JP2012091921A - Tumbled container detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tumbled container detector enhancing reliability in detection of a tumbled container by carrying out the detection using a plurality of container detecting sensors, and being capable of removing the tumbled container without fail when the speed of a conveyor is changed, in the conveyor for conveying the containers.SOLUTION: The tumbled container detector 01 is provided with a pair of container detecting means 1 comprising a plurality of container detecting sensors arranged vertically at the positions corresponding to the upper and lower parts in the height of the container so that the container conveyed in a normal state can be detected, and another pair of container detecting means 2 arranged at a distance, corresponding to the height of the container or less, from the pair of container detecting means 1. A tumbled container Pf conveyed in a tumbled state is detected by a lower container-detecting sensor 1a of the pair of container detecting means 1 and a lower container-detecting sensor 2a of another pair of container detecting means 2, but is not detected by an upper container-detecting sensor 1b of the pair of container detecting means 1 and an upper container-detecting sensor 2b of another pair of container detecting means 2.

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting and eliminating the falling of a container in a transport conveyor for containers such as bottles and cans.

  When a container being transported falls in a container conveyor such as bottles and cans, it is necessary to detect and eliminate the fallen container, simplifying complicated settings and eliminating errors (See, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-2232 (FIG. 1) JP 11-258182 A

According to Patent Document 1, when a bottle transported by a conveyor falls, the fall sensor detects the fall bottle and sends a fall detection signal to the control unit, and the downstream of the fall sensor by a command from the control unit. It is supposed to eliminate the fallen bottle with the exclusion means arranged in the.
However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, only one fall sensor is installed, and there is no mention of a case where a plurality of fall sensors are installed, and the fall detection is performed for one fall sensor. Since the sensor shading time is corrected by the conveyor speed, etc., the elimination of the fall is shifted by the timer time from the fall detection, and it is performed at the timing that the fall would have come. There is a risk that the reliability of exclusion will be lacking, and if the conveyor speed is changed, the timing of removing the collapse will be changed each time, and the reliability of the exclusion may be further reduced. is there.

  In the conveyor which conveys a container, the fallen container is detected by a plurality of container detection sensors to increase the reliability of the fallen container detection, and when there is a change in the conveyor speed, the fallen container is considered at a timing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fallen container detection device that can be surely eliminated, not eliminated.

The present invention solves the above problems by the following means.
(1) The falling container detection device of the first means is configured such that, in a conveyor that conveys containers, a plurality of container detection sensors are arranged at an upper portion (hereinafter referred to as an upper portion) and a lower portion (hereinafter referred to as a lower portion) of the conveyance container height. From a pair of container detection means arranged in a vertical position at a corresponding position so that a container conveyed in a normal state (upright state; hereinafter the same) is detected, and the pair of container detection means in the conveyor conveyance direction. A pair of container detection means similar to the pair of container detection means is provided at a distance within the container height, and a container conveyed in a collapsed state (hereinafter referred to as a fallen container) is the pair of container detection means. The upper container detection sensor which can be detected by the lower container detection sensor constituting the means and the lower container detection sensor constituting the other pair of container detection means, and constitutes the pair of container detection means Characterized in that it is undetectable by the top of the container detection sensor constituting the other pair of the container detecting means and.

  (2) The fallen container detection device of the second means is the fallen container detection device of the first means. The fallen container detection signal is taken into the control device, and the detected fallen container is detected by a command from the control device. A falling container removing device is provided between the pair of container detecting means and the other pair of container detecting means in the conveyor conveying direction so as to be excluded at a timing immediately after the falling container is detected.

