JP2018177236A - Filling method and filling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filling method and filling device which optimize filling work by enhancing positioning accuracy of a bottle type container, and which can perform model changing work of the bottle type container easily and quickly.SOLUTION: A filling device is constituted by: a conveyance conveyor 4; a screw conveyor 3 having a spiral groove 3a; a pressing holding body 11 having a fitting contact part 12 which expands in a substantially V shape; and filling nozzles 34, 38. With this constitution, a bottle type container 61 is accurately positioned in a position corresponding to the center of the substantially V shape of each fitting contact part 12, and filling work by the filling nozzles can be performed with good accuracy. Also, a positioning work unit 1 and a filling work unit 2 are arrange in an opposing state, and these are simultaneously moved in the directions separating from each other and in the directions coming closer to each other by a screwing operation of a screw rod. Thereby, the number of adjusting work places at model changing time of the bottle type container 61 decreases, and the model changing work of the bottle type container is simplified.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling method for filling a filling material such as liquid, powder, or granules in a bottle type container which is continuously transported, and a filling apparatus provided for implementation of the filling method.

  Conventionally, various proposals have been made as this type of filling method and filling apparatus (see Patent Documents 1 to 3).

  The liquid filling machine shown in Patent Document 1 is a liquid filling machine suitable for high-mix low-volume production, in which the adjustment at the time of mold change of the container is facilitated, and a plurality of containers are brought into contact in the traveling direction A pair of positioning means comprising V-shaped stoppers 18 are inserted between the containers so as to fix the containers in a predetermined filling position.

  However, in this filling machine, when changing (changing molds) to containers having different outer diameters, the distance between the pair of positioning means (15), the distance between the pair of side guides (14), and the plurality of filling nozzles ( It is necessary to adjust the distance in the container advancing direction 5) and the height position of the plurality of filling nozzles (5), respectively, and the mechanism is complicated and the cost of the filling machine becomes high.

  Patent Document 2 describes a liquid filling apparatus using a conveying screw (17) provided with a spiral groove (16) to accurately transfer a container directly below a liquid injection nozzle.

  However, in this liquid filling apparatus, the container is configured to be horizontally moved to the filling table (4) side with the container sandwiched between the transport screw (17) and the support plate (38), and the mechanism is large in scale. Therefore, it is not easy to change the container type.

  In Patent Document 3, a container fed by a feed conveyor (1) is pushed from the side by a pusher pad (31) having a plurality of V-shaped grooves on a filling base plate (40), and the container is filled with an object. Devices are described. In this device, since the container is extruded using the pusher pad (31) in which the V-shaped groove is formed, even if the outer diameter of the container changes, it can be accurately placed at a predetermined filling position. Remodeling can be easily performed.

  However, in this device, in the case of a container having a small outer diameter and a large height, the container falls over when the container is extruded from the supply conveyor (1) onto the filling table (40) There is a fear. In addition, when the container after being filled with the object is pushed out on the discharge conveyor (2) by the pushing pin (51a), the container may fall over.

Utility model registration No. 30 798 26 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-96903 JP-A-5-254651

  Therefore, in view of the problems with the filling apparatus and the like described in the above-mentioned patent documents, the present invention improves the positioning accuracy of the bottle-shaped container to optimize the filling operation, and adjustment at the time of changing the bottle-shaped container It is an object of the present invention to provide a filling method and a filling apparatus in which the number of places is reduced and mold changing work can be performed easily and quickly.

  In the present invention, the following configuration is adopted as a specific means for solving the problem.

  In the filling apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the conveyer for conveying the bottle-shaped container and the spiral groove are provided, and the axis thereof is substantially parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyer. A fixedly arranged screw conveyor and a plurality of fitting abutments expanding forwardly into a substantially V-shape are formed at substantially the same pitch as the helical groove pitch of the screw conveyor, and the fitting abutments Is disposed to face the screw conveyor substantially in parallel, and is driven to move back and forth in the direction of coming in and out of contact with the screw conveyor by the pressing drive unit, and in the advancing state, the spiral of the fitting contact portion and the screw conveyor On the above-mentioned bottle-shaped container held between a pressing and holding body for pressing and holding the above-mentioned container between the groove and the fitting contact portion of the above-mentioned pressing and holding body and the spiral groove of the above-mentioned screw conveyor Arranged on the side, the injection port in its lowered position with the lift drive is characterized by having a filling nozzle to be inserted into the bottle-type container by the lifting drive unit.

  In a second aspect of the present invention, in the filling device according to the first aspect, the positioning operation unit provided with the pressing and holding body and the filling operation unit provided with the filling nozzle are opposed to each other with the screw conveyor interposed therebetween. It is characterized in that it is arranged in the state and is capable of advancing and retracting in the opposite direction, and is simultaneously moved in the same direction by screwing operation of a screw rod extended substantially in parallel with the opposite direction.

