JP3427887B2 - Rotary drainer - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid draining device for recovering liquid from a sealed container, and more particularly to a rotary draining device capable of draining the container as a single unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a rotary draining device, a rotating body that is rotated in a vertical direction, holders provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the rotating body, and a case for accommodating a standing container are conveyed. And a feeding means for feeding the case containing the container conveyed by the conveying means into the holder in the horizontal state, and the case accommodated in the holder to prevent the case from falling off. And a container drop-off preventing means for engaging the neck portion of the container in the case to prevent the container from falling out of the case, provided for each of the holders, and discharging from the container A liquid recovery means for recovering the liquid to be collected, and with the rotation of the rotating body, the case supplied in the upright state and the container housed therein are inverted to discharge the liquid inside. (Special Flat 1-52271 JP).

[0003]

However, in the liquid draining device of the above publication, since the container is housed in the case, the size of the device becomes large, and the case drop prevention means and the container drop prevention are provided for each holder. Since the means and the liquid recovery means are provided, there is a drawback that the cleaning performance inside the holder is poor. In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is
The present invention provides a rotary draining device that is smaller in size and superior in cleanability as compared with conventional ones.

[0004]

That is, the present invention relates to a rotating body which is rotated in a vertical direction, a holder which is provided on the rotating body in a radial direction and which holds and holds a container in an overturned state, and a container. Conveying means for conveying in an upright state, a reversing mechanism for inverting the container conveyed by this conveying means and supplying the container to the holder in an inverted state, and an inside of the rotating body with its opening facing upward. The holder is configured to accommodate and hold the container supplied from the reversing mechanism, convey the container in an inverted state, and retain and hold the container in the upright state. The container is dropped and discharged, and the liquid collecting means collects the liquid dropped and discharged from the container housed in the holder and conveyed in an overturned state as the rotating body rotates. According to the above-mentioned configuration, since the container can be drained by itself, the device can be made smaller than the conventional liquid draining device for the container housed in the case, and the holder can be made smaller. Has no container drop-off prevention means, liquid recovery means, etc., and is therefore excellent in cleanability.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 is a rotary liquid draining device for draining liquid from a bottle 2 (container) sealed.
The liquid drained by the liquid draining device 1 is discharged to a liquid processing device (not shown), and the empty bottle 2 after liquid draining is carried into an empty bottle processing device (not shown). Is a timing screw 4 which substantially constitutes a part of the conveying means for engaging the bottle 2 conveyed in the upright state on the belt conveyor 3 as the conveying means to open the bottle 2 at a predetermined interval. An opening mechanism 6 provided above the timing screw 4 for removing the cap 5 of each bottle 2, an inverting mechanism 7 for inverting the bottle 3 opened by the opening mechanism 6 and inverting it, and a rotating body. 8 is provided at equidistant positions on the outer peripheral portion, and is provided with a holder 9 that holds and holds the bottle 2.
The bottle 2 accommodated and held in the holder 9 is moved along with the rotation of the rotating body 8 while keeping the falling state.

As shown in FIG. 2, the liquid draining device 1 is
The casing 11 is fixed to the floor and has a space inside, and the rotating body 8 is accommodated in the casing 11. The rotating body 8 includes a pair of discs 12 which are rotated in the vertical direction, and a plurality of elongated connecting members 13 which are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the discs 12. Both discs 12 are supported by a pair of small rotating bodies 14 provided on a drive shaft 14A and a rotating shaft 14B that are rotatably supported on the side surface 11a of the housing 11, so that both discs 12 are The upper part is separated from the inclined bottom part 11e of the casing 11. An opening 11f penetrating the front surface 11b of the housing 11 is provided at the lowest portion of the bottom 11e, and the cleaning liquid used when cleaning the rotating body 8 and the holder 9 is discharged to the outside through the opening 11f. It is supposed to do. A chain 15 'is stretched around a gear 15 provided on the drive shaft 14A and the rotary shaft 14B. By rotating the drive shaft 14A clockwise by a drive motor 16, a small rotating body 14 and this small rotating body 14 are provided. The rotating body 8 abuttingly supported by the rotating body 14 and the holder 9 provided on the rotating body 8 can be rotated counterclockwise. As shown in FIG. 1, six holders 9 for accommodating and holding the bottles 2 are arranged side by side at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction of each connecting member 13, and the holders 9 are enlarged in FIG. As shown, the connecting member 1 is directed in the radial direction of the rotating body 8.
3 is provided with a tubular portion 9A, and an engaging portion 9B provided at the inner end of the tubular portion 9A and having a diameter that decreases radially inward, the tubular portion 9A being a bottle. The bottle 2 is formed to have a diameter larger than that of the body portion 2A so that the bottle 2 can be easily put in and taken out, and the engaging portion 9B allows the bottle 2 to be naturally dropped and discharged when the holder 9 stands up. Has become.

