JP4106784B2 - Rotary capper - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rotary capper, and more particularly to a rotary servocapper in which a spindle to which a capping head is attached is rotated by a servo motor.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-27235 discloses an example of a conventional rotary capper in which a spindle is rotated by a servo motor. The rotary capper includes a rotating body, a first motor that rotationally drives the rotating body, a plurality of container grippers arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation center of the rotating body, and each container gripper. A plurality of capping heads respectively disposed above, elevating means for elevating and lowering each capping head, and a servo motor for rotationally driving each capping head independently of the rotating body are provided.
[0003]
The rotary capper has a cap system in which the rotation of the capping head can be controlled independently even if the rotation speed of the rotation body fluctuates, by driving the rotation body and driving each capping head separately. The tightening torque can be managed with high accuracy.
[0004]
As described above, in the conventional rotary capper in which the capping head is rotated by the servo motor independently of the rotation of the rotating body, when the container is supplied to the container gripper of the rotating body at the container insertion portion, The capping head holding the cap gradually descends, and when it descends to the lowest position, the capping head starts rotating and tightens the cap.
[0005]
When the capping head rotates and the cap tightening starts, the rotary capper rotates until a predetermined torque is reached regardless of the rotation (revolution) speed of the rotating body. Therefore, if the rotation of the rotating body stops due to some trouble before starting the winding tightening while the capping head is descending and reaching the most lowered position, the cap is tightened without the capping head descending. The container will be lifted. Therefore, conventionally, the rotation is started after the capping head reaches the lowest position.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional rotary capper, as described above, winding by rotation cannot be started unless the capping head is lowered to the lowest position, so that the effective angle of the rotating body necessary for winding is reduced. There was a problem. Also, when capping while applying pressure, such as with a fin lock cap, a strong force is applied between the screw part of the cap and the screw part of the container mouth part from above, so the capping head should be When rotation is started after being lowered to the lowered position, dust may be generated due to resistance between the screw portions. Therefore, it is desirable to start rotation of the capping head before lowering the capping head to the lowest position to lighten the load on the screw part, but it is impossible because the container may be lifted as described above Met.
[0007]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and allows the rotation to start and tighten before the capping head is lowered to the lowest position, thereby extending the cap tightening section. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary capper capable of improving performance per head. In addition, even when capping while pressing from above like a fin lock cap, a rotary capper that can prevent dust from being generated by applying a large force to the cap by rotating the capping head while descending. Is intended to provide.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A rotary capper according to the present invention includes a rotating body, a first motor that rotationally drives the rotating body, a plurality of container grippers provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation center of the rotating body, A plurality of spindles arranged to be able to be raised and lowered above each container gripper and provided with a capping head at the bottom, a cam for engaging a cam follower connected to each spindle to raise and lower the capping head, A second motor that is connected to each of the spindles and that rotates and drives each spindle independently of the rotating body; and a speed detecting means for detecting the rotating speed of the rotating body; and a rotation angle of the rotating body. an angle detector for, and control means for controlling said second motor by a signal from the both detection means is provided, the control means, said rotating body When it becomes less than the constant speed is obtained so as to change to the downstream side of the seaming starting position of the capping head in the rotation angle of the rotating body.
[0009]
In the rotary capper according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the rotary capper having the above-described configuration, the control means usually starts rotating and starts to be tightened and rotated before the capping head reaches the lowest position. If the body is equal to or less than the predetermined speed, the tightening start position of the capping head by changing to the downstream side in the rotation angle of the rotating body, the capping head which does not reach to the most lowered position and so as not to rotate Is.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a simplified overall configuration including a rotary capper 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rotary capper 2. The container 6 (see FIG. 2) that has been conveyed is introduced into the rotary capper 2 via the inlet side star wheel 8, and after capping is performed in the rotary capper 2, the outlet side star wheel 10 is It is discharged onto the transport conveyor 12 through.
[0011]
As shown in FIG. 2, the rotary capper 2 includes a rotating body (indicated by reference numeral 16 as a whole) that is rotatably supported on the outer periphery of a fixed cylinder 14 that is arranged upright at the center. The rotating body 16 is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). The lower rotary table 18 constituting the rotary body 16 is provided with a plurality of bottle tables 20 and container grippers 22 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation center O ₁ of the rotary body 16. A capping head 24 is disposed above each of the container grippers 22. These capping heads 24 are provided at the lower end of a spindle 30 that is rotatably supported by rotating plates 26 and 28 on the upper side of the rotating body 16. These spindles 30 are driven to rotate independently of the rotating body 16 by servo motors 32 respectively placed on the upper rotating plate 28.
