JP2020189647A - Cap screwing mechanism and method of detecting screwed state - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a cap screwing mechanism that determines whether a cap is screwed with an appropriate rotation amount and toque while making use of characteristics of a variable torque controller of non-contact structure interposed between a screwing drive axle and a cap holding body, and a method of detecting a screwed state.SOLUTION: In a cap screwing mechanism of this invention, plural rotation markers 7 are arrayed and formed in a cap holding body 3 at equal intervals in a peripheral direction concentrically around a rotation axle thereof and screwed state determination means 10 determines success or failure of a screwed state based on an output value of a marker sensor 8 capable of detecting the rotation markers 7 of the cap holding body 3 that rotates.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a cap winding mechanism equipped with a variable torque control device having a non-contact structure and a method for detecting a winding state.

In recent years, as a cap tightening mechanism for winding and attaching a cap to the mouth of a container, a cap holder for holding the cap, a spindle for rotationally driving the cap holder, and a rotary driving means for rotationally driving the spindle have been used. A cap tightening mechanism equipped with an elevating means for bringing the cap holder into contact with the mouth of the container and a variable torque control device having a non-contact structure interposed between the spindle and the cap holder is used. ing.

Here, the variable torque control device having a non-contact structure is configured by arranging one hysteresis plate (disk) fixed to the main shaft between two disc-shaped magnets held by bearings in the housing. It is a torque control device that acts to generate torque by utilizing the electromagnetic hysteresis effect of two magnets, and its compactness, the fact that it is an electromagnetic type, does not require an external power supply, and always stable torque. It has characteristics such as being obtained, easy to set torque, and excellent repeatability.

The cap winding operation is started by bringing the cap holder close to the mouth of the bottle container by the elevating means, rotating the spindle by the rotary drive means, and rotating the cap holder together with the spindle. Then, when the tightening torque of the cap reaches a predetermined preset torque, the variable torque control device cuts off the transmission of rotation from the spindle to the cap holder, thereby ending the process.

However, during the winding operation of the cap, a torque defect may occur in which the torque is excessive or too small. For example, since the rotating cap holding portion is subjected to inertial action, when the winding torque reaches a preset predetermined torque, the variable torque control device is activated to block the transmission of the rotational force. It has become. However, in reality, the cap holder rotates due to inertia after the variable torque control device is activated. Therefore, when the rotation is shut off, the cap is tightened with more torque than necessary, so the cap tightening state after the cap tightening work is stronger than the correct winding state, and it may be difficult to open the container. ..

In addition, when a trouble such as biting between the cap and the mouth of the container occurs, the cap winding torque is set to a predetermined value even though the cap is not properly wound. Since the set torque is reached and the cap winding work is completed, the cap winding state may be insufficient (under) than the correct winding state, and liquid leakage in the bottle container may occur.

For example, even in the conventional cap tightening mechanism, as shown in Patent Document 1, a clutch interposed between the cap holder and the main shaft to shut off the cap winding torque and during the winding operation. In the cap tightening mechanism provided with the detecting means for detecting the tightening torque of the cap, the clutch is controlled when the detection data from the detecting means reaches a preset predetermined value set in advance by the control means. By shutting off the tightening torque, the problem of excessive winding or insufficient winding failure is solved (adjustment of the winding state by observing the torque).

JP-A-2002-68373

However, in the cap tightening mechanism provided with the variable torque control device having a non-contact structure, the tightening failure is determined by using the torque detecting means for detecting the tightening torque of the cap during the winding work as described above. Can't be done.

In a cap tightening mechanism equipped with a variable torque control device having a non-contact structure, in order to perform proper winding, the amount of rotation of the cap within the time allotted for winding is set and driven. If the amount is set excessively, the tightening state of the cap after the winding work of the cap is completed becomes stronger than the correct winding state due to the action of inertia, and it becomes difficult to open the container. Also, if the amount of rotation of the cap within the time allotted for tightening is set too low, or if the amount of rotation is insufficient due to some trouble, the tightening state of the cap after the completion of the cap tightening work will be changed. The winding may be insufficient (under) than the correct winding state, which may cause problems such as liquid leakage in the bottle container and deterioration of the contents exposed to air.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above problems, and it is determined whether or not the cap is wound with an appropriate rotation amount and torque while utilizing the characteristics of the variable torque control device having a non-contact structure. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cap tightening mechanism and a method for detecting a tightening state, which can be determined based on the timing at which the transmission of rotation to the cap holder is interrupted. ..

