JP3354957B2 - Close alignment device for can lid - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for closely aligning can lids manufactured separately from a can body prior to packing them in a predetermined number.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, canned beverages and canned foods are prepared by filling the contents into a can body with a can lid wound on one side or a can body with an integrally molded bottom, and then sealing the can lid with a can lid. It is manufactured by doing. Therefore, in a can manufacturing company,
The can body and the can lid are separately packed in a predetermined number and shipped to a filling factory. Since the can lid is a relatively thin disk with some protruding parts toward the inside of the can body, when packing and shipping it, in general, one hundred or more to several hundred sheets are stacked and bagged. Is packed.

[0003] The can lid is in a state of being placed horizontally in the manufacturing stage, but in order to pack it, the can lid is formed on the convex portion on the inner surface side of the preceding can lid and on the outer surface side of the subsequent can lid. It is necessary to fit the recesses to make a close contact.However, if the can lids placed horizontally are sequentially dropped and stacked inside a predetermined guide or holder for such alignment, a predetermined number of cans Although the lids can be aligned by closely contacting them, it is necessary to take out one unit at a time and change its posture in order to pack a predetermined number of one unit into a bag. As described above, in the apparatus in which the can lids are dropped and stacked, it takes time to remove the can lid unit and change the posture until the bag is filled, and it is difficult to improve the processing capability of the apparatus.

For example, in the inventions described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 60-42081 and Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 59-52082, when a can lid placed and transported in a horizontal state is set up so that its surface is vertical. In both cases, a large number of can lids are sent in a horizontal direction as they are, and they are closely adhered to each other and aligned, and are passed through a counting device. And one unit is packed in a bag.

[0005]

As described above, the apparatus for bagging a large number of can lids with their postures aligned is such that the can lids which are continuously fed are set up vertically according to the supply speed, and the The can is sent to the counting device while maintaining the posture, and therefore, the can lid is continuously fed into and out of the counting device at a constant speed. On the other hand, bagging is performed by dividing the can lid into a predetermined number of units, so that the step after the counting step is a step of repeating intermittent operations. As described above, in a series of processes prior to the shipping of the can lid, it is necessary to connect steps having different operation speeds or operation forms.If there is a mismatch in the operation speed, for example, the supply speed of the can lid sent to the counting device is reduced. If the speed is relatively fast, a large number of can lids will stay in the front side of the counting device in a state of receiving the feed force, and unless the extra can lid is taken out, the feed device will strongly push the can lid in the forward direction. Problems such as deformation of the can lid or an excessive load applied to the feeder and the like may cause a failure of the device. Conversely,
When the supply speed of the can lid to be sent to the counting device is relatively slow, when the one-piece can lid is separated from the subsequent can lid, the subsequent leading can lid is kept in a vertical state (upright state). Since the number of supporting can lids to be supported is reduced, there is a problem that the can lids in that portion fall and the alignment state of the can lids is broken.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described specific problem when the can lid is fed in an upright state in the horizontal direction. Even if there is a mismatch in operating speed between processes, the can lid can be aligned upright. It is an object of the present invention to provide a close alignment device capable of maintaining the state.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a large number of can lids are brought into close contact with each other by continuously feeding the can lids in the same posture with the surface thereof standing upright in a fixed direction. In the can lid close-contact alignment device, the can lid is erected so that its surface is vertical, and the can lid is sent out horizontally from the stacking mechanism by vertically stacking and sequentially contacting the can lid. And a horizontal feed mechanism that holds the contact state and feeds in the horizontal direction is attached to a movable table that moves back and forth in a direction parallel to the feed direction of the can lid, and this horizontal feed mechanism is provided in front of the horizontal feed mechanism. It is characterized in that a fixed guide portion for guiding the can lid to be fed while keeping it in close contact and aligned with the feeding force is provided.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the continuously fed can lid is set upright on its inner and outer surfaces in a fixed direction, that is, its surface is vertical, by a stacking mechanism, and the subsequent one is placed on the preceding one. It is sent in a horizontal direction while being pressed against an object and closely contacting it. A series of can lids sent out from the stacking mechanism are sent toward a fixed guide portion in front of the can lid by a horizontal feeding mechanism provided subsequently thereto.
In this case, a series of can lids in the close contact state are sent toward the fixed guide portion by the horizontal feed mechanism while maintaining the close contact with each other in the upright state. Therefore, normally, a large number of can lids are arranged on the fixed guide portion in a state of being in close contact with each other by being pushed forward in the feed direction, and move forward. If the movement of the can lid is temporarily slowed in front of the fixed guide section, the number of can lids above the fixed guide section becomes excessive. In addition, the length of the fixed guide portion functioning as the stock portion becomes longer, so that the storage amount of the subsequent can lid is increased, and the close contact state of the can lid can be kept constant. Conversely, if the movement of the can lid temporarily becomes faster in front of the fixed guide, the can lid sent from the horizontal feed mechanism onto the fixed guide will be too small, Since the stacking mechanism and the horizontal feed mechanism move forward to shorten the fixed guide portion, the close contact state of the can lid is maintained, and the can lid does not fall down or its rows collapse.

