JP2922721B2 - Conveyor conveyor for lightweight containers - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conveyor device for transporting lightweight containers such as resin bottles, and more particularly to a conveyor device for transporting such lightweight containers.
While supporting and guiding the upper part such as the bottleneck part, the device is designed so that the transfer work etc. for shifting from the air conveyor that conveys by the propulsive force of the air jet to the traveling conveyor that conveys in the mounted state is performed smoothly. It relates to the improved technology that has been applied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a lightweight container of this type is transported on a bottling line or the like while being placed, it is not stable because the container is light in weight. There were drawbacks that involved considerable technical difficulties. Therefore, conventionally, the use of a traveling conveyor that uses a slat chain or the like to convey a container mounted thereon is kept to a minimum, and as a conveyance means for other parts,
The above-mentioned difficulties have been solved by using an air conveying conveyor which conveys by a propulsion force of an air jet while supporting and guiding an upper portion of a container such as a bottleneck portion (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-20563). ).

[0003]

In the conventional air transport conveyor, a damper or the like is provided at an appropriate portion of an air duct in order to obtain a smooth transport state, and an appropriate propulsive force acts on the container over the entire line. For example, the air jet is adjusted so that the air flow is adjusted. However, in spite of the above contrivances, in the actual operation state, the container tends to be conveyed in a slightly inclined state due to the way of applying the propulsion force in the air conveyance conveyor and the restriction due to the layout. Therefore, particularly in the transfer area from the air conveyance conveyor to the traveling conveyor or in the vicinity thereof, troubles such as catching of the container, falling down, biting in the infeed screw or the container stopper portion, etc. are likely to occur, and smooth conveyance is impaired. I was That is, in this air transport conveyor, a propulsive force is applied by an air jet to the upper part of the container, and a moment acts on the container from the propulsive force and the frictional resistance in the support and guide portion of the container. Tend to be conveyed in a slightly inclined state, which caused the trouble. Further, in the case of a layout in which empty containers are transported to the upper floor using the air transport conveyor, the inclination state of the container that is further added in the ascending process remains on the upper floor, so that the above-described trouble occurs. Tended to increase. As described above, an object of the present invention is to improve a transport conveyor device for a lightweight container using an air transport conveyor so as to eliminate the above-mentioned trouble that is likely to occur in a transfer area from an air transport conveyor to a traveling conveyor or in the vicinity thereof. An object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor device for lightweight containers.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention connects a downstream end of an air transport conveyor for transporting the container while supporting and guiding an upper portion thereof, and a downstream end of the air transport conveyor. In a light-weight container conveyance conveyor device in which a transfer area is formed by vertically and vertically overlapping the upstream end of a traveling conveyor that conveys the container with the container placed thereon, the conveyance path of the air conveyance conveyor A technical means of arranging a rotatably supported free star wheel thereon was employed.

[0005]

According to the above-mentioned technical means, the container conveyed while being slightly inclined on the air conveying conveyor is guided to the free star wheel when passing through the free star wheel provided on the conveying path. Then, the forcibly inclined state is corrected to the vertical state, so that the occurrence of the trouble is greatly reduced.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a layout according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes an air transport conveyor, 2 denotes a traveling conveyor, and the downstream end 3 of the air transport conveyor 1 and the traveling conveyor, respectively. Upstream end 4 of conveyor 2
Are arranged in a vertically superposed state, and a transition area from the air transport conveyor 1 to the traveling conveyor 2 is formed by the superposed portion L. As shown in FIG. 3, the air conveying conveyor 1 supports and guides a lightweight container 5 such as a blow-molded plastic container at an upper portion such as a bottle neck portion by a support guide rail 6 or the like. The container 5 is configured to be conveyed by applying a propulsive force to each of the containers 5 by an air jet formed by flowing compressed air into the internal air passage 9 through the injection port 8. On the other hand, traveling conveyor 2
Is a conveyor of the type in which the slat chain is transported by running the slat chain while the container 5 is placed on the slat chain or the like.

