JP3225226B2 - Sampling method and apparatus for glass bottle inspection - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for sampling a glass bottle for an inspection step in a glass bottle manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Different types of glass bottle products are produced for each line. Each production line includes one bottle making machine called an IS machine. The IS machine has a plurality of molding dies. In order to manage a certain product, all the bottles that are formed from all the molds being blown are extracted and inspected (the overall dimensions of the bottle, such as body diameter, height, top inclination, and inner diameter of the mouth, etc.). Inspection). One unit refers to a unit called a whole molding die being blown by the IS machine. For example, when 20 sets of molding dies are attached to a bottle-making machine, a total of 20 bottles, one bottle formed by each mold, constitute one round.

Conventionally, in order to sample bottles for inspection, a quality control staff climbs on a table provided on a transport means called an unloader at the cold end of the lehr, and sorts and collects them manually from the layer net. . In addition, in order to perform automatic sampling, the glass bottle is randomly stamped on the glass bottle with a model number (a different model number is assigned to each molding die,
It has been proposed that a bottle of one round be picked up by using an expensive model number recognizing device which reads and recognizes which molding die the bottle is formed with.

[0004]

When one round of bottles is manually selected as described above, the work is not easy and the cost (labor cost) is high. There is a problem that there is a possibility that a defect may appear in the bottle, and that there is a possibility that a foreign substance such as dust may drop and enter the product bottle when extracting. In addition, in the case of automation using a model number recognition device, the model number recognition device itself is expensive, and the device becomes large-scale and requires a large capital investment. It is. The purpose of the present invention is
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for sampling a round of bottles automatically at a designated timing automatically, inexpensively, and safely without manual operation.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for sampling a glass bottle for inspection from a glass bottle manufacturing line, comprising the steps of: the number p of forming dies attached to a bottle making machine; And the number q of bottles in a row perpendicular to the horizontal direction (hereinafter referred to as “lateral direction”) has a prime relationship with each other, and is continuous from an arbitrary row in a direction parallel to the flow direction of the lehr (hereinafter referred to as “vertical direction”). A sampling method for glass bottle inspection, wherein p glass bottles are sampled and sent to an inspection process to sample the glass bottles formed by all the molding dies.

The number p of molding dies attached to the bottle making machine
Assuming that the number of bottles in the horizontal row of the lehr and the number q of bottles in the horizontal row are relatively prime, in each row of the lehr, any continuous p bottles are all round bottles. This will be described with reference to FIGS. These figures are schematic views of the bottles arranged in the annealing furnace, and the circled numbers represent bottles formed by a specific molding die. That is, represents a bottle formed by the first and second molding dies. The bottles formed by the respective dies of the bottle making machine are transported to the stacker in a predetermined order, that is, in the order of. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, when q bottles are sent to the lehr by the stacker,
In the annealing furnace, the number of horizontal bottles is q. FIG.
Is a case where the number (p) of the molding dies of the bottle making machine is six and the number (q) of the annealing furnace in the lateral direction is seven. p and q have no common divisor (except 1) and have a relatively prime relationship. As is clear from the portion surrounded by the chain line, in any vertical row, any six consecutive ones are always one round bottles. FIG. 2 shows an example in which p is 7 and q is 9,
p and q are relatively prime relations. As is clear from the portion surrounded by the chain line, in each of the vertical rows, seven consecutive bottles are one round of. Actually, the number p of the molding dies attached to the bottle making machine is much larger, but it is exactly the same as the above-mentioned schematic example. Assuming that p is 20, q is 17, 19, 21,
A relatively prime number such as 23 may be selected.

In the above manner, one round of bottles are continuously arranged in one row in the vertical direction, and even if p consecutive bottles are selected at any timing, one round of bottles is obtained. It is very easy to sort bottles in one round, it is easy to fully automate sampling, and the equipment required for it is inexpensive. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the columns in the vertical direction in which sampling is actually performed are preferably the outermost columns because it is easiest to collect bottles.

Further, the present invention provides a method for sampling a glass bottle for inspection from a glass bottle manufacturing line, comprising the steps of:
N is the greatest common divisor of the number q of bottles in the horizontal row of the lehr, and p glass bottles are continuously collected from any adjacent n rows in the vertical direction of the lehr and sent to the inspection process. A sampling method for glass bottle inspection, characterized by sampling glass bottles formed by all the molding dies.

