JPH0798096A - Valve opening/closing device for gas filling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To open/close a handle certainly by applying only operation for rotating the handle, in the handle for moving vertically in association with rotation of the handle when the handle provided on the valve of a bomb is opened/closed. CONSTITUTION:In a gas filling machine formed in such constitution that a gas supplying nozzle is provided horizontally on a lifting head and a bomb is set rotatably below the head, a vertical shaft 12 which rotates by a motor 17 is provided vertically slidably on the lifting head, and fingers 15 formed in a plulality of rod shapes are provided vertically on a supporting body 14 provided on the bottom end of the vertical shaft 12 while providing intervals in circumferential direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for opening and closing a valve attached to a cylinder when automatically filling the cylinder with LP gas.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An apparatus of this type is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-60-
No. 196497, the nozzle is attached to the inlet of the valve provided in the cylinder, the handle of the valve is rotated to open the valve to fill the gas, and after filling a predetermined amount of gas, the valve The handle is rotated to close the valve. The means for opening and closing the valve is such that a cup-shaped valve opening / closing head that covers the valve handle is provided so as to be vertically movable in a cylinder, and is rotated in another cylinder.

[0003]

By the way, since the handle of the valve is a screw connection, when the handle is rotated and opened and closed, the handle moves up and down. Therefore, the bubble opening / closing head is raised and lowered simultaneously with the rotation. There is a need. This point is not particularly described in the above publication, but since the cylinder for raising and lowering the bubble opening / closing head is based on air, a slight up / down movement is allowed, so that the handle can be opened / closed. In this case, the valve opening / closing head is given a pressing force and a rotating force against the handle, and an up / down actuating force (different from the operation of lowering the head retracted to the upper part in order to press the valve opening / closing head against the handle). For this purpose, it is necessary to sufficiently consider the wear resistance of the valve opening / closing head due to the pressing force and the rotational force. Especially in the case of automation, it is necessary to ensure that the valve is reliably closed.However, as described above, the method using the pressing force, the rotational force, and the up-and-down actuating force has certainty. There was a problem of lacking.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, and the valve handle provided on the cylinder has a plurality of recesses at equal intervals on the outer circumference of the circle. The purpose of the present invention is to improve the valve so that it can be opened and closed by simply using the rotational force.

[0005]

The solution according to the present invention is provided with a gas supply nozzle in a sideways direction on a head that moves up and down,
In a gas filling machine in which a cylinder is rotatably set in the lower part of the head, a vertically moving head is vertically slidably provided on a vertically moving head, and a plurality of supports are provided at a lower end of the vertical axis. It is characterized in that the fingers in the form of a bar of a book are hung vertically at intervals in the circumferential direction.

It is preferable that a flexible shaft coupling is interposed in the middle of the vertical axis.

[0007]

[Function] When the finger retracted to the upper part is lowered toward the cylinder set to the lower part, at that time, if each finger corresponds to the recessed portion of the handle, each finger has a corresponding recessed portion. When they fit in the cutouts but do not face each other, the vertical axis for holding the fingers is provided slidably up and down, so that the fingers stop while being pressed against the upper surface of the handle. However, in the automatic filling machine, before the LP gas is automatically filled, the valve is rotated so that the mouth of the valve is directed to the gas supply nozzle, so that the rotation of the cylinder causes each finger to face the recessed portions and simultaneously descend further. Engage in the recess. While the cylinder is rotating with the fingers engaged in the recessed portions, the vertical axis also rotates through the fingers, and the valve is not opened or closed during this time.

If a flexible shaft coupling is provided in the middle of the vertical axis, a twisting force may act on the fingers when the cylinder rotates while the fingers are in pressure contact with the upper surface of the handle. However, the flexible shaft joint causes the fingers to swing like a swing, so that the fingers are securely engaged with the recessed portion of the handle without being twisted.

After each finger is engaged with the recessed portion of the handle as described above, the vertical axis is rotated to rotate the handle and the handle is raised or lowered according to the rotation, but the fingers are rod-shaped. Therefore, the handle moves up and down while sliding along the fingers.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail together with its peripheral devices. As shown in the outline of a gas filling machine in FIG. 3, a cylinder B is provided at an upper part of a conveying path 1 by a slat conveyor. A roller 4 is provided which is supplied immediately below the head 2 and which is held in a floating state by a disk 3 protruding from the bottom of the transport path 1 and which is pressed against the outer surface of a cylinder B to rotate the cylinder. On the other hand, the head 2 moves up and down, and the head 2 is provided with a gas supply nozzle 5, a valve port detection sensor 6, and a valve opening / closing device 7 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the gas supply nozzle 5 is horizontally projected horizontally, and levers 8 for holding the valve V in between are projected on both sides of the gas supply nozzle 5, and the nozzle 5 is horizontal. It is designed to project and retract in the direction.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the valve port detection sensor 6 is a cage-shaped holding cylinder 9 which is larger than the valve V and is provided with three light transmission type sensors. V
When the cylinder B is rotated by the rotation of the roller 4, the light beams a and b of the two sensors pass through both sides of the valve and the light beam c of the other sensor passes in the intersecting direction. At this time, the rotation of the cylinder is stopped, and the valve opening faces the nozzle 5 in the above state. After facing the nozzle in this way, the nozzle is advanced and inserted into the valve port and held.

