JP6028323B2 - Weight filling equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling apparatus, and more particularly, to a weight filling apparatus that places a container on a mounting plate connected to a load cell, and fills a product such as liquid or powder with a predetermined weight while measuring the weight by the load cell. It is.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a weight filling apparatus that supplies a container onto a mounting plate (bottle table) connected to a load cell and performs filling while measuring the weight with the load cell is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In general, a weight filling apparatus is configured to connect a load cell to a bottle table on which a container is placed, and to fill a product such as liquid or powder while measuring the weight of the container supplied on the bottle table with the load cell. Yes.

  When filling with a weight filling device, first, a container is supplied onto the bottle table by the container supply means, and after tare weight is measured, the product such as liquid or powder is filled from the filling nozzle. ing. The shorter the tare weight measurement time, the shorter the cycle time and the higher the processing capacity of the filling apparatus. However, in the weight filling apparatus, when the container is supplied to the bottle table, the weight of the container is applied to the load cell connected to the bottle table, and the load cell is bent downward. When the weight of the container is large, the amount of bending of the load cell increases, and the vibration caused thereby continues for a long time, so that the start of filling of the product is delayed.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a configuration including a displacement stopper operating mechanism that suppresses vibration of such a load cell (load detection sensor) is known (see Patent Document 2). The displacement stopper operating mechanism described in the cited document 2 is a system in which the displacement stopper integrated with the cam driven frame is engaged with and disengaged from the load detection sensor by the operation of the cam and the cam driven frame. A stop is engaged with a load detection sensor to prevent displacement, and at the time of measurement, it is automatically detached to allow displacement.

Japanese Patent No. 4483059 Japanese Patent No. 4747445

  The general weight filling apparatus as described in the first patent document has a sinking of the load cell that occurs when the container is supplied onto the mounting plate, and until the vibration of the load cell due to the sinking converges, There has been a problem that the weight of the container cannot be measured, or accurate measurement cannot be performed. In the present invention, when the weight of the container is measured before the filling is started, the load cell sinks due to the container being supplied to the mounting plate and the vibration due to the sinking is suppressed, and the filling can be started at an early stage. Thus, it aims at improving the capability of a weight filling apparatus. Further, the second patent document discloses a configuration for suppressing vibration of the load cell. However, the configuration of the second patent document regulates vibration when measurement by the load cell is not performed during transportation or the like. Therefore, it cannot be applied to a weight filling apparatus that needs to suppress vibration when measuring weight.

The present invention includes a mounting plate for mounting a container, a load cell connected to the mounting plate, supply means for supplying the container to the mounting plate, and a container on the mounting plate for filling the product. In a weight filling apparatus comprising a filling means and a discharge means for discharging a container that has been filled, and supplying a predetermined weight while measuring the filling amount of a product with a load cell after the container is supplied onto the mounting plate. A support part that can be moved up and down is provided below the load cell, and when the load cell bends downward due to the weight of the container supplied to the mounting plate, the lower part of the load cell is supported by the support part. The support portion is lowered to start filling.

  The second invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, after the filling is completed, the support portion is raised and then the container is discharged by the discharging means.

  In order to prevent the load cell from sinking when the container is supplied on the mounting plate connected to the load cell, the weight filling device of the present invention temporarily suppresses the load cell from falling by providing a support, Since the filling is started after the support portion is lowered, the load cell vibration can be converged in a short time, the filling can be started at an early stage, and the ability of the weight filling apparatus can be improved. is there.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a line-type weight filling apparatus. Example 1 FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a main part of the alignment conveyor. FIG. 3 is a side view of the weight filling device. FIG. 4 is a front view of the weight filling device. FIG. 5A is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of the mounting plate and the load cell, and FIG. 5B is a plan view showing the relationship between the moving plate and the mounting plate.