[0009]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention. The close contact alignment device shown here is roughly divided into a stacking mechanism 1, a horizontal feed mechanism 2, and these mechanisms 1 and 2. The movable table 3 is configured to move back and forth and a fixed guide section 4.

As the stacking mechanism 1, for example, a mechanism described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-42081 can be adopted, and this is simply shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. That is, a cylindrical guide 6 whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the target can lid 5 is mounted so as to extend horizontally through the exhaust chamber 7.
Is connected to an exhaust blower 9 via a flexible tube 8. A plurality of exhaust holes 10 are formed near the inlet end of the cylindrical guide 6 (the opening at the left end in FIGS. 2 and 3) and inside the exhaust chamber 7. A pair of left and right window holes 11 is provided at a position slightly closer to the outlet end (the right end opening in FIGS. 2 and 3) than the exhaust hole 10.
Is formed, and a feed roller 12 that protrudes a part of the outer periphery from the window hole 11 into the inside of the cylindrical guide 6 is provided. The feed roller 12 has a longitudinal groove formed in the outer peripheral surface along the axial direction, and is rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow in FIG.
Is hooked on the peripheral portion (curled portion) of the device and is advanced toward the outlet end.

The open end of the cylindrical guide 6 is connected to the end of a chute 14 for dropping the can lid 5 which is fed in a horizontal state, into an upright state in which the surface is vertical. The chute 14 has, for example, a pair of U-shaped cross-section guides that engage the peripheral edge of the can lid 5, and the upper end thereof is conveyed by magnetic or vacuum suction of the can lid 5. It is arranged along the lower surface of the supply conveyor 15. The chute 14 is gradually curved downward from the upper end to the lower end, and the lower end is substantially vertical and faces the open end of the cylindrical guide 6. Therefore, when the can lid 5 falls along the chute 14, the can lid 5 stands upright at its lower end.

The horizontal feed mechanism 2 for feeding the can lid 5 in the upright state sent out from the stacking mechanism 1 in a horizontal direction while maintaining its posture includes a pair of guide shafts 16 on which the can lid 5 is mounted, and a pair of left and right guide shafts 16. It is mainly composed of three feed belts 17, 18, and 19 arranged on the lower side. That is, the guide shafts 16 are, for example, small-diameter pipes, are arranged in parallel with each other with a smaller interval than the outer diameter of the can lid 5, and extend forward from the outlet end of the cylindrical guide 6. The left and right feed belts 17 and 18 are
6 is arranged in parallel with the guide shaft 16 so as to sandwich the can lid 5 standing upright from the left and right.
Reference numeral 9 is arranged in parallel with the guide shaft 16 so as to contact the lower part of the can lid 5 between the guide shafts 16. Among the pulleys around which the feed belts 17, 18, and 19 are wound, the pulley disposed on the front end side of the guide shaft 16, that is, on the side opposite to the stacking mechanism 1, is the drive pulley 20,
21 and 22, these drive pulleys 20, 21,
The motor 22 is rotated by a single motor 23 as shown in FIG. That is, the horizontal rotary shaft 2 to which the drive pulley 22 around which the lower feed belt 19 is wound is attached.
A pair of left and right bevel gears 25 and 26 are attached to the bevel gear 2.
7 and 28, and among the bevel gears 25 and 26 of the horizontal rotation shaft 24, the bevel gear 26 on the left side in FIG.
A bevel gear 30 attached to a drive shaft 29 receiving torque from the motor 23 meshes with the bevel gear 30.

The feed belts 17, 18, and 19 are provided to advance the can lid 5 by frictional force. The feed belts 17, 18 and 19 provide a necessary and sufficient feeding force to the can lid 5 and hold the can lid 5 in an upright posture. For this reason, belts with short haired plantings are used. The left and right feed belts 17 and 1
As shown schematically in FIGS. 5 and 6, belts 17 and 18 are attached to guide shafts 16 at portions facing each other.
Belt guide tables 31 and 32 are provided which are elastically pressed toward the upper can lid 5. These belt guide tables 31 and 32 are pressed toward the can lid 5 by pressing springs 33 and 34. 1 and 5, reference numeral 35 denotes a tension pulley.

