JP4190067B2 - Actuator for linear filling line - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is, for example, in a clean room or sterile spaces, such as filling agents such as actuation mechanism of the filling nozzle and the capping member which moves up and down while following the container to be conveyed substantially linearly performing predetermined work The present invention relates to a suitable actuator for a linear filling line. More specifically, an improved technique for reducing the influence of dust generated from the operating device and improving the degree of sealing with respect to the operating unit disposed in the work space formed on the table so that it can be more easily improved. About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as an actuating device for a linear filling line including this kind of linear operation and raising / lowering operation, a working member such as a filling nozzle is movably disposed on a moving frame, and the moving frame itself is attached to a container There is known one that is configured to be movable along the conveyance direction so as to follow the movement (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-26158). By the way, in filling work that does not like dust such as filling of medicines, etc., it is possible to perform filling work in a space that is blocked from outside air such as a clean room and a sterile space, and at the same time suppress the generation of dust in those spaces. Very important. As one of the dust generation sources, there is a problem of dust from an operating device for driving a working member such as a filling nozzle. In particular, it is a problem to block dust from a drive mechanism portion including a driving means such as a motor that is most likely to generate dust. By the way, according to the prior art, the moving frame in which the working member such as the filling nozzle is installed is configured to move in the container transport direction. Since the opening for running the frame is large and sealing is technically difficult, it is not easy to maintain a high degree of sealing. In addition, since a structure in which a driving mechanism including a motor is incorporated in the moving frame is adopted, dust generated from the driving mechanism flows directly into the work space. It was difficult to apply to filling.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the conventional technical circumstances as described above, while minimizing the generation of dust in the working space, with respect to the working member of the filling nozzle and the capping member, substantially linearly The purpose of the present invention is to provide a linear filling line actuating device capable of giving a raising / lowering operation simultaneously with a follow-up operation synchronized with a container to be conveyed, thereby implementing a linear filling line in a clean working atmosphere. It is.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention includes a coaxially configured rotary shaft and a lift shaft that are installed through a table, a swing drive mechanism that drives the rotary shaft, and a lift drive mechanism that drives the lift shaft. The first swing lever is provided below the table and the rotary shaft is positioned above the table so that the first swing lever can move up and down in a radial direction with the rotary shaft as a central axis. A guide is provided, a horizontal guide is provided for guiding the lift guide so as to move along the transport direction of the container, and a second swing lever is provided above the table of the lift shaft. Employing technical means that a lifting body is disposed so as to be movable in a radial direction with the lifting shaft as a central axis with respect to the swing lever, and that the lifting body is engaged with the lifting guide and guided in the vertical direction. . As described above, since the drive mechanism that generates the largest amount of dust is disposed below the table, the penetration of dust into the work space is avoided by the presence of the table. Moreover, since the linear motion and the lifting / lowering operation are performed via the coaxially configured rotating shaft and the lifting / lowering shaft, there is no relative movement with respect to the table, so the installation and sealing configuration with respect to the table is extremely easy. In addition, it is possible to easily maintain a high degree of sealing with respect to the rotation and lifting / lowering operation unit disposed in the work space. Incidentally, the elevating guide moves along the transport direction of the container due to a combination of radial movement about the rotation axis with respect to the first swing lever as a central axis and guiding action by the horizontal guide. It will be. Further, the lifting body moves in the horizontal direction together with the lifting guide by engagement with the lifting guide, and is accompanied by a radial movement with the lifting shaft as a central axis with respect to the second swing lever. It moves along the transport direction. Further, the elevating body moves up and down while being guided in the vertical direction by the elevating guide.
[0005]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Filling line operation mechanism according to the present invention can be applied as the operating mechanism of the filling nozzle and the capping member to the elevating operation while moving in synchronism relative to the container to be conveyed substantially linearly. That is, the present invention can be widely applied as an operation mechanism for a working member that involves a follow-up operation and an elevating operation with respect to a container. Further, the container transport mode can be applied to cases where the container includes a slight curve. In addition, as long as the rotating shaft and the lifting shaft are configured coaxially, as illustrated in the following embodiments, not only the lifting shaft is on the inner side but also a mode in which the rotating shaft is disposed on the inner side is possible. .