  A load cell is connected to the lower side of the mounting plate for mounting the container, and the container is supplied onto the mounting plate by the pusher of the container moving means from the alignment conveyor. A filling nozzle is disposed above the mounting plate, and after the load cell vibration has converged when the container is supplied to the mounting plate, the tare weight of the container is measured, and then filling is started from the filling nozzle. . Since the load cell sinks when the container is supplied to the mounting plate, a support part that can be moved up and down by an air cylinder is arranged below it to suppress the load cell from sinking when the container is supplied to the mounting plate. Since the lower surface is once supported by the support portion, and then the support portion is lowered and separated from the lower surface of the load cell, the filling is started, so the vibration of the load cell is quickly converged and the filling is started early. Achieved the goal.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. This weight filling device (indicated by reference numeral 1 as a whole) is a line-type weight filling device, and includes a linear alignment conveyor 4 for aligning containers 2 filled with products such as liquids and powders at regular intervals. The linear discharge conveyor 6 for carrying out the containers 2 filled with the contents (products) is provided, and the alignment conveyor 4 and the upstream portion of the discharge conveyor 6 are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval. ing. A filling position F for filling a product such as liquid or powder in the container 2 is installed in the middle of the upstream portion of the alignment conveyor 4 and the discharge conveyor 6.

  A supply conveyor 8 is arranged on the upstream side of the alignment conveyor 4 in the orthogonal direction, and the containers 2 continuously conveyed by the supply conveyor 8 are separated by a supply star wheel 10 at regular intervals. To the alignment conveyor 4.

  The alignment conveyor 4 has three parallel belts 4a, 4b, and 4c that circulate in the vertical direction (see FIG. 2 showing an enlarged main part), and the two belts 4a and 4c on both sides include A plurality of engaging claws 12 are attached at predetermined intervals. The belts 4a and 4c on both sides and the central belt 4b are driven at different speeds, and the container 2 is engaged by running the central belt 4b at a higher speed than the belts 4a and 4c on both sides. The paper is conveyed while being positioned in a state of being pressed behind the joint claw 12. The alignment conveyor 4 is driven intermittently, and a plurality of containers 2 (10 containers in this embodiment) that are simultaneously filled are stopped to the side of the filling position F. The alignment conveyor 4 and the discharge conveyor 6 are fixed on the top plate 16 of the machine frame 14 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

  A moving plate 18 that can reciprocate along the conveying direction of the conveyors 4 and 6 is disposed at a filling position F disposed between the conveyors 4 and 6. A plurality of mounting plates (bottle tables) 20 for placing the container 2 on the moving plate 18 and load cells 22 connected to the lower sides of the bottle tables 20 are attached. As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 5A, the movable plate 18 has a horizontal intermediate plate 26 fixed thereto via a fixed rod 24 upright below, and further below it through an upright fixed rod 28. A horizontal lower plate 30 is fixed.

  A plurality of circular through holes 18a are continuously provided in the moving plate 18, and a bottle table 20 is inserted into each through hole 18a. A load cell 22 is arranged below each bottle table 20 and fixed on the lower plate 30. The load cell 22 and the bottle table 20 are connected to each other by a connecting member 32 that vertically passes through an insertion hole 26 a formed in the intermediate plate 26, and the load cell 22 can measure the weight of the container 2 supplied onto the bottle table 20. It is like that.

  The bottle table 20 is arranged at an interval of one half of the interval between the containers 2 aligned by the alignment conveyor 4 (interval of the engaging claws 12). In this embodiment, ten containers 2 are filled at the same time, and 20 bottle tables 20 that are twice as large are arranged on the moving plate 18. Every other table 20 is arranged at the same interval as the containers 2 on the alignment conveyor 4. For every other bottle table 20 (one bottle table is called the first bottle table 20A and the other bottle table is called the second bottle table 20B), different standard load cells 22 (one of the bottle tables are called one bottle table 20A). The load cell is connected to the first load cell 22A, and the other load cell is referred to as the second load cell 22B). That is, the first load cell 22A is connected to one of the bottle tables (first bottle table 20A), and the second load cell 22B is connected to the other bottle table (second bottle table 20B). These load cells 22 have different standards for measuring different weights, for example, the first load cell 22A is for measuring 500 g and the second load cell 22B is for measuring 1000 g. In FIG. 3, only the first load cell 22A is shown, and the second load cell 22B is not shown.

