JPH10218346A - Conveying device for container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent conveyance of the incomplete number of containers and the damage of the container by a method wherein during the stop of a conveying device due to shortage of containers, an accumulation number unit of the containers on a rail is conveyed to a subsequent process, a container jumped out at the front side of a delivery starting position is prevented from conveyance. SOLUTION: A conveying device for a container is formed such that continuously conveyed containers are pushed out to a front rail by a star wheel and containers in an accumulation number unit are separated away from each other by a feed claw and conveyed to a front. The conveying device for a container comprises a stop mechanism to stop the star wheel 3 when the containers 2 in an accumulation number unit are pushed out to a more front position than the delivery starting position of a feed claw 8d by the star wheel 3; and a cancel mechanism 10 to cancel delivery of a feed claw 8, subsequent to the feed claw 8 to convey and accumulation number of unit of containers 3 pushed out during the stop of the star wheel, throughout a given section situated at the front side of the delivery starting position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a can, a bottle,
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention belongs to the technical field of a device for transporting containers such as plastic bottles, and more particularly to a transport device that separates containers in a unit of a number of units from a continuously transported container and transports the containers further forward.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, when packaging a container of a number of accumulation units in a carton made of a thick backing in a packaging process, the containers of the accumulation number unit are separated from a continuously transported container before the packaging process. Separation step is required. Conventionally, as a container conveying device for processing this separation step, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, a belt conveyor 52 for continuously conveying the containers 51,... And a concave portion 53a for receiving the containers 51,. , A pair of star wheels 53, 53 arranged opposite to the end of the belt conveyor 52 and rotating at a constant speed, a flat rail 54a extending forward of the star wheels and carrying containers 51, and a container 51.・
· Upper guides 54b, 54b for guiding the upper side surface of
And a chain 55 that is arranged facing the rail side and circulates in a horizontal plane, and feed claws 56 fixed at regular intervals on the circumference of the chain 55, and are conveyed by the belt conveyor 52. Container 51 ... star wheel 5
The pressing force (line pressure) is kept constant by 3 and 53, and the container is conveyed forward at a constant speed, and the feed claws 56 and 56 are moved backward by the number of accumulations (for example, 4 in FIG. 6) from the head of the row of containers. Adjust the distance, speed, etc. between the star wheels 53, 53 and the chain 55 so that
The feed claws 56, 56 allow the containers 51,.
Is known to be sent forward.

[0003]

In such a device for transporting containers, if the containers 51... On the belt conveyor are insufficient, the pressing force is insufficient, and the containers 51. Since the supply is stopped and the containers 51... In units of the number of accumulations are not accurately separated and defective products are generated, the apparatus must be stopped. In that case, it is easy to perform a so-called "in-situ stop" by stopping the power supply to the entire apparatus, for example, but in the next packaging process, packaging is being performed using quick-drying glue. At times, in order to use up the pasted wrapping paper before the glue dries, the containers 51 that have been extruded from the star wheels 53 and 53 and have already been separated into stacking units,
There is a request to send it to the packaging process immediately. Therefore, when a shortage of containers occurs on the belt conveyor, only the star wheels 53, 53 are stopped, the chain 55 is allowed to rotate as it is, and the feed claws 56, 56 remove the containers 51,... Conveyance to the next process is conceivable.

However, in this case, the star wheels 53, 53 are pushed in a state in which the fractional number of containers 51 less than the accumulation number are pushed out before the feeding start positions of the feed claws 56, 56.
Is stopped, a fractional number of containers 51 are conveyed to the next step, and depending on the position where the containers 51 stop, the feed claws 5
There is a problem that the parts 6, 56 collide with each other and are damaged. Also, even if the star wheels 53, 53 stop,
The container 51 in front of the star wheel has inertia,
Moreover, since the container 51 is slippery on the rail, the container 51 does not stop at the expected position and jumps out of the feeding start position, so that a half of the container 51 is conveyed to the next process or the container 51 is damaged. Occurs.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point. It is an object of the present invention to stop the star wheel at an appropriate rotation position when the container is insufficient, and to move the feeding claw forward feeding position forward. By shifting, the containers of the number of accumulation units on the rail are conveyed to the next process as much as possible, and the feeding claws are prevented from coming into contact with the odd number of containers that have protruded before the above-mentioned feeding start position. An object of the present invention is to surely prevent a problem that a number of containers are transported or the containers are damaged.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container conveying apparatus in which a continuously conveyed container is pushed out by a star wheel onto a front rail at a constant speed, and is fed out from the side of the rail onto the rail. In a container transport device in which the containers of the number of accumulation units are separated from the container row by the feeding claw to be transported further forward, the star wheel moves the containers of the number of accumulation units before the feeding start position of the feeding claw. A stop mechanism for stopping the star wheel when extruded, and feeding of a feed claw following a feed claw that conveys the container of the pushed-out accumulation number unit when the star wheel is stopped,
A cancel mechanism for canceling at least a predetermined section forward from the feeding start position is provided.

