JPH0290981A - Cleaning and drying device for ampoule, bottle or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance cleaning efficiency by providing a disk-shaped rotating plate retaining a cleaning needle on a circumference and an introducing cylindrical body rotating synchronously with the disk shaped rotating plate. CONSTITUTION:Clustered ampoules conveyed standing straight on a belt conveyor 1 are scraped off one by one by a star wheel 2 and transferred to a screw conveyor 3. An ampoule in an ampoule retaining channel 5a of an introduction star wheel 5 are guided by a hanging guide 9 and inserted into a cleaning needle 8. The bottom section of the ampoule inserted in the cleaning needle 8 is guided by an ampoule bottom guide 29 and filled with water injected from the cleaning needle 8 and then introduced to the water in a cleaning tank 10 retained on the given water level. A supersonic oscillation plate 12 disposed in the water in the cleaning tank 10 generates stationary vibration to enhance cleaning effect.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a cleaning and drying device for ampules, bottles, etc., and in particular, for example, ultrasonic cleaning is used for injections that require a high degree of cleaning. Rotary cleaning to utilize.

This invention relates to a washing and drying device suitable for drying ampoules, bottles, etc.

[Prior Art] Conventional automatic cleaning devices for ampules, bottles, etc. are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 57-142896 and Japanese Utility Model Application No. 57-144897, for example.
As described in the publication, in order to insert a cleaning needle into an object to be cleaned such as an ampoule or a bottle for washing and drying, a drum-shaped object carrier having a V-shaped groove from the charging star foil part is used. The object to be cleaned placed on this V-shaped groove is placed on a drum (cleaning needle support It was designed to be inserted little by little into the irrigation needle on the body.

Both the object carrier and the cleaning needle support pass through an ultrasonic cleaning tank during rotation to perform ultrasonic cleaning.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] With the above-mentioned conventional technology, it is expected that the ultrasonic cleaning performance will be improved to some extent, but the cleaning tank is equipped with a large drum-shaped object carrier with a V-shaped groove. No consideration was given to the fact that, due to the presence of ultrasonic waves, the generation of stable standing waves, which determines ultrasonic cleaning performance, is inhibited.

In addition, regarding the size of the device, in the prior art, Va A drum-shaped cleaning needle support having a diameter of 100 mm is required, and furthermore, since the conveying body passes through the cleaning tank and gets wet with water, it has poor sliding contact with the object to be cleaned, such as an ampoule, and cannot slide directly on the bottom of the ampoule. However, it is not possible to use the slope of the cam to quickly insert the cleaning needle into the cleaning needle, and it takes a long distance to insert the cleaning needle. As a result, there was a problem in that the entire device became large and uneconomical.

Furthermore, another problem is that with conventional technology, it is difficult to eject ampoules that are damaged during cleaning or are defective in the first place. There is a high possibility that the ampoule will come to the ampoule supply position, which could become an obstacle to the ampoule supply and cause secondary damage such as damaging other ampoules or bending the cleaning needle.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art described above, and it significantly reduces the factors that disturb the standing waves of ultrasonic waves in the cleaning tank, thereby significantly improving the cleaning effect.
Ampoules that make the entire device compact and can also reliably discharge defective ampoules, etc., allowing stable operation as an automatic cleaning device.

Its purpose is to provide a washing and drying device for bottles, etc.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the apparatus for washing and drying ampoules, bottles, etc. according to the present invention has a structure in which washing needles for injecting water, air, etc. into the objects to be washed are arranged at equal intervals. and a disk-shaped rotating plate arranged so that a part of the circumference is immersed in the cleaning tank; is located outside the cleaning tank so as to be inscribed with the pitch circumference of the washing tank, and has an object holding groove on its outer periphery in a direction parallel to the direction of the washing needles and has the same pitch as the washing needle holding pitch. an input cylindrical body adapted to take in the object to be cleaned from the object supply section; and a slide shaft that rotates coaxially with the input cylindrical body and moves the object to be cleaned in the object holding groove along the holding groove. a slide shaft supporting cylindrical body that supports on the circumference at the same pitch as the pitch of the cleaning object holding groove, an insertion cam that moves the slide shaft by a required stroke, and A centering guide is inserted into the held cleaning needle and has a conical surface on the side facing the tip of the object to be cleaned, and as the disk-shaped rotating body rotates, the centering guide moves over the cleaning needle. A sliding centering guide cam and an object guide for holding the object to be cleaned and dried by inserting the cleaning needle in a predetermined position along the circumference of the disk-shaped rotating body. and a discharge cylindrical body that rotates in synchronization with the disk-shaped rotary body and takes out the articles to be washed and dried to the article discharge section.

