JPH0858889A - Detector for driving load of capper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enhance the quality control of a product, in the case of capping where a cap is put on the mouth of a container under pressure, by detecting the load bearing on the container and judging whether or not the detected load-waveform is within a specified tolerable range based on a normal standard load-waveform. CONSTITUTION: A capping head holding a cap 6 is lowered toward a container 8 on a bottle stand 4 and the mouth 8a of the container 8 is capped under pressure. In this instance a load cell 16 for detecting the load bearing on the container 8 is set under the bottle stand 4. The load cell 16 receives the detected load signal and detects in terms of load-waveforms the continuous fluctuations of load within a specified period of time in the capping process. On the other hand, it preliminarily stores a load-waveform at the time when normal capping is done under an appropriate load. It is judged whether or not a detected load- waveform is within a specified tolerable range based on an actually detected normal standard load-waveform by comparing it with a normal load-waveform which is the stored actual load-waveform.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a capper that performs capping by pressing a cap held by a capping head against the mouth of a container, and more particularly, continuously detects load fluctuations during the capping process. The present invention relates to a capper having a driving load detection device that determines whether or not capping is normally performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art By lowering a capping head toward a mouth of a container placed on a bottle and conveyed, the cap held by the capping head is moved to a mouth of the container by a predetermined pressing force. BACKGROUND ART A capper that presses against and caps is conventionally known. In such a driven capper, normal capping cannot be performed unless the cap is pressed against the mouth of the container with an appropriate load. For example, if the load at the time of driving is insufficient, the cap may not be completely attached to the bottle mouth, and it may not be possible to completely seal the inside of the container.If the load at the time of capping is too large, the bottle may be broken. There are problems such as occurrence and deformation of the cap. Therefore, in the capper of the type that performs capping by pressing the cap against the mouth of the container, conventionally, a load detection device that detects the load during capping is provided so that an appropriate driving load can be obtained. (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-18
No. 9, JP-A-2-57932).

The above-mentioned first publication (JP-A-61-189)
The lid tightening device described in "the upper annular rail 4 having a cam groove for moving the cap tightening head 35 up and down,
A division rail 4 ′ that divides a portion corresponding to the lid tightening completion position to allow upward movement, and regulates upward movement of this division rail 4 ′, and joins the division rail 4 ′ at the time of the regulation. A load meter 49 for detecting a load is provided, and a reaction force for pressurizing the bottle 36 is applied to the detection portion of the load meter 49 via the divided rails 4 ', and this reaction force is detected by the load meter 49 and its detection signal. Is sent to the connected display device and displayed. ”

Further, the above-mentioned second publication (JP-A-2-579).
No. 32) describes a load measuring device for a cap, "a housing 3 having substantially the same shape as an actual container, a load detecting member 4 fixed inside the housing 3, and an upper end of the load detecting member 4. Is equipped with a load detector 10 for detecting the load when the cap 7 is capped by the capping head 8, and a signal from the load detector 10 is input to the control device 12.
The value calculated by the control device 12 is stored in the storage means 12. "

[0005]

The lid clamping device described in the above-mentioned first publication (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-189) detects the lid clamping load during the actual capping process. However, in this device, the load is detected only by the part of the divided rail 4'which is formed by dividing a part of the upper annular rail 4 having the cam groove for moving the cap tightening head 35 up and down. It is not possible to detect the load and judge the quality of the capping over the entire process up to.

A second publication (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-57932)
No.) is provided with a housing 3 having a shape similar to the shape of a container, the load measuring apparatus is supplied into the capper instead of the container, and the cap driving process is actually performed on the capper. Since the driving load is measured by performing the same process as the above, it is impossible to determine the quality of the capping by measuring the driving load during the actual production operation.

The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and during the actual production operation, and over the entire capping process from the start to the completion of driving the cap into the mouth of the container, or The driving load can be continuously detected in a part of the process, and the driving quality of the cap can be judged based on the driving load waveform obtained from the detected load. An object of the present invention is to provide a capper equipped with a load detection device.