  The moving plate 18 to which the bottle table 20 and the load cell 22 are attached is moved in the moving direction of the alignment conveyor 4 and the discharge conveyor 6 by the advancing / retreating means 34 provided on the base 36 installed in the machine frame 14. You can move forward and backward along. A ball screw 38 is rotatably supported on the base 36 and is reciprocally rotated by driving of the moving motor 40. Nuts 42 are screwed into the ball screw 38 at a plurality of locations, and the moving plate 18 is attached to the nuts 42 via a frame body 44. The nut 42 advances and retreats while being guided by a pair of guide rods 46A and 46B disposed on both sides of the ball screw 38. In this embodiment, the moving plate 18 moves by one through hole 18a (one bottle table 20) by driving the moving motor 40. As shown in FIG. 1, from the state where the position of the container 2 on the alignment conveyor 4 and the position of the first bottle table 20A match (match the conveying direction of the alignment conveyor 4), the moving plate 18 is moved through the through hole 18a. Is moved to the right in FIG. Then, the position of the container 2 on the alignment conveyor 4 and the position of the second bottle table 20B coincide.

  Above the moving plate 18, a filling nozzle 48 for filling a product such as liquid or powder into the container 2 on the bottle table 20 is disposed (see FIG. 4). The filling nozzle 48 is provided above every other bottle table 20. Accordingly, all of the first bottle table 20A or all of the second bottle table 20B are positioned below each filling nozzle 36. The alignment conveyor 4 stops the containers 2 at the side where the filling nozzles 48 are arranged.

  The load cell 22 has one end 22a (the right end in FIG. 5A) fixed on a step 30a formed at one end of the lower plate 30, and the other end 22b via the connecting member 32. It is connected to. When the container 2 is placed on the bottle table 20, the other end 22b side (the side fixed to the connecting member 32) of the load cell 22 is bent by the weight of the container 2, and the other end 22b side A support portion 50 standing upright is provided. The support portion 50 is moved up and down by a vibration damping air cylinder 52 fixed to the lower surface side of the lower plate 30.

  Container moving means 54 for moving the containers 2 on the alignment conveyor 4 onto the bottle table 20 at the filling position F and moving the containers 2 on the bottle table 20 onto the discharge conveyor 6 is provided (FIG. 1). reference). The container moving means 54 moves the containers 2 (10 containers in this embodiment) filled in one filling process at a time, and puts the containers onto the discharge conveyor 6 from the filling position F. Ten first pushers 56 to be moved and ten second pushers 58 to move the containers 2 from the alignment conveyor 4 to the filling position A are provided. The first pusher 56 and the second pusher 58 are attached to the attachment plate 60 so as to move integrally. The attachment plate 60 to which the pushers 56 and 58 are attached is connected to the piston rod 62a of the container moving air cylinder 62, and moves forward and backward by the operation of the container moving air cylinder 62. Further, the air cylinder 62 and the pushers 56 and 58 can be moved up and down integrally by a lifting means (not shown).

  In this embodiment, while the containers 2 are supplied to the alignment conveyor 4, the pushers 56 and 58 are in their retracted positions (positions shown in FIG. 1) and stand by at the raised positions. After that, when the containers 2 are supplied to the alignment conveyor 4 and stopped at a predetermined position, the pushers 56 and 58 are lowered to a height at which the pushers 56 and 58 are engaged with the body portion of the containers 2 by an elevating means (not shown). The air cylinder 62 moves forward. The advancement of the first and second pushers 56 and 58 moves the container 2 at the filling position F onto the discharge conveyor 6 and the container 2 on the alignment conveyor 4 to the filling position F, respectively. After the pushers 56 and 58 move the container 2, the pushers 56 and 58 are raised to a height at which the pushers 56 and 58 do not interfere with the container 2 by the elevating means, and are moved back to the position shown in FIG. 1 by the container moving air cylinder 62. It waits until the next container 2 is supplied by the alignment conveyor 4 in the position.