Inside the rotary body 8, the rotary body 8 is
A recovery tray 17 that constitutes a liquid recovery means that recovers the liquid dropped and discharged from the bottle 2 without interfering with the above is disposed with its opening facing upward. The lowermost end of the recovery tray 17 is aligned with the center of rotation of the rotating body 8 and the casing 1
It is hung on the side wall 11a of No. 1 and connected to and supported by a discharge pipe 18 which constitutes a part of the liquid recovery means.
The liquid recovered by the recovery tray 17 is discharged to the liquid processing apparatus via a discharge pipe 18 and a drain passage (not shown) connected to the discharge pipe 18. A guide 20 for guiding the bottle 2 sliding down from the holder 9 is provided at the discharge position where the holder 9 passes from the inverted state to the horizontal state by passing through the horizontal state. A cleaning nozzle 21 for spraying a cleaning liquid toward the recovery tray 17 is provided above the recovery tray 17 so that the entire interior of the recovery tray 17 can be cleaned and the rotating body 8 is A nozzle 22 for sprinkling the cleaning liquid toward this is also provided at the upper position so that the cleaning liquid can be sprinkled while rotating the rotating body 8 to clean the entire rotating body 8 including the holder 9. ing. Further, the front surface 11b of the casing 11 is set lower than both side surfaces 11a and the rear surface 11c, and the reversing mechanism 7 takes in the external bottle 2 into the inside from the opening portion between the front surface 11b and the upper surface 11d. Can be supplied to. As shown in FIG. 2, the reversing mechanism 7 moves the bottle 2 from the timing screw 4 that conveys the bottle 2 in the upright state by the rotation of the rotating shaft 23 that is located in the opening and is rotated by the driving means (not shown). The container receiver 24 is provided at an upright position P for receiving and an upright position Q for supplying the bottle 2 to the holder 9. The container receiver 24 is a flat plate-shaped mounting plate 25 that supports the bottom of the bottle 2 by being fixedly connected to the rotating shaft 23 at equal intervals.
And the body 2A of the bottle 2 that is erected on the mounting plate 25.
And a support plate 26 having a substantially U-shape for supporting each of the container receivers 24. The container receivers 24 can accommodate six bottles 2 at the same interval as the holder 9 of the rotating body 8. . Below the inverted position Q, the support plate 26 of the container receiver 24 located at the inverted position Q and the rotating body 8 are disposed.
The shooter 27 located on the same straight line connecting the holder 9 of
Is provided. This shooter 27 also has six roughly U-shaped support plates 28 like the container receiver 24.
As a result, each bottle 2 discharged at the inverted position Q is housed in the holder 9 of the rotating body 8 located at the corresponding position via the shooter 27.

