JP2846721B2 - Capper with chuck direction restriction function - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a capper for capping a container such as a bottle, and more particularly to a cap having an outer peripheral shape other than a circular shape, for example, an elliptical shape or a rectangular shape. The present invention relates to a chuck direction regulating device for regulating the orientation of the chuck portion to match the orientation of the cap when the cap is gripped by a chuck portion of a cap gripping head.

(Prior Art) In a capper for capping a cap such as a screw cap on a container such as a bottle, a spindle in which a cap gripping head is conventionally connected is connected to a drive side rotating unit via a clutch mechanism. It is known that the rotational force applied to the cap by the action is adjusted to be constant, or the capping of the cap having the pouring nozzle is devised so that the direction of the pouring nozzle becomes constant. (See JP-B-57-21920 and JP-A-61-190487).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, regarding the shape of the cap recently, there is a tendency that not only a circular shape but also a special shape is adopted more frequently due to a design or the like. However, measures against the conventional method of gripping the cap by the cap gripping head have not been sufficient, and various problems may occur with caps other than circular.

That is, the chuck portion 101 of the conventional cap gripping head is formed of hard rubber or the like, and as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a vertical cross-sectional shape is formed into a substantially square ring shape, and a circular shape is used. Not only the cap,
It was also used to hold caps of special shapes such as the elliptical cap 102. However, aside from a circular cap, a specially shaped cap
When gripping the cap with the chuck portion, not only is there a risk of misalignment between the cap and the chuck portion,
A positioning projection 103 is provided on a part of the recently increasing cap as shown in FIG. 10, and the direction of the cap when the cap is tightened to the end by this and the other projection provided on the container side. In the case where the cap is easily deformed, as shown in the figure, the pressing force F at the time of grasping is locally deformed due to the partial bias, as shown in FIG. In some cases, it is impossible to accurately control the directionality of the cap by the protrusion 103. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, when the longitudinal cross section on the major diameter side of the elliptical cap is formed in an arc shape at both ends, it is often not easy to grip the chuck itself. .

In view of this point, the present invention realizes a cap gripping head and a direction regulating device capable of accurately and uniformly gripping the outer peripheral surface of a cap of any shape with a simple configuration. It is an object of the present invention to provide a capper which solves the drawbacks of the prior art.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a chuck portion which is linked to a driving-side rotating portion via a clutch mechanism and has a substantially same shape as the outer peripheral shape of a cap. A direction regulating device that regulates the direction of the chuck portion is provided on a spindle having a cap gripping head connected thereto, and the direction of the chuck portion when grasping the cap is regulated via the direction regulating device, and capping is performed. Sometimes, a technical means of releasing the direction regulating device and performing a capping operation is employed.

(Operation) According to the present invention, the cap is formed by the fact that the shape of the chuck portion of the cap gripping head is formed substantially the same as the outer peripheral shape of the cap, and the rotation angle of the spindle is regulated by the direction regulating device. This ensures that the orientation of the chuck and the chuck part match, so that even if the cap is easily deformed, even if it is easily deformed, it will not cause abnormal deformation, This has a beneficial effect that a simple capping operation can be realized. In addition, since the direction of the chuck portion is regulated through the regulation of the rotation angle of the spindle itself that performs capping, the direction between the cap and the chuck portion is determined in a series of operations of gripping the cap and capping the container. Sex matching can be performed easily and smoothly.

Embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG. 1 shows a main part of a capper embodying the present invention. A drive-side rotating unit connected to a drive system such as a motor is shown, and is attached to a rotating plate 3 fixed to the drive-side rotating unit 1 by a fixing bolt 2 and a spindle 4 so as to be slidable only in the axial direction, and It is linked to the spindle 4 via a clutch mechanism constituted by a friction plate 5 having a friction material on its upper surface.
In the drawing, reference numeral 6 denotes a pressing body for pressing the friction plate 5, reference numeral 7 denotes a thrust bearing, and reference numeral 8 denotes a spring, respectively, which is provided through a pipe system (A) 9 and a flow path (A) 10 communicating with a compressed air source. The contact or separation or contact pressure of the friction plate 5 with respect to the rotary plate 3 is adjusted by the air pressure supplied to the bottom surface of the pressing body 6, and the rotation and stoppage of the spindle 4 or the magnitude of the rotational force are adjusted. In the drawing, reference numeral 11 denotes a direction regulating plate fixed to the spindle 4, and reference numeral 12 denotes a stopper, both of which are main parts of a direction regulating device that regulates the direction of a chuck portion of a cap gripping head 13 connected to the spindle 4. Is composed. In the drawings, reference numerals 14 and 15 denote a pipeline system (B) and a flow path (B) for supplying compressed air to the cap gripping head 13, or 16 and 17 denote support members having a guiding function.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cap gripping head 13. The inside of the head case 18 has a tapered surface at the bottom.
A piston 20 forming a part 19 and a chuck rubber 21 constituting a chuck part are fixed inside, and the piston
Tapered surface 22 slidably joined to 20 tapered surface 19
Are formed on the left and right chuck rubber supports 23, 23. The chuck rubber 21 is divided into two right and left parts as shown in FIG. 3, and each inner peripheral surface is formed in substantially the same shape as the outer peripheral surface of the cap. Although the shape of the cap is illustrated in FIG. 4, the capper of the present invention has a chuck rubber 21 having an inner peripheral surface of a shape of a type corresponding to the shape.
Are prepared in advance and used after being appropriately replaced. Of course, it is needless to say that caps of various shapes other than the above can be accommodated. Thus, when compressed air is supplied to the back surface of the piston 20 through the pipe system (B) 14 and the flow path (B) 15, the piston 20 descends,
With the sliding between the tapered surfaces 19 and 22, the left and right chuck rubber supports 23 and 23 move inward, and the cap is gripped by the chuck rubber 21. In the drawing, reference numeral 24 denotes a means for preventing rotation of the piston 20, and reference numerals 25 and 26 denote return springs.

