JP3187785U - Cap conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

A cap transport device capable of preventing a cap from being caught in a gap between an opening of a hopper bottom and a lifting head.
In a cap transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention, an opening 12a of a cylindrical body provided at the bottom of a hopper is formed in a shape including a straight portion and a curved portion, and the inside of the cylindrical body is formed. The head portion 21 that moves up and down is formed in a columnar shape having the same planar shape as the shape of the opening 12a. For this reason, since the clearance gap between the curved part of the opening part 12a and the head part 21 becomes curvilinear, it can prevent effectively that a cap is pinched | interposed into the said clearance gap.
[Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a cap transporting device that transports a disk-shaped cap made of a magnetic material such as a cap of a bottle or a cap of a canister.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a cap transporting device that transports a disk-shaped cap made of a magnetic material such as a bottle cap or a cap of a dough can in a vertically upward direction while adsorbing with a magnetic force. For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a cap transport device having a transport conveyor having a belt capable of attracting a cap in a hopper by magnetic force, and a lifting head capable of reciprocating vertically in an opening formed in the bottom of the hopper. Is described.

  In Patent Document 1, the belt is arranged in the opening, and is configured to continuously run at a constant speed in the vertical upward direction. The cap stored at the bottom of the hopper is pushed up by the elevating head that rises from the opening, and is adsorbed by the magnetic force to the conveying surface of the belt. The cap adsorbed on the conveying surface is conveyed above the hopper while maintaining the adsorbed state, and is discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the sorting path.

Registered Utility Model No. 3034481

  In the cap transport device having the above configuration, the opening at the bottom of the hopper is formed in a rectangular shape, and the planar shape of the lifting head that moves up and down in the opening is also formed in the same rectangular shape as the shape of the opening. The For this reason, for example, when the thickness of the cap is thin or when a flange portion is formed on the peripheral edge of the cap, the peripheral edge of the cap may be caught in a linear gap between the opening and the lifting head. In this case, there is a problem that the cap is deformed or damaged, or the operation of the lifting head is hindered and the operation of the apparatus is stopped.

  In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a cap conveying device that can prevent the cap from being caught in the gap between the opening at the bottom of the hopper and the lifting head.

In order to achieve the above object, a cap transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a hopper, a first cylinder mechanism, and a transport conveyor.
The hopper has a hopper body and a cylindrical body. The hopper body is configured to accommodate a plurality of disk-shaped caps made of a magnetic material. The cylindrical body is provided at the bottom of the hopper body, and has an opening having a shape including a straight portion and curved portions connecting both ends of the straight portion.
The first cylinder mechanism includes a columnar head portion and a first cylinder portion. The head portion has an upper end surface having the same planar shape as that of the opening, and is disposed inside the cylindrical body. The first cylinder portion is between a first height position at which the upper end surface protrudes from the opening and a second height position at which the upper end surface is accommodated inside the cylindrical body. The head portion is moved up and down.
The conveyance conveyor has a belt and a magnet. The belt is disposed between the linear portion of the opening and the head portion, and has a conveyance surface facing the head portion. The magnet is disposed to face a surface of the belt opposite to the conveyance surface, and magnetically attracts the cap to the conveyance surface. The said conveyor is comprised so that the said cap adsorbed | sucked to the said conveyance surface may be conveyed above the said hopper.

  In the cap conveying device, the cap stored in the hopper bottom is lifted up while being stirred by the head portion protruding from the opening of the hopper bottom, and guided to the conveying surface of the belt. Typically, the head unit periodically moves upward, thereby efficiently adsorbing the cap to the belt conveyance surface, thereby increasing the conveyance efficiency of the cap.

  Here, in the cap transport device according to the present invention, the opening of the cylindrical body provided at the bottom of the hopper is formed in a shape including the straight portion and the curved portion, and the head portion that moves up and down the inside of the cylindrical body is provided. It is formed in a columnar shape having the same planar shape as the shape of the opening. For this reason, since the gap between the curved portion of the opening and the head portion is curved, it is possible to effectively prevent the cap from being sandwiched in the gap. On the other hand, although the gap between the straight portion of the opening and the head portion is linear, there is a belt that runs upward in the gap, so that the periphery of the cap is not caught in the gap.