In this container transport apparatus, when the stop mechanism is operated when a shortage of containers occurs, for example, when the star wheel pushes out the containers of the number of accumulation before the feeding claw starts to be fed out, the star wheel is moved. Stops. Then, since the canceling mechanism is operated, first, the feeding claw feeds the container of the number of accumulation units located before the above-mentioned feeding start position, and the feeding of the feeding claw following this at least a predetermined section from the feeding start position to the front. , The feeding claw does not come into contact with the container that has protruded before the feeding start position. Therefore, there is no possibility that half of the containers are transported or the containers are damaged.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the star wheel and the feed pawl are driven by the same driving device, and a stop mechanism transmits power from the driving device to the star wheel by the star wheel at a specific rotation position. The clutch is a fixed position clutch mechanism that is cut off when it is in the position.

In this container transport device, since the drive device is shared, it is easy to link the star wheel and the feed claw. When the power transmission is cut off by the fixed position clutch mechanism, the star wheel stops at a specific rotation position, and the containers of the number of stacking units are positioned before the feeding claw feeding start position.

In a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container conveying device, comprising: a chain or a belt which circulates on the side of the rail; a feed pawl supported by the chain or the belt so as to escape from the rail; Or a guide member that is provided along the belt, and guides the feeding claw to advance on the rail against the urging force before the feeding start position, and at least a portion of the guide member that is located forward from the feeding start position. A portion extending over a predetermined section is configured to move from a guide position for guiding the feed claw to a retracted position for non-guide, thereby forming a cancel mechanism.

In this container conveying device, the canceling mechanism is not operated when the container is sufficiently supplied. Therefore, the predetermined portion of the guide member is at the guide position, and the feed pawl which advances by the rotation of the chain or the belt is The guide is guided over the entire length of the guide member, and is fed out on the rail before the feed claw starts to be fed out. For this reason, the feed claws are fed out to the rear side of the containers by the number of accumulations from the head of the container row on the rail, and the containers of this accumulation number unit are sent forward on the rail by the feed claws.

When the star wheel is stopped by the stop mechanism when the shortage of the container occurs, the canceling mechanism is operated, and after the feeding claw forwards the container of the accumulation number unit which is located before the feeding start position. Thus, the predetermined portion of the guide member moves from the guide position to the retracted position. Therefore, the predetermined portion of the guide member does not guide the feed claw, and the subsequent feed claw escapes from the rail at least over a predetermined section from the feeding start position to the front. Therefore, when the star wheel is stopped, the feeding claw does not come into contact with the container that has jumped out of the feeding start position. Therefore, there is no possibility that half of the containers are transported or the containers are damaged.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a container transport device according to the present invention. This transfer device is for processing a separation step of separating the containers of the number of accumulation units from the containers that are continuously conveyed, and in the next step, processing a packaging step of packing the containers of the number of accumulation units with wrapping paper. A transfer device (not shown) is provided.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a belt conveyor which places containers 2 on a belt and continuously conveys them forward (to the left in FIGS. 1 and 2). At the end of the belt conveyor 1, a pair of star wheels 3, 3 rotating at a constant speed around a vertical axis are arranged to face each other with the belt conveyor 1 interposed therebetween. On the peripheral surface of the star wheel 3, concave portions 3a for receiving the containers 2.
Are formed, and the containers 2... Continuously conveyed by the belt conveyor 1 are caught by the concave portions 3 a... And are conveyed at a constant speed onto the front rail with a constant pressing force. An optical sensor 4 is provided on the side of the belt conveyor 1 so that the optical axis is blocked by the container 2 on the belt, and emits a detection signal when the containers 2... It has become. A flat rail 5 is provided in front of the belt conveyor 1 so as to extend forward and carry the containers 2. The rail 5 may be rod-shaped, and it is essential that the rail 5 be mounted so that the container 2... Slides forward. 21, 21 is container 2.
・ It is an upper guide that guides the upper side surface of.

