JP3635549B2 - Structure of PET bottle transport path - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a structure of a conveyance path for conveying a plastic bottle in a plastic bottle production line or a content filling line.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a plastic bottle production line, as shown in FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings, empty plastic bottles B are in an upright state in a row L from an unloading section 102 such as a manufacturing section to an input section 103 such as an inspection section or a packaging section. A transport path 100 having a conveyor device for transporting at a position is provided. The conveyor device of the transport path 100 is configured to stop or start in conjunction with the stop or start operation of the bottle manufacturing apparatus that is the carry-out unit 102. At this time, the bottle row L often breaks. .
[0003]
However, empty plastic bottles B are extremely light and inferior in stability to glass bottles, etc., and because the container body is also elastic, it is transported in a continuous continuous line from the carry-out part 102 to the carry-in part 103. If it is, the last bottle Bz in the case where the row L is interrupted is likely to fall off due to the inertial force and the elasticity of the container itself when the conveyor device is stopped and started. Of course, the conveyance path 100 is provided with guide members for guiding both sides of the body of the plastic bottle B. However, when the row L is interrupted as shown in the figure, the rearmost bottle Bz falls to the rear side in the traveling direction. Cannot be prevented.
[0004]
Therefore, in order to stably transport this kind of plastic bottle, it has been proposed to provide an air suction device in the conveyor device and transport the plastic bottle while sucking the bottom surface of the plastic bottle onto the conveyor surface. For example, the top chains 80 and 90 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are used in this air suction type conveyance path, and air for adsorbing the bottom surface of the plastic bottle to be conveyed to the top chains 80 and 90 is used. Many suction holes 81 and 91 are formed.
[0005]
However, in the conveyor provided with a large number of holes 81 and 91 as shown in the figure, the pressure loss is large and the force for adsorbing the bottom surface of the PET bottle is not sufficient, so that it does not contribute to the stable conveyance of the bottle for the equipment. was there.
In recent years, a PET bottle 60 called “petaloid” in which a bottom 61 as shown in FIG. 7 is formed in a substantially pentagonal uneven shape as a PET bottle for carbonated beverages has come to be used. The unevenness of the bottom portion 61 prevents the bottom portion from being deformed due to the high internal pressure of the carbonated beverage, which is the content, but the bottom portion stability is higher than that of the bottom portion 66 of the general PET bottle 65 shown in FIG. Is particularly low when empty, and the bottom surface has extremely poor adsorptivity, and the top chains 80 and 90 provided with a large number of holes 81 and 91 described above hardly produce an adsorption effect by air suction.
[0006]
In recent years, there has been a demand for higher speeds in the PET bottle production line and content filling line, and troubles such as bottle overturning in the PET bottle conveyance path directly affect the production efficiency of the entire line. From such a point of view, there is a demand for a structure of a conveyance path that more stably conveys this kind of empty PET bottle.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In view of such circumstances, the present invention is a novel pet that has a large adsorption effect on the bottom of the bottle and can be stably transported even in general PET bottles and PET bottles having irregularities at the bottom. The present invention intends to provide a structure of a bottle conveyance path.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
That is, the invention of claim 1 has a conveyor device for transporting empty PET bottles in an upright state, and the conveyor device is constituted by two rows of top chains that move along respective rails. together with the the center of the movement direction of the two rows top chain suction groove path by the inner member facing the respective rails are formed, the suction at the bottom of the groove path as to allow air suction from the suction Mizoro According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a suction bottle portion connected to a suction device to transport the bottle while adsorbing the bottom surface of the bottle to the suction groove.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveyor device for transporting empty PET bottles in an upright state, and the conveyor device is constituted by two rows of top chains moving along respective rails. together with the the center of the movement direction of the two rows top chain suction groove path by the inner member facing the respective rails are formed, the suction at the bottom of the groove path as to allow air suction from the suction Mizoro A suction box portion connected to the suction device is provided to suck the bottom surface of the bottle into the suction groove, and a neck guide for guiding the lower part of the neck flange of the bottle is provided above the suction groove to carry the bottle. The present invention relates to a structure of a plastic bottle conveyance path.