[0008]

A driving load detecting apparatus according to the present invention lowers a capping head holding a cap toward a container on a bottle base and pressurizes the mouth of the container to perform capping. The one provided on the capper to perform, which is attached to the bottle base and continuously detects the load applied to the container placed on the bottle base, and receives the load signal detected and output by the load cell, Detecting means for detecting continuous load fluctuations within a predetermined time during the capping process as a load waveform, storage means for storing in advance a load waveform when normal capping is performed with an appropriate load, and the above-mentioned detecting means. The driving load waveform at the time of actual capping that was detected by was compared with the normal driving load waveform stored in the storage means, and detected by the detection means. Heavy waveform, and a discriminating means for discriminating whether or not within a predetermined allowable range with reference to a normal load waveform.

[0009]

In the driving load detecting apparatus according to the present invention, the load cell is attached to the bottle base, and the driving load applied to the container by the lowering of the capping head is continuously performed during the capping process. Therefore, it is possible to reliably determine whether the capping is good or bad.

[0010]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a capper equipped with a driving load detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the entire capper in a simplified manner. This embodiment is a rotary type capper (generally indicated by reference numeral 1), and a rotary table 2 is supported and rotated around a support shaft (not shown) arranged at the center. A plurality of bottle bases 4 are attached to the outer periphery of the container at regular intervals in the circumferential direction. A capping head (not shown) that holds the cap 6 and moves up and down is provided above each of the bottle bases 4, and descends while rotating integrally with the bottle bases 4. The cap 6 is pressed against the mouth portion 8a of the container 8 which is placed on and is being rotatably conveyed by a predetermined pressing force.

Containers 8 which have been continuously conveyed by a container conveyer 10 are supplied into the capper 1 through an inlet star wheel 12, and are placed on each bottle stand 4 one by one.
Books can be posted one by one. The bottle base 4 and the capping head provided above the bottle base 4 rotate integrally in a state where the upper and lower positions are matched with each other, and the capping head descends during the rotation to hold the cap 6 held therein. 4 on container 8
The mouth portion 8a is pressed with a predetermined pressure to perform capping. The container 8 that has been capped while the capper 1 makes a rotational movement of a little less than one rotation is discharged again onto the container transfer conveyor 10 via the discharge star wheel 14, and is sent to the next step by the container transfer conveyor 10. To be

A load cell 16 for detecting the load applied to the container 8 when the cap 6 is driven by lowering the capping head is provided below each bottle base 4. In the apparatus of the present embodiment, the load cell 16 is provided for each bottle base 4.
Since the container 8 is provided on the bottle base 4 from the inlet star wheel 12, the capping is performed and the container 8 is discharged by the discharge star wheel 14 on the bottle base 4. The load applied to the container 8 can be continuously detected. In this embodiment, each bottle base 4 is connected to the turntable 2 by a welded bellows 18. This is to prevent the wash water from being applied to the load cell 16 when the capper 1 is washed.

These load cells 16 provided on each of the bottle bases 4 mounted on the rotary table 2 and rotating integrally, are externally connected via a signal transmitting means 20 such as a slip ring or a transformer type connector. The load signal, which is connected to a fixed-side arithmetic / control processing unit 22 (see FIG. 3) provided and detected by the load cell 16 and is output, is transmitted by the signal transmitting means 20 to the arithmetic / control processing unit 22. Entered in.

The arithmetic / control processing device 22 includes a detection unit, a storage unit and a determination unit. In the detector, the capper 1
When the actual capping is performed, the load cell 16 continuously receives and outputs the driving load signal detected and output from the start of the driving by the lowering of the capping head to the completion of the driving. The fluctuation is detected as a driving load waveform. The storage unit uses a continuous driving load waveform (see the solid line in FIG. 4) as a continuous load variation from the start to the end of the capping process when capping is normally performed with an appropriate load. It is stored in advance. Further, the determining unit compares the driving load waveform when the capping is actually performed with the normal driving load waveform stored in the storage unit, and outputs the result as a determination signal. At this time, based on the normal driving load waveform,
The error of the load in the range that does not affect the quality of the capping is accepted as the allowable range (the range between the broken lines in FIG. 4), and it is determined that the normal capping is performed.

The operation of the capper 1 equipped with the driving load detecting device having the above structure will be described. The containers 8 transferred by the container transfer conveyor 10 are supplied one by one onto each bottle stand 4 in the capper 1 via the inlet star wheel 12. Each of these bottle bases 4 is rotating in the direction of arrow R in FIG. 2 together with the capping head above. The load cell 16 attached to the lower surface of each bottle base 4 is corrected to 0 point while rotating in the section A of FIG. The zero point correction of the load cell 16 does not necessarily have to be performed every one rotation, but may be performed every several cycles or only when the machine is stopped. When the 0-point correction section A of the load cell 16 ends, the container 8 is supplied onto the bottle base 4 as described above. While further rotating and passing the section B on the downstream side, the weight of the container 8 on the bottle base 4 is measured by the load cell 16. The weight of the container 8 is measured in order to correct the driving load detected during the subsequent capping stroke.

