JP2012158376A - Container direction regulation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a container direction regulation system which is a container carrier system for carrying the container by holding a neck part of the container by a container gripper provided on a carrier body, wherein the direction regulation of the container is certainly performed without generating collapse of the container and damaging of the container even in a thin walled container when irregularly-shaped containers such as rectangular and ellipse in cross sections is direction regulated.SOLUTION: The container direction regulation system comprises a grip holding loose means to loosen the holding of container of the container gripper 20 so as to be in a state that the container P can freely rotate without falling from the container gripper 20 in a predetermined carrying region V1 of the container carrier system 1, and a container direction regulation means 15 for performing direction regulation so that a direction becomes a certain direction in a state that the container P can be rotatable by the grip holding loose means during carrying the same, so that the container P is direction regulated during carrying the same.

Description

  The present invention relates to a container transport device that transports a container while holding the neck of the container with a container gripper.

  Conventionally, when transporting a deformed container having a cross-sectional shape of a rectangle or an ellipse by a container transport device, the device has been devised to align the direction of the container in a certain direction. (Patent Document 1)

JP 2009-73598 A (FIG. 2)

  In recent years, containers such as PET bottles tend to be thin for container cost reduction, etc., and when thin containers are used, the containers are easily deformed, and in the case of a deformed container such as a rectangle or an ellipse, When aligning containers in a certain direction, the container may be crushed in the prior art, and thus there is an increasing demand for preventing the containers from being crushed. In addition, in the electron beam sterilization apparatus that sterilizes by irradiating with an electron beam while transporting the container, the container surface to be irradiated with the electron beam needs to be in a certain direction, and the request to ensure that the direction of the container can be regulated, In addition, there is a demand for preventing the surface of the container from being damaged when regulating the direction of the container.

According to Patent Document 1, a disc-shaped direction regulation guide made of a soft material having a diameter close to the representative dimension of a deformed container is provided on the outer periphery of the inlet star wheel of the filling machine, and the container is brought into contact with the direction regulation guide. The direction of the container is regulated by pressing force and frictional force.
However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, since the container is pressed by the disc-shaped direction regulation guide while holding the neck portion, the direction regulation of the container lacks certainty. May be damaged, and it may be crushed to the extent that deformation cannot be recovered.

  The present invention relates to a container transport apparatus that transports a container while holding the neck portion of the container by a container gripper provided on the transport body, and in the case of restricting the direction of a deformed container having a rectangular or elliptical cross-sectional shape, the thin container However, an object of the present invention is to provide a container direction regulating device that can reliably regulate the direction of the container without causing the container to be crushed or damaged.

The present invention solves the above problems by the following means.
(1) The container direction regulating device of the first means is a container transport device that transports a container while holding the neck portion of the container with a container gripper provided on the transport body. (Hereinafter, referred to as a container direction regulating region), grip holding loosening means for loosening the container holding of the container gripper so that the container does not fall from the container gripper and can be rotated, and Container direction restricting means for restricting the direction so that the direction becomes a fixed direction in the state of being freely rotatable by the grip holding loosening means is provided so as to restrict the direction during transport of the container.

(2) The container direction restricting device of the second means is the container direction restricting device of the first means, wherein the container direction restricting device restricts the direction of the container in a state where the contents of the container are empty. It is characterized by that.

(3) The container direction regulating device of the third means is the gripper opening / closing mechanism portion of the container gripper in the container direction regulating region in the container direction regulating device of the first and second means. Is engaged with the cam so that the container gripper can be rotated in the container direction regulating region, and the container gripper is in a state in which the container gripper is held outside the container direction regulating region. It is characterized by being configured as a cam trajectory that acts as follows.

(4) The container direction restricting device of the fourth means is the gripper opening / closing mechanism portion of the container gripper in the container direction restricting region in the container direction restricting device of the first and second means. Is engaged with the reciprocating pusher so that the container gripper is in a state in which the container gripper can freely rotate in the container direction restricting region, and the container is disposed outside the container direction restricting region. The gripper is configured by operation control that acts so as to be in a container holding state.

