JPH06199326A - Bottling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a unitary structure between a bottling apparatus for carrying and handling containers arranged in a plurality of rows and the labelers incorporated in the bottling apparatus. CONSTITUTION:Container handling device such as a filler 40 and a capper 80 are provided on a grip conveyor 20 for carrying the containers arranged in a plurality of rows. A labeler conveyor 121 is provided overlying the grip conveyor 20 transversely and labelers 120 are provided along the conveyor 121. The labeler conveyor 121 carries containers B in a single row and feeds the same to the labelers 120. A bottle gripper is provided between the grip conveyor 20 and the labeler conveyor 121 for delivery of the container B therebetween, whereby the arrangement of the containers is made switchable between the plurality of rows and the single row. By this method, a unitary structure can be formed between the labeler incapable of handling the containers in the plurality of rows and the other container handling device to make possible the operative association with each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container processing device for sequentially performing a bottling process such as a filler (filling machine) for filling a liquid such as drinking water into a container, a capper for attaching a cap, and a labeler for attaching a label. The present invention relates to a bottling system obtained by integrally forming a block.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when filling a plastic bottle with a liquid such as drinking water or other contents, first, a large number of randomly placed plastic bottles are put upright by an unscrambler. After cleaning the inside with an air cleaner, send it to the filler to fill the content liquid. Then, capping is performed in the capper. Then, after each label is attached to the peripheral surface of the container by a labeler, a predetermined number of the labels are aligned and packed in a box with a caser. It is desired to perform each of such bottling processes by a device which can be installed in a small space with high efficiency.

To this end, it is desirable that each processing device for performing each of the bottling steps be divided into a block as a series of devices, and that a plurality of columns be simultaneously processed in each step.

[0004]

However, since the apparatus such as the filler and the capper arranges the filling nozzle and the capper head above to perform these processes, a plurality of containers conveyed in a plurality of rows may be used. At the same time, that is, at the same time, it is possible to perform processing such as filling a number of columns (one row crossing a plurality of columns) or a number of columns xn at the same time. Since it is arranged on the side of the container, the label is attached to the peripheral surface of the container while rotating the container during transportation, and then the label is brought into close contact with the container by a process such as wiping. It was impossible to process. Therefore, it is difficult to make the entire bottling system into a series of blocks.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and a container processing device such as a filler or a capper capable of simultaneously processing containers conveyed in a plurality of rows and a labeler are connected in series. The present invention provides a bottling system that can be made into blocks as a process.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A bottling system according to the present invention comprises a first transfer means for transferring a large number of containers in a plurality of rows, and a container treatment such as a filling machine provided on the first transfer means. Means and second conveying means which are disposed so as to intersect with each other on the first conveying means and convey the containers in a line, and second conveying means which holds the containers on the first conveying means. A first delivery means for moving up, a second delivery means for holding the container on the second carrying means and moving it over the first carrying means,
And a labeler provided in the second transport means.

[0007]

In the bottling system described above, a container processing device such as a filler or a capper capable of processing a plurality of containers at the same time performs the processing on the transfer means for transferring the containers in a plurality of rows, and the containers must be transferred in a single row. In the case of a labeler that cannot be processed, the plurality of rows of conveying means are transferred to one row of conveying means to perform labeling, and then the originals of the plurality of rows of conveying means are returned to perform the next step.

[0008]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a bottling system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. In the figure, 1 is an unscrambler, which conveys a large number of plastic containers B randomly stored in a hopper (not shown) upward by a tilt conveyor 2 divided into a plurality of rows, and downstream of the tilt conveyor 2. It is thrown into the chute 3 arranged below the end (upper end) 2a. Among these containers B, the inverted ones are thrown into the chute 3 or inverted in the chute 3 so that all the containers B are turned upside down.
Are aligned in an upright position.

All of the containers B arranged in the upright state by the unscrambler 1 are inverted under the chute 3 to be in the inverted state, and are passed to the air cleaner 10 of the cleaning station C to clean the inside thereof. . The cleaned container B is a grip conveyor (first transfer unit) that transfers the container B in a plurality of rows.
Handed over to 20. While transporting a large number of containers B in a plurality of rows by the grip conveyor 20, the filler (filler) 40 in the filling station F fills the container B with the content liquid, and the capper 7 in the capping station P is filled.
Capping is performed at 9,80. Next, these containers B are conveyors for the other labelers 120 arranged orthogonally on the grip conveyor 20 (second conveying means).
It is moved to 121 and conveyed in a single line. While being conveyed by the labeler conveyor 121, the containers B are sequentially sent to the labeling station L,
Labeling is performed by the labeler 120. The container B to which the label is attached is returned to the grip conveyer 20 again, conveyed in a plurality of rows and sent to the caser 170 in the boxing station H for boxing. Then, it is carried out of the bottling system by the case conveyor 171.

