JP2554081B2 - Container unloader - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a container unloader that takes out a container such as a bottle from a box in a bottling line and the like, and a container unloader that can be used as a box packing machine. .

(Prior Art) FIG. 8 shows a conventional bottling line. Box 1 in Figure 8
A container take-out machine 3 for taking out the bottle 2 further, an aligning device 5 for carrying the bottle 2 and arranging them in a line, a bottling machine 6 for filling the bottle 2 with liquid, a capper 7 for capping the bottle 2, and a bottle 2 for the box 1. Boxing machine 8 for packing, transporting conveyor 9 for carrying empty box 1 from container unloading machine 3 to boxing machine 8 and conveyor for connecting various devices
It is composed of many devices such as 4,10,11.

That is, along the flow of the bottle 2, the container take-out machine 3 → bottle conveyor 4 → aligning device 5 → bottle conveyor 10 → bottling machine 6 →
The empty box 1 composed of the capper 7 → the bottle conveyor 11 → the boxing machine 8 and having the bottle 2 taken out by the container take-out machine 3 along the flow of the box 2 is a long box conveyor 9 until it is packed by the boxing machine 8. Be transported in. Further, in the container take-out machine 3 and the boxing machine 8, the container grippers are arranged in a fixed arrangement in accordance with the container pitch in the box 1, and arranged by the aligning device 5 for processing.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in FIG. 8, when processing a container such as a bottle to be handled in which the dimensions of the container are changed, it is necessary to attach a device corresponding to the container, and the number of devices is increased. Will also be many,
There was a problem that it took a lot of time to change the mold. In addition, a long box conveyor is needed to supply the boxes to the boxing machine, a bottle alignment device is required, and the container grippers are arranged in an array that matches the container pitch in the boxes, so the container mouths are The eccentric type has a problem that an aligning device is required in the preceding step of the packaging machine.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above conventional problems.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, according to the present invention, a carrier transporting device that can accommodate a container having an eccentric bottle mouth is arranged adjacent to the box transporting device and moves between the box and the carrier. In a container take-out machine having a gripper for taking out and storing a plurality of containers, a plurality of container grippers are automatically provided on a box carrier and a carrier carrier at different intervals in two directions, that is, a carrying direction and a direction orthogonal thereto. The grip block device is equipped with a grip block device, and the grip block device moves from the box carrier device to the carrier carrier device in the box advancing direction in the container advancing process in response to a signal indicating whether the bottle mouth or the front side is the rear side. It is designed to rotate the whole body forward and backward (90 °) by a motor fixed via a motor bracket to change the direction of the conveyed container. It is an stage.

(Operation) The container gripper is expanded and contracted in the left-right direction by the operation of the cylinder in the left-right direction in the grip block device. Further, the container gripper is expanded and contracted in the front-rear direction by the operation of the cylinder in the front-rear direction. Further, the grip block device can be rotated 90 ° forward and backward by a rotating device using a motor or the like.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a filling line for filling a bottle with a liquid according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 131 denotes an endless box transfer device, and the box transfer device 131 has a structure in which the rear part of the box 132 is pushed by a hook 133 and the boxes 132 are transferred at a constant interval, and a drive not shown is shown. The device makes intermittent movements. Further, a plow-shaped left and right flap opener device 134 fixed to a frame (not shown) is provided at an upper portion near the entrance of the box transport device 131, and the left and right flaps 132a of the box 132 are opened. Further, on the downstream side of the left and right flap opener 134, a front and rear flap opener device 135 that opens in the front and rear flaps 132b of the box 132 by rotating in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction by a driving device (not shown) is installed. Both opener devices 134 and 135 are arranged in the flap open station A. In addition, front and rear flaps 13
The boxes 132 are sequentially conveyed to the boxing station F side with the open parts 2b and 132a.

A carrier transfer device 136 is arranged in parallel with the box transfer device 131, and the device 136 intermittently transfers the movable carrier 137 in synchronization with the box transfer device 131 by a drive device (not shown). The mobile carriers 137 are carried by the carrier carrying device 136 while being in contact with each other. Further, the pitch of the pockets 137a of the carrier 137 is equal to or more than the vertical and horizontal pitches of the container 138 contained in the box 132, and the pocket 137a receives the container 138 and receives the container 138 at the time of filling or capping. It has a structure for holding 138 non-rotatable. Further, the mobile carrier 137 is to be carried to each station by the carrier carrying device 136. Therefore, the box transfer device 131 and the carrier transfer device 136 intermittently move from the left to the right in the figure, and the box 132 and the movable carrier 137 move to the flap open station A,
It is sequentially conveyed to each of the box unloading station B, the filling station C, the capping station D, the weight check and printing station E, and the box filling station F.

In the unpacking station B following the flap open station A, a container gripper 139 which can be moved up and down and back and forth as described later is arranged. The container gripper 139 is a well-known gripper mechanism that grips the container 138 from the box 132 and stores it in the pocket 137a of the mobile carrier 137 that has moved correspondingly. On the other hand, in the filling station C, a known filling head 140 (having the same number of heads as the number of containers 138)
Is arranged, and the liquid is filled in the container 138 by moving the container up and down.

