JPH06298369A - Feeder for lightweight container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To deliver a subsequent group of containers following a previous group of containers, and feed the containers continuously without cut even Mile a moving body which delivers the previous group of containers is retreating. CONSTITUTION:A group 60 of containers within the first waiting range 13 and the second waiting range 22 are fed one after another onto the first guide rail 12 by the first guide rail 12 of the group 60 of containers, the first and second waiting ranges 13, 22 positioned above the first guide rail 12, advance/ retreat supporting devices 14 positioned below the ranges, the second guide rail 35 which continues to the first guide rail 12, the first moving body 39 which moves the container groups 60 on the first and second guide rails, the second moving body 41 which moves the group 60 of containers 60 on the second guide rail 35 while the first moving body 39 is retreating, and a lifting device 43 which lifts up and down the second moving body 41 to be delivered from a container outlet 34 by the first moving body 39. While the first moving body 39 is retreating when the group of containers 60 are fed onto the first guide rail 12, the second moving body 41 presses and moves the group of containers 60 onto the second guide rail 36.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a feeder for continuously and repeatedly supplying a lightweight container on a line in a step of supplying the container to the lightweight container in the case of continuously manufacturing the container-containing products. The present invention relates to a device for constantly delivering a lightweight container to the same position so that the feeder can easily receive the lightweight container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When manufacturing instant noodles in containers,
It has been conventional to supply lightweight containers made of paper or synthetic resin on the production line.
-26948 (first conventional example) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-204
By the means described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 20 (second conventional example), a lightweight container was supplied onto a conveyor forming a production line. That is, in the first conventional example described above, the lowermost container is dropped onto the conveyor below by alternately opening and closing the two-stage plates that support the containers stacked vertically. In the second conventional example, the lowermost container of the vertically stacked containers is forcibly pushed down onto the conveyor below.

However, when the containers are stacked one above the other, if the containers are taken out sequentially from the bottom, the number of the stacked containers gradually decreases and the load applied to the bottom container changes. This may interfere with the feeding of the bottom container onto the conveyor. Therefore, a container supply device (third conventional example) shown in FIG. 4 is provided. In the device of the third conventional example, the stacked containers 90 are laid sideways and held by a holder 91, and this is held by a rodless cylinder 92.
It is possible to adsorb the container 90 from the tip end by the distribution mechanism 94 having suction, expansion and contraction and swirling functions while pressing it with the moving body 93 that is driven forward and backward by the swirl, and swirl to supply it to the lower conveyor 95. Has been done. Figure 4
Then, the instant noodles 96 conveyed by the conveyor 95 and the containers 9
The state where 0 is covered downward is shown. According to the third conventional example, since the container group in which the containers 90 are stacked is laid sideways, the same load is always applied to the container 90 at the leading end to be taken out without being affected by the number of containers in the container group. Therefore, there is an advantage that the operation of the distribution mechanism is not affected by the number.

[0004]

However, according to the third conventional example, since the holder 91 can hold only one stacked container group, the number of containers 90 that can be set in the holder 91 is limited. Since the number of containers is small, there is a problem that the container 90 must be frequently supplied to the holder 91. On the other hand, when the holder 91 is lengthened, the required area of the device is increased, and the consistency of the arrangement with other devices is improved. There is a defect that it is missing. Further, after the moving body 93 has sent out the final container 90 of the container group to the distribution mechanism 94, the moving body 93 needs to retract and set the next container group in the holder 91. There is also a problem that the supply of the container 90 is interrupted.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, in which a container group different from the container group being sent out is made to stand by and the subsequent container group is continued after the previous container group. An object of the present invention is to enable the container to be sent out and to allow the container to be continuously sent out without interruption even when the moving body that has sent out by pressing the previous container group is retracting.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a device for delivering a light-weight container, wherein a first guide region for guiding a container group composed of a large number of stacked light-weight containers in a lateral direction and a first guide region. A first guide rail for slidably supporting the container group in the lower part of the container, and a first standby area for waiting the laid container group on the first guide area. A first advancing / retreating supporter for advancing / retreating toward the lower part of the standby region and supporting the container group in the first standby region from below in the forward state and supplying the container group to the first guide region in the backward state; 1 a second waiting area above the waiting area for waiting the lying container group, and a lowering of the container group in the second waiting area in the forward state with forward / backward movement toward the lower part of the second waiting area. The first group of containers in the retracted state while being supported from A second advancing / retreating support to be supplied to the zone, a second guiding region which is continuous with the first guiding region and continuously guides the container group toward the container outlet at the tip in the same direction, and a lower portion of the second guiding region. And a second guide rail that continuously supports the container group from the first guide rail so as to be slidable in the same direction, and a second guide rail between the start end of the first guide rail and the middle of the second guide rail. A first moving body that moves back and forth along the rail to push and move the container group supported by these rails toward the container outlet, and a second moving body when the first moving body moves backward to the starting end of the first guide rail. A second moving body for continuously pressing and moving the container group on the guide rail instead of the first moving body, and a second guide for pressing the container group on the second guide area when the container group is pressed. And an elevating device for lowering the area, and a tip of the second guide area. And a, a resistor In the outlet provide resistance to the movement of the vessel outside.

