JPS5815400B2 - Cap tightening device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cap tightening device that automatically tightens a cap to a container, and more particularly to a cap tightening device that uses air pressure to release a cap from a cap holding claw.

Various types of cap tightening devices have been developed to automatically tighten container caps, but the one that is generally used is one in which a large number of cap holding heads that rotate up and down are placed face down on a rotary table. The caps supplied are grasped one by one and screwed onto the opening of the container that reaches directly below the head.

The cap tightening device has a rotary shaft rotated by an appropriate drive means, and a plurality of cap holding claws having claw teeth at the tips on the inner circumferential surface, which are arranged in an annular manner and are supported by a rotating shaft, and the back surface of the base of these cap holding claws is arranged in a ring shape. A fitting part with the camp holding cylinder configured to give the claw teeth a protruding habit with an elastic ring, and a friction clutch that transmits the rotation number when the torque is below a certain level are interposed, and the upper part of the holding claw is A pressurized air chamber capable of introducing pressurized air is formed between the upper surface of the pressing body that can be raised and lowered airtightly and the inner surface of the cap holding cylinder by inserting the pressing body, and the upper end of the claw tooth is connected to the lower edge of the outer periphery of the pressing body. There is a device in which the holding claws are expanded by pressing to release the holding of the cap (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 72179/1983).

However, in the above-mentioned device, the pressurized air that presses down the pressing body is supplied from above directly from the lower part of the support rod that rotatably supports the cap holding cylinder to the upper surface of the pressing body whose upper part is in sliding contact with the relay cylinder. Since the structure is such that after the completion of tightening the cap, pressurized air is supplied to press down the pressing body, and when the holding claw is pushed open, the relay cylinder is momentarily pushed down by the pressing down of the pressing body.

Further, since the cap holding cylinder and the portion housing the friction clutch portion are integrally constructed in the same housing, a reaction force when opening the cap holding claw acts instantaneously on the clutch side.

As a result, after the tightening is completed, the clutch that has slipped between the friction plates is pressed again, and the cap holding cylinder is rotated again to further tighten the cap, resulting in excessive tightening.

In view of this, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cap tightening device that eliminates the problems caused by excessive tightening of the cap and allows the tightening degree of the cap to be adjusted while the device is being driven.

The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a partially cutaway half of a specific configuration example of a cap tightening device according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows an automatic cap tightening machine in which the tightening device of Fig. 1 is arranged in an annular configuration. An example cross-sectional view is shown.

First, the configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. 1. The tightening head 1 is roughly divided into a clutch mechanism section 2 and a cap holding section 3.
It consists of

The clutch mechanism section 2 is airtightly attached to the lower end of a hollow rotating shaft 5 fitted around a hollow support rod 4 through a cap nut 6 and gaskets 7 and 8 by screw connection or the like. A housing 9 is provided, and annular friction plates 10, 10, . . . are attached to the inside of the housing 9 by spline fitting.

Friction plates 12, 12... spline-fitted to the outer periphery of the central shaft 11 are inserted between the friction plates 10, 10... and 12. 1
Pressing members 13 and 14 are installed at the upper and lower parts of 2..., and oil is sealed between them.

Further, the lower pressing member 14 is engaged with the housing 9 by a retaining member 14a, and is sealed against the central shaft 11 by an oil seal ring 15.

The upper end of the central shaft 11 is slidably and airtightly inserted into a cylindrical connecting tube 16 which is connected to the lower end of the support rod 4 by a screw connection or the like via packings 17 and 18.

A pressing member 19 is fitted on the outer periphery of the connecting cylinder 16, and the inner surface of the housing 9 and the connecting cylinder 1
A spring 22 is interposed between the lower surface of the pressing member 19 and the upper pressing member 13.

The lower end of the air passage 23 formed in the rotating shaft 5 communicates with a pressure chamber 24 facing the upper surface of the pressing member 19, and the air passage 25 formed in the support rod 4 communicates with the connecting cylinder 16.
A ventilation hole 29 that communicates with an annular groove 27 formed on the inner circumferential surface of the central shaft 11 through an air passage 26 formed in the central shaft 11 and opens on the circumferential surface thereof and communicates with an air passage 28 provided at the axis of the central shaft 11. faces the annular groove 27, so that the two are in communication within the range of the vertical movement of the central shaft 11.

