JPH0336112A - Container orientation aligning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve treating capacity, in an orientation aligning device for a container which a holder accommodates, by positioning a holder provided with a container fixing means and a holder positioning means to transfer them, and rotating a container in a prescribed direction for fixing it. CONSTITUTION:A container 1 is accommodated in a holder 2 with a shoulder engaged with a ball 9 in a fixing device 7, the positioning part 2a of the holder 2 is engaged with a guide member 5 to carry it to an orientation aligning device 14 with a conveyer 4. Moreover, it is introduced into a rotor 17 of the orientation aligning device through a timing screw 15 and a supply side star wheel 16, whereas the container 1 is rotated with the holder fixed to re-tighten a cap 3 and position the rotational direction of the container 1. Then the container 1 is pressed down to fix the container with the ball 9. It is thus possible to carry out high speed treatment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Industrial Application Field" The present invention relates to a container directional alignment device, more specifically:
The present invention relates to a container direction alignment device that rotates and positions containers housed in a holder.

"Prior Art" Conventionally, as a container direction alignment device that rotates and positions the containers accommodated in a holder, the holder itself is incorporated into an intermittent conveying means, and when positioning the containers accommodated in each holder ( There is a known method in which the holder is rotated at intermittent stop positions, and when the container rotates as the holder rotates in a predetermined direction, the rotation of the container is stopped. There is (Jikko 49-4
6386, Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-251).

``Problem to be Solved by the Invention'' By the way, when filling a tube-shaped container with a filling material, eight containers with caps hinged in advance are housed upside down in a holder, and the bottom of the container is opened. From there, the filling material is filled. Thereafter, the bottom of the container is crimped with a pair of crimping members and heated with a heater to weld that part. At this time, various types of printing are generally applied to the surface of the container, so when crimping the bottom of the container with the pair of crimping members, the container must be positioned in a predetermined direction in accordance with the printing. It is necessary to keep it.

In addition, if necessary, printing or pasting of labels may be performed at predetermined locations on the container.

However, in the conventional container directional alignment device, the holder constitutes a part of the directional alignment device as described above, so the holder cannot be separated from the directional alignment device, and the container positioning condition is The container also could not be separated from the holder in order to maintain it.

As a result, it is necessary to integrate the above-mentioned filling device, sealing device, printing device, and label pasting device into the container orientation device, which increases the size of the entire device. However, the processing capacity was small.

"Means for Solving the Problem" In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a container direction alignment device that positions a container housed in a holder in a predetermined direction with respect to the holder. The holder is provided with a positioning part for positioning the direction of the holder, and a container fixing means for fixing and supporting the container on the holder, and the directional alignment device is provided with a conveying means for conveying the holder, and a conveying means for conveying the holder, a guide means that engages with a provided positioning portion and maintains the direction of the holder conveyed by the conveyance means in a predetermined direction; The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a container rotating mechanism for positioning the container at a predetermined rotational position, and a clamping means for clamping the container positioned by the container rotating mechanism by the container fixing means.

"Operation" According to the above configuration, the holder can be transported by the transport means in a state directed in a predetermined direction by the guide means, and the container accommodated in the holder can be moved to the holder by the container rotation mechanism. The container can be rotated and positioned at a predetermined rotational position, and the positioned container can be fixed and held in that state by container fixing means provided on the holder.

As described above, in the present invention, the container is positioned at a predetermined rotational position with respect to the holder, and the holder is conveyed with the guide means facing the predetermined direction. The holder does not constitute a part of the directional aligning device like the directional aligning device, and even if the holder is moved away from the directional aligning device, the holder is simply transported with the holder oriented in a predetermined direction by the guide means. It becomes possible to always keep the direction of the holder in a predetermined direction.

Therefore, if the holders are maintained in a predetermined direction by the guide means, the holders can be constructed as separate pieces from the uninvented directional alignment device, for example, in the same way as in conventionally well-known container processing lines. Since it can be sequentially conveyed to a filling device, a sealing device, a capper, etc. and subjected to each processing, there is no need to integrate these devices with a direction alignment device as in the past, and the entire device can be made compact. At the same time, high-speed processing through continuous operation becomes possible.