[0010]
The invention of claim 3 relates to the structure of the plastic bottle conveyance path according to claim 2, wherein the neck guide is configured to be adjustable in width.
[0011]
Furthermore, the invention of claim 4 relates to the structure of the PET bottle conveyance path having a trunk guide configured to be adjustable in width in the invention of claim 2.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing a plastic bottle conveyance path showing an example of the invention of claim 1 together with a cross-section, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an opening shape of the conveyance path used in an experiment for measuring adsorption force, FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a PET bottle conveyance path showing an example of the invention of claims 2 to 4 together with a cross section, and FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of FIG.
[0013]
[Invention of Claim 1]
FIG. 1 shows the structure of a PET bottle conveyance path according to the first aspect of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the structure of this plastic bottle conveyance path has a conveyor device 10 for conveying empty plastic bottles B in an upright state as described above. It is constituted by two rows of top chains 11 and 12 that move along the rails 21 and 22, and the inner members facing each of the rails 21 and 22 are arranged at the center in the moving direction M of the two rows of top chains 11 and 12. 21a, 22a groove-shaped suction groove path 20 is formed by, by providing the suction groove passage 20 suction box 25 which air suction is connected to the suction device 30 so as to be more in the lower portion of the suction groove passage 20 The suction groove 20 is conveyed while adsorbing the bottom surface of the bottle.
[0014]
In the embodiment, the top chains 11 and 12 of the two rows of the conveyor device 10 are connected to the connecting portions 13a and 13b and 14a and 14b of the front and rear chain members 13, 13, 14, and 14 by pins 15 and 16, respectively. It is configured to be pivotally attached and bendable in the forward and backward directions. The top chains 11 and 12 move along the rails 21 and 22, respectively.
The rails 21 and 22 on which the top chains 11 and 12 move are provided on the upper portion of the suction box portion 25, and the suction grooves 20 are formed by the inner members 21a and 22a opposed to the rails 21 and 22, respectively.
In FIG. 1, reference numerals 11R and 12R represent return sides of the top chains 11 and 12, and 19 is a roller. Reference numeral 26 denotes an air guide duct connected to the suction box portion 25 and is provided to average the suction force of the suction groove 20.
[0015]
2 is a schematic plan view showing the opening shape of the conveyance path used in the experiment for measuring the suction force. In the figure, (2A) represents an opening made of the groove 20 of the present invention, (2B) represents an opening made of a relatively large hole 20X, and (2C) represents an opening made of a large number of small holes 20Y. The total area of the openings shown in FIG. In addition, B shown with a broken line is a bottom face of a plastic bottle.
Then, when air suction was performed from the lower part of the opening shown in each figure with the same suction amount and the suction force on the bottom surface of the plastic bottle B was tested, the suction force of the groove 20 in (2A) was the strongest and the bottle B was stable. Met.
This is because the air flow sucked by the openings 20X and 20Y in (2B) and (2C) is turbulent, whereas the air sucked in the opening made of the groove 20 according to the present invention is a laminar flow. Thus, it is considered that the pressure loss is small, the suction force is strong, and the suction force at the bottom of the bottle is strong.
[0016]
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the suction force to the bottom of the bottle is increased, the plastic bottle can be stably transported, and the bottom is also optimal for transporting a petaloid having a polygonal shape. In addition, high-speed conveyance is also possible.
Also in the manufacture of the conveyor device, it is not necessary to form the opening directly in the top chain as in the prior art, and it can be carried out simply, easily and economically.
[0017]
[Invention of Claims 2 to 4]
Next, the inventions of claims 2 to 4 will be described. These are structures for making the bottle conveying line of the invention of claim 1 more stable and reliable. 3 and FIG. 4, the same reference numerals as those in the embodiment of FIG. 1 represent the same components, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted.
[0018]
3 and 4, the conveyor device 10A is constituted by two rows of top chains 11 and 12 that move along the rails 21 and 22 , respectively, and the two rows of top chains 11 and 12 as described above. At the center in the moving direction, a groove-shaped suction groove 20 is formed by the opposed inner members 21a, 22a of the rails 21, 22 . Reference numeral 25 denotes the suction box described above.