[0006]
【Example】
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the layout of one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, an endless transport mechanism 2 is installed in a sterile space 1 whose periphery is shielded from outside air by a wall plate or the like, and introduced through a carry-in conveyor 3 and a star wheel 4. The container 5 is transported at a predetermined interval while supporting the neck portion, and the filling operation is performed by applying the operating device 6 in the linear transport unit. The filled container 5 is capped by the capper 7 and then discharged to the outside of the room via the discharge mechanism 8 and the carry-out conveyor 9. Note that, as described above, when the capping operation is arranged in a linear conveyance unit, the present operation device can be applied.
[0007]
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the actuating device 6 for a linear filling line according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a table for partitioning the bottom surface of the aseptic space 1. In this table 10, a support cylinder portion 11 of a coaxial portion constituting the operating device 6 is passed through the table 10 via a fixing portion 12. is set up. A rotating shaft 15 is rotatably disposed inside the support cylinder portion 11 via bearings 13 and 14, and an elevating shaft 18 is disposed inside the rotating shaft 15 via sliding bearing portions 16 and 17. Is arranged so as to be movable up and down. Thus, in the present invention, the rotary shaft 15 and the lift shaft 18 are coaxially installed in a state of penetrating the table 10, and the operating force is transmitted via the rotary shaft 15 and the lift shaft 18. There is one feature in this point.
[0008]
A drive lever 19 is provided below the table 10 of the rotary shaft 15. A slide member 21 is slidably disposed along a guide rail 20 provided on the drive lever 19 in the radial direction. A female screw body 24 configured to be screwed into a connecting shaft portion 22 of the slide member 21 with a screw shaft 23 installed in a horizontal direction rotated by a driving means such as a motor (not shown) and driven forward and backward. The connecting bearing portion 25 is rotatably fitted, the female screw body 24 is moved forward and backward by the rotational drive of the screw shaft 23, and the drive lever 19 is swung through the slide member 21, thereby rotating the rotary shaft 15. It is configured so that it can be driven to swing. That is, below the table 10 of the rotary shaft 15, a driving means (not shown), a screw shaft 23, a female screw body 24 screwed to the screw shaft 23, a connecting mechanism including a connecting bearing portion 25 and a connecting shaft portion 22, a slide A swing drive mechanism including a member 21 and a drive lever 19 is provided. As the slide mechanism, for example, a concave groove for fitting is formed in the center portion of the slide member 21 so as to be able to slide over the guide rail 20, and the guide rail 20 is formed on the inner side surfaces on both sides of the concave groove. What formed the uneven surface so that it can engage with the uneven surface formed in the both sides | surfaces of this is used. Note that the swing drive mechanism may be driven via a belt or gear instead of the drive lever 19 as long as the swing shaft can be driven to swing within a predetermined angle.
[0009]
Also, below the table 10 of the lifting shaft 18, there is a female screw body 28 that is screwed up and down and screwed up and down to a screw shaft 27 that is vertically installed so as to be rotated by a motor 26. It is connected to a body 28 through a connecting member 29 that is integrally formed. By rotating the screw shaft 27, the female screw body 28 is moved up and down, and the lifting shaft 18 is moved up and down through the connecting member 29. It is configured so that it can be driven. That is, an elevating drive mechanism including a motor 26, a screw shaft 27, a female screw body 28 screwed to the screw shaft 27, and the like is disposed below the table 10 of the elevating shaft 18. As described above, in the linear filling line operating device 6 according to the present invention, the swing drive mechanism and the lift drive mechanism including the drive means such as a motor, which are most likely to generate dust, are connected to the table via the coaxial structure. By disposing it below, the intrusion of dust into the sterile space 1 is blocked, and this is an important feature.
[0010]
On the other hand, a first rocking lever 30 is integrally provided above the table 10 of the rotary shaft 15 using a key or the like, and via a guide rail 31 installed on the first rocking lever 30. A slide member 32 is disposed so as to be movable in a radial direction with the rotary shaft 15 as a central axis . And the connection bearing part 35 of the raising / lowering guide 34 is rotatably fitted to the connection shaft part 33 of the slide member 32 via a bearing or the like. That is, the raising / lowering guide 34 is disposed so as to be movable in the radial direction with the rotary shaft 15 as a central axis with respect to the first swing lever 30 installed above the table 10 of the rotary shaft 15 . Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the elevating guide 34 is engaged with the upper and lower guide edge portions of the horizontal guide 38 installed between the support members 36 and 37 along the transport line of the container 5 and travels. Grooved rollers 39 to 42 are attached so as to be obtained, and are configured so as to follow the container 5 and move horizontally. Further, the elevating guide 34 is formed with a vertical guide portion 43, and a grooved roller configured to engage with guide edge portions formed on both sides of the vertical guide portion 43 so as to run in the vertical direction. A lifting body 48 is disposed so as to be movable up and down via 44-47.
