JPH0771991B2 - How to recover the liquid in the container - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a bottle in which a liquor such as beer or sake, or a liquid such as juice or a liquid seasoning is stored and the mouth is closed by a stopper. The present invention relates to a method of extracting a liquid contained in a container such as a container and collecting the liquid.

[Prior Art] Generally, liquors such as beer and sake, juices, or liquids such as liquid seasonings are filled in a container such as a bottle by an automatic filling machine. When the conditions are not stable, for example, at the beginning of work, the amount of liquid filled in the container often varies. The beer bottle must be filled with the specified amount of beer, and if it is larger or smaller than the specified amount, it cannot be shipped. In that case, beer is discharged from the container and returned to the recovery process. Work is needed.

As a method of discharging a liquid such as beer filled in a container such as a bottle from the container, a predetermined number of containers are arranged on the rotating bed of the drainage device, and a drainage chute is applied to the mouth of the container, There is a method of inclining or inverting the container together with the rotating bed to discharge the liquid into the drainage chute and collect it.

However, this method has a problem that it is difficult to reuse this drainage liquid because dust, water drops, etc. adhering to the container are mixed into the liquid drainage liquid. Further, this method has a problem that a certain number of containers are required to be lined up on the rotating bed, so that this part requires manpower. Furthermore, in this recovery method, among the containers that continuously flow,
It is practically difficult to remove the defective container from the line and perform the drainage treatment without disturbing the line.

As a method for improving the drawbacks of the above method, for example, JP-A-57-9
Japanese Patent No. 6994 proposes a method for recovering the liquid in the container.

This liquid recovery method is performed by raising a container (a defective container whose filling amount is out of the specified value) stored in a case to the opening of an orifice type air nozzle with a lifter and fitting the mouth of the container to this air nozzle. The tip of the liquid return pipe is inserted to the bottom of the container, compressed air is supplied from this air nozzle, and the pressure is used to drain and collect the liquid. This recovery method is far more efficient than the above-mentioned method because the container is not inclined or inverted as in the above-mentioned known technique.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in the liquid recovery method, it is necessary to prepare and process a predetermined number of containers in which the stoppers of all the containers have been removed, and the process is performed in a line in which liquid-filled containers are continuously flowing. There is a problem that you cannot do it.

Now, in the process of filling a liquid such as beer, it is usual that when the liquid such as a bottle is filled with a liquid, the mouth is immediately closed by the stopper in the next step, and after the stopper is attached, the mouth is closed. The amount of liquid in the container is inspected, and the defective container that is not filled with the specified amount as described above is sent to the liquid recovery process for recovery processing.

However, in the conventional liquid recovery method, the defective container is taken out to a certain place and is collected in a batch method, and the recovery process from the inspection process to the removal process-the process of confirming the removal condition-the recovery process is reached. It is difficult to automatically operate a consistent process.

The present invention solves the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional liquid recovery methods, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for continuously and efficiently recovering a liquid from a container filled with a container and closed. Is.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The present invention for achieving the above object, is filled with a liquid,
The container has a main line for transferring a container whose mouth is closed by a stopper, and a sub-line branched from the main line and connected to the main line again, and the sub-line has a cap removal process and a cap removal process. A method for recovering a liquid in a container is characterized in that a confirmation process and a liquid recovery process are sequentially provided, and the liquid filled in the sub-line is recovered.

[Action]

Branch from the main line that transfers the container filled with liquid,
A sub-line connected again to the main line is installed side by side, and a series of steps of the capping process, the capping confirmation process, and the liquid recovery process can be performed in this sub-line, so containers can be continuously transferred onto the main line. While draining, it can be recovered.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view of an apparatus for carrying out the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same,
FIG. 3 is a side view of the same.

In the plan view, arrow a indicates the supply direction of a defective container that is not filled with a specified amount of beer or the like and the mouth is closed with a stopper, and arrow b indicates the empty container from which the liquid has been discharged. The main lines M are extended to the front surface operated by the worker, and the sub-line S is branched from the main line M and connected to the main line M again. The sub-line S is provided with a container supply device 1, a cap removal device 2, a cap removal detection (confirmation) device 3, and a liquid recovery device 4, respectively.

The main line M is a conveyor 6 having plate guides 5 on both sides.
And a container detection device 7 for detecting the number of a predetermined number of containers B is provided at the inlet thereof. The container supply device 1 has a container B at the start portion (bent portion) of the sub line S.
A transport packer 8 for supplying two of each of the two is provided so as to be intermittently reciprocally rotated, and a star wheel 9 for receiving the container B transported by the transport packer 8 is provided so as to be intermittently rotated. .

In a portion of the sub line S, which is parallel to the main line M, a claw conveying device 10 is provided so as to circulate and convey the container B at a predetermined interval. Further, a stopper box 12 is provided in the front part of the cap removal device 2, and a box 13 for accommodating a defective container whose cap body is not completely removed is provided in the front part of the liquid recovery device 4. The apparatus of this embodiment processes two containers B at the same time. Therefore, even if one container B is not unplugged by the unplugging detection (confirmation) device 3, two containers B are simultaneously packed. Are discharged to the box 13 side.