The present invention relates to a case where p and q cannot be set to a prime relationship with each other due to the size of the glass bottle and the width of the stacker and the annealing furnace. Assuming that the greatest common divisor of p and q is n, any continuous p bottles in any adjacent n rows in the vertical direction of the lehr are all round bottles. FIG. 3 shows an example in which p is 6 and q is 8. Since the greatest common divisor n between p and q is 2, as apparent from the portion surrounded by the chain line, two adjacent (= n)
The 6 (= p) consecutive bottles in the row are all 1 round bottles.

In the above manner, one round of bottles are continuously arranged in n columns in the vertical direction, and any number of successive p bottles are selected to form one round of bottles. (1) It is easy to sort bottles in one round, it is easy to fully automate sampling, and the equipment required for it is inexpensive. The column in the vertical direction where the sampling is actually performed is preferably the outermost n column because it is easiest to collect the bottles. The smaller the number n, the better, and preferably about 2 or 3.

The present invention is also a stacker for sequentially feeding a plurality of bottles from a conveying means for conveying glass bottles produced by a bottle making machine to a lehr, and aligning the bottles in the horizontal direction of the lehr. In the operation of the stacker, the number q of bottles fed by the stacker to be aligned in the horizontal direction of the lehr and the number p of molding dies of the bottle making machine have a prime relationship with each other, and the bottles sequentially fed from the stacker are moved. A slow cooling furnace for slow cooling, a sorting means for sorting p bottles continuously from an arbitrary row in a vertical direction at a cold end of the slow cooling furnace, and a transport means for transporting the sorted bottles to an inspection machine. It is a sampling device for glass bottle inspection.

This is an apparatus for implementing the method of the first invention. Since the number of bottles that the stacker sends to the lehr in one operation is q, the number of bottles arranged in the horizontal direction of the lehr is q. If the number p of the molding dies of the bottle making machine and this q are relatively prime relations, as described above, in each row in the vertical direction of the lehr, all of the continuous p bottles are 1
Be a round bottle. Therefore, when p consecutive bottles are selected from any one row in the vertical direction at the cold end of the lehr by the sorting means, the bottles are one round, and the sorted bottles are transported to the inspection machine by the transport means. One round of bottle inspection can be performed. Since it is very easy to sort out p consecutive bottles in one row in the vertical direction, it is also easy to fully automate from sampling to inspection.

The above-mentioned sorting means can be, for example, as follows. First, at the cold end of the lehr, there is provided a drawing guide for drawing a predetermined vertical row of bottles into the sorting area. The sorting area includes a switching gate for switching the direction of travel of the bottle to the inspection machine direction or the normal line direction, a stopper that can be opened and closed, a timing sensor for sensing the passage of the bottle to obtain the operation timing of the stopper, and a predetermined sensor to be sorted. A count sensor for counting the number of bottles is provided. The switching gate, stopper, timing sensor and count sensor are automatically controlled by the control device.
The bottle is transported from the annealing furnace through the sorting area to the inspection machine or to the normal line by the transport means. When sampling is not performed, the bottle passing through the sorting area is guided to the switching gate and sent to the normal line, but when sampling is performed, the stopper closes based on the signal of the timing sensor and the previous bottle leaves the sorting area. The bottle is stopped for a predetermined time until then, the switching gate is switched in the direction of the inspection machine and the stopper is opened, and only a predetermined number of bottles counted by the count sensor are sent in the direction of the inspection machine, and then the stopper is closed again to inspect. The bottle is stopped for a predetermined time until the bottle leaves the sorting area, and then the switching gate is switched to the normal line direction, the stopper is opened, and the bottle is sent to the normal line. In this way, when sampling is not performed, the bottles in the one row flow in the normal line direction via the pull-in guide, the sorting area, and the switching gate, and merge with the bottles in the other rows. When sampling is performed, the bottles of one row in one row are sent to an inspection machine through a pull-in guide, a sorting area, and a switching gate, and are inspected. This series of operations is automatically performed by the control device.