[0011]
Further, a second swing lever 49 is provided above the table 10 of the lift shaft 18 so as to be integral with or rotatable with the lift shaft 18, and a guide rail installed on the second swing lever 49. A slide member 51 is disposed through 50 so as to be movable in the radial direction with the lifting shaft 18 as a central axis . A connecting bearing portion 54 of a connecting member 53 is rotatably fitted to the connecting shaft portion 52 of the slide member 51 via a bearing or the like, and the other end portion of the connecting member 53 is connected to the lifting body 48. Are combined. In the figure, reference numeral 55 denotes a coupling auxiliary member. Further, 56 is a bellows-shaped cover for dust blocking disposed between the upper end portion of the rotary shaft 15 and the upper end portion of the lifting shaft 18, and 57 is disposed between the rotary shaft 15 and the support cylinder portion 11. The bellows-like cover 56 and the seal member 57 are configured so as to be able to easily and surely block the intrusion of dust from their rotation and lifting / lowering operation units disposed in the aseptic space 1. It is configured.
[0012]
FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged plan view showing a main part of the operating device 6. As shown in the figure, a nozzle support 58 is attached to the upper part of the elevating body 48. In the present embodiment, twelve positioning recesses 59 are formed so that twelve nozzles can be simultaneously mounted on the nozzle support 58. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, a filling nozzle 60 is mounted in the recess 59 of the nozzle support 58, and the tip of the filling nozzle 60 is inserted into the plurality of containers 5 at the same time as the elevating body 48 is lowered. For example, the operation is performed so that the distance between the filling liquid surface and the lower end portion of the filling nozzle 60 is gradually increased so as to be kept constant. The filling nozzles 60 may be attached to all the recesses 59 and the filling operation may be performed on the 12 containers 5 at the same time. For example, the front four recesses 59 may be replaced with nitrogen replacement nozzles, The filling nozzle 60 is installed in the four middle recesses 59 and the nitrogen replacement nozzles are installed in the four rear recesses 59 so that the front nitrogen replacement, the middle filling operation, and the rear nitrogen replacement operation are performed simultaneously. It is also possible. Further, regarding the total number of nozzles, for example, 9, 15, 18, etc. can be employed. Further, when the dimensions of the container 5 change, the height of the female screw body 28 itself or the position between the female screw body 28 and the connecting member 29 is adjustable, and the connecting member 29 By adjusting the elevation stroke of the lifting body 48 relatively by adjusting the height, it is possible to easily cope with it.
[0013]
Thus, when the container 5 is transported to the linear transport section of the transport mechanism 2 via the star wheel 4, the filling nozzle 60 is moved horizontally in synchronization with the 12 containers 5 in the present embodiment. The rotary shaft 15 is driven. That is, the screw shaft 23 is rotated by driving means (not shown) in synchronization with the driving of the transport mechanism 2 and the female screw body 24 is driven forward and backward, whereby the drive lever 19 is swung and rotated via the slide member 21. The shaft 15 is driven. As a result, as the rotary shaft 15 swings, the lifting guide 34 is swung in the horizontal direction via the first swinging lever 30 and the slide member 32. In this case, the lifting guide 34 is moved horizontally. Since it is guided by the guide 38, a linear operation is performed while following the container 5 along the linear conveyance portion of the conveyance mechanism 2.
[0014]
In parallel with the linear movement of the elevating guide 34 in the horizontal direction, the screw shaft 27 is rotated by the motor 26 at the same time as the driving of the transport mechanism 2 and is screwed to the screw shaft 27. By raising and lowering the female screw body 28, the elevating shaft 18 is driven up and down via the connecting member 29. As a result, the second swing lever 49 moves up and down as the lifting shaft 18 moves up and down, and the lifting body 48 moves up and down via the slide member 51 and the connecting member 53. Since the vertical guide portion 43 of the lift guide 34 engages with the vertical guide 43 and is guided up and down, the lift guide 34 moves up and down with a linear motion in the horizontal direction. That is, in the operating device 6 according to the present invention, the elevating body 48 is engaged with the elevating guide 34 and is guided up and down, so that the rotating shaft 15 and the first swing lever 30 are interposed. The lifting / lowering body 48 is moved in the horizontal direction while being synchronized with the container 5, and on the other hand, the lifting / lowering shaft 18 and the second swing lever configured to be coaxial with the rotary shaft 15 while moving in the horizontal direction together with the lifting / lowering guide 34. 49 is characterized in that it is configured to perform a lifting operation through 49. Note that the second swing lever 49 swings together with the first swing lever 30 from the above related configuration.