On both sides of the rail 5, a chain 6 is wound around a sprocket 7 rotating around a horizontal axis, and the upper surface is circulated so as to face forward. The chain 6 and the sprocket 7 may be replaced with a belt and a pulley. The chain 6 is provided with feed claw mechanisms 8 on the circumference at regular intervals. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a main body pin 8a is fixed to a link plate 6a constituting the chain 6 by a main body fixing bolt 8b so as to be perpendicular to the chain peripheral surface. A bearing bracket 8c is rotatably fitted at the base end to the bearing formed at the distal end. The front end of the bearing bracket 8c extends toward the opposite side to the chain circling direction, and the front end branches into two. The branch ends on the rail side and the opposite rail side are rotatable around an axis parallel to the bearing axis. An inner roller 8d and an outer roller 8e are provided, and the inner roller 8d functions as a feeding claw (hereinafter, the inner roller 8d is referred to as a feeding claw 8d).
A torsion spring 8f is wound around the main body pin 8a,
One end is locked to the link plate 6b and the other end is locked to the bearing bracket 8c.
Is swung in a direction in which its tip is separated from the rail 5, and the bearing bracket 8c is urged to escape from the rail.
The link plate 6a and the bearing bracket 8c are provided with stoppers 8g and 8h made of a rod-like member, respectively.
The interference of the stoppers 8g and 8h regulates the upper limit of the deflection angle of the bearing bracket 8c. The right and left feed claw mechanisms 8 of the rail 5 have different structures.

A rail-shaped guide member 9 is provided outside the chain 6 along the chain 6, and the outer roller 8e of the feed claw mechanism 8 is brought into contact with the guide member 9 so that the bearing bracket 8c is moved. The tip is rail 5
, And the feed claw 8d is extended on the rail against the urging force of the torsion spring 8f. Then, by adjusting the position of the front end of the guide member 9 on the star wheel side along the rail 5, the guide wheels 9 are conveyed rearward from the head of the row of containers 2. A feed claw 8d extends to the rear side of the container 2, and the containers 2 in a unit of the number of accumulations from the container row
L (shown by L) is separated and transported further forward. The figure exemplifies a case where the unit of the number of integration is four. The tip of the guide member 9 on the star wheel side is formed in a tapered surface, in order to make it easy for the feed claw 8d to ride on. In this case, the position where the taper surface changes to the linear surface is substantially the feeding start position X of the feed claw 8d.

The star wheels 3, 3 and the chain 6 are driven by a motor (not shown) which is the same driving device. A fixed position clutch known as a stop mechanism is provided between the motor and the star wheel 3. A mechanism is provided. This fixed-position clutch mechanism transfers power from the driving device to the star wheels 3 and 3,
3 is cut off when it is in a specific rotation position,
When the star wheels 3, 3 push out the containers L in the number of accumulation units before the feeding start position X of the feed claw 8d after the shortage of the containers 2 on the belt conveyor is detected by the optical sensor 4. First, the star wheels 3 are stopped. For example, when the accumulation number unit is four and the number of the concave portions 3a of the star wheels 3, 3 is 12, the power is supplied when the star wheels 3, 3 are located at three rotational positions divided by 120 degrees on the circumference. I try to cut off the communication.

Then, by using a part of the guide member 9, when the star wheel is stopped, the feeding claw 8d that feeds the pushed-out container L in the unit of the number of stacked sheets is fed at least to the feeding start position. A cancel mechanism 10 for canceling a predetermined section from X to the front is provided. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a portion 9 a of the guide member 9 extending a predetermined section forward from the feeding start position X is separated, and
is fixed to the moving end of the actuator 11 fixed to the side of the rail, and when the moving end moves up and down by turning on and off the actuator 11, a guide position (A in the figure) where the predetermined portion 9a hits the outer roller 8e of the feed claw 8 and guides it. ) And a retracted position (a position indicated by B in the figure) where no guidance is provided. The cancel mechanism 10 normally positions the predetermined portion 9a at the guide position A, and moves the predetermined portion 9a from the guide position A to the retreat position B when the star wheels 3, 3 are stopped. The cancel mechanism 10 operates in conjunction with the star wheels 3,3. That is, after the star wheels 3, 3 are stopped by the stop mechanism, and the feeding claw 8d sends the container L of the number of accumulations located before the feeding start position X, forward,
A predetermined portion 9a of the guide member 9 moves from the guide position A to the retreat position B.

In the container transport device having the above-described structure, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cancel mechanism 10 is not operated when the containers 2 are sufficiently supplied. Is located at the guide position A, and the feed claw 8d, which is advanced by the rotation of the chain 6, is guided over the entire length of the guide member 9, and is fed on the rail before the feed start position X of the feed claw 8d. For this reason, the feed claw 8d is extended to the rear side of the container 2 by the number of accumulation from the head of the container row 2 on the rail, and the container L of this accumulation number unit is sent forward on the rail by the feed claw 8d. .

When the star wheels 3, 3 are stopped by the stop mechanism when the container is short, etc., the cancel mechanism 10 is operated, and the feed claw 8d is moved to the feeding start position X.
After sending the container L of the number of stacking units located before it, the predetermined portion 9a of the guide member 9 moves from the guide position A to the retreat position B. Therefore, the predetermined portion 9a of the guide member 9 does not guide the feed claw 8d, and the feed claw 8d escapes from the rail at least a predetermined section forward from the feeding start position X. For this reason, when the starwheel is stopped, the feeding claw 8d does not come into contact with the container 2 that jumps out of the feeding start position X. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent a problem that a half of the containers 2 is transported or the containers 2 are damaged. For this reason, for example, if the transport device of the above embodiment is used when packaging is performed using quick-drying glue in the next packaging process, the already glued wrapping paper is used up before the glue dries. Therefore, the containers 2... Which have been extruded from the star wheels 3 and have already been separated into a number of stacked units can be immediately sent to the packaging process, which is suitable in such a case.

