JPH0550976B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a transfer device in a plastic hollow container manufacturing machine, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a transfer device for a plastic hollow container manufacturing machine, and more specifically, it heats a plastic preform to a stretching temperature, and transfers the heated preform to a stretching temperature. The present invention relates to a device for smoothly transferring preforms and containers in a device for manufacturing hollow plastic containers by stretch blow molding in split molds.

(Prior Art) Biaxially stretched blow-molded containers made of thermoplastic polyester such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) have excellent transparency and surface gloss, and also have the impact resistance, rigidity, and gas barrier properties necessary for bottles. It is used as a container for bottling various liquids.

In manufacturing this biaxially stretched hollow container, a bottomed preform is manufactured by injection molding of plastic, and after this bottomed preform is heated to the stretching temperature, stretch blow molding is performed in a split mold.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-45524 discloses a mandrel for supporting a preform made of plastic and a hollow container from the preform; a mounting area for mounting the preform on the mandrel; and a plurality of support seats for supporting the mandrel around the mandrel. a preheating area consisting of a turret with a turret and a heating mechanism for heating the preform on a mandrel along the outer periphery of the turret; a plurality of openable and closable blow molding molds and mandrels corresponding to the molds; A blow molding zone consisting of a rotating member surrounded by a support member; A transfer zone for transferring a mandrel on which a preheated preform is mounted from a preheating zone to the blow molding zone; A blow molding zone for transporting a blow molded container from the blow molding zone An apparatus for producing a stretched plastic hollow container is recorded, which comprises a take-out area for taking out the mandrel to be placed; and an endless transfer path for the mandrel passing through the placing area, preheating area, transfer area, blow-molding area, and take-out area in this order. There is.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) This type of apparatus requires operations for inserting and fixing the preform into the mandrel and for removing the container to be formed from the mandrel.

Further, since a support ring for supporting the preform and the neck of the hollow container is provided, the preform and the hollow container are transported with the mouth facing upward. Therefore, it is necessary to invert the preform before the above-mentioned insertion and fixing operation, and to invert the container after the above-mentioned extraction operation.

In the conventional apparatus described above, the preform insertion and fixing operation and the container extraction operation are performed by separate mechanisms, which makes the configuration of the apparatus complicated, and adding a mechanism for reversing the preform and the container makes it difficult to use. It is inevitable that devices will become increasingly complex.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a transfer device in which the operation of inserting and fixing a preform into a mandrel and the operation of removing a container from a mandrel are performed continuously, smoothly and reliably within a single device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a transfer device in which, in addition to the above operations, a preform reversal operation for inserting and fixing the preform into a mandrel can be performed at the same time.

(Means for Solving the Problems) According to the present invention, in an apparatus for manufacturing stretched plastic hollow containers, a mandrel for supporting a preform made of plastic and a hollow container made from the preform; the preform is placed on the mandrel; a preheating area consisting of a turret equipped with a plurality of support seats around the periphery for supporting the mandrel; and a heating mechanism for heating the preform on the mandrel along the outer periphery of the turret; A blow molding area consisting of a rotating member equipped with a blow molding mold that can be opened and closed and a mandrel support member corresponding to the mold; blow molding a mandrel on which a preheated preform is placed from a preheating area. a transfer zone for transferring the blow-molded container to the blow-molding zone; a take-out zone for taking out the mandrel on which the blow-molded container is placed from the blow-molding zone; and a mandrel that passes through the placement zone, preheating zone, transfer zone, blow-molding zone, and take-out zone in this order. The storage area includes a preform supply mechanism for supplying preforms, a preform from the supply mechanism is pushed into a mandrel and fixed to the mandrel, and a container is supplied from a capacity support mandrel supplied from the takeout area. a preform transfer mechanism for transferring the preform supporting mandrel to the preheating area; and a container transfer mechanism for transferring the container removed from the mandrel from the attachment/detachment mechanism to the outside of the apparatus. The attachment/detachment mechanism to the mandrel includes a first (upper) rotating body, grippers provided at equal intervals around the first (upper) rotating body, and grippers for gripping the preform and the mouth and neck of the container. a clamp mechanism provided with the clamp mechanism, an opening/closing mechanism for opening and closing the gripper of the clamp mechanism, a reciprocating elevating drive mechanism for reciprocating (elevating) the clamp mechanism in the axial direction of the rotating body, and a first (upward) rotation. a second (lower) rotary body coaxially with and axially spaced below the body; and a preform and a container of a clamping mechanism equally spaced around the second (lower) rotary body. a mandrel support seat provided so as to be located on the same axis (vertical axis) as the mouth and neck grasping position;
A preform supply mechanism, a preform transfer mechanism, a container take-out area, and a container transfer mechanism are provided in this order around the attachment/detachment mechanism in the rotating direction of the attachment/detachment mechanism, an opening/closing mechanism of the clamp mechanism, and a reciprocating (elevating/lowering) mechanism. ) The drive mechanism grips the preform by closing the gripper at or near the contact point of the preform supply mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism, and grips the preform from the contact point of the preform supply mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism to the contact point of the preform transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism. Then, the preform is moved (descending movement) for insertion into the mandrel, and the gripper is opened at or near the contact point with the attachment/detachment mechanism of the preform transfer mechanism to release the preform, and the preform is released at the contact point between the container removal area and the attachment/detachment mechanism. Close the gripper at or near the container mouth neck, and move the gripper to remove the container from the contact point between the container removal area and the attachment/detachment mechanism to the contact point between the container transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism (rising movement). There is provided a transfer device characterized in that the device is associated with a gripper at or near the contact point between the container transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism to open a gripper to eject the container.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above device, the mandrel attaching/detaching mechanism includes a rotational drive mechanism at a position where the clamping mechanism is attached to the rotating body, and the rotational drive mechanism is connected to the opening/closing mechanism and the lifting/lowering drive mechanism of the clamping mechanism. On the other hand, between the contact point between the preform supply mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism and the contact point between the preform transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism, the clamp mechanism is rotated half a turn and moved for insertion into the mandrel (descending movement);
In addition, there is provided a transfer device characterized in that the clamp mechanism is connected to perform half a rotation between the contact point of the container transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism to the contact point of the preform supply mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism.