Therefore, the cap winding mechanism of the present invention rotates the cap holder that detachably holds the cap to be screwed into the mouth of the container, the winding drive shaft that rotationally drives the cap holder, and the winding drive shaft. A rotary drive means for driving, a variable torque control means having a non-contact structure interposed between the winding drive shaft and the cap holder, and an elevating means for bringing the cap holder into contact with the mouth of the container. A cap winding mechanism including, in which a plurality of rotation markers are formed in a concentric circle around the rotation axis at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the cap holding body, and further, the rotating cap holding body of the cap holding body. A marker sensor capable of detecting the rotation marker and a winding state determining means for determining the quality of the winding state from the output value of the marker sensor are provided.

For example, the rotation marker is an uneven surface cut on the outer peripheral wall of the housing of the cap holder, and the marker sensor is a displacement sensor.

Then, in the method of detecting the winding state of the present invention, which is the function of the cap winding mechanism of the present invention, the non-contact structure with respect to the winding drive shaft rotationally driven by the rotary drive means (electric motor) is variable. A plurality of rotation markers are formed at equal intervals on concentric circles around the rotation axis of the cap holder connected via the torque control means, and the rotation is performed by the marker sensor during the winding work of the cap with respect to the mouth of the container. The marker is detected, and the winding state determining means determines whether the winding state is good or bad from the output value of the marker sensor.

Specifically, the winding state determining means detects the rotation stop of the cap holder from the output value of the marker sensor, and whether or not the detected rotation stop time is within a preset appropriate stop time width. To judge. If the detected rotation stop time is within the preset appropriate stop time width, it is considered that the timing at which the transmission of rotation to the cap holder was cut off was also the appropriate timing, so the winding is proper winding. Judge that it is a process.

According to the cap tightening mechanism and the winding state detection method of the present invention, the variable torque control device having a non-contact structure can take advantage of excellent characteristics such as compactness, torque stability, and reproducibility to achieve appropriate torque. It has the effect of being able to detect improper winding while tightening the cap.

Longitudinal side view showing a main part of the embodiment of the cap winding mechanism according to the present invention.

The cap winding mechanism 1 of the present embodiment is provided with support tables (not shown) at the top and bottom, and an electric motor (not shown) as a rotation driving means of the winding mechanism is fixed to the upper support table.

The rotating shaft of the electric motor is a winding drive shaft 2 extending downward, and at the lower end of the winding drive shaft 2, a spindle of a cap holder 3 for holding a cap C to be attached to the container. 4 are connected via a variable torque control means 5, and the cap holder 3 is arranged so as to be vertically driven by an elevating mechanism (not shown).

Here, the variable torque control means 5 of the present embodiment is for adjusting the winding torque during the work of winding the cap C around the mouth of the bottle, and the cap C is screwed to the mouth of the container. It was assigned to winding by utilizing the electromagnetic hysteresis effect generated in a magnet type torque adjusting unit (not shown) incorporated between the spindle 4 of the cap holder 3 and the winding drive shaft 2. The torque is adjusted so as to have a predetermined winding torque set in advance within the time.

The cap C is supplied from a cap supply device (not shown).

Further, the cap holding body 3 is provided with a chuck mechanism 3b for holding the cap C at the lower part of the housing 3a. The chuck mechanism 3 in FIG. 1 employs a known vacuum type, but the chuck mechanism 3 of the cap holder 3 is not limited to the vacuum type, and may be any of known mechanical type, air tube type, and the like. May be good.

The cap holder 3 is centered so as to align the center position with the container while the cap C is held by the chuck mechanism 3, and is arranged with the shaft core of the winding drive shaft 2 as the rotation shaft.

