JP3488412B2 - Seal checker for caps in product containers - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a seal checker for a cap of a product container filled with contents such as fermented milk and juice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is a common practice to fill beverages such as fermented milk and juice into a plastic (polystyrene or polyethylene) container and seal the opening with a cap such as aluminum. In this case, the cap is continuously covered with the opening of the product container and then sealed with heat at the opening edge. At this time, although rare, liquid leakage due to displacement of the cap, liquid leakage due to insufficient heat quantity, and insufficient sealing strength may occur, which is a cause of impairing commercial value.

Conventionally, as a countermeasure against this, the product is periodically pulled out from the manufacturing line to visually detect the liquid leak, or to detect the liquid leak by pushing the hand and to detect insufficient sealing strength. However, although this manual detection means is relatively easy to detect an abnormal appearance, it is difficult to find a defect related to the seal due to the product characteristics, and a more effective detection means has been desired.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and eliminates the need for human intervention from the detection of the airtightness of the seal portion of the cap of the product container and the magnitude of the sealing strength. Another object is to provide a seal checker that can constantly detect all products.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a seal checker for a cap in a product container according to claim 1, which is provided on a transfer conveyor for transferring the product container .
There are, and the pressing part to be pressed the sides of the product container moving on conveyor deform the seal portion of the product container, said press
At the upper position of the seal part of the product container that is deformed by the pressure part
The intensity of the reflected light of the light radiated to the installed product container
Image processing weakness to determine the area of the strong reflected light.
Detects the confidentiality of the seal and the sealing status with
And a detection sensor .

[0006]

In addition to the above-mentioned means, the seal checker for the cap of the product container according to the present invention comprises a pair of pressing belts arranged on both sides of the conveyer conveyor. The pressing belt presses the product container. The feature is that the force is adjustable.

[0008]

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seal checker for a cap in a product container according to the first aspect, wherein the seal checker is for a cap in a product container according to the first or second aspect. The present invention is characterized in that the product container is provided with a rod, and the pressing round rod presses the product container more strongly to mitigate damage to the product container during pressing.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described. The basics of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 2
The product container 1 made of polystyrene shown in Fig. 1 is already filled with a beverage such as fermented milk, and is made of aluminum foil.
The cap seal portion 3 (hermetically sealed) is formed by covering the opening serving as the drinking mouth with 2. The sealing means does not matter.

The seal checker 5 of this embodiment detects whether the cap seal portion 3 is airtight and whether or not there is a required sealing strength, and the entire apparatus is supported by the support base 34, and its checking means is provided. Is pressed from the side surface of the product container 1 by the pressing portion 12 to elastically deform the product container 1, and the fluid (beverage itself, air, or filling gas) in the product container 1 is reduced due to the decrease in the internal volume due to the deformation. This is for detecting a phenomenon that the cap 2 is bulged upward due to being pushed up, the inside of the product container 1 is in a positive pressure state, and the shape of the exposed cap seal portion 3 (container flange portion) is changed.

That is, the product container 1 is pressed to
When the inside pressure is increased to positive pressure, the seal having a small sealing strength is peeled off from the inside of the cap seal portion 3, and FIG.
The seal peeling portion 3b as shown in 1 appears, and the area of the seal ring 3a of the cap seal portion 3 decreases. In the case of no airtightness, the seal peeling portion 3b of the cap seal portion 3 reaches the peripheral portion, and the area of the seal ring 3a is significantly reduced. The presence / absence of airtightness and the magnitude of the sealing strength are detected by the presence / absence and extent of the change in the area. In this case, the shape of the cap seal portion 3 is the same as that of the image sensor 24.
It is detected using the detection sensor 6 such as.

As a concrete means of this embodiment, the product container 1 in which the contents are filled and the cap 2 is provided with the cap seal portion 3 is shown in a flow chart of FIGS. 1 and 3 in the final line in the filling process. As shown in FIG. 5, the synchronization sensor 7 for timing detects the area of the seal ring 3a of the cap 2 in synchronization with the detection result, and if the area of the seal ring 3a does not change (area Is larger than the threshold value), the product is passed as a non-defective product (airtightness “present” and sealing strength “large”). If there is a change in the area of the seal ring 3a in the above means (if the area is smaller than the threshold value), the product container 1 is selected as airtightness "none" or sealing strength "small".