Although the drive unit is not necessarily the same for the star wheels 3, 3 and the feed claw 8d, when the drive unit is shared, the star wheels 3, 3 and the feed claw 8d are easily linked. Can be. In addition, although the structure of the stop mechanism can be realized by a known mechanism, when this is a fixed position clutch mechanism, the stop mechanism can be realized by a relatively simple structure.

Further, although the structure of the canceling mechanism can be realized by a known mechanism, the structure as in the above embodiment can realize the canceling mechanism with a relatively simple structure.

In the above embodiment, the optical sensor 4 is used, and the fixed position clutch mechanism and the cancel mechanism 4 are operated by the detection signal. However, other mechanisms may detect the shortage of the container and operate them. Alternatively, the detection of the container shortage and the operation of the stop mechanism and the cancel mechanism may be manually performed.
Further, although the predetermined portion 9a of the guide member 9 is moved up and down to function the cancel mechanism, the predetermined portion 9a may be moved in a horizontal plane, or the predetermined portion 9a is not separated from the guide member 9, Conversely, the outer roller 8e may be moved up and down. Further, the structure of the feed claw is not limited to the above-described embodiment. In short, the feed claw only needs to be configured to separate the containers of the number of stacked units from the container row and transport the containers further forward. What is necessary is to exert a function of canceling the feeding of the feeding claw following the feeding claw that conveys the containers of the number of units pushed out at the time of stopping at least over a predetermined section from the feeding start position.

[0024]

As described above, the container transport apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is designed such that, when a shortage of containers occurs, the star wheel is pushed out before the feed claw starts to be fed out. Is stopped, and the feeding claw is fed forward by the feeding claw in the unit of the number of stacks located before the feeding start position, and the feeding of the subsequent feeding claw is canceled at least from the feeding start position to the front over a predetermined section. As many containers as possible can be transported to the next process, and the feed claws do not touch the fractional containers that protrude before the feeding start position.
It is possible to reliably prevent a problem that a half of the containers are transported or the containers are damaged.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the driving device is shared, the star wheel and the feed pawl can be easily linked, and the stop mechanism can be realized by a relatively simple fixed position clutch mechanism. Can be.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the feed pawl is extended by the guide of the guide member, and at least a portion of the guide member which moves over a predetermined section from the extension start position to the front is moved relatively easily. The canceling mechanism can be realized with a simple structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a container transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the container transport device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a main part of FIG. 1 and a partly cutaway view of a bearing bracket of a feed claw on the right side in the container transport direction.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a feed claw on the left side in the container transport direction.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the container transport device according to the embodiment when a container shortage occurs or the like.

FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 for explaining a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 belt conveyor 2 container 3 star wheel 3a concave portion 5 rail 6 chain 8d inner roller (feed claw) 9 guide member 9a predetermined portion (portion of guide member in a predetermined section from the feeding start position) 10 cancellation mechanism X feed claw Feeding start position A Guide position B Evacuation position L Containers per unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A container which is continuously conveyed is extruded at a constant speed onto a front rail by a star wheel, and a container in a unit of the number of accumulations is collected from the container row by a feed claw which is fed out from the side of the rail onto the rail and advances. In a container conveying device that is separated and further conveyed forward, a stop mechanism that stops a star wheel when a star wheel pushes out a container of a number of accumulation units before a feeding start position of a feed claw, and a star. A container provided with a cancel mechanism for canceling the feeding of the feeding claw following the feeding claw that conveys the pushed-out container of the number of stacked units when the wheel stops, at least over a predetermined section from the feeding start position. Transport device. 2. A fixed-position clutch mechanism in which a star wheel and a feed claw are driven by the same driving device, and a stop mechanism cuts off power transmission from the driving device to the star wheel when the star wheel is at a specific rotation position. The container conveying device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A chain or belt orbiting on the side of the rail, a feed claw biased and supported on the chain or belt to escape from the rail, and a feed claw provided along the chain or belt. A guide member for guiding the pawl to be fed on the rail against the urging force before the feeding start position, and at least a portion of the guide member that extends over a predetermined section from the feeding start position to the feed pawl, 3. The container transport device according to claim 1, wherein the container transport device is configured to move from a guide position for guiding the guide to an evacuation position where the guide is not provided, thereby forming a cancel mechanism.