  In a third aspect of the present invention, in the filling device according to the second aspect, the filling operation unit includes a lower base material which is moved forward and backward by screwing operation of the screw rod, and an upper side of the lower base material. An upper base material arranged in parallel in a facing state on the side and to which the filling nozzle is attached, a plurality of screw rods connecting the lower base material and the upper base material at plural positions on a plane, and the plural It is characterized by having a synchronous drive part which carries out synchronous drive of a screw rod.

  In the filling method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of bottle-shaped containers sequentially transferred by the transfer conveyor are inserted into the spiral groove of the screw conveyor fixedly arranged and sequentially cut out, and each of the cut out A plurality of fitting contact portions provided on the pressing and holding body disposed opposite to the screw conveyor are brought into contact from the side with respect to the bottle-shaped container, and the respective bottle-shaped containers are engaged with the above-mentioned fitting And pressing and holding by the spiral groove, and then inserting the injection port portions of the plurality of filling nozzles into the respective bottle-shaped containers, and injecting and filling the filling material into the bottle-shaped containers from the injection ports. Characteristic filling method.

  According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(A) First Invention of the Present Invention According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a filling conveyer for conveying a bottle-shaped container, and a helical groove, the axis of which is substantially parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyer. Screw conveyor fixedly disposed above the conveyer, and a plurality of fitting abutments expanding forward in a substantially V-shape substantially the same as the pitch of the spiral groove of the screw conveyor The fitting contact portion is disposed to face the screw conveyor substantially in parallel, and is driven to move forward and backward in the direction of coming in and out of the screw conveyor by the pressing drive portion. Between a pressing and holding body for pressing and holding the container between the fitting contact portion and the spiral groove of the screw conveyor, and between the fitting contact portion of the pressing and holding body and the spiral groove of the screw conveyor The filling nozzle is disposed on the upper side of the nipped bottle-shaped container and is driven to move up and down by the raising and lowering driving unit and the injection port is inserted into the bottle-shaped container at the lowered position.
(A) The bottle containers, which are sequentially transported by the transport conveyor, are cut out by the screw conveyor by a predetermined number, and the bottle containers which have been cut out are cut by the fitting contact portions of the pressing and holding members. If the diameter of each of the bottle containers is equal to or less than the limit diameter that can be fitted in the spiral groove of the screw conveyor, by pressing on the spiral groove side of the screw conveyor and holding the both together, Even if the diameter is smaller than the limit diameter and the fixed position is not determined by swinging in the left and right direction in the inserted state into the spiral groove, each bottle type container is fitted with the above each fit The container is accurately positioned at a position corresponding to the center of the substantially V-shape of the contact portion, and the spacing dimension between the plurality of bottle-shaped containers is always kept constant in the screw conveyor portion. Filling operation of the filling material from the nozzle is performed accurately, the reliability of the filling operation is ensured,
(B) The above-mentioned bottle-shaped containers are positioned by pressing the above-mentioned bottle-shaped containers against the spiral groove side of the above-mentioned screw conveyor by the respective fitting contact portions of the above-mentioned pressing and holding members In the case of a bottle-shaped container having a diameter equal to or less than the above-mentioned limit diameter, the bottle can only be adjusted if the distance between the screw conveyor and the pressing and holding body (in other words, the advancing position of the pressing and holding body) is adjusted. Since positioning of each bottle-shaped container is possible regardless of the size of the diameter dimension of the mold container, when changing the type of bottle-shaped container, the fitting contact portion between the spiral groove of the screw conveyor and the pressing and holding body There is no need to change the positioning mechanism consisting of the above, and for example, simplification of the structure and cost reduction are promoted as compared with the case where it is necessary to change the positioning mechanism when changing the type of bottle container. The
Effects such as

(B) Second Invention of the Present Invention According to the filling apparatus of the second invention of the present application, in addition to the effects described in the above (a), the following specific effects can be obtained. That is, in the filling apparatus according to the present invention, the positioning operation unit provided with the pressing and holding body and the filling operation unit provided with the filling nozzle are disposed opposite to each other with the screw conveyor interposed therebetween and advanced and retracted in opposite directions. While making it possible, it is configured to move simultaneously in the same direction by screwing operation of a screw rod extended substantially in parallel to the opposite direction.

  Here, the technical background will be described. First, since the screw conveyor is fixedly arranged, the bottle is formed by the spiral groove of the screw conveyor and the fitting contact portion of the pressing and holding body facing the screw groove. When the mold container is held, the position of the side portion near the spiral groove of the bottle container (the position of the screw conveyor 3 in the radial direction on the horizontal surface) is uniquely determined by the position of the spiral groove, and The position is constant regardless of the size of the diameter of the bottle-shaped container. Therefore, when changing the type of the bottle-shaped container, first, the advancing position of the positioning operation unit provided with the pressing and holding body and the advancing position of the filling operation unit provided with the filling nozzle are It is necessary to adjust each according to the diameter size.