In addition, at the beginning of tightening the cap 33, in order to improve the threading at the beginning of engagement between the female thread and the male thread, the lower surface of the connecting cylinder 16, the stepped surface 11a of the central shaft 11, and the presser member 1
A chamber 30 formed by 3 and 3 is communicated with the atmosphere through a hole 31 opened on the side surface of the housing 9, and when the cap 33 presses the threaded portion of the container 87 with excessive force, the cap holding cylinder 32 and the The central shaft 11 within the head 1 is formed so as to be pushed up slightly.

In this case, the air trapped between the upper end of the central shaft 11 and the inner bottom of the connecting cylinder 16 is similarly discharged from the hole 31 through the passage formed in the connecting cylinder 16.

Next, the cap holding part 3 includes a cap holding cylinder 32 which is attached to the lower end of the central shaft 11 by means such as screw connection.
It is equipped with

This cap holding cylinder 32 has an inner hole 34 that opens downward into which the cap 33 to be fastened can be loosely fitted, and a portion of the inner hole 34 is inserted into the inner hole 34 as shown in FIG. A required number of notch holes 35, 35, .
36... is pivotally supported.

The edges of the inner hole 34 side of the step portions 37, 37, . . . formed between the notch holes 35, 35, .
It is formed into a circular shape with a slightly larger diameter than the outer diameter of the cap 33 in order to facilitate introduction of the cap into the inner hole 34.

As shown in FIG. 5, for example, the cap holding claw 36 has a base pivoted by a shaft 38, and a tip formed by a claw m39.
A cut groove 40 is formed on the rear surface of the base.

The cut groove 40 has a surface 41 centered on the claw tooth 39 when the claw tooth 39 is recessed from the inner peripheral surface of the inner hole 34, and the cut groove 40 has an annular spring or a rubber ring. An elastic ring body 42 such as the above is fitted, and when this elastic ring body 42 smoothly contacts the above-mentioned contact surface 41, the claw teeth 39 of the cap holding claw 36 are in a state of slightly protruding from the inner circumferential surface of the inner hole 34. It is designed to be kept.

A pressing body 43 is airtightly inserted into the deep part of the inner hole 34 of the cap holding cylinder 32 through a packing 44, and its upper surface serves as a pressure receiving surface to form a pressurized air introduction chamber 45. There is.

Further, the stepped portions 37, 37, . . . of each of the cap holding cylinders 32,
On the inner hole 34 side and on the claw tooth 39, there is a notch 46 in the middle.
are formed, and the cap top plate holding plate 4 is formed in these notches 46.
7 are engaged with each other, and a return spring 48 is interposed between the cap top plate pressing plate 47 and the pressing body 43.

The tapered surface 43a on the outer periphery of the lower end of the pressing body 43 can freely engage with the upper end edge of the claw teeth 39, and when the lower end edge of the claw teeth 39 comes into contact with the outer periphery of the upper end of the cap 33, the cap holding claw 36 The tapered surface 36a is formed to facilitate expansion.

The structure of the cap holding claw 36 is not limited to that of this embodiment, but may be a roll having a circular cross section with a protruding edge on one side as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 17911/1982. There may be.

Next, the pressurized air supply system will be explained in relation to the overall configuration shown in the second figure.

In the cap tightening machine, a main pillar 51 is erected on a base 50, and a rotary base 52 is rotatably supported around the main pillar 51 via bearings 53 and 54. are a worm 55 and a worm wheel 56 from a motor (not shown).
The rotational driving force is transmitted through.

Near the outer peripheral end of the rotating base 52, a plurality of the aforementioned cap tightening devices 1 are arranged in an annular shape at equal intervals, and are rotatably mounted between flanges 57 and 58 in the middle of the rotating shaft 5 of the cap tightening device 1. A cam roller 60 on the side surface of the attached support block 59 is mounted on an annular upper surface cam 61 fixed to the main column 51 and is suspended and supported so as to be vertically movable.

Further, a gear 62 fixed to the rotating shaft 5 is attached to the main column 51.
The large gear 63 is fixed to the large gear 63 and has long teeth in the axial direction, so that the rotating shaft 5 is rotated as the rotating base 52 rotates.