According to the present invention, the transfer device further includes:
The container transfer mechanism includes a container reversing mechanism and a container transport mechanism, and the container reversing mechanism includes a rotating body and grippers provided at equal intervals around the rotating body and gripping the lower part of the neck of the container. a clamp mechanism, an opening/closing mechanism for opening and closing the gripper of the clamp mechanism, and a rotation drive mechanism for rotationally driving the clamp mechanism at a position where it is attached to a rotating body; , close the gripper at or near the contact point of the attachment/detachment mechanism and the container reversing mechanism to grip the lower part of the mouth and neck of the container, and then Between,
The clamp mechanism is rotated half a turn to 1/4 turn and the container is accordingly turned upright or sideways, and the gripper is opened at or near the contact point between the container reversing mechanism and the container transport mechanism to release the container into the container transport mechanism. A transfer device is provided, characterized in that the transfer device is associated to:

(Function) In the apparatus of the present invention, similarly to known apparatuses, the mandrel that supports the preform and the hollow container during and after stretch blow molding controls the preheating zone and the stretch blow molding zone for stretch blow molding. In the stretch blow molding area, a stretch rod and high pressure fluid are inserted into the preform in a mold that is radially attached to the rotating member and is openable and closable. Stretch blow molding of the preform is performed in collaboration with the blower.

However, according to the present invention, the operation of inserting and fixing the preform into the mandrel and the operation of removing the shaped container from the mandrel are performed continuously, smoothly and reliably within a single transfer device.

Moreover, in this transfer device, the preform transferred in an upright state can be simultaneously reversed for insertion into the mandrel.

In the transfer device of the present invention, the preform from the preform supply mechanism is pushed into the mandrel and fixed to the mandrel, and a mechanism for attaching and detaching the container to the mandrel is provided at the center for removing the container from the container supporting mandrel supplied from the take-out area. Surrounding the attachment/detachment mechanism are (1) a preform supply mechanism, (2) a preform transfer mechanism that transfers the preform support mandrel to the preheating area, (3) a container takeout mechanism that takes out the molded container support mandrel from the opening/closing mold, and (4) ) Container transfer mechanisms for transferring containers removed from the mandrel from the attachment/detachment mechanism to the outside of the apparatus are arranged in this order along the rotational direction of the attachment/detachment mechanism.

The attachment/detachment mechanism to the mandrel consists of (a) a first (lower) rotating body having a mandrel support seat and (b) a second (upper) rotating body having a clamp mechanism, which are coaxially provided. The mandrel of the mandrel support seat, the preform and the neck of the container in the clamp mechanism are positioned on the same axis (vertical axis). The clamping mechanism includes: (i) a clamping mechanism including a gripper for gripping the preform and the neck of the container; (ii) an opening/closing mechanism for opening and closing the gripper of the clamping mechanism; and (iii) rotating the clamping mechanism. A reciprocating (elevating) drive mechanism for reciprocating (elevating) the body in the axial direction thereof, preferably further comprising (iv) a rotational drive mechanism for rotationally driving the clamp mechanism at a position where it is attached to the rotating body. We are prepared.

The opening/closing mechanism and the reciprocating (lifting/lowering) drive mechanism of the clamp mechanism described above grips the preform by closing the gripper at or near the contact point between the preform supply mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism, and grips the preform from the contact point between the preform supply mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism. A movement (descending motion) is performed to insert the preform into the mandrel up to the point of contact between the transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism, and the gripper is opened at or near the point of contact between the preform transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism to release the preform. The gripper is closed at or near the contact point of the container removal area and the attachment/detachment mechanism to grip the container mouth neck, and the container is removed between the contact point of the container removal area and the attachment/detachment mechanism and the contact point of the container transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism. The gripper is moved (raised) for extraction, and the gripper is opened at or near the contact point between the container transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism to cause the container to be ejected.

