange 4c of the resin bottle 4 to hold the resin bottle 4. Thereafter, the grip member 52B on the movable side of the neck gripper 52 of the inlet wheel 16 is rotated, the resin bottle 4 is released, and is completely delivered to the four container holding portions 52. The outlet wheel 22 is also provided with a neck gripper that receives the resin bottle 4 from the gripper 2 of the container transport device 20, and this neck gripper has the same configuration as the inlet wheel 16 (see FIG. 4). It is also possible to use a different configuration.

  A pinion gear 54 is fixed to the upper end of the rotating cylinder 34 to which the four container holding portions 48 are attached via a horizontal attachment plate 46. On the other hand, an intermediate portion of the sector gear 58 is rotatably supported by an upright fulcrum pin 56 fixed on the disk 28A above the rotating body 28, and the pinion gear 54 meshes with the sector gear 58 ( 1 and 5). A vertical pin 60 is inserted into the rear end portion of the sector gear 58, and a tension spring 64 is attached between the pin 60 and a support 62 fixed on the upper rotating disk 28A. It is attracted to rotate in the direction (counterclockwise direction in FIG. 5). A cam follower 66 is attached to the upper end of the vertical pin 60 inserted through the rear end portion of the sector gear 58, and this cam follower 66 is a circular cam (rotating cam) fixedly arranged above the rotating disk 28A. 68 is engaged. When the rotating body 28 of the container transport device 20 rotates, the cam follower 66 moves along the outer peripheral cam surface of the rotating cam 68, and the sector gear 58 rotates according to the cam shape, so that the pinion gear 54 and the rotating cylinder are rotated. The body 34 rotates, and the horizontal mounting plate 46 to which the four container holding portions 48 are mounted rotates.

  When the horizontal mounting plate 46 rotates, the cam followers 50 respectively attached to the four container holding portions 48 move along the outer peripheral cam surface of the opening / closing cam 42. As shown in FIG. 3, the opening / closing cam 42 is formed with a large-diameter portion 42a protruding in a part of a circle, and when the cam follower 50 is engaged with the large-diameter portion 42a, the container holding portion 48 is removed. The claw part 48 a provided at the lower end of the container holding part 48 is removed from the outer surface of the resin bottle 4. In order to hold the resin bottle 4, it is necessary that the three container holding portions 48 are always engaged with the outer surface of the resin bottle 4, and the large-diameter portion 42 a of the opening / closing cam 42 has two at the same time. The container holding part 48 is formed in a size that does not push out. In this embodiment, the gripper 2 includes four container holding portions 48 and driving means for opening and closing these container holding portions 48. The driving means includes an opening / closing cam 42, an engaging member (cam follower) 50 provided in each container holding portion 48, and a rotating means. The rotating means is fixed to the upper end of the rotating cylinder 34. A pinion gear 54, a sector gear 58 that meshes with the pinion gear 54, a rotating cam 68, and the like are provided.

  The operation of the electron beam sterilizer provided with the gripper 2 having the above-described configuration will be described. The resin bottle 4 that has been continuously conveyed by the air conveyor 6 is carried into the introduction chamber 10 while being pitch-cut by an infeed screw 8 at a predetermined interval, and a supply wheel that is installed in the introduction chamber 10. It is delivered to each of the 12 container holding means (not shown). These resin bottles 4 are rotated and conveyed by the rotation of the supply wheel 12 and delivered to the inlet wheel 16 in the sterilization chamber 14. The inlet wheel 16 is provided with openable and closable neck grippers 52 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the container of the supply wheel 12 through an opening (not shown) formed in the wall surface 14 a of the sterilization chamber 14. The resin bottle 4 is transferred between the holding means and the neck gripper 52 of the inlet wheel 16.

  When the resin bottle 4 gripped by the neck gripper 52 of the inlet wheel 16 is rotated and conveyed to reach the transfer part B with the container transfer device 20, the transfer unit is rotated along with the rotation of the rotating body 28 of the container transfer device 20. It is delivered to the gripper 4 that has moved to B. The four container holding portions 48 of the gripper 4 have a spring property, and when the cylindrical portion 4e below the flange 4c of the resin bottle 4 is pressed, the claw portion 48a formed at the lower end is expanded. The neck portion 4 a of the resin bottle 4 is opened and pushed into the middle of the four container holding portions 48. The expanded container holding part 48 returns to its original state by its own repulsive force, and comes into contact with the cylindrical part 4 e below the flange 4 c of the resin bottle 4 to hold the resin bottle 4. After the resin bottle 4 is held by the four container holding portions 48 of the gripper 2, one grip member 52B of the neck gripper 52 of the inlet wheel 16 is opened to release the resin bottle 4.

