JP4009384B2 - Air conveyor - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air conveyor that conveys a transported object such as a plastic container, a beverage container, or a resin cap by air or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An air conveyor is known as means for transporting a lightweight transported object at high speed. An air conveyor sends air or the like into a pipe or duct called a plenum by a blower, and the air that flows obliquely through a slit formed on the plate surface called a plenum deck lifts the conveyed product and provides propulsive force. It is a conveyor that feeds and conveys.
[0003]
Conventional air conveyors are of the open type, and the air flowing out from the plenum slits is directly released into the surrounding atmosphere. That is, the conveyed product is conveyed in the same atmosphere as the surrounding atmosphere.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional air conveyor, when a resin cap or the like that is required to be kept clean is used as a conveyed product, the resin cap is exposed to the surrounding air, so that the cleanliness is sufficiently maintained. I can't. Here, if the resin cap is to be transported by an air conveyor while maintaining cleanliness, the air conveyor itself must be installed in a clean atmosphere, which requires a large clean room and large capacity air conditioning equipment. It costs money.
[0005]
Then, an object of this invention is to provide the air conveyor which can fully maintain the cleanliness of a conveyed product, reducing cost.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present inventors diligently studied to achieve the above object. For example, in order to reduce the cost, a clean room made of stainless steel that surrounds only the conveyor is provided around the air conveyor in a tunnel shape to maintain cleanliness. However, in this case, manufacturing a tunnel including a bent portion and an inclined portion in accordance with the conveyor route is costly for processing, and the cost cannot be sufficiently reduced. Here, it is conceivable to provide an enclosure cover that surrounds the conveyance surface. However, if the enclosure cover is provided, the gas blown from the conveyance surface collides with the enclosure cover, and the gas in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction of the conveyance object is Backflow may occur.
[0007]
Accordingly, the present invention provides an air conveyor that conveys a conveyed product along a conveying surface by gas blown from a conveying surface formed above the plenum, and surrounds the conveying surface and passes the conveyed product in the conveying direction. An enclosure cover having a mouth, and a flow rate adjusting means for adjusting the flow rate of the gas blown from the transfer surface so as to decrease in the transfer direction of the transfer object are provided.
[0008]
According to this invention, a conveyed product is conveyed along a conveyance direction with the gas blown off from a conveyance surface, and the gas in an enclosure cover is discharged | emitted through the passage opening of an enclosure cover. At this time, since the internal pressure of the surrounding cover becomes higher than the external pressure due to the gas in the surrounding cover, the inflow of external air into the surrounding cover is sufficiently prevented. For this reason, a conveyed product is not exposed to external air. Therefore, it is not necessary to install the air conveyor itself in a large clean room. Furthermore, according to the present invention, a pressure gradient in which the pressure decreases in the transport direction is formed by the flow rate adjusting means, so that the backflow of gas in the direction opposite to the transport direction is reliably prevented.
[0009]
The above air conveyor has a plurality of plenums arranged side by side in the transport direction, and the flow rate adjustment that adjusts the flow rate of the gas introduced into each plenum to decrease in the transport direction corresponding to each plenum. It is preferable to provide a mechanism. In this case, by reducing the flow rate of the gas introduced into each plenum toward the transport direction by the flow rate adjusting mechanism, the pressure in the surrounding cover can be decreased toward the transport direction. The backflow of gas in the direction opposite to the transport direction is reliably prevented.
[0010]
Here, the air conveyor is configured to detect the pressure of the plenum and the internal pressure of the surrounding cover based on the pressure detecting means for detecting the pressure of the plenum and the internal pressure of the surrounding cover, and the pressure of the plenum and the internal pressure of the surrounding cover detected by the pressure detecting means. It is preferable to include control means for controlling the flow rate adjusting mechanism so as to be maintained at a state higher than the internal pressure.
[0011]
In this case, the pressure detecting means detects the pressure of the plenum and the pressure in the surrounding cover, and the control means controls the flow rate adjusting mechanism so that the pressure of the plenum is kept higher than the internal pressure of the surrounding cover. In this case, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the gas does not flow out of the plenum due to the reversal of the internal pressure of the surrounding cover and the pressure of the plenum.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of an air conveyor of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In all the drawings, the same or equivalent components are denoted by the same reference numerals.
[0013]
The air conveyor of the present invention conveys a conveyed product in a certain direction with gas, and the conveyed product is not particularly limited as long as it is lightweight, and for example, a resin cap, a metal cap, or the like is used. As the gas, air is usually used, but nitrogen or the like can also be used.
[0014]
Hereinafter, the air conveyor will be described as an example using a resin cap as a conveyed product and air as a gas.