[0007]

The container group is slidably supported by the first guide rail and the second guide rail in the first guide region and the second guide region, and the rear end of the container group is supported by the first moving body. Pressing toward the outlet starts the delivery of the lightweight container. At this time, the container groups in the first standby region and the second standby region are in the standby state supported by the first advance / retreat support device and the second advance / retreat support device, respectively.

The moving speed of the first moving body is determined in accordance with the amount of the lightweight container taken out from the container outlet per unit time. As the lightweight containers are sequentially taken out from the container outlet, the first moving body continues to move while pushing the rear end of the container group,
When the length of the container group becomes short and the first moving body moves to the middle of the second guide rail, the second moving body is lowered to the second guide area by the elevating device and moved in the container outlet direction, and the length becomes shorter. The rear end of the container group that has become defective is taken over from the first moving body and continuously pressed in the same direction as before, while the first moving body retracts to the rear end.

At this stage, since no container group exists in the first guide area, the next container group is supplied to the first guide area from the first waiting area. In this supply, when the first advancing / retreating support device retracts, the container group that has been supported in the forward state until now is dropped and supplied to the lower first guide region, and the dropped container group is the first guide rail. Supported above. The first advancing / retreating support moves forward again immediately after the retreat, while the second advancing / retreating support moves backward to drop and supply the container group in the second waiting area to the first waiting area. It is supported by the support device and enters a standby state. The second advancing / retreating supporter immediately advances after supplying the container group to the first standby region, supports the next container group, and enters a standby state.

When a new container group is supplied to the first guide area as described above, the first moving body starts to move forward to move the new container group from the first guide area toward the second guide area. To the preceding container group that has been pushed and moved and has already been pushed and moved by the second moving body on the second guide rail in the second guide area,
A new trailing container group is added, and the first moving body presses and moves the new container group formed by the two container groups before and after this. When the trailing container group is added to the preceding container group, the second moving body, which has moved the preceding container group, is lifted from the second guide area by the elevating device to move away from the container group and move backward. To prepare for the pressing movement of.

Since the container outlet has a resistor that resists the movement of the container to the outside, the container reaching the container outlet does not freely come out. By forcibly taking out the container against the resistance by the device for taking out the containers, the containers at the tip end are taken out one by one, and the second container from the tip end is stopped at the outlet by the resistance.

[0012]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of the apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a right half (a) of FIG. Half (b) is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. The sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. 2 corresponds to FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG.

A frame 2 fixed on the machine base 1 is provided with a plurality of lightweight container delivery devices 3 according to the present invention in the width direction. A conveyor 4 is arranged below the machine base 1, and the conveyor 4 conveys foods 5 as instant noodles in a plurality of rows from right to left in FIG. The number of the delivery devices 3 is the food 5 on the conveyor 4.
Corresponds to the number of columns. In FIG. 2, the middle portion in the width direction is omitted and the four rows of the feeding devices 3 are illustrated.