  Therefore, according to the cap transport device, for example, even when the cap is thin or a flange is formed on the periphery of the cap, the cap bites into the gap between the opening at the bottom of the hopper and the head. Can be effectively prevented. Thereby, deformation of the cap can be prevented and stable conveyance of the cap can be realized.

  The shape of the curved portion forming the opening at the bottom of the hopper is not particularly limited, and typically, an appropriate curved shape such as a semicircular shape, a semi-elliptical shape, a semi-oval shape, or a combination of these multiple curved shapes is used. It can be adopted. The curved portion includes one in which both ends connected to both ends of the straight portion are each linearly formed.

The cap conveyance device may further include a second cylinder mechanism having a rod portion and a second cylinder portion.
The rod part has a tip part facing the inside of the hopper body. The second cylinder portion includes the rod portion between a first position where the tip portion does not protrude into the hopper body and a second position where the tip portion protrudes into the hopper body. Is reciprocated in the axial direction.
Thereby, the said cap can be efficiently guide | induced to a hopper bottom part, stirring the some cap which retains in the surrounding wall part of a hopper main body with the said rod part.

Furthermore, the cap conveying device may further include a fluid circuit that is connected to the first cylinder part and the second cylinder part and drives the first cylinder part and the second cylinder part.
In the fluid circuit, when the first cylinder portion is driven so that the head portion moves from the first height position to the second height position, the rod portion is moved to the first position. The second cylinder portion is driven so as to move from the first position to the second position.
The fluid circuit may be configured such that when the first cylinder portion is driven so that the head portion moves from the second height position to the first height position, the rod portion is moved to the second height position. The second cylinder portion is driven so as to move from the position to the first position.
Thus, by synchronizing the raising / lowering operation of the head unit and the advance / retreat operation of the rod unit, it is possible to increase the efficiency of sucking the cap onto the belt conveyance surface and the conveyance efficiency of the cap by the conveyance conveyor.

The upper end surface of the head part may be formed as an inclined surface that is inclined downward toward the conveying surface of the belt.
As a result, the cap, which is scooped up from the hopper bottom at the upper end surface of the head portion, can be efficiently slid down toward the conveying surface of the belt, and the suction efficiency to the conveying surface can be increased. In addition, since the upper end surface of the head portion is formed by the inclined surface, the cap that enters the gap is more likely to come into contact with the curved portion of the opening portion than the upper end surface, so that the cap enters the gap. The amount is limited. As a result, the possibility of the cap being caught in the gap can be further reduced.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively prevent the cap from being caught in the gap between the opening portion of the hopper bottom and the head portion. Thereby, deformation of the cap can be prevented and stable conveyance of the cap can be realized.

It is a front view which shows the cap conveyance apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the same side view. It is the same schematic plan view. It is a figure which shows the shape of the opening part of the hopper bottom part in the said cap conveying apparatus. It is a principal part front view which shows the structure of the 1st cylinder mechanism in the said cap conveyance apparatus. It is a perspective view inside a hopper which shows the raising / lowering operation | movement of the head part in a said 1st cylinder mechanism. It is a principal part front view which shows the structure of the 2nd cylinder mechanism in the said cap conveying apparatus. It is a side view of the principal part explaining operation of the 1st cylinder mechanism and the 2nd cylinder mechanism. It is a piping block diagram which shows one structural example of the fluid circuit which drives the said 1st cylinder mechanism and the said 2nd cylinder mechanism. It is a figure explaining the difference in an effect | action of the said cap conveying apparatus and its comparative example. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the cap which is a conveyance object.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 is a front view showing a cap conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a left side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof. In the figure, an X axis and a Y axis indicate horizontal directions orthogonal to each other, and a Z axis direction indicates a vertical direction orthogonal to the X axis and Y axis.

  The cap transport apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is an apparatus for transporting caps C having the form shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B one by one to the next process. 11A is an overall perspective view of the cap C as viewed from the top surface side, and FIG. 11B is an overall perspective view of the cap C as viewed from the bottom surface side. The cap C is made of a magnetic metal such as iron or magnetic stainless steel, and is formed, for example, in the shape of a shallow dish illustrated by drawing or the like. The cap C is employed, for example, as a lid for cans and various tanks, and a flange portion Ca is provided at the peripheral edge.