A container holding member 14 made of a rubber plate or the like is provided for preventing the container B from falling down immediately before the container B conveyed on the sub-line S by the star wheel 9 is supplied to the bottle opener 2. ing. At the end of the sub line S, a drain door 15 for transferring the drained container B to the main line M is provided.
Is provided. Reference numeral 16 is a relay box for the power source, and 17 is a control panel.

Next, the structure of each device will be described.

The container detection device 7 has a lever that rotates in contact with the side surface of the container B, and a proximity switch 7a is provided at the tip of the lever. In this embodiment, four containers are provided up to the star wheel 9. When the container B is transferred, a signal is output and the transport packer 8 is rotated to supply the two containers B to the star wheel 9.

The claw transfer device 10 is provided with a claw 10c rotatably provided on a chain that is orbited by a sprocket wheel 10b driven by a motor 10a (Fig. 2), and projects in the sub-line S when the container B is being transferred. When moving a portion that is not on the sub line S, the portion is tilted along the chain so as not to come into contact with other members. Incidentally, 10d is a motor for driving the conveyor 6.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, there is provided a detecting device 18 for detecting the stop position of the pawl conveying device 10 which rotates together with the sprocket wheel 10b for driving the chain, and the pawl 10c is adjusted by adjusting the position of the detecting device 18. The stop position of can be adjusted. The detecting device 18 plays an important role when the containers B having different sizes, for example, different diameters are conveyed and accurately stopped at a predetermined position. The star wheel 9 and the pawl carrier 10 are driven in synchronization with each other.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cap removal device 2 includes a frame 19
A frame 21 is movably supported up and down by an air cylinder 20 supported on the shaft 21, and a frame 24 is movably supported up and down by a spring 22 and a shaft 23 on the frame 21.
The stopper b that closes the mouth of the container B is removed by the relative movement of the stopper head pressing member 25 and the stopper pulling claw 26 provided at the tip of the container.

Briefly explaining the operation of this device, the frame 24 is lowered by the air cylinder 20, and the cap head pressing member 25 is moved by the plug b.
When the upper part of is pressed down, the frame 21 descends even though the shaft 23 stops descending, so the lever 27 pivotally attached to this member 25 swings counterclockwise in the drawing, and Then, the plug pull-up claw 26 is guided by the cam 28 and ascends to hook the plug b, incline it, and pull it out from the mouth. And the removed plug b is a tray
Guided by 29, it is stored in the stopper box 12 (Fig. 1).

The unplugging detection device 3 detects whether or not there is a plug b at the mouth of the container B by a sensor 31 such as an ultrasonic sensor or an infrared sensor attached to a bracket 30 supported by the frame 21 as shown in FIG. To do. When the plug b is not pulled out even in one of the two containers B, the container B is pushed out to the box 13 side by the air cylinder 32 and collected.

The liquid recovery device 4 has a frame as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
A frame 37 is supported by an air cylinder 36 fixed to 35 so as to be able to move up and down as shown by an arrow 36a, and a drain pipe 42 is supported on the frame 37 via a fixing device 43. The drainage pipe 42 includes a body 44 (FIG. 7), a locking body 45 fixed to the drainage pipe 42, and a ball 46 housed in a hole provided in the body 44.
And a spring 47 for applying a predetermined pressure to the ball 46.

The frame 38 is fixed to the frame 35 and the spring device 48
A shaft 41 is always urged downward through the shaft 39, and a bracket 40 fixed to the shaft 39 closes the mouth of the container B.
I support you. The frame 37 of the closing body 41 rises,
When it comes into contact with the upper collar 39a of the shaft 39, it is pushed upward (Fig. 8). The closing body 41 is provided with a conical surface that guides the mouth of the container B and packing at the bottom of the conical surface so that carbon dioxide gas g is supplied into the container B via the gas pipe 49. It has become. Further, the drainage pipe 42 is sealed by a packing 51 in a through hole 50 provided at the center of the closing body 41 and is supported so as to be movable up and down.

The heights of the collars 39a and 39b are different depending on various types of containers, and therefore, the collars 39a and 39b are adjusting members for operating the liquid recovery device 4 in accordance with this height.

In the draining operation, as shown in FIG. 8, when the container B is positioned below the closing body 41, the air cylinder 36 operates to lower the closing body 41 together with the frame 37 to close the mouth of the container B (seventh example).
Figure). In this case, the sealing force by which the closure 41 closes the container B is determined by the spring device 48. When the frame 37 is further lowered, it is inserted until the tip of the drainage pipe 42 locked by the fixing device 43 reaches the bottom of the container B. During this operation, when the vertical distance of the drainage pipe 42 is large, the locking is released by the fixing device 43 so that an excessive force does not act on the drainage pipe 42.