5 and 6 show a direction regulating device for regulating the direction of the chuck rubber 21 constituting the chuck section. In the figure, reference numeral 27 denotes a lever which supports the stopper 12 and rotates about a fulcrum 28. The lever 27 is rotated by being pressed by an air cylinder 29, and rotates by the air cylinder 29.
It is configured to release the restriction on. In addition,
In the figure, 30 is a pipeline system (C) for supplying compressed air to the air cylinder 29, 31 is a return spring, 32 is a support pin, and 33 is a roller.
33 constitutes the stopper 12.

Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment will be described. When a cap is supplied to the capper of this embodiment in an aligned state via a known cap sorter, the cap is moved to the chuck rubber 21 of the cap gripping head 13. However, in this case, when the cap is not circular, accurate gripping cannot be expected unless the direction of the chuck rubber 21 matches the direction of the cap. Here, the direction regulating device disposed on the spindle 4 exhibits its function. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, from the end of the previous capping operation to the start of the current cap gripping operation, the pipeline system (C) 30
When the supply of compressed air to the air cylinder 29 is stopped by this, the stopper 12 is returned to the stop operation side by the return spring 31, so that the step formed on the direction regulating plate 11 engages with the stopper 12. As a result, the rotation of the chuck rubber 21 is regulated. In this case, if two step portions are formed on the direction regulating plate 11 as in the embodiment shown in FIG.
It is effective not only for caps that are symmetrical as shown in the examples of FIGS. 4A to 4C, but also for directional control work for caps that are asymmetrical as shown in the examples of FIGS. It is. In other words, when aligning and supplying this kind of flat cap via a cap sorter, it is most preferable to regulate only the flat side and align it only in the flat direction, and supply it without any particular restriction in the front-rear direction. Although this is a simple supply method, in the case of adopting this method, in the case of the former caps (a) to (c), the shape is bilaterally symmetric, so that the forward and backward directionality in the supply direction is small. Since it does not come out, there is no particular need to consider it, but in the case of the latter caps (d) to (f),
Since the front-back direction is generated in the supply direction from the left-right asymmetric shape, it is necessary to match the direction of the chuck part to this. However, as described above, two steps are previously provided on the direction regulating plate 11. By forming a portion, it is possible to control the directionality of the chuck portion by controlling the stopper 12 according to the supply direction of the cap and selectively operating the two step portions. Therefore, this makes it possible to match the direction of the chuck portion with the supply direction of the cap. On the other hand, when the cap sorter adopts a supply method of aligning not only the flat direction but also the front-back direction with respect to the supply direction,
Even in the case of a cap having an asymmetrical direction as described in (d) to (f), the direction of the supplied cap is always adjusted to be constant. Is always constant.
Of course, the eleven steps can be dealt with by forming one.

Thus, when the cap gripping head 13 starts the cap gripping operation, the supply of compressed air is started via the pipeline system (B) 14 and the flow path (B) 15 at the cap gripping position. As a result, the piston 20 descends and slides between the tapered surfaces 19 and 22, so that each of the chuck rubbers 21 and 21 moves inward to accurately grip the cap. In this case, as described above, the chuck rubber
Since the inner circumference of the cap 21 is formed to have substantially the same shape as the outer circumference of the cap, and the direction of the cap and the direction of the chuck rubber 21 are matched by the above-described direction regulating operation, the accuracy is extremely high. Thus, it is possible to perform a proper gripping and to prevent a biased pressing force from being applied to the cap.

In the example of FIG. 7, the supply of compressed air by the pipeline system (B) 14 and the supply of compressed air by the pipeline system (C) 30 are set to be performed at the same timing.
At the same time that the cap is gripped by the chuck rubber 21, the stopper 12 also comes off and the cap gripping head 13 can be rotated to wait for the next operation. However, the supply of compressed air by the pipe system (C) 30 Can be appropriately delayed until the next capping operation.

