JPH07251932A - Uncaser - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily and guickly perform exchange of the position of a gripper and attaching/detaching thereof by fixing the gripper to an uncasing head by means of a magnetic or a sucking board so as to be attached and detached. CONSTITUTION:A gripper 19 comprises a connecting part 20 adsorbed to the back surface of an uncasing head 4, a supporting pipe part 21 connected to the connecting part 20 while commonly using an axial line and a head part 22 connected to the supporting pipe part 21 while commonly using an axial line. The connecting part 20 is composed of a magnet or an sucking board and attached to the uncasing head 4 attachably/detachably. The head part 22 having a cylindrical tube 23 whose diameter is larger than that of a bottle neck attached thereto is fixed to the connecting part 20 via the supporting pipe part 21. An air distributing part 25 is freely attachably/detachably connected to the tube 23, the supporting part 21 and a hose 24. The uncasing head 4 is lowered and its bottle neck is inserted into the tube 23. Then, air is supplied into the tube 23, the tube 23 is expanded, the bottle neck is gripped and the bottle is moved upward.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an extracting device for collectively extracting a plurality of containers such as bottles stored in a case conveyed by a conveyor, which is generally referred to as an answerer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in the process of bottling beverages or the like, an taker is used to remove a bottle stored in a case conveyed by a belt conveyor.

The uncaser has an uncasing head that can be lifted and lowered just above a case conveyor, and the uncasing head fixes a gripper vertically and horizontally aligned on a plate body of a rectangular shape or the like by hanging it toward the case, and It is provided so as to be horizontally movable from directly above the case transport conveyor to directly above a bottle receiving table provided on the side of an adjacent bottle transport conveyor.

The case for accommodating the bottle is opened at the upper part, and the inside of the case is aligned vertically and horizontally corresponding to the gripper to expose the bottle neck, and the bottle neck is held by the lowered gripper and conveyed from the case conveyer. This is a device that transfers bottles to a conveyor.

In order to cope with the speeding up of the production line, this taker increases the bottle withdrawing speed, and also causes the bottle to be broken or broken when the bottle is gripped or opened, or when the bottle is shaken during conveyance. For the purpose of eliminating the cause of line stop, control of the timing of gripping and opening the bottle by the gripper, strengthening the gripping force of the gripper, smooth operation of the device, etc.
It has been modified to accommodate various products.

[0006]

However, due to the increasing variety of products in recent years, it is necessary to handle a plurality of products having different bottle shapes in one manufacturing line. Since different products handle different bottle heights, barrel diameters, bottle mouth shapes, etc., it is necessary to readjust each device used in the production line to suit a particular bottle.

In the caser, there are replacement of the uncasing head having a gripper matching the shape of the bottle mouth, height adjustment of the caser and the case conveyor, adjustment of the horizontal movement distance of the uncasing head, and the like.

The height of the uncaser and the horizontal movement distance of the uncasing head can be adjusted relatively easily by rotating the handle or the like, but the number of bottles stored in the case is different. In the case of targeting bottles having different body diameters, the uncasing head itself has to be replaced because the gripper arrangement of the uncasing head is different.

At present, all the uncasing head replacement work is done manually, but since the uncasing head to which the gripper is attached is heavy,
The replacement work by one worker is not possible, and therefore, it takes a plurality of workers and time for the replacement, and it is a factor of lowering the line efficiency.

In order to eliminate this replacement work, several kinds of grippers are preliminarily held in the replaceable excavator so that the type of gripper can be mechanically changed when the product on the manufacturing line is changed. However, in some cases, there is no need for replacement work, but in this case, it is necessary to store unused grippers and to provide a mechanical replacement means for them, which increases the size and complexity of the device. It is unavoidable, and there is the inconvenience that running costs, maintenance, and trouble handling increase.

