JP3808615B2 - Container positioning device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a container leak detection method and a leak container detection apparatus, and more particularly, to a leak inspection apparatus configured to automatically and continuously detect leaks of containers on-line. The present invention relates to a container positioning device for gripping, positioning and fixing at a predetermined position.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a container filled with fluid, a container in which pressurized gas is sealed is required to ensure the hermeticity of the container. An example of such a container is a stainless barrel container filled with beer. FIG. 7 shows the appearance of a barrel container filled with beer, and FIG. 8 shows the internal structure near the barrel opening.
[0003]
The barrel container 100 is provided with a base part 102 at an upper part of a container body 101 and a cylindrical part 103 extending from the container body 101 at a lower part. The base part 102 includes a valve for introducing and discharging beer and a valve mechanism for sealing pressurized gas inside.
FIG. 8 shows these valve mechanisms. A fitting 103 is fixed to the base 102 by screwing, and a joint between the base 102 and the fitting 103 is sealed by a seal ring 104. The fitting 103 has a bush 105 screwed into the base 102 and a down tube 106 whose tip extends to the vicinity of the bottom of the container body 101, and a gas flow passage chamber 107 is formed between the bush 105 and the down tube 106. Yes.
[0004]
The down tube 106 is urged upward by a coil spring 108. An elastic seal member provided at the upper end of the down tube 106 abuts against the inner wall of the bush 105 to form a gas valve 109. When the down tube 106 is pushed down, the barrel The inside and outside of the container communicate. In addition, a beer valve 111 that is biased upward by a compression coil spring 110 is provided at the upper end of the down tube 106, and when the beer valve 111 is pushed down, the upper end and the lower end of the down tube communicate with each other, It has a structure that allows injection and discharge of beer into and out of a barrel container.
[0005]
As described above, the barrel container 100 has a hermetically sealed structure so that internal filling gas and beer do not leak through the joint between the base portion 102 and the fitting 103, the gas valve 109, the beer valve 111, the seal ring 104, and the like. However, if an elastic member such as a coil spring or a seal member becomes worn with use, the valve mechanism is deformed due to an impact or the like, or a crack occurs in a welded portion, etc., a complete sealed state cannot be maintained. It also affects the quality of the content beer. For this reason, this kind of barrel is inspected for leaks before filling the contents.
[0006]
As a method for inspecting the leak of the barrel container, a visual inspection, a method of detecting the leak of light using a lighting fixture, or a gas such as helium introduced into the barrel container to determine whether there is any leak of the gas. There are methods for detecting and detecting the leakage of the container, etc., but all of them require time and effort for the operation, and there are difficulties in detection accuracy. Therefore, the applicant has already developed and proposed a container leak detection apparatus using an ultrasonic measuring device (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-103844).
[0007]
FIG. 9 shows an example of a leak detection device disclosed herein. The leak detection device 200 is installed in the middle of the transport path of the transport conveyor 101, and an inspection stopper 105 for stopping the barrel container 100 transported to the inspection position is provided at the inspection position of the transport path. A stopper 104 for waiting the barrel container 100 is provided upstream of the installation position of the leak inspection apparatus 200. Note that the barrel container 100 transported to the leak detection position is previously washed with washing water in the washing process by the washing process, and the barrel valve 100 is previously provided with the gas valve 109 of the fitting 103 shown in FIG. Open and compressed air is injected.
[0008]
The leak detection device 200 includes a gantry 210, a lift cylinder 206 that pushes up a barrel container in an inspection position, and a box-shaped fixed sound insulation device 207 provided on the upper portion of the gantry 210. And a sound wave sensor 208 attached to the fixed sound insulation device 207. And in this leak detection apparatus 200, the barrel container 100 conveyed to the test | inspection position is lifted so that the opening | mouth part may enter in the fixed sound insulation apparatus 207 with the lift cylinder 206. FIG.
[0009]
For the acoustic wave sensor 208, for example, an acoustic transducer such as a microphone or a piezoelectric element is used. As shown in FIG. 10, the generated ultrasonic wave is picked up by a sonic sensor 208, converted into an electrical signal, amplified by a preamplifier 212, and then leaked from a predetermined frequency band, that is, a barrel container by a bandpass filter 213. The frequency band in which the information is distributed is selected so as to pass only 36 KHz to 45 KHz, for example. The leakage information that has passed through the band pass filter 213 is counted by the frequency counter 215 via the waveform shaper 214, sent to the frequency display means 216, and output to the level detection means 217 so that the presence or absence of leakage is displayed on the display means 218. I have to.