Lightweight container 6 for packaging the food 5
Is a known material that is made of a lightweight material such as synthetic resin or paper, and has a bowl shape or a cup shape and has an outward flange formed at the upper end opening. The delivery device 3 handles a container group 60 in which a large number of such lightweight containers 6 are stacked. An area for guiding the container group 60 is formed in the front portion 2a and the rear portion 2b of the frame 2. That is, the rear portion 2b is provided with a first guide region 11 that guides the container group 60 in the lateral direction in the lateral direction, and below the first guide region 11 is the container group 60.
Two horizontal or nearly horizontal first guide rails 12 for slidably supporting the are installed.

Above this first guide area 11 is a container group 6
A first waiting area 13 is formed to stand by in a state where 0 is laid down, and a first advance / retreat support for supporting the container group 60 waiting in the first waiting area 13 from below is formed in the lower part of the first waiting area 13. The container 14 is arranged. The first advancing / retreating supporter 14 has a rod shape, and is supported by a rotating shaft 15 via a revolving arm 16. The first advancing / retreating supporter 14 is supported by a revolving shaft 15 about an axis to move the container group 60 to a forward position. The container group 60 is moved forward and backward with respect to the retracted position where the container group 60 is opened. Rotating shaft 15
Is rotatably supported on the frame 2 by a bearing 18 along a plate member 17 that defines a side surface of the first standby region 13, and the tip of the cylinder device 20 is attached to one end protruding outside the frame 2 via a swing arm 19. Are connected to each other, and the cylinder device 20 serves as an advancing / retreating drive source of the first advancing / retreating supporter 14. The rear end of the cylinder device 20 is supported by the frame 2.

A second waiting area 22 is formed on the first waiting area 13 similarly to the first waiting area 13, and a second advancing / retreating support 23 and a rotary shaft 24 similar to the above are also formed here. A turning arm 25, a bearing 26, a swing arm 27, and a cylinder device 28 are provided. The distance between the first advancing / retreating supporter 14 and the second advancing / retreating supporter 23 supporting the container group 60 in the forward state is equal to the outer diameter of the container group 60.

Above the second waiting area 22, the third waiting area 3
Although the 1st and 4th waiting areas 32 are provided, the advance / retreat supports 14 and 23 and devices for driving them are not provided in these. Therefore, the third and fourth standby areas 31, 32
The container group 60 will be supported on the container group 60 in the second waiting area 22. A portion 2a on the front side of the frame 2 which is continuous with the first guide area 11 and is an extension of the first guide area 11.
A second guide area 33 is provided in the. The second guide area 33 continuously guides the container group 60 in the same direction from the first guide area 11 to the container outlet 34 at the tip of the frame 2, and the first guide rails 12 and The integrated second guide rail 35 reaches the exit 34. Further, in the second guide area 33, two guide rails 36 are also installed in the upper part in parallel with the second guide rail 35 so that the container group 60 is guided by the four guide rails 35 and 36 of the combination. It has become.

Below the first guide area 11 and the second guide area 33 continuous with the first guide area 11, the rodless cylinder device 3 is provided.
7 is installed parallel to the first and second guide rails 12 and 35, and a first moving body 39 fixed to a moving portion of the first and second guide rails 12 and 35 via a bracket 38 is located at the center of the container group 60 in the first guide area 11. It is arranged at a position to be pressed from the rear side. The first moving body 39 is moved by the rodless cylinder device 37 between the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 at the rear end in the guide direction of the first guide region and the midway position of the second guide region shown by the chain line in FIG. It is designed to move forward and backward. The force by which the rodless cylinder device 37 advances the first moving body 39 is always constant, but the force is not excessively strong.
The container group 60 whose forward movement is suppressed by the resistor 49 of the container outlet 34 to be described later is pressed from the rear side,
One lightweight container 6 is taken out from the container, and the container group 60 shortened by that amount is advanced toward the container outlet 34. Therefore, the resistor 49 of the container outlet 34
The container group 60 whose forward movement is suppressed by the first moving body 3
9 is configured so that it cannot be advanced. When there is a space on the front side of the container group 60 and the resistance to the forward movement of the container group 60 is small, the first moving body 39 can of course press and move the container group 60 smoothly by the amount of the small resistance. .