The right side in FIG. 2 of the timing screw 4 for separating the bottle 2 at a predetermined interval corresponding to each container receiver 24 of the reversing mechanism 7 is on this conveying path without interfering with the timing screw 4. The transfer mechanism 30 is provided at an engaging position S that projects and is in contact with the bottle 2 and in a retracted position T that retracts from the transport path and does not contact the bottle 2. The transfer mechanism 30 includes a housing 11
Cylinder device 31 connected and fixed to the front surface 11b of the above, a link mechanism 32 that is interlocked with this cylinder device 31 and approaches or separates from the timing screw 4, and is connected to this link mechanism 32. It is provided with a movable guide 33 that moves in the horizontal direction and appears and disappears on the conveyance path of the timing screw 4. The movable guide 33 is formed in a U-shaped cross section that is larger than the diameter of the timing screw 4, and an arc-shaped notch that engages with the body portion 2A of the bottle 2 is formed at the tip of the forked portion of the container receiver 24. The movable guide 33 itself is formed at the same intervals as the support plate 26, and the entire length of the movable guide 33 itself is substantially the same as the container receiver 24 of the reversing mechanism 7. When the movable guide 33 is located at the engagement position S, the movable guide 33 holds the bottle 2 in the container receiving 2
The four bottles 2 are simultaneously pressed by being pressed against the support plate 26 of No. 4 and the support plate 26, and in this state, the bottles 2 are opened when the cap 5 is opened by the opening means 6 described later in detail. Are trying not to rotate together. Further, on the left side of the timing screw 4 in FIG. 2, a transport guide 34 that comes into contact with the body portion 2A of the bottle 2 transported by the timing screw 4 is provided, and the transport guide 34 transports the bottle 2 without tipping. You can do it. This transport guide 34
Is a cylinder device 3 fixed to the front surface 11b of the housing 11.
5, the cylinder device 35 raises the transport guide 34 from the gap between the mounting plate 25 and the belt conveyor 3 to bring it into contact with the body 2A of the bottle 2 when the timing screw 4 is operated. In addition to preventing overturning, when the transfer mechanism 30 is operated, the transfer guide 34 is lowered from the conveyor 3 to allow transfer of the bottle 2. A transport guide (not shown) that prevents the bottle 2 from falling is disposed on both sides of the belt conveyor 3 which is located upstream of the timing screw 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, the unsealing mechanism 6 is provided with a horizontally-long elevating member 39 which is vertically movable on a support frame 38 extending upward from the housing 11, and is vertically arranged at a predetermined interval. A chain 42 is provided which is hung on a pair of sprockets 40 and is connected to the elevating member 39 and a conventionally known tandem cylinder device 41. The chain 42 is rotated by operating the tandem cylinder device 41. Thus, the elevating member 39 can be moved up and down by switching the descending amount in two stages according to the height of the bottle 2. Six spindles 43 extending in the vertical direction at the same intervals as the container receiver 24 of the reversing mechanism 7 are rotatably provided at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction of the elevating member 39, and the lower ends of these spindles 43 are provided. A conventionally known air chuck 44 is provided. Each spindle 43 is spline-fitted in a gear 46 rotatably held by each holding member 45 so as to be able to move up and down. The gear 46 has a drive rod 47 extending in the horizontal direction.
The gears 48 are meshed with gears 48 provided at equal intervals and are rotated by a drive source (not shown). By operating the drive motor in this way, each gear 46,
Via the spindle 43 and the air chuck 44.
Can be simultaneously rotated, and the spindle 43 and the air chuck 44 can be simultaneously moved up and down by operating each tandem cylinder device 41. Further, a cap recovery mechanism 50 for recovering the cap 5 opened by the opening mechanism 6 is provided on the upper surface 11d of the housing 11, and the cap recovery mechanism 50 is attached to the upper surface 11a of the housing 11. Then, a cylinder device 52 for sliding the slide member 51 in the horizontal direction, and a belt conveyor 53 connected to the slide member 51 and protruding and retracted on the ascending and descending path of the air chuck 44 of the opening mechanism 6 are provided. The sprocket 54 on the right side of the belt conveyor 53 in the drawing is spline-fitted to the drive shaft of a drive motor (not shown), so that the belt conveyor 53 is rotated rightward in the drawing. There is. A shooter 55 for receiving the cap 5 discharged from the belt conveyor 53 is provided on the right side of the belt conveyor 53, and the cap 5 discharged onto the shooter 55 slides down and cap processing (not shown). It is designed to be loaded into the device.

