JP2859566B2 - Spear valve desorption device for keg for carbonated beverages - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spear valve attaching / detaching apparatus for removing a spear valve attached to a base of a carbonated beverage keg from a keg and attaching the spear valve to the keg.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A spear valve is attached to a base of a keg for drinks such as draft beer. At a store or the like, a dispensing head is attached to the spear valve and a carbonated beverage such as draft beer is poured out of the barrel. . That is,
A spear valve is opened by a dispense head when pouring a carbonated beverage, and carbon dioxide gas is injected into a barrel via the spear valve, and draft beer and the like extruded by the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas are supplied through a spear valve. It is supplied and supplied to a dispenser.

[0003] The spear valve is removed from the barrel at regular intervals or as needed, and inspection and replacement of packing are performed. The work such as replacement of the packing is performed in the following procedure.

[0004] That is, since carbon dioxide gas for discharging a beverage remains in the barrel, the residual gas pressure is firstly removed from the barrel. After that, the screw engagement between the spear valve and the base of the barrel is released, the spear valve is extracted from the barrel, and the inside of the barrel and the spear valve are inspected, or the packing is replaced. Then, a spear valve is attached to the base of the barrel again, and compressed air is further injected to keep the pressure in the barrel constant.

Conventionally, a series of operations for attaching and detaching the spear valve as described above have been performed manually using a dedicated jig.

[0006]

However, barrels for carbonated beverages such as draft beer have a considerable weight in order to maintain strength against internal pressure caused by carbon dioxide gas. Performing the above-mentioned series of operations while manually moving such heavy barrels is a heavy labor, and even if three people are assigned to work, only about 60 barrels per hour are required. It cannot be processed and the work efficiency is very low.

When the spear valve is not removed completely from the barrel when the spear valve is removed from the barrel, the spear valve is removed from the barrel by the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas as soon as the spear valve comes off from the base of the barrel. The worker has to be cautious of the work because there is a risk of jumping out, which causes the working efficiency to be further reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the operation of attaching and detaching the conventional spear valve for carbonated beverage barrels. In other words, the present invention provides an apparatus for attaching and detaching a spear valve for a carbonated beverage keg, which can improve the work efficiency and can safely perform the attachment / detachment operation of the spear valve in the knitting of the spear valve for the carbonated beverage barrel. The purpose is to: A further object of the present invention is to provide a spear-valve attaching / detaching device capable of attaching / detaching a spear valve to / from carbonated beverage barrels having different sizes.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a carbonated beverage barrel spear valve detaching apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention, which includes a conveyor for transporting a carbonated beverage barrel and a main body frame above the conveyor. A machine frame mounted to be able to move up and down, a lifting drive member for moving up and down the machine frame,
A runner fixed to the machine frame such that the rotation axis is directed downward, and a head flange of a spear valve attached to the tip of the carbonated beverage barrel attached to the tip of the rotation axis of the runner and fitted from above to the top flange. A cap that integrally rotates the spear valve by the rotation of the rotating shaft, a stopper member that positions the carbonated beverage barrel conveyed by the conveyor below the cap, and carbonic acid on the conveyor.
Reduce the width of the beverage barrel transport path and remove the small carbonated beverage barrel.
To be retractably mounted on both sides of the conveyor
And a guide member provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the carbonated beverage barrel to which the spear valve is attached is conveyed to a position below the runner by the conveyor, the carbonated beverage barrel is positioned by the stopper member and the runner rotating shaft is rotated. The axis is coincident with the axis of the spear valve mounted on the base of the carbonated beverage barrel. Thereafter, the machine frame is lowered by the lifting drive member, and the cap attached to the lower end of the rotating shaft of the runner is fitted to the head flange of the spear valve of the keg for carbonated beverages. When the cap is rotated by the drive of the runner, the cap engages with the head flange to rotate the cap integrally, thereby releasing the screwing of the sprue valve and the base of the carbonated beverage barrel.