On the upper side of the second guide area 33, a second moving body 41 which moves up and down to move in and out of the second guide area 33.
However, it is installed so as to advance and retract from the middle of the second guide region 33 to the vicinity of the container outlet 34. The second moving body 41 is configured as follows. A fixed bracket 42 is installed on the upper portion of the front portion 2a of the frame 2, and the tip of an elevating device 43 composed of a cylinder device supported by the fixed bracket 42 is connected to an elevating bracket 44 and erected on the elevating bracket 44. The vertical rod 45 slides in the guide pipe 46 fixed to the fixed bracket 42, and the elevating bracket 44 is vertically moved by the elevating device 43 while maintaining the same posture.

A rodless cylinder device 47 is fixed to the lower surface of the lifting bracket 44 in parallel with the guide rails 35 and 36, and a second moving body 41 is fixed to a moving portion of the guide rails 35 and 36 via a bracket 48. The lower end of the second moving body 41 has an arc shape along the flange of the lightweight container 6,
The container group 60 is pushed and moved by pushing the flange of the lightweight container 6 which is the rearmost end of the container group 60. The second moving body 41 descends to the position shown by the solid line in FIG.
After moving forward from here to the position indicated by the chain line, it moves up and back, and this forward movement is performed when the first moving body 39 moves backward from the position indicated by the broken line to the position indicated by the solid line.
It is configured to carry out the pressing movement of the container group 60 by taking over from the first moving body 39. Conventional rodless cylinder devices 37, 47, lifting device 43, cylinder devices 20, 2
8 is operated by the container group 60, the first moving body 39, the second
A sensor for detecting the position of the moving body 41 is arranged,
Each device 37, 47, 4 is detected by the detection signals of these sensors.
A well-known sequence circuit is configured so that 3, 20, 28 operate as described above.

The container outlet 34 is provided with a resistor 49 so that the lightweight container 6 at the tip of the container group 60 does not freely move to the outside. The resistor 49 is composed of a plurality of claws projecting inside the container outlet 34, the flanges of the lightweight container 6 are hooked by the claws to hold the lightweight container 6, and are pulled by the supply device 51 described later. As a result, the lightweight container 6 is elastically deformed at the outer periphery of the flange and is discharged from the container outlet 34 to the outside. The resistor 49
In place of the plurality of claws, an infinite number of brushes planted on the inner circumference of the container outlet 34 may be used to give resistance to the container group 60, or an elastic body may be arranged on the inner circumference of the container outlet 34. Then, the light-weight container 6 is caused while elastically deforming it.
Can be taken out.

A supply device 51 faces the container outlet 34, and the supply device 51 is provided with a swivel portion 52 which is supported by a machine frame (not shown) and swivels, and a telescopic arm 53 having a suction portion for reducing pressure at its tip. The telescopic arm 53 extends toward the lightweight container 6 at the tip of the container group 60 facing the container outlet 34, sucks and contracts this from the outer bottom surface, pulls out from the container outlet 34, and turns downward. And then stretches to cover the food 5 on the conveyor 4 with the lightweight container 6,
After releasing the suction, it contracts and swivels in the horizontal direction to adsorb the next lightweight container 6 again.

Thus, the container group 60 is continuously accommodated in the first guide area 11 and the second guide area 33, and the first group is provided at the rear end of the first group.
The moving body 39 is arranged, and the operation of the delivery device is started from the state where the container group 60 is accommodated in the first waiting area 13, the second waiting area 22, the third waiting area 31, and the fourth waiting area 32. . In this state, the elevating device 43 is in a state of raising the rodless cylinder device 47, and therefore the second moving body 41 is above the second guide region 33.

Then, the operation of the rodless cylinder device 37 moves the first moving body 39 to push the container group 60 from the rear side, that is, from the inner bottom surface of the lightweight container 6 forming the rear end. The force for moving the first moving body 39 forward by the rodless cylinder device 37 is always constant, and the forward speed is adjusted by the resistance force from the container group 60 applied to the first moving body 39. That is, the resistor 49 of the container outlet 34
The container group 60, whose forward movement is suppressed by, cannot move even if the first moving body 39 is pressed as it is.
When one lightweight container 6 is taken out of the container outlet 34 from 0, the first moving body 39 advances the container group 60 shortened by that amount toward the container outlet 34.

