JP2012183456A - Article conveying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To replenish a carrier to a carrier retaining means when a carrier is rejected from the carrier retaining means disposed at a conveying conveyor at a prescribed interval.SOLUTION: The carrier 2 is retained by the carrier retaining means disposed at the conveying conveyor at regular intervals and conveyed. A container 6 is supplied to the carrier 2 in a container supply position A, and the container is filled with liquid and capped, thereafter, detection is performed on a detection position D. When a defective container is detected, the defective container 6 is rejected together with the carrier 2 in a subsequent reject position E. Thereafter, in a carrier replenishing position F, the carrier 2 is replenished to the carrier retaining means which becomes vacant. In such a state that all carrier retaining means retain the carriers 2, the carrier retaining means arrives at the subsequent container supply position A.

Description

  The present invention relates to an article conveying apparatus provided in an article processing apparatus that accommodates and conveys articles in a carrier and performs various types of processing, and particularly relates to an article conveying apparatus provided with a mechanism for rejecting defective articles. .

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, processing apparatuses that perform various types of processing while accommodating and transporting articles such as containers that cannot stand independently in a carrier have been widely known. In addition, when an article processed by such a processing apparatus is inspected and a defective container is detected, the article is widely rejected from the conveyance line. In this way, if the carrier is soiled with a filling liquid or the like leaking from the defective container when it is rejected because the article such as the container is defective, it may be necessary to reject the entire carrier. Furthermore, an invention has been proposed in which when a carrier is rejected when an article is rejected, the carrier is returned to the transport line (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  The “holder replenishing device in the container supply device” of Patent Document 1 includes a delivery conveyor that circulates and a container supply means. The delivery conveyor has a plurality of guide bars attached at equal pitches in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction, and pockets for receiving holders (corresponding to the carrier of the present invention) in a row are formed between the guide bars. While the pocket is stopped at the insertion position, the holder is inserted into the pocket from the supply conveyor, and then moved to the container supply position on the downstream side, and the container is transferred from the container supply means to each holder in the pocket. Then, the holder is further moved to the discharge position on the downstream side, and the holder held in the pocket is discharged onto the discharge conveyor.

  Further, the apparatus of Patent Document 1 is provided with a holder replenishing mechanism that supplies a holder that has already been rejected to the pocket, and this holder replenishing mechanism is rejected by the replenishing conveyor from the opposite direction to the supply conveyor. The holder that has been conveyed by the replenishing conveyor is inserted from the opposite direction of the pocket before the holder is fed to the pocket from the supply conveyor.

Japanese Patent No. 2705555

  In the configuration of the invention described in Patent Document 1, a holder that has already been rejected is inserted in advance in the opposite direction with respect to the holder that is supplied in a row to the pocket, and is combined with the holder that is newly supplied in a row. A predetermined number of holders are arranged. In this configuration, the rejected holder can be returned to the transport line and the subsequent steps can be performed. However, as in the present invention, the carrier is held by the carrier holding means provided at predetermined intervals in the transport means. In the case of the configuration in which the carrier is conveyed, there is a problem that the carrier cannot be filled by replenishing the carrier holding means that is in a tooth-missing state because the carrier is rejected.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and has a carrier holding means at a predetermined interval, and a conveying means for conveying a circulation path while holding a carrier for storing an article in each carrier holding means, Supply means for supplying an article into the carrier held by the carrier holding means, determination means for judging the quality of the article held by the carrier, and conveyance of the article judged to be defective by the judgment means together with the carrier Means for discharging from the means, empty carrier replenishing means for replenishing empty carriers not containing articles at the position of the carrier discharged by the rejecting means, and control for controlling the rejecting means and the empty carrier replenishing means Means and a take-out means for taking out the article held on the carrier, and the article judged to be defective by the judging means The carrier is discharged from the transport unit by the reject unit, and the carrier holding unit from which the carrier is discharged by the reject unit is replenished with empty carriers from the reject unit to the supply unit. It is a feature.

  The article conveying apparatus according to the present invention replenishes empty carriers by empty carrier replenishing means at the positions of the carrier holding means from which the carriers are discharged by the rejecting means among the carrier holding means provided at predetermined intervals in the conveying means. Thus, when reaching the article supply means, the object of achieving a state in which all the carrier holding means of the conveying means hold the carrier is achieved.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an article conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 (a) shows an upstream portion thereof and FIG. 1 (b) shows a downstream portion thereof. Example 1 2A and 2B are diagrams showing a filling position, a capping position, and an inspection position. FIG. 2A is a longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a view showing the container supply means, in which FIG. 3 (a) is a front view and FIG. 3 (b) is a side view. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an apparatus for performing an inspection provided at an inspection position.

