JPH0680231A - Tube feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely feed each wrapping tube including all the kinds of tubes, particularly a wrapping tube which is short in the longer direction as compared with its diameter, and is greatly one-sided in the center of gravity. CONSTITUTION:The tube feed device 22 carries wrapping tubes 16 with a cylinder piston 30 intermittently operated. In carrying operations, each wrapping tube 16 is rested in each recessed groove 24 of an inclined plate 26 first. Each tube escaping plate 28 is then projected upward into the recessed grooves 24 by means of the cylinder piston 30, so as to allow each rested tube 16 to escape out of the recessed grooves 24, so that each wrapping tube 16 is rollingly moved over the inclined plate 26 so as to be rested in the next recessed groove 24. A series of actions such as resting each wrapping tube 16 in the recessed grooves 24, letting each wrapping tube escape out of the recessed grooves 24, and subsequently resting each wrapping tube in the next recessed groove 24, is intermittently repeated, so that the wrapping tubes 16 are lined up one by one so as to be carried on.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tube supply device, and more particularly to a tube supply device for sequentially conveying tubes to a device for filling a packaging tube with contents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in order to improve the usability, handleability, appearance quality, etc., a paste-like product is filled in packaging tubes of various designs and distributed in the market. Toothpaste is generally known as a paste-like product that is the content of such a packaging tube, but a paste-like face-washing soap or cosmetic cream, and further,
Similarly, some foods are often sold in a packaging tube.

When the packaging tube is filled with the above-mentioned paste-like product, the packaging tube is conveyed in order, and
It is necessary to align the content filling side and supply it to the filling device. That is, normally, the packaging tube has the rear end opened, and in order to smoothly and efficiently inject the product into the packaging tube in such a state from the injection nozzle, the packaging tube on the content filling side is the same. This is because the rear end of the injection tube must be accurately aligned with the direction in which the injection nozzle is inserted.

A tube supply device is used to supply the packaging tube to the filling device. FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a conventional tube supply device. The tube supply device of FIG. 5 has a robot magazine 10 in the upper part and one hopper 12 in the lower part on the left and right.
In succession. A plurality of packaging tubes 16 are supplied to the robot magazine 10 by a robot (not shown).
Is dropped into the rug conveyor 14 by its own weight. The lug conveyor 14 is a rod-shaped body 14 protruding from a belt 14b while rolling a packaging tube 16 onto a slope 14a.
It is pushed by c and conveyed to the hopper 12. The rug conveyor 14 is configured to load the packaging tubes 16 from the robot magazine 10 into the hopper 12 at a constant interval without loading them all at once.

In the hopper 12, the photoelectric switch 1 is used to set the upper limit and the lower limit of the inserted packaging tube 16, respectively.
2u and 12d are detected, and a predetermined amount of the packaging tube 16 is retained according to the detection signal. At this time, the remaining packaging tubes 16 are piled up in a state of being stopped by the tucker 12a on the outlet side of the hopper 12,
The swinging of the tucker 12a causes the packaging tubes 16 to roll in a row along the bottom surface of the hopper 12 and roll on the tilters 18 one by one from the outlets of the left and right hoppers 12. It The tilter 18 raises the mounted packaging tube 16 by 90 degrees and directs the open rear end of the packaging tube 16 in the upward direction (the direction in which the injection nozzle is inserted by the filling device) so that the filling device Send to.

[0006]

The packaging tube 16 may be either a long one in the longitudinal direction or a short one depending on the product. In the conventional tube supply device, the packaging tube 16 is longer in the longitudinal direction than the diameter.
Since the center of gravity is near the center, they are easily aligned in the hopper 12 at right angles to the transport direction, and are transported in an aligned manner without being irregular, so there is not much problem during supply.

However, in the conventional tube feeding device, the packaging tube 16 which is shorter in the longitudinal direction than the diameter has a large deviation of the center of gravity due to the influence of the weight of the cap and the like. There is a problem that it is difficult to supply the packaging tube smoothly because the packaging tube is easy to orient in any direction without being orthogonal, and it is often transported in an unaligned and unaligned state. This tendency becomes stronger as the size and weight ratio increase. Further, when the packaging tube is intermittently charged into the hopper 12, the packaging tube 16 which is shorter in the longitudinal direction than the above diameter tends to be oriented particularly parallel to the conveying direction, and the supply of the packaging tube is stopped. There is a problem that there is a great risk of doing it. The present invention has been made to solve the above conventional problems, and reliably aligns all types of packaging tubes, particularly packaging tubes that are shorter in the longitudinal direction than the diameter and have a large center of gravity deviation. An object of the present invention is to provide a tube supply device that can supply by supplying.