  Second, since the height dimension of the bottle container, that is, the height position of the bottle opening at the upper end of the bottle container differs depending on the size of the bottle container, when changing the shape of the bottle container The height position of the above-mentioned filling operation unit corresponding to the height position of the filling nozzle inserted into the inside from the bottle opening of the bottle-shaped container It is also necessary to adjust the height position of the filling operation unit, which corresponds to the height at the lowest end of the filling nozzle which is driven up and down.

  In addition, in order to change the space | interval between the said bottle type containers in connection with the type change of a bottle type container, it is necessary to also adjust the space | interval between the said filling nozzles, However, In this invention, the space | interval between bottle type containers As described above, this is automatically performed by holding the bottle-shaped container by the screw conveyor and the pressing and holding body, and is always kept constant regardless of the type change, so the interval between the filling nozzles is also There is no need for adjustment.

  Thus, in changing the type of the bottle-shaped container, three adjustment operations are required: adjustment of the advancing position of the positioning operation unit and the filling operation unit, and adjustment of the height position of the filling operation unit. In this case, in the present invention, the positioning operation unit and the filling operation unit are disposed in an opposing state with the screw conveyor interposed therebetween, and can be advanced and retracted in opposing directions, respectively, and extended substantially parallel to the opposing direction Since it is configured to move simultaneously in the same direction by the screwing operation of the threaded rod, it is possible to simultaneously adjust the advancing positions of the positioning operation unit and the filling operation unit by the screwing operation of the threaded rod. As a result, the adjustment operation at the time of type change of the bottle-shaped container is only two operations of the screw operation of the screw rod and the height adjustment operation of the filling operation unit, for example, position adjustment of the positioning operation unit and the filling operation unit The loading operation, the height adjustment operation of the filling nozzle, and the interval adjustment operation of the filling nozzle must be performed separately by separate mechanisms. As compared with the case where there is a case where the type change operation of the bottle type container is greatly simplified, the operation can be carried out in a shorter time, and thus it is possible to provide a filling device suitable for high-mix low-volume production. Since the mechanism to be used for mold change is simple, the reduction of the manufacturing cost of the filling device can be promoted, and other effects are obtained.

(C) Third Invention of the Present Invention According to the filling apparatus of the third invention of the present application, in addition to the effects described in the above (b), the following specific effects can be obtained. That is, in the present invention,
The lower base material moved forward and backward by the screw operation of the screw rod, and the upper base member on which the upper side of the lower base material is disposed in parallel and opposed to the upper side of the lower base member. Material, a plurality of screw rods connecting the lower base and the upper base at a plurality of positions on a plane, and a synchronous drive unit for synchronously driving the plurality of screw rods. By rotating any one of the screw rods, all other screw rods are synchronously rotated to maintain the upper base material in parallel to the lower base material while the lower base material is maintained. The height of the filling nozzle attached to the upper base material can be adjusted by moving in the approaching direction or the separating direction with respect to the upper substrate, facilitating quick and easy mold change work, and Height by simplifying the adjustment mechanism Reduce the manufacturing cost of Hama device becomes possible.

(D) Fourth Invention of the Present Invention According to the filling method of the fourth invention of the present application, a plurality of bottle-shaped containers sequentially transferred by the conveyer are inserted into the spiral groove of the screw conveyor fixedly arranged. While sequentially cutting out, a plurality of fitting contact portions provided on a pressing and holding body disposed opposite to the screw conveyor are brought into contact from the side with respect to each of the cut-out bottle-shaped containers The respective bottle-shaped containers are pressed and held by the fitting contact portion and the spiral groove, and then the injection port portions of the plurality of filling nozzles are inserted into the respective bottle-shaped containers, and the bottle-shaped container is The filler material is ejected and filled.

  Therefore, by pressing and holding the bottle containers by the fitting contact portion and the spiral groove, the distance between the bottle containers, that is, the positioning of the bottle containers with respect to the filling nozzles is performed. After the positioning, the filling material is filled from the filling nozzles into the bottle containers, and the filling operation of the filling material from the filling nozzles into the bottle containers is performed accurately and accurately. As a result, reliable filling work is realized.

It is a top view of a packaging device concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. It is an AA arrow line view of FIG. It is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. It is a principal part disassembled perspective view of the filling and insertion operation | work unit shown in FIG.

  1 to 4 show a filling device Z according to an embodiment of the present invention. This filling device Z is a device for sequentially filling PP balls (polypropylene balls) for promoting agitation and silicone oil into the bottle-shaped container 61, and is a base extending substantially horizontally at a predetermined height position. A conveyer 4 for conveying a bottle-shaped container 61 supplied from a bottle-shaped container supply source (not shown) sequentially in an abutting state on the table 5, and conveying the conveyer 4 above the conveyer 4 A screw conveyer 3 fixedly arranged parallel to the conveyer 4 at a position shifted laterally from the feed direction axis by a predetermined amount, and separated from the screw conveyer 3 on the reverse shift side of the screw conveyer 3 Positioning operation unit 1 disposed to face each other, and filling operation disposed so as to face the screw conveyor 3 apart from the screw conveyor 3 on the shift side of the screw conveyor 3 Configured with a knit 2. These will be individually described below.