  The cap transport device 100 includes a hopper 10, a first cylinder mechanism 20, a second cylinder mechanism 30, and a transport conveyor 40. Hereinafter, details of the cap conveyance device 100 of the present embodiment will be described.

[Hopper]
The hopper 10 includes a hopper body 11 capable of accommodating a plurality of disc-shaped caps C made of a magnetic material, and a cylindrical body 12 provided on a bottom portion 11 a of the hopper body 11.

  The hopper body 11 is made of, for example, a metal material such as stainless steel, and a plurality of support columns 15 connected to the base 60 are provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof.

  The hopper body 11 has a bottom portion 11a having a substantially rectangular planar shape, and four side surfaces provided continuously on four sides of the bottom portion 11a. One of the four side surfaces is formed by a vertical surface 11b parallel to the Z-axis direction, and the other three side surfaces are formed by inclined surfaces 11c, 11d, and 11e that are inclined toward the bottom portion 11a.

  A cylindrical body 12 is provided on the bottom 11 a of the hopper body 11. The cylindrical body 12 is configured by a cylindrical body that extends downward from the bottom portion 11 a and has an upper end and a lower end in the axial direction (Z-axis direction), and the upper end of the cylindrical body 12 is continuous with the bottom portion 11 a of the hopper body 11. Provided. An opening at the upper end of the cylindrical body 12 (hereinafter referred to as an opening 12 a) is formed at a substantially central portion of the bottom 11 a of the hopper body 11, and the internal space of the tubular body 12 communicates with the inside of the hopper body 11. Formed as follows.

  FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the opening 12a. The opening 12a of the cylindrical body 12 has a shape including a straight portion 12a1 and a curved portion 12a2 connecting both ends of the straight portion 12a1.

  The straight line portion 12a1 is an edge portion that is located on the vertical surface 11b side of the hopper body 11 and is parallel to the Y-axis direction, and the curved portion 12a2 is an edge portion that is formed on the inclined surface 11d side from the straight line portion 11a1. The shape of the curved portion 12a2 is not particularly limited, and an appropriate curved shape such as a semicircular shape, a semi-elliptical shape, a semi-elliptical shape, or a shape obtained by combining these curved shapes can be employed. In the present embodiment, the curved portion 12a2 is formed in a semi-oval shape in which both ends connected to both ends of the straight portion 12a1 are linearly formed.

[First cylinder mechanism]
The first cylinder mechanism 20 has a head portion 21 and a first cylinder portion 22.

  The head portion 21 is a columnar body disposed inside the cylindrical body 12 and has a top end surface 21a having a planar shape identical to the shape of the opening 12a. That is, the planar shape of the upper end surface 21a has a straight line part and a curved part that connects both ends of the straight line part, and corresponds to the shape of the opening 12a. In the present embodiment, the upper end surface 21 a of the head portion 21 is formed as an inclined surface that is inclined downward toward the vertical surface 11 b of the hopper body 11. The inclination angle of the upper end surface 21a is not particularly limited, and is formed, for example, at an inclination angle equivalent to the inclined surface 11d.

  The head portion 21 has a uniform axial cross-sectional shape throughout its axial direction (height direction). A predetermined gap or less is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the head portion 21 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 12, whereby the head portion 21 is configured to be slidable inside the cylindrical body 12. Further, an appropriate gap through which the belt 41 of the transport conveyor 40 can pass is provided between the linear portion 12a1 of the opening 12a and the head portion 21.

  The first cylinder portion 22 is for linearly moving the head portion 21 in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) inside the cylindrical body 12, and is constituted by an air cylinder in the present embodiment. The first cylinder part 22 is disposed between the head part 21 and the base 60.

  5A and 5B are front views of the main part of the cap transport device 100 showing the configuration of the first cylinder mechanism 20. 6A and 6B are perspective views of the inside of the hopper showing the lifting and lowering operation of the head unit 21. FIG.