Next, the container processing stations C,
Fillers 40 and cappers 80 provided at F, P, L, and H
The configuration of each of these devices will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the chute 3 of the unscrambler 1 and the air cleaner 10 arranged below the chute 3, and FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the essential part thereof. The unscrambler 1 arranges the containers in an upright state. B continuously falls in the vertical chute 3. A reversing mechanism 4 for reversing the upright container B is provided in the middle of the chute 3. The reversing mechanism 4 is provided with an opening / closing bucket 5 that holds and rotates the container B in the chute 3, and a semi-circular arc-shaped guide 6 that guides the container B that is reversed by the opening / closing bucket 5. The openable bucket 5 includes a plurality of sets (six sets in this embodiment) of holding plates 8 attached to the rotating shaft 7 so as to be movable in the axial direction, and the spacing between the holding plates 8 of each set is widened. In this state, drop the container B from within the chute 3 and then
After the holding plates 8 are brought close to each other to hold the container B, the holding plate 8 is rotated 1/2 times together with the rotating shaft 7 to bring the container B into an inverted state. A stopper (not shown) is provided above the reversing mechanism 4, and the upper container B is temporarily stopped by the stopper and dropped one by one.

The air cleaner 10 provided at the cleaning station C includes a pair of front and rear sprockets 11a,
It is equipped with a neck grip 13 that is attached to a chain 12 hung around 11b and holds the mouth of the container B.
The opening / closing bucket 5 of the reversing mechanism 4 holds and conveys the mouth of the container B held in an inverted state. The container B held by the openable bucket 5 is attached to the neck grip 13
A cleaning nozzle 14 is provided below the position where the cleaning nozzle 14 is gripped. The cleaning nozzle 14 can be moved up and down by an elevating means such as an air cylinder, and the nozzle 14 is placed inside the container B stopped at the delivery position from the openable bucket 5 to the neck grip 13.
Is inserted. The chain 12 to which the neck grip 13 is attached is designed to be intermittently operated, and the neck grip 13 grasps the mouth of the inverted container B and at the same time the cleaning nozzle 14 is inserted to perform cleaning while the chain is stopped. After that, the chain 12 travels, the container B is rotated about 1/2 turn, and the container B is inverted again to return to the upright state and is delivered to the grip conveyor 20 described later. The neck grip 13 then rotates upward and stops below the reversing mechanism 4 to receive the next container B.

The grip conveyor 20 that conveys the container B that has been cleaned by the air cleaner 10 and sequentially supplies it to the filling station F, the capping station P, the labeling station L, etc. is shown in FIGS. This will be described with reference to a plan view (FIG. 5) showing a part of a part as a cross section and a vertical cross-sectional view (FIG. 6) of a main part. The grip conveyor 20 is provided with a sprocket 21 disposed below the cleaning station C and on the caser 170 side at the downstream end.
A chain 22 hung between a and 21b, and a large number of grippers 23 attached to the chain 22 at predetermined intervals.
And a plurality of rows of grippers 23 are arranged in parallel, and the containers B held by the grippers 23 are intermittently operated so as to advance by one pitch (one row). Note that the arrangement of the containers B along the traveling direction in FIG. 2 is referred to as a “column”, and the arrangement of the containers B transverse to the traveling direction is referred to as a “row”.

The chains 22 are arranged in parallel on both sides of the width of the grip conveyor 20, and base plates 24 are fixed at equal intervals between the chains 22 on both sides. Each gripper 23 is composed of a pair of grip members 23a and 23b facing each other from the front and the rear in the traveling direction of the grip conveyor 20, and the container B is formed by the pair of grip members 23a and 23b approaching each other.
Is held, and when separated, the container B is separated. On the lower surface of the base plate 24, each gripper 23
Each time, two guide pins 25 are fixed in parallel in the traveling direction of the grip conveyor 20. The two slide members 26a and 26b are attached to the two guide pins 25.
Are slidably supported, and two grip members 23a and 23b on the base plate 24 are slidably supported by a pair of slide members 26a and 26b through a support pin 27 that vertically penetrates an elongated hole 24a formed in the base plate 24. It is fixed to each. Therefore, these slide members 2
By moving the 6a and 26b forward and backward along the guide pin 25, the pair of grip members 23a and 23b can be moved toward and away from each other.

The slide members 26a and 26b of each set are T
Both ends of the horizontal bar portion 28 a of the die crank 28 are connected to each other via connecting plates 29. T-shaped crank 2
The central portion 28c of the reference numeral 8 is connected to the central portion 24b of each gripper 23 on the lower surface of the base plate 24, and can rotate about the central portion 24b as a fulcrum. Further, the T-shaped cranks 28 for one row (six in this embodiment) arranged side by side with respect to the traveling direction are the vertical bar portions 2 thereof.
It is connected by one long link 30 at the end of 8b. Therefore, when this long link 30 is moved in the lateral direction (vertical direction in FIG. 5), each T-shaped crank 2
8 rotates about its central portion 28c as a fulcrum, and slide members 26a and 26b connected to both ends thereof slide to open and close grip members 23a and 23b.

