JP4880968B2 - Article holding and rotating device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an article holding and rotating device suitable for use in a capping device or the like.

  In the capping device, even if the cap and container are of the same shape and size, they change depending on the circumstances during molding and storage, causing a screw engagement failure between the cap and the container, resulting in damage to the cap, liquid leakage, etc. May cause troubles and hinder productivity. In a capping device that handles a variety of types and caps, there is a risk that the trouble will occur more frequently.

  Therefore, conventionally, in order to reduce the screw engagement failure between the cap and the container, the capping devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have been proposed.

  In the capping device of Patent Document 1, the pump cap is rotated in the direction opposite to the screw meshing direction to correct the posture of the cap, and then the cap is temporarily tightened and further tightened.

In the capping device of Patent Document 2, the cylindrical cap is rotated in the direction opposite to the screw meshing direction to correct the posture of the cap, and then the cap is temporarily tightened and further tightened.
JP 11-255292 A JP 9-118392 A

  The cap starts to engage with the screw by rotating in a state of being pressed against the container. In the rotation angle range of the cap, the area where the cap and the container can be smoothly screwed varies depending on the number of threads and the shape of the screw thread, and it is considered to widen the angle range where the screwing start is smooth as much as possible. Yes. In general, the range of approximately 180 degrees is a range in which screwing can be easily started, and the remaining approximately 180 degrees is a range in which the cap and the container are rubbed or in a range in which poor engagement due to a poor posture of the cap is likely to occur. Become. The capping devices of Patent Documents 1 and 2 give the cap rotation in the direction opposite to the screw meshing direction to correct the posture of the cap, and even if the cap is in a rotation angle range of approximately 180 degrees where the cap is difficult to screw, It is intended to avoid bad meshing.

  However, the capping devices of Patent Documents 1 and 2 require an operation and time for reversely rotating the cap in order to correct the posture of the cap, and it is difficult to improve productivity.

  An object of the present invention is to rotate an article such as a cap in a certain posture.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article holding unit that holds the article in a state in which the posture of the article can be changed, and a rotation that is provided around the article holding unit and applies a rotational force to the article held by the article holding unit. An article holding and rotating device having a force imparting section, wherein the article holding section ejects air between the article holding section and the article and generates a negative pressure between the article holding section and the article. The ejector-type suction device is an air passage between the article holding portion and the article, and jets air into an air passage formed by a cutout portion that intermittently cuts a contact portion of the rotational force applying portion with the article. A negative pressure is generated between the article and the article .

Example 1 (FIGS. 1 to 15)
The capping device 10 performs capping by screwing the cap 1 into the container 2. The container 2 is supplied by a container supply conveyor 20.

  The capping device 10 is provided with a lifting platform 33 that can be moved up and down on a lifting guide 32 of the gantry 31, a final fastening device 35 is provided on the lifting platform 33, and a temporary fastening device 70 is attached to the final fastening device 35. The main fastening device 35 and the temporary fastening device 70 are arranged so as to rotate at a single capping position, that is, their rotational centers are coaxial. The temporary fastening device 70 temporarily fastens the cap 1 to the container 2 with a small torque (the maximum torque of the temporary fastening device 70 does not break the thread), and the final fastening device 35 has a large torque to the container 2. Full tighten with (final tightening force).

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the final clamping device 35 clamps the outer peripheral surface of the cap 1 with a plurality of clamping rollers 51, 52, 53, 54 constituting the cap clamping chuck 50. The cap 1 is screwed onto the bottle 2 by the rotation of ˜54. At this time, the main fastening device 35 fixes the first lifting / lowering base 41 to the lifting / lowering base 33 provided so as to be lifted / lowered by the lifting / lowering guide 32 of the gantry 31. The base 42 is supported. The main fastening device 35 includes a roller opening / closing device 43 and a roller rotating device 44 for the fastening rollers 51 to 54.