[0007] By the way, in the transport line of this kind of container, a traveling conveyor is used as an introduction conveyor at an entrance portion thereof in consideration of a working mode in a processing machine such as a bottle washer or a filling machine. It is needless to say that it is optimal to switch the transport to the stationary state. However, in the polymerization section L and the introduction section to the processing main unit for changing the transport state, as described above, the container 5 is light and the air on the air transport conveyor 1 is slightly reduced. However, since there is a tendency that the container is conveyed at an inclination angle θ, there is a problem that the container is liable to cause troubles such as catching of the container, overturning, and biting in the infeed screw or the container stopper. In order to prevent this trouble, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a free star wheel 10 rotatably supported on an appropriate portion of the main body of the air transport conveyor 1 is provided upstream of the overlapping portion L. It is arranged. As shown in FIG. 2, the free star wheel 10 is disposed on both sides of the transport path of the container 5, and has a pocket portion 11 formed on the outer peripheral surface, the pocket portion 11 being adapted to the size of the container 5. The pocket portion 11 has an inner peripheral surface formed of a vertical wall surface having a predetermined height. When the container 5 approaches the free star wheel 10, the outer peripheral surface of the container 5 is guided to the vertical wall surface. Then, while the posture is corrected from the inclined state to the vertical alignment state, each of the free star wheels 1 is adjusted.
It will pass through zero. In this case, since the free star wheel 10 is rotatably supported,
It rotates freely as the container 5 passes. In the drawings, reference numeral 12 denotes a side guide, and reference numeral 13 denotes a side wall of the air transport conveyor 1, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, an infeed screw 14 is provided at an introduction portion of the traveling conveyor 2 into a processing machine (not shown), and a container stopper 15 is provided upstream of the infeed screw 14. Further, intermediate stoppers 16 and 17 which are interlocked with the container stopper 15 are disposed at appropriate portions in the transport path of the air transport conveyor 1. Incidentally, the container stopper 15 is, as shown in FIG.
A stopper member 19 rotatably supported on the support shaft 18 is provided, and the operation thereof is controlled via drive means (not shown). Further, the intermediate stoppers 16, 17
As shown in FIG. 3, a drive means such as an air cylinder 20 fixed to the side walls 13 on both sides and a contact part 21 made of a friction material or the like attached to the tip of the actuator thereof, and a control means (not shown) And is configured to operate in conjunction with the operation of the container stopper 15 via the. 2 in FIG.
Reference numeral 2 denotes an opening, and 23 in FIG. 4 denotes a side guide.