When the cap gripping operation by the cap gripping head 13 is completed, the next capping operation is started, and compressed air is applied to the bottom surface of the pressing body 6 of the clutch mechanism through the pipeline system (A) 9 and the flow path (A) 10. Supply is started.
As a result, the pressing body 6 moves upward, and the thrust bearing 7
The frictional plate 5 constituting the clutch mechanism is pressed against the rotary plate 3 via the, and the rotational force of the drive side rotary unit 1 is transmitted to the spindle 4. In this case, the magnitude of the transmitted torque can be adjusted by controlling the supply pressure of the compressed air. When the rotational force is transmitted to the spindle 4 in this manner, the cap gripping head 13 that grips the cap connected to the spindle 4 also starts rotating, and the capping is performed in a state where the orientation is adjusted via a known star wheel. The capping operation is started for the filled container transferred to the operation position. When the capping operation is completed, as described above, the protrusions formed at the corresponding positions of the cap and the container are used to restrict the directionality of the cap when tightened to the end. Touching said cap gripping head
When the rotation of 13 is stopped, the tightening is completed while the direction of the cap keeps the predetermined relationship with the direction of the container, and thereafter, the slip occurs between the rotating plate 3 and the friction plate 5 to rotate. You will escape power.

As a result, when the capping operation is completed, the compressed air supplied to the clutch mechanism via the pipeline system (A) 9 and the flow path (A) 10 is supplied to the pipeline system (B) 14 and Cap holding head via flow path (B) 15
All of the supply of compressed air to the back surface of the piston 20 and the supply of compressed air to the air cylinder 29 of the direction control device via the pipe system (C) 30 The operation is stopped, and the operation for regulating the direction of the next chuck portion is started.

When the supply of compressed air to the clutch mechanism is started again via the pipeline system (A) 9 and the flow path (A) 10, the compressed air is supplied to the air cylinder 29 by the pipeline system (C) 30. The supply of
Since the return spring 12 is returned to the stop operation side by the return spring 31, the rotation of the direction regulating plate 11 is regulated at a position where the step portion contacts the stopper 12, and as described above, the shape of the cap and its supply Depending on the state, the direction regulating plate may be left as it is or the stopper 12 may be removed once.
11 is further rotated a half turn, and the operation of regulating the direction of the chuck rubber 21 is completed.

Thereafter, the above operations are repeated, and the capping operation is continued.

The direction of the compressed air supplied to the bottom surface of the pressing body 6 of the clutch mechanism via the pipeline system (A) 9 and the flow path (A) 10 in the direction regulating work is determined by the direction regulating plate. Supply of compressed air is configured to stop the supply when the step 11 contacts the stopper 12, or to supply compressed air after the start of the direction regulating work or after the step of the direction regulating plate 11 contacts the stopper 12. The pressure may be reduced to make the clutch mechanism slippery, and supply may be continued until the start of the next capping operation, or various measures may be taken.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the friction plate 5 is operated by the compressed air pressure as the clutch mechanism has been described. However, a liquid pressure may be used instead of the pressure type air pressure, or the frictional force may be changed. It is possible to adopt a mechanical configuration using a spring force as an operation mechanism of the plate 5 and control the rotation and stop of the spindle 4 or the magnitude of the transmission torque by controlling the spring force. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which a fluid clutch, an electromagnetic clutch, or the like is employed as the type of the clutch mechanism itself.

(Effect of the Invention) As a result of employing the above configuration, the present invention can obtain the following effects.

(1) The shape of the chuck portion of the cap gripping head is formed to be substantially the same as the outer peripheral shape of the cap, and the orientation of the cap and the chuck portion is matched through the regulation of the rotation angle of the spindle by the direction regulating device. That combined with
Accurate and even gripping is realized, so that caps of various shapes can be easily and accurately capped without being limited to the outer shape of the cap.

(2) As described above, since even and uniform gripping is realized, not only troubles caused by deformation due to local pressing are prevented, but also capping of easily deformable cap is easy and accurate. Will be able to do it.

(3) Since the direction of the chuck is regulated through the regulation of the capping spindle itself, the direction of the chuck is easily controlled in a series of operations of gripping the cap and capping the container. It can be performed smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an entire apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the cap gripping head portion, FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the chuck portion, FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (f) are plan views of caps of various shapes, FIGS. FIG. 7 is an enlarged explanatory view of the direction regulating device in the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a time chart relating to the supply relation of compressed air, FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional cap gripping head portion, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a bottom view, FIG. 10 is an explanatory view relating to deformation of the cap generated at the time of capping in the conventional apparatus, and FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cap. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Drive side rotating part 3 ... Rotating plate 4, ... Spindle 5 ... Friction plate, 6 ... Pressing body 9 ... Pipe system (A), 10 ... Flow path (A) 11 ... Direction Control plate, 12 Stopper 13 Cap holding head 14 Pipe system (B), 15 Flow path (B) 20 Piston 21 Chuck rubber 23 Chuck rubber support 27 ... Lever, 28 ... Support point 29 ... Air cylinder 30 ... Piping system (C), 31 ... Return spring 32 ... Support pin, 33 ... Roller

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A spindle having a cap gripping head connected to a drive-side rotating portion via a clutch mechanism and having a chuck portion having substantially the same shape as the outer peripheral shape of the cap. A direction regulating device for regulating the direction is arranged, and while regulating the direction of the chuck portion at the time of gripping the cap via the direction regulating device,
A capper with a chuck direction regulating function, wherein the capping operation is performed by releasing the direction regulating device at the time of capping.