Thus, according to the present invention, the preform supplied by the preform supply mechanism 1 is inserted into the mandrel by the attachment/detachment mechanism, sent to the preheating area by the preform transfer mechanism 2, and taken out from the opening/closing mold to take out the container. The container supporting mandrel sent by the mechanism 3 is separated into a container and a mandrel by the attachment/detachment mechanism, the container is transferred to the outside of the apparatus by the container transfer mechanism 4, and the preform is reinserted into the empty mandrel to carry out the above operation. Continued.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the clamp mechanism is provided with a rotational drive mechanism (iv), the rotational drive mechanism
For the opening/closing mechanism and the lifting/lowering drive mechanism of the clamp mechanism, and between the contact point between the preform supply mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism and the contact point between the preform transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism, a half rotation of the clamp mechanism and insertion into the mandrel are provided. and a half rotation of the clamp mechanism between the contact point of the container transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism to the contact point of the preform supply mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism. As a result, the preform supplied with the mouth and neck facing upward is inserted into the mandrel in an inverted state, and a separate device for inverting the preform can be omitted.

The container discharged from the attachment/detachment device has its mouth and neck facing downward, but the operation for turning the mouth and neck upward is performed in the same manner as the reversal of the preform by the container reversing mechanism described above.

(Example) In FIG. 1, which shows the overall arrangement of the apparatus of the present invention as a top view, this apparatus roughly speaking includes a preform supply mechanism ( (Details will be described later) 30, a preheating mechanism 100 for preheating the preform 1 on the mandrel to a stretching temperature, a forming mechanism 200 for stretch blow molding the preheated preform in a mold,
and a container transfer mechanism (details will be described later) 40 for removing and discharging the formed hollow container 20 from the mandrel 10.

Between the preform introduction side of the preheating mechanism 100 and the hollow container discharge side of the forming mechanism 200, there is provided a turret-shaped mandrel for placing the preform 1 on the mandrel 10 and separating the hollow container 20 from the mandrel 10. A detachable mechanism 50 is provided. Further, a transfer mechanism 60 is provided between the preform discharge side of the preheating mechanism 100 and the preform introduction side of the forming mechanism 200 for transferring the preheated preform into the mold of the forming mechanism 200. Further, a turret-like attachment/detachment mechanism 50
A preform support mandrel transfer mechanism 70 is provided between the preheating mechanism 100 and the preheating mechanism 100, and a hollow container support mandrel removal mechanism 80 is provided between the forming mechanism 200 and the turret-like attachment/detachment mechanism 50. Thus, it is understood that the endless transfer path 90 of the mandrel 10 is formed in the order of the turret-like attachment/detachment mechanism 50, the preform transfer mechanism 70, the preheating mechanism 100, the transfer mechanism 60, the molding mechanism 200, and the container removal mechanism 80. It will be. Incidentally, between the preheating mechanism 100 and the transfer mechanism 60, there are provided aging turrets 170 and 180 for equalizing the temperature of the preform, and their functions will be described later.

In Figure 2-B showing the preform 1, the preform 1 has a cylindrical neck part 2 having dimensions and shape corresponding to the neck part of the final container, a cylindrical body part 3, a closed bottom part 4, and a supporting part. It is equipped with ring 5. The support ring 5 is provided directly below the mouth and neck part 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the mandrel 10 has an insertion tip 11 at its tip that is inserted into the mouth and neck of the preform 1, and a cylindrical shaft section 12 below. This cylindrical shaft portion 12 serves as a part for holding a mandrel in various transfer mechanisms, preheating mechanisms, or forming mechanisms.
A gear 14 is provided in the central part of the mandrel 10 between the two flange parts 13a and 13b, and this gear 14 is provided in the central part of the mandrel 10 in a preheating mechanism.
It is useful for rotating 0. A hollow passage 15 is provided in the center of the mandrel 10, which serves as a space for the elevating and lowering of the stretch rod in the forming mechanism and as a fluid passageway during the stretch blow molding operation. A sealing O-ring 16 is provided at the lower end of the outer periphery of the insertion tip portion 11 for sealingly engaging the tip of the parison neck portion 2, and a molding mechanism is provided at the lower end of the cylindrical shaft portion 12. There is an engagement surface 17 that engages with a blow molding lifting member (described in detail later).

Returning to FIG. 1, the preform supply mechanism 30
consists of a supply chute 31, a small turret 32, and a large turret 33, and the chute 31 is provided at an interval d larger than the diameter of the cylindrical body 3 of the preform 31 and smaller than the diameter of the support ring 5. It has opposed slide plates 34, 34, and the preform 1 is fed to the small turret 32 by passing over the opposed slide plates 34, 34 with its support ring 5 in an upright state. The small turret 32 has a preform receiving recess 35 at the interval d, and in cooperation with a guide 36, the preform 1 is supported in the recess 35 and rotated clockwise in the figure. The large turret 33 also has a preform receiving recess 37 similar to that of the small turret, and supports the preform received from the small turret 32 and rotates counterclockwise along a guide 38. The peripheral speed of the large turret 33 is that of the small turret 3.
The recess 37 swings in synchronization with the circumferential speed of the small turret 32 at or near the point of contact with the turret 2, and with the circumferential speed of the attaching/detaching mechanism 50 at or near the point of contact with the detachable mechanism 50, respectively.

