JP2856534B2 - Capper with chuck direction control device - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a capper for capping a container such as a bottle, and more particularly, to a cap for a cap holding head having an asymmetrical directional cap on its outer peripheral shape. The present invention relates to a capper with a chuck direction regulating device for regulating the direction of a chuck portion to match the direction of the cap when gripping by a portion.

(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 in the conventional cap gripping head is formed of hard rubber or the like, and as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a vertical cross-sectional shape having a substantially square ring 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 may there be a gap between the cap and the chuck portion, but also
As shown in FIG. 11, a positioning projection 103 is provided on a part of the cap which has recently been increased, and the direction of the cap when the cap is completely tightened 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. In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, 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 capable of accurately and evenly gripping the outer peripheral surface of a cap of any shape with a simple configuration, and Eliminate the disadvantages of technology,
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a capper excellent in workability in which the direction of the chuck portion is automatically controlled in accordance with the supply direction of the cap even when the cap has an asymmetrical direction.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is directed to a cap gripping head having a chuck portion which is linked to a driving-side rotating portion via a clutch mechanism and has a substantially same shape as a cap. A direction regulating device that regulates the direction of the chuck portion is disposed on a spindle having a series of, and a cap supply direction detector that detects the direction of the cap is disposed in a cap supply path. Technical means for controlling the direction restricting device based on a detection signal of a detector so that the direction of the chuck portion matches the direction of the cap is adopted.

(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. And the chuck can be matched in directionality, so that no abnormal deformation occurs for caps of any shape and even for caps that are easily deformed. Accurate capping work can be realized, and even when the cap has an asymmetrical direction, the workability can be improved because the direction of the chuck portion is automatically controlled in accordance with the supply direction of the cap. It has a very beneficial effect.

Embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. 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, which 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; 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 friction plate 5 is pressed by the compressed air pressure supplied to the bottom surface of the pressing body 6.
The contact / separation or contact pressure with respect to the rotating plate 3 is adjusted,
The rotation and stop of the spindle 4 or the magnitude of the rotation force is adjusted. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a direction regulating plate fixed to the spindle 4, and reference numeral 12 denotes a stopper.
The main part of the direction regulating device for regulating the direction of the chuck portion is constituted. 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, and 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. FIG. 4 exemplifies a cap having an asymmetrical directivity. However, in the capper of the present invention, a necessary number of chuck rubbers 21 having inner peripheral surfaces of a type corresponding to these are prepared in advance and appropriately replaced. Will be used. 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 via the pipe system (B) 14 and the flow path (B) 15, the piston 20 descends and the space between the tapered surfaces 19 and 22 is lowered. With the sliding, the left and right chuck rubber supports 23, 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, 25 and 26.
Indicates a return spring.

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.

FIG. 7 shows a cap supply device, in which 34 is a chute, 35 is a rotating disk rotating in synchronization with the cap gripping head 13, 36 is a cap, and 37 is the cap 36.
A cap supply direction detector 38 for detecting a supply direction of the chuck part 38 is a chuck part direction detector for detecting the direction of the chuck rubber 21 constituting the chuck part by detecting the direction of the cap gripping head 13, respectively. The cap supply direction detector 37 and the chuck section direction detector 38 are configured by using electrical or optical means, and have a difference in shape before and after the supply direction of the cap or a rotation angle of the cap gripping head 13 from a reference point. And the like, that is, the respective directions, that is, their postures are detected. Since the purpose of the chuck section direction detector 38 is to detect the direction of the chuck section, any form can be used as long as the direction of the chuck section can be detected as a result. .

Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 7, when the cap 36 is supplied onto the rotating disk 35 via the chute 34, the rotating disk 35 is synchronized with the cap gripping head 13. To supply the cap 36 to the capper. When the cap is supplied to the capper, the cap is gripped by the chuck rubber 21 of the cap gripping head 13.In this case, in order to match the direction of the chuck rubber 21 with the direction of the cap, The direction restricting device provided on the spindle 4 performs its function. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the supply of the compressed air to the air cylinder 29 by the pipeline system (C) 30 is performed from the end of the previous capping operation to the start of the current cap gripping operation. When the stopper 12 is stopped, 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 is engaged with the stopper 12 to restrict the rotation, whereby the chuck is rotated. The operation of regulating the direction of the rubber 21 is performed.

