JP2530376B2 - Gas leak inspection device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gas leakage inspection device, and in particular, it can be suitably used for gas (carbon dioxide) leakage inspection from the top of the mouth of a draft beer barrel container or the like. The present invention relates to a gas leak inspection device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, for example, in a draft beer barrel container or the like, which requires airtightness after filling the container with a fluid, at the shipping stage,
A thorough gas leak inspection is usually performed.

As a device for inspecting a gas leak, a leak inspection device for a beer barrel container 9 as shown in FIG. 8 has been conventionally proposed.

This device is equipped with an inspection head unit 100, which is the main part of the leakage inspection.
The inspection head unit 100 includes a seal member 101.
A cylindrical body 102 into which the seal member 101 is fitted; a conductivity sensor 132 hanging inside the cylindrical body 102; and a supply pipe 110 for supplying pure water w into the cylindrical body 102. I have it.

That is, a ring-shaped seal member 101 that may directly contact the mouth point surface 9a of the beer barrel container 9 is provided at the tip of the inspection head unit 100, and the rear portion of the seal member 101 is , Which is fitted to a cylindrical support member 102, and which is formed by the support member 102, the sealing member 101, and the mouth top surface 9a of the beer barrel container 9 into which pure water is placed. w can be stored.

The rear end 102b of the cylindrical support body 102 is connected to several guide shafts 103 provided with a biasing spring 104, and the other end side of the guide shafts 103 is connected to the lower surface of the frame body 120. Has been done. A conductivity measuring device 130 is fixed to the lower surface of the frame 120, and a conductivity sensor 132 hangs from the conductivity measuring device 130.

Further, a supply pipe 110 for supplying pure water w is fixed to the frame body 120 (a supply source of pure water w is not shown). On the other hand, an air cylinder (not shown) is attached to the upper surface of the frame body 120 via a cylinder rod 140 so that the entire inspection head unit 100 can move up and down.

According to such a conventional apparatus, the cylindrical inspection head portion 100 is brought into contact with the mouth top surface 9a of the beer barrel container 9,
A container is formed, pure water w is stored in the container, and the conductivity of the pure water w is measured to detect a leak of beer (leakage of carbon dioxide gas). Note that beer leakage occurs when there is a defect in the ring-shaped seal packing 9b.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in the conventional inspection apparatus, when the conductive impurities are mixed in the pure water w, or when the cleaning of the mouth top surface 9a and the inspection head section 100, which is usually performed before and after the inspection, is insufficient, There is a problem in that this is mistakenly detected as a leaking barrel without being affected by a normal barrel.

Further, between the cleaning device (not shown) for cleaning the top surface 9a of the mouth of the beer barrel 9 and the inspection device (inspection head part), it is necessary to take time for beer to leak and accumulate, and therefore it is usually several meters. The above-mentioned interval must be provided, and there is also a problem of poor space efficiency.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to solve the above-mentioned problems, to reliably detect a leak gas, and to have a compact structure and a low maintenance gas leak. To provide an inspection device.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a gas leakage inspection apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a carrying device for mounting and carrying a container to be inspected and a container which is adjacent to a carrying path of the carrying device and is centered for carrying the container. A centering unit for temporarily stopping at a position, and a gas leakage inspection unit located above the container aligned by the centering unit and abutting against the inspection surface of the inspection object to perform a gas leakage inspection In the gas leakage inspection device, the centering unit includes a rotatable arm that engages with a side surface of the container to perform positioning, and a link mechanism that rotates the rotatable arm. The inspection unit includes a circulation head connected to the inspection surface of the inspection object and an outlet and an inlet that communicate with an inner cavity provided at the tip of the head. , A circulation device for forcibly circulating the gas in the circulation path, and a gas leak detector for detecting the concentration of leakage gas in the circulation path, which is connected to the circulation path. And a calculator for measuring and calculating the leak gas concentration detected by the gas leak detector.

[Action]

In the gas leak inspection using the device of the present invention, the inspection head portion having the inner cavity portion is brought into contact with the inspection surface of the inspection object to form a space portion including the inner cavity portion of the inspection head portion on the inspection surface. The gas in the circulation path provided in communication with the space is forcedly circulated, and the leak gas concentration in the circulation path is measured and calculated to determine the quality of the gas leak of the inspection object. To do.

As a result, leak gas can be detected reliably, and moreover, there is no need for time to store the leak after cleaning the mouthpiece, and therefore the space between the cleaning device and the inspection device is unnecessary, so the structure itself is compact. Become.