[Function] The main functions of the above technical means are as follows.

Here, the object to be cleaned will be explained as an ampoule.

First, using a supply device such as a screw conveyor, the ampoule is supplied to the cleaning material holding groove of the input cylinder, and then the slide shaft supporting cylinder rotates together on the same axis as the input cylinder located outside the cleaning tank. is pushed by a slide shaft supported by.

This pushing operation is performed by arranging the slide shaft supporting cylindrical body so that one end of the slide shaft support cylindrical body is pushed onto the slide shirt 1, and it slides along the unevenness of an insertion cam that is fixed separately from the cylindrical body as the cylindrical body rotates. This makes it possible.

The slide shaft supporting cylindrical body and the carrying cylindrical body hold the cleaning needle on the circumference, and rotate in synchronization with a disc-shaped rotating body whose circumference is partly immersed in the cleaning tank, and the cleaning needle pitch and groove Since the pitches are equal and the groove pitch circle and the cleaning needle pitch circle are inscribed, by setting the insertion cam for the slide shaft at an appropriate phase, the pitch on the cleaning needle pitch circle of the disc-shaped rotating body can be adjusted. In a small area, the ampoule can be quickly inserted into the cleaning needle by pushing and sliding it in the cleaning object holding groove of the input cylinder by the stroke of the slide shaft.

As a result, the conventional large ampoule carrier and ampoule insertion mechanism are not present in the cleaning tank, and there are no obstacles that disturb the ultrasonic standing waves in the cleaning tank, resulting in a marked improvement in cleaning efficiency. Additionally, the overall size of the device can be made compact.

In addition, the cleaning needle held on the circumference of the disc-shaped rotating body has
There is a centering guide having a conical opening facing the ampoule opening, and immediately before the ampoule bottom is pushed by the slide shaft and the ampoule tip enters the cleaning needle, the ampoule tip is first received by the conical surface of the centering guide; The ampoule is further pushed by the slide shaft, and the conical surface of the centering guide is placed over the tip of the ampoule so that the center of the tip of the ampoule is centered on the center of the cleaning needle. Once the tip of the ampoule has been inserted into the cleaning needle, the centering guide is no longer needed, so as the disc-shaped rotating body rotates, the centering guide is opened by a separately fixed centering guide cam and cleaning is performed. It slides on the needle and escapes to the cleaning needle pitch faster than the insertion of the ampoule. This allows the ampoule to be reliably inserted into the cleaning needle even if the inclination of the ampoule dimensions varies.

Further, the centering guide is slid to the tip of the washing needle by a centering guide cam at a position sufficiently in front of the ampoule supply position. This slide ensures that defective ampoules such as broken ampoules are ejected from above the cleaning needle. The discharged defective pieces are collected by installing a receiving box or the like at the discharge position, thereby eliminating the cause of secondary damage to the device.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an ampoule washing and drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view taken along arrow X-X' in FIG. 1, and FIG. -Y' arrow sectional view, FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the second part in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an action explanatory diagram of the W part in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a belt conveyor for conveying ampoules related to objects to be cleaned, 2 is a star foil, 3 is a screw conveyor, and 4 is a twist guide.

These constitute a cleaning object supply section.

Reference numeral 5 designates a charging star wheel associated with a charging cylindrical body that takes in an ampoule from the cleaning object supply section, holds the ampoule in an ampoule holding groove related to the cleaning object holding groove, and rotates in the direction of the arrow; and 6 a rising guide.

7 is a cleaning rotor which is a disc-shaped rotating body that holds cleaning needles 8 at regular intervals on the circumference and is arranged so that a part of the circumference is immersed in the cleaning tank 10; 9 is a downward guide; , 12 is an ultrasonic oscillation plate, and 13 is a drying oven for drying the cleaned ampoule.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a discharge star foil related to a discharge cylindrical body for taking out washed and dried ampoules to a cleaning object discharge section;
5 is a discharge guide, and 16 is a tray.

