JP5760520B2 - Leak inspection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a leak inspection apparatus that inspects a container sealed with a liquid for the presence or absence of poor sealing.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inspection apparatus that inspects a container sealed with a liquid by checking for a flaw, a pinhole, or other sealing failure is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The inspection apparatus for a sealed container described in Patent Document 1 has a chamber 5 that is attached to a rotary side (rotating valve body 4) of a rotary valve and can be sealed by a lid that can be opened and closed. The product to be inspected is inserted and sealed, and in the first deaeration position and the second deaeration position which are sequentially installed in the rotation direction, the deaeration is performed by sequentially connecting to the first vacuum pump and the second vacuum pump. Like to do.

  After degassing the chamber, allow a certain amount of time to stand, that is, if the product to be inspected has a poor sealing such as a pinhole, it will leak the gas from the inside and reduce the vacuum in the chamber. An inspection position is provided on the downstream side, and the inspection target product (container) is inspected for poor sealing.

JP-A-1-279029

  In the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, when the container is damaged, if the inside of the chamber is evacuated in order to perform a leak inspection, the container breaks and the liquid flows out and adheres to the chamber. There is. Similarly, when the container has a pinhole, the liquid leaks out. In a production facility that requires a high degree of sanitary properties, when the leaked liquid adheres to the chamber, it is necessary to clean the chamber. However, in the case of the invention described in Patent Document 1, since the chamber is integrated with the rotary valve, there has been a problem that the entire apparatus must be stopped to perform processing such as cleaning.

  The present invention includes a carrier that holds a container, a transport unit that transports the carrier, a header that is provided on the transport path of the carrier, and that forms a sealed space that accommodates the container together with the carrier, and is connected to the header. A suction unit that sucks the inside of the sealed space; and a determination unit that determines whether the container in the sealed space sucked by the suction unit is good or bad. The container that is determined to be defective by the determination unit is transported together with the carrier. And a rejecting means for rejecting from.

  The second invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, a replenishing means for replenishing another carrier is provided at the position of the rejected carrier of the conveying means.

  The leak inspection apparatus according to the present invention forms a sealed space containing a container with a carrier containing the container and a header disposed above, and determines whether the container is good or bad by the determining means in a state where the space is evacuated. Since the defective container is rejected together with the carrier by the reject means, even if liquid leaks from the defective container into the carrier, there is no need to stop the apparatus and perform cleaning, etc., and the carrier can be easily cleaned. is there.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a leak inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) shows an upstream portion thereof, and FIG. 1 (b) shows a downstream portion thereof. (Example 1) 2A and 2B are diagrams showing a filling position, a capping position, and an inspection position. FIG. 2A is a longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 2B is a plan view. FIG. 3 is a view showing the container supply means, in which FIG. 3 (a) is a front view and FIG. 3 (b) is a side view. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an apparatus for performing an inspection provided at an inspection position.

  A container supply position for supplying containers into the carrier in order from the upstream side along a transport conveyor in which a large number of carrier holding means are provided in a row at equal intervals, a filling position for filling the containers with liquid, and a filling By forming a sealed space in which the container is accommodated by the capping position for capping the subsequent container and the carrier and the header, evacuating the inside of the space, and detecting the pressure in the sealed space by the pressure sensor , The inspection position for judging the quality of the container, the reject position for rejecting the container judged as a defective container at the inspection position with the carrier, and the empty carrier instead of the rejected carrier in the container The carrier replenishment position to be used, and the discharge position to discharge the finished product Equipped and, because if found defective vessel was to discharge each carrier, contamination by leakage and the like from the defective container, it achieves the goal of cleaning without stopping the apparatus.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. In this leak inspection apparatus, various processing positions are installed along the transport conveyor 4 that transports the carrier 2, and the article accommodated in the carrier 2 (the container 6 in this embodiment) is filled with liquid and capped. In addition, processing such as leak inspection is performed. The transport conveyor 4 includes a container supply position A, a filling position B, a capping position C, an inspection position D, a reject position E, a carrier replenishment position F, and a product discharge position in order from the upstream side (the right side in FIG. 1A). G is arranged. The transport conveyor 4 passes through these positions A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, and then circulates in the vertical direction to return to the container supply position A again.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the carrier conveyor 4 is provided with carrier holding means 8 that holds the carrier 2 sandwiched from the front and rear at equal intervals. Each of these carrier holding means 8 holds the carrier 2 by a pair of front and rear holding members 8a and 8b, and holds and conveys the carrier 2 that can accommodate the container 6 one by one. In this embodiment, two containers 6 are processed at each processing position (supply position A, filling position B, capping position C, inspection position D and product discharge position G). The carrier holding means 8 is intermittently conveyed so as to move forward by two.