In this inspection, the concentration of the inspection target gas in the atmosphere is measured in advance before the inspection head is brought into contact with the inspection surface of the inspection target, and the measured value is used as the reference point. Leakage is determined by the amount of increase in concentration, or the inspection head portion is brought into contact with the inspection surface to be inspected to form a space portion including the lumen portion of the inspection head portion on the inspection surface, Gas in the circulation path provided in communication with the space and the space is replaced with outside air or stable air containing the same concentration of the gas to be inspected, and then the gas is provided in communication with the space. The measurement accuracy is further improved by forcibly circulating the gas in the circulation path, measuring and calculating the concentration of the leakage gas in the circulation path, and determining the quality of the gas leakage of the inspection object.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. In this embodiment, a beer barrel container (hereinafter, referred to as barrel container 9) will be described as a leak inspection target container (inspection target).

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a gas leakage inspection device 1 of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure shows the front view.

In these figures, a device 1 is a transport device having a chain belt 2, 2, 2 for transporting a barrel container 9 from the right side to the left side, and a barrel which is provided adjacent to a transport path of the transport device and is transported. Stopper unit S having a pair of arms 10, 10 for temporarily stopping 9 and rotating arms 30a, 30a, 30b, 30b provided opposite to each other on both sides of substantially the center of the transport path with the transport path therebetween.
And a centering unit C having a gas leakage inspection unit L (first part) located above the center of the transport path and in contact with the centered top surface 9a of the barrel container 9 for inspecting the barrel container 9 for gas leaks. And FIG. 3).

 The carrier device is configured as follows.

That is, a drive shaft 4a and a driven shaft 4b are rotatably supported by bearings 5a, 5a, 5b and 5b, respectively, at both ends in the carrying direction of the device, and these shafts 4a and 4b respectively have sprockets 3a, 3a, 3a and 3b. 3b, 3b, 3b are fitted at substantially equal intervals, and a belt 2 with a chain is endlessly suspended on sprockets 3a, 3b which make a pair in the transport direction.
A drive sprocket 6 is fitted on one end of the drive shaft 4a, and the drive sprocket 6 is driven by a drive motor 7.

A stopper unit S for temporarily locking the barrel container 9 being transported is usually provided on the entrance side of such a transport device. This unit S has a pair of rotating arms 10 and 10 which are opposed to each other with a conveyance path therebetween.
These cooperate to exert functions such as locking and opening of the barrel container 9. Tip 7 of this rotating arm 10,10
Abutting rollers 13, 13 are rotatably mounted above the parts 12, 12, while the arm bases 11, 11 of the rotating arms 10, 10 are attached.
One end of the rotary shafts 14, 14 is fitted in the vertical direction. The rotary shafts 14, 14 are rotatably supported by bearings 15, 16, and a pulley 17 is fitted to the other ends of the rotary shafts 14, 14 and the rotary shafts 14, 14 are rotated around the pulley 17. The drive belt for moving is wound.

Then, by rotating the drive belt in the forward direction or the reverse direction, the rotating arms 10, 10 rotate about the rotating shafts 14, 14 within a predetermined angle range. When the arms 10 and 10 are rotated to the side of the conveying path to the maximum extent, the tip portions 12 and 12 of the arms are brought into contact with the outer peripheral side surface of the barrel container 9 to temporarily lock the barrel container. There is. Then, after a lapse of a predetermined time, the arms 10 and 10 are rotated to the outside of the transport path, the lock with the barrel container 9 is released, and the barrel container 9 is transported again by the transport device.

In addition, a centering unit C for centering and temporarily locking the barrel container 9 being transported is provided in the transport direction of the stopper unit S.

The centering unit C has a pair of rotating arms 30a and 30b on both sides of the conveying path, and the pair of rotating arms 30a and 30b are opposed to each other across the conveying path.

As shown in the figure, the pair of rotating arms 30a and 30b that are placed opposite to each other across the transport path have the same structure. Therefore, only one set installed on one side of the transport path will be described below.

That is, the rotating shafts 34a, 34b are vertically passed through the arm bases 31a, 31b of the rotating arms 30a, 30b, and the gears 40a, 40b are fitted to the upper ends thereof. Meshed with each other. The rotating shafts 34a, 34b are respectively supported by bearings 35, and the rotating shafts 34a, 34b are respectively fitted to the first link 82 and the third link 86 which constitute a link mechanism described below. ing.

