JP5678306B2 - Cap aligning apparatus and cap aligning method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cap aligning device and a cap aligning method, and more specifically, using a polygonal cam without using air, and separating a cap with an opening facing upward and a cap facing downward with two caps. Each of the transport paths is transported, the cap of one transport path is reversed with a twist chute, the cap of the other transport path is passed through the straight chute, and the twisted chute and the cap with the same direction passing through the straight chute are switched and switched downstream The present invention relates to a cap aligning apparatus and a cap aligning method that can be sent out to a transport path of the cap.

  In general, in a cap aligning apparatus, caps are selected and sent out by blowing air onto the caps. However, an airless device is desired because air can wind up surrounding dust, dust, and the like, and if the air contains moisture or oil, the cap may be soiled. Since air requires a large amount of energy, it is expected to save energy by airless.

  Therefore, the present applicant has proposed an alignment device for selecting caps using a polygonal cam instead of air (Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-165743). When this device sorts the cap, the cap on the conveyance path is discriminated by a sensor. For example, if the downstream device does not need the cap with the opening facing upward, it is kicked off by the polygon cam to the hopper. It is a thing.

  A cap that is inserted into the hopper portion in advance has a random opening cap or a downward cap. Therefore, if the downstream device requires an upward cap, about half of the downward cap is kicked off and returned to the hopper. Therefore, first-in first-out of the cap cannot be performed, and if the cap is returned to the hopper many times, there is a problem that the cap is scratched due to the stirring and the raising of the hopper.

  In the cap supply device of Patent Document 1, a cap with an opening facing upward is selected by suction, and a cap with an opening facing downward is returned to the hopper. Also, air is used and the cap with the opening facing upward is inverted so that it faces downward.

JP 2002-179004 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a cap aligning device and a cap aligning method that can prevent damage to the cap by not using air and preventing the cap from returning to the hopper regardless of the orientation of the cap.

  The cap aligning device according to the present invention is a cap sorting device provided with an inner rotor that rotates at an inclination at a bottom portion of a hopper portion into which a cap is inserted, and an outer rotor that rotates outside the inner rotor. The cap that has been transferred from the inner rotor to the outer rotor is guided so that the cap with the opening facing sideways returns to the hopper, and the cap with the opening facing upward and the cap with the opening facing downward are aligned. In response to the cap alignment portion to be aligned and the cap from the cap alignment portion, the cap with the opening facing upward is guided to the first conveying path on the outer peripheral side of the outer rotor, and the cap with the opening facing downward is increased. A cap section that is pushed out by a square cam and guided to a second conveying path on the inner peripheral side of the outer rotor; A twist chute that reverses and passes a cap whose opening portion is in an upward state continuously to the conveyance path, and a parallel opening to the second conveyance path that is provided in parallel with the twist chute, the opening portion is directed downward A cap chute comprising a straight chute that passes through the cap in the state as it is, and a path switching unit that slides the path switching member and connects either the twist chute or the straight chute to the downstream conveyance path. It is characterized by being able to.

  The path switching unit selects the twist chute or the straight chute in which a cap stays at the time of switching.

  The path switching unit is provided with a stopper member for stopping the movement of the cap. After the stopper member stops the movement of the cap from the twist chute or the outlet of the straight chute, the path switching member is slid to switch. The operation is performed.

  The cap aligning method according to the present invention includes a step (S1) of aligning a cap having an opening portion facing upward and a cap having an opening portion facing downward on a first transport path (S1), receiving the aligned caps, and the opening portion facing upward. The cap in the state is sent as it is to the first transport path, the cap whose opening is facing downward is sent to the second transport path by a polygon cam, and the transport path is divided according to the direction of the cap (S2), and the first transport path A cap that receives the cap from the second conveyance path with a second straight chute in parallel with the cap that receives the cap from the second conveyance path while passing the cap with the opening facing upward downward. Either the twisting chute or the straight chute by switching the direction of the direction (S3) and switching by the path switching member A step of connecting the outlet to the downstream conveying path (S4), characterized in that it is provided.

  According to the cap aligning apparatus or cap aligning method of the present invention, (1) since the polygon cam that pushes the cap whose opening is in the downward direction to the second conveying path on the inner peripheral side of the outer rotor is provided, the cap is soiled by air. Is not generated. (2) Since the cap with the selected opening portion facing upward is not inverted to the cap facing downward, it is allowed to flow as it is, so that the cap is not damaged. (3) Further, since the cap with the opening portion facing upward is not returned to the hopper portion, the cap can be prevented from being damaged due to the hopper portion being stirred or scraped. (4) Since the twist chute that reverses the cap with the opening sent to the first transport path in the upward state to the downward state is provided, it can be aligned in the same direction as the cap of the second transport path. (5) Since the path switching unit that switches the outlet of either the twist chute or the straight chute to connect to the downstream conveyance path is provided, the cap can flow smoothly. Cap clogging at the Y-shaped junction does not occur. (6) Since both the cap in the upward state and the cap in the downward state are taken out, the number of caps to be returned to the hopper is very small, and the processing capability can be improved.