  A container supply position for supplying containers into the carrier in order from the upstream side along a transport conveyor in which a large number of carrier holding means are provided in a row at equal intervals, a filling position for filling the containers with liquid, and a filling A capping position for capping the subsequent container and a sealed space for accommodating the container are formed by the carrier and the header disposed above, and the inside of this space is evacuated, and the pressure in the sealed space is detected by the pressure sensor. In this way, instead of the inspection position for determining the quality of the container, the rejection position for rejecting the container determined to be a defective container at this inspection position for each carrier by the rejecting means, and the rejected carrier containing the container, Career replenishment position to replenish the carrier and finished product When a defective container is found, the entire carrier is discharged, and the carrier holding means that has been emptied is transferred to the carrier replenishing means before reaching the position of the container supply means. Therefore, the object of circulating the conveying means in a state where all the carrier holding means hold the carrier is achieved.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. In this article transport apparatus, various processing positions are installed along the transport means (transport conveyor 4) for transporting the carrier 2, and liquids are placed on the articles (the container 6 in this embodiment) accommodated in the carrier 2. Processing such as filling, capping and leak inspection is performed. The transport conveyor 4 includes a container supply position A, a filling position B, a capping position C, an inspection position D, a reject position E, a carrier replenishment position F, and a product discharge position in order from the upstream side (the right side of FIG. 1A). G is arranged. The transport conveyor 4 passes through these positions A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, and then circulates in the vertical direction to return to the container supply position A again.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the carrier conveyor 4 is provided with carrier holding means 8 that holds the carrier 2 sandwiched from the front and rear at equal intervals. Each of these carrier holding means 8 holds the carrier 2 by a pair of front and rear holding members 8a and 8b, and holds and conveys the carrier 2 that can accommodate the container 6 one by one. In this embodiment, two containers 6 are processed at each processing position (supply position A, filling position B, capping position C, inspection position D and product discharge position G). The carrier holding means 8 is intermittently conveyed so as to move forward by two.

  The container supply position A, which is the first processing position arranged on the most upstream side of the transport conveyor 4, is emptied by the container supply conveyor 10 (see FIG. 1) disposed in a direction orthogonal to the transport conveyor 4. Are continuously conveyed in two rows. At the downstream end of the container supply conveyor 10, two containers 6 on the container supply conveyor 10 are supplied to the carrier 2 being conveyed by being held by the carrier holding means 8 on the conveyor 4. Is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the container supply means 12 includes two mechanical chucks 16 that can be lifted and lowered by a cylinder 14 and can be opened and closed to grip and release the container 6. In this embodiment, two mechanical chucks 16 are mounted on the support column 20 via a horizontal mounting plate 18. The support column 20 is moved back and forth in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the transport conveyor 4 (see arrow L in FIGS. 1 and 2) by the moving actuator 22. The container supply means 12 holds the containers 6 conveyed in two rows by the container supply conveyor 10 two by a mechanical chuck 16 and is held by carrier holding means 8 provided on the conveyance conveyor 4. Is supplied into the carrier 2. In this embodiment, the article transfer means having the same configuration as the container supply means 12 is also used in the reject means 24, the carrier replenishing means 26, the product discharge means 28, etc., which will be described later. This will be described with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 3A and 3B). Therefore, in FIG.3 (b), the conveyor of the direction orthogonal to the conveyance conveyor 4 has shown the conveyor from which each processing position differs.

  The second processing position next to the container supply position A is a filling position B, and the third processing position is a capping position C. At each of these positions B and C, two filling nozzles 34 and two capping heads 36 are arranged at the same intervals as the intervals at which the carrier holding means 8 of the conveyor 4 is arranged. When the container 6 accommodated in the two carriers 2 being intermittently conveyed by the traveling of the conveying conveyor 4 is stopped at the filling position A, the two filling nozzles 34 arranged above enter the container 6. Liquid filling is performed. When the two containers 6 filled with the liquid are stopped at the next capping position C, the capping head 36 installed at the top descends while holding the cap 38, and the container held by the carrier 2. 6 capping.