Then, in the housing 3a of the cap holder 3, a plurality of rotation markers 7 are formed in a concentric circle around the rotation axis at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The rotation marker 7 of the cap winding mechanism 1 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is an uneven line formed by cutting at an equal pitch on the outer peripheral wall of the housing 3a of the cap holder 3.

In the present embodiment, the cap winding mechanism 1 is provided with a laser sensor 8 as a marker sensor 8 that detects the amount of change in the distance dimension due to the uneven step of the rotation marker 7 of the cap holder 3 that rotates during the winding operation. Has been done. The detection signal output from the marker sensor 8 is provided to the winding state determination means 10 via the wired or wireless signal transfer means 9.

In the present embodiment, the winding state determining means 10 detects the rotation stop timing of the cap holder 3 (hereinafter, rotation stop timing) from the detection signal of the marker sensor 8 during the winding operation of the cap C, and this The rotation stop timing is set to an appropriate time width (appropriate stop time width) for stopping the rotation of the cap holder 3 within the time assigned to the tightening stored in the storage unit of the winding state determining means 10. ) To determine if it is inside. If the rotation stop timing obtained from the detection signal of the marker sensor 8 is within the proper stop time width, it is determined that the proper winding process is performed, and if it deviates from the proper stop time width range, the illegal winding process is performed. Judge.

As the rotation stop timing, considering the rotation due to the inertia of the cap holding body 3, it is not necessary to determine that the rotation is stopped when the cap holding body 3 completely stops its rotation, and the output of the marker sensor 8 is output. When the signal is stable within the preset threshold value, it may be determined that the rotation is stopped, and the timing at which the transmission of the rotation to the cap holder 3 is cut off can be known.

Next, a method for detecting the winding state, which is an action of the cap C winding mechanism 1 of the present embodiment, will be described.

The cap holder 3 is centered so as to align the center position with the container while the cap C is held by the chuck mechanism 3.

At the time of the winding work of the cap C, the winding driving shaft 2 is rotationally driven by the rotation driving means of the cap winding mechanism 1, and the cap holding body 3 is rotated together with the winding driving shaft 2. At the same time, by bringing the cap holding body 3 close to the mouth portion of the container by the elevating means, the work of winding the cap C held by the cap holding body 3 around the mouth portion of the container is started.

Then, the variable torque control means 4 receives the cap holding body from the winding drive shaft 2 when the winding torque of the cap C reaches a preset predetermined torque during a predetermined number of rotations set in advance. By blocking the transmission of rotation to 3, the cap C is wound and the cap C is automatically wound and covered with the mouth of the container.

In the cap winding mechanism 1 and the method of detecting the winding state of the present embodiment, the marker sensor 8 detects the rotation marker 7 of the rotating cap holder 3 during the winding operation of the cap C to the mouth of the container. , The amount of change in the distance dimension due to the uneven step is output as a detection signal.

The detection signal output from the marker sensor 8 is supplied to the winding state determining means 10 via the signal transfer means 9.

The winding state determining means 10 obtains the rotation stop timing from the detection signal transferred from the marker sensor 8. Specifically, a state in which the detection signal of the marker sensor 8 is stable within a preset threshold value is regarded as a state in which the rotation of the cap holder 3 is interrupted and stopped, and is set as a rotation stop timing.

Then, it is determined whether or not the rotation stop timing is within the appropriate stop time width. That is, if the rotation stop timing obtained from the detection signal of the marker sensor 8 is within the preset appropriate stop time width, the transmission of rotation to the cap holder 3 is properly blocked, and the appropriate rotation amount and appropriate torque are obtained. It is judged that the proper winding process has been performed.

If the rotation of the cap holder 3 is stopped earlier than the proper stop time width, the transmission of the rotation to the cap holder 3 is cut off early for some reason, and the cap holder 3 is wound with an insufficient amount of rotation or torque, or , The rotation amount of the cap is set excessively, and it is an illegal winding process in which the cap is wound with an excessive torque due to the action of inertia. On the contrary, the rotation of the cap holder 3 is stopped later than the proper stop time width. If this is the case, it is determined that the rotation amount of the cap is set to be too small, and it is an illegal winding process in which the cap is wound with an excessive torque without reaching the set torque before the holding is released.