Further, the present invention is a stacker for sequentially feeding a plurality of bottles into a lehr from a transport means for transporting glass bottles produced by a bottle making machine to a lehr, and aligning the bottles in the lateral direction of the lehr. Then, the stacker is fed by the stacker and aligned in the horizontal direction of the lehr, and the stacker in which the greatest common divisor of the number p of the molding dies of the bottle making machine is n and the bottle sequentially fed from the stacker are moved. An annealing furnace for gradually cooling while cooling, a sorting means for continuously sorting p bottles from n adjacent rows in the vertical direction at the cold end of the annealing furnace, and a conveying means for conveying the sorted bottles to an inspection machine. And a sampling device for glass bottle inspection.

This is an apparatus for implementing the method of the second invention. Since the number of bottles that the stacker sends to the lehr in one operation is q, the number of bottles arranged in the horizontal direction of the lehr is q. When the greatest common divisor of the numbers p and q of the molding dies of the bottle making machine is n, as described above, in the n adjacent rows in the vertical direction of the lehr, any continuous p bottles are All become one round bottles. Therefore, at the cold end of the lehr, if p consecutive bottles are selected from any of adjacent n rows in the vertical direction by the sorting means, they are one round, and the sorted bottles are transported to the inspection machine by the transport means. Then, one round of bottle inspection can be performed. Since it is easy to select n consecutive p-number of bottles in the vertical direction, it is easy to completely automate the process from sampling to inspection.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a glass bottle production line including the sampling device of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the sampling device of the embodiment.

In FIG. 4, a glass bottle formed by a bottle making machine 1 is sent to a hot end of an annealing furnace 4 by a conveyor 2 as a conveying means. Here, a stacker 3 is disposed, and the glass bottles 21 sent by the conveyor 2 are sequentially sent into the layered net of the lehr 4 at a predetermined cycle. Since the layered net moves slowly downward in FIG. 4, the glass bottles arranged in the annealing furnace move downward in FIG. 4 while being slowly cooled. At the cold end of the annealing furnace 4, an unloader 5 serving as a conveying means is disposed. The unloader 5 operates to always move the glass bottle to the left in FIG. The glass bottles that have come out of the annealing furnace 4 are removed from the conveyor 11 by the unloader except for the rightmost row.
And move the line normally. One row at the right end coming out of the annealing furnace 4 is guided by the drawing guide 6 and reaches the sorting area 20. The sorting area is an area for sorting a bottle to be sampled and a bottle not to be sampled, and a sorting means is provided here. When sampling is not performed, the switching gate is at the position indicated by the solid line in the figure, and the bottle moves from the sorting area in the direction of arrow A and joins the normal line. When sampling is performed, the switching gate is parallel to the operation direction of the unloader as shown by a dotted line, the bottle moves in the direction of arrow B, and the inspection machine 9 is moved by the conveyor 8 as a conveying means.
Sent to and inspected If the inspection is completed and there are no abnormalities, the conveyer 10 joins the ordinary line.

The bottle making machine 1 is generally called an IS machine and has a plurality of molding dies. The number of molding dies differs depending on the model of the bottle-making machine and the shape and size of the glass bottle to be molded, but here, the number is p. Assuming that the number of bottles sent to the annealing furnace 4 at one time by the stacker 3 is q, q bottles are aligned in the lateral direction of the annealing furnace 4. Therefore, the number of rows in the vertical direction of the lehr is q (8 in the figure). Since p and q have a relatively prime relationship, as described above, one round of bottles are continuously arranged in one row in all the vertical rows. Moreover, in any part of any one row, the continuous p bottles are one round bottle.