  The path switching unit selects the one where the twist chute or straight chute cap stays at the time of switching, so the twist chute or straight chute is the cap even if the opening is biased upward or downward. You can avoid overflowing.

  Since the stopper member for stopping the movement of the cap is provided in the path switching portion, the cap is not accidentally sandwiched by switching the twist chute or straight chute outlet after preventing the cap from entering.

1 is a plan view of an alignment apparatus according to the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the direction of a cap. (A) shows the state where the opening is upward, (B) shows the state where the opening is downward, and (C) shows the state where the opening is sideways. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view of a cap chute and a path switching unit in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cap chute and a path switching unit in FIG. 1. 5A and 5B show the path switching member of FIG. 5, in which FIG. 5A is a plan view of the path switching member, and FIG. 5B is a right side view of the path switching member. It is explanatory drawing of the cap chute | shoot of FIG. 1, (A) is a fragmentary perspective view of a straight chute, (B) is a fragmentary perspective view of a twist chute. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a cap alignment method according to the present invention.

  Hereinafter, a cap aligning device and a cap aligning method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view of an alignment apparatus according to the present invention. The cap aligning device 100 includes an inner rotor 3 that is a disk that rotates at an angle, and an annular outer rotor 4 that rotates in the same direction (clockwise in this case) on the outer side of the upper portion of the inner rotor 3. The cap 1 is inserted from the cap insertion port 5. The periphery of the inner rotor 3 is surrounded by a cylinder, and the lower left side in FIG. 1 is deep and the upper right side is shallow. Therefore, the upper part of the inner rotor 3 becomes a hopper portion 2 in which a large amount of cap 1 is accommodated. The bottom of the hopper 2 is an inner rotor 3 that rotates.

  The cap 1 is lifted in the outer circumferential direction due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the inner rotor 3, and is transferred to the outer rotor 4 from near the upper side in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the mounted cap 1 is either a cap 1a whose opening is downward, a cap 1b whose opening is upward, or a cap 1c whose opening is lateral. As shown in FIG. 1, an entry preventing guide plate 7 is suspended from the upper portion of the outer rotor 4. The clearance between the entry prevention guide plate 7 and the outer rotor 4 is set to a height at which the cap 1a with the opening facing downward and the cap 1b with the opening facing upward can pass but the cap 1c with the opening facing sideways cannot pass. Has been. Therefore, the cap 1a with the opening facing downward and the cap 1b with the opening facing upward gather on the outer peripheral side of the outer rotor 4.

  The cap aligning part 6 is brought close to the inner peripheral side of the outer rotor 4 by the first guide plate 6a in a row, with the cap 1a having the opening facing downward and the cap 1b having the opening facing upward. Further, the caps 1a with the opening portions facing downward and the caps 1b with the opening portions facing upward are brought into a row by the second row guide plates 6b, and are brought back to the inner peripheral side of the outer rotor 4 again. The cap 1c in which the opening portion is in the horizontal state is dropped and returned to the hopper portion 2 by the passage prevention guide plate 6c. The passage prevention guide plate 6c is suspended from above, and the height of the cap 1a with the opening facing downward and the cap 1b with the opening facing upward can pass, but the cap 1c with the opening facing laterally cannot pass. Is set to

  The cap sorting unit 8 receives the caps 1 in a row from the cap alignment unit 6, and guides the cap 1 b with the opening upward to proceed as it is to the first conveyance path 11 on the outer peripheral side of the outer rotor 4. The cap 1a with the opening facing downward is pushed out by a triangular cam 9 (an example of a polygonal cam) and guided to the second conveyance path 12 on the inner peripheral side of the outer rotor 4. The cap 1 is detected by a sensor as to whether or not the opening is the cap 1a in a downward state. In the case of the cap 1a with the opening facing downward, the triangular cam driving motor 10 is operated to rotate the triangular cam 9 by 120 degrees. As a result, the cap 1 a with the opening portion facing downward is pushed out to the second transport path 12.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cap chute 13 is arranged in parallel with the twist chute 13b and a twist chute 13b that passes through the cap 1b with the opening facing upward in the first conveyance path 11 while being reversed and passed downward. It comprises a straight chute 13a that is provided continuously through the second transport path 12 and that passes through the cap 1a with the opening facing downward. The cap chute 13 of the cap alignment device 100 aligns the directions of the caps 1. In this embodiment, the openings are aligned so as to be the cap 1a in the downward state.