``Example'' The following is an illustrated example (to explain the present invention in detail, see Figures 1 and 2). It is inserted in an inverted state, and is transported in that state as the holder 2 is transported.A cap 3 is previously screwed onto the opening of the container 1 to seal it. On the other hand, the bottom of the container 1 is open so that the filling can be filled into the container from there.

The holder 2 has a generally cubic shape, so that its horizontal cross section is approximately rectangular, and each surface of the rectangular portion is aligned with a positioning portion 2a in order to align the holder 2 in a predetermined rotation direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, by guiding the positioning portions 2a of the holder 2 at opposing positions on both sides with guide members 5 provided on both sides of the conveyor 4, the holder 2 is conveyed while its rotation is restrained. In the case of this embodiment, the holder 2 assumes one of four rotation angle positions every 90 degrees.
In either case, it is sufficient that the holder 2 can be transported while its rotation is restricted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shaft of the holder 2 has a
A stepped through hole 6 is bored in the vertical direction, with a large diameter hole 6a having approximately the same diameter as the outer diameter of the container 1 at the top, and a small diameter hole having approximately the same diameter as the cap 3 at the bottom. 6b. The holder 2 is provided with a container fixing means 7 for fixedly supporting the container 1 to the holder 2.

In the illustrated embodiment, the container fixing means 7 includes a horizontal hole 8 formed in the holder 2 (one in the horizontal direction) and a horizontal hole 8 opened in the lower part of the large diameter hole 6a (inside the horizontal hole 8). It includes a pole 9 that can be housed in the pole 9, and a spring 10 that urges the pole 9 toward the opening of the horizontal hole 8. It is formed so that it is slightly smaller than the outer diameter.

The container 1 inserted into the holder 2 in an inverted state is moved in its circumferential direction (in the unfixed state before precise positioning, the lower surface of the shoulder is inside the large diameter hole 6a as shown in FIG. 1). On the other hand, once the container 1 has been positioned, the container 1 is further pushed into the holder 2, so that the pole 9 is placed on the circumferential surface of the shoulder of the container 1. is pressed.In this state,
The container 1 is fixed to the holder 2 by a pole 9 so that rotation with respect to the holder 2 is prevented.

The holder 2 in which the container] is housed is connected to the guide member 5.
The containers are conveyed by the conveyor 4 to the container orientation device 14 while being guided by the timing screw 15.
and is introduced into the rotating body 17 of the directional alignment device 14 via the supply star wheel 16.

In this container direction alignment device 14, as will be described in detail later, the holder 2 (in contrast to the container 1
is rotated, thereby increasing the amount of cap 3 and positioning the container 1 in the rotational direction.When the container 1 reaches a predetermined rotational direction, the rotation is stopped and the container 1 is pushed down, as described above. The container 1 can be fixed to the holder 2 by the pole 9 of the container fixing means 7.

After increasing the supply of caps 3 in this way and fixing the container 1 to the holder 2 in a predetermined direction, the holder 2 is discharged onto the conveyor 4 again via the discharge side star wheel 18, Both sides of the conveyor 4 are guided by guide members 5 provided on both sides of the conveyor 4. Therefore, the containers are aligned in the same direction by the container direction alignment device 14, and the discharge side star wheel 1
The container 1 discharged from the container 8 is placed in each holder 2 in that state.
It comes to be held and conveyed by the conveyor 4.

The container 1 conveyed by the conveyor 4 is then carried into a rotary filling device (not shown), and this filling device fills the container 1 with filling. During this time, the holder 2 is free (rotating). The holder 2 and the containers 1 held in the holder 2, which are so positioned that they cannot be removed and therefore discharged from the filling device onto the conveyor 19 and guided on both sides by guide members 20, are all identical. Furthermore, since the cap 3 is refilled, there is no possibility that the filling will leak out due to loosening of the cap during filling.

Furthermore, the container 1 conveyed by the conveyor 19 is
Next (Timing screw 2 of this rotary seal device 24
5 and the supply star wheel 26 into the rotary body 27 of the rotary sealing device 24 ] 0 . This rotary sealing device 24 is designed to seal the bottom, that is, the top end, of the container 1 in an inverted state with the holder 2 positioned.

