JPH0338179Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a bottle alignment device, and more specifically, a bottle alignment device for aligning a group of bottles conveyed in different orientations with respect to the conveyance direction in one direction. Regarding equipment.

[Conventional technology]

As a device for lining up bottles (containers) on a lane for conveying them, for example,
Devices described in JP-A No. 57-178018 or Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 61-181014 are known.

All of the devices described in the above publications place a bottle being conveyed in an upright state (with the mouth facing upward) in front of an endless conveyor belt (conveyance path) with the mouth facing in the direction of travel. It is constructed by installing a hook for this purpose.

The above-mentioned hook has a rotatable rod-like shape that has a lower end portion that is adapted to bring the bottle into an upright state by abutting the mouth portion of the bottle, and is rotatably supported on a rotation shaft above the contact portion. It consists of the body. Then, the above-mentioned hook repeats a precise rotation operation for each bottle that is transported, and functions to turn the mouth of a bottle facing upward in the direction of travel, and vice versa. For bottles whose bottoms face in the direction of travel, it works by dropping them from the bottom. At this time, the hook, which was in a predetermined position (low potential position), is pushed by the bottle and rotates to the high potential position in the direction of travel, and the bottle is released from contact with the contact part. Then, it inevitably performs a backward movement to return to the original low potential position.

Since the bottles are transported regularly at a constant speed, the hooks must also be rotated periodically. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, an electromagnet 14 and a nearby switch 1 for controlling the operation of the electromagnet 14 are installed in order to reliably stop the hook 3 which moves back and returns to its original low potential position.
5, the proximity switch 15 detects the returned hook 3, and based on the detection, the electromagnet 1
4 is operated to attract and fix the hook 3.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, the above-mentioned bottle aligning device that uses the electromagnet 14 to ensure accurate backward movement of the hooks has the following problems.

That is, when a plurality of conveyor belts are arranged in parallel (a hook is installed for each conveyor belt), the reciprocating hook 3 strongly hits the electromagnet 14.
The impact causes the other hooks (the electromagnet 14 is not activated when the forward movement starts) to jump up, causing a situation where they cannot come into contact with the bottles being transported at that time, resulting in incomplete alignment of the bottles. It happened that it happened.

Furthermore, the electromagnet 14 may gradually become magnetized and become a permanent magnet, and may retain its attractive force against the hook 3 even when the electromagnet 14 is deactivated. When the electromagnet 14 is magnetized in this way, even when the hook 3 is pushed by the transported bottle and starts moving forward, the above-mentioned suction force is acting on the hook, and when the bottle is pushed out, the hook 3 suddenly The hook escapes, and as a result, the bottle cannot follow the forward movement of the hook 3, so the mouth of the bottle is not brought into contact with the abutment part, and as a result, the alignment of the bottles is incomplete. Something happened.

Furthermore, due to a malfunction of the proximity switch 15, the electromagnet 14
hook 3 at the time of return movement because it does not operate normally.
is not suctioned and fixed, the hook 3 bounces significantly, and the bottle is not brought into contact with its contact portion, resulting in incomplete alignment of the bottles.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to be able to move the hook backwards without causing an impact, to move the hook forward smoothly, and to prevent the hook from malfunctioning, so that it is possible to move the hook backwards without causing an impact, and to prevent the hook from malfunctioning. To provide a bottle alignment device that can ensure alignment.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has a rotatable hook with an abutting part in front of an endless conveyor belt equipped with bottle locking lugs that conveys a group of bottles with the bottom or mouth facing forward in the direction of travel. By hanging the bottle with the mouth facing forward in the direction of travel and bringing the mouth of the bottle into contact with the contact part, the bottle can be erected together with the bottle with its bottom facing forward in the direction of travel. In the bottle aligning device, the bottle is dropped onto a lower lane in a state in which the hook is rotated, and the hook is provided with an arm that moves through the fluid in conjunction with the rotation of the hook and slows down the return movement of the hook. The above object has been achieved by providing a bottle alignment device characterized by the following.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a part of a bottle aligning device that is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view showing the bottle aligning device with some hooks omitted, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a right side view showing the hook.