  3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. The inner rotor 3 is inclined and is rotated by the drive motor 14. A cap scraping member 16 is attached to the upper portion of the inner rotor 3 and scrapes the cap 1 put into the hopper 2. The cap scraping member 16 is a plate-like member provided along the radial direction as shown in the drawing circle. The cap chute 13 is temporarily displayed to indicate the mounting angle. The entry prevention guide plate 7 is provided in an arc shape (see FIG. 1), and the gap between the entry prevention guide plate 7 and the outer rotor 4 passes through the cap 1a with the opening facing downward and the cap 1b with the opening facing upward. At the height that can be made, the opening cannot pass through in a sideways state.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the outer rotor 4 is driven by the drive motor 15 and is rotated at a slower speed (about 75%) than the inner rotor 3. In the upper right of FIG. The direction detection sensor 26 detects whether the opening of the cap 1 is in an upward state or a downward state. If the cap 1 is the cap 1a with the opening portion facing downward, the cap 1 is moved to the second conveyance path 12 above the outer rotor 4 by the triangular cam 9 driven by the triangular cam drive motor 10. In the first conveyance path 11 above the outer rotor 4, the cap 1b with the opening facing upward remains. The 1st conveyance path 11 and the 2nd conveyance path 12 are divided by the partition plate suspended from the top.

  FIG. 4 is a side view of the cap chute 13 and the path switching unit 19 of FIG. The cap chute 13 is inclined downward at an angle of about 30 degrees from the start side to the end side. For this reason, the cap 1 sent to the cap chute 13 can slide down by its own weight from the upper right to the lower left in FIG. The cap detection sensor 18 is provided with a detection sensor 18a for straight chute and a detection sensor 18b for twist chute, and detects the passage or stay of the cap 1. A cap detection sensor 18 c is also provided on the downstream side of the path switching unit 19.

  FIG. 5 is a plan view of the cap chute 13 and the path switching unit 19 of FIG. The cap chute 13 includes a straight chute 13a and a twist chute 13b, and is installed in parallel. The cap 1 exits to the downstream conveyance path 24 via the path switching unit 19. The cap 1b with the opening of the first transport path 11 facing upward is transported to the twist chute 13b, and the cap 1a with the opening of the second transport path 12 facing downward is sent to the straight chute 13a.

  The path switching unit 19 includes a path switching member 22, a drive cylinder 20 and a stopper 21. In FIG. 5, the arm of the cylinder 20 extends, and the path switching member 22 connects the outlet of the straight chute 13a and the downstream conveying path 24 to block the outlet of the twist chute 13b. When the arm of the cylinder 20 is contracted, the path switching member 22 is slid to connect the outlet of the twist chute 13b and the downstream conveyance path 24 and close the outlet of the straight chute 13a.

  The stopper 21 includes a straight chute outlet stopper 21a and a twist chute outlet stopper 21b. The stopper 21 can prevent the path switching member 22 from biting the cap 1 when the path switching member 22 is moved by the drive cylinder 20. When moving the path switching member 22, first, the stopper 21 is moved in a direction that blocks the outlet of the cap chute. An inclined plate 25 projects from the stopper 21, and the cap 1 can be pushed back in the direction opposite to the traveling direction. After such a state, the path switching member 22 is moved. If the cap detection sensor 18c detects the stay of the cap 1 on the downstream side, the cap 21 may not enter the path switching unit 19 by moving the stopper 21a (21b).

  When the cap detection sensor 18a (18b) detects the cap 1 inside the cap chute 13, the cap 1 is stagnated. The outlet of the straight chute 13a or twist chute 13b is connected to the downstream conveyance path 24. If both are staying or both are not staying, they can be switched in time.

6A is a plan view of the path switching member 22, and FIG. 6B is a right side view thereof.
The path switching member 22 includes a first path 27, a second path 28, and a shielding plate 23. Reference numeral 22a is a connection port with the straight chute outlet. Reference numeral 22b is a connection port with the twist chute outlet. Reference numeral 22c is an outlet of the first path, and reference numeral 22d is an outlet of the second path. The shielding plate 23 closes the exit of the cap chute that has been switched and blocked.