A cam follower 31 is attached to the central portion of the long link 30 and engages with a grooved cam 32 arranged along the traveling direction. The cam follower 31 is constrained by the grooved cam 32 to maintain the gripper 23 in a constant open / closed state. Further, while the grip conveyor 20 is operated and moves forward, the cam follower 31 is moved to the groove cam 32.
The gripper 23 is opened or closed or tightened by moving the link 30 in the lateral direction by moving along the locus. Part of the groove cam 32 is provided with a partial cam 33 for opening / closing or tightening the gripper 23 while the grip conveyor 20 is stopped. The partial cam 33 is configured to be movable laterally with respect to the groove cam 32, and is moved back and forth by an air cylinder 34 and the like. The partial cam 33 is laterally moved to open / close or retighten the gripper 23 while the grip conveyor 20 traveling intermittently repeating the forward stop is stopped. The groove cam 32 is provided with a nut 36 which is screwed into a screw 35 arranged in a direction traversing the grip conveyor 20, and when the size of the container B is changed, the screw 35 is rotated. This can be dealt with by moving the entire unit of the groove cam 32 in the lateral direction.

The container B conveyed by the grip conveyor 20 is sent to the filling station F. The configuration of the filler 40 provided in the filling station F will be described with reference to FIG. 8 that is a front view of the filler 40, FIG. 9 that is a side view of the filler 40, and FIG. 7 that is a plan view of the main portion thereof. The filler 40 is the head tank 4 in order from the top.
1, a cylinder 42 and a filling nozzle 43. The passages that respectively communicate between the head tank 41 and the cylinder 42 and between the cylinder 42 and the filling nozzle 43 are alternately connected by switching the cock 44. The head tank 41 is fixed to the upper machine frame, and the cylinder 42 is fixed to the tank 41.
By moving the piston up and down by an eccentric cam, which will be described later, the liquid in the head tank 41 is sucked into the cylinder 42 through the passage of the cock 44, measured, and then the cock 44 is switched to raise the piston. The liquid in the cylinder 41 is filled into the container B through the filling nozzle 43. The filling nozzle 43 is connected to the cylinder 42 by a flexible tube 39, is attached and supported to the fixed frame 45 via a movable frame or the like described below, and moves up and down to follow the rise of the liquid level at the time of filling. And the forward / backward movement that follows the travel of the grip conveyor 20 that holds the container B.

Fixed frame 4 supporting the filling nozzle 43
5 is fixed between columns 46 provided upright on both sides of the grip conveyor 20, and in this fixed frame 45,
Two parallel upper and lower horizontal guide rods 47 are fixed. This horizontal guide rod 47 has a horizontal movable frame 48.
Is slidably supported. Further, two parallel vertical guide rods 49 are fixed to the horizontally movable frame 48. In these two vertical guide rods 49,
A vertically movable frame 51 is slidably supported via a slider 50. The filling nozzles 43 are attached to the elevating movable frame body 51. In this embodiment, the elevating movable frame bodies 51 are provided with the filling nozzles 43 for 6 columns and 3 rows (see FIGS. 1 and 2). Move up and down as a unit. The slider 50 is connected to the upper end of an upper lever 52, and the lower end of the upper lever 52 is connected to the end of another lower lever 53. The other end of the lower lever 53 is rotatably supported by the machine frame, and by swinging the lower lever 53, the slider 50 and the vertically movable frame 51 are moved up and down via the upper lever 52. A drive shaft 55 is disposed below the filler 40 so as to cross the lower portion of the grip conveyor 20, and a nozzle elevating cam 56 is fitted to the outer surface of the drive shaft 55 so that the drive shaft 55 can be driven. When the nozzle raising / lowering cam 56 is rotated by driving, a cam follower (not shown) attached to the lower lever 53 moves along a cam curve to swing the lower lever 53 and, as described above,
The elevating movable frame body 51 supporting the filling nozzle 43 is moved up and down.

The horizontally movable frame 48, which supports the vertically movable frame 51 so as to be vertically movable, is connected to the upper end of a lever 57 whose lower end is pivotally supported by the machine frame via a link 58 or the like. At the time of forward movement (forward movement following the traveling of the grip conveyor 20), the hook 59 attached to the link 58 is attached.
Hook on the chain 22 of the grip conveyor 20,
When traveling with the grip conveyor 20, and when retracting, the hook 59 is detached from the chain 22, and the drive shaft 5
By rotation of the nozzle return cam 54 attached to 5,
It is returned to the upstream side of the grip conveyor 20 via a cam follower (not shown) attached to the lever 57. A piston rod 78a of an air cylinder 78 is connected to the lever 57 to prevent an overrun at the time of returning.