A: Screw conveyor 3
The screw conveyor 3 is constituted by a screw rod having a spiral groove 3a of a predetermined width as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and has a diameter from one end in the axial direction (upstream end) to the central portion In the tapered portion, the groove depth and the groove width of the spiral groove 3a gradually increase from the one end toward the central portion in the tapered portion. It functions as an introduction part for the bottle-shaped container 61 to come.

  Further, from the central portion of the screw conveyor 3 to the other end (upstream end) is a straight rod, and at least four spiral grooves 3a extending with the same depth and width are exposed on the surface of the straight rod portion. The length dimension is set. The four spiral grooves 3a exposed on the surface of the straight rod-like portion function as positioning portions of the four bottle-shaped containers 61 in cooperation with the fitting contact portion 12 of the pressing and holding body 11 described later. .

  Furthermore, the cross-sectional shape of the spiral groove 3a of the screw conveyor 3 is such that the peripheral surface of the largest diameter (limit diameter) bottle-shaped container of the bottle-shaped containers to be used can be fitted into the groove surface in full contact (The bottle-shaped container 62 shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2 is a bottle-shaped container with a limit diameter).

  On the other hand, the pitch of the spiral grooves 3a of the screw conveyor 3 is set to such a size that a required clearance can be formed between the screw-type containers 62 of the critical diameter when they are respectively fitted into the spiral grooves 3a. Then, the pitch of the spiral groove 3a of the screw conveyor 3 substantially matches the installation interval of a pair of filling nozzles 34 (for filling with silicone oil) and a pair of filling nozzles 38 (for filling with PP balls) described later. It is set. Therefore, in a state in which the bottle-shaped container 61 is in contact with the center of the groove bottom of the spiral groove 3a exposed diagonally at an equal pitch on the side surface of the screw conveyor 3, the pair of filling nozzles 34 The pair of filling nozzles 38 conform to the bottle-shaped container 61 in contact with the two spiral grooves 3a on the rear side in the feed direction, respectively. become.

  If the bottle-shaped container 62 is a bottle-shaped container 62 having a diameter corresponding to the limit diameter as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2, the groove bottom surface of the spiral groove 3a in the lateral direction of the bottle-shaped container 62. Since the peristaltic movement is restricted, the axial center of the bottle-shaped container 62 substantially coincides with the center of the bottom of the spiral groove 3 a in the axial center direction of the screw conveyor 3 and positioning of each bottle-shaped container 62 is performed. Become. However, in the case where the bottle-shaped container is a bottle-shaped container 61 having a diameter smaller than the limit diameter, the restriction action of the groove bottom surface of the spiral groove 3a does not act on the bottle-shaped container 61. The container 61 swings within the spiral groove 3a and its position can not be uniquely determined. From such a circumstance, in order to be able to reliably position even a bottle-shaped container 61 with a small diameter, a pressing and holding body 11 described later is provided.

  On the other hand, the screw conveyor 3 is rotationally driven by the driving force input from the driving source (not shown) to the end of the straight rod portion via the driving system 8. The rotation control of the screw conveyor 3 is performed by a controller (not shown), and in this embodiment, it is intermittently driven by two pitches. That is, in each bottle-shaped container 61, two bottle-shaped containers 61 adjacent to each other in front and back are paired, and are sequentially positioned and stopped at the filling position of PP spheres and the filling position of silicone oil. Then, in this stopped state, the preceding two bottle-shaped containers 61 correspond to the filling nozzle 34 for filling silicone oil described later, and the two following bottle-shaped containers 61 are for filling PP balls described later During the stop, corresponding to the filling nozzle 38, the filling operation of silicone oil and the filling operation of PP balls are performed.

  In addition, "filling" here is a broad concept including both the state which stuffs a filler into a container without gap, and the case where it is stuffed leaving space in a container. Therefore, not only liquids but also powders, granules and spheres can be applied as the filler.

B: Positioning work unit 1
The positioning work unit 1 is mounted on a pair of left and right supports 16 erected on the upper surface side of the base 5 via sliders 15 and is in contact with the screw conveyor 3 as shown in FIGS. A horizontally long flat movable base 10 movable in the separating direction, and the movable base 10 mounted on the movable base 10 via a pair of left and right sliders 14 and movable in the direction approaching and separating from the screw conveyor 3 It is configured to include the pressed and held body 11.

B-1: Movable base 10
As shown in FIG. 4, the movable base 10 is driven by the front and rear position adjusting unit 6 in a direction to contact and separate with the screw conveyor 3 together with the lower base 21 of the filling operation unit 2 described later. That is, the front and rear position adjusting portion 6 is constituted by a screw rod 40 screwed to both the nut 17 provided on the movable base 10 and the nut 24 provided on the lower side base 21.