6 and 7 are a plan view and a front view of the centering unit C, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the centering unit C includes a link mechanism, and the link mechanism includes
A cylinder 80, a first link 82, a second link 84, and a third link 86, and a cylinder head 80a of the cylinder 80.
Is connected to one end of the first link 82, the other end of the first link 82 is connected to one end of the second link 84, the other end of the second link 84 is connected to one end of the third link 86, The other end of the link 86 is fitted on the rotating shaft 34b. A rotary shaft 34a is fitted in the approximate center of the first link 82, and this point serves as a fulcrum. Then, the shafts 41a and 41b are inserted through the tip ends 32a and 32b of the rotating arms 30a and 30b that rotate in accordance with the predetermined rotation of the rotating shafts 34a and 34b, and the contact rollers 33a and the upper and lower ends thereof, respectively. 33b is rotatably attached.

Then, when the first link 82 is driven by the cylinder 80, the second link 84 and the third link 86 move in conjunction with this, and the rotating shaft 34a fitted in substantially the center of the first link 82. And the rotating shaft 34b fitted to one end of the third link 86 rotates, whereby the rotating arms 30a and 30b rotate via the gears 40a and 40b within a predetermined angle range, respectively. When the tip ends 32a and 32b of the 30a and 30b respectively rotate toward the transport path side, they come into contact with the outer peripheral side surface of the barrel container 9 and hold the barrel container. Since one set of such rotating arms is installed in the same manner as the other set with the transport path separated as described above, a total of four rotating arms 30a, 30a, 30b, 30b.
The outer peripheral side surface of the barrel container 9 is clamped from four sides by this, whereby the barrel container 9 is centered at a predetermined position on the transport path and locked until a gas leak inspection described later is completed.

By configuring the centering unit C using such a link mechanism, one drive source (cylinder
80) can be used to rotate four arms at the same time, and the structure is extremely simple.

The gas leak inspection unit L is installed above the barrel container 9 centered and locked in this manner.

About the said gas leak inspection unit L, FIG. 3 thru | or 5
Description will be made with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional views of the inspection head unit 60 of the unit L. Further, the inspection head unit 60 further includes a piping system, a detection unit, a calculation unit, and the like. FIG.

Frames erected from both sides of the conveying path in FIG.
A first cylinder 50 is fixed in the vertical direction through a cylinder bracket 51 at a substantially central portion of a frame F2 that is connected to and spans F1 and F1.

A cylindrical inspection head unit 60 is connected to the cylinder head of the cylinder 50.

The inside of the tip of the head 60, that is, the shape of the inside of the tip of the head 60 that comes into contact with the top surface 9a of the mouth of the barrel container 9 of the inspection object (having a sliding seal surface that may leak) is , Formed by the combination of two members 62,68 as shown in FIG.

That is, a ring-shaped convex portion 61 is provided inside the tip concave portion E of the head base 68, and a skirt portion 62a is provided between the outer peripheral surface of the convex portion 61 and the inner peripheral surface of the concave portion tip concave portion E. The ring-shaped fitting member 62 is included and formed.

The portion of the mouth of the barrel container 9 to be inspected, which is in contact with the top surface 9a, is at the line 1 shown in the drawing. Therefore, when the top surface 9a of the barrel container 9 contacts, the head portion 60
An inner cavity portion 64 is formed inside.

Two communicating holes 66a, 66b are formed in communication with the inner cavity portion 64, and an outlet hole 67a and an inflow port 67b are formed at the ends of the communicating holes 66a, 66b, respectively. Circulation pipes 69a and 69b are connected to the. The other ends of the circulation pipes 69a, 69b are respectively connected to a carbon dioxide gas detector 70 for infrared absorption or the like, and as a result, the circulation pipes 67a, 67b form a series of closed circulation paths. In such a circulation path, an air pump 74 is installed as a circulation device for forcibly circulating the air in the circulation path. Further, the carbon dioxide detector 70 has a measurement calculation section.
75 is connected. In addition, the head portion 60 and the barrel container 9
A seal member such as a cap packing (not shown) is usually provided in a portion that comes into contact with the mouth top surface 9a.

The operation of the gas leak inspection unit L will be briefly described below.

The inspection head 60 located above the barrel container 9 fixed by the positioning unit descends, and the top surface of the mouth of the barrel container 9 is lowered.
By abutting against the 9a, a space portion including a lumen portion 64 as a small closed space is formed on the top surface 9a of the barrel portion.