At this time, even if the carbon dioxide gas remains in the carbonated beverage barrel, the spear valve is pressed from above by the cap of the runner, so that the sprue valve is pressed by the gas pressure in the carbonated beverage barrel. Never jump out of

When the carbon dioxide in the carbonated beverage barrel is completely discharged and the runner is driven to release the screwing between the carbonated beverage barrel and the spear valve, the runner is raised by the lifting drive member together with the machine frame, and the cap and the cap are removed. The fitting of the spear valve to the head flange is released, and the positioning by the stopper member is also released. Then, the barrel for carbonated beverages whose screwing with the spear valve has been released is carried out by the conveyor.

[0013] When the spear valve is screwed into the base of the keg for carbonated beverages, the same process is performed as described above, but in this case, the runner is rotated in the opposite direction to the above. Also on
Spear valve desorber barrel for Kisumi acid beverages, co sides by narrowing the width of the conveying path of the barrel for carbonated beverage on the conveyor mounted for storage guide member to guide the barrel for small sodas to the conveyer It is characterized by being.

[0014] When performing the desorption of the small-type carbonated beverage keg spear valve, is stored on both sides of the conveyor guide member barrels for carbonated beverage on the conveyor by being drawn onto the conveyor transport path having a width Is narrowed. Thereby, a small carbonated beverage keg having a small diameter is also located at the center of the transport path.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a spear valve attaching / detaching device A has a belt conveyor B disposed so as to pass through the spear valve attaching / detaching device A, both ends of which are respectively connected to a roller conveyor R of a barrel conveying line. Draft beer barrels T are carried two by two into the spear valve attaching / detaching device A by a pair of swinging arms C whose intermediate portions are rotatably supported at both sides of the belt conveyor B.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the spear valve attaching / detaching device A, and FIG. 3 is a right side view of the same embodiment. Figures 2 and 3
In the lower part of the main body frame 1, a pair of belt conveyors B are arranged so as to extend in the horizontal direction, and the draft conveyors T allow the draft beer barrel T to move in the spear valve attaching / detaching apparatus A from the right to the left in FIG. It is designed to be transported.

On the inlet side of the spear valve attaching / detaching device A, between a pair of belt conveyors B, a stopper arm 2 whose center is pivotally supported by a shaft 2a in a direction orthogonal to the belt conveyor B is swingable. And a locking plate 2 attached to the distal end of the stopper arm 2.
b is the belt conveyor B as the stopper arm 2 swings.
, The draft beer barrel T conveyed by the belt conveyor B is stopped at a predetermined position as described later. This stopper arm 2
Is rocked by a driving device such as an air cylinder (not shown) connected to the rear end . At the outlet side of the spear valve attaching / detaching device A, a pair of belt conveyors B
Between them, stoppers 3 and 4 are vertically movably arranged at two front and rear positions along the traveling direction of the belt conveyor B, and these stoppers 3 and 4 are connected by air cylinders 3A and 4A respectively connected thereto. The draft beer barrels T protrude from the upper surface of the belt conveyor B and are stopped at predetermined positions.

At the front and rear sides of the main body frame 1, a pair of barrel positioning frames 5 extending horizontally along the side of the conveyor are arranged at positions facing each other above the belt conveyor B. I have. Each of these positioning frames 5 has a main body frame 1.
An air cylinder 6 fixed to the positioning frame 5 is connected, and the pair of positioning frames 5 can be moved toward and away from each other by the operation of the air cylinder 6.

On the inner side surface of each positioning frame 5,
As shown in FIG. 5, two pairs of gripping claws 7 each having an arcuate concave portion 7A formed at the center thereof are attached such that the concave portions 7A face each other. When the positioning frames 5 on both sides of the belt conveyor B are brought closer to each other by the operation of the air cylinder 6, the draft beer T conveyed is sandwiched.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair of guide shafts 8 are vertically fixed to the upper part of the main body frame 1 on the upstream side and the downstream side of the belt conveyor B, respectively. Are mounted so that both ends thereof can be raised and lowered. A runner storage case (machine frame) 10 is attached to the lower part of the lifting frame 9 in a suspended state, and a pair of runners 11 are mounted in the runner storage case 10 with their rotation shafts 11A vertically downward. It is stored to face.

At the tip of the rotating shaft 11A of the runner 11,
As shown in FIG. 6, the cap 11B is
A is slidably attached to the front end of A and cannot fall off. The cap 11B and the rotating shaft 1
A spring 11C is interposed between the upper end of the rotary shaft 11A and the upper end of the rotary shaft 11A.
A is urged downward.