(5) The container direction restricting device of the fifth means is the container direction restricting device of the first to fourth means, wherein the container direction restricting means is used when the container is transported in the container direction restricting region. When the container is not in a predetermined direction, the container is characterized by a guide-shaped container direction regulation guide that is in contact with the container to correct the direction (direction regulation).

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grip for loosening a container holding of the container gripper so that the container does not fall from the container gripper and can be rotated in a predetermined container direction regulating region of the container transport device. Holding and loosening means and container direction restriction means for restricting the direction so that the direction becomes a fixed direction while being rotated by the grip holding and loosening means while transporting the container are provided, and the direction is restricted while the container is being transported. It is possible to prevent excessive force from acting on the container whose direction is restricted, and even for thin-walled containers, it is possible to reliably prevent the container from being crushed and damaged. This has the effect that the direction of the container can be restricted.

  The present invention according to claim 2 is the container direction regulating device according to claim 1, wherein the container direction regulating device regulates the direction of the container when the container is empty. It has the effect that direction regulation can be performed efficiently and easily.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the container direction regulating device according to the first and second aspects, the grip holding / loosening means is engaged with a gripper opening / closing mechanism portion of the container gripper in the container direction regulating region. Thus, the cam acts so that the container gripper is in a rotatable state in the container direction restricting region, and acts so that the container gripper is in a container holding state outside the container direction restricting region. By configuring as a cam trajectory, it is possible to control the direction of the container with a simple device.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the container direction regulating device according to the first and second aspects, the grip holding / loosening means is configured such that the gripper opening / closing mechanism portion of the container gripper is not a cam in the container direction regulating region. The reciprocating pusher is engaged with the reciprocating pusher so that the container gripper is in a state in which the container gripper can freely rotate in the container direction restricting region. Of the control device for controlling the operation of the reciprocating pusher instead of changing the cam when the so-called cam trajectory has to be changed. It can be easily changed only by changing the program, and the apparatus can be made compact.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the container direction regulating device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, when the container is transported in the container direction regulating region, the container is restricted to a predetermined direction. When it is not in the direction, it is possible to efficiently control the direction of the container with a simple device by configuring it with a guide-shaped container direction control guide that is contacted to correct the direction (direction control). Has an effect.

It is the top view which showed typically the filling line which took in the container direction control apparatus concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the container direction control apparatus concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and is as a partial cutaway view. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a detailed top view of the container gripper shown in FIG. 2, and is a figure which shows the state of container holding. It is a figure equivalent to FIG. 4 of a container gripper, and is a figure explaining grip holding | maintenance looseness. It is a figure explaining the state where the container was delivered to the pocket of the star wheel, (a) shows a state in which the container in the normal direction is normally stored in the pocket of the star wheel, (b) It is a figure which shows the state which was pushed into the pocket of a star wheel and was crushed. It is a top view of the container direction control apparatus concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, is as a partial cutaway figure, 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 plan view schematically showing a filling line incorporating a container direction regulating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the container direction regulating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, which is a partially cut view.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a detailed plan view of the container gripper shown in FIG. 2 and shows a state of holding the container.
FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 of the container gripper, and is a view for explaining grip holding looseness.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state where the container is delivered to the star wheel pocket. FIG. 6A illustrates a state where the container in the normal direction is normally stored in the star wheel pocket, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which the container which was not direction pushed into the pocket of the star wheel, and was crushed.

  In FIG. 1, a container P having a neck portion Pn, which will be described later, and having a barrel section having an irregular shape and a rectangular shape (having a shape in which a rectangular corner portion is chamfered) is connected to the neck conveying device from the upstream arrow F1 direction. C1 is conveyed while holding the neck portion Pn, and is transferred to a container gripper 20 (to be described later) of a container transfer apparatus (container conveyance apparatus; hereinafter referred to as a container conveyance apparatus) 1 at a point S in the figure, and the container direction is restricted during conveyance. After the direction is regulated by the apparatus 15, the sheet is conveyed in the direction of the arrow 1f, transferred to a container gripper (not illustrated) of the filling apparatus 2 at a point T illustrated, and filled with liquid from the filling apparatus 2 during the rotation conveyance in the direction of the arrow 2f. After that, it is delivered to the container transfer device 3 that rotates in the direction of the arrow 3f, and then delivered to the capper 4 that tightens a cap (not shown) on the container P, and after being capped during rotation in the direction of the arrow 4f. , Being transferred container transfer device 5 rotates in an arrow 5f direction, is adapted to be unloaded by the conveyor C2 in the arrow direction F2 in the subsequent step.

