JPS6233168B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for dividing and discharging articles such as bottles and cans.

Conventionally, in a bottling plant, as shown in Fig. 1, bottles b sent by a bottle feeding conveyor a are divided into regular pitches by a bottle feeding screw c, and then divided into regular pitches by a bottle feeding star wheel d. Machines such as bottle filling machines and labelers are used, which supply liquid onto a turret e, perform predetermined processing such as filling and labeling, and then discharge the bottles with a discharge star wheel f. In some cases, it may be necessary to discharge the conveyor b by dividing it into a double row, that is, an A-line conveyor g and a B-line conveyor h, depending on machines located on the downstream side. In this case, in order to discharge the bottles b to the A-line conveyor g, a star wheel i and a split guide j are provided, and a bottle holding mechanism is provided in every other pocket k of the bottle discharge star wheel f, and the bottles are transferred to the A-line conveyor g. The bottle b to be discharged is transferred from the star wheel f to the star wheel i by this clamping mechanism.
Line conveyor g and B line conveyor h to bottle b
was divided and discharged.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 2, the bottle holding mechanism is provided with a suction cup m connected to a vacuum pump via a switching valve l in every other pocket k of a star wheel f, and the bottle is held in position A as shown in the figure. Bottle b is sucked, transferred to position B, dismantled, and discharged to A-line conveyor g by star wheel i, and placed in pocket k where no suction cup m is provided.
3, a star wheel f is provided with a clamping mechanism n in every other pocket k, and a clamp mechanism n is provided at every other pocket k of the star wheel f, as shown in FIG. The bottle b is pinched, transferred to position B, released, and discharged to the A-line conveyor g by the star wheel i.
The bottle b entering the container is discharged to the B line conveyor h at the position C.

However, the combined force of the pushing force of star wheel f, centrifugal force, and conveying force of B line conveyor h acts on bottle b discharged from star wheel f to B line conveyor h, and the friction between bottle b and the conveying surface Due to the influence of the force, the ejection direction of the bottle b was not constant, and as shown in FIG. 4, there were cases where the bottle b got caught in the dividing guide j and was damaged.

In addition, a device using a suction cup m as shown in FIG. 2 is not suitable for bottles with uneven surfaces, has poor durability of the switching valve l, and has problems such as the disposal of oil smoke from the vacuum pump.

The present invention was proposed in view of the above points, and
In an article dividing and discharging device that receives articles being conveyed in a line in an even number of pockets provided on a star wheel and alternately discharges the articles from two discharge positions, a free space is attached to the axis of the star wheel. A fitted first cam, a rod that is moved in the radial direction of the star wheel by the first cam and projects into every other pocket, and biases the rod toward the center of the star wheel. A first spring, a lever that swings around every other pocket of the star wheel as a fulcrum and grips the article between the first spring and the pocket, and a second spring that biases the lever in the closing direction. a second spring, and a second cam that swings the lever in the opening direction, which is loosely fitted on the star wheel shaft, and
It protrudes into the pocket at the ejection position, and
The first cam and the second cam are arranged so as to swing the lever in the opening direction at the second ejection position, and the purpose thereof is to prevent damage to the article and to securely It is an object of the present invention to provide a dividing and discharging device for articles that can be divided into a plurality of columns and discharged.

Since the present invention is configured as described above,
Among the articles transferred into the pockets of the star wheel, the articles transferred by entering the pockets provided with the pusher mechanism are pushed out and ejected by the pusher mechanism at the first ejection position, while Items placed in the second pocket are clamped by the clamp mechanism and transferred to the second pocket.
At the discharge position, the clamping mechanism is released and the product is discharged.

Therefore, the articles transferred by the star wheel can be reliably divided into predetermined positions and discharged without being damaged.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 to 11.

1 is a turret of a bottling machine, labeler, etc.; 2 is a star wheel disposed adjacent to the turret 1; and 3 is a star wheel disposed adjacent to the star wheel 2; It is configured to be driven.

4, 5, and 6 are guides for the bottles 40, 7 is an A-line conveyor, and 8 is a B-line conveyor. 9 is a base, 10 is a fixed stand fixed to the base 9, 11
Bearings 12a and 12b are attached to the base 9 and the fixed base 10.
The star wheel 2 is a drive shaft rotatably supported through the shaft 11, and the star wheel 2 is composed of two upper and lower parts: a star wheel 2a fixed to this shaft 11 and a star wheel 2b connected to this via a spacer 13. ing. 2c indicates a pocket of star wheel 2.