  The container supply position A, which is the first processing position arranged on the most upstream side of the transport conveyor 4, is emptied by the container supply conveyor 10 (see FIG. 1) disposed in a direction orthogonal to the transport conveyor 4. Are continuously conveyed in two rows. At the downstream end of the container supply conveyor 10, two containers 6 on the container supply conveyor 10 are supplied to the carrier 2 being conveyed by being held by the carrier holding means 8 on the conveyor 4. Is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the container supply means 12 includes two mechanical chucks 16 that can be lifted and lowered by a cylinder 14 and can be opened and closed to grip and release the container 6. In this embodiment, two mechanical chucks 16 are mounted on the support column 20 via a horizontal mounting plate 18. The support column 20 is moved back and forth in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the transport conveyor 4 (see arrow L in FIGS. 1 and 2) by the moving actuator 22. The container supply means 12 holds the containers 6 conveyed in two rows by the container supply conveyor 10 two by a mechanical chuck 16 and is held by carrier holding means 8 provided on the conveyance conveyor 4. Is supplied into the carrier 2. In this embodiment, the article transfer means having the same configuration as the container supply means 12 is also used in the reject means 24, the carrier replenishing means 26, the product discharge means 28, etc., which will be described later. This will be described with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 3A and 3B). Therefore, in FIG.3 (b), the conveyor of the direction orthogonal to the conveyance conveyor 4 has shown the conveyor from which each processing position differs.

  The second processing position next to the container supply position A is a filling position B, and the third processing position is a capping position C. At each of these positions B and C, two filling nozzles 34 and two capping heads 36 are arranged at the same intervals as the intervals at which the carrier holding means 8 of the conveyor 4 is arranged. When the container 6 accommodated in the two carriers 2 being intermittently conveyed by the traveling of the conveying conveyor 4 is stopped at the filling position A, the two filling nozzles 34 arranged above enter the container 6. Liquid filling is performed. When the two containers 6 filled with the liquid are stopped at the next capping position C, the capping head 36 installed at the top descends while holding the cap 38, and the container held by the carrier 2. 6 capping.

  The fourth processing position next to the capping position C is the inspection position D, and the presence or absence of defects such as scratches or pinholes on the liquid-filled container 6 is inspected. Above the inspection position D, a header 40 that forms a sealed space 42 in which the container 6 is accommodated by being combined with the carrier 2 is disposed so as to be movable up and down. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the carrier 2 has a circular outer shape, and the container accommodating portion inside thereof is also circular, and this container accommodating portion is a main body portion of the container 6. It has a height that can accommodate the entire 6a (the large-diameter portion below the small-diameter neck portion 6b). On the other hand, the header 40 has a circular cup shape having inner and outer diameters substantially coincident with the inner and outer diameters of the carrier 2, and a space 42 for accommodating the container 6 is formed by lowering and overlapping the carrier 40. Is done. An annular seal member 44 is attached to the lower end surface of the header 40 over the entire circumference, and the header 40 is brought into close contact with the upper end surface of the carrier 2 via the seal member 44, thereby accommodating a space 42 for accommodating the container 6. Can be sealed (state shown in FIG. 4). The shapes of the carrier 2 and the header 40 are not limited to those shown in the drawings, and any shape can be used as long as the carrier 2 and the header 40 can form a sealed space 42 in which the container 6 is accommodated.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the header 40 provided at the inspection position D is formed with a suction hole 40a penetrating inside and outside, and a vacuum pump 46 as a suction means is connected to the suction hole 40a. By the operation of the vacuum pump 46, the inside of the sealed space 42 formed by the carrier 2 and the header 40 can be sucked to obtain a predetermined degree of vacuum. Further, the header 40 is provided with a pressure sensor 48 that detects the pressure in the sealed space 42. The pressure detected by the pressure sensor 48 is sent to the determination means 50 to determine whether or not the container 6 accommodated in the sealed space 42 is a defective container.

  The fifth processing position is a reject position E. When the container 6 inspected at the inspection position D is a defective container, it is rejected by the reject means 24 provided at the reject position E. The reject means 24 has the same configuration as the container supply means 12 and includes two mechanical chucks 16 that can be reciprocated by an actuator 22 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the conveyor 4. The container 6 determined to be a defective container is gripped together with the carrier 2 on the conveyor 4 and rejected onto a reject conveyor 52 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyor.

  The carrier replenishment position F, which is the sixth processing position following the reject position E, is such that when the defective container 6 is discharged at the reject position E, the carrier holding means 8 on the transport conveyor 4 is in a state where there is no carrier 2. Therefore, the empty carrier 2 is replenished in the carrier holding means 8. As shown in FIG. 1, an empty carrier 2 is transported to the carrier replenishment position F by a replenishment conveyor 54 (see FIG. 1) arranged in a direction orthogonal to the transport conveyor 4. 12, two empty carriers are held by the carrier replenishing means 26 having the same configuration as 12 and inserted into the carrier holding portion 8 on the conveyor 4.

  The seventh processing position is the product discharge position G. After the liquid is filled and capping is performed, the container 6 (product) that is determined to be normal by the inspection at the inspection position D is removed from the carrier 2. The sheet is taken out and discharged onto a discharge conveyor 56 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the transport conveyor 4. The container 6 determined to be a defective container at the inspection position D is rejected together with the carrier 2 at the reject position E, and the carrier holding means 8 of the transport conveyor 4 that is empty after the carrier 2 is taken out is placed in the carrier replenishment position. The empty carrier 2 is replenished with F, and the carrier 2 is inserted into all the carrier holding means 8 on the conveyor 4. At this product discharge position G, all the normal containers 6 except the already rejected containers 6 are gripped by the mechanical chuck 16 and taken out. As a result, the empty carrier 2 is held by all the carrier holding means 8 on the downstream side of the product discharge position G of the conveyor 4.