At this time, the upper end of the container 1 is crimped by a pair of crimping members (not shown) and heated and sealed by a heater. It is possible to apply a seal in a predetermined direction to the printed surface. Thereafter, the container 1 is discharged onto the conveyor 19 via the discharge side star wheel 28.

As described above, in this embodiment, the container 1 is fixed with the container 1 positioned in the holder 2, and is transported with the holder 2 positioned, so that the direction alignment device 14, the filling device, and the sealing device 24 are Each of them can be constructed separately, making manufacturing easier than constructing them as one body, and high-speed processing can be achieved by operating each of them continuously.

1 In the above embodiment, the conveyor 4.19 and the guide member 5 are connected between the direction alignment device 14, the filling device and the sealing device 24.
．． However, for example, by making the discharge side star wheel 18 of the direction alignment device 14 and the supply side star wheel of the filling device common, or by connecting both, the discharge side star wheel 18 to the M One holder 2 may be transferred within the rotating body of the projection loading device, or the container may be transferred from the discharge side star wheel 18 to the supply side star wheel of the filling device. Even in this case, it is clear that the holder 2 can be transferred while its rotation is restricted.

Next, the specific structure of the container direction alignment device 14 will be explained. As shown in FIG. This fixed shaft 31 is equipped with the above-mentioned rotating body 17 rotatably supported via a plurality of bearings 32, and this rotating body 17 can be rotated in one direction by a motor (not shown). ing.

] 2 The rotary body 17 is integrally equipped with a rotary table 34 on which the holders 2 are placed at a lower position, and on the upper inner circumferential side of the rotary table 34, there are a number of pockets 35a for accommodating the holders 2, respectively! Attaching the formed holding star wheel 35 as a guide means, and attaching the above-mentioned supply side star wheel 16
The holders 2 supplied from the pockets 35a can be sequentially accommodated in each pocket 35a.

Also, the outer peripheral side of the rotary table 34 (here, the machine frame 36
A fixed arc-shaped guide member 378 is disposed, and the pocket 35a and the guide member 37 (thus, when the holder 2 is positioned, that is, the holder 2 is rotated with respect to the rotary table 34). The holder 2 can be transported without any damage.

A container rotation mechanism 41 for rotating the container 1 is disposed directly above each holder 2 positioned by the pocket 35a and the guide member 37.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, each of the container rotation mechanisms 41 can be freely raised and lowered by supporting columns 42 and 43 each having a length of 2' and which are provided vertically on the rotating body 171. The mounted bracket 44, the cam follower 45 provided on the bracket 44, and the lifting cam 46 integrally connected to the fixed shaft 31 are connected to the lifting cam 46 (by engaging the cam follower 45 with the lifting cam 46). The cam follower 45, the elevating cam 46, etc., are connected to the container rotating mechanism 411, as will be understood from the following explanation. A clamp means 47 is provided for pushing the thus positioned container 1 into the holder 2 and fixing the container 1 to the holder 2 by means of the container fixing means 7.

A cylindrical housing 49 is attached to the bracket 44 (the cylindrical housing 49 is arranged vertically).
A servo motor 51 is mounted above the motor via a bracket 50. A drive shaft 52 of this servo motor 51 is arranged on the axis of the cylindrical housing 49, and a gear 53 is connected to the shaft of the cylindrical housing 49 via a reduction mechanism 54. It is interlocked with a gear 56 of a hollow shaft 55 which is rotatably supported.

The speed reduction mechanism 54 includes a support shaft 59 fixed to the cylindrical housing 49 in parallel with its axis;
(The large-diameter gear 60a and the small-diameter gear 6 are supported by one rotatable shaft.)
The large diameter gear 60a is meshed with the gear 53 provided on the drive shaft 52, and the small diameter gear 60b is meshed with the gear 56 of the hollow shaft 55.

