JPH0735528A - Bottle inspection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decrease the size of an entire bottle inspection system even though a number of inspection stations is increased. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of bottles conveyed by conveyer 4 are delivered into a bottle inspection part 12 one by one by means of an infeed wheel 22. A bottle introduced into the bottle inspection part 12 is set on a carrier 40 which runs along a rail 21, and accordingly, during the running of the carrier 40, the bottle is inspected. After the completion of the inspection, the bottles are delivered from the inspection part 12 onto the conveyer 4 one by one by means of an outfeed wheel 21. The rail 21 has straight paths 29a, 29b which are laid, orthogonal to the conveyer 4, and several inspection stations are laid along the straight paths 29a, 29b.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bottle inspection system for inspecting bottles such as glass bottles, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a bottle inspection system introduced in the middle of a bottle manufacturing line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a bottle inspection system has been introduced into a bottle manufacturing line, and the inner and outer diameters of each part of the bottle, the dimension in the height direction, the inclination angle of the inclined surface, the flatness of each part of the bottle, and the streak / billi of the outer surface of the bottle Each item such as the presence or absence is inspected.

This conventional bottle inspection system has a star wheel having recesses at a plurality of positions on its peripheral surface, a feed mechanism for intermittently rotating the star wheel, and a stop position of each recess of the star wheel (hereinafter referred to as ""Inspectionstation") and a screw mechanism for feeding the bottle into each recess of the star wheel (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-278740).

A bottle rotation mechanism is provided at each inspection station, and each item is inspected while the bottle is rotated.
Each bottle rotation mechanism presses a rotating roller against the peripheral surface of the bottle located at the inspection station and rotates the bottle by its frictional force.A guide that guides the bottle to the next inspection station between each inspection station. Boards are in place.

[0005]

Since such a conventional bottle inspection system is of the rotary type in which the star wheel is driven to rotate, the diameter of the star wheel must be increased when the number of inspection stations is increased. Not get
There is a problem that the entire bottle inspection system becomes large.

When the star wheel is rotated,
Centrifugal force acts on the bottle in each recess to prevent the bottle from being retained in each recess, so the rotation speed of the star wheel cannot be increased, and there is a limit to the speed of the bottle inspection system.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a bottle inspection system which can downsize the entire bottle inspection system even if the number of inspection stations installed is increased. A second object of the present invention is to provide a bottle inspection system capable of speeding up bottle inspection and improving inspection efficiency.

[0008]

The bottle inspection system of the present invention comprises a bottle transfer path for continuously transferring a plurality of bottles to be inspected, and a bottle inspection section provided in the middle of the bottle transfer path. A bottle carry-in mechanism that intervenes between the bottle transfer path and the bottle inspection section to transfer the bottles to be inspected from the bottle transfer path to the bottle inspection section, and a bottle that is interposed between the bottle transfer path and the bottle inspection section. It comprises a bottle unloading mechanism that successively carries out inspected bottles from the inspection section to the bottle transport path. The bottle inspection unit includes an elliptical rail having parallel straight tracks formed between opposing curved tracks, a plurality of bottle carriers slidably engaged with the rails, and bottle carriers. A drive mechanism that is connected to the body to drive the bottle carrier along the rails, and the rails are arranged such that each linear track is orthogonal to the bottle carrier path.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the drive mechanism comprises an intermittent drive mechanism for intermittently traveling each bottle carrier along the rail and a continuous drive mechanism for continuously traveling each bottle carrier along the rail. The intermittent drive mechanism is connected to each bottle carrier on one linear track of the rail, and the continuous drive mechanism is connected to each bottle carrier on the other linear track of the rail and both circular tracks. I am letting you.

[0010]

A plurality of bottles transported by the bottle transport path are sequentially loaded into each bottle transporter of the bottle inspection unit by the bottle loading mechanism. Each bottle carrier is driven by a drive mechanism and travels along the rail, and the bottle is inspected during the travel. The bottles that have been inspected are successively delivered from the bottle inspection unit to the bottle transport path by the bottle delivery mechanism. Since the linear track of the rail is arranged in the direction orthogonal to the bottle transport path, it is possible to set a number of inspection stations along the linear track. Can be placed side by side along the road, making the entire bottle inspection system compact.

In the bottle inspection system according to the second aspect of the present invention, the intermittent drive mechanism intermittently travels each bottle carrier on one linear track of the rail, and the continuous drive mechanism on the other linear track of the rail and both circular tracks. To continuously run each bottle carrier. Intermittent travel of the bottle carriers is performed on a linear rail track, which allows high-speed movement without the influence of centrifugal force, and because each bottle carrier is continuously operated on other tracks, the inspection system can operate at high speed. Is realized.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the structure of a bottle inspection system provided in a bottle manufacturing line, in which a plurality of bottles 2 simultaneously manufactured by a plurality of sections of a bottle making machine 1 are conveyed via a conveyor belt 3 via a conveyor. 4 are supplied in an aligned state. Conveyor 4
A bottle conveying path for conveying a large number of bottles 2 is constituted by following a predetermined path from the conveying belt 3 to the boxing device 5.

A preselector 10, a strength inspection machine 11, first and second bottle inspection parts 12,
13 are sequentially provided. The printer selector 1
0 is for removing the deformed bottle 2 from the bottle conveying path, and the strength inspecting machine 11 is for inspecting the pressing strength of the body of the bottle 2. The first bottle inspecting unit 12 inspects small cracks called “billi” and dimensions of each part. The second bottle inspection mechanism 13 inspects the outer surface of the body for the presence of foreign matter and the bottom for adhered substances and dirt.

Both bottle inspecting units 12 and 13 are sequentially arranged on the downstream side of the strength inspecting machine 11 and on the side of the conveyor 4, and the above-described predetermined inspection is performed on the bottles 2 carried in from the conveyor 4. Then, the good product is sent to the conveyor 4. The configurations of the bottle inspection units 12 and 13 are almost the same except for the inspection machine installed, and here, the first bottle inspection unit 12 is mainly used.
The structure of is explained.

The first bottle inspection unit 12 includes a plurality of carriers 4
A rail 21 that slidably supports 0, and the conveyor 4
It is equipped with an in-feed wheel 22 for successively carrying the bottles 2 from the carrier 40 to the carrier 40 and an out-feed wheel 23 for successively carrying out the bottles 2 from the carrier 40 to the conveyor 4 again. 26, the outfeed wheel 23 constitutes a bottle unloading mechanism 27.

The rail 21 has an elliptical shape, and has a pair of opposing curved tracks 28a and 28b and a curved track 2.
Two parallel straight tracks 29a, 2 connecting 8a, 28b
9b and 9b are connected in series. The inspection machines are arranged at a plurality of locations along the straight track 29a on the side of the infeed wheel 22, and the inspection stations 31 are arranged at a plurality of locations along the straight track 29b on the side of the outfeed wheel 23. Inspection station 32
Are set respectively. The inspection station 3
In the installation section of No. 1, the carrier 40 is intermittently run, and in the other sections, the carrier 40 is continuously run. Each of the first and second bottle inspecting sections 12 and 13 has a linear trajectory 29a and 29, respectively.
The rail 21 is arranged so that b is orthogonal to the conveyor 4, and the number of inspection stations 31 and 32 can be set along each linear track 29a and 29b according to the length.

The infeed wheel 22 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of holders 33 for holding the bottles 2 conveyed from the upstream side of the conveyor 4 one by one are provided radially, and the bottles 2 are rotated by driving the respective holders 33 in the arrow A direction. Each bottle is carried into the first bottle inspection unit 12. A guide 34 having an arc shape is provided at an outer peripheral position of the infeed wheel 22 so as to correspond to a section where the holder 33 holds the bottle 2, and each holder 33 holds the bottle 2 by the guide 34. Guide to the first bottle inspection unit 12. In FIG. 2, 35 is a screw device that aligns the bottles 2 on the conveyor 4 and supplies the bottles 2 to the infeed wheel 22 at a determined timing.

A plurality of carriers 40 are mounted on the rail 21.
Are slidably engaged, and each carrier 40 runs along the rail 21 in the direction of arrow B. A bottle rotation mechanism 42 for rotating the bottle 2 on each carrier 40 is provided at a position of the rail 21 facing the linear track 29a. The bottle rotation mechanism 42 has a traveling belt 43, and the bottle 2 supported by each carrier 40 is rotated by the frictional force between the belt 43 and the bottle 2. As the bottle 2 rotates, the entire circumference of the bottle 2 is inspected at the inspection station 31.

As with the infeed wheel 22, the outfeed wheel 23 is provided with a plurality of holders 44 for holding the bottle 2 passing through the inspection station 32 on the linear track 29b in a radial pattern, and each holder 44 is indicated by an arrow. By rotating in the C direction, the inspected bottle 2 is carried out from the first bottle inspection unit 12. Outfeed wheel 23
A guide 45 having an arc shape is provided at an outer peripheral position of the holder 44 corresponding to a section where the holder 44 holds the bottle 2, and the guide 45 allows each holder 44 to hold the bottle 2 and guides it to the conveyor 4. To do. In this case, the bottles 2 that have passed the inspection are sent out onto the conveyor 4, while the bottles 2 that have failed the inspection are guided to a table (not shown) disposed adjacent to the outfeed wheel 23. In FIG. 2, 46 is each carrier 40 in the second bottle inspection unit 13.
A holder opening / closing cam for opening a holder mechanism (described later) mounted on the rail 21, which is arranged in an arc shape along the outer circumference of the curved track 28a of the rail 21.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the carrier 40 includes a main body 52, four rollers 50 rotatably supported by the main body 52, and a bottle mounting table fixed on the main body 52. 56, the four rollers 50 are engaged with the ridges 51, 51 formed on both side surfaces of the rail 21 so as to freely roll. On the outer surface of the main body 52,
Engaging balls 53 are projected at two upper and lower positions. As shown in FIG. 8, each engagement ball 53 is arranged in a bottomed cylindrical sleeve 54 provided in the main body 52, and is biased outward by the spring force of the compression coil spring 55, It is engaged with the double-sided toothed belt 60. The double-sided toothed belt 60, which will be described in detail later, is for allowing each carrier 40 to continuously run.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the lower end of the main body 52 is provided with an engaging member 70 that engages with a double-sided toothed belt 80 for intermittently running each carrier 40. . The engaging member 70 has one end rotatably supported by a pin 71 and the pin 73 engaged with an elongated hole 72 formed in the other end in the vertical direction. A compression coil spring 74 is interposed between the engaging member 70 and the main body 52 to urge the engaging member 70 toward the double-sided toothed belt 80 and to swing the pin 71 as a whole. Freedom. Three engaging pins 75 are provided on the lower end of the engaging member 70.
Are rotatably provided, and each engagement pin 75 is engaged with the double-sided toothed belt 80.

FIG. 9 shows the overall structure of each carrier 40 used in the first bottle inspecting section 12. Carrier 4 in the illustrated example
0 is a small bottle holder 56 that supports a part of the bottom of the bottle 2.
And a plurality of gripping rollers 57 for vertically supporting the body of the bottle 2.
In addition to supporting the central portion of the height of the body of the bottle 2 with the belt 43, the belt 43 is run to rotate the bottle 2 on the bottle mounting table 56. When the bottle 2 is held in this manner, the mouth portion and the bottom portion of the bottle 2 are exposed and the respective inspections can be performed.

FIG. 10 shows the overall structure of each carrier 40 used in the second bottle inspecting section 13. The carrier 40 in the illustrated example has a bottle placing table 76 that supports the bottom of the bottle 2 over the entire surface, and a plurality of grips 77 that grip the mouth of the bottle 2 from above. It is connected to a slide roller 79 which slides on the holder opening / closing cam 46 via 78. When the sliding roller 79 rides on the holder opening / closing cam 46 and slides, the elevating rod 78 rises, and each gripping body 77 separates from the mouth portion of the bottle 2 and opens. Further, in the section where the holder opening / closing cam 46 is not installed, the elevating rod 78 descends and each grasping body 77 grasps the mouth portion of the bottle 2. A holder mechanism 41 for holding the bottle 2 is constituted by these grippers 77. The bottle placing table 76 has a pulley 47.
Drive belt 4 which is connected to and engages with the pulley 47.
8, the bottle placing table 78 rotates on its axis.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of a mechanism for continuously running each carrier 40. A plurality of engaging projections 66 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rail 21 on the inner side of both of the curved tracks 28a, 28b. Carry wheels 67 provided are each rotatably arranged. The engagement protrusions 66 of the carry wheels 67 engage between the rollers 50 of the carriers 40 adjacent to each other. On the outer circumference of the rail 21, the double-sided toothed belt 60 is stretched along the running locus of each carrier 40 in a range extending from the straight track 29b to the both curved tracks 28a and 28b. The double-sided toothed belt 60 is
The drive pulley 62, which is rotationally driven by the continuous drive unit 61, is wound around the three driven pulleys 63 to 65, and the double-sided toothed belt 60 has the engagement balls of the respective carriers 40 within the above range. Engage with 53. The drive force is transmitted to each of the carry wheels 67 via a part of the carrier 40 on both of the curved orbits 28a, 28b with which the double-sided toothed belt 60 engages, and thereby the both of the curved orbits 28a, 28b. All carriers 40 on 28b are driven.

A transfer mechanism 90 for transferring each carrier 40 from the continuous running section of the curved track 28a to the intermittent running section of the straight track 29a is arranged at the boundary position between the curved track 28a and the straight track 29a. There is. The delivery mechanism 90 has a drive unit 94 that controls the rotational speed of the drive pulley 91, and a double-sided toothed belt 93 is wound between the drive pulley 91 and two driven pulleys 92. The double-sided toothed belt 93 engages with the engaging balls 53 of each carrier 40 and continuously runs each carrier 4.
Driving is performed at an optimum speed for transferring 0 to the intermittent traveling section of the linear track 29a.

The linear orbit 29a and the other circular orbit 28
A delivery mechanism 95 for delivering each carrier 40 from the intermittent travel section of the straight track 29a to the continuous travel section of the curved track 28b is arranged at the boundary position with b. The delivery mechanism 95 also includes a drive unit 99 that controls the rotational speed of the drive pulley 96, and a double-sided toothed belt 98 is wound between the drive pulley 96 and the two driven pulleys 97. This double-sided toothed belt 98 is for each carrier 4
Each carrier 40 that engages with the engagement balls 53 of 0 and runs intermittently is driven at an optimum speed for delivering to each continuous running section of the curved orbit 28b.

FIG. 5 shows the power transmission system of the first bottle inspection section 12. This power transmission system uses a single motor 100 as a drive source and distributes the output of the motor 100 to each part. Power is distributed from the output shaft 101 of the motor 100 to the intermediate shaft 104 for continuous travel via the belt 102, and to the input shaft 106 of the cam index unit 105 for intermittent travel via the belt 103. The intermediate shaft 104 includes a belt 110 for transmitting power to the input shaft 107 of the drive unit 94 in the transfer mechanism 90, a belt 112 for transmitting power to the speed reducer 111 for driving the infeed wheel 22, and the double-sided toothed gear. A belt 113 for transmitting power to the continuous drive unit 61 of the belt 60 and a belt 115 for transmitting power to the drive reduction gear 120 of the outfeed wheel 23 are provided. The cam index unit 10
5 has a built-in cam index for converting the continuous rotary driving force input from the input shaft 106 into the intermittent rotary driving force, and the output shaft 130 to the delivery mechanism 95,
Output shaft 131 to a mechanism for intermittently running each carrier 40
It has and. The output shaft 130 and the transfer mechanism 95
A belt 133 is wound around the input shaft 132 and supplies the intermittent driving force to the delivery mechanism 95 in synchronization with the intermittent running of each carrier 40 on the straight track 29a.

One end of a belt 135 is wound around the output shaft 131, and the other end of the belt 135 is wound around an input sprocket 81 of the double-sided toothed belt 80 as shown in FIG. There is. A drive sprocket 82 is connected to the input sprocket 81, and the double-sided toothed belt 80 is wound between the drive sprocket 82 and the driven sprocket 83. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 84 is a proximity sensor that detects the passage of each carrier 40 traveling on the straight track 29a. It is detected by the output of the proximity sensor 84 that a traveling abnormality has occurred in any one of the carriers 40. At this time, the power supply from the cam index unit 105 is stopped.