The piston rod 60 of the cylinder 42
Is coupled to a drive arm 61 that traverses below cylinder 42. The cylinder drive arm 61 is provided with slide portions 62 at both ends, and the slide portions 62 are vertically fixed to both sides of the grip conveyor 20 and fixed to the column 4.
6 is slidably fitted to move up and down. As shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the eccentric cam 64 that drives the cylinder 42 includes an inner cam 65 that is eccentrically fitted to the drive shaft 55, and an outer cam of the inner cam 65. The cam 65 is provided with an outer cam 66 that rotates and slides.
The lower end of an arm 67, the upper end of which is connected to the slide portion 62, is connected to the upper surface of 6. Therefore, when the drive shaft 55 rotates, the inner cam 65 rotates eccentrically with the drive shaft 55, and the outer cam 6
The arm 67 connected to 6 moves up and down to move the piston rod 60 of each cylinder 42 forward and backward.

The eccentric cam 64 is the drive shaft 5
The amount of eccentricity with respect to the rotation center of No. 5 can be changed. The drive shaft 55 is fitted in a vertically elongated hole 65b formed in the center of the inner cam 65, and the eccentric amount is within a range in which the drive shaft 55 can move relative to the elongated hole 65b. Can be changed. A cam body 68 is fitted and fixed to the outer periphery of the drive shaft 55, and a slide portion 68a is provided on the cam body 68 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the drive shaft 55 (vertical direction in FIGS. 10 and 11). These slide parts 68a
The inner cam 65 is slidably fitted between them. Two vertical notches 65c are formed in the inner cam 65, and the slide portion 68a is provided between these notches 65c.
Are fitted. A spline 68b is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the end of the cam body 68, and a slider 69 is fitted in the spline portion 68b.
On the other hand, it is slidable in the axial direction of the drive shaft 55 and rotates integrally with the cam body 68. The slide portion 68a of the cam body 68,
A bell crank 70 is swingably and pivotally mounted between the spline portion 68b, one end of the bell crank 70 is connected to a slider 69 via a link 72, and a cam follower 71 is attached to the other end. There is. A cam follower groove 65a is formed in the inner cam 65, and the cam follower 71 is engaged therewith. Therefore, the slider 69
Is moved in the axial direction on the spline 68b of the cam body 68, the bell crank 70 is swung via the link 72, and the inner cam 65 is slid on the cam body 68 via the cam follower 71 and the cam follower groove 65a. 6
By moving up and down between 8a, the eccentric amount of the eccentric cam 64 with respect to the drive shaft 55 changes. The slider 69 has an adjuster 73 fixed to the outer periphery thereof in an axial direction (direction of arrow A) by a screw jack 74.
By moving to, the cam body 68 is slid. By changing the eccentricity amount of the eccentric cam 64 with the above configuration, the eccentric cam 64 can be changed even while the eccentric cam 64 is rotating.

In FIG. 8, an eccentric cam 64 for driving the cylinder 42, a mechanism for moving the entire unit including the filling nozzle 43 up and down, and a mechanism for moving the nozzle unit so as to follow the traveling container are shown on one side. Although only shown in the figure, the present embodiment has a bilaterally symmetrical structure and is driven from both sides. Further, the adjusters 73 of the eccentric cam 64 are connected to each other on the right and left sides so that the eccentric amount can be changed at the same time.

In this bottling system, an inner cap for fitting an inner cap fitted into the mouth of the container B and a screw cap fitted and screwed onto the outer periphery of the mouth of the container B to the container B, respectively. 79 and a screw capper 80 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).
reference). Since these two cappers 79 and 80 have similar structures, the screw capper 80 will be described here with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14, and the description of the inner capper 79 will be omitted. The frame 8 is installed on columns 81 that are erected on both sides of the grip conveyor 20.
2 is fixed. The frame 82 is provided with as many capping heads 83 as the number of rows of the grip conveyors 20 (six in this embodiment). These capping heads 83 are attached to the lower ends of slide rods 85 that are rotatably supported in a guide bush 84 fixed to a bottom plate 82a of a frame 82.

A vertical rotary shaft 86 is disposed inside one of the columns 81, and is rotationally driven via a drive shaft 87. The bottom plate 8 of the frame 82 above the rotary shaft 86
A wheel 88 is attached to the portion protruding above 2a, and wheels 89 are also attached to the portions of the slide rods 85 having the same height. A timing belt 90 is wound around these wheels 88 and 89. ing. Therefore, when the rotary shaft 86 is rotated by the drive shaft 87, the wheel 88 above the rotary shaft 86 rotates, and this rotation is transmitted to the wheel 89 of each slide rod 85 via the timing belt 90, and the slide rod 85 is rotated. 8
The capping head 83 is rotated via 5.