Then, by operating the air pump 74, the gas in the circulation path including the lumen portion 64 is forcibly circulated, and the concentration of the leak gas in the circulation path is measured and calculated to determine whether the leak to be inspected is good or bad. To judge. The leakage of carbon dioxide occurs when there is a defect in the ring-shaped seal packing 9b provided at the mouth of the barrel container shown in FIG.

Among such measuring methods, the following method is particularly preferable.

(1) Automatic zero adjustment method The carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere before or during the lowering of the inspection head unit 60 is measured, and this measured value is used as a reference point, and the leakage is determined from the reference point based on the increase amount of carbon dioxide gas. That is, it is a method of canceling the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere around the barrel container.

(2) Air replacement method The inspection head section 60 is lowered and the mouth top surface 9a of the beer barrel 9 is moved.
After forming a circulation path by making contact with the air passage, part of the circulation path is opened to form an exhaust system, and the air in the circulation path is replaced with outside air or a gas with a carbon dioxide gas concentration similar to this How to do an inspection.

This air replacement method cannot be performed in the piping system shown in FIG. 4, and, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, it is necessary to additionally provide a communication hole 66c communicating with the inner cavity portion 64. One end of a circulation pipe 69c is connected to the communication hole 66c, and the other end of the circulation pipe 69c is connected to the atmosphere or a gas cylinder having a constant concentration. Then, a solenoid valve SV1 is provided in the middle of the circulation pipe 69c, and by switching the solenoid valve SV1, appropriately,
The outside air can be introduced into the system (circulation path).

In addition, a solenoid valve SV2 is provided in the middle of the circulation path of the closed system formed by the circulation pipes 69a and 69b, and the switching of the solenoid valve SV2 causes the circulation path to switch between the closed system and the exhaust system. Has become. In this air displacement method, after the inspection head unit 60 contacts the mouth top surface 9a of the barrel container 9, first the solenoid valve SV1 is opened and the solenoid valve SV2 is set to the exhaust side, so that the circulation path is kept for a certain period of time. Replace gas with outside air. After that, the solenoid valve SV1 is closed, the solenoid valve SV2 is set to the circulation side, and the inspection is performed while operating the pump 74.

As described above, by using the automatic zero adjustment method or the air displacement method, it is possible to effectively act on the change of the carbon dioxide concentration in the ambient atmosphere and detect the leak with extremely high accuracy and surely even for the minute leak. it can.

In order to regulate each operation of each unit of the device of the present invention described above, the detection sensors 95, 96, 97, 98 are arranged at predetermined positions along the transport direction as shown in FIG. ing.

Next, the operation of the above-described device of the present invention will be described including the detection contents of the detection sensors 95, 96, 97, 98.

As shown in FIG. 1, the barrel container 9 is carried into the transport path formed by the endless belts 2, 2, 2 which move in the arrow (a) direction. At this time, the rotation arm of the stopper unit S
10, 10 project to the side of the transport path,
The barrel container 9 is once locked by 10. Then, the detection sensor 95 detects whether or not the barrel container 9 to be processed exists on the transport path. In addition to this detection, it is confirmed that the entire device (system) is in an operable state (for example, gas supply, air pressure of cylinder drive air source, etc.), and if these conditions are both satisfied,
The rotating arms 10 and 10 respectively rotate outward of the conveying path (arrow (b) direction), and the engagement with the barrel direction 9 is released, and the barrel container 9
Are transported again. Then, the detection sensor 96 detects the completion of passage of the barrel 9 and at the same time, the rotating arm.
10 and 10 are each rotated to the side of the transport path (arrow (C) direction) to lock the connected barrel container.

The presence of the barrel container 9 conveyed into the area of the centering unit C is confirmed by the detection sensor 97. Then, the four rotating arms 30a, 30a, 30b, 30b respectively rotate toward the transport path side (arrow (d) direction), and the side surface of the barrel container is sandwiched and positioned at four positions. In this case, if the container has a barrel shape, the center position of the locked container is the same regardless of the outer shape of the container.

Next, the first installed in the leak gas inspection unit L
The stroke of the cylinder 50 advances. As a result, as described above, the inspection head 60 located above the barrel container 9 descends and comes into contact with the mouth top surface 9a of the barrel container 9,
A space portion including an inner cavity portion 64 as a small closed space is formed on the top surface 9a of the barrel portion.