Next, the means for selecting the cold end of the lehr 4 will be described with reference to FIG. The sorting means includes a pull-in guide 6, a switching gate 7, a stopper 12, a timing sensor 13, a count sensor 14, a control device (not shown), an unloader 5 as a transport means, and a conveyor 8. The pull-in guide 6 sorts the bottles in the vertical line at the right end into the sorting area 2.
It is provided on the unloader with a resin-coated metal plate or the like. The glass bottle that has left the annealing furnace 4 is given a force to move leftward by the unloader 5, and is naturally guided to the sorting area 20 as shown by the arrow C along the drawing guide. In the sorting area 20, the switching gate 7,
A stopper 12, a timing sensor 13, and a count sensor 14 are provided. The devices in these sorting areas are controlled by the control device. The switching gate 7 is a metal plate coated with an openable / closable resin whose base end is pivotally mounted on an arbitrary supporting member, and has a state in which the tip protrudes and blocks the path in the direction of arrow B as shown by a solid line in FIG. In, the bottle proceeds along the switching gate in the direction of arrow A, that is, in the normal line direction,
When the tip is retracted and becomes parallel to the unloader 5 as shown by the dotted line, the bottle advances in the direction of arrow B, and is sent to the inspection machine 9 via the conveyor 8. The switching gate 7 is operated by an air cylinder (not shown). Stopper 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a metal plate which is provided slightly upstream of the switching gate 7 and whose base end is covered with an openable and closable resin which is axially attached to an arbitrary supporting member such as a pull-in guide. As shown in FIG. Stops the bottle when it protrudes inside the retraction guide (closed state) and passes the bottle when the tip is retracted and is parallel to the retraction guide (open state). Operates with an air cylinder (not shown) I do. Timing sensor 13
Is provided immediately upstream of the position where the bottle should be stopped by the stopper 12, and detects the arrival of the bottle using a photoelectric tube or the like and issues a signal. The count sensor 14 is provided immediately downstream of the position where the bottle should be stopped by the stopper 12 and upstream of the switching gate 7, and also emits a signal each time the bottle passes using a photoelectric tube or the like. By counting, the number of passing bottles can be counted.

Normally, the switching gate 7 is in a state where the tip protrudes as shown by a solid line in FIG. 5, the stopper 12 is in an open state, and the bottle advances in the direction of arrow A and joins the normal line. Sampling is started by a sampling start signal issued at a predetermined cycle programmed in the inspection machine 9. At a timing when the control device receives the sampling start signal from the inspection machine 9, the control device waits for a bottle detection signal from the timing sensor 13. When the bottle flows to the position of the timing sensor, the control device that has received the detection signal from the timing sensor 13 closes the stopper 12 and stops the flow of the bottle. The control device counts a predetermined time until the bottle passes through the sorting area via the switching gate immediately before passing through the stopper 12 and joins the normal line, and the switching gate 7 is placed in a state parallel to the unloader 5 indicated by a dotted line. Switching is performed, and the stopper 12 is opened. Then, the bottle flows in the direction of arrow B, that is, in the direction of the inspection machine 9. The control device counts the number of the bottles by a signal sent from the count sensor each time the bottle passes the count sensor 14. At the moment when the predetermined number (the number of one round = p) is counted, the control device waits for the input of a bottle detection signal from the timing sensor 13, and when the next bottle flows to the position of the timing sensor 13, the control device detects the timing.
3, a bottle detection signal is input, the stopper 12 is closed,
Stop the bottle. When the control device finishes counting the predetermined time during which the sampling bottle that has finally passed through the stopper 12 passes through the switching gate 7 and flows in the direction of the arrow B, the switching gate 7 is switched to the protruding state shown by the solid line in the figure, and the stopper is opened. . Then, the bottle flows again in the direction of arrow A and joins the normal line. By this series of operations, one round of bottles is sent to the inspection machine 9, and the other bottles join the normal line.

The above is a case where the number p in one round and the number q of bottles in the horizontal row of the lehr are in a prime relationship with each other, but when the greatest common divisor of p and q is n, it is adjacent. Fit n
A retraction guide is provided to send the bottles in the row to the sorting area.
For example, if n = 2, a pull-in guide may be provided so as to send the rightmost two rows of bottles to the sorting area.

According to the above embodiment, one round of inspection is automatically performed at a predetermined period programmed in advance, so that the inspection can be easily performed at a short period. In addition, it is easy to send the inspection result from the inspection machine online to a certain area of the bottle making machine and display it in real time, so that when a defective product occurs, the molding die can be adjusted quickly. , The yield can be improved.

The equipment required by the sorting means, such as a pull-in guide, a stopper, a timing sensor, a count sensor, a switching gate, etc., are all inexpensive and can be easily installed on an existing line.