A capping station D is installed next to the filling station C, and a cap 14 is attached to the station D.
A vibrating alignment device 143 that aligns 1 in a certain direction and conveys the chute 142 in two rows, and a plurality of caps that take out the caps 141 one by one from the tip of the chute 142 by laterally moving in the direction of arrow a. Picker 144 (4 in this embodiment)
(In the case of individual pieces), a cap removing device 145 provided with
Capping head 146 that can be moved like arrow B
And are arranged. The cap removing device 145 is
After the cap 141 filled in the cap picker 144 is taken out by the capping head 146, the cap 141 is returned to a predetermined position that does not hinder the raising and lowering of the capping head 146.

After taking out the cap 141 from the cap take-out device 145, the capping head 146 moves toward the carrier carrying device 136 to reach the upper part of the mobile carrier 137, and then toward the container 138 contained in the carrier 137. It employs a mechanism for descending and rotating when the center of the container 138 is aligned to tighten the cap 141.

Next to the capping station D, there are provided a capping state detecting device (not shown), a laser printer for printing a lot number or the like on a container, a weight checker, a print inspecting device for inspecting the print state, etc. And a packing station F is installed, and the container 138 in the normal state contained in the mobile carrier 137 is transferred to the container gripper 1 of the unpacking station B.
As with 39, grip with a container gripper and move up to
The structure is such that the container 138 can be packed in the empty box 132 by moving it toward 1.

A sealing station (not shown) is installed following the packaging station F. At the sealing station,
The box 132 in which the container 138 is packed is sealed by a sealing device (not shown). The container gripper 13
9. The filling head 140 and the capping head 146 are the container 1
The pitch of each gripper and each head can be changed according to the storage pitch of the box 132 in which 38 is stored and the movable carrier 137.

Next, the detailed structure of the grip block device 60 of the container take-out machine will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6. The container gripper 139 of FIG. 1 shows an example of four container grippers, but the following embodiment shows an example of eight container grippers.

In the figure, 12 is a motor bracket, which is a box carrying device
It is fixed to a moving frame (not shown) of the container take-out machine that moves on the top and the carrier carrying device 136. 13 is a motor fixed to the motor bracket 12 to rotate the grip block device 60 forward and backward 90 °, 14 is the motor 13 and the shaft 15
, 16 is a nut for screwing the shaft 15 and the connecting rod 17 together, 18 is a pair of left and right side plates fixed to both ends of the connecting rod 17, 19 is fixed to the side plate 18, and is paired with the same side plate 18. It is a cylinder bracket that has become.

Reference numeral 21 is a cylinder that is pivotally supported by a cylinder bracket 19 via a pin 20, and 22 is connected to the tip rods of a pair of cylinders 21 and slides in a long hole 18a formed in a side plate 18 when the rods of the cylinder 21 move in and out. The shaft 23 is a lever which is supported by the shaft 22 and the pin 24 and which is a pair of two. The pins 24 are loosely fitted in the insertion holes of the levers 23, 25 and 27, and four pins 24 form a pair. The lever 25 is pivotally supported by the pin 24 and the shaft 26, and two levers 25 form a pair. A shaft 26 is loosely fitted in the pair of bearings 29. The lever 27 is pivotally supported by a pin 24 and a shaft 28, and two levers 27 are paired. 28 is a shaft loosely fitted in the insertion hole of the lever 27, and 29 is a pair of shafts fixed to the side plate 18.

Reference numeral 30 is a cylinder fixed to the pair of side plates 18, and 31 is a pin loosely fitted in the insertion hole of the tip rod of the cylinder 30 and the insertion hole of the pin 32. The pin 32 is fixed to the connecting plate 36.
33 is a shaft fixed to the pair of side plates 18. A pair of blocks 34 are connected and fixed by a connecting plate 36, and a hole through which the shaft 33 passes is formed and is loosely fitted, and a hole through which the shaft 37 passes by sliding on the shaft 33 is formed in the direction orthogonal to the shaft 33. A pair of blocks 34
Is supported by a shaft 37. The shaft 35 has a hole through which the shaft 33 passes and is supported by the shaft 33, slides on the shaft 33, and is coaxial.
A block in which a hole through which a shaft 37 passes is formed in a direction orthogonal to 33, and the blocks 35 of the same pair are pivotally supported by the shaft 37. Axis 37
Respectively support a pair of blocks 34, 35. 38 is axis 28
A hole through which the shaft 37 passes is formed in the direction orthogonal to the same hole, and the shaft is supported by the shafts 28 and 37.
A holder 39 that slides on 7 is a container gripper that is fixed to the holder 38 and holds the container.

