JPH0622876B2 - Holder, driving core and cooling device in preform crystallizer - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a device for crystallizing a preform neck of a plastic bottle, and particularly to a preform for promoting crystallization without reducing the accuracy of the neck. The present invention relates to a holder for holding, a driving core, and a cooling device including the holder and the driving core.

[Prior Art] Stretched polyester bottles are biaxially molecularly compounded in the container body, and are excellent in transparency, impact resistance, gas barrier property, and light weight. Widely used as a container.

However, the neck part of stretched polyester bottles does not have biaxial molecular compounding like the body part, so the neck part, threads, etc. are deformed during hot filling of the contents or high temperature sterilization process, resulting in a tight seal and appearance. May significantly reduce the sex.

Therefore, in order to improve the rigidity, heat resistance, etc. of the neck portion of a stretched polyester bottle, the neck portion of the bottle is heat treated by a crystallization device to increase its crystallinity (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-68385). .

However, when crystallizing the neck of the preform, the rigidity and heat resistance are improved, but on the other hand, the neck is deformed due to the increase in density (volume decrease) accompanying crystallization, or the preform is heated by the holder. New problems such as welding are occurring.

[Problems to be Solved] In order to solve the above new problems, for example, a method has been developed in which a core is fitted to the neck of a preform to prevent axial and radial deformation of the neck due to an increase in density. (JP-A-58-185227). This method is an excellent invention and is effective in preventing neck deformation, but the timing of cooling the neck of the preform was difficult.

In other words, if the heated neck is not cooled (cured) to some extent and the core is driven and fitted, the neck portion is deformed by the force acting at the time of fitting, resulting in a decrease in dimensional accuracy. For this reason, it is necessary to cool and harden the neck part to some extent before driving the core, but if it is cooled rapidly after heating, the neck part will be excessively hardened and distortion will occur when the core is fitted, so that the content filling At that time, there was a problem that large post-contraction occurred.

Also, after fitting the core, the neck must be cooled sufficiently to cause heat shrinkage, and unless the neck is in close contact with the core, the preform cannot be pulled up together when the core is pulled out, and the preform cannot be pulled into the holder. There was a problem that the remodeling remained.

On the other hand, a holder that holds a perform with its neck exposed has conventionally had the following problems.

That is, if the holder is overheated, the body of the preform may be welded to the holder, and it may not be possible to smoothly pull up the preform from the holder. Therefore, in order to prevent the temperature of the holder from rising above a certain level, air is cooled from the outside of the holder. However, air cooling from the outside of the holder has a problem that the cooling efficiency is poor and the neck portion of the preform is also cooled.

Furthermore, when the holder is cooled, the collar of the preform is applied to the upper edge of the holder to expose the neck, and in the collar receiving method in which the preform is held by the holder, the lower surface of the collar that contacts the upper edge of the holder. There was a problem that the heat of the above was taken by the holder, and the crystallization of the lower surface of the brim became insufficient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, holds the preform in a state where the brim is floated from the upper edge of the holder, and a holder in a preform crystallizing device that can also be cooled efficiently, A preform crystallizer that is capable of cooling efficiently after fitting it to the neck, and a preform crystallization device that uses the above-mentioned holder and the above-mentioned core to ensure that the preform can be crystallized reliably and with good timing. An object is to provide a cooling device in a reform crystallization device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a holder in a preform crystallizing device of the present invention is a device for crystallizing a neck portion of a preform made of thermoplastic polyester, and the preform is exposed in a state where the neck portion is exposed. The preform receiving member is built in the bottom portion of the tubular body that holds the, and a ventilation hole is provided in the bottom portion of the tubular body as necessary.

Further, the driving core in the preform crystallizing apparatus of the present invention has a structure in which a cooling liquid guide path is provided inside the core fitted to the neck portion.