The cleaning rotor 7 has cleaning needles 8 held at equal intervals along the circumference of the disc-shaped rotating body, and as shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning needles 8 are held on both sides of the disc. There is.

The cleaning needle 8 is inserted into the ampoule and functions as a cleaning nozzle for injecting water or air into the ampoule for cleaning. Each of the cleaning needles 8 is connected to a flow path for supplying water or air, and the water or air supply path is provided in the cleaning rotor. The explanation will be omitted here.

Further, the input star foil 5 rotates in synchronization with the cleaning rotor 7, and the outer periphery of the input star foil 5 is rotated in a direction parallel to the direction of the cleaning needle 8 so as to be inscribed with the pitch circumference of the cleaning needle holding. It has ampoule holding grooves 5a on the top with the same pitch as the cleaning needle holding pitch.

Next, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 19 denotes a slide shaft ring related to a slide shaft cylindrical body that rotates on the same axis 20 as the input star wheel 5.

18 is a slide shaft for moving the ampoule in the ampoule holding groove 5a of the feeding star wheel 5 along the ampoule holding groove; 17 is a slide bearing that supports the slide shaft 18; The ring 19 supports the slide shaft 18 on the circumference at the same pitch as the groove pinch of the ampoule holder 115a, that is, the holding pitch of the cleaning needle 8.

Reference numeral 21 denotes an insertion cam having unevenness for moving the slide shaft by a required stroke, and this insertion cam 21 is fixed near the input star wheel 5. 22 indicates a compression coil spring.

23 is a centering guide cam provided on the cleaning rotor 7 side;
Reference numeral 24 denotes a centering guide that is inserted into the cleaning needle 8 held on the circumference of the cleaning rotor and has a conical surface on the side facing the tip of the ampoule. The centering guide cam 23 is mounted with the centering guide 24, and the centering guide 24 slides on the washing needle 8 as the cleaning rotor rotates. In other words, the cleaning needle 8 is centered. The needle portion is guided by a guide 24.

The centering guide cam 23 and the insertion cam 21 are connected to the cleaning needle 8.
They have mutually parallel parts so as to regulate the stroke of moving the ampoule into and out of the ampoule.

Details of the slide shaft 18 are shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, 25 is a main shaft that comes into contact with the insertion cam 21, 26 is a tip cap, 28 is a protective piece that comes into contact with the bottom of the ampoule, and 27 is a main shaft that comes into contact with the insertion cam 21.

This is a compression coil spring interposed between the main shaft 25 and the tip cap 26.

Reference numeral 29 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is an ampoule bottom guide related to the cleaning object guide means for holding the ampoule into which the cleaning needle 8 is inserted in a predetermined position along the circumference of the cleaning rotor. , are fixed on both sides of the cleaning rotor 7 along its circumference at a position maintaining a predetermined distance from the cleaning needle 8.

The operation of the ampoule washing and drying apparatus constructed as described above will be explained with reference to each operation.

First, the overall work flow of the device will be explained.

The dense ampoules conveyed upright on the belt conveyor 1 are scraped off one by one by a star foil 2 and transferred to the screw conveyor 3. Ampules entered the screw conveyor 3 in an upright position are changed from an upright position to a horizontal position by a twist guide 4 during the transfer.
The ampoule is transferred to the ampoule holding groove 5a of the cylindrical feeding star wheel 5, and is lifted up along the ascending guide 6 in a horizontal position.

In this way, the ampoules in the ampoule holding groove 5a of the input star wheel 5 are pushed at their bottoms along the groove and are held at equal pitches on the circumference of the cleaning rotor which rotates in synchronization with the input star wheel 5. Place the lower ligature 9 on the cleaning needle 8.
It is inserted while being guided by.

The ampoule with the cleaning needle 8 inserted is guided at the bottom by the ampoule bottom guide 29, and is first filled with water injected from the cleaning needle 8, and then moved into the cleaning tank 1o, which is maintained at a certain water level. is in the water. This water level is kept constant by an overflow weir 11. This wash/
? An ultrasonic oscillation plate 12 is placed underwater in the tank 10, and by appropriately selecting the oscillation frequency and water level, stable and clean standing waves can be generated. Using this standing wave, a cavitation area having a layered distribution is generated in the cleaning tank 10, and cleaning can be performed by passing through this cavitation layer. However, in order to improve the cleaning effect, it is necessary to prevent obstacles other than the objects to be cleaned from entering the cleaning tank 10 as much as possible. Also, during the ultrasonic irradiation, water is continuously injected into the ampoule using the cleaning needle 8 to discharge foreign matter in the ampoule that has come off due to cavitation.