  The operation of the leak inspection apparatus according to the above configuration will be described. The carrier conveyor 4 is provided with carrier holding means 8 at equal intervals in a row, and the conveyor 4 runs intermittently by two of the carrier holding means 8 and stops at each processing position. First, when the two carrier holding means 8 stop at the container supply position A which is the first processing position, the containers 6 conveyed in two rows by the container supply conveyor 10 are transferred to the two mechanical chucks of the container supply means 12. 16 and held in the carrier 2.

  When the two carriers 2 holding these containers 6 are stopped at the filling position B of the second processing position, the liquid is filled into the containers 6 by the two filling nozzles 34 disposed above. When the carrier 2 containing these containers 6 stops at the capping position C, which is the next third processing position, the two capping heads 36 holding the caps 38 are moved down, and two liquid-filled two capping heads 36 are lowered. The container 6 is capped.

  The two containers 6 that have been capped are sent to the inspection position D of the next fourth processing position and stopped. At the inspection position D, the header 40 is lowered and pressed against the upper surface of the carrier 2 below. An annular seal member 44 is attached to the lower surface of the header 40, and a space 42 sealed by the carrier 2 and the header 40 is formed. The sealed space 42 is sucked up to a set inspection pressure by a vacuum pump 46. If the container 6 filled with liquid, capped and sealed has scratches, pinholes, etc., the liquid or gas filled in the container 6 leaks, and the sealed space 42 has a predetermined degree of vacuum. Cannot be maintained. A pressure sensor 48 is provided on the inner surface of the header 40, detects a pressure change in the sealed space 42, and the determination means 50 determines the quality of the container. When the inspection pressure exceeds a preset reference pressure, it is determined that there is a leak.

  The container 6 subjected to the leak inspection at the inspection position D reaches the reject position E of the next fifth processing position. The container 6 determined to be a non-defective product at the inspection position D is sent to the next position as it is, but the container 6 determined to have a leak is discharged onto the reject conveyor 52 together with the carrier 2 by the reject means 24. In the portion where the container 6 is rejected together with the carrier 2, the carrier holding means 8 is in an empty state without the carrier 2, but moves to the next carrier replenishment position F as it is due to the next intermittent traveling of the conveyor 4. .

At the carrier replenishment position F which is the sixth processing position, the carrier supply conveyor 54 arranged in the direction orthogonal to the transport conveyor 6 has transported the empty carrier 2 and the carrier supplement means installed at this position. 26, the empty carrier 2 is inserted into the empty carrier holding means 8. Even when a defective container such as a leak occurs and is rejected, at this carrier replenishment position F, the carrier 2 is held by all the carrier holding means 8.

  Thereafter, when the carrier replenishment position F at the sixth processing position reaches the product discharge position G at the seventh processing position, the product discharge means 28 having the same configuration as the container supply means 12 and the like is installed, The container 6 (the finished product filled with liquid and capped) is grasped and taken out by the mechanical chuck 16 and discharged by a product carry-out conveyor 56 arranged in a direction perpendicular to the transfer conveyor 4. Is done. At this product discharge position G, all products stored in the carrier 2 are taken out and discharged. When the product discharge position G is reached, the container 6 rejected as a defective container and the carrier holding means 8 holding the carrier 2 hold only the empty carrier 2 without the container 6 (product). However, at this product discharge position G, the product is discharged and all the carriers 2 become empty. The empty carrier 2 held by the carrier holding means 8 of the conveyor 4 circulates as it is, returns to the container supply position A which is the first position, and the container 6 is supplied again. Thus, since the container 6 in which the liquid has leaked is discharged together with the carrier 2, the apparatus is not stopped and the operation is not hindered, and the carrier 2 can be easily cleaned.

2 Carrier 4 Transport means (transport conveyor)
6 Container 24 Rejecting means 26 Replenishing means 40 Header 42 Space (sealed space)
46 Suction means (vacuum pump)
50 judgment means

Claims (2)

A carrier capable of accommodating a container, a container supply means for supplying the container into the carrier, a transport means for transporting the carrier while holding the carrier , and a liquid contained in the container housed in the carrier and transported by the transport means A filling means for filling, a capping means for capping and sealing a container filled with a liquid, and a sealed space provided in the downstream of the capping means so as to be movable up and down and in close contact with the upper end surface of the carrier to accommodate the container. formed with and a header to the suction means for sucking the sealed space is connected to the header, judging means for judging acceptability of the container in the aspirated the sealed space by the suction means,
A leak inspection apparatus comprising: a rejection unit that rejects a container determined to be defective by the determination unit together with a carrier from the conveyance unit. 2. The leak inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a replenishing unit that replenishes another carrier at the position of the rejected carrier of the conveying unit.

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