  Here, the container P is transported from the neck transport device C1 to the capper 4 while holding the neck portion Pn of the container P, and the container transfer device 5 does not hold the neck portion Pn but the pocket of the star wheel 5s. The body portion of the container P is stored in 5p, and the bottom portion of the container P is transported while being placed on the transport plate 5b. Further, the bottom portion of the container P is transported while being placed on the conveyor C2. It has come to be.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the container transport device 1 includes a donut-shaped disk (a transport body, hereinafter referred to as a transport body) and a disk 1 a fixed to a rotary shaft 1 c that is rotationally driven by a drive device (not shown). 1b is fixed, and a container gripper 20 for holding the neck portion Pn of the container P is provided on the transport body 1b through the bracket 29 in a circumferentially equal manner.
In addition, a container direction regulating device 15 that regulates the direction of the container P is provided in a container direction regulating region V1 in the middle of the conveyance from the S point to the T point of the container conveying device 1.

The container direction regulating device 15 is in a rotatable state so that the container P does not fall from the container gripper 20 by the engagement of the cam 10 and a roller 24 of a gripper opening / closing mechanism section described later of the container gripper 20. The gripper 20 includes a grip holding / loosening means for loosening the container holding of the container gripper 20, and a container direction regulating means including a container direction regulating guide 15a and a container direction regulating guide 15b for regulating the direction of the container P in the grip holding loose state. Has been.
The container direction regulation guide 15a and the container direction regulation guide 15b have shapes suitable for correcting the direction of the container, such as the interval being widened at the inlet of the container direction regulation region V1, as shown in FIG. Each is attached to a fixed bracket (not shown).
The cam 10 has a cam locus such that the container gripper 20 enters the gripper holding loose state and the container holding state, and is attached to the fixed support base 11.

  Further, the container transport device 1 opens and closes a grip arm 21a and a grip arm 21b, which will be described later, so that the neck portion Pn of the container P transported from the upstream at the point S in the drawing is delivered to the container gripper 20. A cam 1d is provided on a fixed support base 1e. Similarly, cams for opening and closing the grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b are also provided at the point T in the figure so that the neck portion Pn of the container P is transferred from the container transfer device 1 to the filling device 2, but they overlap. Since it becomes the contents, illustration and detailed description are omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the container gripper 20 includes a grip arm 21a and a grip arm on a pair of shafts 22a and 22b supported by a bearing (not shown) provided on the bracket 29, respectively. 21b is fixed, and the grip portion 21ag and the grip portion 21bg of the grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b swing and rotate together with the pair of shafts 22a and 22b in the closing direction, so that the neck portion Pn (container P The grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b, the spring receiving portion 21ah and the spring receiving portion 21bh at the other end of the pair of shafts 22a and shafts by a spring 27. By gripping the shaft center of 22b as a fulcrum, the grip 21ag and the grip portion 21bg is adapted to hold the neck portion Pn swings rotated in the closing direction.

  Further, the grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b are provided with a half-moon gear 23a and a gear 23b that mesh with each other, and a roller 24 that rotates around a shaft 25 provided on the lever 26 is attached to the cam 10. By engaging, the gripper opening and closing that swings and rotates the grip portion 21ag and the grip portion 21bg in the opening direction against the action of the spring 27 with the swing rotation of the lever 26 attached to the shaft 22a. It is a mechanism part, and the amount of rocking rotation is regulated by the cam trajectory of the cam 10.

Next, the operation of the container direction regulating device 15 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In FIG. 5, the grip arm 21 a and the grip arm 21 b are indicated by solid lines in order to hold the grip of the container gripper 20 so that the container P does not fall from the container gripper 20 and can be rotated. A grip arm wa and a grip arm wb indicated by a two-dot chain line indicate a state in which a looseness is provided, and indicate a state in which the gripper is opened when the container P is transferred at the S point and the T point.