The attachment/detachment mechanism 50 to the mandrel consists of a rotating body 51 that is driven and rotated in a clockwise direction and a large number (eight in the figure) of clamp mechanisms 52 provided at equal intervals around the rotating body 51. In FIG. 2-A showing an enlarged view of this attaching/detaching mechanism 50, this clamping mechanism 52 includes a pair of grippers 54, 54 that can be opened and closed and has a notch 53 in the shape of about a quarter circumference at the tip. An opening/closing pinion 55 and a gripper drive shaft 56 provided at the other end, and a bracket 5 that rotatably supports the gripper drive shaft 56.
7 and an elevating member 58 for elevating the bracket 57.

A lower rotating body 59 for mandrel support, which has a larger diameter than the rotating body 51, is provided coaxially with and below the rotating body 51, and around this rotating body 59, a mandrel support seat 61 is attached to a clamping mechanism 52. It is set up correspondingly. gripper 54,54
When in the closed state, the central axes of the preform supporting notches 53, 53 and the central axis of the mandrel supporting recess 61 are located on the same vertical axis. A magnet 62 is provided in the mandrel supporting recess 61 (see FIG. 2-C), and is capable of attracting and holding the shaft portion 12 of the mandrel 10.

In FIG. 4, which shows in detail the drive system of the attachment/detachment mechanism 50 to the mandrel, a center shaft 301 is fixed to the machine base 300 in a non-rotatable manner.
A hollow drive shaft 302 is coaxial with the bearing 303.
It is rotatably provided through. A lower rotating body 59 is fixed to the upper end of the hollow drive shaft 302 by a key 304 . A non-rotatable central shaft 301 extends above the upper end of the hollow drive shaft 302, and an upper rotary body 51 is rotatably pivotally connected to the upper end of the central shaft 301 via a bearing 305. A cam plate supporting boss 306 is located in the middle of the central shaft 301 and is connected to the key 3.
07, and is fixed non-rotatably. The upper rotating body 51 and the lower rotating body 59 are integrally coupled by a vertical shaft 308 attached to the outer periphery of the upper rotating body 51. Thus, it will be understood that as the drive shaft 302 rotates, the lower rotary body 59 and the upper rotary body 51 rotate together.

Lifting member 58 slidably along vertical axis 308
is provided, and for the lower part of this elevating member 58,
A bracket 57 is provided as follows. One end of the bracket 57 is bifurcated, and the gripper driving shaft 56 is rotatably supported at this end, and the other end is a hollow shaft 309, which is connected to the lifting member 58. It is rotatably supported via a bearing 310.

The cam plate supporting boss 306 has a cylindrical cam plate 3
11 and a horizontal cam plate 312 are fixed, and the cylindrical cam plate 311 is provided with a cam 313 for controlling the lifting and lowering of the clamp mechanism and a cam 314 for controlling the rotation (reversal) of the clamp mechanism. , a gripper opening/closing control cam 315 is provided.

An angle 316 is attached to the elevating member 58, and the elevating control cam 31 is attached to this angle 316.
A cam follower 317 is provided which engages 3. Thus, it will be understood that as the cam follower 317 moves up and down, the lifting member 58, and therefore the entire clamping mechanism, moves up and down.

Further, a shaft 318 is rotatably provided in the center of the elevating member 58 via a bearing 319, a swing arm 320 is attached to one end of this shaft 318, and a clamp mechanism is attached to one end of this arm. A cam follower 321 that engages with the rotation control cam 314 is provided. A gear 322 is fixed to the other end of the shaft 318, and this gear 322 is attached to the bracket 57.
It is meshed with a gear 323 fixed to the hollow shaft 309 of. Thus, when the clamp rotation control cam follower 321 moves up and down, the arm 320 swings, causing the shaft 318 and therefore the gear 322 to rotate.This rotation is transmitted to the bracket 57 via the gear 323, and the clamp mechanism It will be understood that this results in a rotation of .

On the other hand, a sliding shaft 324 is located at the center of the bracket support hollow shaft 309 provided at the lower part of the elevating member 58.
is slidably provided via a rack 325. The outer end of the sliding shaft 324 is provided with a rack 325 that engages with a pinion 55 fixed to the gripper drive shaft 56. A rack 326 is also provided at the inner end of the sliding shaft 324, and this rack 326 is connected to the implant shaft 3 of the lower rotating body 59.
It meshes with a fan-shaped pinion 328 rotatably supported at the upper end of the pinion 27. The fan-shaped pinion 328 has an arm portion 329, and a cam follower 330 that engages with the gripper opening/closing control cam 315 is supported on the arm portion 329. When the gripper opening/closing control cam follower 330 moves in the radial direction of the rotating body, the fan-shaped pinion 328 rotates, causing the sliding shaft 324 and therefore the rack 325 to move in the radial direction. As a result, the pinion 55 rotates, causing the gripper 54 to open and close.

It is preferable that the diameter of the portion 331 of the bifurcated bracket 57 that supports the gripper 54 is longer than the diameter of the portion 322 on the opposite side. By doing so, the distance of the downward movement for inserting the preform 1 into the mandrel 10 after being reversed can be shortened.

FIG. 5 shows the trajectories of the clamp mechanism elevation control cam 313 and the clamp mechanism rotation control cam 314 by unfolding the cylindrical cam plate 311. That is, while the distance between cam 313 and cam 314 is constant,
No rotation of the bracket 57 occurs; rotation of the bracket 57 occurs as this distance changes.
The alphanumeric characters in FIG. 5 correspond to the stations in FIG. 2-A.