Further, the cooling device in the preform crystallizing device of the present invention is a device for crystallizing the neck part of a preform made of thermoplastic polyester, in which the bottom part of the tubular body holding the preform with the neck part exposed is A holder with a built-in reform receiving member and a ventilation hole, a blower that sends air to the ventilation hole of the holder after the heating process, and a cooling liquid guide channel inside the core fitted to the neck part. It is composed of a driving core provided.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be sequentially described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) are diagrams showing a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a preform crystallizing device in two parts, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a holder, and FIG. 3 is a part of a transfer device. Cutaway side view, 4th
Figure is a cross-sectional view of the transfer device, Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the heating unit,
6 is a plan view of the driving turret portion, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of the driving turret portion, FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the driving core, and FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial cutting view of the core when driving. , Fig. 10 is a partially cutaway enlarged view of the knockout, 1st
FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 6, and FIG. 12 is taken along the line C- in FIG.
C sectional view, FIG. 13 shows a DD sectional view of FIG. 6, and FIG. 14 shows a plan view of the knockout failure detector.

1 (a) and (b), 1 is a preform supply device, 2 is a transfer device, 3 is a heating unit, 4 is a cooling turret, 5 is a driving turret, 6 is an inspection device, and 7 is an unloading device. is there.

The preform supply device 1 includes a chute 110, a separation turret 120, a carry-in turret 130, and a charging turret 140, and is in a high-temperature state continuously fed from an unillustrated injection molding machine or pre-blow molding machine. The preform W is separated in the separation turret 120, and is introduced into the holder 210 of the transfer device 2 from the introduction turret 140 via the carry-in turret 130.

In the transfer device 2, a large number of holders 210 are annularly connected by a chain 220 at the same intervals as the intervals of the pockets of the charging turret 140 and the cooling turret 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the holder 210 has a tubular body 211, and the tubular body 211 has an inner diameter of the body portion W of the preform W.
1 is slightly larger than the outer diameter, and the inner diameter of the upper edge is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the flange W2 of the preform W. A receiving member 212 for receiving the bottom of the preform W is provided on the inner bottom of the holder 210 so as to be vertically movable. The receiving member 212 is constantly urged upward by the pressing spring 213, and when it is at the uppermost position, there is a slight gap S between the upper edge of the tubular body 211 and the lower surface of the brim W2 of the preform W. Hold the preform W. Reference numeral 214 denotes a ventilation hole provided near the bottom of the tubular body 211, which is located just on the side of the receiving member 212.

The cylindrical body 211 of the holder 210 is made of aluminum or the like that hardly absorbs the near infrared rays radiated in the heating section, and the thickness thereof is thin. Further, the holder 210 is provided with a rotation gear 215 on the outer periphery of the lower end and is rotatably supported by a shaft 216.

The chain 220 is connected using the shaft 216 as a connecting pin, and thus the holder 210 is connected to the chain 220.
Is rotatably supported by and is connected by a chain 220. 221 is a chain 220
It is a wheel provided at the bottom of.

The chain 220 is stretched in a chain form via driven sprockets 222 and 223, a cooling turret 4 and a driving turret 5 as shown in FIGS.
The tension of the driven sprockets 222 and 223 can be adjusted by the tension unit 224.

225 shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 4 is a holder 2
It is a fixed chain that meshes with the rotation gear 215 of 10 to rotate the holder 210.
To the cooling turret 4 through the heating unit 3. Therefore, when the chain 220 moves, the holder 210 moves linearly with the chain 220,
And it rotates.

The heating unit 3 is provided with a charging turret 14 along the transfer device 2.
It is provided between 0 and the cooling turret 4. As shown in FIG. 5, the heating unit 3 includes a stand 31 that can move one block of the heating unit 3 toward and away from the holder 210.
1, a heater unit 312 that is vertically movable on a stand 311, a shield plate 316 that prevents the holder 210 from being exposed to heat, and a reflection plate 317 that reflects the heat for effective use. However, the whole heating unit is configured by arranging a number of these blocks in parallel.

The heater unit 312 faces the neck W3 of the preform W held and exposed by the holder 210 and uses a near infrared heater as the heat source 313. Reference numeral 314 is a ventilation port, and 315 is a cooling water channel.
The heating of the neck portion W3 is made more effective by the air blown from the ventilation port 314 and heated by the air. Air is blown to the ventilation port 314 from the blower 321 shown in FIG.