14 is a bottle pusher mechanism, which includes a block 15 fixed to the star wheel 2b, a rod 16 slidably fitted to the block 15, and rotatably held at one end of the rod 16 via a pin 17. It consists of a cam follower 18, a part 19 attached to the other end of the rod 16, and a spring 20 interposed between the block 15 and the rod 16, and the cam follower 18 is biased by the spring 20 and attached to the fixed base 10. It is engaged with the cam 21.

22 is a bottle clamp mechanism, which includes a clamp 24 rotatably supported via a pin 23 rotatably supported on the star wheel 2a, and a cam follower rotatably held at one end of the clamp 24 via a pin 25. 26, a lever 27 integral with the pin 23, and the lever 27 and the star wheel 2a.
The cam follower 26 consists of a pin 28 attached to the spring 29 and a spring 29 mounted between the pin 28 and the spring 29.
The cam 3 is attached to the fixed base 10 while being biased by the cam 9.
It is engaged with 0. 31 is clamp 24 and pin 2
This is the pin that stops the rotation of 3. The pusher mechanism 14 and the clamp mechanism 22 are alternately arranged in the pocket 2c of the star wheel 2.

When the bottles 40 that have been fed at a constant pitch from the Z direction on the turret 1 enter the pocket 2c provided with the clamp mechanism 22 of the star wheel 2 at the A position, they are clamped by the clamps 24 while being transferred to the B position. In this state, the bottle 40 is transferred to position C, and when the bottle 40 is reached, the clamp 24 releases the bottle 40, and the released bottle 40 is transferred by the star wheel 3 and discharged onto the A-line conveyor 7.

That is, as the star wheel 2 rotates, the clamp 24 moves the cam follower 26 to the position A on the cam 30.
Since the lever 27 is rotated clockwise around the pin 23 by the action of the spring 29 until reaching the point B, the clamp 24 also rotates clockwise to clamp the bottle 40 in the pocket 2c. , after passing point C, the clamp 24 rotates counterclockwise to release the bottle 40, and when it reaches point D, it stops moving and remains in that state until point A, returning to its original position. .

On the other hand, the bottle 4 inserted into the pocket 2c where the pusher mechanism 14 of the star wheel 2 is provided in the A position is
0 is transferred as it is to the second position, and when it reaches the second position, it is pushed out from the pocket 2c by the pusher mechanism 14 and discharged to the B line conveyor 8.

That is, as the star wheel 2 rotates, the cam follower 18 reaches point E on the cam 21, and the rod 16 compresses the spring 20 until it reaches point F, and the part 19 of the pusher mechanism 14 moves around the outer periphery of the star wheel 2. The bottle 40 in the pocket 2C is pushed out, and when it passes the point G, the bottle 40 in the pocket 2C is pushed out.
9 retreats toward the center in the opposite direction to the above, and when it reaches point H, it stops moving and remains in that state until point E, returning to its original position.

As described above, bottles can be reliably pinched when discharging to the A-line conveyor, and can be reliably pushed out when discharging to the B-line conveyor, so regardless of the shape of the bottle, continuous and stable division can be achieved. It becomes possible to discharge.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of a conventional divided discharge device, and Figures 2 a and b show an example of a bottle holding mechanism used in the conventional divided discharge device, where a is a plan view and b is a one-way view. FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another example of a bottle holding mechanism used in a conventional dividing discharge device, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a bottle transfer state in a conventional dividing discharge device, and FIGS. 5 to 11 5 shows an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the main part thereof, and FIG.
The figure is a sectional view taken along the line X-X in FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a sectional side view showing the pusher mechanism, FIG. 9 is a partially sectional plan view of FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a plan view of the clamp mechanism.
FIG. 11 is a partially sectional side view of FIG. 10. 2: Starwheel, 2C: Pocket, 7: A
Line conveyor, 8: B line conveyor, 14:
Pusher mechanism, 22: Clamp mechanism, 40: Bottle.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an article dividing and discharging device that receives articles that are arranged and conveyed in a single row in an even number of pockets provided on a star wheel and discharges the articles alternately at two discharge positions, A loosely fitted first cam, a rod that moves in the radial direction of the star wheel from the first cam and projects into every other pocket, and biases the rod toward the center of the star wheel. A first spring, a lever that swings around the vicinity of every other pocket of the star wheel and grips the article between the two pockets, and a second spring that biases the lever in the closing direction. and a second cam that swings the lever in the opening direction, which is loosely fitted on the shaft of the star wheel, and causes the rod to protrude into the pocket at the first ejection position, and also causes the lever to be opened. An article dividing device characterized in that the first cam and the second cam are arranged so as to swing in the opening direction at the second discharge position.