Next, the ampoule discharged from the cleaning tank 10 is injected with water and air alternately through the cleaning needle 8 to perform final cleaning, and placed in the drying oven.
The evaporated moisture is discharged by passing dry air through the tube while injecting it.

The dried ampoule is also arranged inscribed in the pitch circumference of the cleaning needle 8 of the cleaning rotor, has grooves with the same pitch as the cleaning needle 8, and is placed in the groove of the discharge star wheel 14 which rotates synchronously with the cleaning rotor 7. It is blown out by the air pressure blown out from the cleaning needle 8 along the line and fits into the groove of the discharge star foil 14. The ampoule in the groove moves while being guided by the discharge guide 15, and is transferred to the next conveyance means and sent to the next process.

Here, the ampoule that has failed to be transferred to the discharge star foil 14 is pushed out from above the cleaning needle 8 by the centering guide 24 and collected in the receiving tray 16, so that no foreign matter remains on the cleaning needle 8. It goes around to the input star foil 5 again.

Next, details of the ampoule insertion section, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be explained with reference to FIG. 2.4.5.

Although FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line xx' in FIG. 1, the descending guide 9 is omitted to clearly show the ampoule insertion process.

The input star wheel 5 and the slide shaft link 19 rotate together on the same shaft 20. The insertion cam 21, which is fixed separately from the shaft 20, is connected to the slide shirts 1 to 1.
By attaching a compression coil spring 22 to 8, the slide shaft 18 is constantly pressed. As the charging star foil 5 and the slide shirt 1-ring 19 rotate, the slide shaft 18 is moved by the inclined surface of the insertion cam 21, and at this time, the tip of the slide shaft 18 holds the ampoule of the charging star foil 5. The ampoule in the groove 5a is moved toward the tip of the cleaning needle 8 along the groove. A centering guide 24 that has been slid by a centering guide cam 23 is waiting at the tip of the cleaning needle 8, and the centering guide 24 guides the cleaning needle 8 toward the tip of the ampoule pushed by the slide shaft 18. The center of the mouth of the ampoule is centered at a position where it can be inserted.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the ampoule is pressed against the centering guide 24 with slide shirts I to 18, this centering action causes the tip of the ampoule, which is in an out-of-center state as shown by the dotted chain line, to be pressed against the centering guide 24 by the conical surface. Centering is performed by sliding in the direction of the arrow.

The tip of the slide shaft 18 is inserted between the main shirt 1-25 and the tip cap 26 as shown in FIG.
A compression coil spring 7 is inserted to absorb the ampoule length tolerance a when pressing the ampoule against the centering guide 24 with the slide shaft 18. I don't have to break scissors. Further, a protective piece 28 is attached to the tip of the cap 26 to prevent the ampoule from being damaged by the portion that comes into direct contact with the ampoule.

Returning to FIG. 2 again, the cleaning rotor 7° star wheel 5. By rotating the slide shaft ring 19 synchronously, the ampoule is smoothly inserted into the cleaning needle 8 by the guide of the conical surface of the centering guide 24 as described above, and the ampoule is further inserted by the stroke of the insertion cam 21. It is pushed onto the cleaning needle 8. slide shirt 1
Since there is a limit to the amount that the ampoule can be pushed in by -18, if it is necessary to push the ampoule further onto the cleaning needle 8, the remaining insertion is performed by the ampoule bottom guide 29.

It is necessary to return the slide shaft 18 to its original position after performing a predetermined stroke, and in this embodiment, the return is performed using the restoring force of the compression coil spring 22, but the present invention is not limited to this. The main shaft portion of the slide shaft 18 may be engaged with a grooved cam.

According to this embodiment, the input star foil 5 and the ampoule insertion device do not enter the cleaning tank 10, and the
Since the factors that disturb the ultrasonic standing waves at zero are significantly reduced, the cleaning effect is greatly improved. Further, since the ampoule insertion device section and the charging star foil 5 are configured compactly, the entire device is also compact.