After passing through the section B for measuring the weight of the container 8, in the section C, the capping head (not shown) is lowered, and the cap 6 held by the capping head is opened at the mouth of the container 8. After pressing the portion 8a for capping, the container 8 is discharged to the star wheel 1
It is discharged onto the container transport conveyor 10 via 4. This C
In the section, the load applied to the container 8 on the bottle base 4 is continuously detected by the load cell 16. The lowering of the capping head is performed by a cam (not shown). In this embodiment, the capping head is raised and lowered according to the cam curve shown in FIG. In accordance with this cam curve, the capping head is shown in FIG.
Starting to descend from the point, the cap 6 held by the capping head is moved to the mouth 8 of the container 8 on the bottle base 4 at the point (b).
The cap 6 held therein is driven into the mouth 8a of the container 8 by contacting a, and by further lowering the capping head to the point (c). From the point (C) to the point (D), the capping head continues to rotate while keeping the highest height, and applies a load. After that, the capping head starts to rise from the point (d), and returns to the original height even if it further rises after being separated from the cap 6 at the point (e).

According to the cam curve, the capping head holding the cap 6 is moved up and down to cap the container 8 on the bottle base 4. The load applied to the container 8 during this capping process is the bottle. The load signal is continuously detected by the load cell 16 attached to the lower surface of the table 4, and the load signal detected by the load cell 16 is transmitted through the transmission means 20 such as the slip ring and provided outside the capper 1. It is input to the calculated / control processing device 22. In the arithmetic / control processing device 22, the detection unit detects a continuous detection signal for a predetermined time (or a predetermined rotation angle because this embodiment is a rotary capper) as an actual driving load waveform.
Further, the determining unit compares the driving load waveform when the actual capping is performed with the normal driving load waveform stored in advance in the storage unit to determine whether the capping is good or bad. In addition, the comparison and discrimination between the normal driving load waveform and the actual driving load waveform by this arithmetic / control processing device are as follows.
It may be performed each time the stoppering of one container is completed, or may be performed after all the data are acquired.

It is permissible that the driving load waveform at the time of actual capping detected by the detection unit of the arithmetic / control processing device 22 has a predetermined width with respect to the normal driving load waveform previously stored in the storage unit. If it is within the range (see FIG. 4), it is determined that normal capping has been performed.

An allowable range in which the driving load waveform at the time of actual capping detected by the detection unit has a predetermined width with respect to the normal driving load waveform previously stored in the storage unit (see FIG. 4). If it is out of the range, it is determined that the capping has not been normally performed, and the above determination unit fails.
Output a signal. When normal capping is not performed in this way, the cause of the abnormality can be confirmed from the driving load waveform. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the cap 6 held by the capping head at the point (b) of the cam in FIG. 5 starts contacting the mouth 8 a of the container 8,
The load started to be added, but the load did not rise sharply like the normal driving load waveform, and even if the capping head passed the point (c) of the cam reaching the most lowered position, the load If the value does not reach the maximum value and then decreases, it can be understood that the bottle is broken. Since the occurrence of bottle breaking is not limited to the initial stage of capping as in the example of FIG. 6, by continuously detecting the variation of the driving load from the start to the end of capping, the bottle breaking can be surely performed. The occurrence of can be found.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the driving load waveform at the time of actual capping obtained by the detection unit of the arithmetic / control processing device 22 from the load signal detected by the load cell 16 is shown in FIG. ) Point, the cap 6 is the mouth 8a of the container 8
The load applied to the container 8 due to the contact with the arm 8 rises slightly for a short time, but immediately decreases in an extremely short time, then rises sharply, and almost reaches the maximum value of the load at the (c) point of the cam. ,
If the subsequent waveforms were within the allowable range of the normal driving load waveform, the cap 6 was obliquely inserted at the start of capping, so that the load was temporarily applied, and then the cap 6 entered. It is clear that the load has decreased, and it can be seen that this is a cap miss in which the cap was driven diagonally.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the load sharply rises from the point (b) of the cam where the driving is started, and the point (c) of the cam is increased.
After reaching the height that almost coincides with the maximum value of the normal driving load waveform, there is a slight decrease in load for a short time (twice in this example), and then the maximum value of the normal driving load waveform. If a waveform that indicates a high load above is obtained,
It is considered that the load was temporarily reduced because part of the cap 6 was crushed.