[0010]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the leak container detection apparatus using the leak detection apparatus by ultrasonic measurement, as a preparation stage, in the process of injecting pressurized gas into the barrel container, and in the inspection position, the barrel container is installed with the acoustic wave sensor. Since there is a step of introducing into the sound insulation device, the presence or absence of leakage can be obtained from the detection signal from the ultrasonic sensor, so by controlling the movement of the barrel container using the barrel container conveying means, online Suitable for automatic inspection.
[0011]
In an on-line automatic inspection apparatus, it may be necessary to accurately position a container to be conveyed in a predetermined work process. For example, as described above, when filling a container with pressurized gas and detecting the gas leak by detecting the gas leak, the container mouth of the container is washed or pressurized to the container prior to the leak detection process. It is necessary to fill with gas. In such a case, in those processes, it is necessary to accurately stop and position and fix the transported container. An object of the present invention is to provide a container positioning device capable of fixing a container to be transported to a predetermined position without stopping the transport device each time.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The above problem is used to detect a gas leak from a container filled with compressed gas to detect the leak of the container, and is provided at the installation position of the compressed air filling device installed below the conveyance path of the container.
In a container positioning device that stops containers at a predetermined position with respect to a conveyor that moves containers conveyed by a conveying means including a belt conveyor, and positions the stopped containers above the conveyor,
A pair of container gripping members that are provided opposite to both sides of the container transporting means, and for moving the container gripping member horizontally in the direction of the center of the transport path of the container transporting means. A gripping member driving device;
The container gripping member is pivotally attached to a horizontal shaft provided on a mounting bracket for attaching the container gripping member, and pivots upward from a horizontal position so as to allow the gripped container to move upward. This can be solved by a container positioning device characterized in that it is possible.
[0013]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the container positioning device according to the first aspect, the compressed gas filling device includes a nozzle for supplying a compressed gas that rises toward the opening of the container.
[0014]
The container positioning device of the present invention moves the container gripping member in the direction of the transport means so as to grip the container by operating the gripping member driving device when the container has been transported to a predetermined position by the transport means. Hold the container. Then, the container is separated from the conveying means by pushing up the gripped container by operating another means, for example, a compressed air filling device provided below the conveyor for filling the container with compressed air. It becomes possible. Thus, it is possible to perform the compressed air filling operation by positioning and fixing the container at a predetermined position without stopping the conveying means.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a leak container detection apparatus in which the compressed air supply apparatus of the present invention is incorporated. FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a front view. The leak container detection apparatus of the present embodiment includes four stations, and is configured from a standby station 1, a pressurization station 2, an inspection station 3, and a discharge station 4 in order from the carry-in side of the barrel container 100. .
[0016]
The standby station 1 is for waiting to enter the pressurizing process in the next pressurizing station 2, and is a place where the barrel container is kept waiting until the pressurizing devices 21 to 23 of the pressurizing station are vacant. It is. A common conveyor 10 is provided for the standby station 1 and the pressurizing station for the next process, and a stopper 11 is provided in the vicinity of the conveyor of the standby station. By operating this stopper 11, the conveyor 10 is conveyed. The barrel container 100 to be used can be appropriately stopped for a necessary time.
[0017]
The pressurizing station 2 is a station for injecting pressurized gas into the barrel container as a preparatory stage for leak inspection, and includes three pressurizing devices 21, 22, 23 in series on the transport path of the conveyor 10. ing. As shown in FIG. 1B, each pressurizing device 21 * (* represents 21 to 23) presses the container pressing device 24 above the conveyor 10 and pressurizes the conveyor 10 below. A gas filling device 25 is provided. The container pressing device 24 holds and holds the barrel container 100 introduced with the mouth part downward by a pressing plate 24b driven by a cylinder 24a. Further, the gas filling device 25 is for filling the barrel container 100 with pressurized gas, and includes a nozzle and a gas source that can be raised toward a container port positioned downward, as will be described later. In addition, this pressurization station 2 is provided with a nozzle (not shown) for jetting cleaning water to the container mouth, and before filling the barrel container 100 with pressurized gas, the container mouth is washed. .
[0018]
The inspection station 3 on the downstream side of the pressurizing station includes three leak inspection devices 31, 32, and 33 arranged in series. Each leak detection device 31 * corresponds to the container leak detection device of the present invention, and is the same in principle as the leak detection device described in FIG. 9 and FIG. It is what you have. Each leak detection device 31 * includes a sound insulation device 35 above. The sound insulation device 35 is supported by the gantry 24 and can be moved up and down by a drive means 35a. As shown in FIG. 2, the sound insulation device 35 has a box-like structure, and is composed of an internal and external stainless steel box and an internal sound insulation material, and a plurality of sound wave sensors 36 are attached to the wall portion. The structure of the sound insulation device 35 will be described in detail later.