Expansion and contraction of the expansion and contraction arm 53 of the supply device 51,
By sucking and stopping the suction cup at its tip and turning the turning portion 52, the lightweight containers 6 at the tip of the container group 60 are successively covered with the food 5 on the conveyor 4. Conveyor 4
Is the tip of the traveling direction, and by the action of a fall prevention guide or the like parallel to the conveyor conveying surface, the food product 5 is turned around without taking it out, and this turning causes the lightweight container 6 to face upward, The food 5 is stored and supplied to the next process.

When the container group 60 in the series of the first guide area 11 and the second guide area 33 is reduced by the extrusion by the first moving body 39, and the first moving body 39 reaches the position shown by the chain line in FIG. This is detected by a sensor (not shown), the elevating device 43 lowers the elevating bracket 44, and the rodless cylinder device 47 is lowered integrally with this. By this, at the rear end of the shortened container group 60,
The second moving body 41 descends between the left and right guide rails 36, and then the rodless cylinder device 47 operates so that the second moving body 41 continuously pushes the container group 60. The moving force of the second moving body 41 by the rodless cylinder device 47 is set similarly to the rodless cylinder device 37.

Since the second moving body 41 pushes the flange of the lightweight container 6 at the rear end of the container group 60, it does not interfere with the first moving body 39. Therefore, the pushing operation of the first moving body 39 and the pushing operation of the second moving body 41 may be temporarily performed in parallel, but in this embodiment, this is illustrated by the start of the pushing operation of the second moving body 41. The first movable body 39 is retracted by the rodless cylinder device 37 to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. The second guidance area 3
In 3, the container group 60 is guided in a stable posture while being supported by the four upper and lower rails 35 and 36, so that the second moving body 41 presses the biased portion of the upper flange of the lightweight container 6. Even then, the container group 60 is smoothly pressed and moved.

When the sensor detects the retreat of the first moving body 39, the cylinder device 20 contracts to swing the swing arm 19, which causes the swing shaft 15 to swing about the axis and the swing arm 16 to swing. Thus, the first advancing / retreating supporter 14 is retracted from the lower portion of the first waiting area 13 toward the plate material 17 side. As a result, the container group 60 waiting in the first waiting area 13 falls into the first guiding area 11. Then, the first moving body 39 moves forward again to catch up the supplied container group 60 with the preceding container group 60. At this time, there is a space between the preceding container group 60 and the following container group 60, and there is no great resistance to the forward movement of the following container group 60.
The forward movement of the container 9 becomes smooth, so that the container group 60 in the trailing side immediately catches up with the container group 60 in the preceding direction and becomes a container group 60 that is integral with the container group 60.

When the trailing container group 60 catches up with the preceding container group 60, the entire container group 60 is pressed and moved again by the first moving body 39, but the second moving body 41 precedes until then. Since only the flange of the light-weight container 6 at the rear end of the container group 60 that has been used is pushed, the light-weight container 6 at the tip of the subsequent container group 60 overlaps with the light-weight container 6 at the rear end of the preceding container group 60. It doesn't hinder things. The second moving body 41 is only sandwiched between the flanges of the front and rear lightweight containers 6. Then, when the second moving body 41 reaches the moving front end position indicated by the broken line, the lifting device 43 is activated by a signal from a sensor (not shown) that detects this, and the rodless cylinder device 47 is operated via the lifting bracket 44.
And the second moving body 41 is lifted from the second guide region 33, and the rodless cylinder device 47 moves to the second
The moving body 41 is retracted to prepare for the next descent.