The above-described stacking mechanism 1 and horizontal feed mechanism 2
Is mounted on the movable base 3 which moves back and forth in a direction parallel to the forward direction of the can lid 5. As shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, the movable base 3 is provided with a linear guide 39 at a lower portion which engages with a guide rail 38 installed on a machine frame 37. It moves forward and backward. A motor and a ball screw are provided as the driving means.
That is, a ball screw shaft 40 is arranged between the guide rails 38 in parallel with the above, and a ball screw 41 screwed to the ball screw shaft 40 is attached to the movable base 3. A motor 42 is attached to the machine frame 37, and the output shaft of the motor 42 and the ball screw shaft 40 are connected to the pulley 4
3, 44 and a belt 45. Reference numeral 46 in FIG. 8 denotes a linear scale for electrically detecting the position of the movable base 3.

Here, a control system for moving the movable base 3 back and forth will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, a portion where the can lid 5 starts to be clamped by the horizontal feed mechanism 2 (between the belts 17 and 18). ), Two sensors 47 and 48 are installed close to the row of the can lid 5. These sensors 47,
Numeral 48 is for electromagnetically or optically detecting the can lid 5 and outputting a signal, which are arranged so as to be shifted from each other in the feeding direction of the can lid 5. These sensors 47, 4
8 is connected to a controller 49 for controlling the motor 42. When the two sensors 47 and 48 detect the can lid 5, the controller 49 controls the movable table 3.
The motor 42 is driven so that the movable table 3 moves forward when the two sensors 47 and 48 do not detect the can lid 5, and the feeding direction of the can lid 5 is further reduced. When the sensor 47 on the rear side does not detect the can lid 5 and the sensor 48 on the front side detects the can lid 5, the motor 42 is kept stopped.

Further, the fixed guide section 4 includes a horizontal feeder 2
Cans 5 that are sent upright and closely attached to each other
Is to guide forward as it is,
In the illustrated example, each of the guide shafts 16 in the horizontal feed mechanism 2 is fixed with one end inserted.
It is mainly composed of a small-diameter pipe (or shaft) 50 and an upper guide 51 that presses up the swelling of the can lid 5. In front of the fixed guide section 4, a not-shown counting / separating device or the like is connected and provided.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned close alignment device will be described. The can lid 5 adsorbed and conveyed by the supply conveyor 15 is moved by the chute 14 at the upper end of the chute 14.
When it falls into the inlet end of the cylindrical guide 6 of the stacking mechanism 1 along the chute 14, the posture is changed to a serial state. Since the inside of the cylindrical guide 6 communicates with the inside of the exhaust chamber 7, which has been reduced in pressure by the exhaust blower 9, through the exhaust hole 10, when the can lid 5 is positioned vertically at the inlet end, the can lid 5 is closed. Is sucked into the cylindrical guide 6 and enters. Then, the can lid 5 is fed forward by the feed roller 12 by engaging a part of the outer circumference with the left and right feed rollers 12, and sequentially comes into close contact with the preceding can lid 5 separated from the feed roller 12.

When the succeeding can lid 5 is continuously supplied from the cylindrical guide 6, the can lid 5 in the upright state is sent out in close contact with the can lid 5 in the aligned state. The right and left belts 1 are placed on the side belt 19 simultaneously.
7,18, these belts 17,18,
Since the vehicles 19 travel in the same direction, they are sent forward in an upright state and in close contact with each other. Therefore, a large number of can lids 5 are arranged in an upright state from the fixed guide portion 4 to the entire horizontal feed mechanism 2. If the supply speed of the can lid 5 per unit time exceeds the take-out amount, the can lid 5 starts to collect,
The closely aligned row of can lids 5 begins to extend long beyond the entry side of the horizontal feed mechanism 2 to the near side. As a result, the two sensors 47 and 48 both output signals, so that the controller 49 drives the motor 42 in a direction to move the movable base 3 backward. Since the fixed guide portion 4 has a configuration in which the distal end of the small-diameter pipe 50 is inserted into the guide shaft 16 of the horizontal feed mechanism 2, the fitting length of the shaft 16 and the pipe 50 is reduced by retreating the movable table 3. In other words, the length of the small-diameter pipe 50 on the side of the fixed guide portion 4 becomes longer, so that the length of the portion where the rows of the can lids 5 are stored becomes longer. Therefore, the cans 5 are fastened by the belts 17, 18 and 19.
Is constantly pushed forward, no excessive force is applied to the can lid 5, and abnormalities such as deformation of the can lid 5 are prevented beforehand.