  The roller opening / closing device 43 supports the two roller heads 45 and 46 facing the first lifting platform 41 so as to be laterally movable via a transverse guide (linear guide and linear rail) 100, respectively. A pinion 48 fixed and driven by an opening / closing drive motor 47 provided on the back surface of 41 and racks 45A and 46A provided on both roller heads 45 and 46 are engaged with the upper and lower surfaces of the pinion 48, respectively. ing. One roller head 45 supports two clamping rollers 51 and 52, and the other roller head 46 supports two clamping rollers 53 and 54 relative to each other. The tightening rollers 51, 52, 53, and 54 are supported by the roller heads 45 and 46 by their rotary shafts 51A, 52A, 53A, and 54A so as to be forcibly driven. In the roller opening / closing device 43, the roller heads 45, 46 are translated in a direction in which the roller heads 45, 46 contact or separate from each other by an opening / closing drive motor 47, and the opposing clamping rollers 51, 52 and clamping rollers 53, 54 are sandwiched between them. The cap tightening region can be opened and closed with respect to each other. Thus, the clamping rollers 51 and 52 and the clamping rollers 53 and 54 form a cap clamping chuck 50 that clamps the cap 1.

  The roller rotating device 44 includes a rotation driving motor 61 provided on the second lifting platform 42, clamping rollers 51 and 52 and clamping rollers 53 and 54 provided on both roller heads 45 and 46 on the second lifting platform 42 side. Telescopic rotation shafts 62 and 63 that can extend and contract the rotational force transmission path are provided in the rotational force transmission path between the two roller heads 45 and 46 while allowing the two roller heads 45 and 46 to move in parallel. The attached rollers 53 and 54 can be forcibly driven as described above. At this time, on the second lifting platform 42 side, the upper end shafts 62A, 63A of the telescopic rotating shafts 62, 63 are supported by the bearing table of the second lifting platform 42, and the pulleys 64, 65 are fixed to the upper end shafts 62A, 63A. In addition, the idle pulleys 66A to 66C are supported, and the timing belt 67A wound around the pulley 67 fixed to the output shaft of the rotary drive motor 61 is wound around the pulleys 64, 65, and 66A to 66C. Thus, the telescopic rotation shafts 62 and 63 can be driven by the motor 61. Further, on the first lifting platform 41 side, the lower end shafts 62B and 63B of the telescopic rotation shafts 62 and 63 are respectively supported by both roller heads 45 and 46 supported by the first lifting platform 41 so as to be laterally movable. The rotational force transmitted to the lower end shaft 62B is transmitted to the rotation shafts 51A and 52A of the above-described tightening rollers 51 and 52 via gears 68A, 68B, 68C and 68D to forcibly rotate the tightening rollers 51 and 52. Then, the rotational force transmitted to the lower end shaft 63B is transmitted to the rotation shafts 53A and 54A of the above-described tightening rollers 53 and 54 via the gears 69A, 69B, 69C and 69D to forcibly rotate the tightening rollers 53 and 54. . Thereby, the roller rotating device 44 can forcibly rotate the tightening rollers 51 and 52 of the roller head 45 and the tightening rollers 53 and 54 of the roller head 46.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the temporary fastening device 70 includes a linear elevator 72 on the front surface of the elevator 42, and an article holding and rotating device 80 on the elevator 72 of the linear elevator 71. The article holding and rotating device 80 includes a hollow shaft motor 81 supported by a lifting platform 72, an article holding section 84 is provided at the center of the tip head 83 of the rotating shaft 82 of the motor 81, and the article holding section 84 is provided around the article holding section 84. A rotational force applying unit 85 is provided. The article holding portion 84 is composed of an ejector-type suction device, which will be described in detail later, and holds the cap 1 while making it possible to change the holding posture applied to the cap 1 even when a rotational force is applied. The rotational force applying unit 85 is rotated together with the article holding unit 84 by the motor 81, and comes into contact with the cap 1 held by the article holding unit 84 to apply a rotational force to the cap 1. The article holding unit 84 is supplied with air pressure via a rotary joint 86 (or an air supply unit 86 </ b> A provided in the head 83) at the upper end of the rotary shaft 82. The article holding and rotating device 80 includes a buffering means 87 (spring type buffer) that supports the rotational force applying unit 85 in a buffering manner in the axial direction, and is interposed in an intermediate portion of the rotating shaft 82. Hereinafter, the article holding and rotating device 80 will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the article holding and rotating device 80 uses an article holding portion 84 provided at the center of the tip head 83 of the rotating shaft 82 as an ejector suction device (Bernoulli chuck). An air passage 84B extending in the outward radial direction (for example, four directions) is provided from the round hole-shaped central nozzle 84A, and air supplied to the rotary joint 86 or the air supply unit 86A is passed between the cap 1 and the cap 1 via the central nozzle 84A. The cap 1 is adsorbed in a non-contact manner by a negative pressure generated between the air passage 84 </ b> B and the cap 1. The article holding and rotating device 80 cannot apply rotational force to the cap 1 only by the article holding unit 84 as a Bernoulli chuck, but can apply rotational force to the cap 1 by the rotational force applying unit 85 provided around the article holding unit 84. To.