At the start of the re-advancement of the first moving body 39 or after the reduction of the cylinder device 20, the cylinder device 20 is extended and the first advancing / retreating supporter 14 is advanced to the lower part of the first waiting area 13 again. Let At this stage, next, the cylinder device 28 is contracted to move the second advancing / retreating supporter 23 to the second waiting area
2 from the second waiting area 22 and thus the container group 6 in the second waiting area 22.
0 is supplied to the first waiting area 13, and the container group 60 is
While waiting in the waiting area 13, the container group 60 in the third waiting area 31 is supplied to the second waiting area 22, and at the same time, the container group 60 in the fourth waiting area 32 is supplied to the third waiting area 31 and waits respectively. To do. In this state, the cylinder device 28 extends and advances the second advancing / retreating support device 23 to the second standby region 22, thereby supporting the container group 60 newly supplied to the second standby region 22. Of course, the container group 60 in the third waiting area 31 is also supported by the container group 60 in the second waiting area 22, and if a new container group 60 is added to the empty fourth waiting area 32, Will be supported by the container group 60 in the third waiting area 31.

However, in this embodiment, until the container group 60 in the second to fourth standby areas 22, 31, 32 becomes empty, the lightweight container 6 can be smoothly delivered without supplying a new container group 60. Since it is possible, it is not necessary to replenish the container group 60 for a long time. The container group 60 is replenished from above the fourth standby area 32. In addition, the cylinder devices 37, 43, 48, 20, which are used in the delivery device 3 in this embodiment,
Reference numeral 28 denotes a pneumatic cylinder device, which is sequence-controlled based on the detection signals of many position sensors (not shown) so as to operate at the above timing. The pneumatic circuit for performing such an operation and its sequence control circuit can be configured by combining known circuits for performing the above operation.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, a container group different from the container group being sent out stands by,
The subsequent container group can be sent out after the previous container group, and the container can be continuously sent out without interruption even when the moving body that has pressed and sent out the previous container group is retracting. Thus, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the lightweight container can be continuously supplied to the production line of food or the like continuously for a long time without relying on human labor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an embodiment and corresponds to a sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG.

2A is a view as seen from an arrow A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a B- in FIG.
It is a B line sectional view.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 ... Sending device 4 ... Conveyor 5 ... Food 6 ... Lightweight container 11 ... First guide area 12 ... First guide rail 13 ... First waiting area 14 ... First advancing / retreating supporter 20 ... Cylinder device 23 ... Second advancing / retreating supporter 28 ... Cylinder device 31 ... Third waiting area 33 ... Second guide area 34 ... Container outlet 35. ..Second guide rail 36 ... Guide rail 37 ... Rodless cylinder device 39 ... First moving body 41 ... Second moving body 43 ... Lifting device 47 ... Rodless cylinder device 49 ... Resistor 51 ... Supplying device 60 ... Container group

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location B65G 47/91 D 8010-3F

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first guide area for guiding a container group made up of a large number of stacked lightweight containers in the stacking direction, and a container group slidable in the stacking direction below the first guide region. A first guide rail to support, a first standby area for waiting the lying container group above the first guide area, and a first standby area that moves forward and backward toward the lower part of the first standby area. A first advancing / retreating supporter that supports the container group in the standby area from below and supplies the container group to the first guide area in a retracted state, and waits for the container group lying above the first standby area. And a second standby area for supporting the container group in the second standby area from the bottom in the forward state by advancing and retracting toward the lower part of the second standby area, and in the retracted state, the container group in the first standby area. A second advancing / retreating support for supplying, and the first
A second guide region which is continuous with the guide region and continuously guides the container group toward the container outlet at the front end in the same direction, and a container group which is below the second guide region and continues from the first guide rail. And a second guide rail that is slidably supported in the same direction, and is moved back and forth along these rails between the start end of the first guide rail and the middle of the second guide rail to be supported by these rails. A first moving body that pushes and moves the container group toward the container outlet, and the container group on the second guide rail instead of the first moving body when the first moving body retreats to the starting end of the first guide rail. A second moving body that continuously pushes and moves, an elevating device that is above the second guide area and that lowers the second moving body to the second guide area when the container group is pressed, and the tip of the second guide area. At the container's outlet to resist movement of the container to the outside Lightweight container delivery apparatus characterized by comprising obtaining a resistor, a.