  The fourth processing position next to the capping position C is the inspection position D, and the presence or absence of defects such as scratches or pinholes on the liquid-filled container 6 is inspected. Above the inspection position D, a header 40 that forms a sealed space 42 in which the container 6 is accommodated by being combined with the carrier 2 is disposed so as to be movable up and down. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the carrier 2 has a circular outer shape, and the container accommodating portion inside thereof is also circular, and this container accommodating portion is a main body portion of the container 6. It has a height that can accommodate the entire 6a (the large-diameter portion below the small-diameter neck portion 6b). On the other hand, the header 40 has a circular cup shape having inner and outer diameters substantially coincident with the inner and outer diameters of the carrier 2, and a space 42 for accommodating the container 6 is formed by lowering and overlapping the carrier 40. Is done. An annular seal member 44 is attached to the lower end surface of the header 40 over the entire circumference, and the header 40 is brought into close contact with the upper end surface of the carrier 2 via the seal member 44, thereby accommodating a space 42 for accommodating the container 6. Can be sealed (state shown in FIG. 4). The shapes of the carrier 2 and the header 40 are not limited to those shown in the drawings, and any shape can be used as long as the carrier 2 and the header 40 can form a sealed space 42 in which the container 6 is accommodated.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the header 40 provided at the inspection position D is formed with a suction hole 40a penetrating inside and outside, and a vacuum pump 46 as a suction means is connected to the suction hole 40a. By the operation of the vacuum pump 46, the inside of the sealed space 42 formed by the carrier 2 and the header 40 can be sucked to obtain a predetermined degree of vacuum. Further, the header 40 is provided with a pressure sensor 48 that detects the pressure in the sealed space 42. The pressure detected by the pressure sensor 48 is sent to the determination means 50 to determine whether or not the container 6 accommodated in the sealed space 42 is a defective container.

  The fifth processing position is a reject position E. When the container 6 inspected at the inspection position D is a defective container, it is rejected by the reject means 24 provided at the reject position E. The reject means 24 has the same configuration as the container supply means 12 and includes two mechanical chucks 16 that can be reciprocated by an actuator 22 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the conveyor 4. The container 6 determined to be a defective container is gripped together with the carrier 2 on the conveyor 4 and rejected onto a reject conveyor 52 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyor.

  The carrier replenishment position F, which is the sixth processing position following the reject position E, is such that when the defective container 6 is discharged at the reject position E, the carrier holding means 8 on the transport conveyor 4 is in a state where there is no carrier 2. Therefore, the empty carrier 2 is replenished in the carrier holding means 8. As shown in FIG. 1, an empty carrier 2 is transported to the carrier replenishment position F by a replenishment conveyor 54 (see FIG. 1) arranged in a direction orthogonal to the transport conveyor 4. 12, two empty carriers are held by the carrier replenishing means 26 having the same configuration as 12 and inserted into the carrier holding portion 8 on the conveyor 4.

  The seventh processing position is the product discharge position G. After the liquid is filled and capping is performed, the container 6 (product) that is determined to be normal by the inspection at the inspection position D is removed from the carrier 2. The sheet is taken out and discharged onto a discharge conveyor 56 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the transport conveyor 4. The container 6 determined to be a defective container at the inspection position D is rejected together with the carrier 2 at the reject position E, and the carrier holding means 8 of the transport conveyor 4 that is empty after the carrier 2 is taken out is placed in the carrier replenishment position. The empty carrier 2 is replenished with F, and the carrier 2 is inserted into all the carrier holding means 8 on the conveyor 4. At this product discharge position G, all the normal containers 6 except the already rejected containers 6 are gripped by the mechanical chuck 16 and taken out. As a result, the empty carrier 2 is held by all the carrier holding means 8 on the downstream side of the product discharge position G of the conveyor 4.

  The operation of the article conveying apparatus according to the above configuration will be described. The carrier conveyor 4 is provided with carrier holding means 8 at equal intervals in a row, and the conveyor 4 runs intermittently by two of the carrier holding means 8 and stops at each processing position. First, when the two carrier holding means 8 stop at the container supply position A which is the first processing position, the containers 6 conveyed in two rows by the container supply conveyor 10 are transferred to the two mechanical chucks of the container supply means 12. 16 and held in the carrier 2.