  7A is a partial perspective view of the straight chute 13a, and FIG. 7B is a partial perspective view of the twist chute 13b. The cap chute 13 is surrounded by two rods on each of the upper, lower, left and right sides, and the cap 1 slides down in the space surrounded by the rods. The rod of the straight chute 13a is provided straight, and the rod of the twist chute 13b is obtained by twisting the outside 180 degrees around the central axis. To reverse the cap, it can be a semi-arc-shaped chute, but the cap travel direction is reversed at the exit end, so it is necessary to fold back, making it difficult to retain the cap, and the cap movement is also discontinuous It is easy to become.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a cap alignment method according to the present invention. S1 picks up the cap with an inner rotor that rotates at an angle, moves the outer rotor to the outer rotor that rotates, and aligns the cap with the opening facing upward and the cap with the opening facing downward on the outer rotor. This is the stage of aligning. S2 receives the aligned caps, sends the cap with the opening facing upward to the first conveyance path on the outer peripheral side of the outer rotor, and uses the triangular cam to place the cap with the opening facing downward on the inner side of the outer rotor. This is a stage in which the cap is sent to the second conveyance path on the circumferential side and the cap is divided according to the direction. S3 sends the cap from the first transport path to the twist chute, reverses the cap with the opening facing upward, and passes the cap from the second transport path in parallel to the second straight. This is the stage where the caps are sent to the chute and aligned as they are. S4 is a stage in which either the twist chute or the straight chute is switched at the appropriate time by the path switching member and connected to the downstream conveyance path.

  In the present embodiment, the caps whose openings are directed downward are sent to the downstream device in a line. If the caps with the openings facing upward are aligned and sent to the downstream apparatus, this can be realized by selecting and sending out the caps 1b with the openings facing upward in the second conveying path 12 by the cap sorting section 8. .

  The cap aligning apparatus and cap aligning method according to the present invention does not use air and does not damage the cap, so that it is suitable for bottling equipment and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cap 1a Cap with opening portion facing downward 1b Cap with opening portion facing upward 1c Cap with opening portion facing sideways 2 Hopper portion 3 Inner rotor 4 Outer rotor 5 Cap inlet 6 Cap alignment portion 6a First row guide plate 6b 1st row | line | column 2nd guide plate 6c Passing prevention guide plate 7 Entrance prevention guide plate 8 Cap division part 9 Triangle cam 10 Triangular cam drive motor 11 1st conveyance path 12 2nd conveyance path 13 Cap chute 13a Straight chute 13b Twist chute 14 Drive Motor 15 Drive motor 16 Cap scraping member 18 Cap detection sensor 19 Path switching unit 20 Drive cylinder 21 Stopper 21a Stopper for straight chute outlet 21b Stopper for twist chute outlet 22 Path switching member 22 Connection port with straight chute outlet 22b Connection port with twist chute outlet 22c Outlet of first path 22d Outlet of second path 23 Shield plate 24 Downstream conveying path 25 Inclined plate 26 Direction detection sensor 27 First path 28 Second path 100 Cap alignment device

Claims (4)

In a cap selection device provided with an inner rotor that rotates at an inclination at the bottom of a hopper portion into which a cap is charged, and an outer rotor that rotates outside the inner rotor,
For the cap that has been transferred from the inner rotor to the outer rotor, the cap whose opening portion is in the lateral direction is guided to return to the hopper portion, and the cap having the opening portion facing upward and the cap having the opening portion facing downward are aligned. A cap alignment portion to be aligned with,
Upon receiving the cap from the cap alignment portion, the cap with the opening facing upward is guided to the first conveying path on the outer peripheral side of the outer rotor, and the cap with the opening facing downward is pushed out by a polygonal cam, A cap section that guides the second conveyor path on the inner circumference side of the outer rotor;
A twist chute that passes through the cap with the opening facing upward in a downward state continuously with the first transport path, and is provided in parallel with the twist chute and continues to the second transport path with an opening. A cap chute consisting of a straight chute that passes through the cap with the part facing down,
And a path switching unit that slides a path switching member and connects either the twist chute or the straight chute to the downstream conveyance path.
2. The cap alignment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the path switching unit selects the twist chute or the straight chute with the larger number of caps staying when switching.
The path switching unit is provided with a stopper for stopping the movement of the cap. After the stopper stops the movement of the cap from the twist chute or the outlet of the straight chute, the path switching member is slid to perform the switching operation. The cap alignment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is performed.
Raise the cap with the inner rotor that rotates at an angle and move the outer rotor to the outer rotor that rotates, aligning the cap with the opening facing up and the cap with the opening facing down on the outer rotor. Stage (S1);
Receiving the aligned caps, the cap with the opening facing upward is sent as it is to the first conveying path on the outer peripheral side of the outer rotor, and the cap with the opening facing downward is a polygonal cam on the inner peripheral side on the outer rotor. The second transport path, and dividing the cap according to the direction (S2),
The cap from the first transport path is sent to the twist chute, the cap with the opening facing upward is reversed and passed, and the cap from the second transport path is sent to the second straight chute in parallel with this. Aligning the direction of the cap to pass through as it is (S3),
A step (S4) of connecting the outlet of either the twist chute or the straight chute to the downstream conveyance path by switching with a path switching member.

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