  The operation of the weight filling apparatus 1 according to the above configuration will be described. The containers 2 continuously conveyed by the supply conveyor 8 are separated by a supply star wheel 10 at a predetermined interval and sent to the alignment conveyor 4. In the alignment conveyor 4, the engagement claws 12 are provided at predetermined intervals on the two belts 4 a, 4 c on both sides of the three belts 4 a, 4 b, 4 c, and the speed is faster than the belts 4 a, 4 c on both sides. Each container 2 is pressed behind the front engaging claw 12 and positioned at a predetermined interval by the intermediate belt 4b traveling in the above. The alignment conveyor 4 stops, and each container 2 stops at a position facing each filling nozzle 48 at the filling position F. At this time, the first pusher 56 and the second pusher 58 of the container moving means 54 are raised by the lifting means (not shown) and retracted by the container moving air cylinder 62 (as shown in FIG. The pusher 56 stands by at a position near the alignment conveyor 4 at the filling position F, and the second pusher 58 stands by at a position opposite to the filling position F of the alignment conveyor 4). Furthermore, the moving plate 18 at the filling position F uses the load cell 22 suitable for the measurement of the container 2 to be filled this time among the two types of load cells 22A and 22B. It is moved by the advance / retreat means 34 so as to be positioned below. In the example of FIG. 1, the first bottle stand 20 </ b> A and the first load cell 22 </ b> A are located below the filling nozzle 48.

  After the containers 2 are stopped at predetermined positions by the alignment conveyor 4, the first pusher 56 and the second pusher 58 are lowered by the lifting / lowering means of the container moving means 54, and the first pusher 56 and the second pusher 56 are moved by the container moving air cylinder 62. Pusher 58 is advanced. At the start of operation, since the container 2 is not supplied on the bottle table 20, the second pusher 58 advances as it is, and the first pusher 56 moves the containers 2 on the alignment conveyor 4 to the moving plate 18. Transfer to the bottle stand 20. In the illustrated example, the first bottle table 20A is positioned below the filling nozzle 48, and the container 2 is placed on the first bottle table 20A. The bottle table 20 is disposed in the through hole 18a of the moving plate 18, and is connected to the lower load cell 22 via a connecting member 32. When the container 2 is placed, the connecting end portion 22b slightly increases. Since the sinking occurs, the height of the support portion 50 is adjusted by the lower damping air cylinder 52 in order to suppress the sinking. For example, when the bottle table 20 sinks 1 mm due to the weight of the container 2, the distance between the upper surface of the support portion 50 and the lower surface of the load cell 22 is set to 0.5 mm, which is smaller than the sinking height. In this way, after the support part 50 is made to stand by above the height at which the bottle table 20 sinks, the load cell 22 lowered by the supply of the container 2 to the bottle table 20 is once received by the support part 50. Then, the support portion 50 is lowered to a height at which the vibration suppression air cylinder 52 does not contact the load cell 22. For example, the support part 50 is further lowered by about 1 mm. If the height of the support portion 50 is matched with the height of the lower surface of the load cell 22, the sinking of the load cell 22 can be completely eliminated. However, the positioning accuracy of the air cylinder 52 is not good. It is located 5 mm below. For example, if the support portion 50 is controlled by a servo motor having high positioning accuracy, the support portion 50 can be kept on standby at a distance of 0 mm from the lower surface of the load cell 22. Further, when the support portion 50 is lowered, the lowering speed can be set to be slow so as not to be suddenly separated from the lower surface of the load cell 22.

  After the first pusher 56 and the second pusher 58 of the container moving means 54 are moved forward to move the containers 2, when the next group of containers 2 is supplied by the alignment conveyor 4, the containers 2 on the alignment conveyor 4 Both pushers 56 and 58 are raised so as not to interfere. Further, the pushers 56 and 58 are retracted to the position shown in FIG.