[0012]
A cam follower 34 is attached to each spindle 30, and these cam followers 34 are engaged with cam grooves 36 a of a cylindrical cam 36 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) fixed to the upper outer periphery of the vertical fixed cylinder 14. Match. The cam groove 36a of the fixed cylindrical cam 36 has a cam shape shown in FIG. 3, and the spindle 30 and the capping head 24 are moved up and down by rotating the cam follower 34 along the cam groove 36a. To do.
[0013]
This cam-shaped A position is a position where the container 6 is supplied from the inlet side star wheel 8 onto the bottle 20 of the rotating body 16 (see FIG. 1), and from A to C, the lowering section of the capping head 24, C From D to E, the capping head 24 moves at the lowest lowered height, and from D to E is the rising section of the capping head 24. F is a discharge position of the container 6 on the bottle table 20 and a holding position of the cap 40 by the capping head 24. In this embodiment, the shape of the cam groove 36a in the section (A to C) in which the capping head 24 descends has two stages, and the first half (from the A position to the B position) descends relatively abruptly. In the second half (from the B position to the C position), when the capping head 24 has already started rotating and the cap 40 is tightened, the cap 40 is lowered as slowly as possible in order to reduce the burden on the cap 40. It has become.
[0014]
The rotary capper 2 is provided with a speedometer (speed detection means) 42 that detects the rotation (revolution) speed of the rotary body 16 and an encoder (angle detection means) 44 that detects the rotation angle of the rotary body 16. Detection signals from the speed detection means 42 and the angle detection means 44 are input to the control means 46, and the rotation of each servo motor 32 is controlled according to these detection signals.
[0015]
The operation of the rotary capper 2 according to the above configuration will be described. The containers 6 transported by the transport conveyor 4 are sequentially introduced into the rotating body 16 via the inlet side star wheel 8. The rotating body 16 is provided with a bottle table 20 and a container gripper 22 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the container 6 placed on each bottle table 20 is gripped by the container gripper 22. At this time, the capping head 24 is at the most raised position and already holds the cap 40 at the F position of the cam groove 36a.
[0016]
By the rotation of the rotating body 16, the container 6 gripped by the container gripper 22 and the capping head 24 holding the cap 40 rotate and move from the A position to the B position. During this time, the capping head 24 moves to the cam groove 36a. Decreases by the change in height. When the capping head 24 rotates to this position (B), the control means 46 sends a command to the servo motor 32 in accordance with a detection signal from the angle detection means 44 to drive the spindle 30 to rotate. The cap 40 starts to be tightened by the rotation of the spindle 30 and the capping head 24.
[0017]
The spindle 30 performs capping by rotating while slowly descending from the B position to the C position. The spindle 30 and the capping head 24 reach the most lowered position at the point C, and the winding of the cap 40 is completed while moving at this height. Thereafter, when the capping head 24 reaches the position D after releasing the cap 40, the spindle 30 and the capping head 24 are raised in accordance with the rise of the shape of the cam groove 36a. At the E position, the capping head 24 reaches the most elevated height, and at the F position, the container 6 on the bottle table 20 is discharged onto the conveyor 12 via the outlet side star wheel 10, and the capping head 24 is slightly moved. And the next cap 40 is held. Thereafter, by performing the same operation as described above, each capping head 24 sequentially performs capping on the container 6.
[0018]
As described above, by starting the rotation before the capping head 24 descends to the lowest position (C position) (in this example, the B position), the winding section of the cap 40 can be lengthened. Therefore, even if the line is operated at a high speed, capping can be completed within the lowest descending section (from the C position to the D position), and the capacity of the capping head 24 per head can be improved. However, if the capping head 24 starts to rotate while descending, the container 6 may be lifted when the rotation of the rotating body 16 is stopped due to line trouble or the like as described above. Therefore, in this embodiment, normally, the spindle 30 is rotated by the servo motor 32 from the position B in the middle of the lowering of the capping head 24 as described above, and the winding is started. The rotation of the capping head 24 is controlled in accordance with the (revolution) speed to prevent the container 6 from being lifted.