  The first cylinder part 22 includes a cylinder 221 and a drive rod 222 accommodated inside the cylinder 221. The cylinder 221 is connected to a bracket 61 fixed to the base 60, and the drive rod 222 is connected to the inside of the head unit 21. Accordingly, the head portion 21 can be moved up and down with a predetermined stroke in the Z-axis direction by expansion and contraction of the drive rod 222. That is, the first cylinder portion 22 has a first height position (top dead center) where the upper end surface 21a protrudes from the opening portion 12a by a predetermined amount as shown in FIGS. 5A and 6A, and FIGS. 5B and 6B. In this way, the head portion 21 is moved up and down between the second height position (bottom dead center) where the upper end surface 21 a is accommodated inside the cylindrical body 12.

[Second cylinder mechanism]
7A and 7B are front views of main parts of the cap transport device 100 showing the configuration of the second cylinder mechanism 30, and FIGS. 8A and 8B are side views of the same. 7A and 7B, the first cylinder mechanism 20 is not shown.

  The second cylinder mechanism 30 is installed on the hopper body 11, and is installed on the outer surface of the inclined surface 11d of the hopper body 11 in this embodiment. The second cylinder mechanism 30 has a pair of rod parts 31 and a second cylinder part 32.

  Each of the pair of rod portions 31 includes a cylindrical shaft member that is substantially orthogonal to the inclined surface 11 d of the hopper body 11, and has a tip portion 31 a that faces the inside of the hopper body 11. The opposite end of each rod portion 31 is connected to the second cylinder portion 32 via a connecting plate 33.

  The second cylinder portion 32 is for linearly moving each of the pair of rod portions 31 in the axial direction thereof, and is constituted by an air cylinder in the present embodiment. The second cylinder part 32 is disposed between the pair of rod parts 32.

  The second cylinder part 32 includes a cylinder 321 and a drive rod 322 accommodated in the cylinder 321. The cylinder 321 is installed on a bracket 34 fixed to the outer surface of the inclined surface 11 d of the hopper body 11 in parallel with the rod portion 31, and the drive rod 322 is connected to a connecting plate 33 that connects the pair of rod portions 31. . Thus, the pair of rod portions 31 can be linearly moved with a predetermined stroke in the axial direction by expansion and contraction of the drive rod 322. That is, the second cylinder portion 32 has a first position where the tip 31a does not protrude into the hopper body 11 as shown in FIGS. 7A and 8A, and a tip 31a as the hopper as shown in FIGS. 7B and 8B. Each rod part 31 is reciprocated in the axial direction between the second position protruding into the main body 11.

[Fluid circuit]
FIG. 9 is a schematic piping diagram showing a configuration example of the fluid circuit 50 that drives the first cylinder portion 22 and the second cylinder portion 32. The first and second cylinder parts 21 and 22 are respectively connected to the fluid circuit 50 and driven by the fluid circuit 50 in synchronization with each other. Since the first cylinder part 22 and the second cylinder part 32 are driven by a common fluid circuit 50, the drive circuit for the cylinder parts 22 and 32 can be simplified.

  The fluid circuit 50 is configured by a pneumatic circuit, and includes a first pipe 51 and a second pipe 52. The first pipe 51 is connected to the first cylinder chamber 22 a of the first cylinder portion 22 and the first cylinder chamber 32 a of the second cylinder portion 32, respectively. The second piping 52 is connected to the second cylinder chamber 22 b of the first cylinder portion 22 and the second cylinder chamber 32 b of the second cylinder portion 32, respectively. The first piping 51 is connected to the air tank 53 via the first electromagnetic valve 510, and the second piping 52 is connected to the air tank 53 via the second electromagnetic valve 520.

  The first solenoid valve 510 and the second solenoid valve 520 are configured by, for example, a two-position three-port solenoid switching valve, and are controlled by the controller 54. The controller 54 excites the first and second solenoid valves 510 and 520 at the same time and stops the excitation at the same time. The controller 54 periodically performs excitation and stoppage of the first and second electromagnetic valves 510 and 520.