  (3) The fallen container detection device of the third means is the fallen container detection device of the first means, wherein the detection signal of the fallen container is taken into the control device, and the detected fallen container is detected by a command from the control device. A falling container removing device is provided on the downstream side of the pair of container detecting means and the other pair of container detecting means in the conveyer conveying direction so as to be excluded after a timer time from the time when the falling container is detected.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in a conveyor for transporting containers, a plurality of container detection sensors are arranged up and down at positions corresponding to the upper and lower portions of the transport container height to detect containers transported in a normal state. A pair of container detecting means, and another pair of container detecting means similar to the pair of container detecting means provided at a distance within the container height from the pair of container detecting means in the conveyor transport direction. The fallen container can be detected by a lower container detection sensor constituting the pair of container detection means and a lower container detection sensor constituting the other pair of container detection means, and constitutes the pair of container detection means The upper container detection sensor and the upper container detection sensor that constitutes the other pair of container detection means are not detectable. An effect that can be directly and reliably detect the.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the fallen container detection apparatus according to the first aspect, the detection signal of the fallen container is taken into the control apparatus, and the detected fallen container is detected immediately after the fallen container is detected by a command from the control apparatus. In order to eliminate the fallen container, the fallen container removal device is provided between the pair of container detection means and the other pair of container detection means in the conveyor transport direction, so that the process from the fallen container detection to the fallen container removal can be seen. It does not eliminate the fallen container at the tanning timing, and it has an effect that the fallen container can be removed directly and reliably regardless of the conveyor speed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the fallen container detection device according to the first aspect, the detection signal of the fallen container is taken into the control device, and the detected fallen container is detected by the command from the control device. When the conveyor speed is constant by providing a falling container removing device on the downstream side of the pair of container detecting means and the other pair of container detecting means in the conveyor conveying direction so as to be excluded after the timer time shift from In this case, the arrangement of the collapsed container exclusion device can be appropriately selected according to the layout.

It is a front view of the fallen container detection apparatus concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a top view of the falling container detection apparatus concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and is a figure equivalent to FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. In addition, constituent elements in the following embodiments include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art or those that are substantially the same.

(First Embodiment of the Invention)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a fallen container detection apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.
1 to 3, the transport conveyor 15 has a container Ps (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1) that is transported in the direction of arrow F in a normal state (upright state; hereinafter referred to as a normal state). From an upper arrangement container detection sensor 1b and a lower arrangement container detection sensor 1a in which the container Ps is detected at positions corresponding to the upper part (hereinafter referred to as the upper part) and the lower part (hereinafter referred to as the lower part). Similarly to the pair of container detection means 1, the container detection sensor 2 b arranged at an upper position is disposed at a distance within the height of the container Ps from the pair of container detection means 1 in the conveyor conveyance direction. And another pair of container detection means 2 comprising a container detection sensor 2a arranged at the lower part are provided, and the container detection sensor 1a, the container detection sensor 1b, the container detection sensor 2a, Output signal is adapted to be received by the control unit 20.

  Further, the container detection means 1 and the container detection means 2 are arranged such that when the fallen container Pf is transported on the transport conveyor 15, the lower container detection sensor 1a and the other pair of container detections constituting the pair of container detection means 1. It is detected by the lower container detection sensor 2a constituting the means 2, but not detected by the upper container detection sensor 1b of the container detection means 1 and the upper container detection sensor 2b of the container detection means 2.

  The container detecting means 1 and the container detecting means 2 are provided with a reflecting plate 1a1 and a reflecting plate 1b1, and a reflecting plate 2a1 and a reflecting plate 2b1, and light projection from the container detecting sensor 1a and the container detecting sensor 1b. Are reflected by the reflecting plate 1a1 and the reflecting plate 1b1, respectively, and the reflected light is received by the container detecting sensor 1a and the container detecting sensor 1b, respectively. Similarly, the container detecting sensor 2a and the container detecting sensor 2b are used. The reflected light is reflected by the reflecting plate 2a1 and the reflecting plate 2b1, respectively, and the reflected light is received by the container detecting sensor 2a and the container detecting sensor 2b, respectively. When both the container detection sensor 1a and the container detection sensor 1b are shielded from light, or when both the container detection sensor 2a and the container detection sensor 2b are shielded from light, the control device 20 determines that there is a container Ps in a normal state. The control device 20 determines. Further, when both the container detection sensor 1a and the container detection sensor 2a are shielded from light and both the container detection sensor 1b and the container detection sensor 2b are not shielded from light, the control device 20 determines that there is a fallen container Pf. Yes.

Further, between the container detection means 1 and the container detection means 2, there is provided a fallen container removing device 10 for removing the fallen container Pf. When the fallen container Pf is detected, a command from the control device 20 is provided. The falling container Pf is removed by the falling container removing device 10.
Here, the fallen container removing apparatus 10 is configured to be pushed out by the operation of the actuator 10b by pushing out the container Pf via the inclined plate 12 in the direction of arrow R by the operation of the actuator 10b according to a command from the control device 20. .
The inclined plate 12 is provided so that the fallen container Pf to be excluded does not interfere with the reflecting plate 1a1 and the reflecting plate 2a1, and the container detecting sensor 1a and the container detecting sensor 2a emit and receive light for detecting the container. The shape is unimpeded.

  The fallen container detection device 01 is mainly configured by the container detection means 1 and the container detection means 2 having the arrangement described above, and the fallen container removing apparatus 10 and the control device 20 having the arrangement described above.