When the sensors 47 and 48 move backward as the movable table 3 moves backward as described above, the sensors 47 on the rear side come off from the rear end of the row of the can lids 5 in close contact with each other. In the operation state, the rear one is off and the front one is on, so that the motor 42 is stopped and the movable base 3 is stopped. In this state, if the take-out of the can lid 5 at the front side of the fixed guide portion 4 or the further forward conveyance speed is increased, the rows of the can lids 5 are shifted by the belts 17, 18, 19 of the horizontal feed mechanism 2 to the can lids 5. Is constantly driven at a speed slightly higher than the feed speed of the can lid, so that the entire body moves forward because of the forward pressing force, and accordingly, the rear end of the can lid 5 in the close contact state also moves forward. .
Accordingly, both front and rear sensors 47 and 48 are connected to the can lid 5.
Is no longer detected, the controller 49 operates the motor 42 in the direction in which the movable base 3 moves forward. Therefore, as the movable base 3 moves forward, the length of the fixed guide portion 4 becomes shorter than before. As a result, the can lid 5 in the upright state
Since there is no particular gap between them, the can lid 5 is prevented from falling down. When the sensor 48 on the front side detects the can lid 5 in the close contact state, the controller 49
2 is stopped, and the movable base 3 is stopped at that position.

Each position when the movable base 3 moves back and forth as described above is detected by the linear scale 46, and the result of the detection indicates that the movable base 3 is at a relatively forward position. If this is the case, the supply speed of the can lid 5 is relatively low, so that control may be performed to increase the supply speed of the can lid 5 based on the detection signal. Conversely, if the movable base 3 is located at a relatively rearward position, the supply speed of the can lid 5 is relatively high, so that the supply speed of the can lid 5 is reduced based on the detection signal. Control may be performed as follows.

If the can lid 5 in the opposite direction is mixed in the row of the can lids 5 closely contacted in the upright state, a trouble occurs at the stage of using the can lid 5, so that the can lid in the opposite direction is detected. For this purpose, it is preferable to provide a sensor (not shown) generally used in the related art in the horizontal feed mechanism 2 or the fixed guide portion 4.

Further, in the above embodiment, one end of the fixed shaft or pipe is inserted into the guide shaft of the horizontal feed mechanism to form a fixed guide portion, and even if the horizontal feed mechanism moves back and forth. Although the fixed guide section is configured to maintain the state connected to the horizontal feed mechanism,
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and a fixed guide portion having another configuration can be adopted. In short, even when the horizontal feed mechanism moves back and forth, the fixed guide portion and the horizontal feed mechanism can be used. Any configuration that maintains the connected state may be used.

This apparatus is not limited to the pre-process of packing the can lid, but can be used in the pre-process of a compound coating machine or an easy-open can lid processing press for temporarily stacking the can lid during the manufacturing process of the can lid. Can be used as a supply device.

[0024]

As described above, according to the close alignment device of the present invention, the stacking mechanism and the horizontal feeding mechanism for setting the can lid upright and sequentially bringing the can lids into close contact with each other and feeding the same to the fixed guide portion side. Is mounted on a movable table that moves back and forth in the same direction as the feed direction of the can lid, so that the relative slow speed of the supply speed of the can lid can be absorbed by moving these mechanisms, thus filling the fixed guide portion. It is possible to reliably prevent the rows of can lids from being deformed by strongly pressing them, or, conversely, the gaps between the can lids from falling down due to the occurrence of gaps. Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, the can lid can be fed horizontally in an upright state, and there is no need to provide a stock line bypassing the main line in order to absorb a speed difference between processes. The speed of the packing process for each predetermined number can be increased, and the size of the apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional plan view of a stacking mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view of a stacking mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a mechanism diagram for explaining a mechanism for driving each belt.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a part of a horizontal feed mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing a belt guide table.

FIG. 7 is a side view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a mechanism diagram for explaining a drive mechanism of the movable base.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram for explaining a control system for moving the movable base back and forth.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stacking mechanism 2 Horizontal feed mechanism 3 Movable table 4 Fixed guide part 5 Can lid

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65B 35/00-35/58 B65G 57/09 B65H 29/50

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A can lid close-up aligning device for continuously feeding a plurality of can lids in close contact with each other in a constant direction in the same posture with the surface of the can lid standing upright. A stacking mechanism that stands vertically so as to be vertical and sequentially contacts and horizontally feeds, and a horizontal feed mechanism that sends the can lid sent out from the stacking mechanism in the horizontal direction while maintaining its posture and close contact state, Attached to a movable table that moves back and forth in a direction parallel to the feed direction of the can lid, and maintains the can lid fed by the horizontal feed mechanism in front of the horizontal feed mechanism in close contact and aligned with the feed force. And a fixed guide portion for guiding while being provided.