A bevel gear 91 is attached to the upper end of the rotary shaft 86, and a bevel gear 93 is attached to the end of a horizontal shaft 92 arranged across both columns 81.
Meshes with. A cam plate 95 for raising and lowering the capping head is fixed to both ends of the horizontal shaft 92, and a rotary shaft 86 is provided.
The rotation of the capping head lifting cam plate 9
5 rotates. The upper ends of the six slide rods 85 to which the capping heads 83 are attached have horizontal support plates 94.
Are connected via. A lever 97 is swingably mounted on the bottom plate 82a of the frame 82 via an upright mounting plate 96 (see FIG. 14). This lever 9
The swinging end of the horizontal support plate 9 is connected to the horizontal support plate 9 via a link 98.
Connected to four. A cam follower 99 is attached to an intermediate portion of the lever 97 and is engaged with the head lifting cam plate 95. Therefore, the drive shaft 87 causes the column 81
When the inner rotary shaft 86 rotates, the timing belt 9
The six capping heads 83 rotate at a constant speed via 0, and the six capping heads 83 ascend and descend as the head elevating cam 95 rotates. The container B is rotated and rotated up and down by the capping head 83.
Is capped at the mouth of the.

The cap 100, which is attached to the mouth of the container B by the capping head 83, is vertically aligned by the cap sorter 101 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) and is supplied through the chute 102 to the picker. It is taken out by the attached chain 103. The pickers are attached to the chain 103 wound around a plurality of rollers 104 at predetermined intervals (intervals between the containers B in each row). The picker-equipped chain 103 is disposed slightly upstream of the capping head 83 (downward in FIG. 12, left in FIG. 14) and intermittently travels by the same number of pickers as the number of capping heads 83. . The portion of the chain 103 with picker corresponding to the capping head 83 moves back and forth by the air cylinder 105.
The cap 100 is extruded via 06 and moved below the capping head 83 (in the direction of arrow E in FIGS. 12 and 14) to deliver the cap 100. The delivery of the cap 100 is performed while the capping is stopped. Swingable automatic tension rollers 107 are provided on both sides of the portion where the chain 103 with picker moves back and forth (see FIG. 12), and the tension state is adjusted when the chain 103 is moved.

In the capping station P, when capping is performed by lowering and rotating the capping head 83, the holding force of the container B by the gripper 23 is increased by the tightening cam (partial cam 33) of the grip conveyor 20. Raise it. A frame 82 provided with a capping head 83 of the capper 80 and a mechanism for moving the head 83 up and down and rotating.
The height of the column can be adjusted by moving the column 81 up and down. An elevating screw 81a is formed in the lower part of the column 81, and a gear 76 screwed onto the outer surface of the elevating screw 81a is rotated at that position to elevate the column 81, depending on the size of the container B and the like. Change the height. In addition, the rotary shaft 86 is also 2
It is composed of two spline shafts fitted to each other, is relatively movable in the axial direction, and is integrated in the rotating direction. When changing the height of the column 81, the rotating shaft 8
The length of 6 is also adjusted at the same time.

The container B, which has been capped by the cappers 79 and 80, is then sent to the labeler 120 for labeling. 15 to 17 show the labeler 12
0 and a conveyor 1 for supplying containers to this labeler 120
21 shows a front view, a plan view and FIG. 1, respectively.
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XVII-XVII of FIG. 5, in which labeling is performed while transporting the container B on the transport surface of the grip conveyor 20 by a labeler conveyor 121 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyor 20. . The labeler 120 includes a supply section S for moving the container B on the grip conveyor 20 to a labeler conveyor 121, a labeling section (labeling station) L, and a container B for which labeling has been completed from the labeler conveyor 121 to the grip conveyor 20. It is composed of a returning discharge part D.

The conveyor 121 for the labeler is the chain 1
A large number of bottle stands 1 mounted on 22 at equal intervals (same intervals as the intervals of the containers B conveyed by the grip conveyor 20)
23, the container B is placed on each of these bottle stands 123 and conveyed. Above the conveyor 121 for labelers, a top locator 124 that travels along the same plane trajectory as the conveyor 121 is disposed. The top locator 124 is provided corresponding to each bottle stand 123, and the corresponding bottle stand 123 and locator 124 are provided.
The container B is held and conveyed from above and below by and. Each top locator 124 is fixed to the lower end of an elevating rod 126 which is supported by a guide member 125 so as to be able to elevate and lower, and a cam follower 127 attached to the upper end of the elevating rod 126 engages with a locator guide cam 128, and It moves up and down along the trajectory of the guide cam 128. The locator guide cam 128 lowers the top locator 124 to hold the container B at the labeling station L, and holds the container B between the discharge section D and the supply section S.
Is raised so as not to interfere with the bottle gripper described later.