Thereupon, the work of injecting gas by opening the valve is performed, and the device of the present invention operates to open and close this valve.

This device is shown in FIG.
Is a plate-like member. The boss 11 is axially supported on the upper surface of the head 2 so as to rotate the pulley 10 horizontally.
The vertical axis 12 is engaged with the spline groove 13 so as to vertically extend slidably, and the disc-shaped support 1 is attached to the lower end of the vertical axis 12.
4, a plurality of rod-shaped fingers 15 are provided on the lower surface of the support body 14 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the support body 14. As described above, the handle H of the valve V provided in the cylinder B is provided with the plurality of recessed portions G at equal intervals as described above, and therefore the fingers 15 are provided in a protruding manner in accordance with the intervals. The support 14 is not limited to the disk-shaped one, but may be a plurality of arms.

Further, the flexible shaft coupling 1 is provided in the middle of the vertical axis 12.
6 is interposed, and the support 14 swings in a circular motion.

The vertical axis 12 is adapted to be rotated by a motor 17 provided on the head 2 via a timing belt 18 hung on the pulley 10.

With the above-mentioned structure, after the cylinder B is set on the transport path 1 and is held by the disk 3 in a floating state,
When the head 2 descends, the tip of the finger 15 comes close to the handle H of the valve V due to the descending, and if each finger 15 faces the recess G of the handle H, each finger 15 is recessed. If it happens that it engages in the portion G, but it does not happen to face each other, it remains in pressure contact with the upper surface of the handle H.

Next, the holding cylinder 9 of the valve port detection sensor 6
Is rotated and the cylinder B is rotated so that the valve port faces the nozzle 5. Due to this rotation, the fingers 15 that are pressed against the upper surface of the handle H are fitted into the recessed portions G, and when the cylinder B continues to rotate after the fitting, the fingers 15 The valve B is not opened during this time.

After the valve port faces the nozzle 5 in this way, the holding cylinder 9 of the valve port detection sensor 6 is raised and retracted, and then the nozzle 5 advances to engage with the valve port and drive the motor 17 there. Support 14 via the vertical axis 12
When the handle H is rotated by the fingers 15 engaged with the handle H, the valve V is opened and the gas is filled from the nozzle 5.
Since the handle H is screwed together with the rotation of 5, the handle 15 rises with the rotation, but the handle 15 slides along the finger 15 because the finger 15 is a rod-like member and is hung down. While rotating.

After filling a predetermined amount of gas, the valve V is closed. At that time, since each finger 15 is kept in the state of being engaged with the recessed portion G, the motor 17 is rotated in the reverse direction so that the finger 15 can be closed. The handle H rotates in the tightening direction via the and closes.

After that, the nozzle 5 is pulled out, the head 2 is raised to the original height position, the disk 3 is lowered there, the cylinder B is placed on the conveying path 1, and the conveying path 1 is driven to move the cylinder. B is sent out.

[0022]

According to the valve opening / closing device of the gas filling machine of the present invention, a plurality of fingers are vertically provided at the lower end of the vertical axis provided on the head so as to be vertically movable and rotatable, and the vertical axis is rotated by the motor. By lowering the head, each finger is immediately engaged with the handle of the valve provided in the cylinder, or even if it is not immediately engaged and comes into contact with the upper surface of the handle, the cylinder is rotated and the The finger engages with the handle as the valve port faces the nozzle, and the vertical axis rotates to rotate the valve handle to open and close the valve. Although it only rotates, it rises or descends as the handle rotates, but since the fingers are rod-shaped, the handle moves up and down along the fingers, and therefore the fingers are rotated. There is no need to move up and down depending on the,
The structure is simplified and a reliable opening and closing action is obtained.

Further, if the flexible shaft coupling is interposed in the middle of the vertical axis, the fingers are in pressure contact with the upper surface of the handle, and even if the cylinder is rotated, no twisting force acts on the fingers. , Surely engages with the recessed portion of the handle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a valve opening / closing device of a gas filling machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state where the fingers are engaged with the recessed portion of the handle of the valve.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an outline of a gas filling machine provided with the valve opening / closing device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which the cylinder is rotated to change the direction of the valve.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Transport Path 2 Head 5 Gas Supply Nozzle 12 Vertical Axis 13 Spline Groove 14 Support 15 Finger 16 Flexible Shaft Coupling B Cylinder V Valve H Handle G Recess

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a gas filling machine in which a gas supply nozzle (5) is laterally provided on a lifting head (2) and a cylinder is rotatably set below the head (2), the lifting head (2) is moved. ), A vertical axis (12) rotated by a motor (17) is provided slidably in the vertical direction, and a plurality of rod-shaped fingers (15) are provided on a support (14) provided at the lower end of the vertical axis (12). A valve opening / closing device for a gas filling machine, which is vertically erected at intervals in the circumferential direction. 2. The valve opening / closing device for a gas filling machine according to claim 1, wherein a flexible shaft coupling (16) is interposed in an intermediate portion of the vertical axis (12).