As described above, the load applied to the container 8 when the capping is normally performed with the proper load is continuously detected from the start to the end of the capping,
This fluctuation of the load is stored in advance in the storage unit as a normal driving load waveform, while the load applied to the container 8 on each bottle base 4 is capped when the production operation is actually performed by the capper 1. Is detected over the entire process from the start to the completion, and the continuous load change is detected by the detector as the actual driving load waveform, and the actual driving load waveform obtained by this detecting unit and the above normal Compare with the driving load waveform,
Capability of capping can be determined by determining whether or not the actual driving load waveform is within the predetermined allowable range for the normal driving load waveform. As it becomes possible, high quality control of products becomes possible.

Further, if an automatic ejecting device which operates upon receiving the NG signal from the discriminating unit is provided, it is possible to automatically exclude the container having a defective capping. Further, in the section B of FIG. 1 described above, the weight of the container is measured in order to correct the driving load, but the amount of flavor in the container can be confirmed by the measurement result. Although the rotary capper 1 is described in the above embodiment, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the rotary capper and can be applied to a line capper or the like. Further, the present invention is not limited to the so-called driven capper, but may be a capper configured to press the cap held by the capping head to cap the bottle mouth of the container, and to perform capping of the crown. It can also be applied to a capping machine or a PP capper or the like that performs thread cutting around the cap while the cap is pressed against the mouth of the container.

In the above embodiment, the change in the driving load is detected over the entire process from the start to the end of capping to determine whether capping is good or bad.
It is not always necessary to detect the load over the entire capping process, but continuously detect the driving load for only a necessary part of the capping process,
The quality of capping may be determined. For example, in the case of the PP capper, as shown in FIG. 9, the capping head is lowered to press the cap on the mouth of the container at the point (C) of the cam, and then the (F) of the cam that starts thread cutting. After passing through the point, it is not necessary to monitor the variation of the load, so the driving load up to that point may be detected.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the load cell for detecting the load applied to the container on the bottle base and the load signal detected by the load cell are received within a predetermined time during the capping process. Detecting means for detecting continuous load fluctuations as a load waveform, storage means for pre-storing a load waveform when normal capping is performed with an appropriate load, and an actual capping time detected by the detecting means. The load waveform is compared with the normal load waveform stored in the storage means to determine whether the capping is good or bad, so that the driving load is continuously changed over the required section of the capping process. It is possible to judge whether the capping is good or bad by performing the automatic detection, and it is possible to perform the high quality control for the product.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of a capper equipped with a load detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the overall arrangement of the capper.

FIG. 3 is a system block diagram showing an example of the load detection device.

FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram showing a driving load waveform when normal capping is performed by the capper.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a cam curve of a cam that raises and lowers a capping head of the capper.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a driving load waveform when normal capping is not performed in an actual capping process, showing a case of bottle breaking.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a driving load waveform when normal capping is not performed in the actual capping process, and shows a case where the cap is driven obliquely.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a driving load waveform when normal capping is not performed in the actual capping process, and shows a case where a part of the cap is crushed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing, on a cam curve, a range in which load detection is required in the case of the PP capper.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Bottle base 6 Cap 8 Container 8a Container mouth 16 Load cell 22 Calculation / control processing device (detection means, storage means, determination means)

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] November 8, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

FIG.

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 4]

[Figure 5]

[Figure 9]

[Figure 6]

[Figure 7]

[Figure 8]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A capper that lowers a capping head holding a cap toward a container on a bottle base and presses against the mouth of this container to perform capping, is attached to the bottle base, and is mounted on the bottle base. A load cell that detects the load applied to the container, a detection means that receives the load signal detected by this load cell and detects the continuous fluctuation of the load within a predetermined time during the capping process as a load waveform, and an appropriate load Storage means for storing in advance the load waveform when the capping is performed,
The load waveform at the time of actual capping detected by the detection means is compared with a normal load waveform stored in the storage means, and the load waveform detected by the detection means is determined based on the normal load waveform. A driving load detection device for a capper, comprising: a determination means for determining whether or not it is within an allowable range.