As will be described later, this cap 11B
It is connected to the head flange of the spear valve attached to the draft beer barrel T, and as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, three projections 11 are provided at equal angular intervals on the inner wall.
b is formed, and after the head flange S of the spear valve is fitted into the cap 11B, when the cap 11B is rotated, the projection 11b is formed in the notch S 'of the head flange S of the spear valve. The engagement causes the spear valve to rotate integrally with the cap 11B.

In FIG. 4, a pair of runners 11 are attached to a runner storage case 10 so that the distance between the runners 11 can be adjusted. A screw shaft 12 screwed to both runners 11 is provided between the runners 11. By rotating the handle 12A attached to the end of the screw shaft 12 protruding outside the runner storage case 10, the distance between the runners 11 can be adjusted.

A pair of guide shafts 13 are vertically slidably fitted to the ceiling of the main body frame 1.
The lower end of each guide shaft 13 is a runner storage case 10
It is fixed to the ceiling. At an intermediate position between the pair of guide shafts 13, a screw shaft 14 is slidably fitted in the ceiling of the main body frame 1 in a vertically slidable manner, and the lower end of the screw shaft 14 is attached to the ceiling of the runner storage case 10. It is rotatably connected to the part so as not to fall off.

On the ceiling of the body frame 1, a screw shaft 14 is screwed with a pulley 15 having an internal thread formed in the shaft hole, and the screw shaft 14 is moved up and down with the rotation of the pulley 15. It has become. The pulley 15 is driven by a pulley 17 rotated by a drive motor (not shown) via a gear box 16.
The drive belt 18 is rotated via a drive belt 18 wound around the pulley 17.

On one side of the guide shaft 13,
Four proximity switches LS1, LS2, LS3 and LS
4 are arranged along the axial direction of the guide shaft 13 so as to detect the sliding position of the guide shaft 13. That is, the proximity switches LS1 and LS2 are 2
It is for detecting the ascent and descent limits of the runner storage case 10 when removing and attaching the spear valve of the draft beer barrel T of 5 liters and 15 liters, respectively.
The proximity switches LS3 and LS4 are for detecting the ascending and descending limits of the runner storage case 10 when attaching and detaching the spear valve of the draft beer barrel T of 7 liters.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a pair of 7-liter barrel guides 19 are provided at the entrance of the main body frame 1 at positions upstream of the stopper arm 2 and on both sides of the belt conveyor B so as to face each other. Is attached. The 7-liter barrel guide 19 is arranged in a direction parallel to the belt conveyor B, and has a base shaft 19A whose both ends are rotatably supported by a gantry 20. The base shaft 19A is fixed in parallel to the base shaft 19A, and the upstream end is located on the base shaft 19A side. And a guide portion 19B that is bent inward, and as shown in FIG. 9, each of the inclined positions is turned inward about the base shaft 19A and becomes a horizontal state above the belt conveyor B, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, it is rotatable about the base shaft 19 </ b> A from the state shown in FIG. 9 to the upright position separated from above the belt conveyor B by being raised outward.

Next, the operation of the spear valve attaching / detaching device will be described. The spear valve detaching device A raises the 7-liter barrel guide 19 to hold it at the standing position and retracts it from the belt conveyor B when detaching the spear valve of the draft beer barrel T of 25 liters and 15 liters. When the spear valve of the draft beer barrel T of 7 liters is to be attached or detached, the two pairs of gripping claws 7 are removed from the barrel positioning frame 5 and the guide 1 for the 7 liter barrels is removed.
9 are tilted inward and held in a tilted position.

When the spear valves of the 7-liter draft beer barrel T and the 25-liter and 15-liter draft beer barrels T are attached and detached, the handle 12A is turned to set the distance between the pair of runners 11 to the size of each barrel. Adjust to suit.

The draft beer barrel T conveyed by the roller conveyor R advances between the pair of swinging arms C by the belt conveyor B, and once waits for two barrels between the swinging arms C. Then, the swing arm C is rotated and the downstream side is opened as shown in FIG. 1, so that the two barrels are carried into the spear valve attaching / detaching apparatus A by the belt conveyor B.