The bottle alignment device of this embodiment has an endless conveyor belt 2 for conveying bottles 1, and a hook 3 is provided in front of the conveyor belt 2 in the direction of movement (arrow direction).
is rotatably suspended.

The conveyor belt 2 of the bottle alignment device has bottle locking lugs 4 attached to its bottle mounting surface at predetermined intervals, and the conveyor belt 2
is configured to be able to rotate in the direction of the arrow at a predetermined speed using a plurality of rollers 5. Therefore, the conveyor belt 2 is configured to regularly convey the bottles 1 to the tip of the conveyor belt 2, and drop and throw the bottles 1 into the hopper 6 provided near the bottom of the tip. There is.

The hook 3 of the bottle aligning device has a contact portion 3a at its lower end, and is pivotally supported in the middle by a rotation shaft 7, and the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 or 2 and the imaginary line It is configured to be rotatable between the positions shown. The abutment part 3a has a substantially inverted U-shape on the front, and has a rectangular frame shape when viewed from the right side, and has a tube member 8 at its bottom to allow the bottle 1 to fall smoothly. is covered.

In this embodiment, an arc-shaped arm 9 that moves in conjunction with the rotation of the hook 3 is fixed to the upper end of the hook 3 by screwing one end of the arm 9.
It has a spherical portion 9a at the other end. The arm 9 is inserted into an arc-shaped circular cylinder 12 that is fixed to a bearing 10 via a plate member 11. In addition, the circular cylinder 12
Oil (fluid) 13 is stored inside.
A portion of the arm 9 including the spherical portion 9a is configured to be immersed in the oil 13.

Therefore, when the hook 3 is pressed by the bottle,
As the hook 3 rotates to the position shown by the imaginary line, the arm 9 also moves, and its spherical portion 9a is at the shallowest position of the oil 13 (the highest position in the figure).
Move up to. When the pushing force on the hook 3 is released, the hook 3 makes a return movement to return to its original position as shown by the solid line with low potential energy. 13, and its spherical portion 9a returns to the position shown by the solid line. In this way, the arm 9 repeats the movement operation in the oil as the hook 3 reciprocates.

As described above, in this embodiment, the arm 9 is configured to move in the oil 13 as the hook 3 moves back, so the movement in the oil 13 acts as resistance. The return movement of the hook 3 can be reduced in force and performed slowly. In particular, since the spherical portion 9a is provided at the tip of the arm 9, it is possible to fully exhibit the force reduction effect of the backward movement. Further, the arm 9 is provided with a stopper 9b so that the hook 3 always stops at a fixed position.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The conveyor belt 2 in the bottle aligning device of this embodiment repeats circular motion at a constant speed,
is regularly conveyed in the direction of the arrow. This bottle 1
are transported in a mixed state, with some having their bottoms facing forward in the direction of travel and others having their mouths facing in the same direction.

In the case of a bottle 1 with its bottom facing forward in the direction of travel (the one shown by the solid line on the right side and the one shown by the dashed line on the left side in FIG. 1), when the bottle 1 is conveyed to the front end of the conveyor belt 2, , the mouth part receives the pushing force from the lug 4, and the bottom part pushes the abutting part 3a of the hook 3, giving the hook 3 a forward rotation (forward movement) in the direction of movement, but there is no catch. , it continues to fall into Hopper 6 with its bottom facing down,
They are lined up in an upright position on a lane (not shown) located below the hopper 6. At the same time as the bottle 1 falls, the hook 3 rotates in the opposite direction (backward movement) and returns to the original position shown by the solid line.

On the other hand, in the case of a bottle 1a with its mouth facing forward in the direction of travel (indicated by a solid line on the left side in FIG. The bottle 1a is pushed forward in the traveling direction by receiving the force at the bottom. that time,
The bottle 1a imparts forward movement to the hook 3 in the forward direction of travel, and at the same time, the bottle 1a moves so that its mouth is suspended upward by the abutting portion 3a of the hook 3. Therefore, when the hook 3 rotates (moves forward) to the position shown by the imaginary line, the bottle 1a falls into the hopper 6 with the mouth facing upward, that is, the bottom facing downward. As a result, the bottles 1a are aligned on the lane in an erect state, similar to the case of the bottles 1 that are transported with their bottoms facing forward in the traveling direction. At the same time as the bottle 1a falls, the hook 3 moves back to its original position. By repeating the above-described operations, it becomes possible to bring all the bottles conveyed in a mixed state as described above into an upright state and line them up on the lane.