FIG. 2-A shows the clamp mechanism 52 in eight states A to H. Station A is a position where the preform from the large turret 33 is gripped, and in this position, the mandrel 10
is held in the mandrel supporting recess 61 by a magnet 62. The grippers 54, 54 are driven by a pinion 55 or the like so as to close the notch 5.
3 and 53, grip the mouth and neck part 2 of the preform 1.

In this state, the elevating member 58 is in the raised position,
The gripper 54 is also in the uppermost position.

As the clamp mechanism 52 moves from station A to station B, the bracket 57 begins to rotate clockwise by the cam mechanisms 314, 321, etc., and the preform 1 being clamped is also rotated accordingly. Station B in FIG. 2-A shows a state in which the preform 1 has been rotated approximately 90 degrees. Station B to Station C
While the clamp mechanism 52 is moving, the bracket 5
7 continues to rotate and stops when the preform 1 is rotated 180 degrees, that is, the preform 1 is inverted. Subsequently, the cam mechanisms 313, 317
As a result, the bracket 57 is lowered together with the elevating member 58, and the preform 1 is pushed into the mandrel 10, which is located on the same vertical axis as the preform 1, in an inverted state. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2-C, the insertion tip 11 of the mandrel 10 is pushed into the mouth and neck of the preform 1, and the preform 1 is fixed to the mandrel 10 and reaches the station C.

Station C is the position where the preform support mandrel is transferred to the preform transfer mechanism 70 (FIG. 1). The grippers 54, 54 are driven open by a pinion 55 to open the preform 1. In this station C, the mandrel support part 71 of the transfer mechanism also includes a magnet.
is in close proximity to the preform support mandrel 10,
The attractive force of this magnet acts on the mandrel 10. A mandrel separation guide 63 is provided on the advancing direction side of the mandrel 10 to move the mandrel 10 from the attachment/detachment mechanism 50 to the preform transfer mechanism 7.
Move to 0. At station C, the elevating member 58 is at its lowest position, and the gripper 57 is also at its lowest position. The operation of the attachment/detachment mechanism 50 after the station C will be described later.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the movement of the mandrel between the rotating members is achieved by a combination of magnetic attraction and separation guides, as described above.

The preform preheating mechanism 100 includes a turret 101 that is driven and rotated, and mandrel support seats 1 that are provided at regular intervals around the outer circumference of the turret.
02, an infrared radiation heating mechanism 103 disposed along the outer periphery of the turret, and a drive mechanism 104 (FIG. 6) for rotating the mandrel.

In FIG. 6, which shows an enlarged view of this preheating mechanism, the mandrel 10 supporting the preform 1 is attached to the mandrel support seat 102 by a magnet (not shown).
It is held rotatably by rollers 105. The drive mechanism 104 for rotating the mandrel is composed of a chain, and is engaged with the gear (sprocket) 14 of the mandrel in the range from the most upstream infrared radiant heating mechanism 103a to the most downstream infrared radiant heating mechanism 103z. Thus,
As the turret 101 rotates, the preform support mandrel 10 revolves, and the drive mechanism 1
By driving the preform supporting mandrel 10, the preform supporting mandrel 10 is rotated.

The infrared radiation heating mechanism 103 extends along the circumferential direction and includes a large number of infrared radiation units 106 arranged at small intervals in the vertical direction. It is attached to the machine frame 107 in a positional relationship that corresponds to the body and bottom. The infrared radiation unit 106 is located on the outer peripheral side of the row of preforms 1, but an infrared shielding plate 110 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the row of preforms 1 via support members 108, 109, and An infrared reflecting plate 112 is provided above the preform 1 with a support member 111 interposed therebetween, so that preheating of the preform 1 to the stretching temperature can be performed efficiently.

The preform support mandrel 10 is connected to the transfer mechanism 7
0 to mandrel support seat 1 of preheating mechanism 100
02, and while the preform 1 moves along the infrared radiation unit 106, it also rotates and is preheated to a predetermined temperature. In this case, infrared radiation heating is performed exclusively from the outer surface of the preform 1, so that a temperature gradient is formed in which the outer surface of the preform is relatively high and the inner surface is relatively low. Turrets 170 and 180 are provided to eliminate this temperature gradient and equalize the temperature on the inner and outer surfaces of the preform.

The first temperature equalizing turret 170 includes a mandrel support seat 171, and the second temperature equalizing turret 180 includes a mandrel support seat 181. The mandrel with the preform heated to a predetermined temperature by the preheating mechanism 100 is transferred to the support seat 171 of the first turret 170,
After being kept warm for a certain period of time, it is moved to the support seat 181 of the second turret 180, and is further kept warm for a predetermined period of time. Preform 1
The inner surface of the preform 1 is gradually heated to a high temperature due to heat conduction from the outer surface, and the outer surface of the preform 1 is gradually cooled, so that the temperatures of both become substantially equal. The mandrel with the preform whose temperature has been made uniform is transferred from the mandrel support seat 181 of the second turret 180 to the mandrel support section 64 of the transfer mechanism 60, and further supplied to the forming mechanism 200.