  In the article holding and rotating device 80, the rotational force applying unit 85 contacts the cap 1 and applies a rotational force to the cap 1. The contact portion of the rotational force applying portion 85 with the cap 1 is not an annular shape that is completely connected in the circumferential direction in the entire peripheral area, and the contact portion 85A of the rotational force applying portion 85 with the cap 1 is intermittently cut out. Let the notch be an air passage 84B. In the entire circumferential area of the rotational force imparting portion 85, the area ratio of the air passage 84B and the contact portion 85A is preferably about 1: 3 to 3: 1. If the area of the air passage 84B becomes excessive, the area of the contact portion 85A becomes excessively small, and it becomes difficult to apply the rotational force to the cap 1 by the rotational force applying portion 85. If the area of the contact portion 85A becomes excessive, the area of the air passage 84B becomes excessively small, the adsorption force of the cap 1 by the article holding portion 84 decreases, and the cap 1 falls. The height of the contact portion 85A (the gap between the air passages 84B) needs to correspond to the gap h between the article holding portion 84 and the cap 1 when the article holding portion 84 adsorbs the cap 1 alone (FIG. 7). Although it varies depending on the flow rate of air jetted from the central nozzle 84A, the air jetting angle, and the suction part diameter, it is preferably 0.2 to 2.0 mm, more preferably 0.3 to 1.2 mm.

  The article holding portion 84 is not particularly limited, and a Bernoulli chuck such as a non-contact transfer device NCT-20 manufactured by Koganei Co., Ltd., or a float chuck C type manufactured by Solar Research Laboratory, Inc. can be used.

  Although it does not specifically limit as a constituent material of the rotational force provision part 85, Super hard materials, such as metal materials, such as stainless steel and aluminum, hard rubber, urethane, foaming urethane, new light (trade name of Sakushin Kogyo Co., Ltd.), etc. Engineering plastics such as polyethylene and MC nylon (trade name of Nippon Polypenco Co., Ltd.) and other resin materials can be used. The contact portion 85A of the rotational force imparting portion 85 with the cap 1 may be made of a hard material such as metal, but since the cap 1 is often a resin, the cap 1 is used to avoid damage to the cap 1. It is preferable to use a material having a hardness close to the above material or a softer material. The constituent material of the contact portion 85A of the rotational force imparting portion 85 with the cap 1 can be a metal material, but a softer material can be used, for example, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, silicon, urethane, urethane foam, sponge, etc. Engineering plastics such as ultra-hard polyethylene such as Newlite (trade name of Sakushin Kogyo Co., Ltd.) and MC nylon (trade name of Nippon Polypenco Co., Ltd.) can be used.