[0015]
1 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the air conveyor, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the air conveyor 10 has a flat deck plate 1, and a transport surface 3 on which the resin cap 2 is transported is formed on the top surface of the deck plate 1. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of slits 4 are formed on the conveyance surface 3 along the conveyance direction A, and the bent portion 5 is directed obliquely downward in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction A from the edge 4 a of each slit 4. (See FIG. 3). A plurality of through holes 6 are formed on both sides of the slit 4.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of rod-shaped side guides 12 that regulate the movement width of the resin cap 2 in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction A are disposed above the conveyance surface 3 of the deck plate 1. Above the slit 4, a rod-shaped top guide 13 that restricts the vertical movement width of the resin cap 2 is disposed. In addition, as a shape of the side guide 12, as shown in FIG. 4, the cross-sectional shape may be an L shape.
[0017]
A concave member 8 having a U-shaped cross section extending along the conveyance direction A is provided at the lower portion of the deck plate 1, and both edge portions 8 a of the concave member 8 are bent to contact the both edge portions of the deck plate 1. It touches. A space surrounded by the deck plate 1 and the concave member 8 is a plenum 9. A gas supply pipe 11 is connected to the bottom of the concave member 8, and air is introduced into the plenum 9 through the air supply pipe 11.
[0018]
Accordingly, when air is introduced into the plenum 9 through the air supply pipe 11, the plenum 9 becomes in a high pressure state, and air is blown obliquely from the slit 4 of the deck plate 1 with respect to the transport direction A, and upward from the through hole 6. Air is blown out. For this reason, the resin cap 2 is levitated along the side guide 12 and the top guide 13 and given a propulsive force, and is conveyed toward the conveyance direction A.
[0019]
By the way, since the resin cap 2 is required to be kept clean, it is not preferable that the resin cap 2 is exposed to external air other than the air blown out from the plenum 9. Therefore, the air conveyor 10 includes an enveloping cover 14 that encloses the transport surface 3 as shown in FIG. 1 from the viewpoint of improving the cleanliness of the resin cap 2. The surrounding cover 14 has a cross-section inverted U-shaped member 15 having a certain length (for example, 10 m), and both edge portions 15 a thereof are bent and are in contact with both edge portions of the deck plate 1. Here, both edges 15a of the enveloping cover 15, both edges of the deck plate 1 and both edges 8a of the concave member 8 are intimately bonded to each other by, for example, bolts and nuts at regular intervals. Ingress of air is prevented. In addition, passage openings for allowing the resin cap 2 to pass through are formed at both ends of the surrounding cover 14, and the downstream passage openings of these passage openings are exhaust openings for discharging the air inside the enclosure cover 14. It is functioning as well.
[0020]
For this reason, the air in the surrounding cover 14 causes the internal pressure of the surrounding cover 14 to be higher than the external pressure, and the inflow of external air into the surrounding cover 14 is sufficiently prevented. Is not exposed to outside air. Therefore, even if the air conveyor 10 itself is not installed in a vast clean room, the cleanness of the resin cap 2 can be sufficiently maintained, and the cost for installing the air conveyor 10 can be sufficiently reduced.
[0021]
When the surrounding cover 14 is long, the internal pressure may become too high when exhausting only from the end (exit). Therefore, in such a case, it is preferable to provide an opening in the enveloping cover 14 to exhaust air. This makes it possible to perform smooth operation. Even in this case, since the internal pressure can be kept higher than the outside, inflow of external air is prevented. That is, the resin cap or the like is not exposed to outside air.
[0022]
By the way, when the height of the surrounding cover 14 is reduced, in the space surrounded by the surrounding cover 14 and the conveying surface 3, the air blown from the slit 4 and the through hole 6 of the conveying surface 3 is on the upper surface of the surrounding cover 14. It is conceivable that the collision causes not only the air flow in the transport direction A but also the air flow in the direction opposite to the transport direction A, and the reverse flow of the air flow occurs.
[0023]
Therefore, in the air conveyor 10, a pressure gradient is formed in the surrounding cover 14 so that the pressure in the surrounding cover 14 decreases in the transport direction A. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, a plurality of (for example, five) plenums 9 are arranged by arranging partition members 22 at regular intervals (for example, 2 m intervals) along the conveyance direction A inside the concave member 8. Are arranged in parallel, and a flow rate adjusting mechanism 18 is attached in the air supply pipe 11 extending from each plenum 9. The air supply pipes 11 join in the middle and are connected to the blower 17. The flow rate adjusting mechanism 18 is not particularly limited as long as the flow rate can be adjusted. For example, a butterfly valve as shown in FIG. 3 is used. As a form in which the plurality of plenums 9 are arranged in parallel along the conveyance direction A, a plurality of concave members 8 may be arranged in parallel along the conveyance direction A at the lower part of the surrounding cover 14.