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tube feeding device for sequentially transporting a packaging tube to a device for filling the packaging tube with contents, wherein the forward side along the transportation direction of the packaging tube is downward. And a slanting member in which a recessed groove that is substantially orthogonal to the transport direction is formed, and is vertically moved intermittently up and down from below the slanting member into the recessed groove of the slanting member to move the packaging tube into the recessed groove. The problem is solved by providing a tube escaping member for escaping from the tube and carrying it in the carrying direction, and an actuator for applying an intermittent actuating force to the tube escaping member in the direction of the slope member. It is a thing.

[0009]

When the tube supply device of the present invention operates,
First, the packaging tube is placed in the groove of the slope member. Then, the tube evacuation member is moved up and down in the groove by the actuator to cause the mounted packaging tube to escape from the groove, whereby the packaging tube rolls the slope member, It is placed in the groove.

Since the tube escaping member operates intermittently, the packaging tube is placed in the groove and then
A series of operations such as escaping from the groove and placing the groove in the next groove are intermittently repeated.
Therefore, the packaging tubes are conveyed continuously along the slope member, that is, in the conveying direction and aligned one by one while passing through the individual concave grooves. Further, since the packaging tube is transported while being placed in each of the concave grooves that are substantially orthogonal to the transportation direction, even if the packaging tube fed from the upstream side is intermittent, the packaging tube is Since it is substantially orthogonal to the carrying direction, it is never parallel to the carrying direction.

Therefore, it is possible to surely align and supply all types of packaging tubes, particularly packaging tubes that are shorter in the longitudinal direction than the diameter and have a large center of gravity deviation.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a tube transport line provided with an embodiment of the tube supply device of the present invention. 2 and 3 are a plan view and a side view of the detailed configuration of the tube supply device of FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the tube supply device of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the tube transfer line transfers the packaging tube 16 loaded by a robot hand through a tilter 18 to a product filling device such as kneaded face wash soap, and mainly comprises:
The robot magazine 10, the conveyor 20, the star wheel 21, and the tube supply device 22 are provided on the left and right respectively.

Since the robot magazine 10 is the same as that shown in FIG. 5, the description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer conveyor 20 includes a packaging tube 1
Conveyor belt 20b formed with a recess 20a for mounting 6 on the upper side at a right angle to the conveying direction, belt guide 20c through which the conveyor belt 20b circulates, and tube protrusion for preventing the packaging tube 16 from protruding. And a prevention plate 20d. The conveyor belt 20b
On the surface thereof, a plurality of semicircular recesses 20a having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the packaging tube 16 to be transported are formed at appropriate intervals. Of course, the recess 20a
The shape of is not limited to this, and may be other kinds of shapes as long as the shape is suitable for mounting the packaging tube. Further, the conveyor belt 20b may be made of any material other than rubber as long as it is suitable for mounting the packaging tube 16, and the overall shape may be continuous or may be a block for each recess. It is possible to have any shape, such as by forming a block and connecting the blocks.

The star wheel 21 has a substantially cylindrical outer diameter and a substantially semicircular cross-section on the outer periphery and has a recess of the same shape along the axial direction. The recess is the packaging tube 1.
It is formed so that 6 can be inserted. Star wheel 21
Is the packaging tube 16 carried out from the transport conveyor 20.
Is rotated while being fitted into the recess, and is carried out to the tube supply device 22.

In the tube supply device 22, the tip along the transport direction of the packaging tube 16 is lowered downward, and
The slope plate 2 in which the concave grooves 24 orthogonal to the transport direction are formed for mounting the plurality of packaging tubes 16 at predetermined intervals.
6 and the tube escape for intermittently moving up and down from below the slope plate 26 into the concave groove 24 of the slope plate 26 to cause the packaging tube 16 to escape from the concave groove 24 and convey in the conveying direction. A plate 28 and a cylinder piston 30 for applying an intermittent actuating force to the tube escape plate 28 in the direction of the inclined plate 26 are provided. In addition, in order to prevent the packaging tube 16 from popping out, the tube supply device 22 is provided with an upper guide member 22a at an upper portion of a transportation path of the packaging tube 16 and a side guide member 22b at a side portion of the transportation tube. Has been.