The start of detection of the rotation of the cap C by the marker sensor 8 may be, for example, the start of driving the rotation driving means of the winding mechanism as the start of detection of the rotation of the cap C, or the rotation driving means of the winding mechanism. It is also possible to set the detection start of the rotation of the cap C after a lapse of a predetermined time from the start of driving. In short, any timing may be used as long as it is the same as the detection start of the rotation of the cap C when the appropriate stop time width is determined.

Then, when the lid covering work is completed, the cap holder 3 with the chuck mechanism 3 opened is separated from the cap C wound around the container, and the winding work is completed.

For the container that is judged to have been illegally wound, the container that is judged to have been illegally wound by the operator is appropriate by displaying an alert on the monitor, lamp, etc. from the winding state determination means 10. Remove from the container group that is judged to have been wound. Alternatively, the winding state determining means 10 may drive the discharge means on the transport path of the container via another control means or the like to guide the discharge means on the transport path.

In this way, by detecting whether or not the rotation of the cap holder 3 has stopped within a predetermined time width (within the appropriate stop time width) within the time allotted for winding, the cap for each container is capped. It can be determined whether or not the winding of C is properly performed.

Further, the timing of shutting off the transmission of rotation from the winding drive shaft 2 to the cap holding body 3 by the variable torque control means 5 when considering the rotation due to the inertia of the cap holding body 3, and the set excessive rotation amount. Since it is possible to review the understatement, the cap C is wound with an appropriate torque by taking advantage of the excellent characteristics such as compactness, torque stability, and repeatability of the variable torque control means 5 having a non-contact structure. be able to.

In the present embodiment, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1, the variable torque control means 5 signals the change in the tightening torque acting on the cap holder 3 to the winding state determining means 10 and is wired or It is provided to the winding state determining means 10 via the wireless signal transfer means 11, and the winding state determining means 10 performs the winding process based on both the rotation amount of the cap C and the winding torque. If it is decided to judge the quality, a more accurate judgment result can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made as long as the features of the present invention are not impaired.

Further, the rotation marker 7 may be a printed bar (thin line), and the marker sensor 8 may be a photo sensor for detecting the bar.

Further, the winding state determining means 10 compares the waveform of the output value of the marker sensor 8 acquired each time with the waveform of the output value of the marker sensor 8 acquired in advance at the time of proper winding processing, and compares the waveform of the output value of the marker sensor 8 with the waveform thereof. It may be determined whether or not the cap C has been properly wound around each container by determining whether or not is within the preset allowable range.

Then, the winding mechanism of the present embodiment can be mounted in a required number on a winding device provided with a rotary type or a linear type container transport path.

1 Cap tightening mechanism 2 Winding drive shaft 3 Cap holder 3a Housing 3b Chuck mechanism 4 Spindle 5 Variable torque control means 7 Rotation marker 8 Marker sensor (laser sensor)
9 Signal transfer means 10 Winding state judgment means C cap

Claims (2)

A cap holder that detachably holds the cap to be screwed into the mouth of the container,
A winding drive shaft that rotationally drives the cap holder,
Rotational drive means for rotationally driving the winding drive shaft,
A variable torque control means having a non-contact structure interposed between the winding drive shaft and the cap holder,
An elevating means for bringing the cap holder into contact with the mouth of the container,
It is a cap winding mechanism equipped with
A plurality of rotation markers are formed on the cap holder on concentric circles around the rotation axis at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.
further,
A marker sensor capable of detecting the rotation marker of the rotating cap holder, and
A winding state determining means for determining the quality of the winding state from the output value of the marker sensor, and
A cap winding mechanism characterized by being provided with. Multiple rotation markers are formed at equal intervals on concentric circles around the rotation axis of the cap holder connected via a variable torque control means having a non-contact structure to the winding drive shaft that is rotationally driven by the rotation drive means. However, during the winding work of the cap with respect to the mouth of the container, the rotation marker is detected by the marker sensor, and the winding state determining means determines the quality of the winding state from the output value of the marker sensor. How to detect the winding state.

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