Needless to say, a heater other than the near infrared heater can be used as the heat source.

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the cooling turret 4 is composed of two turrets 411 and 412, and pockets 411 a and 412 a are provided on the outer circumference of each turret at the same intervals as the holder 210 is attached to the chain 220. There is. The preform W is naturally cooled while being guided and moved by the cooling turret 4.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the driving turret 5 includes a turret 510 having a pocket 511 on the outer periphery thereof, a rotating body 520 located above the turret 510, and a rotating body located directly above each pocket 511. It is composed of a driving core 530 mounted on the outer peripheral surface of 520. The rotating body 520 is integrally formed with the turret 510, and is supported by a fixed shaft 512 together with the turret 510 and rotates synchronously with the turret 510.

As shown in FIG. 8, the driving core 530 includes a support rod 532 which moves up and down by a cylinder 531 and a support rod 53.
Core 533 provided at the tip of 2 and supporting rod 532
Has a knockout member 541 provided on the outer periphery of the. In addition, inside the support rod 532, a coolant guide path 534 is provided.
Is provided, and the cooling liquid is caused to flow through the guide passage 534 to cool the core 533 at the tip from the inside.

In the knockout member 541, the support rod 532 is a fixed piston rod, and a cylinder 542 is provided on the outer circumference thereof to form a cylinder. The cylindrical body 542 has its lower end extended to form the core 533.
It is a knockout piece 543 that hits the preform W that is fitted with. In the knockout member 541, the tubular body 542 moves up and down along a guide 544 provided in a direction perpendicular to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 520.

The supply of compressed air to the cylinder 531 for vertically moving the core 533 in the driving core 530 and the supply of compressed air for vertically moving the knockout member 541 are performed via the electromagnetic valve 551. Switching of the solenoid valve 551 is performed by the micro switches 552a, 55 shown in FIGS.
The signal from 2b is used. Micro switch 552a,
552b is attached to the inner circumference of the upper part of the rotating body 520 in a positional relationship corresponding to each driving core 530.

On the other hand, 553a and 553b are microswitches 552.
A cam for operating a and 552b, which is fixed to a mounting plate 513 at the upper end of the fixed shaft 512 so as to face the microswitches 552a and 552b.

The micro switch 552a sends an air pressure switching signal to the cylinder 531 to the solenoid valve 551. The cam 553a corresponding to the micro switch 552a is formed between point A and point B in FIG. Therefore, during this period, the micro switch 552a operates to switch the electromagnetic valve 551 to supply compressed air to the upper chamber (not shown) of the cylinder 531 and lower the driving core 530. That is,
The driving core 530 descends at the point A (Fig. 9) and rises again while the preform W is fitted at the point B.

Further, the micro switch 552b also sends an air pressure switching signal to the cylinder 542 to the solenoid valve 551. Therefore, the cam 553b corresponding to the micro switch 552b is the sixth
It is provided at point C in the figure. Therefore, the micro switch 5
52b operates when it is located at point C, switches the solenoid valve 551 to supply compressed air to the lower chamber of the cylinder 542, and lowers the knockout member 541. As a result, in the preform W fitted with the core 533, the flange W2 is hit by the knockout piece 543 from above (FIG. 10), and comes off from the core 533.

551, 552, 553 are suction ducts from the blower, which are arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the driving turret 5. The suction duct 551 is arranged substantially between the point A and the point B in FIG.
a is a vent hole 2 of the holder 210 as shown in FIG.
It is provided corresponding to 14. As a result, the holder 21
The 0 bottom receiving member 212 is cooled, and the body portion w1 of the preform W is also cooled. Accordingly, the core 53 in which the bottom portion of the preform W comes into pressure contact with the receiving member 212.
It is possible to prevent the bottom portion of the preform W and the receiving member 212 from being welded at the time of driving.

