JPS5840079Y2 - Container metal cap tightening device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a cap tightening device that automatically tightens the cap of a container, and in particular is capable of reliably tightening a metal cap regardless of the presence or absence of knurling on the outer circumferential surface. The present invention relates to a cap tightening device.

Various devices have been developed to automatically fasten caps to the mouths of containers, but the most commonly used devices have a number of cap holding heads that move up and down and are held face down on a rotating table. The caps supplied to the container are grasped one by one, and the caps are screwed onto the opening of the container that reaches directly below the cap holding head.

However, the above-mentioned conventional cap holding head was
As seen in Japanese Patent No. 17911, a large number of gripping members such as rollers are arranged in a concentric ring on the inner peripheral surface of the cap holding portion at the lower end of the head, and when the cap is gripped, the gripping members are brought close to each other to hold the cap. A rubber ring is fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the cap holding part of the head, and this rubber ring is installed on the outside of the head, as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 41-953. There is one in which the cap is held by applying pressure toward the center of the head using a pressure device.

However, with the conventional former method described above, the cap is held at a deep position and has the advantage of being able to be held stably without bending, but on the other hand, a large number of gripping members are movable around the inner circumference of the cap holding part. The cap holding head has to be arranged in an annular shape and a mechanism for moving it in a cap gripping manner is required, which has the disadvantage that the structure of the cap holding head is extremely complicated. There are problems in that the cap is easily damaged, and if the cap is not knurled on the circumferential surface, it is likely to slip when tightened.

The latter type has the advantage that it naturally has a frictional force with the cap, so even a cap without knurling can be fastened well, but it is necessary to apply pressure to pressurize the rubber ring from the side. It is necessary to add a mechanism, and at the same time, the operating mechanism to operate it becomes complicated, and when the cap is gripped, only the part that is hit by the pressure mechanism from the side is gripped strongly. When the cap is fitted, it is difficult to secure it properly due to shallow gripping or crooked gripping, and repeated tightening operations can cause local uneven wear on the inner circumferential surface of the rubber ring, shortening its useful life. It has the disadvantage of being extremely short.

In view of this, the present invention combines the advantages of the conventional ones,
Reliable capping is possible without damaging the cap,
Furthermore, the purpose of this device is to provide a container cap tightening device that can be used for a long period of time by reducing damage caused by abrasion of the tightening part. An annular pressing member formed to slide on a fixing rod is disposed at an intermediate portion of the upper surface of the elastic ring so as to be able to press freely, and the fixing rod has an opening on the side surface. In addition, the fixing rod has a head portion facing into the cap insertion hole of the elastic ring body at the lower end thereof, and a magnet is embedded in the head portion.

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

As shown in FIG. 1, a cap holding head 1 of a metal cap tightening device according to the present invention has a support cylinder 3 at the bottom of a hollow body 2 which is rotatably supported by receiving rotational force from a drive device (not shown). A bearing portion 5 provided at the center of the relay tube 4 is fitted into the support tube 3, and a retaining nut 6 and a collar portion 7 of the support tube 3 are screwed into the outer wall of the relay tube 4. Friction plates 8 and 9 are inserted between the two.

In the illustrated example, the friction plate 8 9 has spline grooves 10 and 11 formed in each axial direction on the outer peripheral surface of the support cylinder 3 and the inner peripheral surface of the outer wall of the relay cylinder 4, and the friction plate 8 is formed in these spline grooves. A protrusion 8a protruding from the inner periphery and a protrusion 9a protruding from the outer periphery of the friction plate 9 are fitted, respectively, so that the friction plate 9 is integrated with the support cylinder 3, and the friction plate 8 is integrated with the relay cylinder 4. They are designed to rotate together as one.

The friction plates 8 and 9 are compressed by the pressing force of a spring 14 interposed between an adjustment nut 12 screwed onto the upper part of the support tube 3 and a friction plate holding plate 13. The support tube 3 and the relay tube 4 rotate together until a predetermined torque is reached due to the frictional resistance between the friction plates 8 and 9.

A cap holding cylinder 15 is airtightly screwed to the lower part of the outer wall of the relay cylinder 4 through a packing such as an O-ring 16, and a shaft part 1 of a fixing rod 17 is connected to the bearing part 5 of the support cylinder 3.
8 is inserted.

The cap holding cylinder 15 has a cap insertion hole 19 opened at the lower end into which a cap can be inserted, and a flange 20 made of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, etc. formed by the cap insertion hole 19 and extending inward is formed on the cap insertion hole 19. An elastic ring 21 is fitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, this elastic ring body 21 has a cap tightening hole 22 at its center, which has a cylindrical inner circumferential surface formed with a slightly larger diameter than the inner diameter of the cap insertion hole 19, and an outer circumferential surface. A groove 23 having a V-shaped cross section is formed in the circumferential direction.
The outer diameter is dimensioned to allow close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the cap holding cylinder 15.

The fixing rod 17 is connected to the shaft portion 18 and the connecting rod 29, and a head 24 having a smaller diameter than the cap tightening hole 22 of the elastic ring body 21 is provided at the lower end of the fixing rod 17.

It has an annular pressing part 25 surrounding the head 24 and abutting against the upper surface of the elastic ring 21, and the annular pressing part 25 is formed to slide on the fixed rod 17.

A flat magnet 26 is fixed to the lower surface of the head 24 by a thin presser plate 27 made of a resin material by means of adhesive or screws, and the suction surface 28 on the lower surface of the head 24 is attached to the annular magnet 26. It is provided at a position slightly protruding downward from the lower end of the pressing part 25.

Note that the tip of the annular pressing portion 25 is desirably formed in an arc shape as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

A passage 30 for supplying air into the cap holding cylinder 15 is formed in the fixing rod 17, the shaft portion 18, and the connecting rod 29. The inner circumferential surface 15a of the holding part 15, the outer circumferential surface of the annular pressing part 25, and the elastic ring body 2 exposed between them.
It is formed so that compressed air can be supplied and discharged into an annular space 31 formed by 1 and 1.

In the figure, 32 indicates a metal cap. Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

For holding the cap, use the cap holding head 1
The holding head 1 side descends and approaches the cap 32 that is sent directly under the cap holding head 15, and the top surface of the metal cap 32 located directly below the cap holding head 15 becomes an adsorption surface by the action of the magnet 26 of the head 34. 28 is adsorbed.

Therefore, the circumferential surface of the cap 32 is located at a deep position directly facing the inner circumferential surface of the cap fastening hole 22 of the elastic ring body 21.

Then, at the same time that the metal cap 32 is attracted to the attraction surface 28, the passage 3 of the connecting rod 29, the shaft portion 30, and the fixed rod 17
Compressed air is supplied through the cap holding cylinder 15 , the outer circumferential surface of the fixing rod 17 , and the upper surface of the elastic ring 21 .

As a result, the annular pressing part 25 slides downward, and the lower end of the annular pressing part 25 strongly presses the upper surface of the elastic ring 21, and at the same time, the upper surface of the elastic ring 21 is pressurized by compressed air.

Since the outer circumferential surface of the elastic ring body 21 is restrained by the inner circumferential surface of the cap holding cylinder 15, the cap tightening hole 22 is elastically deformed in the direction of diameter reduction, as shown in FIG. In particular, the axial center portion of the tightening hole 22 bulges out the most and is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the cap 32.
will be strongly held.

After the cap 32 is held in this manner, the cap holding head 1 is rotated in the cap tightening direction while being brought relatively close to each other over the container mouth, so that the cap 32 is screwed onto the container mouth.

After the tightening is completed, the pressure is released, and the annular pressing part 25 slides upward to release the pressure between the lower end of the annular pressing part 25 and the upper surface of the elastic ring 21, and at the same time, the inside of the space 31 is released. The compressed air is exhausted.

As a result, the elastic ring body 21 is released from pressure and returns to its original state, and the inner circumferential surface of the cap tightening hole 22 is fixed to the cap 3.
Since the cap 32 is separated from the outer peripheral surface of the elastic ring body 21, the cap 32 is removed from the elastic ring body 21 when the cap holding head 1 is raised and separated.

In this embodiment, the support tube 3 and the relay tube 4 are connected via a plurality of friction plates 8 and 9, and when an excessive tightening force is applied to tighten the cap 32, the gap between the friction plates 8 and 9 is Although the rotation transmission to the cap holding cylinder 15 is cut off due to slippage, if a structure is adopted in which the rotation of the entire cap holding head 1 is separately controlled, the support cylinder 3 and the relay cylinder 4 can be integrated. In the above embodiment, the annular pressing portion 25 is pressed with compressed air, but hydraulic pressure may also be used.

As explained above, the present invention applies pressure to the elastic ring provided inside the lower end of the cap holding head from the upper surface by the annular pressing part formed to slide on the fixed rod, and the pressure causes the elastic ring to The cap is held by making the inner circumferential surface of the cap tightening hole of the body bulge toward the center, and a head with a magnet embedded in the lower end of the fixing rod is provided, and the magnet tightens the top of the cap. Since the cap is positioned by suctioning the surface, when the cap is held, the cap is held at the same predetermined position within the cap holding head, so that it is always in a constant state when screwed onto the container opening. can be screwed together,
In addition, as mentioned above, since the top surface of the cap is attracted by the magnet, the cap can be positioned deep in the cap tightening hole of the elastic ring. By holding the cap in the most favorable position, slippage between the elastic ring and the cap during tightening can be avoided, and wear on the elastic ring can be kept to a minimum.

By the way, in a tightening machine that does not use magnets to hold the cap, the elastic ring wears out in one week and becomes unusable, whereas with the tightening device of this invention, the elastic ring wears out for one month. I was able to use it without any problems.

Furthermore, since the top surface of the cap is attracted to the magnetic attraction surface when the cap is held, the cap is prevented from being held in a bent state, thereby reducing the incidence of defective products that are bent and screwed into the container mouth. This can significantly improve work efficiency.

In addition, since the attraction surface of the magnet is covered with a holding plate, even if the magnet has material properties that are vulnerable to impact, it will be prevented from breaking due to collision with the cap, and the fragments will fly away when the magnet breaks. This has various effects, such as preventing foreign matter from entering the workplace.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view showing an embodiment of the cap holding head in the device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the cap holding head, and FIG. 3 is the elastic ring shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1... Cap holding head, 2... Hollow body, 3... Support tube, 4... Relay tube, 8, 9...・Friction plate, 15...Cap holding cylinder, 17...Fixing rod, 19...
・Cap insertion hole, 21...Elastic ring body, 22・
... Cap tightening hole, 24 ... Head, 2
5... Annular pressing part, 26... Magnet, 27... Pressing plate, 28... Adsorption surface, 29... Continuous rod, 31...Space part, 3
2...Cap.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An elastic ring made of an elastic material such as rubber is fitted onto the inner periphery of the lower end of the cap holding head, and an annular pressing part formed to slide on the fixed rod is freely pressed onto the middle part of the upper surface of the elastic ring. An air supply passage opened on the side is provided in the fixed rod, and a head facing into the cap insertion hole of the elastic ring is provided at the lower end of the fixed rod, and the lower end surface of the head A metal cap tightening device for a container, comprising a magnet attached to the head and covered and held by a presser plate that fixes the magnet to the head.