A cap body 64 is fitted onto the upper end of the rotating shaft 5, and this cap body 64 is attached to a support 65 and an arm 6 erected on the base 50.
6 and a branch pipe device 84, and is non-rotatably supported by a rotation prevention member 68 as shown in the third figure, and is connected to the upper end of the cap body 64 and the rotating shaft 5. The upper end portion 69 is rotatably coupled via bearing members 70 and 71.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cap body 64 has a high-pressure air introduction lower 2 and a low-pressure air introduction lower 3 communicating with a pressure air supply source.
A passage 74 connected to the high pressure air introduction lower 2 communicates with a passage 76 of the upper end member 69 which is airtightly connected by a V gasket 75, and communicates with the air passage 25 of the support rod 4. 3 connects the rotating shaft 5 through a passage 78 of the upper end member 69 that is airtightly communicated with the V gasket 77.
The air passage 23 is connected to the air passage 23.

In addition, the high pressure air H is compressed air of 4 to 5 kg/cm2g, and the low pressure air is 0.5 to 2 kg/cm2.
It is recommended to use 2 g of compressed air.

On the substrate 67', as shown in FIG. 2, valve devices 79 and 80 for controlling the supply of pressurized air to the high-pressure and low-pressure air introduction lowers 2 and 73 correspond to each cap tightening device 1, respectively. The valve devices 79 and 80 are opened and closed by a cam 8 on the lower surface of a mounting plate 81 fixed to the main column 51.
2,83.

Furthermore, the distribution of pressurized air to each cap tightening device 1 is performed by a branch pipe device 84 mounted on the base plate 67.

This branch pipe device 84 transfers high pressure air and low pressure air sent via a pressure regulating valve 85 through each internal passage formed corresponding to each cap tightening device 1 at a tightening position. The supply is configured to be made.

In the figure, reference numeral 86 denotes a rotary table that is substantially integrated with the rotary base 52, to which a container 87 and a cap 33 are supplied by means not shown.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

In FIG. 2, when a container 87 with a cap 33 placed thereon is supplied onto the table 86 of the rotary base 52 and reaches the cap tightening position, the cam roller 60 of the block 59 gradually moves from the high position of the upper surface cam 61 to the low position. , and the cap tightening device 1 descends.

As a result, the cap 33 enters the inner hole 34 of the cap holding cylinder 32 of the cap holding part 3, and the step parts 37, 37...
The cap 33 is attached to the cap holding cylinder 32 by the circular inner edge of the
Guided within.

The cap 33 has tapered surfaces 36a, 36a at the lower ends of the claw teeth 39, 39... of the cap holding claws 36, 36...
. . , each holding claw 36, 36 . . .
3, the cap retaining claws 36,
36... rotates clockwise in FIG. 5 around shafts 38, 38....

As a result, the circle formed by the tip of each claw tooth 39, 39, . . . is enlarged to receive the cap 33.

At this time, the current position 41 of each cap holding claw 36°36...
, 41 . . . , the elastic ring body 42 is expanded, and a force is applied to each cap holding claw 36 , 36 . give.

Due to the above action, each claw tooth 39 of the cap holding claws 36, 36, . . . engages with the knurling on the circumferential surface of the cap 33,
They are mutually held in a non-rotatable manner, and then, with the rotation of the rotary table 86, the rotation shaft 5 is rotated in the cap tightening direction by the rotation of the gear 62 which rotates around the gear 63, and the cap 33 is rotated in the tightening direction.

The tightening force in this case is determined by the friction between the friction plates 10 and 12 of the clutch mechanism section 2, and tightening is done with a constant torque. Tightening is avoided.

This constant torque setting is done by controlling the pressure of low-pressure air introduced into the pressure air chamber 24 by operating pressure regulating valves 85, 85, etc. provided outside the automatic cap tightening machine. .

This pressure air is introduced through the air passage 23 of the rotary shaft 5 from a valve device 80 opened by a cam 83.

When the tightening of the cap 33 is completed as described above,
The valve device 79 is opened by the cam 82, and the passages 74, 76, 25, 26, the annular groove 27,
Through the air passage 28 of the central shaft 11 and the through hole 29, the pressure chamber 45 is
is supplied to press the upper surface of the pressing body 43 to push it down.

When this pressing body 43 descends, the tapered surface 43a on the outer periphery of its lower end pushes the upper end of each claw tooth 39, so each claw tooth 39 retreats and the cap 33 is released from being held by the claw teeth 39, 39... .

At this time, the cam roller 60 of the block 59 moves to a higher position than the upper surface cam 61, so the cap tightening device 1
The entire body rises and is removed from the cap holding cylinder 32.

Further, the valve device 79 is switched by the cam 82, and the high pressure air supplied into the cap tightening device is discharged to the outside through the valve device 79, and at the same time, the pressing body 43 is raised and returned by the force of the spring 48.

In the above action, when high pressure air is introduced to lower the pressing body 43, it passes through the air passage 25 of the support rod 4 to the central shaft 11.
When acting on the air, the air bypasses the air passage 26 of the connecting cylinder 16 and passes through the annular groove 27 and the through hole 29 to pass through the bending circuit, so the central shaft 11 is not directly pressed in the axial direction, and as a result, the pressing Only the body 43 can be pressed down instantly.

Furthermore, since the cap holding part 3 and the clutch mechanism part 2 are separated, the reaction force described above is not directly transmitted to the clutch mechanism part 2, and therefore, the clutch is not reconnected when pressurized air is supplied. First, excessive tightening of the cap 33 is prevented.

Furthermore, since the supply of pressurized air is all done within the rotating shaft 5 of the cap tightening device 1, there is no need to install any other piping system, and the configuration can be simplified when applied to a cap tightening machine. Moreover, since the pressure contact force of the friction plates 10 and 12 is controlled by low-pressure air, the pressure contact force can be changed by controlling the pressure of the low-pressure air from the outside. You can make fine adjustments to the tightening condition.

In this way, the present invention can automatically tighten a cap to a container to a predetermined level and reliably, without causing excessive tightening, and furthermore, can adjust the degree of tightening of the cap while the device is running. It has an excellent effect that can be adjusted optimally.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing an actual example of a cap tightening device according to the present invention, and FIG.
A vertical cross-sectional view illustrating an automatic cap tightening machine in which the illustrated cap tightening device is arranged in an annular configuration, FIG. 3 is a side view of a part of FIG. 2, and FIG. The operating state is shown; the right half is a cross-sectional view of the cap when it is tightened, the left half is a cross-sectional view of the cap released by introducing pressurized air after the tightening is completed, and FIG. 5 is a bottom view with the same part omitted. . 1... Tightening head, 2... Clutch mechanism section, 3... Cap holding section, 4...
Support rod, 5...Rotating shaft, 9...Housing, 10, 12...Friction plate, 11...
・Central axis, 13, 14...Press member, 16...
...Connecting tube, 19...Press member, 24...
...pressure chamber, 30...chamber, 32...
・Cap holding cylinder, 33...Cap, 34・
...Inner hole, 35...Notch hole, 36...
... Cap holding claw, 37 ... Stepped portion, 39.
...Claw tooth, 40 ... Cut groove, 41 ...
...For now, 42...Elastic ring, 43...
・Press body, 45... Pressure introduction chamber, 47...
... Cap top plate presser plate, 50 ... Base, 51
...Main pillar, 52... Rotating base, 59.
... Support block, 60 ... Cam roller, 61 ... Top cam, 64 ... Cap body,
67... Base plate, 69... Upper end member, 7
2... High pressure air inlet air inlet, 79, 80... Valve device, 82, 83
...Cam, 84... Branch pipe device, 85...
...Pressure regulating valve.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hollow rotating shaft rotated by an appropriate drive means, a support rod that is inserted through the rotating shaft with a gap serving as an air passage, has an air passage in the axial direction, and has a connecting cylinder at its lower end, and a support rod that is connected to the inside of the connecting cylinder. a central shaft slidably and airtightly inserted into the rotary shaft; a housing connected to the lower end of the rotary shaft; a friction clutch mechanism interposed between the central shaft and the housing; a cap holding cylinder provided separately from the housing; a cap holding claw arranged in an annular manner such that the claw teeth at the tip protrude from the inner circumferential surface of the inner hole with the lower end of the holding cylinder open; A pressing body is provided in the deep part of the inner hole and moves the holding claws all at once when lowered, and high pressure air is supplied to the air passage of the support rod and low pressure air is supplied to the air passage of the rotation shaft in the upper part of the rotation shaft. The high-pressure air is configured to be freely supplied, and the high-pressure air bypasses the passage of the connecting cylinder from the air passage of the support rod and communicates with the air passage of the central shaft from the side, and the end of the air passage of the central shaft is connected to the upper surface of the pressing body. The low pressure air is introduced into a pressurized air chamber formed on the upper surface of a pressing member that presses a friction plate of the clutch mechanism.