The molding mechanism 200 includes a rotating member 201, an openable/closable split mold 202 provided around the rotating member so as to be able to rotate together with the rotating member, and a mold opening/closing member 203 corresponding to the mold (FIG. 7). (see). In the circumferential movement path of the mold, a preform support mandrel supply zone I, a stretch blow molding zone J, and a container support mandrel takeout zone K are arranged in this order, and in the stretch blow molding zone J, the mold 202 is Although it is closed, the mold 202 is open in other areas.

In FIG. 7 showing details of the forming mechanism 200,
A mold opening/closing arm 206 is provided radially on the rotary member 201, and a vertical shaft 20 is attached to the supporting portion of the mold opening/closing arm 206.
5 is fixed. The mold opening/closing arm 2 is designed so that it can swing horizontally around this vertical axis 205.
A mold 202 is attached to one end of this mold opening/closing arm 206, and a fluid pressure cylinder 207 for driving the mold 202 to open and close is provided at the other end. Mold 202 is provided with a cavity 208 sized and shaped to correspond to the final container shape supported on the mandrel.

A mandrel support bracket 209 is secured below the vertical shaft 205. Bracket 2
There is a mandrel support seat 210 above the tip of the mandrel 10, and a magnet 211 for holding the shaft portion 12 of the mandrel 10 is provided on the support seat 210. A housing portion 213 is provided below the tip of the bracket 209 to support a blow molding lifting member 212 so as to be movable up and down. The blow molding lifting member 212 has a sealing surface 214 to be sealingly engaged with the lower end surface of the mandrel 10,
It has a vertically extending passage 215 therein. The blow molding lifting member 212 is always urged downward by a push spring 216, and is raised by the operation of the electromagnetic valve 245 shown in FIG. A stretching rod 217 is provided in the passage 215 of the blow molding lifting member 212 so as to be movable up and down.
This lifting rod 217 is also driven by the solenoid valve 2 in FIG.
This is done by the operation of 47.

There is a gap serving as a gas passage between the passage 215 of the blow molding lifting member 212 and the stretching rod 217, and this passage is connected to a gas source via a passage 218. Further, the stretching rod 217 and the blow molding lifting member 212 are sealed with a seal 219.

A bottom mold 221 is provided above the vertical shaft 205 by means of a support 220 so as to be movable up and down by means of an elevating shaft 222 . The lifting shaft 222 is driven by the support 220
This is done by a bottom-type lifting fluid cylinder 223 provided in the.

When the split mold 202 is closed, the center of the cavity 208, the center of the bottom mold 221, and the support seat 21
The center of the mandrel 10 supported at 0, the center of the blow molding lifting member 212, and the stretching rod 217 are all aligned so that they are located on the same vertical axis. The extension rod 217 includes an engagement tip 224 . The stretching rod 217 is connected to the passage 15 of the mandrel 10.
The engagement tip 224 is inserted into the preform 1 through the interior thereof, and the engagement tip 224 engages with the bottom inner wall of the preform 1, allowing the preform 1 to be stretched in the axial direction.

In FIG. 8, which shows the cross-sectional structure of the drawing rod in relation to the mandrel, in the passage 15 of the mandrel 10, around the drawing rod 217, there is a first gas passage 226 leading to the interior space 225 of the preform or container. It is provided. This first gas passage 226 passes through the passage 215 of the lifting member and passes through the passage 2
18. The drawing rod 217 is hollow and is provided with a second gas passage 227, which is inserted into the interior space 225 of the preform or container through openings 228 distributed along the length of the drawing rod. It is familiar to The first gas passage 226 is connected to a high-pressure air supply mechanism and air exhaust mechanism, which will be described later, via an on-off valve or a switching valve, while the second gas passage 227 is connected to a cooling air supply mechanism via an on-off valve. be done. Mold 202
A cooling mechanism 229 can be provided inside.

In FIG. 9 showing the control mechanism of the blow molding mechanism 200, C is a check valve and R is a rotary joint. High pressure air source (e.g. up to 40Kg/cm ² )2
30 is separated into a relatively high pressure blowing air source 232 via a pressure reducing valve 231 and a relatively low pressure cooling air source 234 via a pressure reducing valve 233.
A high-pressure blowing air source 232 is connected to the first gas passage 226 via a blowing solenoid valve 239 . Further, the first gas passage 226 is connected to an exhaust port 241 via an exhaust electromagnetic valve 240.

A low pressure cooling air source 234 is connected to the second gas passage 227 via a container cooling solenoid valve 242 .

Separately from the high-pressure air source, a low-pressure air source 243 for driving each fluid cylinder is provided.
44 and to each fluid cylinder via a rotary joint _R2 . That is, the stretching solenoid valve 24 is connected to the lifting cylinder 246 of the lifting member for blow molding via the mandrel sealing solenoid valve 245.
7 to the elevating cylinder 248 of the stretching rod;
The bottom mold lifting cylinders 223 are connected to the bottom mold lifting cylinders 223 via bottom mold solenoid valves 249 .

Further, the mold opening/closing cylinders 251 are each connected to a cylinder driving low pressure air source 243 via an opening/closing solenoid valve 255.