  After the support portion 50 is lowered and separated from the load cell 22, filling is started from the filling nozzle 48. Thus, once the sinking of the load cell 22 is received by the support portion 50, the vibration of the load cell 22 generated by supplying the container 2 onto the bottle table 20 can be quickly converged. As a result, after the supply of the container 2 to the bottle table 20, the filling can be started in a short time, and the high capacity and high accuracy of the weight filling device 1 can be achieved.

  After the filling of the containers 2 on the bottle table 20 is completed and the next group of containers 2 conveyed on the alignment conveyor 4 stops at a position facing the filling nozzle 48, both pushers 56 of the container moving means 54 are used. , 58 is lowered and moved forward again. The containers 2 that have been filled on the bottle table 20 are moved onto the discharge conveyor 6 by the first pusher 56, and the containers 2 on the alignment conveyor 4 are transferred onto the bottle table 20. When the container 2 on the bottle table 20 is moved, the end portions of the bottle table 20 and the load cell 22 are submerged, so that the height of the bottle table 20 is increased by raising the support unit 50 by the damping air cylinder 52. Is matched with the height of the upper surface of the moving plate 18 and the discharge conveyor 6. In this embodiment, since the container 2 having a different total weight is handled by one load cell 22, the amount of deflection of the load cell 22 differs depending on the container 2, and therefore, the support portion 50 is lifted after completion of filling. The height of the container 2 during discharge is constant (the same height as the discharge conveyor 6).

  While the same container 2 is being filled, as shown in FIG. 1, the first bottle table 20A is positioned below the filling nozzle 48, and the bottle table 20A and the first load cell 22A are used for filling. However, when the other containers 2 are filled with products having different weights, the moving plate 18 is moved in order to use the load cell (second load cell 22B) suitable for the conditions of the products. In this case, the second motor 20 </ b> B is positioned below the filling nozzle 48 by driving the moving motor 40 to rotate the ball screw 38 and moving the nut 42 screwed into the ball screw 38. The moving plate 18 is moved. In this way, the movable plate 18 is moved to move the second bottle table 20B to the position corresponding to the container 2 stopped by the alignment conveyor 4 (position where the filling nozzle 48 is provided). I do.

  After the containers 2 are conveyed by the alignment conveyor 4 and positioned at a predetermined position, the containers 2 on the alignment conveyor 4 are moved onto the bottle table 20B by the pushers 56 and 58. A second load cell 22B is connected to the second bottle table 20B, and filling is performed while measuring the weight by the second load cell 22B. Thus, by moving the movable plate 18 provided with the bottle table 20 with respect to the filling nozzle 48, the load cell 22A or 22B suitable for filling the container 2 with different weight products is selected and filled. It can be performed. In this embodiment, the bottle table 20 and the load cell 22 to be used are selected by moving the bottle table 20 side. Conversely, the bottle table 20 and the load cell 22 to be used are selected by moving the filling nozzle 48 side. You can also In that case, it is necessary to match the stop position of the container 2 and the positions of the pushers 56 and 58 of the container moving means 54 with the positions of the bottle table 20 and the load cell 22 to be used.

2 Containers 20 Placement plate (bottle stand)
22 Load cell 48 Filling means (filling nozzle)
50 support part 54 supply means, discharge means

Claims (2)

A mounting plate for mounting the container, a load cell connected to the mounting plate, a supply means for supplying the container to the mounting plate, a filling means for filling the container on the mounting plate with a product, A discharge means for discharging the container after filling,
In a weight filling device that fills a predetermined weight while measuring the filling amount of a product by a load cell after supplying the container onto the mounting plate,
A support portion that can be moved up and down is provided below the load cell. When the load cell is bent downward due to the weight of the container supplied to the mounting plate, the support portion supports the lower surface of the load cell and then supports the lower surface. A weight filling apparatus, wherein the filling is started by lowering the part.   2. The weight filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after completion of filling, the container is discharged by the discharge means after the support portion is raised. 3.

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