First, the transfer device section 9 of the seal checker 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 1 and 5 show a transfer device section 9 arranged as a transfer step of the product container 1 after the plastic container is filled with the beverage, the cap 2 is placed in the upper opening, and then sealed.
The product containers 1 ... With the caps 2 attached to the seals are transported on the transport conveyor 10 at regular intervals. The transfer conveyor 10 itself may be a known means and the supporting frame 11 may be used.
Placed on top. The traveling direction α of the conveyor 10, that is, the conveyor 1 traveling from left to right in FIG.
Pressing portions 12 are arranged on both the left and right sides of 0 as shown in FIGS.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 to 6, the pressing portions 12 are arranged substantially symmetrically on both sides of the conveyor 10. That is, two driven rotating shafts 13 and 13 and driven rotating shafts 14 and 14 are provided on both sides of the conveyor 10.
A drive pulley 15 and a driven pulley 16 are respectively mounted on the shafts, and pressure belts 17, 17 are wound between the two driven pulleys 16, 16 on both sides.
Opposite sides of 7 and 17 are arranged so as to move at the same speed as the moving speed of the conveyor 10.

The distance between the facing surfaces of the pressing belts 17, 17 is set to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the product containers 1 ...
The product container 1 sandwiched between 17 is pressed from both sides to slightly indent. Tension pulleys 18 and 18 are arranged outside the pressing belts 17 and 17, respectively, and apply tension to the pressing belts 17 and 17 opposite to each other.

The belt guide 1 for eliminating the slack of the pressing belts 17, 17 on the back side of the opposing belt surfaces of the pressing belts 17, 17 and reinforcing the pressing force against the product container 1.
9 and 19 are arranged, respectively. Belt guide 19,1
9 has an elongated hole in the flow direction of the pressing belts 17, 17, and the elongated hole portion has a pressing round bar 2 having a diameter smaller than the elongated hole width.
Phenomenon 0 and 20 are arranged slightly on the belt side from the belt contact surface of the belt guides 19 and 19, and are pushed further from both sides of the product container 1, and when the product container 1 is made of polystyrene, the container is whitened and discolored by excessive pressing. It has the effect of denting without generating. If the container has a shape having an appropriate constriction as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the round bar guides 33, 33 are arranged above the belt guides 19, 19.
It prevents the container from vibrating, rising and tilting when passing through the pressing part.

Further, the belt guides 19 and 19, the pressing rods 20 and 20, and the rod guides 33 and 33 are supported by brackets 21 and 21, and the pressing belts 17 and 17 are provided.
In order not to scratch the surface of the product container 1,
The surface of the container may be formed in a flute shape in order to prevent whitening discoloration of the container by using rubber as a material. The driven rotating shafts 13 and 1
Motors 22, 22 are provided at the lower end of 3 as shown in FIG. 5, and rotate at the same cycle. In addition, the motor 22,
An inverter 23 is attached to 22 so that the rotation speed can be changed appropriately.

The detection sensor 6 is a pressing rod 2 shown in FIG.
The image sensors are arranged slightly upstream from the center of 0 and 20, and an image sensor is used in this embodiment. The image sensor is composed of a CCD camera 24, a ring illumination 25, and a sensor controller 26. The CCD camera 24 and the ring illumination 25 are attached to a column 27, and the center of the image picked up by the CCD camera 24 and the ring illumination 2 are arranged.
The center of 5 is arranged so that the orbits of the product container 1 overlap. The reflected light of the cap seal part 3 by the ring illumination 25 is parallel to the CCD camera 24.
a is strong, and the protruding seal peeling portion 3b is weak. After subjecting the captured image to image processing such as binarization, the area of the portion where the reflected light is strong is measured.

Further, the brackets 21 and 21 are provided with a synchronization sensor 7 so that the product container 1 can convey the product container 1.
It is detected whether or not the product is present at the sensing position of the CCD camera 24, and if the product container 1 is present, the photoelectric switch 28 shown in FIG. 4 is turned on, the image sensor 5 is operated via the programmable controller 29, and the seal is applied. The size of the area of the ring 3a is determined. Then, the judgment result is transmitted to the programmable controller 29 as a good product having a large area and a bad product having a small area.

That is, the detection sensor 6 of this embodiment detects whether or not the product container 1 to be detected has reached the detection position on the conveyer conveyor 10, activates the CCD camera 24, and outputs information on the determination result. Is sent to the selection unit 8. The ability to continuously check with the detection sensor 6 can be about 45,000 per hour.