In addition, in order to improve the release of the container from the bottom mold 221, the bottom mold 221 is provided with an air blowing pipe 256, and this pipe 256 is connected to a high-pressure blowing pipe 256 via a mold releasing solenoid valve 257. Air source 232
It is connected to the.

Blow molding is performed by the following operations.

(1) Supply At station I in Figure 1, the mold 202
is in an open state, the bottom mold 221 is in the lowered position, and the blow molding lifting member 212 is also in the lowered position. A mandrel 10 with a preform preheated to the drawing temperature is held on a mandrel support seat 210.

(2) Preparation for molding The mold opening/closing solenoid valve 255 switches, the mold opening/closing cylinder 251 moves to the closing stroke, and the mold 20
2 closes. Next, solenoid valve 2 for mandrel seal
45 is switched, the lifting cylinder 246 raises the blow molding lifting member 212, and the mandrel 1
Maintains a sealed state with 0.

(3) Blow molding At station J in Figure 1, the stretching solenoid valve 247
is switched, the cylinder 248 moves upward, and the stretching rod 217 rises to stretch the preform 1 in the axial direction.

At the same time, the electromagnetic valve 239 is switched and high-pressure blowing air is blown into the preform through the first passage 226, thereby expanding and stretching the preform in the circumferential direction.

(4) Removal The molded container is removed from the mold at station K in Figure 1. First, the solenoid valve 240 opens to remove the air inside the container.

The container cooling solenoid valve 242 is closed, the mandrel sealing solenoid valve is switched, and the blow molding lifting member 212 is moved by the spring 216 (see FIG. 7).
returns to the lowered position. Immediately after, the mold opening/closing solenoid valve 255 and the stretching solenoid valve 247 are switched, and the cylinder 251 is activated to open the mold, and the cylinder 248 is activated to lower the stretching rod 217 and stop at the position shown in FIG. do.

The bottom mold solenoid valve 249 is switched, and the cylinder 2
23 is operated to raise the bottom mold 221.
At the same time, the mold release solenoid valve 257 is switched, and high pressure air is blown onto the bottom of the container to smoothly release the mold.

In the take-out area K shown in FIG. 1, the mandrel 10 with the stretched container 20 is transferred to the container take-out mechanism 80 and supplied to the mandle attachment/detachment mechanism 50.

Returning again to FIG. 2-A, clamping mechanism 52 at station C, with grippers 54, 54 in the open position, passes stations D and E to station F for receiving a container support mandrel. That is, the elevating member 58 and the gripper 54 are in the same state as the station C. At station F, container support mandrel 10
is supported in the mandrel supporting recess. The grippers 54, 54 are driven to close, and the notches 53, 53
grip the mouth microscope part 2 of the container 20 with. As we move from station F to station G,
The lifting member 58 and thus the clamping mechanism 52 move upward, thereby removing the container 20 from the mandrel 10. At station G, the lifting member 58 is in a raised position, but the gripper 54 is in a relatively lowered or reversed position.

In FIG. 1, the transfer mechanism 40 for the container 20 is
It consists of a container reversing mechanism 41 and a container transport mechanism 42. The container reversing mechanism 41 is for uprighting an inverted container, and is similar to the clamping mechanism shown in FIG. 2-A, except that it does not have a mandrel support mechanism.

In FIG. 10 showing this container reversing mechanism, a rotating body 43 has a large number of clamp mechanisms 52A around it.
Each member of this clamp mechanism 52A is indicated by a common reference numeral with an A appended to each member in FIG. 2-A. The container reversing mechanism 41 has six stations M to R. Station M corresponds to station G of the attachment/detachment mechanism 50 at the container clamping position. That is, in the station G of the attachment/detachment mechanism 50, while the grippers 54, 54 are still closed, the grippers 54A, 51A of the reversing mechanism 41 close and grip the lower part of the support ring 5 of the container 20. Next, the grippers 54, 54 of the attaching/detaching mechanism 50 are opened, and the container 20 is transferred to the reversing mechanism 41.

At station M of the reversing mechanism 41, the container 20 is in an inverted state. Then, as the reversing mechanism 41 rotates counterclockwise, the bracket 57A begins to rotate clockwise. At station N, the container 20 is rotated approximately 90 degrees, and at station O, the container 20 is rotated 180 degrees and is in an upright position. At this station O, grippers 54A, 5
4A opens and releases the container 20 onto the transfer conveyor 42, which transports the container 20 to a work area such as inspection and packaging. The clamp mechanism 52A is connected to the station P,
As it passes Q and R, it rotates another 180 degrees,
Reach station M.