  When the first solenoid valve 510 is not energized, as shown in FIG. 9, the first pipe 51 communicates with the air tank 53, and a predetermined air pressure is applied to the first cylinder chambers 22 a and 32 a of the cylinder portions 22 and 32. Is introduced. On the other hand, when the second solenoid valve 520 is not excited, the communication between the second pipe 52 and the air tank 53 is cut off as shown in FIG. Air of 22b and 32b is exhausted outside. As a result, the head portion 21 of the first cylinder mechanism 20 rises to the first height position, and each rod portion 31 of the second cylinder mechanism 32 moves to the first position.

  On the other hand, when the first electromagnetic valve 510 is excited, the communication between the first pipe 51 and the air tank 53 is cut off, and the air in the first cylinder chambers 22a and 32a of the cylinder portions 22 and 32 is cut off. Is exhausted to the outside. On the other hand, when the second solenoid valve 520 is excited, the second pipe 52 communicates with the air tank 53, and a predetermined air pressure is introduced into the second cylinder chambers 22b and 32b of the cylinder portions 22 and 32, respectively. As a result, the head portion of the first cylinder mechanism 20 is lowered to the second height position, and each rod portion 32 of the second cylinder mechanism 32 is moved to the second position.

  As described above, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the fluid circuit 50 moves the first cylinder portion 22 so that the head portion 21 moves from the first height position to the second height position. When driving, the second cylinder part 32 is driven so that each rod part 31 moves from the first position to the second position. 8A and 8B, the fluid circuit 50 drives the first cylinder portion 22 so that the head portion 21 moves from the second height position to the first height position. Drives the second cylinder part 32 so that each rod part 31 moves from the second position to the first position.

[Conveyor]
The conveyor 40 includes a belt 41, a driving roller 42 a and a driven roller 42 b that run the belt 41, and a magnet 43 that magnetically attracts the cap C to the conveyor surface 41 a (FIGS. 6A and 6B) of the belt 41.

  The belt 41 is composed of, for example, an endless belt made of synthetic resin, which is stretched between the driving roller 42a and the driven roller 42b. The driving roller 42a and the driven roller 42b are rotatably installed at the lower end and the upper end of the gantry 44 installed on the base 60, respectively. The drive roller 42 a is rotationally driven by a motor M installed on the base 60.

  The belt 41 has a forward path that travels in the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 2 and a return path that travels in the direction indicated by arrow B. The forward path of the belt 41 is installed with the conveying surface 41 a facing the inside of the hopper body 11 so as to pass through the inside of the cylindrical body 12 of the hopper 10. At this time, the belt 41 is disposed between the straight portion 12a1 of the opening 12a and the head portion 21, and is configured to be slidable with respect to the opening 12a and the head portion 21.

  The magnet 43 is composed of a plate-like permanent magnet disposed along the forward path of the belt 41 and is installed on the gantry 44. The belt 41 is disposed to face the surface opposite to the transport surface 41a so that a magnetic field is formed on the transport surface 41a of the belt 41. In the present embodiment, the magnet 43 is configured by a single strip extending in the Z-axis direction. Alternatively, the magnet 43 may be configured by a plurality of magnet plates arranged at intervals in the Z-axis direction. Good.

  The magnet 43 may be formed to a size capable of forming a magnetic field over the entire conveyance surface 41a, or may be formed to a size capable of forming a magnetic field only in a partial region of the conveyance surface 41a. Alternatively, the magnet 43 may be formed with a uniform width along the height direction (Z-axis direction), or may be formed with a different width depending on the height position. That is, the attracting area on the transport surface 41a may be set in the shape of the magnet 43. For example, the magnet 43 may function as a pacing means, such as dropping an unnecessary cap C during transport.

  Further, the conveyor 40 has a discharge track 45. The discharge track 45 is provided on the gantry 44 so as to extend obliquely downward to the downstream end of the forward path of the belt 41. The gantry 44 includes a guide rail 46 that makes the caps C adsorbed to the conveyance surface 41a in a single row along the forward conveyance path of the belt 41, and a wiper that eliminates the overlap of the caps C adsorbed to the conveyance surface 41a. An appropriate delivery member such as 47 is installed. The guide rail 46 has a curved portion 46 a for guiding the cap C on the transport surface 41 a to the discharge track 45. The gantry 44 is further provided with a transparent cover 48 so as to shield the conveyance path of the cap C by the belt 41 from the outside.