[0019]
That is, when an emergency stop command is issued to this machine, the capping head 24 that has already passed the C position and has been lowered to the lowest position continues capping as it is, and the capping head 24 that has not been lowered to the lowest position. Prevents the container 6 from being lifted by preventing it from rotating. Further, the rotation speed detected by the speed detection means 42 for detecting the rotation speed of the rotating body 16 becomes a low speed below a predetermined value, and the rotation is finished before the capping head 24 reaches the lowest height after the rotation starts. In such a case, the capping head 24 should not be rotated.
[0020]
The position at which the rotation of the spindle 30 is started is not limited to the point B, and can be set as appropriate according to the rotational speed of the rotating body 16. For example, when the rotational speed of the rotating body 16 is slower than the normal rotational speed, the start of rotation of the spindle 30 by the servo motor 32 is delayed downstream of the B position by a command from the control means 46. . By delaying the start of rotation in this manner, it is possible to prevent capping from being completed and the container 6 being lifted before the capping head 24 is lowered to the lowest position.
[0021]
As described above, the rotation of the capping head 24 is controlled according to the revolution speed of the rotating body 16, and the rotation of the cap 40 can be started before the capping head 24 reaches the lowest position. Since it is possible to take a longer section, the capping can be performed even if the line is operated at a high speed, and the speed can be increased. Furthermore, even when capping while applying pressure, such as a fin lock cap, it is possible to start rotation before a large force is applied to the cap while it is descending, thus preventing dust from being generated Can do.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the rotating body including the container gripper and the capping head is rotationally driven by the first motor, and the spindle to which the capping head is attached is independent of the motor by the second motor. The rotary capper configured to rotate is provided with speed detection means, angle detection means, and control means for controlling the second motor by signals from these detection means, and when the rotating body is below a predetermined speed, The capping head winding tightening start position is changed to the downstream side with respect to the rotation angle of the rotating body, and in the invention of claim 2, the control means is usually before the capping head reaches the lowest position. together to start the seaming are rotationally driven from, when the rotating body is equal to or less than a predetermined speed, capping head The tightening start position is changed to the downstream side in the rotation angle of the rotating body, the capping head which does not reach to the most lowered position by which so as not to rotate, thereby improving the performance per each capping head . In particular, by starting to tighten the cap before the capping head descends to the lowest position, the cap tightening section can be made longer than before, so that capping is supported for higher speeds. You can improve your ability. Further, when the rotational speed of the rotating body becomes a predetermined speed or less, the capping head that has not reached the lowest lowered position is prevented from rotating, thereby preventing the container from being lifted. be able to. Further, since the winding can be started while the capping head is being lowered, the generation of dust can be prevented even when the capping is performed while applying pressure like a fin lock cap.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a simplified overall configuration of a capping head according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rotary capper.
FIG. 3 is a developed view showing the shape of a cam groove of a cylindrical cam.
[Explanation of symbols]
16 Rotating body 22 Container gripper 24 Capping head 30 Spindle 32 Second motor (servo motor)
34 Cam follower 36 Cam 42 Speed detection means 44 Angle detection means 46 Control means

Claims (2)

A rotating body, a first motor that rotationally drives the rotating body, a plurality of container grippers provided on the rotating body at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation center; A plurality of spindles that are rotatably arranged and provided with a capping head at the bottom, a cam that is engaged with a cam follower coupled to each spindle and that raises and lowers the capping head, and is connected to each spindle. In a rotary capper provided with a second motor that rotates independently of the rotating body,
A speed detecting means for detecting the rotational speed of the rotating body, an angle detecting means for detecting the rotational angle of the rotating body, and a control means for controlling the second motor by signals from both detecting means are provided. However , the rotary capper is characterized in that when the rotating body becomes a predetermined speed or less, the winding start position of the capping head is changed to the downstream side in the rotation angle of the rotating body . A rotating body, a first motor that rotationally drives the rotating body, a plurality of container grippers provided on the rotating body at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation center; A plurality of spindles that are rotatably arranged and provided with a capping head at the bottom, a cam that is engaged with a cam follower coupled to each spindle and that raises and lowers the capping head, and is connected to each spindle. In a rotary capper provided with a second motor that rotates independently of the rotating body,
A speed detecting means for detecting the rotational speed of the rotating body, an angle detecting means for detecting the rotational angle of the rotating body, and a control means for controlling the second motor by signals from both detecting means are provided. together but usually initiates the seaming are rotationally driven from before reaching the position where the capping head is most lowered, when the rotating body is equal to or less than the predetermined speed, the rotation of the tightening start position of the capping head A rotary capper which is changed to the downstream side in the rotation angle and does not rotate the capping head which has not reached the lowest position.

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