A cylindrical bearing member 6 is provided below the cylindrical housing 49.
A rotating shaft 64 is rotatably supported on this bearing member 63. The upper end of this rotary shaft 64 is linked to the shaft of the hollow shaft 55 via a pole splicing mechanism 65 so that it can be raised and lowered and rotated together. A truncated cone-shaped fitting member 66 is provided to be fitted into the open bottom of 1. The upper required value M of this fitting member 66 (this stepped portion 66a
, and its stepped portion 66a (thus, the container 1 can be pushed down).

The rotating shaft 64 is biased downward by a spring 67 provided with an elastic device 5 between it and the hollow shaft 55, and the fitting member 66 is attached to the shaft portion of the rotating shaft 64 and the fitting member 66. An air passage 68 is formed to supply air inside the container 1 when the container 1 is pulled out. This air passage 68 communicates with an annular groove 63a1 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the bearing member 63.
Further, the bearing member 63 is connected to a compressed air source (not shown) via a radial air vibro 9 connected thereto. They are connected to each other, so that they can be moved up and down together with the bearing member 63.

Roughly speaking, in FIG. 4, a support plate 72 is attached to the rotating body 17 at the bottom of the container 1 housed in the holder 2, that is, at a position close to the upper end. A detector 73 is provided for detecting a predetermined register mark (not shown) provided at the bottom of the container 1 for a predetermined value M1. The signals from each detector 73 are input to a control device 74 having a microcomputer 3, and the control device 74 starts the servo motor 51 (6) and controls each detector 7.
The servo motor 51 can be stopped when a signal indicating the register mark /7 is inputted from the servo motor 3.

The rotary table 34 also includes a cap 3 of the container 1 which is inserted from below into the through hole 6 formed in each holder 2.
(The pressing rods 77 that come into contact with each other are installed so as to be able to rise and fall freely.) Each pressing rod 77 is provided with a cam follower 78, and the cam followers 77 are arranged in the radial direction through the slit 34a formed in the rotary table 34. By protruding outward, the pressing rod 77 is prevented from rotating.

Each of the pressing rods 77 is biased upward by a spring 79, and by engaging the cam followers 78 with the cam member 80 fixed to the machine frame 36, the pressing rods 77 follow the cam curve of the cam member 80. so that it can be moved up and down.

In the above configuration, when the holder 2 containing the container 1 is carried onto the rotary table 34 of the direction alignment device 14 via the supply star wheel 16, the holder 2 is placed in the pocket 35a of the holding star wheel 35. It is accommodated and held by the guide member 37, and rotated by the rotary table 340 (accompanied by the conveyance) in a state in which rotation with respect to the rotary table 34 is restricted.

When the holder 2 is conveyed integrally with the rotary table 34, the press rod 77 is raised by the cam member 80, and its upper end is inserted into the through hole 6 of the holder 2 from below to cap the container 1. 3 (this engages, the container 1
is raised to a position where the lower surface of the shoulder is slightly lifted from the pole 9 of the container fixing means 7.

When the press rod 77 slightly raises the container 1 from the container fixing means 7 to ensure that it is not fixed, at the same time, the container rotation mechanism 41 provided above the rotary table 34 is moved by the lifting cam 46. When the fitting member 66 provided at the lower end of the fitting member 66 is fitted into the opening of the container 1, the stepped portion 66a formed on the fitting member 66 is lowered into the opening of the container 1.
The container is held between the stepped portion 66a and the pressing rod 77.

In this state, the control device 74 detects the rotation angle value N of the rotary table 34 by a detector (not shown), starts the servo motor 51, and tightens the container 1 and the cap 3 via the fitting member 66. Rotate in the direction.

At this time, the suppression rod 77 that is in contact with the cap 3 cannot rotate, so if the cap 3 is loose, it will be tightened relatively to the cap 3 or the container 1, and the tightening will be When the force exceeds a certain value, slippage occurs between the cap 3 and the pressing rod 77, and the cap 3
comes to rotate together with the container 1.

When the container 1 rotates and the register mark provided thereon is detected by the detector 73, the signal is input to the control device 74, but the control device 74 is ignored, and the rotation of the servo motor 51 is stopped when the second detection signal is input. As a result, the containers 1 are rotated at least one rotation 9, thereby making it possible to reliably refill the cap 3 and aligning all the containers 1 in the same direction.