In this embodiment, as described above, the arm 9 is connected to the hook 3 and moves in the oil 13 contained in the cylinder 12 in conjunction with the reciprocating movement of the hook 3. Therefore, during the return movement, the movement can be slowed down and performed slowly, so the return movement can be accurately returned to the original position without the large impact force that is required when stopping the return movement using an electromagnet, etc. , can be stopped.
Since it is possible to prevent a large impact from occurring upon return, even in the case of a bottle alignment device in which a plurality of conveyor belts 2 are arranged in parallel, bottles can be accurately aligned on all conveyor belts 2.

In addition, since electromagnets, proximity switches, and their control devices are not required, the structure is extremely simple.
Can be used semi-permanently. Moreover, malfunctions caused by proximity switches, etc. do not occur, so
It becomes possible to perform bottle alignment very accurately.

In the bottle alignment device of this embodiment, the speed of the backward movement of the hook 3 can be changed by changing the diameter of the spherical part of the arm 9, changing the position of the arm 9, changing the amount of oil, or using oil with a different viscosity. There is also the advantage that it can be changed arbitrarily by, for example, changing.

Furthermore, even when the hook 3 moves forward, the bottle alignment device described above can rotate stably and smoothly due to the resistance of the oil.

Although the bottle aligning device of the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

For example, the specific shape of the hook, the type of fluid, etc. are not limited to those of the embodiments, and can be changed in various ways within the range that can achieve the intended purpose.

In addition, in the embodiment, a deceleration mechanism is shown in which oil is stored in an arc-shaped cylinder and an arc-shaped arm is inserted into the cylinder, but the mechanism is not limited to this. Any structure that can be immersed and moved may be used.

[Effect of idea]

According to the present invention, the return movement of the hook can be performed slowly, so the hook can be moved back without causing an impact, and the movement of the hook in one conveyance path has an adverse effect on other conveyance paths. A bottle that is free from the risk of harmful effects and does not use an electromagnet, so that the hook can be smoothly moved back and forth, and this movement of the hook is less likely to occur, and as a result, the bottles can be aligned reliably. An alignment device can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a part of a bottle aligning device that is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view showing the bottle aligning device with some hooks omitted, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a right side view showing the above-mentioned hook, and a front view showing an outline of the hook in a conventional bottle aligning device. 1... Bottle, 2... Conveyor belt, 3... Hook, 3a... Contact portion, 4... Bottle locking lug,
5... Roller, 6... Hopper, 7... Rotating shaft, 8... Pipe member, 9... Arm, 9a... Spherical part, 10... Bearing, 11... Plate member, 12... Circular cylinder , 13...oil (fluid), 14...
Electromagnet, 15... Proximity switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) An abutting part is provided at the front of an endless conveyor belt equipped with bottle locking lugs that conveys a group of bottles with their bottoms or mouths facing forward in the direction of travel. By hanging the hook rotatably and bringing the mouth of the bottle with the mouth facing forward in the direction of travel into contact with the contact part, the bottle can be hung with the bottom facing forward in the direction of travel. In the bottle alignment device, the bottle is dropped onto the lane below in an upright position along with the bottle in the upright position. A bottle alignment device characterized by comprising an arm for aligning bottles. (2) The hook is pivotally supported in the middle by a rotating shaft, the contact portion is located at the lower end of the hook, and the arm has one end connected to the upper end of the hook and the other end. A utility model comprising an arcuate shape having a spherical part at the bottom, the spherical part being immersed in a fluid contained in an arc-shaped cylinder through which the arm is inserted, and moving in the fluid in conjunction with the rotation of the hook. A bottle aligning device according to registered claim (1).