  Therefore, the movable base 10 and the lower base member 21 simultaneously move in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4 when the screw rod 40 is rotated to the right by the operation of the handle 41, and the screw rod 40 is rotated to the left. Simultaneously move in the direction of arrow B. The movement of the movable base 10 adjusts the position of the pressing and holding body 11 described later, and the movement of the lower base 21 adjusts the position of the filling nozzle 34 and the filling nozzle 38 described later.

  As described above, although the movable base 10 and the lower base member 21 are simultaneously moved in the same direction by the rotation operation of the screw rod 40, the amount of movement is not made the same. When the amount of movement on the movable base 10 side is "2", the amount of movement on the lower base 21 side is "1". This is because, in the case of a bottle-shaped container, the center of the outer diameter and the center of the bottle opening coincide with each other, and when the outer diameter of the bottle-shaped container used changes due to the change of the bottle-shaped container Is because it always changes by 1/2 of the amount of change of the outer diameter. Therefore, in this embodiment, the ratio of the pitch of the threads 41 a of the screw rod 40 to the pitch of the threads 41 b is set to “2: 1”.

  By setting the ratio of the moving amount of the movable base 10 and the moving amount of the lower base 21 in this manner, for example, even if the diameter dimension of the bottle-shaped container 61 changes due to mold change, the above-mentioned movable always The fitting contact portion 12 of the pressing and holding body 11 provided on the base 10 side abuts on the outer peripheral surface of the bottle-shaped container 61, and is also moved to the lower base 21 as described later. The filling nozzle 34 and the filling nozzle 38 attached to 22 will be located at the center of the bottle neck of the bottle-shaped container 61. That is, the positioning operation of the bottle container 61 by the spiral groove 3a of the screw conveyor 3 and the fitting contact portion 12 of the pressing and holding body 11, and the filling of the bottle container 61 by the filling nozzles 34 and 38. The filling operation of the material is always performed in the correct state through the change of the mold.

B-2: Press clamping body 11
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the pressing and holding body 11 is integrally formed of a substantially U-shaped thick plate member, and between the left and right extending portions and the movable base 10 The slider 14 is movable in the direction of coming in and out of contact with the screw conveyor 3, and is advanced and retracted by a pressing drive unit 13 provided between the movable base 10 and the screw conveyor 3.

  Further, at the front end edge of the pressing and holding body 11 facing the screw conveyor 3, a fitting contact portion 12 expanding in a substantially V-shape toward the front is approximately the pitch of the spiral groove 3 a of the screw conveyor. Four are arranged at the same pitch. The fitting contact portion 12 advances and contacts the side surface of the bottle-shaped container 61, and further presses the same against the spiral groove 3a of the screw conveyor 3 to form a bottle-shaped container between the screw groove 3a and the screw groove 3a. By pinching 61, the bottle-shaped container 61 is positioned and held at the central portion (that is, the deepest portion) of the bottom of the spiral groove 3a. Therefore, the four bottle-shaped containers 61 located in each of the four spiral grooves 3a of the screw conveyor 3 are positioned with a constant interval therebetween.

  Although the advancing and retreating operation of the pressing and holding body 11 is performed by the expansion and contraction of the pressing and driving unit 13, the stroke of the pressing and driving unit 13 is constant. When the diameter dimension of the bottle-shaped container 61 changes due to mold change, the bottle-shaped container 61 is pressed against the spiral groove 3 a of the screw conveyor 3 by the fitting contact portion 12 of the pressing and holding body 11 in an appropriate state. In some cases, the front and back position adjusting unit 6 is provided in order to eliminate such inconveniences and to ensure an appropriate pressing state.

  Further, the advancing and retreating movement of the pressing and holding body 11 by the pressing and driving unit 13 is performed corresponding to the feeding operation of the bottle-shaped container 61 by the screw conveyor 3. That is, as described above, in response to the screw conveyor 3 being intermittently rotated by 2 pitches, the pressing and holding body 11 is also pushed and retracted so as to advance and retract each time the screw conveyor 3 is rotated by 2 pitches. The operation of the drive unit 13 is controlled.

C: Filling operation unit 2
As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the filling operation unit 2 is a lower side disposed on the base 5 so as to be capable of coming into and coming out of contact with the screw conveyor 3 via the support 20 and the slider 23. A base material 21 and an upper base material 22 disposed on the upper side of the lower base material 21 and substantially parallel to the base material 21 are provided. As described above, the lower base material 21 can be moved in the direction in which the lower base material 21 contacts and separates from the screw conveyor 3 by the turning operation of the screw rod 40.

  The lower side base 21 and the upper side base 22 are connected by four screw rods 25 facing each other in the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. ing. That is, the upper end of each screw rod 25 is rotatably supported by the pivot support member 42 provided on the upper base member 22, and the other end is screwed to the nut 29 provided on the lower base member 21. It is united. Further, a sprocket 27 is fixed to a position near the upper end of each screw rod 25. Further, a support shaft 43 provided with a chain tensioning sprocket 28 is mounted by a shaft support member 44 on the inner side in the planar direction of the mounting position of the screw rod 25 of the upper side base material 22.