In this case, when the cap 36 has an asymmetrical directionality as in the present embodiment, an accurate gripping operation cannot be expected unless the orientation of the chuck portion of the cap gripping head 13 is made to match this. For this reason, in this embodiment, the cap supply direction detector 37 is provided in the cap supply path, and the chuck portion direction detector is also provided on the cap gripping head 13 side.
38, and controls the operation of the stopper 12 that constitutes the direction regulating device based on these detection signals to regulate the direction of the direction regulating plate 11, so that the orientation of the chuck portion is oriented in the direction of the cap. The configuration to match is adopted.
That is, the detection signal regarding the supply direction of the cap 36 from the cap supply direction detector 37 and the detection signal regarding the direction of the chuck section from the chuck section direction detector 38 are compared with a timing, and the directionality is determined. When it is in the same position, the stopper 12 is maintained as it is, that is, in the stop operation side, and when they do not match, the stopper 12 is
The supply of compressed air by the pipeline system (C) 30 is resumed for a short period of time to remove the air, and the direction regulating plate 11 is rotated half a turn so that the direction of the chuck portion matches the supply direction of the cap. This completes the direction regulation work. Note that, in this embodiment, the case where the cap 36 has an asymmetric directionality only in the front-rear direction with respect to the supply direction has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various types of caps having multidirectionality may be used. Needless to say, it can be handled. In that case, the number of steps formed on the direction regulating plate 11 and the number of times the steps are removed from the stopper 12 in the direction regulating work are appropriately selected according to the state of the directionality.

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. 8, 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, a slip occurs between the rotating plate 3 and the friction plate 5 to rotate. You will lose 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
Because the return spring 12 is returned to the stop operation side by the return spring 31, the direction regulating plate 11 stops rotating at a position where the step portion contacts the stopper 12. In this case, as described above, the detection signal regarding the supply direction of the cap 36 from the cap supply direction detector 37 and the detection signal regarding the direction of the chuck section from the chuck section direction detector 38 are compared while taking timing. However, when the directions match, the stopper 12 is maintained as it is, that is, on the stop operation side, and when the directions do not match, the stopper 12 is stopped only once from the step portion of the direction regulating plate 11. The supply of compressed air by the pipeline system (C) 30 is resumed for a short period of time to remove the air, and the direction regulating plate 11 is rotated half a turn so that the direction of the chuck portion matches the supply direction of the cap. This completes the direction regulation work.

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-described embodiment, the case where the friction plate 5 is operated by the compressed air pressure as the clutch mechanism has been described, but the liquid pressure may be used instead of the compressed air pressure, or the friction plate may be used. It is possible to adopt a mechanical configuration that applies a spring force as the operation mechanism 5 and control the spring force to adjust the rotation and stop of the spindle 4 or the magnitude of the transmission torque. In addition, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a fluid clutch, an electromagnetic clutch or the like is adopted 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 regulation of the rotation angle of the spindle by the direction regulating device. In combination with this, accurate and unbiased 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) As described above, the cap supply direction detector for detecting the direction of the cap is provided in the cap supply path, and the direction of the chuck portion is determined based on the detection signal of the cap supply direction detector. To match the orientation of
Because the direction regulating device is controlled, even when the cap has an asymmetrical direction, accurate gripping can be realized without strictly adjusting the supply direction in the supply operation of the cap, and the chuck is provided. Since the direction control of the section is automatically performed, the structure of the cap feeding device can be simplified, and the workability in the direction regulating operation can be improved.

(4) Since the configuration is simple, it is unlikely to cause a failure, and the device can be provided at low cost.

[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 longitudinal sectional view of the cap gripping head portion, FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the chuck portion, FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (c) are plan views of caps of various shapes, FIGS. FIG. 7 is an enlarged explanatory view of a direction regulating device in an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of a cap supply device, FIG. 8 is a time chart relating to compressed air supply relation, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic bottom view of FIG.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory view relating to deformation of a cap generated at the time of capping in a conventional apparatus, and FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cap. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Driving side rotating part 3 ... Rotating plate 4, ... Spindle 5 ... Friction plate, 6 ... Pressing body 9 ... Piping system (A), 10 ... Flow path (A) 11 ... Direction Control plate 12 Stopper 13 Cap gripping 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 34 ... Chute, 35 ... Rotating disk 36 ... Cap 37 ... Cap supply direction detector 38 ... Chuck direction detector

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A spindle having a cap gripping head connected to a driving-side rotating portion via a clutch mechanism and having a chuck portion having substantially the same shape as the cap.
A direction regulating device for regulating the direction of the chuck portion is provided, and a cap supply direction detector for detecting the direction of the cap is provided in a cap supply path, and a cap supply direction detector is provided based on a detection signal of the cap supply direction detector. A capper with a chuck direction regulating device, wherein the direction regulating device is controlled so that the direction of the chuck portion matches the direction of the cap.