Furthermore, by providing the centering guide 24, there is no possibility of failure in pushing the ampoule onto the cleaning needle 8, that is, in inserting the cleaning needle 8 into the ampoule, and it is possible to reliably discharge and collect defective ampoules. Stable operation as an automatic cleaning device is possible.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, an apparatus for washing and drying ampoules has been described, but the present invention is not limited to ampules, and the object to be washed may be a bottle or the like.

Furthermore, the structures and shapes of the cleaning object supply section, the input cylinder, the disk-shaped rotating body, the slide shaft support cylinder, the ampoule insertion device section, etc. are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments.
This does not preclude the adoption of other structures and shapes as long as similar effects are expected.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the factors that disturb the ultrasonic standing waves in the cleaning tank are significantly reduced, the cleaning effect is significantly improved, and the entire device is made compact. Furthermore, it is possible to provide a cleaning and drying device for ampules, bottles, etc., which can reliably discharge defective ampoules and the like, and which can operate safely as an automatic cleaning device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an ampoule washing and drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view taken along arrow X-X' in FIG. 1, and FIG. -Y' arrow sectional view, FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the second part in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an action explanatory diagram of the W part in FIG. 4. 4 Twist guide, 5. Input star foil, 5a...
Ampoule holding groove, 7... Cleaning rotor, 8... Cleaning needle, 10. Cleaning tank, 12. Ultrasonic oscillation plate, 13. Drying oven.
14...Ejection star foil, 18...Slide shirt 1
-119・Slide shirt I・Ring. 21... Insertion cam, 23... Centering guide cam, 2
4... Centering guide, 25... Main shaft, 2
6. Tip camp, 27... Compression coil spring, 28.
-Protective piece, 29 ampoule bottom guide.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Cleaning needles for injecting water, air, etc. into the object to be cleaned are held on the circumference at equal intervals, and a part of the circumference is arranged so as to be immersed in the cleaning tank. a disc-shaped rotating body that rotates in synchronization with the disc-shaped rotating body, is located outside the cleaning tank so as to be inscribed with the pitch circumference of the cleaning needle holder, and is located in a direction parallel to the direction of the cleaning needle. an input cylindrical body having on its outer periphery a cleaning object holding groove with the same pitch as the cleaning needle holding pitch to take in the cleaning object from the cleaning object supply section; a slide shaft supporting cylindrical body that supports a slide shaft that rotates and moves the object to be cleaned in the object-to-be-cleaned holding groove along the holding groove on a circumference at the same pitch as the pitch of the object-to-be-cleaned holding groove; an insertion cam for moving the slide shaft by a required stroke; and a centering cam that is inserted into the cleaning needle held on the circumference of the disk-shaped rotating body and has a conical surface on the side facing the tip of the object to be cleaned. A centering guide cam equipped with a guide so that the centering guide slides over the cleaning needle as the disk-shaped rotary body rotates; and a centering guide cam that is equipped with a guide and in which the cleaning needle is inserted to perform cleaning and drying. an object guide means for holding the object to be cleaned in a predetermined position along the circumference of the disc-shaped rotating body; A washing/drying device for ampules, bottles, etc., characterized by comprising a discharge cylinder for taking out objects to be washed to a discharge section. 2. In the item described in claim 1, the slide shaft includes a main shaft that comes into contact with the insertion cam;
A cleaning/drying device for ampules, bottles, etc., comprising a tip that comes into contact with the bottom of an object to be washed, and a compression spring interposed between the main shaft and the tip. 3. An apparatus for washing and drying ampoules, bottles, etc. according to claim 1, wherein the washing needle has a needle portion guided by a centering guide provided on a centering guide cam. . 4. In the item described in claim 1, the centering guide cam and the insertion cam have portions parallel to each other so as to regulate the stroke of moving the cleaning needle into and out of the object to be cleaned. Ampoule featuring
Equipment for washing and drying bottles, etc. 5. In the object described in claim 1, the object to be cleaned is guided by the centering guide cam and the insertion cam, and the object to be cleaned, with the cleaning needle inserted therein, is guided by the centering guide cam and the insertion cam, and the object to be cleaned is guided by the centering guide cam and the insertion cam, and Cleaning and drying of ampoules, bottles, etc., characterized in that the object is placed facing the circumference of a disc-shaped rotating body so that the object to be cleaned is guided while maintaining a predetermined distance from the cleaning needle after being received. Device.