  A chain 26 is wound around the sprockets 27 provided on the threaded rods 25 and the sprockets 28 provided on the support shaft 43. Therefore, by rotating one of the screw rods 25 by the handle 30, all the screw rods 25 are synchronously rotated through the chain 26, and the upper base 22 is the lower base material. It moves up and down so that it approaches and separates from 21. In this embodiment, the "synchronous drive unit 35" in the claims is constituted by the screw rods 25, the sprockets 27 attached thereto, and the chain 26 wound around them. Ru.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, on the upper base member 22, a support bracket 33 formed of a substantially U-shaped plate member has a pair of left and right arm portions 33A and 33B on the positioning operation unit 1 side. It is arranged in the state of facing. The support bracket 33 is vertically movably supported by a lift drive unit 31 fixed to the upper base member 22 and guided by a pair of left and right guide rods 32. The lift drive unit 31 The upper base 22 is vertically moved with the expansion and contraction movement of the upper base 22.

  A pair of left and right silicone oil filling filling nozzles 34 is attached to the tip of the first arm 33A of the support bracket 33. The filling nozzle 34 is connected to a silicone oil storage container (not shown) via a supply hose.

  Further, at the tip end of the second arm 33B of the support bracket 33, a pair of left and right PP ball filling nozzles 38 are attached. The filling nozzle 38 is connected to a spherical hopper 37 attached to a hopper support 36 provided on the upper base 22.

  As described above, the pair of left and right filling nozzles 34 and the pair of left and right filling nozzles 38 attached to the support bracket 33 integrally move up and down with respect to the upper base 22 by the expansion and contraction movement of the lift drive unit 31. Move (first up and down movement) and move up and down integrally with the upper base 22 as the filling operation unit 2 moves up and down based on the turning operation of the handle 30 (second up and down movement) Further, as the lower base 21 moves forward and backward based on the rotation operation of the screw rod 40, a direction in which the lower base 21 and the upper base 22 contact and separate with the screw conveyor 3 integrally. You are going to

  Then, the “first vertical movement” based on the operation of the elevation drive unit 31 inserts the tip of the filling nozzle 34 and the filling nozzle 38 from the bottle opening of the bottle-shaped container 61 into the inside thereof and ejects the filling material The present invention relates to the filling operation to be performed, and the retraction operation to retract and withdraw the filling nozzle 34 and the filling nozzle 38 from the inside of the bottle-shaped container 61 upward. On the other hand, in the “second vertical movement”, the height position of the bottle mouth of the bottle-shaped container 61 changes up and down due to the change of the bottle-shaped container 61, so the above-mentioned filling nozzle 34 and the filling nozzle 38 pertaining to a mold change operation to adjust the height to an appropriate height, and as described above, the above-mentioned threaded rod to cope with the change in diameter of the bottle-shaped container 61 accompanying the mold change. 40 together with advancing and retracting the lower base material 21 achieves the intended purpose.

  In FIG. 3, for convenience of drawing, a state in which the filling nozzle 34 is provided in the upper side base material 22 and a state in which the filling nozzle 38 is provided in the upper side base material 22 are separately illustrated.

D: Operation Description of Filling Device Z In the following, the operation of the filling device Z configured as described above will be specifically described mainly with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3.

D-1: Filling operation of filler to bottle-shaped container 61 As shown in FIG. 1, the filling operation is started in a state where the pressing and holding body 11 of the positioning operation unit 1 is retracted. Then, when the bottle-shaped containers 61 sequentially transported on the transfer conveyor 4 in close close proximity to each other reach the screw conveyor 3, first, the two bottle-shaped containers are cut out by the spiral groove 3 a of the screw conveyor 3. 61 is cut out, at which point the screw conveyor 3 is stopped. In this stopped state, although the bottle-shaped container 61 is located in the spiral groove 3a of the screw conveyor 3, its position has not been determined.

  Next, the pressing drive unit 13 is extended and the pressing and holding body 11 is pushed forward, and the fitting contact portion 12 at the tip of the pressing driving unit 13 contacts the side surface of the bottle-shaped container 61 and further forwardly. The bottle-shaped container 61 is pushed and held between the above-mentioned spiral groove 3a. In this holding state, the bottle-shaped container 61 is positioned on a line connecting the widthwise center of the fitting contact portion 12 and the widthwise center of the spiral groove 3a, and each filling nozzle 38 of the filling operation unit 2 is It is located above the center of the bottle neck of the bottle-shaped container 61.

  Next, the filling nozzle 38 is lowered by the lift drive unit 31, the tip thereof enters the bottle-shaped container 61 from the bottle opening, and in this state, a predetermined amount of PP spheres are ejected from the filling nozzle 38. This is filled in the bottle-shaped container 61. After the filling operation is completed, the filling nozzle 38 is pulled upward and stands by for the next filling operation.