The suction duct 552 is for air-cooling the holder 210 from which the preform W has been pulled out, and is arranged substantially between points B and C in FIG.
52a is located above the holder 210 as shown in FIG. Also, the suction duct 553
Also air-cools the holder 210 in which the preform W is removed and sent to the supply position 1. The driving turret 51
0 and the charging turret 140, and the blower port 553a thereof is located above the holder 210 as shown in FIG.

These suction ducts 551, 552, 553 are provided with blower ports 551a, 552a, 553a, and air is blown from a blower 561 shown in FIG. 1 (b).

It should be noted that the holder 210 provided with the vent holes 214 and the suction ducts 551, 55 for sending air to the holder 210.
2, 553 and a driving core 530 having a cooling liquid guide passage 534 constitute a cooling device in the preform crystallizing device.

Reference numeral 560 denotes a knockout defect detector, which is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, it is arranged near the exit of the driving turret 5 (near the entrance of the inspection device 6). In FIG. 14 showing the knockout failure detector 560, a swing lever 561 is swingably attached to the base 562, and a proximity switch 563 is provided at the rear portion thereof. Reference numeral 564 is a pressing spring for constantly urging the swing lever 561 counterclockwise.

The knockout of the preform W by the knockout member 541 is defective and the preform W is driven into the core 530.
When it comes back with the core of the mat
Body portion W1 of the swing lever 561 comes into contact with the swing lever 561.
61 is rotated counterclockwise against the pressing force of the spring 564. As a result, the proximity switch is activated to notify the operator or the like of the knockout failure.

Next, the operation of the embodiment apparatus configured as described above will be described.

From the input turret 140 of the preform supply device 1,
The preform W, which is supplied to the holder 210 of the transfer device 2 and is held with the neck exposed,
Is sent to the heating unit 3 together with the holder 210. In the heating unit 3, the neck exposed from the holder 210 is heated. At this time, since the bottom portion of the preform W is held by the receiving member 212, a gap S is formed between the collar W2 and the upper edge of the cylindrical body 211 of the holder 210.
Therefore, the upper edge of the tubular body 211 and the lower portion of the brim W2 are welded, or conversely, the heat of the lower portion of the brim W2 is applied to the tubular body 211.
Never run away.

By changing the gap S between the brim W2 and the upper edge of the cylindrical body 211, the length of crystallization at the lower part of the brim can be changed, and the crystallization length of 5 to 10 mm can be used for the production of heat resistant pressure bottles.

The preform W, which is held by the holder 210, moves while rotating the heating unit 3 and whose neck is uniformly heated, is sent to the cooling turret 4. Where the turrets 411, 4
The neck of the preform W is naturally cooled while moving while being guided by 12. The natural cooling of the neck portion is such that it does not harden so as to cause distortion when the core is fitted and hard enough not to cause deformation when the core is fitted. The degree of this cooling depends on the number of turrets constituting the cooling turret 4,
Adjust by changing the diameter and arrangement.

The preform W naturally cooled by the cooling turret 4 is
It is fed into the pocket 511 of the driving turret 5.
Then, when the preform W comes to the point A shown in FIG. 6 by the movement of the transfer device 2, the actuating microswitch 552a of the charging core 530 located above the preform W is also actuated by the cam 553a. As a result, the cylinder 531 of the driving core 530 is operated, and the core 533 is driven and fitted into the neck portion of the preform W sent from the cooling turret 4 (FIG. 9).

In this way, the core 533 is attached to the neck of the preform W.
If the neck is cooled while the is fitted, deformation of the neck in the radial direction and the axial direction can be prevented.

In the present apparatus, a cooling liquid is further caused to flow in the guide passage 534 of the core 533 to rapidly cool the neck portion of the preform W after the core 533 is fitted. As a result, the cooling efficiency of the neck portion of the preform W is increased, and the neck portion is rapidly contracted to be in close contact with the core 533. Also, the core 5 of the neck
Due to the close contact with 33, the dimensional accuracy of the neck can be further improved.

At the same time, the vent hole 21 is formed in the inner bottom of the holder 210.
The air is sent from the suction duct 551 via 4 to cool the receiving member 212 and the bottom of the preform W. This accelerates the hardening of the bottom of the preform W, and the core 53
The driving of 3 prevents deformation of the bottom portion that is in pressure contact with the receiving member 212, and maintains the dimensional accuracy of the preform W in the axial direction.