  Next, a typical operation of the cap transport device 100 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

  A large amount of cap C is put into the hopper 10. The first cylinder mechanism 20 and the second cylinder mechanism 30 are driven by a fluid circuit 50, and the head portion 21 and the rod portions 31 are reciprocated at a predetermined cycle. Further, in the conveyor 40, the motor M causes the belt 41 to travel at a predetermined constant speed via the driving roller 42a. Therefore, the cap C located in the vicinity of the belt 41 is attracted or attracted to the conveying surface 41 a of the belt 41 by the magnetic field of the magnet 43.

  The cap C stored in the bottom portion 11a of the hopper body 11 is lifted up while being stirred by the head portion 21 protruding from the opening portion 12a of the bottom portion 11a, and is guided to the conveying surface 41a of the belt 41. The cap C guided to the transport surface 41 a is transported vertically upward while being attracted and held on the transport surface 41 a by the magnetic field formed by the magnet 43. The front surface side of the cap C may be attracted to the transport surface 41a, or the back surface side may be attracted to the transport surface 41a.

  The cap C held on the transport surface 41 a is made into a single row by the guide rail 46 and made into a single layer by the wiper 47. Overlapping caps and caps that deviate from the transport path fall into the hopper 10. The caps C are guided from the conveying surface 41a to the discharge track 45 by the curved portion 46a of the guide rail 46, and discharged one by one to the next process.

  In the present embodiment, since the head portion 21 is lifted and lowered so as to periodically protrude from the opening 12a, the cap C can be efficiently guided toward the transport surface 41a. In particular, since the upper end surface 21a of the head portion 21 is formed as an inclined surface that is inclined downward toward the conveying surface 41a of the belt 41, the cap C slides down the upper end surface 21a toward the belt 41, and the conveying surface 41a It becomes easy to be adsorbed. Thereby, the adsorption efficiency of the cap C to the conveyance surface 41a can be increased, and the conveyance efficiency of the cap C by the belt 41 can be increased.

  Further, the cap C located in the vicinity of the bottom portion 11a of the hopper body 11 and on the peripheral wall portion (particularly the inclined surface 11d) is pushed out toward the bottom portion 11a by the pair of rod portions 31 protruding from the inclined surface 11d. . Thus, the caps C staying on the inclined surface 11d can be efficiently guided to the hopper bottom portion 11a while being stirred by the both rod portions 31.

  In particular, the head portion 21 is moved up and down and the rod portions 31 are moved back and forth so that each rod portion 31 protrudes toward the inside of the hopper body 11 when the head portion 21 descends toward the inside of the opening 12a. And the cap C stays inside the hopper body 11 is suppressed. Moreover, since each rod part 31 protrudes simultaneously, many caps C can be pressed at once, and stirring efficiency is improved. Further, since each rod portion 31 is provided on the wall surface (inclined surface 11d) facing the conveyance surface 41a of the belt 41, the cap C can be pushed out to the belt conveyance surface 41a by the rod portion 31.

And in this embodiment, the opening part 12a of the hopper bottom part 11a is formed in the shape which has the linear part 12a1 and the curve part 12a2 which connects the both ends, and the head part 21 which raises / lowers the inside of the cylindrical body 12 is the opening part 12a. It is formed in a columnar shape having the same planar shape as the shape. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 10A, since the gap G1 between the curved portion 12a2 of the opening 12a and the head portion 21 is curved, the depth at which the cap C enters the gap G1 is limited, and the opening 12a It is possible to prevent the cap C from being sandwiched between the head portion 21 and the head portion 21. As a result, the driving of the first cylinder mechanism 20 due to the biting of the cap C into the gap G1 is not stopped, and stable operation of the apparatus can be ensured.
Although the gap between the straight portion 12a1 of the opening 12a and the head portion 21 is linear, there is a belt 41 that runs upward in the gap, so that the cap C is not sandwiched in the gap. Absent.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10B, for example, when the opening 121a at the bottom of the hopper is formed in a rectangle, the head 121 is formed in a rectangle whose planar shape corresponds to the opening 121a. In this case, the gap G2 between the opening 121a and the head part 121 is both linear, and the straight line length is larger than the gap G1. For this reason, as compared with the present embodiment, the depth at which the cap C enters the gap G2 is increased, which makes it easier for the cap C to rise, and as a result, the cap C is easily bitten into the gap G2. Such a problem is more likely to occur as the cap C becomes thinner, and a stable conveyance operation of the cap cannot be ensured.