Next, the operation of the falling container detection apparatus 01 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The fallen container Pf is determined to be a fallen container by the control device 20 when the container detection sensor 1a and the container detection sensor 2a are not in a light-shielded state and the container detection sensor 1a and the container detection sensor 2a are in a light-shielded state. The fallen container removing device 10 is actuated by a command from the control device 20 at a timing immediately after, and the fallen container Pf is removed in the direction of arrow R via the inclined plate 12.

  In this case, the fallen container Pf is detected to fall by both the pair of container detection means 1 and the other pair of container detection means 2, and the fallen container exclusion device 10 has the pair of container detection means 1 and the other pair of container detection means. Since it is arranged between the two, the fallen container Pf is directly and reliably eliminated at the timing immediately after the fallen container is detected.

  In the above description, the pair of container detection means 1 and the other pair of container detection means 2 are each composed of two container detection sensors 1a and 1b, and a container detection sensor 2a and a container detection sensor 2b. The pair of container detection means 1 and the other pair of container detection means 2 are each composed of three or more container detection sensors at the upper part, the lower part, and the intermediate position thereof. In the case of three, the lower part or the lower part and the intermediate container detection sensor may be used to determine that the container has fallen, and the detailed description will be duplicated and will be omitted. .

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a fallen container detection apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and corresponds to FIG.
4, components having the same structure as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same symbols, and redundant description is omitted.
The fallen container detection device 02 is mainly composed of a pair of container detection means 1 and another pair of container detection means 2 provided on the conveyor 15, a fallen container exclusion device 11, and a control device 21. The means 1 and the other pair of container detecting means 2 are provided in the same arrangement as that described in the first embodiment. It is arranged downstream of the means 1 and the other pair of container detecting means 2.

  When the container detection signals from the pair of container detection means 1 and the other pair of container detection means 2 are input to the control device 21 and the fallen container Pf is detected, the fallen container Pf is fallen by the command from the control device 21. After the timer time shift from the detection time point, the fallen container removing device 11 is activated, and the fallen container removing device 11 is configured so that the removal plate 11a is brought into a fallen container via the operation of the actuator 11b in response to a command from the control device 21. Pf is pushed out in the direction of arrow R1 to be eliminated.

Next, the operation of the falling container detection apparatus 02 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
When the conveying speed of the conveyor 15 is constant, the falling container Pf is detected by the pair of container detecting means 1 and the other pair of container detecting means 2, and then conveyed to the falling container removing apparatus 11. Even if the fallen container exclusion device 11 is arranged downstream of the pair of container detection means 1 and the other pair of container detection means 2 as shown in FIG. The falling container Pf can be reliably removed by the timer time control from the control device 21, and the arrangement of the falling container removing device can be appropriately selected according to the layout.

01 Falling container detection device 02 Falling container detection device 1 Pair of container detection means 2 Another pair of container detection means 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b Container detection sensors 1a1, 1b1, 2a1, 2b1 Reflecting plate 10, 11 Falling container exclusion device 10a 11a Exclusion plate 10b, 11b Actuator 12 Inclined plate 15 Conveyor 20, 21 Control device Pf Falling container Ps Normal state container

Claims (3)

  In a conveyor that transports containers, a plurality of container detection sensors are arranged vertically at positions corresponding to the top and bottom of the transport container height so that containers transported in a normal state (upright state) can be detected. A pair of container detection means, and another pair of container detection means provided at a distance corresponding to the height of the container from the pair of container detection means in the conveyor transport direction, the fallen container being transported in a collapsed state, An upper container detection sensor that can be detected by a lower container detection sensor that constitutes a pair of container detection means and a lower container detection sensor that constitutes the other pair of container detection means, and constitutes the pair of container detection means And an overlying container detection sensor that constitutes the other pair of container detection means.   2. The fallen container detection device according to claim 1, wherein a detection signal of the fallen container is taken into the control device, and the conveyor is conveyed so as to exclude the detected fallen container at a timing immediately after the fallen container is detected by a command from the control device. A fallen container detection apparatus comprising a fallen container exclusion device between the pair of container detection means in the direction and the other pair of container detection means.   In the fallen container detection device according to claim 1, the detection signal of the fallen container is taken into the control device, and in accordance with a command from the control device, the detected fallen container is excluded after a timer time from the fallen container detection time point. A fallen container detection apparatus comprising a fallen container exclusion device on the downstream side of the pair of container detection means and the other pair of container detection means in the conveyor conveyance direction.

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