  With the standby at the upper position of the filling nozzle 38, the pressing and holding body 11 is retracted to release the restraining state of the bottle-shaped container 61 by the fitting contact portion 12. Then, the screw conveyor 3 resumes rotation, and the following two bottle-shaped containers 61 are cut out at the spiral groove 3 a and transferred forward together with the two preceding bottle-shaped containers 61. Then, when the transfer amount reaches an amount corresponding to two pitches of the spiral groove 3a, the rotation of the screw conveyor 3 is stopped.

  Here, the pressing and holding body 11 of the positioning operation unit 1 is advanced, and the respective bottle-shaped containers 61 are pressed against the bottom surface side of the corresponding spiral grooves 3a by the fitting contact portions 12 to be held together with the spiral grooves 3a. Hold the Thus, the four bottle-shaped containers 61 are positioned at appropriate positions, and the intervals between the bottle-shaped containers 61 are set as the set intervals. In this state, the filling nozzle 34 faces from the upper side at the center of the bottle neck of the preceding two bottle-shaped containers 61, and the filling nozzle at the center of the bottle necks of the two following bottle-shaped containers 61 38 are from above.

  Next, the filling nozzle 34 and the filling nozzle 38 of the filling operation unit 2 are respectively lowered, and each filling nozzle 34 is inserted into the preceding bottle-shaped container 61 (that is, the bottle-shaped container 61 already filled with PP spheres). Once inserted, the filling nozzle 38 is inserted into the following bottle-shaped container 61 (ie, a bottle-shaped container 61 filled with nothing). The preceding bottle-shaped container 61 is filled with silicone oil in addition to the already filled PP balls, and the subsequent bottle-shaped container 61 is filled with PP balls.

  When the filling of the silicone oil and the PP balls into the bottle-shaped containers 61 is completed, the pressing and holding members 11 of the positioning operation unit 1 are retracted, and the restraint on the bottle-shaped containers 61 is released. The screw conveyor 3 rotates by an amount corresponding to 2 pitches with the backward movement of the pressing and holding body 11, and the preceding bottle-shaped container 61 (that is, the bottle-shaped container 61 in which the filling operation is completely completed) Send it forward. At the same time, the following bottle-shaped container 61 is advanced by two pitches, and only two bottle-shaped containers 61 on the side of the transfer conveyor 4 are cut out and advanced.

  The rotation of the screw conveyor 3 is stopped when each of the bottle-shaped containers 61 has advanced by two pitches, and the pressing and holding body 11 of the positioning operation unit 1 is further advanced to fit the fitting contact portion 12 Thus, each bottle-shaped container 61 in the spiral groove 3a of the screw conveyor 3 is held and positioned. In this positioning state, the preceding bottle-shaped container 61 already filled with PP balls corresponds to the filling nozzle 34 of the above-mentioned filling operation unit 2, and the following newly cut-out bottle-shaped container 61 is filled with the above-mentioned filling It corresponds to the nozzle 38.

  In this state, the preceding bottle-shaped container 61 is filled with silicone oil, and the following bottle-shaped container 61 is filled with PP balls. After the completion of the filling, the pressing and holding body 11 is retracted to release the restraint on the bottle-shaped containers 61. Then, the screw conveyor 3 is rotated to feed the preceding bottle-shaped container 61 forward from the screw conveyor 3 and, at the same time, advance the following bottle-shaped container 61 by two pitches. Only two bottle-shaped containers 61 are cut out and advanced.

  By repeating the above operation, PP balls and silicone oil are sequentially filled in the bottle-shaped container 61 sequentially transported by the transport conveyor 4 to obtain a desired product.

D-2: Work involved in mold change of bottle-shaped container 61 When the mold of bottle-shaped container 61 is changed, the diameter dimension and height dimension of the bottle-shaped container 61 cut out by the screw conveyor 3 part (that is, the bottle opening (Height position) changes compared to before the mold change, so that the advancing position of the pressing and holding body 11 in the positioning operation unit 1 is adjusted according to the diameter dimension and height dimension of the new bottle-shaped container 61 after the mold change. Adjustment, position adjustment of the filling nozzle 34 and filling nozzle 38 provided in the filling operation unit 2 on the filling operation unit side, height position of the filling nozzle 34 and filling nozzle 38 of the filling operation unit 2 There are three adjustment tasks required.

  In this case, first, the adjustment of the advancing position of the pressing and holding member 11 in the positioning operation unit 1 and the position adjustment of the filling nozzle 34 and the filling nozzle 38 provided on the upper base 22 on the filling operation unit side As described above, this is achieved by rotating the screw rod 40 of the front and back position adjusting unit 6 to advance and retract the pressing and holding body 11 and the upper base member 22 at a ratio of 2: 1. The mode of movement, the ratio of the amount of movement, and the like are as described above.