  The rotational force applying unit 85 may be provided with a slip stopper, and the tightening force applied to the cap 1 can be adjusted by adjusting the friction coefficient. Adjustment of the friction coefficient of the rotational force applying unit 85 can be appropriately adjusted by selecting the constituent material of the rotational force applying unit 85 itself, processing the surface thereof, surface treatment, coating treatment, and the like. The entire rotational force imparting portion 85 may be made of one material, and a combination of applying the above-described materials only to the contact portion 85A with the cap 1 is also possible.

Accordingly, the capping device 10 performs the capping operation as follows.
(A) Temporary fastening process (FIGS. 8 to 11)
(1) The top surface of the cap 1 is adsorbed and held by the article holding portion 84 of the article holding and rotating device 80 provided in the temporary fastening device 70 (FIG. 10A).

  (2) While the head 81 (the article holding unit 84 and the rotational force applying unit 85) is rotated forward by the motor 81, the cap 1 is brought into contact with the rotational force applying unit 85 and rotated by the lowering of the elevating platforms 33 and 72. Press against the mouth of the container 2 (FIG. 10B).

  At this time, the cap 1 has a female screw 1A, and the container 2 has a male screw 2A (FIG. 8). The female screw 1A and the male screw 2A can be easily screwed in a range of approximately 180 degrees as shown in FIG. 9A. When the contact rotation is performed as described in (2) from the state in the region A, capping is smoothly started as it is. On the other hand, when the female screw 1A of the cap 1 and the male screw 2A of the container 2A are in contact rotation as shown in (2) from the state where the screw is difficult to be screwed in the range of about 180 degrees as shown in FIG. Will not start, but will rotate about 180 degrees (or about 540 degrees after one more rotation if there is a meshing error at the first 180 degrees rotation position), and capping will start after reaching the relative position where screwing is easy Is done.

  (3) The adsorption force of the Bernoulli chuck that the article holding portion 84 exerts on the top surface of the cap 1 is weaker than that of a gripping chuck or the like. As an example, the adsorption force of a Bernoulli chuck with an article holding part 84 having a diameter of 20 mm is about 0.5 N at a pressure of 0.3 MPa, about 0.7 N at 0.4 MPa, about 0.9 N at 0.5 MPa, and the cap 1 and the container 2. The cap 1 is inclined with respect to the article holding portion 84 even with a slight force generated between the two. When the cap 1 is rotated by the rotational force imparting portion 85, the cap 1 is pressurized against the container 2 from above, so that the cap 1 is located at a position where the screw engagement of the cap 1 and the container 2 does not match (a difficult screwing region). It will incline with respect to the rotational force provision part 85. FIG. When the cap 1 is tilted, the gap between the cap 1 and the contact portion 85A of the rotational force imparting portion 85 is increased, the air ejection speed of the air passage 84B is reduced, and the pressure generated in the air passage 84B approaches the atmospheric pressure from the negative pressure. The adsorption force exerted on the cap 1 is reduced. Therefore, the cap 1 is more easily inclined with respect to the rotational force applying portion 85 (FIG. 10C). At this time, since the contact area of the rotational force applying portion 85 is reduced, the transmission of rotational force exerted on the cap 1 by the rotational force applying portion 85 is also reduced. As a result, the cap 1 is idled to a position where it can be screwed (an easy screwing region) without being forcedly screwed in a state where the cap 1 is tilted, which causes capping failure (FIG. 10D). ).

  Here, when the cap 1 is firmly held by the head 83, the cap 1 is maintained in a horizontal posture and a large rotational force can be applied, and the cap 1 damages the thread of the container 2. , It may bite from a position where it should not be screwed, resulting in capping failure. In the present invention, since the cap 1 can be idled without starting screwing from the position where the screw engagement of the cap 1 and the container 2 does not coincide with each other, no capping failure occurs. Even if the adsorption force exerted on the cap 1 by the article holding portion 84 is reduced, the cap 1 is supported by the screw portion of the container 2 and the cap 1 does not fall.