The operation of the rotary draining device 1 having the above structure will be described. When the sixth to second bottles 2 of the bottles 2 placed on the belt conveyor 3 are conveyed to the predetermined transfer position, the timing screw 4 stops its rotation and temporarily conveys the bottles 2. Suspend. When the timing screw 4 is stopped, the cylinder device 35 first operates to lower the transport guide 34 below the belt conveyor 3. When the transport guide 34 has finished descending, the retracted position T ( The movable guide 33 located at the imaginary line (see FIG. 2) is moved leftward by the operation of the cylinder device 31 and protrudes to the engagement position S (see the solid line in FIG. 2). As a result, the bottle 2 engaged with the movable guide 33 is extruded by the movable guide 33 to the mounting plate 25 on the container receiver 24 corresponding to each position and transferred onto the mounting plate 25.
The bottle 2 is gripped between the movable guide 33 and the support plate 26 of the container receiver 24. When the bottle 2 is gripped between the movable guide 33 and the container receiver 24 in this way, the spindle 42 and the air chuck 44 (see the imaginary line in FIG. 2) which have been located in the upper position until then are moved by the tandem cylinder device 41. The air chucks 44 are simultaneously lowered, whereby the air chucks 44 are attached to the caps 5 of the bottles 2 (see the solid line in FIG. 2). When the air chuck 44 is attached to the cap 5 in this manner, the air chuck 44
Has a smaller inner diameter to grip the cap 5, and when the air chuck 44 holds the cap 5, the spindle 42 and the air chuck 44 are driven by the drive motor.
Is rotated counterclockwise. As a result, the air chuck 4
The cap 5 held by 4 rotates with respect to the bottle 2 and the screwing is eliminated. When the screw engagement between the bottle 2 and the cap 5 is released in this way, the spindle 42, the air chuck 44, and the cap 5 held by the tandem cylinder device 41 are raised, and the movable guide 3 is moved.
3 retreats to the retracted position T to prepare for the next transfer, while the cap recovery mechanism 50 starts operating. In the cap recovery mechanism 50, when the air chuck 44 is raised to a predetermined position, the belt conveyor 53, which was previously in the retracted position (see the solid line in FIG. 2), is moved below the air chuck 44 by the cylinder device 52. The belt conveyor 53 is projected to the forward position (see the imaginary line in FIG. 2), and at the same time when the belt conveyor 53 is positioned at the forward position, the inner diameter of the upper air chuck 44 is enlarged and the cap 5 held by the air chuck 44 is removed. It falls on the belt conveyor 53 located below. Then, when the cap 5 falls on the belt conveyor 53, the cylinder device 52 causes the belt conveyor 53 to escape from the ascending / descending path of the air chuck 44 to be located at the retracted position, and the belt conveyor 53 is located at the retracted position. Then, the drive mechanism (not shown) is operated to convey the six caps 5 placed to the right side, sequentially drop and discharge to the shooter 55, and when the caps 5 are removed from the belt conveyor 53, the belt conveyor 53 is stopped.

When the bottle 2 is opened by the opening mechanism 6, the reversing mechanism 7 for mounting the bottle 2 next is operated. That is, the container receiver 24 that has received the bottle 2 at the standing position P shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 is turned counterclockwise from this state as the drive shaft 23 rotates and is located at the inverted position Q shown by the imaginary line. . In this state, the support portion 26 of the container receiver 24 is located on the extension line of the support portion 28 of the shooter 27 and is in a straight line. As a result, the container receiver 24 which is inverted and inverted, is in a falling state,
More specifically, the bottle 2 in an upside down diagonally state is stored in the holder 9 which is slanting downward and slanting downward via the shooter 27 and standing upright. At this time, dropping and discharging of the liquid from the bottle 2 has already started, and the discharged liquid is received by the recovery tray 17. The holder 9 that holds and holds the bottle 2 at the supply position Y and the bottle 2 that is held therein gradually move as the rotating body 8 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, and at this time, gradually shifts from the state of being tilted to the right. And is gradually inclined to the left side, and the liquid is dropped and discharged from the bottle 2 accommodated in the holder 9 while being inverted, and The dropping of the liquid from 2 is completed on the front side of the cleaning nozzle 22. Further, at this time, another holder 9 provided on the outer periphery of the rotating body 8 passes through the supply position Y as the rotating body 8 rotates, and the timing screw 4, the transfer mechanism 30, The bottle 2 opened via the opening mechanism 6 and the reversing mechanism 7 is supplied in an inverted state.