[0015]
The number of the filling nozzles 60, that is, in the case of the present embodiment, the filling nozzles 60 are installed corresponding to all the concave portions 59 by the combined operation of the above-described linear movement of the lifting body 48 in the horizontal direction and the lifting operation. In this case, four nitrogen replacement nozzles are arranged in front of each other and four in front and rear, and when four intermediate nozzles are used as the filling nozzle 60, four filling operations are performed. Alternatively, batch processing in units of four is performed. That is, the screw shaft 23 and the screw shaft 27 are arranged so that the filling operation can be performed while following the container 5 while the 12 or 4 containers 5 serving as a unit are conveyed for one process, and can be returned to the starting point. The operation of the filling nozzle 60 is set through the rotation control.
[0016]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the drive mechanism for the rotary shaft and the lift shaft is installed below the table, it is possible to block the intrusion of dust from the drive mechanism, which is the main generation source, into the work space.
(2) Since the rotation shaft and the lifting shaft are configured coaxially, the relative movement with respect to the table can be eliminated, so that both shafts can be easily installed in a state where the table is penetrated, and the rotation shaft The seal member between the support cylinders and the bellows-like cover between the upper part of the rotating shaft and the upper part of the lifting shaft can easily and reliably maintain a high degree of sealing with respect to the rotating and raising and lowering operation parts. Can be cut off.
(3) In addition, an elevating guide is provided on the elevating shaft side of the elevating guide with respect to the elevating guide while the elevating guide is disposed on the rotating shaft side configured coaxially so as to operate linearly in the horizontal direction in synchronization with the container Since it is configured to engage and guide up and down, the working member such as the filling nozzle can be moved up and down with a simple configuration while reliably following the container conveyed linearly with a simple configuration. It becomes possible.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a layout of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of a linear filling line operating device according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view showing an installed state of the lifting guide in the same embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged plan view showing the main part of the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Aseptic space, 2 ... Conveyance mechanism, 3 ... Carry-in conveyor, 4 ... Star wheel, 5 ... Container, 6 ... Actuator, 7 ... Capper, 8 ... Discharge mechanism, 9 ... Carry-out conveyor, 10 ... Table, 11 ... Support Cylindrical part, 12 ... fixed part, 13, 14 ... bearing, 15 ... rotating shaft, 16, 17 ... sliding bearing part, 18 ... lifting shaft, 19 ... drive lever, 20 ... guide rail, 21 ... slide member, 22 ... Connection shaft portion, 23 ... Screw shaft, 24 ... Female screw body, 25 ... Connection bearing portion, 26 ... Motor, 27 ... Screw shaft, 28 ... Female screw body, 29 ... Connection member, 30 ... First swing lever, 31 Guide rail, 32 Slide member, 33 Connecting shaft, 34 Elevating guide, 35 Connecting bearing, 36, 37 Support member, 38 Horizontal guide, 39 to 42 Grooved roller, 43 Vertical guide Part, 44-47 ... grooved roller, 48 ... ascending Body 49... Second swing lever 50. Guide rail 51. Slide member 52. Connection shaft portion 53 connection member 54 connection bearing portion 55 auxiliary member 56 coupling bellows cover 57 ... Sealing member, 58 ... Nozzle support, 59 ... Recess for positioning, 60 ... Filling nozzle

Claims (1)

In a linear filling line operating device used as an operating mechanism for a filling nozzle or a capping member that moves in synchronization with a container conveyed substantially linearly and moves up and down during the movement, a rotating shaft configured coaxially and An elevating shaft is installed through the table, and a swing drive mechanism for driving the rotating shaft and an elevating drive mechanism for driving the elevating shaft are disposed below the table and above the table of the rotating shaft. A first swing lever is provided, and an elevating guide is disposed so as to be movable in a radial direction with the rotation axis as a central axis with respect to the first swing lever, and the elevating guide is arranged along the container conveying direction. A horizontal guide is provided for guiding the movement, and a second swing lever is provided above the table of the lift shaft, and the lift shaft is a central axis with respect to the second swing lever. And arranged movably vertically movable body in the radial direction, the lifting body an actuator for linear filling line, characterized by being configured so as to be guided into engagement with the vertical direction in the elevation guide.

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