During normal operation, the air transport conveyor 1 guides the containers 5 forward by the air jet from the jet port 8 while being supported and guided by the support guide rails 6. Conveyed. in this case,
As described above, the sheet tends to be conveyed with a slight inclination angle θ, but this inclination is corrected to a vertical alignment by passing through the free star wheel 10, and the vertical alignment state is corrected. A transfer to the traveling conveyor 2 in the overlapping section L is performed below. In this case, a smoother transfer can be realized by gradually reducing the strength of the air jet near the downstream end of the air conveyor 1. Each container 5 transferred onto the traveling conveyor 1 in this manner is further introduced into a processing main unit (not shown) via an infeed screw 14 and a predetermined process is performed. Next, when the transport of the container 5 is stopped halfway for any reason,
The container stopper 15 disposed on the upstream side of the infeed screw 14 is operated via control means (not shown) to stop the conveyance. In this case, in the present embodiment, in conjunction with the stopping operation of the container stopper 15, the intermediate stoppers 16 and 17 disposed on the conveying path of the air conveying conveyor 1 also stop at the same time, and the air cylinder 20 is driven. The contact portion 21 is moved by force to the container 5
To maintain the stopped state. Thereby, the pressing force of the rear container 5 to which the propulsive force is applied in the air conveying conveyor 1 against the container 5 in the mounted state on the overlapping portion L and the traveling conveyor 2 behind it is shut off. , The inclination and collapse of the container 5,
The occurrence of troubles such as falling down is greatly reduced. In the above description, the free star wheel 10 is illustrated as an example in which the inner surface of the pocket portion 11 is formed by a vertical wall surface having a linear cross-sectional shape. Alternatively, a pocket portion may be formed by providing a ridge portion at an appropriate interval on an outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical tubular main body. Also, regarding the mode of the installation, it is not always necessary to install on both sides of the container 5, it may be installed on only one side, and it is also possible to increase the installation locations as needed.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment related to a free star wheel.
It is characterized in that bar-shaped claws 25 are formed at a predetermined pitch on a disk-shaped outer peripheral surface. The star wheel 24 is rotated in the direction of the arrow by the pressing force from the container 5, as shown in FIG. 6, and then the claw 25 is inserted into the gap between the support guide rail 6 and the shoulder of the container 5. Is inserted at a predetermined pitch and the shoulder is pressed to correct the inclined state of the container 5. In the case of the star wheel 24, the rod-shaped claw portion 25 is inserted very smoothly and accurately into the gap of the bottle neck portion to correct the posture. It is also very effective in preventing damage to the container 5.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained based on the above constitution. (1) Since the container conveyed in a state of being slightly inclined on the air conveyance conveyor passes through the free star wheel portion, it is guided by the pocket portion and the inclined state is forcibly corrected to the vertical state. Conventionally, problems such as trapping of containers, overturning, jamming in infeed screws or container stoppers, which were liable to occur in or near the transition area from the air conveyance conveyor to the traveling conveyor due to this inclination, occurred. Is greatly reduced. (2) As a result, smooth conveyance is realized, and the operation rate of the line and the stability of operation can be improved. (3) Since the configuration is simple, there are few troubles.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a layout in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view showing a free star wheel portion in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of an air transport conveyor and an intermediate stopper in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a container stopper portion in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged parts view showing another embodiment of the free star wheel.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing an operation state in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ‥‥ Air transport conveyor 2 ‥‥ Traveling conveyor 3 ‥‥ Downstream end 4 ‥‥ Upstream end 5 ‥‥ Container 6 ‥‥ Support guide rail 7 ‥‥ Air duct 8 ‥‥ Inlet 9 ‥‥ Internal air Passage 10 Freestar wheel 11 Pocket 12 Side guide 13 Side wall 14 Infeed screw 15 Container stopper 16 Intermediate stopper 17 Intermediate stopper 18 Support shaft 19 ‥ Stopper member 20 ‥‥ Air cylinder 21 ‥‥ Contact part 22 ‥‥ Opening part 23 ‥‥ Side guide 24 ‥‥ Free star wheel 25 ‥‥ Claw part

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Atsushi Kuwata 1-5-7 Mikitei Sakaecho, Higashiosaka-shi, Osaka House Foods Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Haruo Tose 58-58, Soyoda-Honmachi, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa Shibuya Industrial Co., Ltd. In-company (72) Inventor Juro Kawamura 58 Kunizawa Ozuda Honcho, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa Prefecture Shibuya Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Mae Maenaka 172 Ikezawa-cho, Yamatokoriyama-shi, Nara Prefecture Nitta Corporation Nara Plant Co., Ltd. (72) Invention Person Hironori Kanazawa 172 Ikezawa-cho, Yamatokoriyama-shi, Nara Pref. Nita Plant Nara Factory (56) References Japanese Utility Model Application Sho 51-87878 (JP, U) US Patent 5100265 (US, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int .Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65G 47/84-47/86 B65G 47/61 B65G 51/02-51/03

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A downstream end of an air transport conveyor that transports an upper portion of a container while supporting and guiding the container, and a traveling conveyor that is connected to a downstream side of the air transport conveyor and transports the container with the container placed thereon. In a conveyor device for a lightweight container in which a transfer area is formed by overlapping the upstream end with a predetermined length up and down, a free star wheel rotatably supported is disposed on a transport path of the air transport conveyor. A conveyor device for lightweight containers, characterized in that: