JPH07115731B2 - Guide rail structure for container carrier - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a flexible screw including a flexible rod and a resin coil spirally wound on the rod, and a metal for locking the screw. More specifically, the present invention relates to a guide rail structure provided with a guide rail made of a container, and a container transfer device for suspending a container on two flexible screws arranged in parallel at regular intervals and rotating the screw to transfer the container. The present invention relates to a guide rail structure used.

[Conventional technology]

A glass or plastic container or bottle (hereinafter, simply referred to as a container) containing a filling such as a liquid usually has a step of transferring the container on the manufacturing process line until it is shipped as a product. Generally, a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor is used to transfer the container, and the container is moved by moving a belt or rotating a roller.

With conveyors such as belt conveyors and roller conveyors,
Usually, the positions of the containers on the conveyor are not strictly determined, and the containers are, so to speak, randomly arranged on the conveyor. However, it is necessary to accurately position the container when putting the filling in the container, and in order to use the container for the next step without trouble, it is necessary to correct the position of the container conveyed by the conveyor.

Further, in order to automate the manufacturing process, it is required to simplify the process line as much as possible, but it is difficult to carry out the container transfer by the conveyor because of the necessity of the above-mentioned positioning correction.

In addition, the conveyor-based transport device not only occupies a lot of space as fixed equipment, but also increases the equipment cost.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

A new container transport device has been proposed to solve various problems found in the above-described ordinary container transport devices such as belt conveyors and roller conveyors. This device consists of two flexible screws arranged in parallel at regular intervals.
The container is suspended on a screw of a book (usually, the collar at the neck of the container is hooked on the screw), and the screw is rotated to convey the container.

This device moves the container by a completely different transport principle from the conveyor, that is, the contact friction between the screw and the neck of the container, the container positioning is accurate, the manufacturing process line can be automated, and the structure of the device itself. Is simple and small, and the equipment cost is low.

In the above-mentioned apparatus, since the container is conveyed by the rotation of the screw, it is important in terms of product and safety that the neck (including the collar) of the container that contacts the screw is not worn or damaged. Particularly, in a container filled with a carbonated beverage, more attention must be paid to the damage of the container.

On the other hand, in the above device, the screw is generally rotated while being locked to the guide rail having the main body portion and the shelf portion protruding from the main body portion, so that the screw is not limited to the neck of the container and the main body portion and the shelf of the guide rail. Contact the department,
The screw wears out during operation. Since the screw rotates at a high speed, the sliding friction generated at the contact portion between the screw and the shelf portion where the weight of the screw and the weight of the container are applied becomes considerably large, and the progress of abrasion is accelerated. Therefore, the screw must be replaced regularly, but it is important to extend the life of the screw in order to keep the maintenance cost as low as possible.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a guide rail structure that is optimal for use in the novel container transport device.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The purpose is to provide a guide rail structure including a flexible screw having a flexible rod having at least a surface layer made of resin and a resin coil spirally wound on the rod, and a metal guide rail for locking the screw. Achieved by the body.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The guide rail structure of the present invention is generally used in a novel container transporting device as described in detail in the following examples, and by using the structure, neck wear due to contact friction between the screw and the neck of the container is achieved. And damage can be effectively prevented. Also, the limit of resin coil of screw and metal rail
It has a large PV value (described later), good heat dissipation of frictional heat, and can suppress abrasion of the screw.

In the structure of the present invention, if the screw is rotated on the metal guide rail when the screw is rotated, the screw may come off the rail. Set up. The suction means is not particularly limited as long as the screw can be sucked and locked to the rail main body and the shelf so that the screw does not come off the rail. For example, when attracted by magnetic force, permanent magnets are embedded at regular intervals in the main body as shown in the following embodiments, or when negative pressure is used, a through hole is provided in the main body and the main body is formed. Examples of the means include a small hole communicating with the through hole on the protruding side of the rack portion at a constant interval, a pressure in the through hole is reduced by a vacuum pump or the like, and a screw is sucked through the small hole.

It is preferable that the metal used for the metal guide rail in which the adsorption means is embedded is mainly excellent in wear resistance and durability between the coil and the rail.
The value (unit: kg / cm ² · m / min) is at least 100 or more, preferably 300 or more. In other words, it is desirable to select a metal that mainly has abrasion resistance and durability and that has a maximum PV value with the resin coil of the screw as large as possible. Specifically, steel (for example, stainless steel, carbon steel,
Nickel-chrome steel, cast steel, etc.), chrome, nickel,
Examples include non-ferrous metals such as tin and copper and alloys thereof (such as brass). Among these, when a magnet is used as the adsorption means, it is preferable to use a non-magnetic material such as stainless steel in order to effectively prevent the screw from coming off the rail during rotation of the screw. The limit here
The PV value is the load (kg / cm ² ) applied to 1 cm ^{2 of} coil due to the weight of the container in which P is mainly suspended by the screw.
V represents the moving speed of the coil in the lateral direction (cm / sec), and the PV value (kg / cm ² · cm / sec) is obtained by multiplying the two.
Generally, the limit PV value for plastic metal (kg / cm ² ·
cm / sec) is about an order of magnitude larger than that between plastics, for example, steel and 6 nylon have a value of 590, while plastic and 6 nylon have a value of 90.

The flexible screw, which is an element of the structure of the present invention, is composed of a flexible rod having at least a surface layer made of resin and a resin coil spirally wound around the rod. Since the resin coil is in direct contact with the neck of the container and rubs against the neck, it has good wear resistance, flexibility, rolling property, and slidability, and has a small coefficient of dynamic friction (sliding friction or rolling friction). preferable. Examples of such resin materials include polyolefins and polyalkylenes (for example, various polyethylenes, especially ultra-high molecular weight polyethylenes or those having injection moldability improved based on them, for example, commercially available products such as Lübmer (manufactured by Mitsui Oil Industry Co., Ltd.) , Polypropylene, etc.], polyethers (eg polyacetal, polyphenylene ether etc.), polyamides (eg 6-nylon, 6,6 nylon, 11-nylon etc.), fluororesins (eg polytetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl) Examples thereof include vinyl ether copolymers) and polyesters (eg, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, etc.). Of these, the Lübmer is most suitable in view of the slidability and durability.

The winding pitch with respect to the flexible rod in which at least the surface layer of the resin coil is made of resin is determined based on the size of the container, the number of containers conveyed, the screw rotation speed, etc., in consideration of the container conveyance speed. Also, the pitch of the coils need not be constant over the entire length of the rod, but may be varied, for example, at any portion of the rod.

The flexible rod in which at least the surface layer is made of resin around which the above resin coil is wound in a spiral shape has flexibility such that it can be easily laid along a curved guide rail, and it does not bend due to rotation and from one end of the rod. It is important not only to have sufficient rigidity to sufficiently transmit the applied rotational torque to the other end, but also to select the rod material that provides the contradictory characteristics of flexibility and rigidity. Depends on the adsorption means of. Therefore, the flexible rod material needs to be made of metal such as steel, nickel, cobalt and alloys thereof so that the screw is magnetically attracted when a magnet is used for attraction. Further, in the case of a screw in which at least the surface layer of the flexible rod is a resin layer and the core body of the rod is made of metal, the metal having the flexibility, rigidity and magnetism of the above example is used, and the core body and the surface layer are When both are made of resin, the rod is made of a material in which a resin material and a magnetic material are mixed. In this case, the resin material of the coil is sufficient as the resin material.

Further, in order to give the rod particularly flexibility and rigidity, the rod is a wire rope (steel rope), that is, a strand (for example, having a diameter of 3 to
4 mm) and several strands are twisted together, and the structure is preferably covered with a resin. At that time, there is no particular limitation on the normal twist, the Lang twist, and the S twist and the Z twist, which are twisting directions of the ropes.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the guide rail structure for a container carrying device of the present invention will be described in detail based on examples.

First, the entire contents of a container carrying device using the structure of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 1, which shows a schematic plan view of an example of the apparatus, two metal guide rails 1 and 2 having a total length of about 3 m are arranged in parallel in a substantially right-angled curved shape with a radius of curvature of 500 mm at regular intervals. The permanent magnets 3 are embedded in the magnets at regular intervals (for example, 200 mm). Although not shown in detail in the drawing, the flexible screws 4 and 5 are attracted and locked to the rails 1 and 2 by the permanent magnet 3, and one ends of the screws 4 and 5 are rotatably supported by bearings 6 and 7, respectively. , The other end is rotatably supported by another bearing 8. The bearing 8 is connected to the motor 9 and can rotate the screws 4 and 5 in mutually opposite directions. The bearing 8 may have a transmission so that the rotation speed transmitted to the screws 4 and 5 can be adjusted.

In such a device, a container (not shown in FIG. 1) is suspended between two screws 4 and 5,
The container is moved in one direction (the direction of the bearing 8 in the figure) by rotating each of them in the direction of the arrow.

This container carrying device will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. 2 is a perspective view taken along the line AA 'in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA'. The metal guide rail 2 (the rail 1 is omitted in FIG. 2) has a main body portion 21 having a rectangular cross section and a shelf portion 22 projecting from the main body portion 21, and the entire rail has an L-shape. Present. The metal rail 1 also has a main body 11 and a shelf 12. Both guide rails 1 and 2 are supported at regular intervals by a support arm 10 (rail 1 side is omitted in FIG. 2) so that shelves 12 and 22 face each other. Body
Rectangular permanent magnets 3 are embedded at regular intervals in 11 and 21, and flexible screws 4 and 5 are mounted on the shelves 12 and 22, respectively. Each screw 4,
5 is attracted to the side surfaces of the main body portions 11 and 21 by the permanent magnet 3 so as not to come off the rails 1 and 2, and the main body portion 1
It is locked to 1, 21 and the shelves 12, 22. Therefore, the screws 4 and 5 can be easily attached to and detached from the rails 1 and 2.

The screw 4 comprises at least a flexible rod 41 having a resin surface layer and a resin coil 42 spirally wound around the rod 41 at a constant pitch. Screw 5 also screw 4
Similarly to the above, at least the surface layer is made of a flexible rod 51 made of resin and a resin coil 52, but the winding direction of the coil 52 is opposite to that of the screw 4. The screws 4, 5 can be rotated on the rails 1, 2 by motors 9 (see FIG. 1) in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows.

In such a device, as is apparent from FIG. 3, when the collar 101 at the neck of the container 100 made of polyethylene terephthalate is hooked on the screws 4 and 5, and the container 100 is suspended between the screws 4 and 5 (when suspending, the screw 100 is used). The container 100 can be easily hung between the screws 4 and 5 by slightly increasing the one-end distance between the screws 4 and 5), and the container 100 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A as the screws 4 and 5 rotate. It That is, the container 100 is pushed in the direction of arrow a by the coils 42 and 52 of the screws 4 and 5 and is translated one after another.

Since the rails 1 and 2 are made of metal when the container is conveyed by screw rotation, the limit PV value with the resin coils 42 and 52 is large as compared with the case of resin rails, and sliding between the coils and the shelves. The frictional heat can be effectively dissipated, the abrasion of the coil can be suppressed, and the life of the screw can be extended.

The flexible screw 4 in the structure of the present invention is
In the above embodiment, as shown in the cross section in FIG. 4, a flexible rod 41 having a metal core 41 'covered with a resin layer 43 and a resin coil 42 wound around the rod 41 at a constant pitch. Consists of. The size of the screw is, for example, 2 for the diameter of the neck of the container 100.
6.0 mm, the diameter of the collar 101 is 41.2 mm, and the wall thickness is 3.35 mm,
Rod 41 diameter (screw groove diameter) 9mm, coil 42 diameter 3mm, screw flight diameter 15mm, pitch 35m
m.

As described above, the structure of the screw 5 is the same as that of the screw 4, and the winding direction of the coil is opposite. Since the coil is made of resin in any structure of the screw, abrasion and damage of the neck due to contact friction between the coil and the neck of the container can be effectively prevented as compared with, for example, a metal coil.

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the guide rail structure for a container carrying device of the present invention includes the flexible screw having the resin coil and the metal guide rail as described above, it can be used for the novel container carrying device as described above. The following effects are obtained.

The wear and damage of the neck of the container conveyed by the rotation of the screw can be further reduced as compared with the metal coil.

The limit PV value of the resin coil and the metal rail is larger than that of the resin rail, and it is excellent in dissipating frictional heat of both.
The abrasion of the coil due to the sliding friction between the coil and the shelf can be effectively reduced, and the life of the screw can be extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a schematic plan view of a container transporting apparatus using the structure of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially omitted perspective view taken along line AA ′ in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a line in FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially omitted sectional view taken along line AA ′, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an example of the screw in the structure of the present invention. 1, 2: Guide rail 3: Permanent magnet (adsorption means) 4, 5: Flexible screw 11, 21: Main body part 12, 22: Shelf part 41, 51: Flexible rod 42, 52: at least surface layer is resin Resin coil 43: Resin layer (surface layer of rod) 100: Container 101: Container collar

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A flexible screw comprising a flexible rod having at least a surface layer made of a resin, and a resin coil spirally wound on the rod, and a metal guide rail for locking the screw. Characteristic guide rail structure. 2. A guide for use in a container transporting device, wherein two flexible screws are arranged in parallel at regular intervals, the container is suspended by the two screws, and the screw is rotated to transport the container. A rail structure, wherein the structure is a flexible screw having at least a surface layer made of a resin and a resin coil spirally wound on the rod, and a metal for locking the screw. A guide rail structure comprising a guide rail. 3. Two guide rails each having a suction means are arranged in parallel at regular intervals, a flexible screw is placed on the rail, and the screw is locked to the rail by the suction means so that the screw does not come off from the rail. A guide rail structure for use in a container transporting device, in which a container is suspended by two screws and the screw is rotated to transport the container, and the structure has at least a surface layer made of resin. A guide rail structure comprising: a flexible screw made of a flexible rod and a resin coil spirally wound on the rod; and a metal guide rail for locking the screw.