The supply section S and the discharge section D are provided with a bottle gripper 129 for delivering the container B between the grip conveyor 20 and the labeler conveyor 121. Since the bottle grippers 129 of the supply section S and the discharge section D basically have the same configuration, only one of them (the supply section S) will be described and the configuration of the discharge section D will be described.
The same symbols as those of the supply unit S are added with d, and the description thereof is omitted. A frame 131 is fixed to an upper portion of a column 130 standing on both sides of the grip conveyor 20. An elevating rod 133 is slidably supported in a guide member 132 fixed on the bottom plate 131a of the frame 131. The bottle grippers 129 are attached to the lower ends of the lifting rods 133, respectively. Further, a swing end of a lever 134, one end of which is swingably supported on an upper portion of the frame 131, is connected to an upper end of the elevating rod 133 via a mounting plate 135. Bottle grippers 129 of the supply section S and the discharge section D,
The elevating rods 133 and 133d that support 129d are provided in the same number as the number of rows of the grip conveyor 20 (six in the present embodiment) and at intervals equal to the intervals of each row, and It shifts laterally from the row by one row (to the right in FIGS. 15 and 16), and the feed section S moves one row upstream of the grip conveyor 20 and the discharge section D moves one row downstream of the grip conveyor 20. It is placed at a position that is offset by a line.

A vertical rotating shaft (not shown) is inserted into the column 130 similarly to the structure of the capper 80, and a bevel gear 136 fixed to the lower end thereof is engaged with a bevel gear 138 of a drive shaft 137 to rotate. To be done. A bevel gear 139 is fixed to the upper end of the rotary shaft, and the bevel gear 1 of the horizontal shaft 140 arranged at a position crossing over both columns 130.
The horizontal shaft 140 is rotated by meshing with 41. A bottle gripper lifting cam 142 is fixed to the horizontal shaft 140, and a mounting plate 135 is attached to the upper end of the lifting rod 133.
A cam follower 143 mounted in the middle of the lever 134 connected via the lever is engaged. Therefore, when the rotary shaft and the horizontal shaft 140 are rotated by the input from the drive shaft 137, the bottle gripper lifting cam 14
According to the curve of 2, the bottle gripper 129 fixed to the elevating rod 133 moves up and down. Bottle gripper 129
Between the position where the container B is lowered to grip the container B on the grip conveyor 20 and the position where the container B is lifted and placed on the bottle stand 123 of the labeler conveyor 121 and then the container B can be released. It can be raised and lowered.

A helical gear 144 is fitted on the outer periphery of the portion of the elevating rod 133 protruding above the guide member 132. This helical gear 144 is used for the lifting rod 1
It is movable in the axial direction relative to 33, and is connected in the rotational direction so as to rotate integrally. Further, a horizontal gear shaft 145 is disposed so that the height of the helical gear 144 is the same as that of each helical gear 144, and the orthogonal helical gear 14 fitted on the outer periphery of the gear shaft 145.
6 is the helical gear 14 of the lifting rod 133.
4 is in mesh. The horizontal gear shaft 145 replaces the drive shaft 13
The rotation of 7 is transmitted, and the bevel gear 139 in FIG. 16 intermittently rotates by the index, so that the elevating rod 133 and the bottle gripper 129 intermittently rotate. Bottle gripper 12 of supply section S
9 is stopped in a state of facing sideways to the grip conveyor 20 and descends, simultaneously grips one row of containers B on the grip conveyor 20 and rotates 90 degrees while ascending,
The container B is placed on the bottle stand 123 of the labeler conveyor 121 while facing the downstream side of the grip conveyor 20, and the container B is released while moving at a speed substantially following the traveling speed of the labeler conveyor 121, and thereafter, After further rising and rotating to avoid interference with the container B, the container rotates and stops while descending. The container B is gripped and opened as described above during one rotation, and the operation is repeated. In addition, the bottle gripper 129d of the discharge part D grips the container B on the bottle stand 123 of the labeler conveyor 121 in a state of facing the upstream side of the grip conveyor 20 and at a raised position, as shown in FIG.
6 descends while rotating in the clockwise direction of 6 (direction of arrow F), returns one row of the container B onto the grip conveyor 20, and then rotates again to ascend to move the container B on the labeler conveyor 121. Head to the grip. At this time, first, the labeler conveyor 121 is raised to a position where it does not interfere with the container B on the bottle stand 123 and then lowered to grip the container B on the bottle stand 123, and the above operation is repeated.

A bottle guide 148 is disposed inside the supply section S and the discharge section D of the labeler conveyor 121. The bottle guides 148 are attached to the chain 150 that rotates around the sprocket 149 at the same intervals as the intervals of the bottle stands 123. The bottle guides 148 run behind the bottle stands 123 at the same speed as the bottle stands 123, and The back side of the container B on the table 123 is supported.