As described above, when the preform W is sent to the point B in FIG. 6 while the neck portion is cooled by the core 533 and the bottom portion is cooled by the suction duct 551, the actuating microswitch 552a of the driving core 530 causes the cam 553 to operate.
Remove from a. Therefore, the core 533 rises,
At this time, since the neck of the preform W is in close contact with the core 533, the preform W is also lifted up and pulled out from the holder 210.

When the preform W is hung by the driving core 530 and sent to the point C shown in FIG. 6, here, the micro switch 552b for activating the knockout member is detected.
Is operated by the cam 553b, and the knockout member 5
41 is lowered. As a result, the flange W2 of the preform W that has been suspended in close contact with the core 533 is struck by the knockout piece 543 (FIG. 10) and is inserted into the pocket (not shown) of the turret 611 of the inspection device 6. To be dropped.

Then, the crystallized neck is inspected in the inspection device 6 and discharged through the carry-out device 7.

On the other hand, the holder 210 from which the preform W has been extracted
Are blown from above by the suction ducts 552 and 553 between about the point B and the point C shown in FIG. 6 and between the driving turret 5 and the charging turret 140, respectively, and are cooled. At this time, the air is transferred to the holder 210
Since it flows from the upper part through the vent holes 214 at the bottom, the holder 210 is efficiently cooled.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, according to the holder in the preform crystallizing apparatus of the present invention, the occurrence of defective crystallization is prevented by floating the brim from the upper edge of the holder, and the vent hole provided in the bottom portion is provided. This makes it possible to efficiently cool the holder and the preform.

Further, according to the driven core in the preform crystallizing apparatus of the present invention, cooling can be efficiently performed after fitting the preform to the neck portion, so that the cooling efficiency can be improved and the adhesion of the preform can be enhanced.

Further, according to the cooling device in the preform crystallizing device of the present invention, the preform can be cooled in a timely and reliable manner.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawing shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is shown in FIG.
(B) is a diagram showing a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a preform crystallizing device in two parts, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a holder,
FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of the transfer device, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the transfer device, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the heating part, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the driving turret part, and FIG. AA cutaway view of the driven turret, FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the driven core, FIG. 9 is an enlarged partially cutaway view of the driven core, FIG.
The figure is an enlarged view of a part of the cut-out at knockout, and Fig. 11 is the sixth.
FIG. 12 is a BB sectional view of FIG. 12, FIG. 12 is a CC sectional view of FIG.
FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. 6, and FIG. 14 is a plan view of the knockout failure detector. 2: Transfer device, 210: Holder 212: Receiving member, 214: Vent hole 3: Heating part, 4: Cooling turret 5: Driving turret 520: Rotating body, 530: Driving core 533: Core, 534: Guide path 541: Knockout Member 551,552,553: Suction duct W: Preform

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A device for crystallizing a neck portion of a preform made of thermoplastic polyester, characterized in that a preform receiving member is built in a bottom portion of a cylindrical body for holding the preform in a state where the neck portion is exposed. Holder for preform crystallizer. 2. A device for crystallizing a neck portion of a preform made of thermoplastic polyester, wherein a preform receiving member is built into a bottom portion of a cylindrical body which holds the preform in a state where the neck portion is exposed, and a through member is provided. A holder in a preform crystallizing device, which is provided with pores. 3. A preform crystallizing device for crystallizing a neck portion of a preform made of thermoplastic polyester, characterized in that a cooling liquid guide path is provided inside a core fitted to the neck portion. Driving core. 4. An apparatus for crystallizing a neck portion of a preform made of thermoplastic polyester, wherein a preform receiving member is built into a bottom portion of a cylinder which holds the preform in a state where the neck portion is exposed. It consists of a holder with pores, a blower that sends air toward the ventilation holes of the holder after the heating process, and a driven core with a cooling liquid guide passage inside the core fitted to the neck. The cooling device in the preform crystallizer.