When the cap 3 is refilled and the container is oriented in this manner, the fitting member 66 and the pressing rod 77 are lowered together to maintain the rotation direction of the container 1. The container 1 is lowered and the pole 9 is brought into pressure contact with the outer peripheral surface of the shoulder portion of the container 1 to fix the container 1 to the holder 2.

After that, the fitting member 66 is lifted up and pulled out of the container 1, but at that time, compressed air is supplied into the container 1 via the air vibro 9 and the air passage 68, so the fitting member 66 is fitted with the pressure of the air. The member 66 can be smoothly pulled out from the container 1. Further, the pressing rod 77 is pulled out from the through hole 6 of the holder 2, and in this state, the holder 2 is discharged onto the conveyor 4 while being positioned in the direction of the holder 2 via the discharge side star wheel 18. Thus, it is supplied to a filling device (not shown) while being positioned by the guide member 5.

0 In the above embodiment, the conveyance means for conveying the holder 2 is constituted by the conveyor 4.19 or the rotary table 34 of the rotating body 17, and the direction of the holder 2 conveyed by the conveyance means is set in a predetermined direction. The guide means for maintaining this are constituted by the guide member 5.20 or by the pocket 35a of the holding star wheel 35 and the guide member 37.

Further, in the above embodiment, the container fixing means 7 is composed of the pole 9 and the spring 10, but it is not limited to this, and any suitable mechanism such as a clamp mechanism can be used, and the clamp means 47 is also the container fixing means. Of course, an appropriate configuration can be adopted depending on the configuration of 7. Further, the positioning of the container is not limited to the use of register marks, and the container may be positioned by bringing a retaining part such as a protrusion provided on the container into contact with a stopper.
Moreover, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a line type direction alignment device or an intermittent feed type direction alignment device.

Roughly speaking, once the container has been positioned at a predetermined rotational position relative to the holder, it is not necessary to always direct the holder in a predetermined direction using the guide means. In other words, it is much easier to position the holder than to position an unstable container housed in the holder, so after positioning the container at a predetermined rotational position relative to the holder,
If necessary, the guidance of the holder by the guide means can be released, and if the holder is then positioned at the required point using a relatively simple holder direction alignment device, the container can be positioned at the same time. It can be carried out.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, according to the present invention, after the container is positioned in the holder, the holder is maintained in a predetermined direction by the guide means (thereby, the container is directed in a predetermined direction). This eliminates the need to integrate the holder into the container orientation device.
For example, the above-mentioned holder is sequentially transported from the directional alignment device according to the present invention to a filling device, a sealing device, a capper, etc., which are each configured as two separate units, and is subjected to the respective processing, similar to a conventional well-known container processing line. Therefore, it is not necessary to configure these devices integrally with the direction alignment device as in the past, and the entire device can be made compact and high-speed processing by continuous operation is possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a holder 2 containing a container, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a container processing line equipped with the container orientation device 14 according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is the container orientation device 14 shown in FIG. 3.
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line ■-V in Figure 4;
6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of FIG. 4 taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 5. FIG. 1... Container 2 -... Holder 2a... Positioning part 3 4.19... Conhairer (transporting means) 5.20.37... Guide member (guy 7... Container fixing means 14...・Direction alignment device 17...Rotating body (transporting means) 35...Holding star wheel 41...Container rotation mechanism 47...Urambu means (guide means) Do means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] A container direction alignment device for positioning a container housed in a holder in a predetermined direction with respect to the holder, the holder including a positioning part for positioning the direction of the holder, and a container in the holder. a container fixing means for fixedly supporting the holder, and the direction alignment device is provided with a conveying means for conveying the holder and a positioning portion provided on the holder to engage with a positioning part provided on the holder to predetermine the direction of the holder conveyed by the conveying means. a container rotation mechanism for rotating an unfixed container accommodated in the holder and positioning the container at a predetermined rotational position relative to the holder; and a clamping means for clamping the container by the container fixing means.