  When the two carriers 2 holding these containers 6 are stopped at the filling position B of the second processing position, the liquid is filled into the containers 6 by the two filling nozzles 34 disposed above. When the carrier 2 containing these containers 6 stops at the capping position C, which is the next third processing position, the two capping heads 36 holding the caps 38 are moved down, and two liquid-filled two capping heads 36 are lowered. The container 6 is capped.

  The two containers 6 that have been capped are sent to the inspection position D of the next fourth processing position and stopped. At the inspection position D, the header 40 is lowered and pressed against the upper surface of the carrier 2 below. An annular seal member 44 is attached to the lower surface of the header 40, and a space 42 sealed by the carrier 2 and the header 40 is formed. The sealed space 42 is sucked up to a set inspection pressure by a vacuum pump 46. If the container 6 filled with liquid, capped and sealed has scratches, pinholes, etc., the liquid or gas filled in the container 6 leaks, and the sealed space 42 has a predetermined degree of vacuum. Cannot be maintained. A pressure sensor 48 is provided on the inner surface of the header 40, detects a pressure change in the sealed space 42, and the determination means 50 determines the quality of the container. When the inspection pressure exceeds a preset reference pressure, it is determined that there is a leak.

  The container 6 subjected to the leak inspection at the inspection position D reaches the reject position E of the next fifth processing position. The container 6 determined to be a non-defective product at the inspection position D is sent to the next position as it is, but the container 6 determined to have a leak is discharged onto the reject conveyor 52 together with the carrier 2 by the reject means 24. In the portion where the container 6 is rejected together with the carrier 2, the carrier holding means 8 is in an empty state without the carrier 2, but moves to the next carrier replenishment position F as it is due to the next intermittent traveling of the conveyor 4. .

At the carrier replenishment position F which is the sixth processing position, the carrier supply conveyor 54 arranged in the direction orthogonal to the transport conveyor 6 has transported the empty carrier 2 and the carrier supplement means installed at this position. 26, the empty carrier 2 is inserted into the empty carrier holding means 8. Even when a defective container such as a leak occurs and is rejected, at this carrier replenishment position F, the carrier 2 is held by all the carrier holding means 8. Note that the carrier replenishment position for replenishing rejected carriers is not limited to between the reject position and the product discharge position. After the carrier is rejected, the carrier is replenished before reaching the container supply means. do it.

  Thereafter, when the carrier replenishment position F at the sixth processing position reaches the product discharge position G at the seventh processing position, the product discharge means 28 having the same configuration as the container supply means 12 and the like is installed, The container 6 (the finished product filled with liquid and capped) is grasped and taken out by the mechanical chuck 16 and discharged by a product carry-out conveyor 56 arranged in a direction perpendicular to the transfer conveyor 4. Is done. At this product discharge position G, all products stored in the carrier 2 are taken out and discharged. When the product discharge position G is reached, the container 6 rejected as a defective container and the carrier holding means 8 holding the carrier 2 hold only the empty carrier 2 without the container 6 (product). However, at this product discharge position G, the product is discharged and all the carriers 2 become empty. The empty carrier 2 held by the carrier holding means 8 of the conveyor 4 circulates as it is, returns to the container supply position A which is the first position, and the container 6 is supplied again. Thus, since the container 6 in which the liquid has leaked is discharged together with the carrier 2, the apparatus is not stopped and the operation is not hindered, and the carrier 2 can be easily cleaned.

2 Carrier 4 Transport means (transport conveyor)
6 Goods (containers)
8 Carrier holding means 24 Rejecting means 26 Empty carrier replenishing means 28 Taking out means 50 Determination means

Claims (1)

Conveying means having carrier holding means at a predetermined interval and holding the carrier for storing the article in each carrier holding means and conveying the circulation path, and supplying the article into the carrier held by the carrier holding means Means for determining the quality of the article held on the carrier, reject means for discharging the article determined to be defective by the determination means together with the carrier from the conveying means, and the carrier discharged by the reject means Empty carrier replenishing means for replenishing empty carriers that do not contain articles, control means for controlling the reject means and empty carrier replenishing means, and taking out means for taking out the articles held by the carrier. ,
The article determined to be defective by the determining means is discharged from the conveying means together with the carrier by the rejecting means, and circulated from the rejecting means to the carrier holding means from which the carrier has been discharged by the rejecting means to reach the supplying means. An article transporting device, wherein an empty carrier is replenished in the meantime.

Images