  (4) When the cap 1 reaches the screw engagement position where it can be easily screwed, the cap 1 is slightly tilted with respect to the rotational force applying portion 85 or is immediately screwed without tilting (FIG. 11A). To (C)). As a result, the cap 1 is temporarily tightened only from the screw meshing position where it can be easily screwed, and no capping failure occurs. Thereafter, the suction of the cap 1 by the article holding unit 84 is released. Subsequently, the cap 1 is finally tightened by the final tightening device 35.

(B) Final tightening process
(1) The outer peripheral surface of the cap 1 is clamped by the tightening rollers 51 to 54 of the cap clamping chuck 50. It should be noted that after the fastening rollers 51 to 54 of the final fastening device 70 complete the clamping of the outer peripheral surface of the cap 1, the above-described holding of the top surface of the cap 1 by the article holding portion 84 of the temporary fastening device 70 is released.

  (2) While the cap clamping chuck 50 is rotated with a constant large torque by the roller rotating device 44, the elevator 33 is lowered, and the cap 1 clamped by the chuck 50 is finally tightened to the container 2.

  The capping of the cap 1 with respect to the container 2 is generally (i) idle (ii) (mesh) simple rotation (iii) contact between the container and the cap (iv) rotation torque supply of the cap head (this part is temporarily and pre-tightened) (V) (Final tightening) Design torque (or position determined by rotation) is applied (vi) Stabilization time / Pass / fail confirmation time (After applying final tightening torque, the clutch continues to be applied to the cap head) (E.g., escape by slipping, etc., and do not give excessive torque). The present invention guarantees an appropriate design torque in two stages for each cap design, and provides a capping torque within the range of (iv) to (v) in the temporary tightening. When the rotational torque of (iv) is strong (generally, a soft material is often used for the rotational force imparting portion 85), a very slight engagement is provided, and the rotational torque is weak (general (In many cases, a hard material is used for the rotational force applying portion 85), the engagement is provided to a point that is quite close to the completion of the final fastening. However, such a tendency can also be adjusted by simply changing conditions such as the suction force or the degree of adhesive force (weak or fine) of the vacuum pad 75A as the cap holding means 75 and the contact area with the cap. If the supply design torque at each capping (final tightening) is N1, N2, N3..., The temporary tightening torque supplied in the present invention is (0.1 to 0.99) × (N1, N2, N3...) It becomes like this.

According to the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(a) When the cap 1 held by the article holding and rotating device 80 starts to rotate from a rotation angle range of approximately 180 degrees that is easy to be screwed, the cap 1 is sucked by the article holding portion 84 and is applied to the rotational force applying portion 85. Then, it is slightly tilted, or is smoothly screwed as it is without tilting.

  On the other hand, when the cap 1 starts to rotate from a rotation angle range of approximately 180 degrees where screwing is difficult, the cap 1 is sucked into the article holding portion 84 and the posture with respect to the container 2 is corrected even with a slight contact pressure with the container 2. In this direction, it is freely tilted with respect to the rotational force applying portion 85. As a result, the cap 1 is idled to a position where it can be easily screwed without being forcedly screwed to the container 2, and is screwed at a rotation angle position where the screw 1 is easy to be screwed.

  Since the cap 1 is not rotated backward for posture correction, and is displaced so as to make the posture relative to the container 2 constant under normal rotation and screwed in an automatic alignment, engagement can be started in a short time. , Production efficiency is good.

  (b) Since the article holding and rotating device 80 includes the buffering means 87 that supports the rotational force applying unit 85 in the axial direction, the rotational force applying unit 85 does not excessively press the cap 1 against the container 2. , Does not hinder the free posture change of cap 1.

  (c) The article holding portion 84 formed of an ejector type suction device holds the cap 1 in a non-contact manner, and when the cap 1 is inclined with respect to the article holding portion 84, the suction force of the ejector type suction device is reduced and the cap 1 Can be tilted more easily. At this time, the contact area between the cap 1 and the rotational force applying portion 85 is also reduced, and the rotational force applied to the cap 1 is also reduced. As a result, excessive screwing with the cap 1 tilted can be avoided more reliably.