Further, in these devices, since the grippers that can be incorporated in the devices are very limited, the gripper and the uncasing head must be replaced in the end.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional caser, and can handle a wide variety of products, and the gripper for each product can be switched easily and quickly and easily. The purpose is to provide.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has an uncasing head that vertically descends to a case on a carrier so that a plurality of bottles in the case are gripped by a plurality of grippers and the uncasing is performed. The head rises, moves horizontally,
Further, in the caser which descends again to open the gripper and transfers the grasped bottle to another part, the gripper is removably and detachably attached to the uncasing head.

Both or one of the gripper and the uncasing head is made of a magnet, and at least one of them can be magnetically attached to the other, or the gripper has a suction plate so that it can be attracted to the uncasing head.

[0015]

Since the gripper can be magnetically attached to or attracted to the uncasing head, when the type of product to be extracted is different, the gripper is relocated to the uncasing head according to the arrangement of the bottle in the case. Therefore, it is sufficient to replace the uncasing head for each product by replacing only the gripper, and the replacement work can be performed simply, quickly and easily.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments. 1 and 2 are a front view and a side view of the answerer.
As shown in the figure, a gate-shaped frame 3 is provided which straddles carriers such as the case conveyor 1 and the bottle conveyor 2, and the uncasing head 4 is mounted on the bridge portion 3a of the frame 3 so as to be vertically movable and horizontally movable. To be done.

A shaft support 5 is fixed to the upper surface of the bridge portion 3a, a magnet type rodless cylinder 6 is arranged in parallel between the shaft support 5 and a sliding body 7 is slidably mounted on the magnet type rodless cylinder 6. Are engaged. The magnet type rodless cylinder 6 can reciprocate the sliding body 7 on the principle of a linear motor.

On the other hand, two parallel shafts 9 are provided on the front side surface of the bridge portion 3a via a shaft supporter 9a, and sliders 10 are slidably engaged with these shafts 9, respectively. The sliders 10 are engaged with, for example, one shaft 9 in a pair. The two parallel shafts 9 have sufficient strength to support the weight of the uncasing head 4.

A cylinder mounting plate 11 is connected to the slider 10, and an upper end portion of the cylinder mounting plate 11 is bent in a hook shape and connected to the sliding body 7. That is, a guide guide 8 having a box-shaped recess 8a is fixed to the front side surface of the sliding body 7,
The upper end of the cylinder mounting plate 11 is inserted into the recess 8a.

A cylinder 12 with a guide is vertically mounted and fixed to the front surface of the cylinder mounting plate 11. The uncasing head 4 made of a rectangular plate 16 is connected to the lower end of a guide shaft 13 of a predetermined length that engages with the guided cylinder 12, with a guide shaft support plate 14 and a spacer 15 interposed. The uncasing head 4 is not limited to the rectangular plate 16, and a shape corresponding to the case 17 is adopted.

The rectangular plate 16 has a plate shape having substantially the same size as the upper opening of the case 17 placed on the case conveyor 1, and the lower surface thereof holds the bottle neck of the bottle 18 in the case 17. The grippers 19 are detachably mounted vertically and horizontally. The square plate 16 is composed of an iron plate or a nickel plate, a resin plate or a metal plate having a smooth surface that can be adsorbed by an adsorption plate, or a permanent magnet plate.

As shown in the enlarged view of FIGS. 3 and 4, the gripper 19 has a connecting portion 20 adsorbed to the back surface of the uncasing head 4 and a support pipe portion 21 connected to the connecting portion 20 so as to share the axis. And a head portion 22 that is connected to the support tube portion 21 so as to share the axis. The connecting portion 20 is made of iron or nickel that is magnetically attached to the uncasing head 4, a permanent magnet, an electromagnet, or a suction plate that attracts the uncasing head 4, and is attached to and detached from the uncasing head 4.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which a permanent magnet is used for the connecting portion 20. In FIG. 5A, an integrally molded main body in which a molded body (yoke) 55 made of a magnetic material is joined to both sides of a separation plate (separator) 56 made of a non-magnetic material is sandwiched,
The support tube portion 21 is appropriately connected, the inside thereof is made into a hollow cylindrical shape, and a permanent magnet (magnet) 57 is inserted therein. A switching lever 58 is provided on the permanent magnet 57.
The direction can be changed by reciprocating 0 degrees.
This device is already known, and there is also provided a body in which the separating plate 55 and the molded body 56 are integrally molded and have a circular shape that is concentric with the support tube portion 21 instead of being rectangular.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the switching lever 58
When the magnet 57 is rotated by and the direction of the magnetic pole is switched to the direction orthogonal to the separation cross section of the separator 56, the magnetic pole is opened in the vertical and longitudinal directions of the main body, exerting a magnetic force on the outside at each surface, and uncasing. It can be easily magnetically attached to the head 4.

As shown in FIG. 5C, the switching lever 58
When the magnet 57 is rotated by 90 degrees so that the separation cross section of the separator 56 and the magnetic pole direction of the permanent magnet 57 are parallel to each other, the magnetic circuit is closed inside the main body and no magnetic force acts on the outside. Therefore, it can be easily removed from the uncasing head 4.

Thus, when a simple permanent magnet is used, it is difficult to remove the gripper 19 that has been magnetically attached from the uncasing head 4. However, with this device, it is only necessary to turn the switching lever 58. So you can easily remove it.

In order to form the connecting portion 20 with an electromagnet, a coil having an iron core (not shown) is embedded and fixed in the cylindrical connecting portion 20, and wiring for energizing the coil is drawn out, and the wiring is uncasing head 4 It is detachably connected to a power supply connection portion appropriately arranged on the upper surface of the. Needless to say, the gripper 19 needs to have a magnetic force sufficient to support the weight of itself and the weight of the bottle 18.

In order to form the connecting portion 20 by a suction plate, an air suction pipe (not shown) is airtightly connected to the cylindrical connecting portion 20 having an elastic body such as rubber on the end face periphery. The air suction pipe is appropriately detachably connected to a suction drive source arranged on the upper surface of the uncasing head 4 or the like.

The support tube portion 21 is a tube body having a required length, and the head portion 22 has a cylindrical shape having a diameter larger than that of the bottle neck and has a tube 23 therein, and the tube 23 and the support tube portion 21. Communicate with each other. The tube 23 is made of an elastic material such as rubber into which the bottle neck can be inserted. The hose 2 is attached to the support tube portion 21.
One end of the hose 24 is connected to the air distributor 25, and the other end of the hose 24 is detachably connected to an air distributor 25 fixed to the upper surface of the uncasing head 4.

The air distributor 25 is connected to an air supply device (not shown), supplies air to the support tube portion 21 via the hose 24, inflates the tube 23, and presses around the bottle neck to hold the bottle 18. . The head portion 22 of the gripper 19 may have a mechanical structure such as a chuck that holds the bottle neck.

An electromagnetic valve or the like is provided in the air supplier to instantaneously control the air supply or discharge, and the opening / closing timing of the electromagnetic valve is set in advance by the moving stroke of the cylinder 12 with a guide, and an appropriate sensor or the like is used for detection. When the uncasing head 4 reaches a predetermined height by means, air is supplied and discharged.

Then, in order to align and fix the gripper 19 to the uncasing head 4, a positioning board 26 is prepared as shown in FIG. This positioning board 26
Is, for example, a rubber sheet that is the same size as the lower surface of the uncasing head 4 and can be magnetically adhered or adsorbed, or a suction board attached to paper such as cardboard, or paper with a sticky substance attached to the back surface. In other words, a plurality of circular holes 27 are formed in a vertical and horizontal alignment at an arrangement corresponding to the bottle 18 housed in the case 17. The circular hole 27 is a notch hole having a diameter substantially the same as or slightly larger than that of the connecting portion 20 of the gripper 19.

The positioning board 26 is magnetically attached to the lower surface of the uncasing head 4 and fixed by adhering or abutting it, and the connecting portion 20 of the gripper 19 is magnetically attached or adsorbed to the circular hole 27.
Therefore, each gripper 19 can be arranged corresponding to the bottle necks that are vertically and horizontally aligned in the case conveyed on the case conveying conveyor 1.

Therefore, if a positioning board 26 is prepared for each type of product to be uncased, the gripper can be arranged according to various products. The gripper 1
After attaching 9 to the uncasing head 4, the positioning board 26 may be removed from the uncasing head 4.

Although not shown in the drawings, it is also possible to print or draw grids directly on the lower surface of the uncasing head 4 so that the gripper 19 can be mounted while determining the position. In this case, it is assumed that the grid does not adversely affect the magnetic attraction and the attracting action of the gripper 19. In short, various means for convenient, quick and easy positioning of the gripper 19 can be conceived.

The case transfer conveyor 1 is a roller conveyor. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the drive rollers 30 arranged at a predetermined interval are rotated to move the case 17 placed on the drive roller 30 in one direction. (Transfer in the depth direction of the drawing). The case transport conveyor 1 is provided with a stopper 31 and a case guide 32 for temporarily stopping the case 17 directly below the uncasing head 4.

The stopper 31 is composed of a plate body which can be moved upward and backward by a cylinder 33 arranged below the gap between the drive rollers 30, and is inserted between the cases 17 which are intermittently or continuously conveyed. The end of the case 17 on the upstream side is stopped at a predetermined position. A pair of front and rear stoppers 31 may be provided according to the size of the case 17 (see FIG. 2).
reference).

Alternatively, a pair of stoppers 31 are appropriately spaced apart, and only one of the continuous cases 17 is moved to the downstream side by the stopper 31 on the upstream side, and only one moving case 17 is moved to the downstream side. The stopper 31 may be stopped at a predetermined position so that the line pressure is not generated in the case 17 during extraction.

The stopper 31 is moved forward and backward so that it can be detected between the cases 17 by a detector (not shown) and enters between the cases 17 and can be stopped at a predetermined position even if the size of the case 17 is changed. It is convenient if it can be adjusted.

The case guide 32 has a rod-shaped positioning guide that horizontally projects above the drive roller 30 at a predetermined position where the case 17 is stopped by the stopper 31 so that the case guide 32 can be axially moved and adjusted on both sides of the case conveyor 1. The center of the case 17 is supported, and the position of the case 17 conveyed with the center of the uncasing head 4 deviated is corrected. The case guide 32 may be a pair of plate-shaped members that guide the case 17 to the central portion of the drive roller 30.

The bottle carrying conveyor 2 is a top plate chain conveyor adjacent to the case carrying conveyor 1, and a bottle receiving table 40 is provided on one side thereof.

The bottle receiving table 40 is located directly below the horizontally moved uncasing head 4, and when the bottle 18 held by the uncasing head 4 is placed on the bottle receiving table 40, the bottle receiving table 40 is supported so as not to fall down. It has a bottle guide 41 for doing.

Then, a bottle pushing plate 42 for pushing and moving the bottle 18 placed on the bottle receiving table 40 to the bottle carrying conveyor 2.
Is movably provided by a cylinder 43 or the like. A bottle restraining plate 44 is provided so as to face the bottle pushing plate 42 and prevent the pushed bottle 18 from spilling from the bottle transporting conveyor 2. The bottles referred to in the present invention include not only glass bottles but also resin bottles.

Next, the operation of the above-structured caser according to the present invention will be described.

When the case 17 accommodating the bottle 18 is carried by the case carrying conveyor 1 and moved to a position just below the uncasing head 4, the cylinder 33 is operated and the stopper 31 is moved.
Enters between the drive rollers 30 and the case 17 and stops the case 17 at a predetermined position. At this time, the case 17 is positioned by the case guide 32 so that the center of the case 17 and the center of the uncasing head 4 coincide with each other.

At the same time when the case 17 is stopped, the cylinder with guide 12 is operated to lower the guide shaft 13 and the uncasing head 4 is lowered toward the case 17. Since the descending stroke of the uncasing head 4 differs depending on the product, the descending distance of the guide shaft 13 is set in advance in the cylinder with a guide 12.

When the uncasing head 4 descends by a predetermined stroke and the gripper 19 corresponds to each bottle neck in the case 17, and the bottle neck is inserted into the tube 23 of the head portion 22, the solenoid valve provided in the air supply device. Is opened, air is supplied to the tube 23 in the head portion 22, and the tube 23 swells to grip the bottle neck.

The air supply time to the gripper 19 is set by a timer or the like, and when the time is up, the solenoid valve is closed and the air supply is stopped. When the supply of air is completed and the bottle neck is completely gripped by the gripper 19, the guide cylinder 12 is activated again, and the uncasing head 4 that grips the entire bottle 18 in the case 17 moves upward.

When the uncasing head 4 rises to a predetermined height, the magnet type rodless cylinder 6 operates and the cylinder mounting plate 11 horizontally moves to the bottle transport conveyor 2 side. With the horizontal movement of the uncasing head 4, the stopper 31 protruding above the case transport conveyor 2 is pulled back to its original position, and thus the stopped case 17 is again moved to the downstream side by the drive roller 30.

The case 17 from which the bottle 18 has been removed passes through the predetermined position as it is, and when the subsequent case 17 reaches the predetermined position, the cylinder 33 is actuated again to stop the case 17 for the next extraction. To wait.

When the uncasing head 4 moves directly above the bottle receiving table 40 of the bottle conveying conveyor 2, the cylinder 12 with the guide is operated to lower the uncasing head 4 and the bottle bottom reaches the bottle receiving table 40. The descent is stopped, the air supply to the gripper 19 is released, the tube 23 is opened to open the bottle neck, and the bottle 18 is placed on the bottle receiving table 40.

Bottle 18 placed on bottle receiving table 40
Is operated by the cylinder 43 so that the bottle pressing plate 42 can move the bottle restraining plate 4
By moving toward the bottle 4, the body of the bottle 18 is pushed and pushed out one by one from the row on the side of the bottle conveyor 2 onto the top plate chain 51, and at the predetermined position by the top plate chain 51. Be transported to.

[0053]

According to the present invention described above, since the gripper is detachably attached to the uncasing head, the arrangement of the gripper can be freely changed according to various products, so that one manufacturing line can be used. Multiple products with different container shapes can be handled easily, quickly and easily.

Therefore, even when the case size and the container size change, the necessity of preparing and storing the uncasing head for each product and the replacement work thereof are eliminated, which is economical.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view (A) showing an example of a permanent magnet used in the gripper and operation explanatory views (B) and (C).

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an uncasing head and a positioning board.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Case transfer conveyor (transfer body) 2 ... Bottle transfer conveyor 3 ... Frame 4 ... Uncasing head 6 ... Magnet type rodless cylinder 7 ... Sliding body 9 ... Shaft 10 ... Slider 11 ... Cylinder mounting plate 12 ... Guided cylinder 13 ... Guide shaft 17 ... Case 18 ... Bottle 19 ... Gripper 20 ... Connection part 21 ... Support tube part 22 ... Head part 23 ... Tube 24 ... Hose 25 ... Air distributor 26 ... Positioning board 27 ... Circular hole 31 ... Stopper 32 ... Case Guide 40 ... Bottle receiving table 41 ... Bottle guide 44 ... Bottle restraint plate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An uncasing head is vertically lowered to a case on a carrier to grip a plurality of bottles in the case with a plurality of grippers, and the uncasing head is raised, horizontally moved, and lowered again. An gripper which opens the gripper and transfers the gripped bottle to another part, wherein the gripper is removably and detachably attached to the uncasing head. 2. The caser according to claim 1, wherein both or one of the gripper and the uncasing head is made of a magnet, and at least one of them can be magnetically attached to the other. 3. The answerer according to claim 1, wherein the gripper has a suction plate and can be sucked by the uncasing head.