[0019]
Each leak detection device 31 * is also provided with a sound insulation table 37 provided with a conveyor, and the carried-in barrel container 100 is accommodated therein to form a sound insulation space by the sound insulation device 35 and the sound insulation table 37. ing.
The evacuation station 4 located downstream of the inspection station 3 includes a distribution device 41 that distributes a normal barrel container and a barrel container in which leakage is detected to a regular conveyance path 42 and a defective article conveyance path 43 based on the inspection result in the inspection station 3. Have.
[0020]
3 and 4 show a stopper assembly 50 that is provided in each pressurizing device 25 provided in the pressurizing station 2 in FIG. 1 and positions and fixes a container to be conveyed at a predetermined position. 3 is a front view seen from the moving direction of the conveyor, and FIG. 4 is a plan view.
Containers to be inspected by the conveyor 10 are transferred to the pressurizing station 2. In each pressurizing apparatus, the containers are stopped by a stopper assembly 50 and are placed inside the containers by a pressurizing apparatus 25 installed below. Compressed air is filled. The belt conveyor 10 has two belts 10a and 10a, and the pressurizing device 25 allows access to a container to be transported with the mouth down from between the two belts 10a and 10a. ing.
[0021]
The stopper assembly 50 is provided as a pair on the left and right sides of the conveyor 10, and includes a cylinder mounting base 51, a cylinder 52, a stopper mounting bracket 53, and a container gripper 54. A stopper mounting bracket 53 is mounted on the cylinder 52 mounted on the cylinder mounting base 51, so that it can advance and retreat in the center direction of the conveyor 10. A container gripping tool 54 is rotatably attached to the stopper mounting bracket 53 by a shaft 53a so that the container 100 gripped by the left and right container gripping tools 54 can move upward. Note that FIG. 3 shows a container 100 ′ together with the container 100, so that containers of different sizes can be accommodated.
[0022]
In the stopper assembly 50, when the container 100 transferred by the conveyor 10 is carried into a predetermined pressurizing device of the pressurizing station, the control device (not shown) operates the cylinder 52 to operate the container gripper 54. Is moved in the direction of gripping the container 100, that is, in the direction of the conveyor 10. Accordingly, the container 100 is gripped by the left and right grippers 54 and is brought into a stopped state in sliding contact with the conveyor 10.
[0023]
Next, the nozzle of the pressurized gas filling device 25 is raised and inserted into the container port. Although the entire container is lifted slightly by this ascent and insertion, the holder 54 for holding the container is not damaged because it is rotatable at the joint with the stopper mounting bracket as shown in FIG. At this time, the container holding plate 24B positioned above the container is brought in a position close to the vicinity of the upper portion of the container in advance (by the cylinder 24A), so that the container 100 includes the holding plate 24B and the nozzle of the gas filling device. The shape is sandwiched between. In this state, since the holding by the gripping tool 54 is no longer necessary, the gripping tool 54 is moved from the container holding position by the cylinder 52. Then, filling with pressurized air is started. When the filling of the pressurized air is completed, the nozzle is lowered by the operation of the cylinder, the container 100 is also lowered along with it, and returns to the conveyor 10.
[0024]
The container holding plate 24B is controlled so that the vertical position is moved by the cylinder 24A in accordance with the size of the container and is located near the upper part of the container.
In this state, a compressed air supply device, which will be described later, constituting a pressurizing device installed below the conveyor 10 is pushed up between the two belts 10 a and 10 a and is separated from the conveyor 10. At this time, the container gripping tool 54 rotates about the shaft 53a, and thus continues to grip the container 100. As described above, the raised container 100 comes into contact with the holding plate 24b of the upper container holding device 24 and stops.
[0025]
According to the stopper assembly described above, the grasped container is allowed to move upward. For example, the container is separated from the conveyor by pushing up the container from below the conveyor that is the conveying means. Even when the work is performed on the positioned container, it is not necessary to stop the conveyor each time.
[0026]
Next, the compressed air supply device 60 constituting the pressurizing device will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. As shown in FIG. 5, the compressed air supply device 60 includes a support base 61, a cylinder fixing portion 62, a cylinder 63, and a base contact portion 65, and the support base 61 can be moved up and down by an elevator device (not shown). Yes. A cylinder 63 attached to the support base 61 via a cylinder fixing portion 62 has a hollow piston shaft 67 connected to a piston 66. A fluid ejection nozzle 67 a is attached to the tip of the piston shaft 67.