When the container P is transferred from the neck conveying device C1 to the container conveying device 1 at the point S, the container gripper 20 is engaged with the roller 24 and the cam 1d at the point R before the point S shown in FIG. And the grip arm 21b is in an open state, and after delivery at the point S, the container gripper 20 is in a closed state so as to grip and hold the neck portion Pn.
Here, the state in which the longitudinal direction of the cross section of the container P is a tangential direction with respect to the transport path circle 1p of the container transport apparatus 1 is defined as a normal direction, but it deviates from the normal direction as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. In the state, it is necessary to correct the direction of the container P, that is, to restrict the direction.

When the container P is conveyed to the container direction regulating region V1, the roller 24 of the opening / closing mechanism of the container gripper 20 is engaged with the cam 10, so that the shaft 25, the lever 26, The grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b are in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 via the shaft 22a, the gear 23a, and the gear 23b, and the grip is held loose.
Here, when the container P1 whose direction deviates from the normal direction as illustrated is advanced in the direction of the arrow 1f by the conveyance of the conveyance body 1b, the body portion of the container P1 is a pair of the container direction restriction guide 15a and the container direction restriction guide. In contact with 15b, the direction of the container is corrected to the tangential direction of the transport circle 1p as shown in the figure P2, and the container direction is regulated.
When the container P is in the normal direction, the container P is transported without contacting the container direction regulation guide 15a and the container direction regulation guide 15b.

After the container P passes through the container direction regulating region V1, the grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b hold the neck portion Pn as shown in FIG. Is conveyed in the grip holding state, the gripper is opened before the T point, and is transferred to the container gripper (not shown) of the filling device 2 in the normal direction at the T point.
When the container P is delivered from the capper 4 to the container transfer device 5, if the container P is not in the normal direction, the container P is a pocket of the star wheel 5s as shown by Pd in FIG. If the container P is in the normal direction, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the container P is normally stored in the pocket 5p and may be crushed or damaged. It does not occur.

In the above description, the case where the container direction regulating device 15 is provided in the container transport device 1 has been described, but in this case, since the container P is in an empty state before filling, the container weight is small, Container direction regulation can be performed efficiently and reliably.
A container direction regulating device may be provided in the container transfer device 3, but in this case, the container P is a filled container after filling, and its weight is large. May need to be lowered.

  Further, in the above description, the case where the container direction regulating device 15 is provided in the circumferentially rotating container transport device 1 has been described, but the container direction regulating device may be provided in the container circumferentially rotating container transport device, The container direction regulating device may be provided in a linear conveyance container conveying device, and the form of the container conveying device to which the container direction regulating device according to the present invention is provided is not limited.

(Second Embodiment of the Invention)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of a container direction regulating apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, which is a partially cutaway view, and corresponds to FIG.
In FIG. 7, the same structure as that of FIG. 2 is denoted by the same symbol, and overlapping description is omitted. However, the container direction regulating device 15 t of the container transport device 1 t is a container gripper 20 in the container direction regulating region V 2. A grip holding / loosening means for allowing the container P to rotate without causing the container P to fall from the container gripper 20 by the engagement of the roller 24 of the gripper opening / closing mechanism portion and the reciprocating pusher device 30; It is constituted by a container direction restricting means comprising a container direction restricting guide 15a for restricting the direction of the container P and a container direction restricting guide 15b.

In the reciprocating pusher device 30, a pusher 31 that engages with the roller 24 is reciprocated by operation of a servo cylinder 33 via a rod 32, and the roller 24, The grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b swing and rotate about the shaft 22a and the shaft 22b through the shaft 25, the lever 26, the shaft 22a, the gear 23a, and the gear 23b, respectively, thereby holding or holding the neck portion Pn. It is configured to be loose or open.
The servo cylinder 33 is configured to be controlled in the amount and speed of reciprocating movement in response to a command from a control device (not shown), and is provided on a fixed support table (not shown).

A reciprocating pusher device similar to the reciprocating pusher device 30 is also provided near the point S where the container P is delivered from the upstream neck conveying device C1, and the neck portion Pn of the container P is delivered. In addition, the neck portion Pn is held by the grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b of the container gripper 20.
Further, a reciprocating pusher device similar to the above description is also provided in the vicinity of the point T that delivers the container P to the filling device 2, but this is an overlapping content, and illustration and detailed description thereof are omitted.