In the invention of claim 2, a neck guide 40 for guiding the lower part of the neck flange Bn of the bottle B (here, petaloid type bottle) is provided above the suction groove 20, and the upper part (neck part) of the plastic bottle B is provided. ).
[0019]
The neck guide 40 has a holding groove 43 formed between two guide plates 41 and 42 parallel to the traveling direction of the conveyor device as shown in the figure.
In addition, it is preferable that the width | variety of the neck guide 40 is freely comprised like invention of Claim 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the width of the neck guide 40 may be adjusted by supporting the guide plates 41 and 42 forward and backward on both side frames 17 and 18 of the conveyor device via screw members 44 and 45. Reference numeral 46 in FIG. 4 is an attachment member for the guide plates 41 and 42 and the screw members 44 and 45, and 47 is a nut member for the screw members 44 and 45 attached to the frames 17 and 18.
[0020]
Furthermore, in the invention of claim 4, a trunk guide 50 configured to be adjustable in width is attached.
In the embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an upper body guide 50 and a lower body composed of a pair of guide plates 52 and 53 parallel to the traveling direction of the conveyor device for guiding both sides of the body Bb of the plastic bottle B. It consists of a guide 51. The width adjustment of the trunk guides 50 and 51 may be performed by moving the guide plates 52 and 53 forward and backward on the both side frames 17 and 18 of the conveyor device via the screw members 54 and 55 in the same manner as the neck guide 40. Reference numeral 56 in FIG. 4 is an attachment member for the guide plates 52 and 53 and the screw members 54 and 55, and 57 is a nut member for the screw members 54 and 55 attached to the frames 17 and 18.
[0021]
As shown in the drawings, the petaloid type PET bottle B having an unstable bottom can be stably and reliably transported, and greatly contributes to a smooth increase in transport speed.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
As illustrated and described above, according to the structure of the conveyance path of the present invention, even in general PET bottles and PET bottles having irregularities on the bottom, the bottom surface of the bottle has a large adsorption effect and is stably conveyed. can do. Therefore, troubles such as bottle overturning in the PET bottle conveyance path are eliminated, the speed of conveyance in the PET bottle production line and the content filling line is realized, and the production efficiency of the entire line can be increased.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing a PET bottle conveyance path showing an example of the invention of claim 1 together with a cross section.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an opening shape of a conveyance path used in an experiment for measuring an adsorption force.
FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a PET bottle conveyance path showing an example of the invention of claims 2 to 4 together with a cross section.
4 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing an example of a top chain used in a conventional conveyance path.
FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing another example of a top chain used in a conventional conveyance path.
FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a plastic bottle.
FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of a conventional plastic bottle conveyance path.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conveyor apparatus 11,12 Top chain 20 Suction groove path 21,22 Rail 25 Suction box part 30 Suction apparatus 40 Neck guide 50,51 Body guide B PET bottle Bn PET bottle neck flange Bb PET bottle body

Claims (4)

In having a conveyor device for transporting empty plastic bottles in a row in an upright state,
Together constitute the second column top chain moving along the conveyor device in each of the rails, the suction groove path by the inner member facing the each rail is formed at the center of the movement direction of the top chain of the two rows In addition, a suction box portion connected to a suction device is provided at the lower part of the suction groove so that air can be sucked from the suction groove, and the bottom surface of the bottle is sucked into the suction groove and conveyed. The structure of the PET bottle transport path. In having a conveyor device for transporting empty plastic bottles in a row in an upright state,
Together constitute the second column top chain moving along the conveyor device in each of the rails, the suction groove path by the inner member facing the each rail is formed at the center of the movement direction of the top chain of the two rows In addition, a suction box connected to a suction device is provided at the lower portion of the suction groove so that air can be sucked from the suction groove, and the bottom surface of the bottle is adsorbed to the suction groove.
A structure of a PET bottle conveyance path, wherein a neck guide for guiding a lower part of a neck flange of the bottle is provided above the suction groove path for conveyance.   The structure of the PET bottle conveyance path according to claim 2, wherein the neck guide is configured to be adjustable in width.   3. The structure of a PET bottle conveyance path according to claim 2, comprising a trunk guide configured to be adjustable in width.

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