[0027]
A fluid introducing portion 71 that communicates with the hollow portion of the hollow piston shaft 67 is formed in the cylinder fixing portion 62, and a supply pipe 72 is connected to the fluid introducing portion 71. A pipe line 75 connected to the compressed air source 74 via the valve 73 and a pipe line 78 connected to the cleaning water source 77 via the valve 76 are branched and connected to the supply pipe 72. A discharge pipe 80 is connected to an annular passage 79 formed in the attachment portion 64 to which the base contact portion 65 is attached. A seal 69 is provided between the chamber of the cylinder 63 and the hollow piston shaft 76.
[0028]
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operating state of the compressed air supply device 60. The container carried into the pressurizing station is gripped by the container gripping tool of the stopper assembly 50 as described above. In this state, the pressurized air filling device 60 is raised by an elevating device (not shown), and the base contact portion 65 contacts the base 102 of the container 100 as shown in FIG. In this state, first, the valve 74 is opened, and pressurized wash water is introduced from the wash water source 74 into the hollow piston shaft 67 of the cylinder 63 through the pipe 75, the supply pipe 72, and the fluid introduction part 71. The introduced washing water is ejected from the fluid ejection nozzle 67a at the tip of the hollow shaft 67, and the inside of the mouth portion 102 of the container 100 is washed. The washing water is discharged from the annular passage 79 through the discharge pipe 80.
[0029]
When the inside of the cap portion 102 of the container 100 has been cleaned, the piston 66 of the cylinder 63 is then raised by operating a drive source (not shown). As a result, the hollow piston shaft 67 rises, the nozzle portion 67a at the tip thereof comes into contact with the beer valve 111 in the mouth portion 102 of the container 100, and further rises to open the beer valve 111. In this state, the valve 76 is opened, and compressed air is introduced from the compressed air source 77 into the container 100 from the nozzle 76 a through the pipe line 78, the supply pipe 72, the fluid introduction part 71 and the internal passage of the hollow piston shaft 67. When air of a predetermined pressure is introduced into the container, the valve 76 is closed, the piston 66 is lowered, and a lift device (not shown) is operated to lower the compressed air supply device 60 to clean a series of container mouths. Finish filling with compressed air.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the container positioning device of the present invention, since the grasped container is allowed to move upward, for example, by pushing up the container from below the conveyor which is a conveying means. The containers can be separated from the conveyor, and it is not necessary to stop the conveyor each time when performing operations on the positioned containers.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a leak container detection apparatus in which a compressed air supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is used. (A) shows a plan view and (b) shows a front view.
FIG. 2 is a view showing a sound insulation device of a leak detection device.
FIG. 3 is a front view of a stopper assembly of a pressurizing station.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a stopper assembly.
FIG. 5 is a view showing a pressurized air filling device.
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the pressurized air filling apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a barrel container for beer as an inspection target.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing details of the mouth of the barrel container.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a leak detection apparatus using a conventional ultrasonic sensor.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a conventional block for processing a detected signal from a sound wave sensor.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Standby station 2 Pressurization station 10 Conveyor 10a Belt 21-23 Pressurization apparatus 3 Inspection station 31-33 Leak detection apparatus 35 Sound insulation apparatus 36 Sonic sensor 4 Discharge station 41 Sorting apparatus 50 Stopper assembly 51 Cylinder mounting base 52 Cylinder 53 Stopper Mounting bracket 54 Container gripping tool

Claims (2)

Used to detect gas leaks from containers filled with compressed gas and to detect leaks of containers, provided at the installation position of a compressed air filling device installed below the transport path of the containers,
In a container positioning device that stops containers at a predetermined position with respect to a conveyor that moves containers conveyed by a conveying means including a belt conveyor, and positions the stopped containers above the conveyor ,
A pair of container gripping members that are provided opposite to both sides of the container transporting means, and for moving the container gripping member horizontally in the direction of the center of the transport path of the container transporting means. A gripping member driving device;
The container gripping member is pivotally attached to a horizontal shaft provided on a mounting bracket for attaching the container gripping member, and pivots upward from a horizontal position so as to allow the gripped container to move upward. A container positioning device characterized by being made possible . The container positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the compressed gas filling device includes a nozzle for supplying a compressed gas that rises toward an opening of the container .

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