Then, by operating the air pump P, the gas in the circulation path including the lumen portion 64 is forcibly circulated, and the concentration of leak gas in the circulation path is measured and calculated to determine whether the leak to be inspected is good or bad. To judge. In this case, either of the above-mentioned (1) automatic zero adjustment method or (2) air replacement method can be adopted.

When the gas leak inspection of the barrel container 9 is completed in this way, the first cylinder 50 installed in the inspection unit L retracts, and the inspection head portion 60 separates from the barrel mouth point surface 9a.

At the same time, the four rotating arms 30a, 30a, 30b, 30b, which sandwiched the side surface of the barrel container 9, respectively rotate to the outside of the transport path,
The opened barrel container 9 is conveyed again, and the rear end of the barrel container is detected by the detection sensor 98. In addition to receiving this detection signal, the detection sensor 95 detects whether or not there is a barrel container 9 of a connection to be processed on the conveyance path, and further, the entire apparatus (system) is in a operable state. (For example, gas supply, air pressure of cylinder driving air source, etc.) is performed, and if these conditions are both satisfied, the rotating arms 10 and 10 rotate respectively outside the conveying path (arrow (ro )direction). As a result, the engagement with the subsequent barrel container 9 is released, the subsequent barrel container 9 is conveyed again to the area of the centering unit C, and the same operation as above is repeated.

[Effect of the Invention] In the gas leakage inspection apparatus of the present invention, the inspection head portion having the inner cavity portion is brought into contact with the inspection surface of the inspection object, and the space including the inner cavity portion of the inspection head portion on the inspection surface. Form a part,
It is configured to forcibly circulate the gas in the circulation path provided in communication with the space and to measure and calculate the concentration of the leak gas in the circulation path to judge the quality of the leak of the inspection object. Therefore, leak gas can be detected reliably, and after cleaning the base, there is no need for time to store the leak, and therefore the space between the cleaning device and the inspection device is unnecessary, so the structure itself It is compact. In particular, since the centering unit is configured to use the link mechanism, the structure is simple and the reliability is high.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 are respectively a plan view, a front view, a side view, and FIGS. 4 and 5 of the gas leakage inspection apparatus of the present invention, which are enlarged sectional views of the inspection head portion of the unit L, respectively. A schematic diagram in which a piping system, a detection unit, a calculation unit and the like are further incorporated in the inspection head section, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are a plan view and a front view of the centering unit C, and FIG. It is a front view of the leak inspection apparatus of the beer barrel container 9. 1 …… Gas leak inspection device 2 …… Belt with chain 3a, 3b …… Sprocket 4a …… Drive shaft, 4b …… Drive shaft 5a, 5b …… Bearing 6 …… Drive sprocket 7 …… Drive motor 9 …… Casket Container 10 …… Rotating arm 13 …… Abutting roller 14 …… Rotating shaft 15,16 …… Bearing 17 …… Pulley 30a, 30b …… Rotating arm 33a, 33b …… Abutting roller 35 …… Bearing 40a , 40b …… Gear 50 …… 1st cylinder 60 …… Inspection head 64 …… Lumen 67a …… Outlet 67b …… Inlet 69a, 69b …… Circulation pipe 70 …… Gas leak detector 75 …… Calculation unit, 95,96,97,98 …… Detection sensor S …… Stopper unit C …… Centering unit L …… Gas leak inspection unit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transport device for mounting and transporting a container to be inspected, and a transport device adjacent to a transport path of the transport device for centering the transported container and temporarily stopping it at a predetermined position. A gas leakage inspection device comprising: a centering unit; and a gas leakage inspection unit which is located above a container aligned by the centering unit and which is in contact with an inspection surface to be inspected to perform a gas leakage inspection, The centering unit includes a rotatable arm that engages with the side surface of the container and performs positioning, and a link mechanism that rotates the rotatable arm. The gas leakage inspection unit is configured to inspect an inspection object. A test head portion that abuts the surface, a circulation path formed by connecting circulation pipes to the outlet and the inlet that communicate with the inner cavity provided at the tip of the head, and the circulation. Device for forcibly circulating the gas in the inside, a gas leak detector connected to the circulation path for detecting the concentration of leak gas in the circulation path, and a leak gas detected by the gas leak detector A gas leak inspection apparatus comprising: a calculation unit for measuring and calculating the concentration.