On the downstream side of the detection sensor 6, a sorting section 8 is arranged as shown in FIGS. The sorting unit 8
Is arranged with an air nozzle 30 for ejecting an air jet in a direction traversing the conveyor 10, and when a product container 1 which is determined to be a non-defective product by a command of the programmable controller 29 shown in FIG. 5 is detected, as shown in the right end of FIG. Then, it is transported as it is on the transport conveyor 10.

When it is determined that the product is defective, the solenoid valve 31 is opened and the air nozzle 30 blows air for a moment to blow off the product container 1 on the conveyor 10.
It is stored in the container receiving box 32 and disposed of by an appropriate means. At this time, the operator may be warned of the defect by sound, light, or the like. An actuator using air pressure or the like may be used as a means for eliminating defective products.

According to this embodiment, the product container 1 is run between the pressing belts 17 and elastically deformed in the final step after filling and sealing the beverage in the product container 1 to elastically deform the seal ring 3a. CCD camera 24
In accordance with the result of the determination, it is automatically sorted into each group of presence or absence of airtightness and sealing strength.

In the above embodiment, all the product containers 1 can be detected with a simple structure in which the product container 1 is slightly deformed without any human intervention, so that the reliability of the product is improved and the manpower is reduced. Since it does not go through, no hygiene problems occur. Further, on the back surface of the pressing belts 17 and 17, there are pressing round bars 20 and 20 and belt guides 19 and 1, respectively.
It is possible to prevent the phenomenon in which the container is plastically deformed and whitened and discolored due to excessive pressing of the pressing belts 17 and 17 by arranging the container slightly on the belt side from the belt contact surface of 9 and further pressing from both sides of the product container 1 to make it concave. it can.

[0026]

According to the present invention, the following effects are exhibited. 1. According to the invention described in claim 1, since it is possible to continuously detect all the products and human hands are not required, the hygiene and the reliability of the quality of the products are improved, and further the mounting on the existing transfer conveyor ( Installation is easy. In addition, known images
Easy to adopt and universal because image sensor can be used
It can be widely used.

2. According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effect of the above invention, by appropriately adjusting the strength of the pressing action of the pressing belt on the product container, the invention can be applied to the product containers having various elastic forces. A highly versatile device can be obtained.

[0028]

3 . According to the invention described in claim 3 , in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, by pressing from the back side of the pressing belt with the pressing round bar, it is possible to press more strongly, and at the time of pressing, the container Since it is possible to mitigate the damage to the product container, it can be applied to a product container having physical properties unfavorable to pressing, and a highly versatile device can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial front view (A) and a plan view (B) of a product container applied to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a carrying section of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view showing a pressing portion of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Product container 2 ... Cap 3 ... Cap seal part 3a ... Seal ring 3b ... seal peeling part 5 ... Seal checker 6 ... Detection sensor 7 ... Synchronous sensor 8: Sorting section 9 ... Conveyor unit 10 ··· Conveyor 11 ... Supporting frame 12 ... Pressing section 13 ... Rotating shaft (of drive pulley) 14 ... Rotating shaft (of driven pulley) 15. Drive pulley 16. Driven pulley 17 ... Pressing belt 18. Tension pulley 19 ... Belt guide 20 ... Pressing round bar 21..Bracket 22..Motor 23 ... Inverter 24 ... CCD camera [image sensor] 25 ... Ring lighting 26 .. Sensor controller 27 ... props 28 .. Photoelectric switch 29. Programmable controller 30 ... Air nozzle 31 ... Solenoid valve 32 .. Container receiving box 33 ... Round bar guide 34..Supporting table

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --Continued from the front page (56) References JP-A-8-105810 (JP, A) JP-A-10-9994 (JP, A) JP-A-61-38677 (JP, A) JP-A-2000-9578 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01M 3/38 B65B 57/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conveyor odor for conveying the product container
Te, and the pressing part for deforming the sealing portion of the product container by pressing the side surface of the product container moving on conveyor, the pressing
Installed at the upper position of the seal part of the product container
The intensity of the reflected light of the light emitted to the placed product container
Image processing to determine the area of the part with strong reflected light
Detects the confidentiality of the seal and the sealing condition.
A seal checker for a cab in a product container , comprising: 2. The product according to claim 1, wherein the pressing portion comprises a pair of pressing belts arranged on both sides of the conveyor, and the pressing force of the pressing belts on the product container is adjustable. Seal checker for caps on containers. 3. The pressing unit comprises a pressing round bar on the side of the pressing belt opposite to the product container side, and the pressing round bar strongly presses the product container to prevent damage to the product container during pressing. The seal checker for a cap in a product container according to claim 1 or 2, which is relaxed.