40 is a connecting rod that is arranged orthogonally to the connecting rod 17, and is fixed to the connecting rod 17; 41 is a concave groove formed;
A pair of guide plates fixed to 40 for guiding the roller 47 up and down, 42 pins fixed to the blocks 34 and 35, 43 loosely fitted in the insertion holes of the levers 44 and 45, and four as one set. A pair of pins, 44 is a pair of levers pivotally supported by the pins 42 and 43, and a set of four levers, and 45 is a pair of levers that is pivotally supported by the pins 42, 43 and 46, and a pair of four Is. The lever 46 pivotally supports the lever 45, and the roller 47 is attached thereto. 48 is a spacer receiver fixed to the side plate 18 and having spacers 50a and 50b mounted thereon.
9a and 49b are spacers attached to both ends and the center of the shaft 33.

The operation will now be described. By letting air into and out of the air cylinder 21 by means not shown, the rod of the air cylinder 21 comes in and out, and the shaft 22 can move left and right as indicated by arrow C in FIG. In addition, with the shaft 26 as a fulcrum, the shaft 2
8 also moves left and right like shaft 22. Therefore, the block 38 loosely fitted to the shafts 22 and 28 also slides on the shaft 37, and the container gripper 39 fixed to the holder 38 moves to X ₁ as shown in FIG. , Spreads to X ₂ when the rod “out”. Also, the stroke can be changed by replacing the spacers 50a and 50b.

Similarly, in the air cylinder 30, as the air moves in and out, the rod moves in and out, and the block 34 slides on the shaft 33.
As the roller 47 moves up and down in the groove of the guide plate 41 via the levers 44 and 45, the block 35 also slides on the shaft 33. Therefore, the holder 38 connected to the blocks 34 and 35 by the shaft 37 is
Container gripper that slides on 2,28 and is fixed to the holder 38
39 is as shown in Fig. 4 when the rod of the air cylinder 30 is "ON"
It spreads to Y _{1 and} to Y ₂ when the rod “out”. Also spacer 49a,
The stroke can be changed by replacing 49b. In addition, even if the size of the handling container changes if the packing form is the same, spacers 49a, 49b, 50a, 50b within the adjustment range
It can be opened and closed at any pitch by exchanging, and it is easy to change the mold.

The container handled in the present invention is a container whose bottle mouth is eccentric as shown in FIG. 6, but in the box advancing direction in the container removing machine pre-process, a signal indicating whether the bottle mouth is the front side or the rear side is received,
This can be dealt with by rotating forward and backward 90 ° while moving 13 from the box carrier to the carrier carrier. The container port in the carrier must be in a fixed direction due to the structure of the bottling machine and capper in the subsequent process. Further, the container packing machine in the packing station F has the same structure, and the container is taken out from the carrier and packed in the box.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, different intervals are automatically set on the box transfer device, on the box transfer device, and on the carrier transfer device in two directions, the transfer direction and the direction orthogonal thereto. Since the grip block device having a plurality of container grippers is provided, even if the size of the bottle is changed, it is possible to easily deal with a small number of parts and reduce the time for changing the mold.

Further, in the present invention, since the grip block device is configured to rotate the entire body in the forward and reverse directions (90 °) by the motor fixed through the motor bracket to change the direction of the transported container, the bottle mouth is eccentric. Even when the bottle is taken out, there is no need for an aligning device for setting the bottle mouth in the box in a certain direction in the preceding step of the container take-out machine.

As described above, the present invention can change the direction of the entire container (rotation by 90 °) and change the interval of the container at the same time, so that the time can be shortened, and the interval of the container is not changed by the extruding member, which is unstable. Even if it is a different container, it has many excellent effects such as the change of the interval with certainty.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a filling line in an article filling / packing apparatus embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a grip block apparatus in a container unloading machine showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Fig. 2 is a view in the direction of arrow III, and Fig. 4 is I in Fig. 2.
FIG. 5 is a view on arrow V, FIG. 5 is a view on arrow V in FIG. 2, FIG. 6 and FIG.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the container mouth is stored in a carrier from an eccentric container mouth, and a state in which the container mouth is rotated to the left and the bottle mouth is rotated to the right is shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the outline of a line. Description of the main parts of the figure 13 …… Motor, 39 …… Container gripper 60 …… Grip block device 131 …… Box transport device, 132 …… Box 136 …… Carrier transport device, 138 …… Container

Continuation of the front page (72) Kenjiro Tanaka, No. 1 Takamichi, Iwatsuka-cho, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya-shi Sanryo Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., Nagoya Kikai Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP 57-1094 (JP, A) JP Sho 62-28394 (JP, A) JP-B-59-52088 (JP, B2) US Patent 4164296 (US, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A container having a gripper arranged adjacent to the box transfer device for accommodating a container having an eccentric bottle mouth and for moving the space between the box and the carrier to take out and store the container. In the take-out machine, a grip block device having a plurality of container grippers at different intervals in two directions, that is, a transport direction and a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, is automatically provided on the box transport device and the carrier transport device. The grip block device is used in the box advancing direction in the process before the container unloader.
Forward and reverse rotation (90 °) of the whole by a motor fixed via a motor bracket while the bottle mouth receives a signal of front side or rear side and moves from the box carrier to the carrier carrier.
A container ejector characterized by changing the direction of the conveyed container.