  The resin bottle 4 that is separated from the neck gripper 52 of the inlet wheel 16 and is held by the gripper 2 of the container transport device 20 is rotationally transported with the rotation of the rotating body 28 and is transferred to an electron beam irradiation device (not shown). It reaches an electron beam irradiation area A in front of the provided irradiation window 18. In this area A, the container holding part 48 holding the resin bottle 4 is rotated so that the entire circumference of the resin bottle 4 is irradiated with the electron beam. A sector gear 58 meshes with a pinion gear 54 fixed to the upper end of the rotating cylinder 34 to which the container holding portion 48 is attached, and a cam follower 66 attached to the rear end of the sector gear 58 is fixed to the outside by a tension spring 64. It is elastically contacted with the rotating cam 68 and rotates on the cam surface. The sector gear 58 rotates according to the cam shape of the rotating cam 68 to rotate the pinion gear 54, the rotating cylinder 34, and the four container holding portions 48. By rotating the resin bottle 4 180 degrees in the electron beam irradiation area A, the entire circumference of the resin bottle can be irradiated with the electron bottle, but it may be rotated at an angle larger than that. Even at 180 degrees or less, the entire surface of the resin bottle 4 can be sterilized because the electron beam wraps around behind.

  As described above, by rotating the resin bottle 4 held by the four container holding portions 48, the entire surface of the resin bottle 4 can be sterilized by irradiation with an electron beam. Since the portion where the container holding portion 48 abuts is not exposed to the electron beam while being held, the four container holding portions 48 are sequentially separated from the outer surface of the resin bottle 4 one by one. Yes. An opening / closing cam 42 is fixed to the lower end of the vertical rod 36 penetrating the center of the rotating cylinder 34, and a cam follower attached to the outer surface of the opening / closing cam 42 near the upper and lower middles of the container holding portions 48. When the four container holders 48 rotate around the opening / closing cam 42, the container holder 48 opens and closes according to the shape of the cam. In this embodiment, the opening / closing cam 42 has the shape shown in FIG. 3, and the container holding portion 48 engaged with one large diameter portion 42 a is pushed outward from the outer surface of the resin bottle 4. Leave. On the other hand, the other three container holding portions 48 are in contact with the same radius portion of the opening / closing cam 42, and the claw portion 48 a at the lower end contacts the cylindrical portion 4 e below the flange 4 c of the resin bottle 4. The resin bottle 4 is held. As the four container holding portions 48 rotate, the cam followers 50 sequentially pass over the large-diameter portion 42a of the opening and closing cam 42, and the container holding portion 48 is pushed outward to spread the outer surface of the resin bottle 4. Get away from. In this way, in the electron beam irradiation area A, the four container holding portions 48 are separated from the outer surface of the resin bottle 4 at least once, so that the electron beam does not hit the entire surface of the resin bottle 4. And the entire surface can be completely sterilized. In this embodiment, since the container holding part 48 is rotated, the resin bottle 4 can be rotated and the entire circumference of the resin bottle 4 can be sterilized. It is also possible to rotate the opening / closing cam 42 without rotating it.

  In this embodiment, the number of container holders 48 is four, but it can be five or more. If there are five or more container holders 48, three bottles are made of resin. 4 and the other two or more can be separated from the outer surface of the resin bottle 4 at the same time. Needless to say, the resin bottles may be simultaneously held by four or more container holding portions 48 and separated one by one in order. In this embodiment, the electron beam is used as the sterilization medium. However, the present invention is not limited to the electron beam, and the same effect can be obtained when another sterilization medium such as hydrogen peroxide gas is used.