When the holder 9 and the bottle 2 accommodated in the holder 9 are located at the discharge position Z by passing through the horizontal state from the above-mentioned diagonally inverted left state as the continuously rotating body 8 rotates. More specifically, when the holder 9 is in a standing state in which the holder 9 is tilted to the left, the bottle 2 is naturally placed in the holder 9.
It slides down from the inside, and is discharged to an empty bottle processing device (not shown) through a guide 20 arranged in a straight line with the holder 9. If the bottle 2 is hard to drop naturally, a cylinder device 58 as shown in FIG. 2 may be provided, and the mouth of the bottle 2 may be pushed out by the cylinder device 58 to assist the drop.

Therefore, as can be understood from the above description, in the rotary draining apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the bottle 2 can be drained by itself, so that the bottle housed in the case can be drained. The device can be made smaller than the conventional one, and the holder 9 can be a cylindrical one having a shape close to the shape of the bottle 2. It has superior cleaning properties compared to the conventional case where a container dropout prevention plate and liquid recovery means are provided.

In this embodiment, the opening mechanism substantially constitutes a part of the liquid draining device, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be separately provided upstream of the timing screw 4. Further, in the present embodiment, the air chuck 44 is used as the opening means 6, but it is not limited to this, and when opening the can, a spike that can penetrate the can may be used. Further, in this embodiment, the bottle 9 in the inverted state is supplied to the holder 9 in the inverted state, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the bottle 9 in the inverted state may be supplied to the holder 9 in the horizontal state. You may Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the bottle 2 is opened in the container receiver 24 of the reversing mechanism 7 but is not limited to this. The bottle may be opened on the belt conveyor 3 in this case. The carrier guide 34 may be held at the raised position, and the carrier guide 34 and the movable guide 33 may hold the bottle so as not to rotate together. Further, in the present embodiment, the bottle 2 is pushed out from the belt conveyor 3 onto the mounting plate 25 of the reversing mechanism 7 by the transfer mechanism 30 to be transferred, but the present invention is not limited to this. The mechanism 30 may be omitted. That is, the belt conveyor 3 extending to the downstream side of the timing screw 4 is extended to the front side of the reversing mechanism 7, and the mounting plate 25 is extended to the timing screw 4 side as the belt conveyor 3 is shortened. The bottle 2 that is conveyed by engaging with the timing screw 4 on the mounting plate 25 by being formed wide
Should be directly transferred. In this case, the unsealing mechanism 6 is installed on the upstream side of the timing screw 4 and is provided below the reversing mechanism 7 so as to project and retract between the mounting plate 25 and the belt conveyor 3. Should be placed above the reversing mechanism 7 so that it can be moved up and down.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, the device can be downsized as compared with the conventional liquid draining device,
In addition, the effect of excellent cleanability can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a rotary draining device 1 showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a holder 9.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Rotary draining device 2 ... Bottle (container) 4 Timing screw (conveying means) 7 ... Inversion mechanism 8 ... Rotating body 9 ... Holder 17 ... Liquid recovery means

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotating body which is rotated in a vertical direction, a holder which is provided on the rotating body in a radial direction and accommodates and holds a container in an overturned state, and a conveying means which conveys the container in an upright state. An inversion mechanism that inverts the container conveyed by the conveying means and supplies the container to the holder in an inverted state, and a liquid recovery means provided inside the rotating body with its opening facing upward. The holder accommodates and holds the container supplied from the reversing mechanism and conveys the container in an inverted state, and when the holder is in an upright state, the container accommodated and held in the holder is dropped and discharged. The liquid collecting device collects the liquid that is dropped and discharged from the container that is housed in the holder and is conveyed in an inverted state as the rotating body rotates. 2. The reversing mechanism is provided so as to be swingable in the same direction as the rotation direction of the rotating body, and a container receiver on which a container is placed and the container receiver are swung so as to move from the conveying means. The driving means for arranging the container in an upright position for receiving the container in the upright state and an inversion position for reversing the container from the receiving position to transfer the container in the overturned state to the rotating body is provided. Rotary draining device. 3. The rotary draining device according to claim 1, wherein the rotary draining device includes an opening mechanism for opening the container. 4. The holder is arranged in the radial direction of the rotating body and has a substantially cylindrical tubular portion for supporting the body of the container, and a neck portion of the container connected to the tip of the tubular portion. The rotary draining device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an engaging portion that engages with one or both of the shoulder portion and the shoulder portion.