  Furthermore, since the upper end surface 21a of the head portion 21 is formed as an inclined surface that is inclined downward toward the belt 41, a cap that tries to enter the gap G1 as compared with the case where the upper end surface 21a is formed as a horizontal surface. C comes into contact with the curved portion 12a2 of the opening 12 more easily than the upper end surface 21a. The amount of cap C entering the gap G1 is limited. Thereby, the possibility that the cap C is bitten in the gap G1 can be further reduced.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to effectively prevent the cap C from being bitten between the opening 12a and the head portion 21, and thus it is possible to prevent the cap C from being deformed by biting. In addition, it is possible to prevent the conveyance failure due to the operation stop of the apparatus and realize the stable conveyance of the cap C. Further, even when the thickness of the cap C is small, the same effect can be obtained.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the first cylinder portion 22 and the second cylinder portion 32 are both configured by pneumatic cylinders, but may be configured by hydraulic cylinders instead.

  Moreover, although the 2nd cylinder mechanism 30 was comprised so that it might have a pair of rod part 31, the number of the rod parts 31 is not restricted to this, You may be comprised by single or 3 or more. Further, the peripheral wall portion of the hopper body 11 on which the rod portion 31 is installed is not limited to the inclined surface 11d, and may be installed on another inclined surface, or may be installed on each of a plurality of inclined surfaces. Furthermore, the second cylinder mechanism 30 may be omitted as necessary.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Hopper 11 ... Hopper main body 12 ... Cylindrical body 12a ... Opening part 20 ... 1st cylinder mechanism 21 ... Head part 22 ... 1st cylinder part 30 ... 2nd cylinder mechanism 31 ... Rod part 32 ... 2nd Cylinder part 40 ... Conveyor 41 ... Belt 43 ... Magnet 50 ... Fluid circuit C ... Cap

Claims (4)

A cylinder having an opening having a shape including a hopper main body capable of accommodating a plurality of disc-shaped caps made of a magnetic material, and a curved portion provided at the bottom of the hopper main body and connecting the linear portion and both ends of the linear portion. A hopper comprising:
A columnar head portion having an upper end surface having the same upper end surface as that of the shape and disposed inside the cylindrical body, a first height position at which the upper end surface projects from the opening portion, and the upper end surface are A first cylinder mechanism having a first cylinder part that moves the head part up and down between a second height position housed inside the cylindrical body,
A belt disposed between the linear portion of the opening and the head portion and having a conveying surface facing the head portion, and opposed to a surface opposite to the conveying surface, and disposed on the conveying surface. A cap conveyer, comprising: a magnet that magnetically attracts the cap; and a conveyer configured to convey the cap adsorbed on the conveyance surface to above the hopper. It is a cap conveyance apparatus of Claim 1, Comprising:
A rod portion having a tip portion facing the inside of the hopper body; a first position where the tip portion does not protrude into the hopper body; and a second position where the tip portion protrudes into the hopper body. And a second cylinder mechanism for reciprocally moving the rod portion in the axial direction between the cap portions. It is a cap conveyance apparatus of Claim 2, Comprising:
A fluid circuit connected to the first cylinder part and the second cylinder part for driving the first cylinder part and the second cylinder part;
The fluid circuit is:
When the first cylinder portion is driven so that the head portion moves from the first height position to the second height position, the rod portion moves from the first position to the second height position. Driving the second cylinder part to move to a position;
When the first cylinder portion is driven so that the head portion moves from the second height position to the first height position, the rod portion moves from the second position to the first height position. A cap conveying device that drives the second cylinder portion to move to a position. It is a cap conveyance apparatus of any one of Claims 1-3,
The upper end surface of the head unit is formed by an inclined surface that is inclined downward toward the conveyance surface of the belt.

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