JPH06316325A - Aligning and carrying method of cylindrical vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To distribute vessels such as glass bottles with a simple device by detecting the aligned direction of the vessels by the operation timing of two more passing detecting sensors set with different heights in the process for aligning and carrying the vessels in a line in the vessel axial direction. CONSTITUTION:Cylindrical vessels 9 continuously supplied to an aligning device 1 are aligned in the vessel axial direction and sent to a carrying device 2. On the carrying device 3, the vessels 9 are carried with a substantially fixed space by the carrying speed difference with the aligning device 1, and in the course of the carrying, the passing of the vessels 9 is detected by vertical photoelectric sensors 3 (3a, 3b), 4 (4a, 4b). Since the operation timings of the vertical photoelectric sensors 3, 4 are differed from each other according to the faced direction of the aligned vessels 9, the faced directions of the aligned vessels 9 are judged on the basis of the slippage of the operation timing to control a rotary kicker device 6. Thus, the vessels 9 turned in the same direction can be delivered to lateral carrying devices 7, 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention automatically detects the direction of a cylindrical container to be conveyed when cylindrical containers such as glass bottles are aligned in the axial direction of the container and continuously conveyed. The present invention relates to a method of sorting and conveying for each alignment direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A cylindrical container such as a glass bottle or a plastic bottle used for a beverage container, a food container or the like is aligned in the axial direction of the container from a state of being stacked in bulk by using a means such as a vibration aligning device. However, it is impossible to align the direction of the container, that is, the direction of the mouth and the direction of the bottom in a certain direction by such means. Therefore, in a bottling plant for beverages, medicines, etc., a method is used in which the orientation of the container is aligned by mechanical means by utilizing the difference in shape between the mouth and the bottom of the container.

[0003]

However, in such a container arranging method using mechanical means, the normal function is lost if the shape and size of the target container are different, so that the target containers are the same. The shape is an essential condition, and it cannot be applied in a state where containers of various shapes and sizes are mixed. Therefore, with the conventional aligning and conveying means, it has been impossible to continuously convey cylindrical containers having various shapes and different sizes while aligning them in a line in the axial direction of the container.

The present invention automatically detects the alignment direction of the containers to be conveyed when cylindrical containers having various shapes and sizes are continuously conveyed while being aligned in a line in the axial direction of the container. An object of the present invention is to propose a method in which a container can be distributed in each alignment direction by a simple distribution device that operates based on the detection signal, and all the containers can be continuously aligned and conveyed.

[0005]

As a means for achieving the above object, the present invention detects the alignment direction of a cylindrical container using a non-contact type sensor such as a transmission type photoelectric sensor, and sorts the alignment direction by the alignment direction. We propose a method of transporting by
The gist of the invention is that in the process of transporting cylindrical containers having different diameters at the mouth and bottom arranged in a line in the axial direction of the container, the sensor for detecting the passage of the cylindrical container on the transport line is connected to the transport line. At least two or more are installed by changing the height in a direction orthogonal to the direction, the alignment direction of the cylindrical container is detected by the operation timing of the sensor, and the automatic distribution device is used to detect the alignment direction of the cylindrical container based on the detection signal. It is a method of distributing and transporting to.

[0006]

In the present invention, at least two or more sensors for detecting passage of the cylindrical container are adopted because the cylindrical container on the transfer line is moving with the mouth first or the bottom first. This is to detect whether it is moving. Therefore, as for the installation height of the sensor for detecting passage of a cylindrical container on the transfer line, the upper sensor has almost the same height as the center line of the target cylindrical container (when targeting containers with different diameters. Is within a range in which the diameter of the mouth of each container is large), and the lower sensor is located near the upper surface of the transfer line. It should be noted that there is no particular problem even if the upper and lower sensors are arranged on the same vertical line, but in order to avoid erroneous detection, it is desirable to dispose the lower sensor by offsetting it by a certain distance upstream from the upper sensor. Further, two or more sensors below this may be installed at the same height to ensure detection.