Next, the operation of the container direction regulating device 15t according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
When the container P is transferred from the neck conveying device C1 to the container conveying device 1t at the point S, the container gripper 20 opens the grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b by the operation control of the pusher device at the point R before the point S. After the state is reached and delivered at the point S, the container gripper 20 is closed to hold the neck portion Pn.

When the container P is conveyed to the direction restricting region V2, the gripper opening / closing mechanism part of the container gripper 20 is engaged with the pusher 31 of the reciprocating pusher device 30 to grip the container P via the lever 26 or the like. The arm 21a and the grip arm 21b are in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 5, and the gripper is held loose.
When the container P1 in the grip holding loose state advances in the direction of the arrow 1f by the conveyance of the conveyance body 1b, the body portion of the container P1 comes into contact with the pair of container direction restriction guide 15a and the container direction restriction guide 15b. As in P2, the direction of the container is corrected to the tangential direction of the transport circle 1p, and the container direction is regulated.
When the container P is in the normal direction, the container P is transported without contacting the container direction regulation guide 15a and the container direction regulation guide 15b.

  After the container P passes through the container direction regulating region V2, the grip arm 21a and the grip arm 21b are moved to the neck portion Pn as shown in FIG. 4 by the operation of the servo cylinder 33 according to a command from a control device (not shown). The container P is conveyed in the grip holding state, the gripper is opened in front of the T point, and is transferred to the container gripper (not shown) of the filling device 2 in the normal direction at the T point.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention, since the grip holding / loosening is performed by engaging the grip opening / closing mechanism portion of the container gripper with the cam, the cam must be changed when it is desired to change the cam locus. However, in the second embodiment of the present invention, since the grip holding looseness is performed by the engagement of the grip opening / closing mechanism portion of the container gripper and the reciprocating pusher, the so-called cam trajectory must be changed. Therefore, it is possible to easily change the program by changing only the program of the control device for controlling the operation of the reciprocating pusher without changing the cam, and the device can be made compact.

1, 1t Container transfer device (container transfer device)
2 Filling device 3 Container transfer device 4 Capper 5 Container transfer device 10 Cam 15, 15t Container direction regulating device 15a, 15b Container direction regulating guide 20 Container gripper 21a, 21b Grip arm 22a, 22b Shaft 23a, 23b Gear 24 Roller 26 Lever 30 Reciprocating pusher device 31 Pusher 33 Servo cylinder P Container Pn Neck of container P

Claims (5)

  In a container transport apparatus that transports a container by holding a neck portion of the container with a container gripper provided on the transport body, the container is a container in the predetermined transport area (hereinafter referred to as a container direction regulating area) of the container transport apparatus. A grip holding / loosening means for loosening the container holding of the container gripper so that the container gripper can be rotated without falling from the gripper, and a direction in which the container gripper is rotated freely by the grip holding / loosening means during transport of the container. A container direction restricting device, characterized in that a container direction restricting means for restricting a direction so as to be in a fixed direction is provided, and the direction of the container is restricted while being conveyed.   The container direction regulating device according to claim 1, wherein the container direction regulating device is configured to regulate the direction of the container in a state where the contents of the container are empty.   3. The container direction regulating device according to claim 1, wherein the grip holding loosening means is engaged with a cam in a gripper opening / closing mechanism portion of the container gripper in the container direction regulating region. In the direction regulation region, the container gripper acts as a container rotatable state, and the container gripper is configured as a cam locus that acts so that the container gripper is in a container holding state outside the container direction regulation region. Container direction regulating device.   3. The container direction regulating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the grip holding / loosening means is arranged so that the gripper opening / closing mechanism portion of the container gripper engages with a reciprocating pusher in the container direction regulating region. In the operation control, the movable pusher acts so that the container gripper is in a freely rotatable state in the container direction restricting region, and acts so that the container gripper is in a container holding state outside the container direction restricting region. A container direction regulating device characterized by comprising.   5. The container direction regulating device according to claim 1, wherein when the container is conveyed in the container direction regulating region, the container is in a predetermined direction. A container direction restricting device comprising a guide-shaped container direction restricting guide that is corrected in direction (direction restricted) when the container is in contact.

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