  In the above embodiment, the opening / closing cam 42 is used as the driving means for individually opening and closing the four container holding portions 48 of the gripper 2, but the container holding portion 48 is separated from the resin bottle 4 by a configuration other than the cam. It can also be operated as follows. FIG. 6 shows an example of a configuration in which the container holding portion 48 is opened and closed by using a magnet, and a ring-shaped magnet member 142 is provided at a position where the opening and closing cam 42 of the first embodiment is provided. Place. The magnet member 142 is provided with an N pole at a part 142a and an S pole at the other part 142b. In this embodiment, since the container holding portions 48 are provided at four places, the N pole 142a is provided in a range of less than 90 degrees so as not to separate the two container holding portions 48 at the same time. On the other hand, an N-pole magnet 48 a is attached to each of the four container holding portions 48 at a portion facing the ring-shaped magnet member 142.

  In the configuration of this embodiment, when the container holding portion 48 rotates around the magnet member 142, the magnet 48 a of the container holding portion 48 that passes through the N-pole portion 142 a of the magnet member 142 has the same polarity as the magnet member 142. Therefore, it repels away from the outer surface of the resin bottle 4. While the container holding portion 48 passes through the south pole portion 142b, the magnet 48a of the container holding portion 48 is attracted and abuts against the outer surface of the resin bottle 4 to hold the resin bottle 4. Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the S pole 142b is arranged at a portion other than the N pole 142a of the ring-shaped magnet member 142, but the magnet is arranged only at the N pole portion, and the S pole is not arranged. You can also In this case, the portion of the ring-shaped magnet member where the magnet is not disposed does not have a magnetic force for attracting the container holding portion. Therefore, the container holding portion needs to be constantly biased in the closing direction by a spring or the like.

  In the embodiment, the four container holding portions 48 are sequentially separated from the resin bottle 4 one by one by the opening / closing cam 42, and the resin bottle 4 is always held by the three container holding portions 48. However, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, if each container holding portion 248 has a wide container abutting portion 248a, the two resin bottles 4 are held by the two container holding portions 248 and two at the same time. It is also possible to separate the container holding portion 248. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, two protruding large-diameter portions 242a are formed at symmetrical positions of the opening / closing cam 242, and the cam followers 250 of the respective container holding portions 248 extend over the large-diameter portions 242a. When the two container holding portions 248 facing each other are moved away from the resin bottle 4 almost simultaneously, the two bottle holding portions 248 facing each other are set as one set, and the resin bottles are sequentially set one by one. I will be away from 4.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a gripper. Example 1 It is a top view which simplifies and shows the whole structure of the electron beam sterilizer using the container conveying apparatus provided with the gripper. It is a top view of the cam for opening and closing. It is a top view of the neck gripper provided in the entrance wheel and the exit wheel. It is a top view which shows the pinion gear and sector gear of the rotation means which rotates a gripper. It is a top view which shows the magnet member which opens and closes a container holding part. (Example 2) It is a top view which shows the state which hold | maintained the resin bottle with the container holding part. (Example 3) It is a top view of the cam for opening and closing.

Explanation of symbols

2 Gripper 4 Plastic bottle 42 Opening and closing cam (drive means)
48 Container holding part 48a Magnet of container holding part 50 Engagement member (drive means)
54 Pinion gear (rotating means)
56 Sector gear (rotating means)
66 Cam follower (rotating means)
68 Rotating cam (Rotating means)
142 Magnet member

Claims (3)

Provided in a sterilization apparatus that sterilizes by bringing a sterilization medium into contact with a resin bottle, in a gripper that holds the resin bottle,
Providing at least four container holders that contact the outer surface of the resin bottle, and drive means for individually separating the container holders from the resin bottle;
A gripper characterized in that during the sterilization of the resin bottle, all the holding portions are sequentially separated from the resin bottle while holding the resin bottle by at least two container holding portions.   The driving means relatively rotates the cam provided in the center of the plurality of container holding portions, the engaging member provided in each container holding portion, and the cam and the container holding portion. The gripper according to claim 1, further comprising a rotating means for causing the gripper to rotate.   The driving means is provided at the center of the plurality of container holding portions, and has a magnet member with a magnet embedded in the outer periphery thereof, a magnet provided on the container holding portion, and the magnet member and the container holding portion relative to each other. The gripper according to claim 1, further comprising a rotating means for rotating the gripper.

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