[0024]
Here, in order to reduce the pressure toward the downstream side within the surrounding cover 14, the flow rate of the air introduced into each plenum 9 by the flow rate adjusting mechanism 18 is gradually decreased toward the downstream side. To. As a result, a gradient in which the pressure gradually decreases toward the downstream side in the surrounding cover 14 can be formed, and the backflow of air in the surrounding cover 14 can be reliably prevented.
[0025]
FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a second embodiment of the air conveyor of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, a pressure gauge 19 is arranged inside the surrounding cover 14, and a pressure gauge 20 is arranged in each plenum 9, and the pressure gauges 19, 20 constitute pressure detection means. Electric signals from the pressure gauges 19 and 20 are sent to the controller 21, and the flow rate adjusting mechanism 18 is appropriately controlled by the controller 21, so that the pressure of each plenum 9 is kept higher than the internal pressure of the surrounding cover 14. Is done. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid a situation in which air does not flow out of the plenum 9 due to the reversal of the internal pressure of the surrounding cover 14 and the pressure of the plenum 9, and the resin cap 2 and the deck plate resulting from the resin cap 2 not floating. 1 is prevented from generating excessive friction, and the conveyance speed of the resin cap 2 is not lowered.
[0026]
In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above. For example, in the above embodiment, the flow rate adjusting mechanism 18 is provided corresponding to all the continuous plenums 9, but the flow rate adjusting mechanism 18 is provided corresponding to a part of the plenums 9, and the flow rate adjusting mechanism 18 is In the plenum 9 not provided, it is preferable to provide a partition or a rotary blade 22 whose opening / closing degree can be adjusted. Even in this case, it is possible to reduce the pressure in the flow direction to ensure a sufficient flow rate and to reduce the cost. The flow rate adjusting mechanism 18 and the partition or rotary blade 22 constitute a flow rate adjusting means. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, air supply ports are provided every other plenum 9 (for example, a length of 2 m per piece) 9 arranged side by side (ie, air every 4 m). A flow rate adjusting mechanism 18 is installed in the air supply pipe 11 communicating with the air supply port, and a partition or rotating blade 22 is installed on the upstream side in the intermediate plenum 9.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the transported object is transported along the transport direction by the gas blown from the transport surface, the internal pressure of the surrounding cover is made higher by the gas than the external pressure. Thus, the flow of external air into the enclosure cover is sufficiently prevented, so that the conveyed product is not exposed to the external air. Therefore, even if the air conveyor itself is not installed in a large clean room, the cleanliness of the conveyed product can be sufficiently maintained, and the cost for installing the air conveyor can be sufficiently reduced. Furthermore, according to the present invention, a pressure gradient in which the pressure decreases in the transport direction is formed by the flow rate adjusting means, so that the backflow of gas in the direction opposite to the transport direction is sufficiently prevented.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of an embodiment of an air conveyor of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.
3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the side guide of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a form in which a plurality of plenums are arranged side by side in the conveying direction.
FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing another embodiment of the air conveyor of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing still another embodiment of the air conveyor of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 ... Conveyance surface, 9 ... Plenum, 14 ... Surrounding cover, 18 ... Flow rate adjustment mechanism, 19, 20 ... Pressure gauge (pressure detection means), 21 ... Controller (control means), A ... Conveyance direction.

Claims (3)

In an air conveyor that conveys a conveyed product along the conveying surface by a gas blown from a conveying surface formed above the plenum,
An enveloping cover that surrounds the transport surface and has a passage port through which the transported material passes in the transport direction;
A flow rate adjusting means for adjusting the flow rate of the gas blown from the transfer surface so as to decrease in the transfer direction of the transfer object;
An air conveyor comprising: A plurality of the plenums arranged side by side along the conveyance direction of the conveyed product, and a flow rate that adjusts the flow rate of the gas introduced into each plenum corresponding to each of the plenums to decrease in the conveyance direction. The air conveyor according to claim 1, further comprising an adjustment mechanism. Pressure detecting means for detecting the pressure of the plenum and the internal pressure of the surrounding cover;
Based on the pressure of the plenum detected by the pressure detection means and the internal pressure of the surrounding cover, the flow rate adjusting mechanism is controlled so that the pressure of the plenum is maintained higher than the internal pressure of the surrounding cover. Control means;
The air conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the air conveyor is provided.

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