As the automatic distribution device, for example, a device of a kicker system, a damper system or the like can be used. The automatic sorting device may have any mechanism as long as it has a mechanism for automatically sorting the cylindrical containers according to the alignment direction of the transported cylindrical containers. This automatic sorting device is arranged downstream of the alignment direction detection unit, and a transport device dedicated to the cylindrical container with the mouth first and a transport device dedicated to the cylindrical container with the bottom first are continuously provided to this device. It

By arranging at least two or more sensors on the transfer line of the cylindrical container and grasping the operation timing of these sensors, the alignment direction of the cylindrical container being transferred, that is, the mouth part is first or the bottom part is You can detect if it is ahead. That is, when the mouth portion is conveyed first, the upper sensor first operates, and then the lower sensor operates after a lapse of a certain time. Further, when the bottom portion is conveyed first, the lower sensor operates first, and the upper sensor operates later. Therefore, the alignment direction of the cylindrical containers can be electrically detected by the operation timings of the upper and lower sensors.

Cylindrical containers that are transported one by one in the axial direction of the container are arranged and conveyed with the mouth first or the bottom first.
In the alignment direction detection unit, the upper and lower sensors detect the alignment direction of the cylindrical container, and the detection signal is sent to the automatic sorting device to automatically sort the conveyed cylindrical containers according to the alignment direction, The cylindrical container having the parts first and the cylindrical container having the bottom first are continuously conveyed with their respective alignment directions aligned by dedicated conveying devices. A transmissive sensor such as a photoelectric sensor is used as the sensor.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of the entire configuration of equipment for carrying out the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a method for detecting a cylindrical container in the same apparatus, and (A) is a mouth part. For detecting a cylindrical container being transported first, (B)
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a method of detecting a cylindrical container conveyed with its bottom portion first, 1 is an aligning device, 2 is a conveying device, 3a is a light emitter of an upper photoelectric sensor, 3b is light emission of a lower photoelectric sensor. Vessel, 4a is a photodetector of the upper photoelectric sensor, 4b
Is a photodetector for the lower photoelectric sensor, 5 is a control device, 6 is a left-right rotary kicker device, 7 is a conveying device for a cylindrical container with the mouth portion first, and 8 is a conveying device for a cylindrical container with the bottom portion first. , 9 are cylindrical containers.

The aligning device 1 is a device for aligning the supplied cylindrical containers 9 in the axial direction of the container, and a vibrating aligning and feeding device having a V-shaped trough shown in the drawing is used.

The transfer device 2 is a continuous transfer device which transfers the cylindrical containers 9 fed from the aligning device 1 at a speed higher than the transfer speed of the aligning device 1, and is constituted by an endless belt conveyor or an endless chain conveyor. To be done.

Among the photoelectric sensors for detecting the alignment direction of the cylindrical container 9 on the carrier device 2, the upper light emitting device 3a and the light receiving device 4a of the photoelectric sensor detect the passage of the mouth of the cylindrical container. The pair of cylindrical containers 9 are installed on the carrier device 2 near the center line. Further, the light emitting device 3b and the light receiving device 4b of the lower photoelectric sensor detect passage of the bottom of the cylindrical container, and are installed at a position near the upper surface of the transport device 2 in the same manner as the upper part.

The control device 5 fetches detection signals from the light emitting device 3a and the light receiving device 4a of the upper photoelectric sensor and the light emitting device 3b and the light receiving device 4b of the lower photoelectric sensor at any time, processes them, and arranges them for each cylindrical container. It has a function of outputting an electric signal as a direction signal.

The left / right rotary kicker device 6 moves each cylindrical container from the transport device 2 in a predetermined left / right direction on the basis of a signal of the alignment direction sent from the control device 5 for each cylindrical container. A kicker device for kicking out, having a plurality of kicking plates 6-1 and having a mechanism that can be rotated by a motor 6-2 at any time by a constant angle.

A conveying device 7 for a cylindrical container having a mouth portion first,
The cylindrical container transporting device 8 having the bottom portion first is a device for transporting the cylindrical container kicked out in the direction set by the left-right rotary kicker device 6, both of which are endless belt conveyors or endless chain conveyors. Etc.