A labeling station L is provided at a portion of the labeler conveyor 121, which is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the grip conveyor 20, outside the conveyance path of the grip conveyor 20, and the labeling station L is provided at this labeling station L. 120 is provided. The labeler 120 is a normal line type labeler, and the labels 155 are taken out one by one from a label magazine 156 in which a large number of labels 155 are stored by a labeling drum 157 arranged on the side of the conveyor 121, and a gaming unit 158. By this, an adhesive is applied to the back surface of the label 155 and attached to the outer surface of the container B conveyed by the conveyor 121. Labeling drum 15
A counter roller 159 is disposed behind the container B at the position where the label is applied by 7, and supports the container B from the back side. In the present embodiment, one set of labelers 120 is provided on the downstream side of the supply section S of the labeling conveyor 121, and the conveyor 12 is further provided.
Although another labeler 161 is provided in the middle of the route in which 1 reverses the periphery of the sprocket 160 and goes to the discharge portion D, this is for performing double-sided sticking, and needless to say, only one set may be provided. Is.

The container B for which labeling has been completed is discharged to the discharge section D.
Grip conveyor 2 by bottle gripper 129d
Returned to 0, transported, and sent to the caser 170 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). In this caser 170, the number of cases accommodated in the case 172 conveyed by the case conveyor 171 is taken out from the grip conveyor 20 in one cycle and inserted into the case 172. In the illustrated example, since 12 containers, which have been conveyed in 6 rows, are stored in the case 172, 12 containers are simultaneously taken out and stored in the case 172. Further, for example, when the number of cases is 15, the grip conveyor 20 is operated in 5 rows, and 3 rows are taken out and packed in a box.

Next, the operation of the bottling system having the above structure will be described. The container (plastic bottle or the like) B, which is conveyed upward in parallel in six rows by the inclined conveyor 2 of the unscrambler 1 and is placed in the lower chute 3 and aligned in the vertical direction, has a reversing mechanism 4
Is supplied to the cleaning station C after being inverted and inverted. The container B whose bottom is gripped by the openable bucket 5 of the reversing mechanism 4 and which is inverted,
The mouth portion is held by the neck grip 13 of the air cleaner 10 provided therebelow. The neck grip 13 is designed to be operated intermittently, and a cleaning nozzle 14 disposed below is inserted into a container B held by the neck grip 13 and stopped in an inverted state.
When the cleaning is completed, the chain 12 of the neck grip 13 runs, passes through the sprocket 11b, inverts the container B again, and delivers it to the grip conveyor 20 below. In the upper reversing mechanism 4, the next container B has been reversed, and is held by the next neck grip 13 and sent to the cleaning station C.

In the grip conveyor 20, the T-shaped crank 28 is rotated by moving the link 30 in the left-right direction of the traveling direction by the curve of the groove cam 32, and the grip members 23a and 23b of the gripper 23 are expanded. After receiving the container B, the T-shaped crank 28 is rotated in the opposite direction to bring both grip members 23a and 23b close to each other, and the container B
Hold in. The grip conveyor 20 advances one station (one row) at a time.

The containers which are intermittently advanced one row by one row in the state of 6 columns by the grip conveyor 20 are first supplied to the filler 40. In the filler 40, the cylinder 42 is operated by the rotation of the drive shaft 55 to suck and fill the filling liquid, and the filling nozzle 43
And the following, the following movement of the filling nozzle 43 is performed as the container B is moved forward by one line by the grip conveyor 20, and further, the filling nozzle 43 is returned to the filling start position. The cylinder 42 moves the piston rod 60 up and down by the rotation of the eccentric cam 64, and switches the cock 44 at the same timing as this up and down to suck the liquid from the head tank 41 into the cylinder 42, measure it, and then The liquid is sent to the filling nozzle 43. The filling nozzle 42 is lowered at the start of filling according to the shape of the nozzle elevating cam 56 and rises following the liquid level as the filling progresses. Further, the filling nozzle 43 is
In the filling section, the chain 22 of the grip conveyor 20 is hooked on the chain 22 to run along with the container B, and after the filling is completed, the nozzle return cam 54 returns the filling start position.

The container B filled with the liquid by the filler 40 is sent to the capping station P. Here, first, the inner cap is fitted into the mouth portion of the container B by the inner capper 79. Then, the screw cap 100 is used to set the screw cap 100.
Is installed. In the screw capper 80, the chain 103 with a picker runs intermittently by the same number of pickers as the number of capping heads 83 of the capper 80 (the same number as the number of containers for one row and 6 in this embodiment). Cage,
When the picker of the chain 103 takes out the cap 100 from the chute 102 and stops at the front of the capping head 83, the slider 106 is moved forward and the cap 100 is moved below the capping head 83 to deliver the cap 100. This delivery is performed while the capping head 83 is being lifted between cappings.

When each capping head 83 receives the cap, the drive shaft 87 is rotated to rotate the elevating cam 95 to lower the capping head 83, and the slide rod 85 to which the capping head 83 is attached is timed. The cap 100 is screwed onto the mouth of the container B by rotating the cap 100 through the belt 90.