On the other hand, the clamp mechanism in the attachment/detachment mechanism 50 is reversed 180 degrees by the cam mechanisms 314 and 321 while going from the station G to the station A, and returns to a state in which it can clamp the preform.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention provides a hollow container manufacturing apparatus that performs stretch blow molding by transporting a mandrel for supporting the preform and the container endlessly through a preheating region and a stretch blow molding region of the preform. By using this configuration, both the insertion and fixation of the preform into the mandrel and the operation of removing the container from the mandrel could be smoothly and reliably performed continuously within a single device. In other words, by using the lowering of the clamp mechanism for inserting the preform and the raising of the clamp mechanism for removing the container, unnecessary operations can be omitted. Furthermore, by adding the reversing operation of the clamp mechanism, a special device for reversing the preform could also be omitted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a top view showing the overall arrangement of the device of the present invention, Fig. 2-A is an enlarged top view showing the attachment/detachment mechanism to the mandrel, and Fig. 2-B is a side view showing the preform. FIG. 2-C is a side view showing the mandrel into which the preform is inserted, FIG. 3 is an enlarged side sectional view of the mandrel, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view showing the details, FIG. 5 is a developed view showing the elevation control cam and rotation control cam in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view showing the preheating mechanism in an enlarged manner. Figure 7.
The figure is a side sectional view showing an enlarged view of the forming mechanism.
Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view showing the cross-sectional structure of the drawing rod in relation to the mandrel, Fig. 9 is a system diagram showing the control mechanism of the stretch blow molding heat setting mechanism, and Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the container reversing mechanism. FIG. 3 is an enlarged top view. 1...preform, 10...mandrel, 30...
Supply mechanism, 100... Preheating mechanism, 200... Molding mechanism, 20... Molded hollow container, 40... Container transfer mechanism, 50... Attachment/detaching mechanism, 51 is an upper rotating body, 52 is a clamp mechanism, 53 is a gripping notch, 54 is gripper, 57 is a bracket, 58 is a lifting member, 59
313 is a lower rotating body, 313 is a cam for controlling elevation, 314
Reference numeral 315 indicates a cam for controlling the rotation of the bracket, and 315 indicates a cam for controlling the opening and closing of the gripper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for producing stretched plastic hollow containers, comprising: a mandrel for supporting a preform made of plastic and a hollow container made from the preform; a mounting area for placing the preform on the mandrel; a mandrel surrounding the mandrel; a preheating zone consisting of a turret with a plurality of support seats for support and a heating mechanism for heating the preform on a mandrel along the outer circumference of the turret; a plurality of openable and closable blow molding molds; and a mandrel support member corresponding to the mold. A transfer area for transferring the mandrel carrying the preheated preform from the preheating area to the blow molding area; Blow molding a take-out area for taking out the blow-molded container from the mandrel on which it is placed; and an endless transfer path of the mandrel passing through the placing area, preheating area, transfer area, blow-molding area and take-out area in this order; The described area includes a preform supply mechanism that supplies the preform, a preform from the supply mechanism that inserts the preform into the mandrel and fixes it to the mandrel, and a mandrel that extracts the container from the container support mandrel that is supplied from the extraction area. a preform transfer mechanism for transferring the preform supporting mandrel to the preheating area; and a container transfer mechanism for transferring the container removed from the mandrel from the attachment/detachment mechanism to the outside of the apparatus. The attachment/detachment mechanism includes: a first rotating body; a clamp mechanism provided at equal intervals around the first rotating body and equipped with grippers for gripping the preform and the mouth and neck of the container; and a gripper for opening and closing the clamp mechanism. an opening/closing mechanism for reciprocating the clamp mechanism in the axial direction relative to the rotating body; a reciprocating drive mechanism provided coaxially with the first rotating body and spaced from the first rotating body in the axial direction a second rotating body; and a mandrel support seat provided around the second rotating body at equal intervals and on the same axis as the preform of the clamp mechanism and the gripping position of the mouth and neck of the container. A preform supply mechanism, a preform transfer mechanism, a container take-out area, and a container transfer mechanism are provided in this order around the attachment/detachment mechanism in the rotational direction of the attachment/detachment mechanism, and an opening/closing mechanism of the clamp mechanism and a reciprocating drive mechanism are provided. The gripper is closed to grip the preform at or near the contact point between the preform supply mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism. Move for insertion,
The gripper is opened at or near the point of contact with the attaching/detaching mechanism of the preform transfer mechanism to release the preform, and the gripper is closed at or near the point of contact between the container ejection area and the attaching/detaching mechanism to grip the neck of the container, and the gripper is gripped at the container opening neck. The gripper is moved to remove the container from the contact point between the container transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism to the contact point between the container transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism, and the gripper is opened at or near the contact point of the container transfer mechanism and the attachment/detachment mechanism to remove the container. 2. A transfer device that is associated with a clamping mechanism to perform half a rotation between a contact point between a container transfer mechanism and an attachment/detachment mechanism and a contact point between a preform supply mechanism and an attachment/detachment mechanism. 2. The container transfer mechanism includes a container reversing mechanism and a container transporting mechanism, and the container reversing mechanism includes: a rotating body; and grippers provided at equal intervals around the rotating body and gripping the lower part of the neck of the container. an opening/closing mechanism for opening and closing a gripper of the clamping mechanism; and a rotational drive mechanism for rotationally driving the clamping mechanism at a position where it is attached to a rotating body; The mechanism grips the lower part of the mouth and neck of the container by closing the gripper at or near the contact point between the attachment/detachment mechanism and the container transfer mechanism, and closes the gripper at or near the contact point between the attachment/detachment mechanism and the container reversing mechanism to the point of contact between the container inverting mechanism and the container transfer mechanism. In the meantime, the clamp mechanism is turned half a turn to 1/4 turn and the container is turned upright or sideways, and the gripper is opened at or near the contact point between the container reversing mechanism and the container transport mechanism to remove the container. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is associated for discharging into a container transport mechanism.