In the equipment having the above construction, the cylindrical containers 9 continuously supplied to the aligning device 1 are aligned in a line in the axial direction of the container and delivered to the conveying device 2. The cylindrical container 9 delivered to the transfer device 2 is transferred on the transfer device 2 with a substantially constant gap due to the difference in transfer speed from the alignment device 1.

Cylindrical container 9 transported on the transport device 2
Is the light emitter 3a and the light receiver 4a of the upper photoelectric sensor.
When passing through the light emitting device 3b and the light receiving device 4b of the lower photoelectric sensor, one of the photoelectric sensors is activated, and the detection signal of the sensor is sent to the control device 5 to be processed, and the alignment direction of the cylindrical container (mouth Part first or bottom first).

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, in the case of the cylindrical container 9 which is conveyed with the mouth portion first, the upper photoelectric sensor installed at substantially the same height as the center line of the cylindrical container. The light emitter 3a and the light receiver 4a operate first, and subsequently, the light emitter 3b and the light receiver 4b of the lower photoelectric sensor installed near the upper surface of the carrier device 2 operate with a delay (A). Further, in the case of the cylindrical container 9 which is transported with the bottom portion first, the light emitting device 3b and the light receiving device 4b of the lower photoelectric sensor installed near the upper surface of the transportation device 2 are activated first, Subsequently, the light emitting device 3a and the light receiving device 4a of the upper photoelectric sensor, which are installed at almost the same height as the center line of the cylindrical container, operate with a delay (B). Since the detection signal of each photoelectric sensor is sent to the control device 5 each time, the alignment direction of the cylindrical container 9 transported on the transport device 2 is determined by the deviation of the operation timing of the upper and lower photoelectric sensors.

The determination result is taken out as an electric signal and sent from the control device 5 to the rotary kicker device 6, and when the cylindrical container 9 reaches the rotary kicker device 6, the alignment direction of each cylindrical container is determined. Rotate left or right by a certain angle according to the signal of, and kick out each cylindrical container in the determined direction. That is, the cylindrical container 9 having the mouth first and the cylindrical container 9 having the bottom first are separately distributed. The thus-distributed cylindrical containers are transported in the respective alignment directions by dedicated transport devices. That is, the cylindrical container 9 with the mouth portion first is
The cylindrical container 9 having the bottom portion first is conveyed by the conveying device 8 and supplied to the next step (inspection, color-sorting step, etc.).

[0021]

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, even in the case of cylindrical containers having different shapes and sizes, if the shapes and sizes are within a certain range, a very simple device can be used. It is possible to detect the alignment direction of each bottle and extract it as an electric signal, and distribute it according to the alignment direction and convey it, so that containers such as discarded beverage glass containers with various shapes mixed can be mechanically automated. It is an effective means as a pretreatment for the sorting operation when performing the color-based sorting or the type-based sorting, and has a great effect on the resource recycling by reusing glass bottles and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of the overall configuration of equipment for carrying out the method of the present invention.

2A and 2B are explanatory views showing a method for detecting a cylindrical container in the same apparatus, wherein FIG. 2A is a method for detecting a cylindrical container being conveyed with its mouth first, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the detection method of the cylindrical container currently formed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Aligning device 2 Conveying device 3a Upper light emitting device of photoelectric sensor 3b Lower light emitting device of photoelectric sensor 4a Upper light receiving device of photoelectric sensor 4b Lower light receiving device of photoelectric sensor 5 Control device 6 Left and right rotary kicker device 7 Opening part Transporting device for cylindrical container 8 first Transporting device for cylindrical container 9 bottom 9 Cylindrical container

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shigeo Fukuoka, No. 1 Nishinomachi, Higashimukaijima, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture Sumikin Amagasaki Promotion Co., Ltd. Amagasaki Promotion Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In the process of transporting cylindrical containers having different diameters at the mouth and bottom arranged in a row in the axial direction of the container, the sensor for detecting the passage of the cylindrical container on the transport line is transported. At least two or more are installed by changing the height in the direction orthogonal to the line, the alignment direction of the cylindrical containers is detected by the operation timing of the sensor, and the automatic sorting device is used to detect the alignment direction of the cylindrical containers based on the detection signal. A method for aligning and transporting cylindrical containers, which is characterized in that each container is sorted and transported.