More specifically, the inclined plate 26 is constructed by arranging a plurality of plate pieces 26a whose longitudinal direction is at right angles to the transport direction at equal pitches, as shown in FIGS. The groove 24 is formed in the gap between the plate pieces 26a. The plate piece 26a has a substantially rectangular cross section, and the width (length in the transport direction) of the plate piece 26a is
The diameter of the packaging tube is approximately half, preferably smaller than half, and the pitch at which the plate pieces 26a are arranged is equal to or larger than the diameter of the packaging tube 16. Therefore, when a plurality of packaging tubes 16 are lined up on the slope plate 26, the packaging tubes 16 are arranged such that the adjacent packaging tubes 16 are located on the groove 24 between the plate pieces 26 a of the slope plate 26. They are placed so that they do not interfere with each other. The plate piece 26a is
The widthwise end is fixed to the fixing member 26b, whereby the upper end surface of the plate piece 26a forms one flat surface.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the tube escape plate 28 includes a plurality of plate pieces 28a whose longitudinal direction is at right angles to the carrying direction, and the support plate 2 at an equal pitch.
8b are arranged side by side, and each plate piece 28
“A” is arranged so as to be slidably fitted into the groove 24. The plate piece 28a has a substantially quadrangular cross section, and the width of the plate piece 28a is less than or equal to the width (length in the transport direction) of the recessed groove 24. When located at the upper end, the upper end of the plate piece 28a is flush with the upper end surface of the inclined plate 26. However, the vertical movement range of the tube escape member of the present invention is
It is not limited to the vertical movement range of the tube escape plate 28, and other ranges are also within the technical scope of the present invention. For example, it is obvious that the tube escape member (tube escape plate 28 or the like) may be made to project from the upper end surface of the slope member (slope plate 28 or the like) and moved up and down depending on the timing and size.

The cylinder piston 30 intermittently moves the tube escape plate 28 up and down, and is composed of a cylinder 30a and a piston rod 30b.
a is fixed to the support plate 28b of the tube escape plate 28, and the piston rod 30b is fixed to the frame (not shown) together with the inclined plate 26. An air cylinder can be used as the cylinder piston 30. Further, the timing of the intermittent operation of the cylinder piston 30 can be set to various timings depending on the transportation characteristics of the packaging tube 16, the transportation speed, and the like. In the example,
The cylinder piston 30 is intermittently operated at a timing of 0.3 seconds descending / 0.2 seconds rising.

At the lower part of the tube escape plate 28, there is a slide guide for guiding the tube escape plate 28 to move in parallel in the vertical direction toward the inclined plate 26 according to the operating force of the cylinder piston 30. A motion guide 30c is provided. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a flat guide plate 22 a that is flush with the inclined plate 26 is provided at the forward end of the tube supply device 22 in the transport direction.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described. In FIG. 1, the packaging tube 16 inserted into the robot magazine 10 by the robot is transported by the transport conveyor 2 due to its own weight.
It is thrown in 0. The transport conveyor 20 sequentially transports the packaging tubes 16 and delivers them to the star wheel 21.
The star wheel 21 puts the packaging tube 16 into the tube supply device 22.

The tube supply device 22 operates the cylinder piston 30 intermittently to convey the packaging tube 16. In this case, the cylinder piston 30 is intermittently operated at the timing of 0.3 second fall / 0.2 second rise. The above-mentioned conveyance state is as shown in FIG. That is, first, the packaging tube 16 is placed in the groove 24 of the slope plate 26.
Place on. Then, the tube escape plate 28 is projected upward into the groove 24 by the cylinder piston 30 to allow the mounted packaging tube 16 to escape from the groove 24, whereby the packaging tube 16 is slanted. It rolls on the face plate 26 and is placed in the next groove 24.

Since the tube escape plate 28 is operated intermittently, the packaging tube 16 is placed in the concave groove 24, and then the packaging tube 16 is ejected from the concave groove 24. A series of operations such as placement is intermittently repeated. Therefore, the packaging tube 16
As shown by the arrows in FIG. 4, while passing through the individual concave grooves 24, they are continuously conveyed along the inclined plate 26 in the downward direction, that is, in the conveying direction.

In the above embodiment, the tube supply device 22 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is given as an example of the tube supply device of the present invention, but the tube supply device of the present invention is not limited to this. However, various other modes can be adopted within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. For example, the slope member is a plate material having a groove engraved, and the tube escape member is moved up and down in the groove,
It can be of any shape.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably supply all types of packaging tubes, particularly packaging tubes that are shorter in the longitudinal direction than the diameter and have a large center of gravity deviation. The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a tube transfer line provided with an embodiment of a tube supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a detailed configuration of the tube supply device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the detailed configuration of the tube supply device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the operation of the tube supply device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional tube transfer line.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Robot Magazine 16 Packaging Tube 20 Conveyor 22 Tube Supply Device 24 Recessed Groove 26 Slope Plate 28 Tube Escape Plate 30 Cylinder Piston

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] May 13, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 2

[Correction method] Change

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[Fig. 2]

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 3

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 3]

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 4

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 4]

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Harumitsu Ide 1-28-20 Kimizuka, Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tube supply device for sequentially transporting a packaging tube to a device for filling the packaging tube with the contents, wherein the forward side along the transportation direction of the packaging tube is lowered downward,
And, a slope member having a concave groove formed substantially orthogonal to the conveying direction, and intermittently moving up and down from below the slope member into the concave groove of the slope member to cause the packaging tube to escape from the concave groove. And a tube ejecting member for conveying in the conveying direction, and an actuator for applying an intermittent actuating force to the tube ejecting member in the direction of the inclined surface member.