The container B which has been capped is advanced row by row and reaches immediately before the labeler conveyor 121. Then, in the supply section S, the grip conveyor 20
The bottle gripper 129, which is oriented in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of, moves down according to the shape of the bottle grip elevating cam 142 to grip the container B, and then rotates while rising. The bottle gripper 129 is provided with the orthogonal helical gear 14
While the rotation of the drive shaft 137 is transmitted via 4, 146 and is rotated 90 degrees in the clockwise direction in FIG. 16, it is raised by the elevating cam 142 and the container B is placed on the bottle stand 123 of the labeler conveyor 121. Supply. Container B for bottle 1
These bottle grippers 129 placed on 23 are raised while avoiding interference with the container B, and then are lowered / rotated to grip the container B for the next one line, and the six bottles previously supplied The containers B are conveyed in one row and passed, and then supplied onto the six bottle stands 123.

In this supply section S, the labeler conveyor 121 is installed behind the container B placed on the bottle stand 123 and conveyed.
It is supported by a bottle guide 148 that travels with it. The container B conveyed from the supply unit S and heading for the labeler 120 is held at the mouth by the top locator 124 that descends from above. In the supply unit S and the discharge unit D described later, the top locator 124 is lifted by the top locator guide cam 128 to avoid interference with the bottle gripper 129. The containers B that are continuously conveyed in one row by the labeler conveyor 121 are sent to the labeler 120. In the labeler 120, the labeling drum 157 takes out the label 155 from the label magazine 156, applies the adhesive by the gamming unit 158, and then attaches it to the container B. Further, the container B, which has been turned around the sprocket 160 by the labeler conveyor 121, is sent to the second labeler 161 and a label is attached to the back side.

The container B with the labels attached on both sides is conveyed by the labeler conveyor 121 as it is and reaches the discharge section D. In the discharge section D, the bottle gripper 129d
Are lifted by the bottle grip lifting cam 142d and face the upstream side of the grip conveyor 20 (the state shown in FIG. 16), the bottle gripper 12
9d grips the container B on the bottle stand 123. continue,
The bottle gripper 129d descends while being rotated 90 degrees in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 16, and delivers the container B to the gripper 23 of the grip conveyor 20. In the supply section S, the groove cam 3
The grip members 23a and 23b of the grip conveyor 20 are opened by the locus of 2, and the container B is inserted between the open grip members 23a and 23b at the discharge section D, and then the grip members 23a and 23b are closed to open the container B. Needless to say, to hold. In this way, the containers B conveyed in a plurality of rows by the grip conveyor 20 are processed by passing through the filler 40, the capper 80, etc., and then transferred to another conveyor 121 to be conveyed in one row and sent to the labeler 120. Since it did in this way, the labeler 120 can be incorporated in the bottling line which processes in multiple rows. Therefore,
The bottling system as a whole can be made compact and highly efficient.

The container B, which has been labeled by the labeler 120 and returned to the grip conveyor 20, is again
It is conveyed in the original plural rows (6 rows) and sent to the caser 170 of the boxing station H. In this embodiment, twelve containers B for two rows are stored in one case 172 and carried out by the case conveyor 171. Although the bottle grippers 129 and 129d are moved up and down and rotated in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and an XYZ triaxial Cartesian coordinate robot or the like may be used.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, the containers are conveyed in a plurality of rows by the first conveying means and processed by the filling machine or the like, and then transferred to the second conveying means. Since it was changed to single-row transport and sent to the labeler, and after labeling, it was returned to double-row transport, the labeler, which was difficult to be integrated into the double-row container processing device as a part of the bottling system, was used. It becomes possible to block it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a bottling system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bottling system.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a chute and an air cleaner of the unscrambler.

4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a part of a main part of the grip conveyor in a cross section.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of one of the grippers of the grip conveyor.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a main part of the filling machine.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the filling machine.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the filling machine.

FIG. 10 is a front view of an eccentric cam that drives a cylinder of the filling machine.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an eccentric cam that drives a cylinder of a filling machine.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the screw capper.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the screw capper.

FIG. 14 is a front view of the screw capper.

FIG. 15 is a front view showing a labeler and a conveyor for the labeler.

FIG. 16 is a plan view showing a labeler and a conveyor for the labeler.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing a labeler and a conveyor for the labeler.

[Explanation of symbols]

B container 20 1st conveyance means (grip conveyor) 40 Filling machine (filler) 120 Labeler 121 2nd conveyance means (conveyor for labelers) 129 1st delivery means (bottle gripper of a supply part) 129d 2nd delivery means (Ejection bottle gripper)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first transport means for transporting a large number of containers in a plurality of rows, a container processing means such as a filling machine provided on the first transport means, and the first transport means intersecting with each other. Second transport means for transporting the containers in a line,
A first delivery means for holding the container on the first transfer means and transferring it to the second transfer means, and a second transfer means for holding the container on the second transfer means and transferring it on the first transfer means. Delivery means,
A bottling system comprising: a labeler provided in the second transport means.