FIG. 11 shows the relationship between the intermittent running characteristic X of each carrier 40 and the operating characteristic Y of the transfer mechanism 95. As indicated by the characteristic X, each carrier 40 is accelerated from time T0, reaches the maximum speed, and then decelerates to reach speed 0 at time T5. Then, at time T6, the vehicle is accelerated again, and similarly, deceleration and acceleration are repeated. On the other hand, the transfer mechanism 95 has a constant speed V1 from time T0 to T2, accelerates at time T2, reaches the maximum speed, and then overlaps with the characteristic X in the range from T3 to T4, and speeds from time T4 to T6. Becomes a constant value V1. In the above characteristics X and Y, the transfer from the intermittent running to the continuous running is performed in the section where the characteristics overlap, that is, in the section of P3 to P4 where the speed is the same. The transfer from the continuous running to the intermittent running is performed at the point where the operating characteristics (constant value) of the transfer mechanism 90 and the intermittent running characteristics X of each carrier 40 intersect.

In the bottle inspecting section 12 having the above structure, the bottles 2 successively conveyed by the conveyor 4 are successively carried into the carrier 40 by the infeed wheel 22. Each carrier 40 is transferred by the transfer mechanism 90 from the continuous traveling section to the intermittent traveling section of the linear track 29a. While each carrier 40 travels intermittently on the straight track 29a, the bottle 2 is inspected for cracks and dimensions by an inspection machine installed in the inspection station 31. At the end of the straight track 29a, each carrier 40 is transferred from the intermittent travel section to the continuous travel section by the transfer mechanism 95. Each carrier 40 is continuously run by the double-sided toothed belt 60, and when each carrier 40 passes through the linear track 29b, the bottle 2 is inspected by the inspection machine installed in the inspection station 32, and then the outfeed is performed. The bottle 2 is unloaded by the wheel 23.

In the second bottle inspecting section 13, in each carrier 40, the gripping body 77 is opened corresponding to the section in which the holder opening / closing cam 46 is installed, and at the end of the holder opening / closing cam 46. Each gripping body 77 closes.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the rail of the bottle inspection section provided in the middle of the bottle conveying path is formed into an oval shape and the rail is arranged so that the linear track is orthogonal to the bottle conveying path, Multiple inspection stations can be set up along the track. When a plurality of bottle inspecting units are provided, the bottle inspecting units can be arranged in parallel along the bottle conveying path, and the entire bottle inspecting system can be made compact.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the intermittent drive mechanism intermittently travels with each bottle transporter on one linear track of the rail, so that there is no influence of centrifugal force and high speed operation is possible. Moreover, since each bottle carrier is continuously driven on the other straight track and both curved tracks of the rail by the continuous drive mechanism, there is an effect that the speed of the inspection system can be realized and the efficiency of the inspection is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a bottle inspection system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of a bottle inspection unit.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a mechanism for continuously moving a carrier.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a mechanism for intermittently traveling the carrier.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a driving force transmission system of a bottle inspection unit.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state where the carrier is engaged with the rail.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the carrier.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an engagement state between a double-sided toothed belt and engagement balls.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the carrier in the first bottle inspection unit.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the carrier in the second bottle inspection unit.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between intermittent running characteristics of a carrier and operating characteristics of a delivery mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 bottles 12 and 13 bottle inspection part 21 rails 28a and 28b curved orbits 29a and 29b linear orbits 40 carrier

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A bottle transfer path for continuously transferring a plurality of bottles to be inspected, a bottle inspection section provided in the middle of this bottle transfer path, and an intervening portion between the bottle transfer path and the bottle inspection section. A bottle loading mechanism that sequentially loads the bottles to be inspected from the bottle transport path to the bottle inspection section, and a bottle that has been inspected from the bottle inspection section to the bottle transport path by interposing between the bottle transport path and the bottle inspection section. The bottle inspection unit is configured to carry out one after another, and the bottle inspection unit is slidably engaged with an elliptical rail in which a parallel linear track is formed between opposing curved tracks, and the rail. A bottle comprising a plurality of bottle carriers and a drive mechanism that is connected to each bottle carrier and runs the bottle carriers along the rails, and the rails are arranged such that each linear trajectory is orthogonal to the bottle carrier path. Inspection system. 2. The drive mechanism comprises an intermittent drive mechanism for intermittently traveling each bottle carrier along a rail and a continuous drive mechanism for continuously traveling each bottle carrier along a rail. The mechanism is connected to each bottle carrier on one linear track of the rail, and the continuous drive mechanism is connected to each bottle carrier on the other linear track of the rail and both circular tracks. The bottle inspection system described in 1.