  (d) Since the rotational force applying portion 85 is provided with a non-slip, an appropriate tightening force can be applied to the cap 1.

  (e) The capping device 10 can be made compact by arranging the temporary fastening device 70 and the final fastening device 35 coaxially so that the cap can be rotated at a single capping position.

12 to 15 are comparative examples of the article holding and rotating device 80 described above.
The article holding and rotating device 110 in FIG. 12 is provided with an article holding section 113 at the center of the tip head 112 of the rotating shaft 111 and provided with a rotational force applying section 114 on both sides of the article holding section 113. The article holding and rotating device 110 is also configured by the ejector-type suction device as the article holding unit 113. However, the air passage 113B extending in two outward directions from the central nozzle 113A having a linear slit shape is provided with rotational forces on both sides. A dent was formed between the applying portions 114. The rotational force applying part 114 includes a contact part 114 </ b> A with the cap 1.

  The article holding and rotating device 120 of FIG. 13 is provided with an article holding section 123 at the center of the tip head 122 of the rotating shaft 121 and a rotational force applying section 124 around the article holding section 123. The article holding unit 123 includes a bellows-like vacuum pad 123A that is vacuum-connected. The rotational force imparting portion 124 is made of a cup-shaped body integrated with the rotating shaft 121, and the cup opening end surface (an all-round continuous plane or an intermittent plane having intermittent notches in the circumferential direction) serves as a contact portion 124 </ b> A with the cap 1. . The article holding and rotating device 120 projects the vacuum pad 123A from the contact portion 124A of the rotational force applying unit 124 when the cap 1 is not held, and the cap 1 adsorbed to the vacuum pad 123A is brought into contact with the contact portion 124A to Apply rotational force.

  In the article holding and rotating device 130 of FIG. 14, an article holding unit 133 is provided at the center of the tip head 132 of the rotating shaft 131, and a rotational force applying unit 134 is provided around the article holding unit 133. The article holding part 133 is composed of a suction cup 133A that can be adsorbed by pressing the cap against the cap so that the inside becomes a negative pressure. The rotational force applying part 134 is made of a cup-shaped body integrated with the rotary shaft 131, and a cup opening end face (an all-round continuous plane or an intermittent plane having intermittent recesses in the circumferential direction) serves as a contact part 134A with the cap 1. . The article holding and rotating device 130 projects the suction cup 133A from the contact portion 134A of the rotational force applying section 134 when the cap 1 is not held, and the cap 1 adsorbed to the suction cup 133A is brought into contact with the contact section 134A to rotate the rotational force of the rotary shaft 131. Is granted.

  The article holding and rotating device 140 of FIG. 15 is provided with an article holding section 143 at the center of the tip head 142 of the rotating shaft 141 and a rotational force applying section 144 around the article holding section 143. The article holding part 143 is made of a flexible adhesive material 143A such as a thick adhesive sheet. The rotational force imparting portion 144 is formed of a cup-shaped body integrated with the rotating shaft 141, and the cup opening end surface (the entire circumferential continuous plane or the intermittent plane provided with a notch recess in the circumferential direction) is contacted with the cap 144A. To do. The article holding and rotating device 140 projects the adhesive material 143A from the contact portion 144A of the rotational force applying portion 144 when the cap 1 is not held, and the cap 1 adhered to the adhesive material 143A is brought into contact with the contact portion 144A to rotate the rotating shaft. 141 rotational force is applied.

Example 2 (FIGS. 16 to 19)
As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the capping device 200 according to the second embodiment includes a temporary fastening device 210 and a main fastening device at each of capping positions (temporary fastening position and final fastening position) adjacent to each other along the container supply conveyor 201. The fastening devices 220 are arranged side by side.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the temporary fastening device 210 is provided with a linear elevator 213 on the front surface of an elevator 212 provided on a pedestal 211 so as to be movable up and down. Prepare. As described above, the article holding and rotating device 80 includes the motor 81, the rotation shaft 82, the head 83, the article holding unit 84, the rotational force applying unit 85, the rotary joint 86, and the buffering unit 87.

  The temporary fastening device 210 holds the cap 1 tilting freely by the article holding portion 84 and applies the rotational force of the motor 81 to the cap 1 by the rotational force applying portion 85. The cap 1 is attached in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The container 2 can be temporarily tightened.

  As shown in FIG. 19, the fastening device 220 is provided with a rotary motor 223 on a lift base 222 provided on a stand 221 so as to be liftable, and a cap clamping chuck 225 at a lower end portion of a rotary shaft 224 of the motor 223. The cap clamping chuck 225 includes a chuck claw (not shown) in the cup, and clamps the cap 1 with a chuck claw that is opened and closed by supplying air pressure. The main fastening device 220 holds the cap 1 temporarily fastened to the container 2 by the chuck 225 and rotates the chuck 225 by the motor 223 so that the cap 1 can be finally fastened to the container 2.

  When the cap 1 with a tube is brought into contact with the mouth of the container 2, the tube positioning chuck 280 is positioned so that the tip of the lower part of the tube is inserted into the container 2, and then the temporary fastening device 210 is lowered. .

  According to the present embodiment, in addition to the same functions and effects as those of the first embodiment (a) to (d), the following functions and effects are exhibited.

  By arranging the temporary fastening device 210 and the final fastening device 220 side by side at the capping positions adjacent to each other, it is possible to easily replace the temporary fastening device 210 and the final fastening device 220 according to the type of the cap 1. When the main clamping device 220 uses a dedicated cap head (cap clamping chuck 225) for the cap 1 having a different shape, the main clamping device 220 to be replaced is disposed away from the temporary clamping device 210. Is preferred. The main fastening device 220 only tightens the cap 1 and the operation time may be remarkably short, so that the number of cap heads can be reduced as compared with the temporary fastening device 210.

  The article holding and rotating device of the present invention is not limited to that used in the capping device, and can be applied to holding and rotating operations of articles other than caps.

  In the above embodiment, the method of linearly conveying the container intermittently has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. As another example, the present invention can be applied to a linear conveyance method in which a capping operation follows the conveyance of a container, a rotary method, or the like.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a capping device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the capping apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the temporary fastening device and the final fastening device. FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view of FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the final fastening device. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the article holding and rotating device. FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a cap and a container. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the relative positions of the cap and the container. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the first half of the cap screwing process. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the latter half of the screwing process of the cap. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a comparative example of the article holding and rotating device. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a comparative example of the article holding and rotating device. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a comparative example of the article holding and rotating device. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a comparative example of the article holding and rotating device. FIG. 16 is a side view showing the capping device of the second embodiment. FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the capping device of FIG. FIG. 18 is a side view showing the temporary fastening device. FIG. 19 is a side view showing the main fastening device.

Explanation of symbols

1 Cap (article)
80 article holding and rotating device 84 article holding section 84A nozzle 84B air passage 85 rotational force applying section 87

Claims (4)

An article holding unit for holding the article in a state in which the posture of the article can be changed;
An article holding and rotating device provided around the article holding unit and having a rotational force applying unit that applies a rotational force to the article held by the article holding unit,
The article holding unit is an ejector-type suction device that ejects air between the article holding unit and the article to generate a negative pressure between the article holding unit and the article ,
The ejector-type suction device is an air passage between the article holding unit and the article, and jets air into an air passage formed by a cutout portion in which a contact portion between the article of the rotational force applying unit and the article is intermittently cut. Article holding and rotating device that generates negative pressure during The article holding and rotating device according to claim 1, further comprising buffer means for buffering the rotational force applying section in the axial direction. The article holding and rotating device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the article is a cap, and the cap can be screwed onto the container. The article holding and rotating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the rotational force applying portion includes a slip stopper.

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