At this time, in the case of the draft beer barrel T of 7 liters, it is guided by the guide 19 for the barrel of 7 liters at the entrance of the spear valve attaching / detaching device A and is urged toward the center side of the belt conveyor B to be aligned. You.

The two draft beer barrels T carried into the spear valve attaching / detaching apparatus A have the stopper 4 which is raised from the upper surface of the belt conveyor B by the operation of the air cylinder 4A in the case of the draft beer barrels 25 and 15 liters T. The stopper 3 protrudes upward from the upper surface of the belt conveyer B by the operation of the air cylinder 3A in the case of a draft beer barrel T of 7 liters. Is stopped, the stopper arm 2 is further rotated, and the locking plate 2b protrudes upward from the upper surface of the belt conveyor B, thereby engaging with the bottom surface of the draft beer barrel T in the succeeding draft beer T. Stop the barrel T.

When the air cylinder 6 is operated in this state, the barrel positioning frames 5 on both sides of the belt conveyor B are slid in a direction approaching each other, and the side portions of the draft beer barrel T are gripped by the gripping claws 7. We sandwich from both sides. As a result, the draft beer barrel T is held by the gripper 7
Is slightly moved along the curvature of the concave portion 7A, and is positioned at the center position of the concave portion 7A. At this time, as described above, the position of the runner 11 is adjusted by the handle 12A so that the axis of the draft beer barrel T matches the axis of the runner 11.

When the positioning of the draft beer barrel T is completed,
The pulley 15 is rotated by a drive motor (not shown) via the gear box 16, the pulley 17, and the drive belt 18, and the runner storage case 10 is guided by the guide shaft 13 and the guide shaft 8 by screwing the pulley 15 and the screw shaft 14. While descending.

When the runner storage case 10 is lowered to the lower limit detected by the proximity switch LS2 or LS4, the lowering of the runner storage case 10 is stopped. At this time, the cap 11B of the runner 11 comes into contact with the spear valve of the draft beer barrel T while being urged by the spring 11C.

In this state, when the runner 11 is driven to rotate the cap 11B in the forward direction, as shown in FIGS.
1B, the notch S 'of the head flange S is engaged with the protrusion 11b, and the spear valve is rotated integrally with the cap 11B.

By the rotation of the spear valve, the screw engagement between the spear valve and the base of the draft beer barrel T is released.
Then, when the cap 11B of the runner 11 is rotated for a predetermined time and the screwing of the spear valve and the base of the draft beer barrel T is completely released, if carbon dioxide gas remains in the draft beer barrel T, this gas is removed. The spear valve attempts to jump out of the draft beer barrel T due to the pressure, but is prevented from jumping out by being pressed by the cap 11 </ b> B of the runner 11. In this state, the carbon dioxide gas in the draft beer barrel T is released to the atmosphere from between the spear valve and the base of the draft beer barrel T.

Thereafter, the pulley 15 is rotated in the opposite direction to the above, and the runner storage case 10 is raised by screwing with the screw shaft 14, and the engagement between the cap 11B and the spear valve is released. In the case of 25-liter and 15-liter draft beer barrels T, the stopper 4 is pulled downward from the upper surface of the belt conveyor B by the operation of the air cylinder 4A, and the barrel positioning frame 5
Are retracted away from each other,
In the case of a draft beer barrel T of 1 liter, the stopper 3 is pulled downward from the upper surface of the belt conveyor B by the operation of the air cylinder 3A, and the stopper arm 2 is rotated in the opposite direction to the above, so that the locking plate 2b is moved to the belt conveyor B. Of the draft beer barrel T, the positioning state of the draft beer barrel T below the runner storage case 10 is released. Thereafter, the draft beer barrel T is carried out of the spear valve attaching / detaching device A by driving the belt conveyor B.

The spear valve whose screw connection with the base of the draft beer barrel T has been released in this way is pulled out of the draft beer barrel T by hand, and the packing is replaced or inspected.