Then, when carbon dioxide gas g is supplied from the gas pipe 49 to the upper surface of the liquid (beer) in the container B through the closing body 41, the liquid is drained by the pressure as shown in FIGS. Collected in the recovery tank 53 via the hose 51 and the pipe 52.
Then, the liquid such as beer recovered in the recovery tank 53 is transferred to the recovery process via the pump 54. Incidentally, 53a is a breather attached to the recovery tank 53.

The container B drained as described above is the nail of the nail conveying device 10.
The slide guide is pushed laterally by 10c to slide on the slide plate forming the sub-line S, and moves to the place where the end plate guide 5 is curved, and at this place, the discharge door
It is pushed out from the sub line S to the main line M side by 15 and transferred by the conveyor 6.

Briefly explaining the operation of the above-mentioned series of devices, a container B, for example, a defective container B in which a beer bottle is filled with beer having a non-regulated amount is transferred by the conveyor 6 of the main line M, and a certain amount (in this embodiment, a predetermined amount) is transferred. 4), the container detection device 7 detects this, and the signal from this drives the motor 10a to rotate the pawl transfer device 10, the star wheel 9, and the like.

The defective container B on the conveyor 6 is sent to the star wheel 9 by the packer 8 and is supplied to the pawl carrier 10 with the intermittent rotation of the star wheel 9, while the pawl 10c keeps a predetermined space between the sub containers. It is transported while sliding on S. When the container B reaches the front of the cap removal device 2, the stop position detection device 18 (FIG. 1) senses this and detects the motor 10a.
To stop.

Next, the stopper device 2 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is an air cylinder.
It is lowered by 20 and the plug is removed. After the cap is removed, the air cylinder 20 moves up, and then the motor 10a is driven to transfer the container B to the next stroke by the pawl 10c.

When the container B reaches the position of the regulation below the unplugging detection device 3, it stops and the unplugging detection device 3 detects the presence or absence of the plug b. In this case, if the stopper b is not removed, the box 13 is pushed out from the sub-line S by the air cylinder 32 (FIG. 1) as the unplugged container B and is placed outside the system.
Housed in.

The good container B from which the plug b has been removed is transferred to the downstream of the recovery device 4 in the next step. 6th in this process
By operating the pressure of the gas g on the liquid surface in the container B by the operation described with reference to FIGS. 7, 7 and 8, the liquid is drained by the drain pipe 42, and the hose 51, the pipe 52, etc. It is accommodated in the recovery tank 53 via. This recovery tank
When the tank 53 becomes full, the pump 54 operates to transfer it to the main recovery tank for recovery processing.

The empty container B from which the liquid has been discharged by each of the above-mentioned steps is discharged onto the conveyor 6 of the main line M by the discharge door 15 at the end of the sub-line S, and is recovered by a device (not shown) or the like.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, a main line M for transferring a container B filled with a liquid and having a mouth closed by a stopper b, and a sub line S branched from the main line M and connected to the main line M again. The sub-line S is provided with a series of a cap removal process, a cap removal confirmation process and a liquid recovery process of the container B, and the container B is capped in the sub-line. It is checked whether there is any, and then the liquid in the container B is recovered, and the following effects can be achieved.

That is, when the main line M is an existing line, the sub-line S is simply attached as a set, and a series of processes including a plug removal process, a plug presence / absence confirmation process, and a liquid recovery process are performed in the sub-line S. The flow work can be automatically performed, and the liquid contained in the container B closed by the plug b can be efficiently recovered.

[Brief description of drawings]

The figure shows an apparatus for carrying out the invention,
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the liquid recovery device, FIG. 2 is a front view, and FIG. 3 is a side view. FIG. 4 is a front view of the cap removal device, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the same. FIG. 6 is a front view of the liquid recovery device, FIG. 7 is a side view of the same, and FIG.
The figure is a side view showing an operating state. M: Main line, S: Sub line 1 ... Container supply device, 2 ... Capping device 3 ... Capping detection (confirmation) device, 4 ... Liquid recovery device 5 ... Plate guide, 6 ... Conveyor 7 …… Container detection device, 8 …… Packer 9 …… Star wheel, 10 …… Claw transfer device 15 …… Discharge door, 18 …… Stop position detection device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Mutsuhisa Ishikura 667 Ijiya-cho, Higashi-Izumo-cho, Yatsuka-gun, Shimane Prefecture 1 Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. 667 1 Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toru Saiki, Izumo-cho, Higashi-Izumo-cho, Yatsuka-gun, Shimane Prefecture 667 1 Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-2-191194 (JP, A) Kai-57-96994 (JP, A) JP-A-63-281989 (JP, A) Actual Kaihei 2-79299 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A main line for transferring a container filled with a liquid and having a mouth closed with a stopper, and a sub-line branched from the main line and connected to the main line again. A method for recovering a liquid in a container, wherein a cap removal process, a cap removal confirmation process, and a liquid recovery process of the container are sequentially provided in a sub-line, and the liquid filled in the container is recovered in the sub-line.