[0024]

According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, one round of bottles can be sampled at a specified timing at low cost and safely without manual operation. In addition, since expensive equipment such as a model number recognition device is not required, it can be easily implemented on an existing line.
Cost reduction is also realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a bottle alignment state of an annealing furnace according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a bottle alignment state of a lehr in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a bottle alignment state of the lehr in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a glass bottle production line including the sampling device of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a sampling device according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bottle-making machine 2 Conveyor 3 Stacker 4 Annealing furnace 5 Unloader 6 Retraction guide 7 Switching gate 8 Conveyor 9 Inspection machine 10 Conveyor 11 Conveyor 12 Stopper 13 Timing sensor 14 Count sensor 20 Sorting area 21 Glass bottle

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01N 1/00-1/34 JICST file (JOIS)

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for sampling a glass bottle for inspection from a glass bottle manufacturing line, wherein the number of molding dies attached to the bottle making machine and the number of bottles in a row in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the lehr are set. And the number q is a prime relation, and p glass bottles are continuously collected from an arbitrary row in a direction parallel to the flow direction of the lehr, and sent to the inspection process, so that all the molding dies are used. Sampling method for glass bottle inspection, characterized by sampling molded glass bottles 2. A method for sampling a glass bottle for inspection from a glass bottle manufacturing line, wherein the number p of molding dies attached to the bottle making machine and the number of bottles in a row in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the lehr are set. By taking the greatest common divisor of the number q of n as n and continuously collecting p glass bottles from any adjacent n rows in a direction parallel to the flow direction of the lehr, and sending it to the inspection process, Sampling method for glass bottle inspection, characterized by sampling a glass bottle formed by a molding die 3. A stacker for sequentially feeding a plurality of bottles to a lehr from a conveying means for conveying glass bottles produced by a bottle-making machine to the lehr, and aligning the bottles in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the lehr. The number q of bottles that are aligned in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the annealing lehr in one operation
And the number p of the molding dies of the bottle making machine are relatively prime to each other, a slow cooling furnace for gradually cooling while moving the bottles sequentially fed from the stacker, and a cooling end of the slow cooling furnace in a direction parallel to the flow direction. A sampling apparatus for glass bottle inspection, comprising: sorting means for sorting p bottles continuously from an arbitrary row; and transport means for transporting the sorted bottles to an inspection machine. 4. A stacker for sequentially feeding a plurality of bottles to a lehr from a conveying means for conveying glass bottles produced by a bottle-making machine to a lehr, and aligning the bottles in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the lehr. The number q of bottles that are aligned in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the annealing lehr in one operation
A stacker in which the greatest common divisor of the number p of the forming dies of the bottle making machine is n, a lehr for gradually cooling while moving the bottles sequentially fed from the stacker, and a flow parallel to the flow direction at the cold end of the lehr. A sampling apparatus for glass bottle inspection, comprising: a sorting means for sorting p bottles continuously from any adjacent n rows; and a transport means for transporting the sorted bottles to an inspection machine. 5. The sampling apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said sorting means draws a predetermined row of bottles in a direction parallel to the flow direction of the lehr into the sorting area, and a bottle provided in the sorting area. Gate for switching the direction of travel to the inspection machine direction or normal line direction, a stopper that can be opened and closed, a timing sensor that senses the passage of a bottle in order to obtain the operation timing of the stopper, and a counter for counting a predetermined number of bottles to be sorted. Having a count sensor, a control device for controlling each of the above-described devices in the inspection area, and a transport means for transporting the bottle from the lehr to the inspection machine direction or the normal line via the selection area, and sorting when not performing sampling. Bottles passing through the area are guided to the switching gate and sent to the normal line, but sampling is performed based on the signal of the timing sensor. Stop the bottle for a predetermined time until the stopper closes and the previous bottle exits the sorting area, then switch the switching gate to the inspection machine and open the stopper, and check only the predetermined number of bottles counted by the count sensor. Direction, then stop the bottle for a predetermined time until the stopper closes again and the bottle to be inspected leaves the sorting area, then switch the switching gate to the normal line direction and open the stopper, and send the bottle to the normal line. Featured sampling device for glass bottle inspection