  The height position of the filling nozzle 34 and the filling nozzle 38 of the filling operation unit 2 can be adjusted by rotating the handle 30 provided on the upper base 22 side of the filling operation unit 2 to adjust the upper base 22 Is adjusted by bringing the lower substrate 21 into contact with and separated from the lower substrate 21. The moving mechanism and the like in the contact / separation direction with respect to the lower side base 21 of the upper side base 22 are as described above.

  In addition, in order to change the space | interval between the said bottle-type containers 61 with the change of the type | mold of the bottle-type container 61, it is necessary to adjust also the space between the said filling nozzles. As described above, the interval between the filling nozzles 34 and 38 is necessary because the interval between the two is kept constant by the screw conveyor 3 and the pressing and holding body 11 regardless of the change of the bottle type container. And not.

  As described above, according to the filling device Z of this embodiment, the adjustment operation at the time of changing the type of the bottle-shaped container 61 is only two operations of the screwing operation of the screw rod 40 and the height adjustment operation of the filling operation unit. For example, the position adjustment operation of the positioning operation unit 1 and the filling operation unit 2, the height adjustment operation of the filling nozzles 34 and 38, and the interval adjustment operation of the filling nozzles 34 and 38 are separately performed by separate mechanisms. As compared with the case where it is necessary to carry out, the type change work of the bottle-shaped container 61 is greatly simplified, the work can be carried out in a shorter time, and a filling device suitable for high-mix low-volume production Can be provided. In addition, since the mechanism to be used for mold change is simple, the reduction of the manufacturing cost of the filling device Z is also promoted.

  The filling method and the filling apparatus according to the present invention are used in the industrial field of filling a filling material such as liquid, powder, and granules into a bottle-shaped container from the opening thereof.

1 · · Positioning operation unit 2 · · Filling operation unit 3 · · Screw conveyor 4 · · Conveying conveyor 5 · · · Base 6 · · · Longitudinal position adjustment section 8 · · Drive system 10 · · · Movable base 11 · · · Press holding Body 12 · · Mating contact portion 13 · · Pressure drive portion 14 · · · · Slider 16 · · Support base 17 · · Nut 20 · · Support base 21 · · Lower base material 22 · · Upper base material 23 · · · Slider 24 · · Nut 25 · · Screw rod 26 · · Chain 27 · 28 · · Sprocket 29 · · · Nut 30 · · Handle 31 · · Lifting drive section 32 · · Guide rod 33 · · Support bracket 34 · · Filling nozzle 35 · · Synchronous drive section 36 · · Hopper support material 37 · · Sphere hopper 38 · · Filling nozzle 40 · · Screw rod 41 · · Handle 42 · · Axial supporting members 61, 6 2 · · Bottle type container 63 · · Guide bar Z · · Filling device

Claims (4)

A conveyer which conveys the bottle-shaped container;
A screw conveyer having a spiral groove and fixedly disposed above the conveyer such that an axis thereof is substantially parallel to the convey direction of the conveyer;
A plurality of fitting contact portions that expand forward in a substantially V-shape are formed at substantially the same pitch as the pitch of the spiral groove of the screw conveyor, and the fitting contact portions are substantially parallel to the screw conveyor Are disposed to face each other, and are driven to move back and forth in the direction of coming in and out of contact with the screw conveyor by the pressing drive unit, and the container is moved between the fitting contact portion and the spiral groove of the screw conveyor A pressing and holding body for pressing and holding;
It is disposed on the upper side of the bottle-shaped container nipped between the fitting contact portion of the pressing nipping member and the spiral groove of the screw conveyor, and is vertically driven by the elevating drive portion and its injection port at its lowered position. A filling nozzle inserted into the bottle-shaped container,
And a filling device characterized in that it comprises. In claim 1,
The positioning operation unit provided with the pressing and holding body and the filling operation unit provided with the filling nozzle are disposed in an opposing state with the screw conveyor interposed therebetween, and can be advanced and retracted in opposite directions. A filling device characterized in that it is simultaneously moved in the same direction by screwing operation of a screw rod extended substantially in parallel. In claim 2,
An upper base on which the filling operation unit is disposed in parallel and opposed to the lower base, which is moved forward and backward by the screw operation of the screw rod, and the upper side of the lower base. Material, a plurality of threaded rods for connecting the lower base and the upper base at a plurality of positions on a plane, and a synchronous drive unit for synchronously driving the plurality of threaded rods .   The plurality of bottle-shaped containers sequentially transferred by the conveyer are inserted into the spiral groove of the screw conveyor fixedly arranged and cut out sequentially, and from the side with respect to each of the cut-out bottle-shaped containers A plurality of fitting contact portions provided on a pressing and holding body disposed opposite to the screw conveyor are brought into contact, and each bottle container is pressed and held by the fitting contact portion and the spiral groove, and thereafter And filling the injection holes of a plurality of filling nozzles into the respective bottle-shaped containers, and injecting the filling material into the bottle-shaped containers from the injection holes for filling.

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