The above is the step of releasing the screwed state of the spear valve and the base of the draft beer barrel T. When the spear valve is mounted on the base of the draft beer barrel T after replacing or checking the packing. After the draft beer T with the spear valve inserted into the base is positioned at a predetermined position below the runner storage case 10 as in the case of unscrewing, the runner storage case 10 is lowered and the cap of the runner 11 is closed. 11B is in contact with the head flange S of the spear valve.

In this state, the runner 11 is driven in the direction opposite to that in the case where the screwing is released. Thereby, after the head flange S of the spear valve is fitted between the protrusions 11b of the cap 11B, the notch S 'of the head flange S engages with the protrusion 11b, and the spear valve is connected to the cap 11B. It is rotated integrally, and the spear valve is screwed into the cap of the draft beer barrel T. When the runner 11 is driven for a predetermined time, the spear valve is completely screwed into the mouthpiece of the draft beer barrel T, and then the positioning of the draft beer barrel T is released in the same manner as described above. It is carried out from A.

In the above embodiment, two runners 11 are installed and two draft beer barrels T are processed at one time in order to increase the efficiency of the spear valve attaching / detaching operation. The spear valves of the draft beer barrels T may be detached one by one by the runners, or three or more runners may be installed to process three or more draft beer barrels T at one time.

[0043]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the operation of attaching and detaching the spear valve of the barrel for carbonated beverages,
Since the removal of the spear valve from the carbonated beverage keg and the attachment of the spear valve to the carbonated beverage keg can be performed automatically without manual operation, the work efficiency can be greatly improved. Further, when the screw of the spear valve is released, even if carbon dioxide gas remains in the carbonated beverage barrel, the spear valve is pressed from above by the cap of the runner. Since the occurrence of an accident can be prevented without fear of jumping out of the barrel, the operation of attaching and detaching the spear valve can be performed safely.

[0044] Further, since the width of the transport path of the barrel for carbonated beverage on the conveyor by guide members which are stored on both sides of the conveyor are drawn on the conveyor is narrowed, for small compact carbonated beverages diameters of barrels Even when the spear valve of the keg is to be attached or detached, the carbonated keg is located at the center of the transport path, whereby the positioning of the carbonated keg is facilitated, and the spear valve and the cap are reliably connected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an arrangement of a spear valve attaching / detaching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the spear valve attaching / detaching device in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounted state of a drive unit and a runner in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an attached state of the gripping claws in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a rotation shaft portion of the runner in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing an engagement state of a cap and a spear valve in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an engaged state of a cap and a spear valve in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a small carbonated beverage keg guide and stopper according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a side view of FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Spear valve attaching / detaching device B: Belt conveyor C: Swing arm T: Draft beer barrel S: Head flange 1 ... Main frame 2 ... Stopper arm 3, 4 ... Stopper 7 ... Gripping claw 10 ... Runner storage case 11 ... Runner 11A ... Rotating shaft 11B ... Cap 11C ... Spring 15,17 ... Pulley 18 ... Drive belt 19 ... 7 liter barrel guide

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conveyor for transporting a keg for carbonated beverages, a machine frame mounted on a main body frame above and below the conveyor so as to be able to move up and down, a lifting drive member for moving the machine frame up and down, and a rotating shaft attached to the machine frame. The runner is fixed so that it faces downward, and the head flange of the spear valve attached to the tip of the barrel for carbonated beverages attached to the tip of the rotating shaft of this runner is fitted from above to rotate the rotating shaft. A cap for integrally rotating a spear valve, a stopper member for positioning a carbonated beverage barrel conveyed by the conveyor below the cap, and a cap on the conveyor.
For narrow carbonated beverages by narrowing the width of the transport path of the carbonated beverage barrels
It is stored on both sides of the conveyor that guides the barrel so that it can be stored
A spear valve attaching / detaching apparatus for a keg for carbonated beverages, comprising: an attached guide member . 2. The storage device according to claim 1 , wherein
The carbonated beverage barrel positioned by the pa
A pair of positioning frames approaching each other and a barrel for carbonated beverages
The positioning frame that sandwiches the sides of the
Gripping claw attached to the gripper, and formed at the center of the gripping claw.
Arc-shaped concave portion in contact with the side of the carbonated beverage barrel
The spear-valve attaching / detaching apparatus of the barrel for carbonated drinks according to claim 1 , characterized in that: