JP4951666B2 - Filling equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filling device capable of raising rod-shaped articles in a filling hopper adjacent to each other, and filling them in a container or the like in an raised state irrespective of the length or the filling amount of the rod-shaped article. <P>SOLUTION: A filling hopper 21 has a short cylindrical body portion 33 for receiving the rod-shaped articles discharged from a chute 17 which allows a plurality of the rod-shaped articles to slide and discharge them from an outlet, and a gate 22 for opening/closing a lower side opening portion of the body portion 33. A driving motor 32 vibrates the filling hopper 21 so that the rod-shaped articles 1 fed in the filling hopper 21 are raised adjacent to each other. A chute 17 align the sliding rod-shaped articles to be parallel to the sliding-down direction, and a guide member 64 parallel to the sliding-down direction is provided therein. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling apparatus for aligning rod-shaped articles and filling a container or the like. For example, the present invention relates to a filling apparatus for aligning predetermined weights of food-like rod-shaped confectionery into a container.

  An example of the above-described conventional filling apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 15 (see JP-A-8-271327). This filling device is for filling a predetermined container (not shown) with a plurality of rod-shaped articles 1 weighed and discharged by a conventionally known combination weigher (not shown). The swing guide tube 3 is provided below the outlet of the collective chute 2 and is in contact with the upper side surface of the bar-shaped article 1 discharged from the collective chute 2 to hold the bar-shaped article 1 in an upright state. A swing mechanism 5 is provided below the swing guide tube 3 to swing the motion guide tube 3 about a pivot 4 provided on the collecting chute 2 to align the rod-shaped article 1 in an upright state. A fixed guide cylinder 6 that is in contact with the lower side surface of the bar-shaped article 1 discharged from the collecting chute 2 and is held in an upright state, and is provided below the fixed guide cylinder 6, receives the bar-shaped article 1 and moves horizontally. Rod-shaped article received by lever And a gate 7, 7 for discharging downwardly the. The vibration mechanism 5 includes a motor 8, a disk 9 provided on the rotation shaft 10 of the motor 8, and a link having one end connected to the disk 9 with a distance from the rotation shaft 10. 11 and an arm 12 connected to the other end of the link 11 and coupled to the swing guide tube 3.

  According to this filling device, the plurality of bar-shaped articles 1 that are weighed in combination and discharged from the outlet of the collecting chute 2 fall onto the gates 7 and 7 and the upper side surfaces thereof are held by the swing guide cylinder 3 while standing. The lower side surface is held by the fixed guide cylinder 6. Then, in this state, the vibration mechanism 5 is driven to swing the swing guide cylinder 3 about the pivot 4, whereby the rod-shaped articles 1 a and 1 b that are vertically overlapped as shown in FIG. 15. The upper bar-shaped article 1 a can be dropped onto the gates 7 and 7. In this way, the rod-shaped articles 1 can be erected and aligned in a state adjacent to each other.

  However, in the conventional filling device, the upper bar-shaped article 1a is gated by swinging the lower bar-shaped article 1b on the gates 7 and 7 in the vertical direction so as to swing left and right. 7 and 7, the lower bar-shaped article 1b is swung in the left-right direction, and the lower end of the upper bar-shaped article 1a is moved to the upper end of the lower bar-shaped article 1b. In the abutted state, the upper bar-shaped article 1a may swing following the lower bar-shaped article 1b. Therefore, there is a problem that the bar-shaped article 1a on the upper side of the bar-shaped articles 1a, 1b that are overlapped in the vertical direction cannot be reliably dropped onto the gates 7, 7. Thereby, for example, when a predetermined weight or number of rod-shaped articles 1 are filled in a predetermined container, the rod-shaped article 1 may overflow from the container, or it is filled in a state where it stands up next to each other. May not look good.

  In the conventional filling device, for example, when the number of the rod-shaped articles 1 filled at one time is large or when the length of the rod-shaped articles 1 is short, a plurality of rod-shaped articles falling on the gates 7 and 7 are raised. Since the total lateral width of the article 1 is increased, it is necessary to increase the inner diameters of the swing guide cylinder 3 and the fixed guide cylinder 6 in accordance with the total length of the lateral width. However, if the inner diameter of the swing guide cylinder 3 is made larger than a certain value, the upper part of the bar-shaped article 1 standing upright on the gates 7, 7 does not reach the inner side surface of the swing guide cylinder 3, thus swinging. The guide tube 3 may not be held but may be held in contact with the inner surface of the fixed guide tube 6 or may be laid down on the gates 7 and 7 as they are. In this state, even if the swing guide cylinder 3 is swung, the rod-shaped article 1 on the gates 7 and 7 cannot be neatly arranged upright and cannot be aligned. This causes a problem that the rod-shaped article 1 may overflow from the container as described above.

  The present invention allows the rod-shaped articles to stand cleanly in a state adjacent to each other in the filling hopper regardless of the length and the filling amount of the rod-shaped articles, and can be filled into a container or the like in this aligned state. An object is to provide an apparatus.

A filling device according to the present invention includes a chute that slides a plurality of bar-shaped articles and discharges them from an outlet, a short cylindrical main body that receives the bar-shaped articles discharged from the chute from an upper opening, and a lower part of the main body. A filling hopper having a gate for opening and closing the side opening, and a drive unit that vibrates the filling hopper so that the respective rod-shaped articles supplied in the filling hopper stand up next to each other. Yes. The chute has a cylindrical shape, and has an upper opening edge and a lower opening edge located at a position lower than the upper opening edge and separated from the upper opening edge. The member is erected, and the guide member is at the same height position as the inner surface of the chute at the upper opening edge, and gradually increases in height to the inner surface of the chute until midway toward the lower opening edge And has the same height as the tip of the inclined surface from the tip of the inclined surface to the lower opening edge.

  According to the filling device according to the present invention, when a plurality of rod-shaped articles are supplied to the filling hopper, the filling hoppers containing the rod-shaped articles are vibrated so that the respective rod-shaped articles supplied in the filling hopper are mutually connected. Can stand upright next to each other. Then, by opening the gate, the rod-shaped articles can be discharged in an aligned state.

  In particular, a plurality of bar-shaped articles can be slid down in the chute, discharged from the outlet thereof, and supplied into the filling hopper. The guide member can align the direction of the rod-shaped article sliding down in the chute in a direction parallel to the sliding down direction.

  According to the filling apparatus according to the present invention, the respective bar-shaped articles supplied into the filling hopper can be erected in a state of being adjacent to each other, so that the bar-shaped articles can be discharged in such an aligned state. Thus, for example, when a predetermined weight or number of rod-shaped articles are filled in a predetermined container, it can be filled in a state where it stands up next to each other with good appearance without overflowing from the inside of the container.

  In particular, since the guide member can align the direction of the rod-shaped article sliding down in the chute in a direction parallel to the sliding direction, the rod-shaped article can be supplied to the filling hopper in such a state in which the direction is aligned. Thereby, alignment of the rod-shaped articles in the filling hopper can be performed very easily in a short time.

It is a side view which shows the state which is a filling mechanism part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and has a filling hopper in a lowered position. It is a side view which shows the state which is the filling mechanism part which concerns on the same embodiment, and the filling hopper is in a raise position and is rocking | fluctuating. It is a top view of the filling mechanism part shown in FIG. It is a top view of the 2nd gate provided in the filling mechanism part concerning the embodiment. It is a schematic front view which shows the filling apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment, and the combination weigher which supplies a rod-shaped article to this filling apparatus. It is a top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the 12 filling mechanism parts which concern on the embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the partition member provided in the filling hopper of the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the partition member provided in the filling hopper, (a) is a top view of the partition member of the embodiment, (b) is a top view of the partition member of other embodiment of the invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in which the rod-shaped article | item supplied to the filling hopper of the embodiment was drowning on the partition member. It is a figure which shows the 1st chute | shoot of the embodiment, (a) is a front view, (b) is a vertical side view. It is a figure which shows the 1st chute | shoot of other embodiment of the same invention, (a) is a front view, (b) is a vertical side view. It is a vertical side view which shows the 2nd chute | shoot of the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the reservoir hopper of the embodiment, (a) is a front view, (b) is a top view. It is a timing chart which shows operation | movement of the filling apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a vertical front view of the conventional filling apparatus.

  An embodiment of a filling device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 shows a combination weigher 13 that weighs and discharges a bar-shaped article (bar-shaped confectionery) 1 having a preset weight, and a weighed bar-shaped article 1 discharged from the combination weigher 13 and receives each weighed bar-shaped article. The filling device 14 according to this embodiment for sequentially filling 1 into a cup (packaging container) 15 and the empty cup 15 are sequentially transported to a filling position below the filling device 14, and the metered rod-shaped article 1 is The takeout conveyor 16 for sequentially transporting the filled cups 15 to the takeout position is shown.

  The combination weigher 13 is conventionally known, has a plurality of weighing hoppers, weighs the bar-shaped articles 1 supplied to the respective weighing hoppers, and the combination calculation unit calculates the weights of the respective bar-shaped articles 1 weighed. Various combinations are selected so that the total weight is equal to or close to the predetermined target weight. When the total weight of the set selected by the combination calculation unit is within the allowable weight range, the bar-shaped article 1 of the set is discharged from the corresponding weighing hopper. The bar-shaped article 1 that has been weighed from each of the weighing hoppers is discharged from the outlet through the collecting chute 2, and the first chute 17 and the second chute 18 are slid down and held by the storage hopper 19. Is done. The metered rod-like article 1 is supplied to a filling hopper 21 provided in the filling device 14 by opening the first gate 20 of the reservoir hopper 19 at a predetermined timing.

  When the filling hopper 21 moves to a predetermined discharge position, the rod-shaped article 1 supplied to the filling hopper 21 opens a second cup 22 of the filling hopper 21 to open a predetermined cup on the takeout conveyor 16. 15 is filled. The cup 15 filled with the rod-shaped article 1 is conveyed by the take-out conveyor 16, and the lid is sealed during the carrying and taken out at a predetermined take-out position. Also, empty cups 15 are sequentially supplied to the take-out conveyor 16, and the empty cups 15 are filled with the bar-shaped article 1 having a predetermined weight as described above. In addition, the rod-shaped article 1 has a diameter of about 5 mm and a length of about 60 mm, for example. For example, the cup 15 has an upper opening having a diameter of about 68 mm, a lower opening having a diameter of about 52 mm, and a height of about 74 mm. And the number of the rod-shaped articles | goods 1 with which each cup 15 is filled is about 27, for example.

  As shown schematically in FIG. 5, the filling device 14 includes a total of 12 filling mechanism parts (two filling mechanism parts 23 are shown in FIG. 5) 23 in a disk-shaped turntable (supported). Part) 24 is provided on the upper surface. The center of the turntable 24 is supported by being coupled to a support shaft 25, and the support shaft 25 is rotatably provided on the mount 26 via a bearing portion. The support shaft 25 is connected to the rotation shaft of the motor 28 via gears 26 and 26. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the turntable 24 provided with twelve filling mechanisms 23. However, in FIG. 6, the three filling mechanism parts 23 are shown, and the remaining nine filling mechanism parts 23 are omitted. The twelve filling mechanism portions 23 are provided at equal intervals of 30 ° along the same circumference on the upper surface of the turntable 24 with each filling hopper 21 facing the support shaft 25 of the turntable 24. It is. The turntable 24 is provided with an opening 30 at a position below each filling hopper 21. There are twelve openings 30 in total, and the rod-shaped article 1 in the filling hopper 21 passes through the openings 30 and is filled into the cup 15.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the turntable 24 is intermittently driven to rotate by the motor 28 so as to repeat rotation and stoppage by 30 ° in the counterclockwise direction. And the position of the predetermined | prescribed filling mechanism part 23 when the turntable 24 has stopped is a supply position. The reservoir hopper 19 is located above the filling hopper 21 stopped at the supply position, and the rod-shaped article 1 is supplied from the reservoir hopper 19 when the filling mechanism portion 23 stops at the supply position. The position of another predetermined filling mechanism portion 23 when the turntable 24 is stopped is the discharge position. An empty cup 15 is located below the filling hopper 21 stopped at the discharge position, and the rod-shaped article 1 in the filling hopper 21 is filled into the cup 15 when the filling mechanism 23 is stopped at the discharge position. Is done.

  Next, the filling mechanism unit 23 will be described. Since each of the twelve filling mechanism portions 23 is the same, only one filling mechanism portion 23 will be described and description of the other filling mechanism portions 23 will be omitted. The filling mechanism unit 23 vibrates the filling hopper 21 to align the plurality of intertwined rod-like articles 1 supplied to the filling hopper 21 so as to be adjacent to each other, and in this aligned state, the cup 15 It is for filling. 1 to 3 are views showing the filling mechanism 23, FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state where the filling hopper 21 is in the lowered position and in the suspended position, and FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the filling hopper 21 in the raised position. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the filling mechanism portion 23 shown in FIG. 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the filling mechanism unit 23 includes a filling hopper 21, a vibration mechanism unit 31, and a vibration motor (drive unit) 32. The filling hopper 21 includes a second main body 33 having a short cylindrical shape that receives the rod-shaped article 1 from the upper opening, a second gate 22 for opening and closing the lower opening of the second main body 33, And a partition member 34 provided in the lower opening of the second main body portion 33. As shown in FIG. 7, the partition member 34 includes one rectangular first tall partition member 34a and two rectangular second partition members 34b shorter than the first partition member 34a. And consists of: As shown in the plan view of FIG. 8A, the first and second partition members 34a and 34b are provided in a state where they are erected in a vertical direction so as to form a cross. The second body 33 has a diameter of about 70 mm and a height of about 150 mm.

  The reason why the partition member 34 is provided is that the length (about 60 mm) of the rod-shaped article 1 supplied into the filling hopper 21 is shorter than the inner diameter (about 70 mm) of the second main body portion 33 of the filling hopper 21. If the partition member is not provided, the rod-shaped article 1 is laid down on the second gate 22. However, by providing the partition member 34 as shown in FIG. This is because it can be held upright and held within an angle θ of 45 ° or less with respect to the vertical direction. Therefore, the height, the number, and the arrangement of the partition members 34 are determined so that the rod-shaped article 1 can be raised and held within a range that forms an angle of 45 ° or less with respect to the vertical direction. In this way, by providing the partition member 34 having a shape corresponding to the length of the rod-shaped article 1, even with a relatively short rod-shaped article 1, these rod-shaped articles 1 stand in a state adjacent to each other in the filling hopper 21. The cup 15 can be filled in this aligned state.

  7 so that the rod-shaped article 1 supplied into the filling hopper 21 and in contact with the upper edges of the first and second partition members 34a and 34b can be reliably dropped from the upper edge. As described above, the heights of the upper edges of the first and second partition members 34a and 34b are made different. Thereby, the rod-shaped article 1 accommodated in the filling hopper 21 can be reliably discharged.

The first and second partition members 34a, the height of each upper edge of 34b, as shown in FIG. 7, higher than the position of the center of gravity G ₁ of the rod-shaped article 1 standing on the second gate 22 The height of the rod-shaped article 1 is lower. As a result, it is possible to prevent the rod-shaped article 1 leaning on the partition member 34 from getting over the partition member 34 and falling down. Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, when the two bar-shaped articles 1a and 1b are raised and overlapped in the vertical direction, the upper bar-shaped article 1a is prevented from leaning on the partition member 34. The rod-shaped article 1a can be easily dropped onto the second gate 22. Therefore, when the cup-shaped article 1 is filled in the cup 15, it can be reliably filled in a state where the cup-shaped article 1 stands up next to each other without overflowing from the inside of the cup 15.

  As shown in the plan view of FIG. 4, the second gate 22 includes a second left gate 22a and a second right gate 22b. The second left and right gates 22a and 22b are supported so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane around the fulcrum shafts 35 and 35, and hold the rod-shaped article 1 in the filling hopper 21 in the closed position shown in FIG. The bar-shaped article 1 in the filling hopper 21 can be discharged at the open position indicated by the two-dot chain line. The fulcrum shafts 35 and 35 are fastened and fixed to a mounting plate 37 provided on the lower surface of the elevating unit 36 of the vibration mechanism unit 31 shown in FIG. Reference numeral 38 shown in FIG. 4 denotes a gate driving unit. The gate drive unit 38 is an air cylinder, and is provided on the gantry 26 as shown in FIG. The gate drive unit 38 is expanded and contracted when each of the filling mechanism units 23 is moved to the discharge position shown in FIG. 6 to open and close the second gate 22 of the filling mechanism unit 23 at the discharge position. It can be done. Reference numeral 39 shown in FIG. 4 denotes a rubber pad. Reference numeral 40 denotes a link. Each end portion of the link 40 is rotatably connected to the second left and right gates 22a and 22b, and the rotation of the second right gate 22b is transmitted to the second left gate 22a. This is for opening and closing the gates simultaneously. Reference numeral 41 denotes a tension coil spring. The spring 41 is for returning the second left and right gates 22a, 22b in the open position to the closed position. Reference numerals 42 and 42 denote locking plates. When the second left and right gates 22a and 22b are rotated from the open position to the closed position, the locking plate 42 comes into contact with the rubber stopper 43 provided on the mounting plate 37 and the second left and right gates 22a and 22b This is for stopping the gates in the closed position.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the vibration mechanism unit 31 includes a swing mechanism unit 44 and an elevating mechanism unit 45. The swing mechanism unit 44 includes a swing unit 46 coupled to the side surface of the second main body unit 33 of the filling hopper 21. The swinging portion 46 is supported by a shaft support portion (pivot support portion) 48 so as to be swingable via a swinging shaft 47 whose upper end portion is horizontally disposed. The shaft support portion 48 is screwed to the side surface of the elevating portion 36. The lower end portion of the swinging portion 46 is formed as a plate-like engaged edge portion 49 that is disposed at a distance from the side surface of the second main body portion 33 of the filling hopper 21. The engaged edge portion 49 is engaged in the groove 51 of each of the U-shaped pair of engaging portions 50, and can swing around the swing shaft 47 within the width of the groove 51. It has become. As shown in FIG. 1, the angle at which the filling hopper 21 can swing is about 7 °. The pair of engaging portions 50 are screwed to the side surfaces of the elevating portion 36.

  The elevating mechanism unit 45 includes an elevating unit 36. A total of three guide grooves 52 formed in the vertical direction are provided on the left and right side surfaces and the back surface of the elevating unit 36. Each guide groove 52 is engaged with a roller (cam follower) 53 that rolls in contact with the side surface of the guide groove 52 and is relatively movable up and down along the corresponding guide groove 52. Each roller 53 is rotatably supported by a roller shaft, and each roller shaft is screwed to a pair of support plates 54 that are parallel to each other and a connection plate 55 that connects the pair of support plates 54. . The pair of support plates 54 are provided on a bracket 57 via an attachment member 56, and the vibration motor 32 is attached to the bracket 57. The rotation shaft 32 a of the vibration motor 32 is coupled to one end portion of the rotation link 58, and an eccentric shaft 59 is provided at the other end portion of the rotation link 58. The eccentric shaft 59 is rotatably connected to the upper end portion of the vibration link 60. A driven shaft 61 is rotatably connected to the lower end portion of the vibration link 60. The driven shaft 61 is fixed to the back surface of the elevating part 36 with screws.

According to the filling mechanism unit 23 configured as described above, when the vibration motor 32 is driven and the rotation shaft 32a rotates in a predetermined direction, the rotation link 58 rotates, and the rotational motion of the rotation link 58 is eccentric. The shaft 36, the vibration link 60, the driven shaft 61, and the like are converted into a lifting motion, and the lifting and lowering portion 36 can be lifted and lowered in the direction of the arrow 62. The second gate 22 provided at the lower part of the elevating unit 36 also performs elevating vibration along with the elevating unit 36. Next, the swinging of the filling hopper 21 when the elevating part 36 is moved up and down will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1, when the elevating unit 36 moves upward from the lowered position and increases in speed, the filling hopper 21 swings counterclockwise about the swing shaft 47. The engaged edge portion 49 rises in a state of being in contact with the right side surface of the groove 51 of the engaging portion 50 shown in FIG. That is, the horizontal distance between the center of gravity G ₂ of the second main body portion 33 of the filling hopper 21 and the axis of the swing shaft 47 is L _1. Counterclockwise torque (torque based on inertial force) centering on the moving shaft 47 acts. When the elevating part 36 decelerates while moving up as it is, the second main body part 33 of the filling hopper 21 is swung clockwise around the rocking shaft 47 and the engaged edge 49 is moved. It will be in the state contact | abutted with the left side surface of the groove | channel 51 of the engaging part 50 shown in FIG. 2, and will reach a raise position in this state. When the elevating part 36 moves downward from the raised position and increases in speed, the second main body part 33 of the filling hopper 21 is lowered in the state shown in FIG. And when the raising / lowering part 36 moves down as it is and decelerates, the 2nd main-body part 33 of the filling hopper 21 returns to the state shown in FIG. As described above, the second main body portion 33 of the filling hopper 21 repeats the swinging as described above while moving up and down.

As shown in FIG. 1, since the swing shaft 47 is disposed above the second gate 22 with a predetermined distance L ₂ , the filling hopper 21 is simply vibrated in the vertical direction. 21 can be swung over the horizontal range by swinging in the direction of arrow 63. Therefore, the second main body portion 33 of the filling hopper 21 can be vibrated in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction by the single vibration motor 32.

  Further, when the rising speed of the filling hopper 21 is decreased and the descending speed is increased in a state where a plurality of rod-shaped articles 1 are accommodated, the weight applied to the second gate 22 of these rod-shaped articles 1 and other rod-shaped articles. The weight applied to the article 1 is relatively small, whereby the frictional force between the bar-shaped article 1 and the second gate 22 and the frictional force at the contact portion between the bar-shaped articles 1 are reduced. At this time, for example, the filling hopper 21 swings to the swinging position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 at the rising position, the lowering position, and the vicinity thereof, and the horizontal speed is changed, so that the rod-shaped articles 1 entangled with each other. Can be made to stand on the second gate 22 in parallel while being adjacent to each other. And the cup 15 can be filled in the state which aligned the rod-shaped article 1 in this way.

  Further, the vibration of the filling hopper 21 by the vibration drive unit has a lowering speed higher than the free fall speed of the rod-shaped article 1 accommodated in the filling hopper 21, and lowers the filling hopper 21 and swings in the horizontal direction. I am trying to make it. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, when the two bar-shaped articles 1 a and 1 b stand up and overlap in the vertical direction, the filling hopper 21 is moved from the free fall speed of the bar-shaped article 1 accommodated in the filling hopper 21. Also, the rod-shaped articles 1a and 1b can be lifted from the filling hopper 21 by being lowered at a high speed. Then, the filling hopper 21 is lowered and swung in the horizontal direction to cause the filling hopper 21 to collide with the rod-shaped article 1, and the upper rod-shaped article 1 a overlapping in the vertical direction falls onto the second gate 22. Can be made. Thereby, the bar-shaped articles 1 that overlap in the vertical direction in the filling hopper 21 can be made to stand on the second gate 22 in parallel while being adjacent to each other.

Then, the filling hopper 21 is vibrated so that the rod-shaped article 1 that is supplied to the filling hopper 21 and freely falls collides with the second gate 22 while the filling hopper 21 moves downward due to vibration. That is, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 14, a predetermined time t ₁ has passed since the first gate 20 of the reservoir hopper 19 was opened and the rod-shaped article 1 was supplied to the filling hopper 21, and the filling hopper 21 The bar-shaped article 1 collides with the second gate 22 in a state where the lowering moves. Thereby, since the impact when the rod-shaped article 1 is supplied to the filling hopper 21 and collides with the second gate 22 due to free fall can be reduced, the spring-up due to the collision of the rod-shaped article 1 with the second gate 22 can be reduced. As a result, the rod-shaped article 1 can be prevented from being entangled with each other in the filling hopper 21.

Next, the filling cycle of the filling device 14 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, when the turntable 24 is rotated and stopped alternately, and the filling mechanism 23 is moved to a predetermined supply position and stopped, the first gate 20 of the reservoir hopper 19 is opened to form a rod shape. The article 1 is supplied into the filling hopper 21 (supply stage). The filling hopper 21 supplied with the rod-shaped article 1 is continuously driven by the vibration motor 32 to vibrate. This first continuous vibration is continued from the supply position shown in FIG. 6 to the position A rotated 150 °. Until the filling mechanism unit 23 moves from the position A to the discharge position, the vibration motor 32 alternately drives and stops every about 400 ms (t ₂ ), and the filling mechanism unit 23 moves to the discharge position. When stopping, the intermittent vibration of the filling hopper 21 is stopped. The vibration of the filling hopper 21 until the filling mechanism unit 23 moves from the supply position to the discharge position and stops is referred to as a first vibration stage. Then, the second gate 22 is opened and closed with the filling mechanism 23 stopped at the discharge position to fill the cup 15 with the rod-shaped article 1 in the filling hopper 21 (first discharge stage). Then, the filling hopper 21 is vibrated for about 400 ms (second vibration stage), and then the second gate 22 is opened and closed again (second discharge stage). Thus, one filling by one filling mechanism unit 23 is completed, and the same operation as described above can be sequentially repeated to fill each cup 15 with the rod-shaped article 1. Here, the filling cycle of one filling mechanism unit 23 has been described. However, the filling cycle of the other 11 filling mechanism units 23 is also equivalent, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  According to the filling method of the filling cycle as described above, the cup 15 can be reliably filled with all the rod-shaped articles 1 supplied to the filling hopper 21. That is, even if the filling hopper 21 in which a large number of rod-shaped articles 1 are accommodated is vibrated, the rod-shaped articles 1 are difficult to move in the filling hopper 21 and the rod-shaped articles 1 caught in the filling hopper 21 are shaken off. However, most of the rod-shaped articles 1 in the filling hopper 21 are discharged at the first discharging stage, and the filling hopper 21 is vibrated again with a large space (second vibrating stage). ), The rod-shaped article 1 remaining in the filling hopper 21 can be shaken off and reliably discharged (second discharge stage).

  Next, the first chute 17 shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The first chute 17 has a short cylindrical shape, the upper opening edge 17a is parallel to the horizontal plane, and the upper opening is connected to the lower opening of the collective chute 2 as shown in FIG. The lower opening edge 17b is inclined at an angle of about 45 ° with respect to the horizontal plane, and the lower opening is connected to the upper opening 18a of the second chute 18 as shown in FIG. In addition, the first chute 17 is for making the rod-shaped article 1 sliding down the inside parallel to the sliding direction, and is provided with a guide member 64 parallel to the sliding direction. The guide member 64 is a flat body, and is provided perpendicular to the sliding surface 17 c of the first chute 17 so as to be parallel to the length direction of the first chute 17. The height of the guide member 64 relative to the sliding surface 17c is higher than the diameter of the rod-shaped article 1. Further, the height of the guide member 64 on the inlet side is inclined so as to increase from the upper opening edge 17a of the first chute 17 toward the lower opening edge 17b. As a result, the plurality of rod-like articles 1 supplied from the outlet of the collective chute 2 to the upper opening of the first chute 17 are aligned by the upper edge 64a on the inlet side of the guide member 64 so as to be parallel to the sliding direction. Can do. Then, the bar-shaped articles 1 arranged in this way can be guided by the guide member 64 in this state and fed into the second chute 18 at the rear stage.

  Next, the second chute 18 shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The second chute 18 has a funnel shape with a circular cross section orthogonal to the sliding direction of the rod-shaped article 1, and the upper opening edge 18 a is inclined at an angle of about 45 ° with respect to the horizontal plane. The portion is connected to the lower opening of the first chute 17. The lower opening edge 18b is parallel to the horizontal plane, and the lower opening is connected to the upper opening of the reservoir hopper 19 as shown in FIG. In addition, the inner surface 65a of the bent portion 65 with which the rod-shaped article 1 that slides down in the second chute 18 collides may have an angle α of about 25 ° with respect to the sliding direction 66 (α is an angle of 45 ° or less). ) To be inclined. According to the second chute 18, the rod-like article 1 that has slid down in a state where the first chute 17 is aligned (a state where the rod-like article 1 is parallel to the sliding direction) is in the aligned state. As shown in FIG. 12, the tip of each bar-shaped article 1 collides with the inner surface 65a of the bent portion 65 in the sliding direction. Since the angle α formed by the inner surface 65a of the bent portion 65 and the sliding direction 66 is a relatively small angle of 25 °, the rod-shaped article 1 slides down while being guided by the inner surface 65a without disturbing the alignment state. And put into the lower reservoir hopper 19. In this way, the rod-shaped article 1 can be supplied so as to stand in the reservoir hopper 19 while being adjacent to each other.

  Next, the reservoir hopper 19 will be described with reference to FIG. The reservoir hopper 19 includes a first main body 67 having a short cylindrical shape that receives the rod-shaped article 1 from the upper opening, a first gate 20 for opening and closing the lower opening of the first main body 67, And a partition member 68 provided in the lower opening of the first main body portion 67. As shown in FIG. 13, the partition member 68 is a single rectangular plate-like body. The partition member 68 is provided in a state where the partition member 68 stands in a vertical direction at a position passing through the center of the first main body portion 67.

  The first gate 20 includes a first left gate 20a and a first right gate 20b. The first left and right gates 20a and 20b are supported so as to be rotatable about fulcrum shafts 69 and 69 provided in the horizontal direction, and in the closed position shown in FIG. The article | item 1 is hold | maintained and the rod-shaped article | item 1 in the storage hopper 19 can be discharged | emitted in the open position shown with a dashed-two dotted line. The fulcrum shafts 69 and 69 are provided in the first main body portion 67. The first gate 20 is connected to each other by a link (not shown) like the second gate 22, and is driven to open and close by a gate driving unit (not shown). , And the gate driving unit is the same as that of the filling hopper 21 and will not be described in detail. When the first left and right gates 20a and 20b are closed, the upper surface of each of the first left and right gates 20a and 20b has an angle β of 45 ° or less with respect to the vertical direction (in this embodiment, the angle β is It is formed to be inclined at about 20 °). Thereby, the rod-shaped article 1 accommodated in the reservoir hopper 19 can be raised at an angle of about 20 ° with respect to the vertical direction while being held along the first left and right gates 20a and 20b. .

  The partition member 68 is in a state in which the rod-shaped article 1 is supplied into the reservoir hopper 19 and its lower end is in contact with the upper surface of the first gate 20 and is raised at an angle of 45 ° or less with respect to the vertical direction. It is provided to hold. That is, similarly to the partition member 34 provided in the filling hopper 21, for example, even when the length of the rod-shaped article 1 is shorter than the interval between the inner surfaces of the first main body portion 67 of the hopper 19 facing each other, the rod-shaped article 1 can be prevented from falling sideways in the reservoir hopper 19.

  Further, according to the reservoir hopper 19, the rod-shaped article 1 discharged from the second chute 18 is once accumulated in the reservoir hopper 19, and the rod-shaped article 1 in the reservoir hopper 19 is filled at a predetermined timing. Since it can supply to the hopper 21, the time for supplying the rod-shaped article 1 to the filling hopper 21 can be made comparatively short.

  Furthermore, according to the filling device 14, as shown in FIG. 6, the rod-shaped article 1 can be sequentially supplied to the filling hopper 21 of the filling mechanism unit 23 that has been sequentially moved to a predetermined supply position. When the part 23 moves to a predetermined discharge position, the rod-shaped article 1 in the filling hopper 21 of the filling mechanism part 23 can be discharged sequentially. Therefore, the filling hopper 21 can be vibrated using the time until each filling mechanism section 23 moves from the supply position to the discharge position, and the rod-shaped articles 1 in the filling hopper 21 can be aligned. The filling capacity can be improved by an amount corresponding to the number of the parts 23.

  However, in the above embodiment, the partition member 34 provided in the filling hopper 21 is provided in a state in which the partition member 34 is erected in the vertical direction so as to form a cross as shown in the plan view of FIG. Instead of this, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 8B according to the inner diameter of the second main body portion 33 of the filling hopper 21 and the length of the rod-shaped article 1, 3 from the center of the second main body portion 33. You may provide in the state stood in the perpendicular direction so that it may extend radially to a direction. The three partition members 70 have different heights.

  The first chute 17 of the above embodiment has a structure in which a guide member 64 parallel to the sliding direction is provided as shown in FIG. 10, but instead of this, a stepped portion 71 as shown in FIG. It is good also as a structure which provided. The first chute 74 shown in FIG. 11 has a sliding surface on which the rod-shaped article 1 slides, and the height in the direction perpendicular to the sliding surface is higher than the inlet sliding surface 72 of the first chute 74. A stepped portion 71 having a lowered sliding surface 73 is formed. According to the first chute 74, when the rod-shaped article 1 sliding down the inlet side sliding surface 72 passes through the stepped portion 71, the rod-like article 1 falls away from the outlet side sliding surface 73, thereby falling. 73, the entanglement of the bar-shaped articles 1 intertwined with each other can be loosened by the impact of the collision. Then, the rod-shaped article 1 can be stored and supplied to the hopper 19 in a state where the entanglement is loosened. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the 2nd gate 22 of the filling hopper 21 was opened and closed twice and the rod-shaped article 1 was discharged, it replaces with this and the 2nd gate 22 is opened and closed once and the rod-shaped article 1 is opened. It may be discharged. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the rod-shaped article 1 weighed by the combination weigher 13 is supplied to the filling hopper 21, but the rod-shaped article 1 weighed by a weighing device other than the combination weigher may be supplied to the filling hopper 21.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bar-shaped article 14 Filling device 15 Cup 17 1st chute 18 2nd chute 19 Reservoir hopper 21 Filling hopper 23 Filling mechanism part 31 Vibration mechanism part 32 Vibration motor 33 2nd main-body part 34 Partition member 36 Elevating part 44 Swing Moving mechanism portion 45 Elevating mechanism portion 52 Guide groove 53 Roller 67 First main body portion

Claims (1)

A chute that slides down a plurality of bar-shaped articles and discharges them from the outlet;
A short cylindrical main body that receives the bar-shaped article discharged from the chute from the upper opening, and a filling hopper having a gate for opening and closing the lower opening of the main body;
A drive unit that vibrates the filling hopper so that the respective rod-shaped articles supplied into the filling hopper stand next to each other;
In a filling device comprising:
The chute has a cylindrical shape, and has an upper opening edge and a lower opening edge located at a position lower than the upper opening edge and separated from the upper opening edge. The member is erected, and the guide member is at the same height position as the inner surface of the chute at the upper opening edge, and gradually increases in height to the inner surface of the chute until midway toward the lower opening edge A filling device having a surface and maintaining the same height as the tip of the inclined surface from the tip of the inclined surface to the lower opening edge .

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