Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
  • B65G47/52—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices
  • B65G47/68—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices adapted to receive articles arriving in one layer from one conveyor lane and to transfer them in individual layers to more than one conveyor lane or to one broader conveyor lane, or vice versa, e.g. combining the flows of articles conveyed by more than one conveyor
  • B65G47/71—Devices for transferring articles or materials between conveyors i.e. discharging or feeding devices adapted to receive articles arriving in one layer from one conveyor lane and to transfer them in individual layers to more than one conveyor lane or to one broader conveyor lane, or vice versa, e.g. combining the flows of articles conveyed by more than one conveyor the articles being discharged or distributed to several distinct separate conveyors or to a broader conveyor lane

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a new divider-ejector device for bottles or the like of the free star wheel type, by suction.
• Numerous devices are known for ejecting or sorting bottles, used on bottling lines for sorting bottles or possibly ejecting certain non-compliant bottles.
• the means used in these devices to carry out the ejection are jacks or air jets or even a push ejection device in synchronism with the conveyor; it can also be devices comprising a star wheel which can either be a star wheel driven by mechanical servo-control to the conveyor or autonomously by a motor, or a free star wheel with suction cups or pliers.
• a free star with suction cups the latter is coupled with a detection system and is placed on a frame which is specific to it.
• the bottles or similar containers to be sorted are fixed to the star wheel by suction, by means of suction cups carried by hollow rods, themselves carried by the hub of the star wheel.
• the number of suction cups and hollow rods carrying the latter is equal to the number of recesses made around the circumference of the star wheel to receive the bottles or the like. fords to sort.
• the suction is applied to the suction cups by means of valves associated on the one hand with the hollow rods and, on the other hand, with a vacuum chamber located in the hub and supplied with vacuum continuously from a source appropriate exterior; the vacuum is applied to a given suction cup or is interrupted in the latter due to the displacement of the slide of the corresponding valve, this displacement being caused, in the direction of supplying or cutting the vacuum by a device for actuation by electrical example with solenoid itself switched on by a switch controlled in response to the detection, by an appropriate device, of a characteristic of the bottle presented to the corresponding suction cup.
• the sorting or ejection devices proposed in the prior art always linked to a detection system, work by exception and cannot be used for a systematic division of a stream of bottles or the like.
• the sorting devices in accordance with the prior art are mounted in a frame provided with means for guiding the bottles or the like on the conveyors, which implies a close association between the sorting device itself and the conveyors, and an additional complication of the whole machine.
• the complex construction of the sorting devices proposed in the prior art makes these devices particularly fragile and, consequently, subject to frequent breakdowns and is at the origin of the high cost price of these machines.
• the object of the present invention is to provide devices for dividing, and possibly ejecting, bottles or the like which better meet the needs of practice than existing dividing devices and constitute improvements to the principle of these sorting or sorting devices.
• existing ejection in particular in that they are of a simple and robust construction, of a very great flexibility of use, allowing the division of a stream of bottles or the like by any number, in balanced or uneven flows , at. high speed, in that their cost price is relatively low and in that they can be made independent of the conveyors of the bottles or the like to be divided or divided.
• the subject of the present invention is a device for dividing and possibly ejecting bottles or the like of the type comprising a star wheel with free rotation at the periphery of which are housed cells for receiving bottles, as well as a plurality of rods. hollow whose free outer end of each is provided with a suction cup to which a vacuum is applied from a vacuum source, via the hollow rod which carries it, supplied by a valve associated with a chamber vacuum located in the hub; the dividing and possibly ejection device, in accordance with the present invention.
• valves are distributed on the hub according to concentric circumferences
• the device comprises at least one cam for actuating the valves which appear successively in front of it, to establish the connection between the vacuum chamber of the ⁇ oyeu and a suction cup and supply the latter with a vacuum for the prehensign of a bottle or the like by suction
• the device further comprises a plurality of cams situated on concentric circumferences, of the same radius and in a number equal to the number of circumferences on which the valves are distributed, which cams cut the vacuum supply of a suction cup, transmitted by a valve situated on a circumference similar to the circumference on which the cut-off cam is located, thus causing the release of the bottle or the like by said suction cup on a determined division corridor
• the cams being advantageously positioned opposite the dividing corridor on which they command the release of a stream of bottles or the like.
• the valves are distributed on concentric circumferences the number of which is less by one unit (n-1) than the number of dividing lanes, n, of bottles or the like in such a way that, on each of these circumferences, a valve is provided opposite 1 / n cells, of the star wheel, (n representing as mentioned above the number of dividing lanes for bottles or the like) and the valves of a circumference are offset from the distance of a cell by relative to the adjacent circumference, so that the nth cell is not associated with any valve and does not carry any suction cup.
• the valves are distributed over m circumferences, m being equal to the number of dividing lanes for bottles or the like and each of said circumferences comprises the same number of valves, which are provided, on each circumference, facing each of the cells of the star wheel, each of which is associated with a suction cup, while the depression supply cam to each of the suction cups is produced in the form of a movable cam sensitive to a signal emitted by a bottle control system, which normally allows the suction of all bottles or the like by suction cups in the absence of an error signal, with a view to dividing them, and is erased on receipt of the error signal to cut off the supply of the vacuum to the suction cups and let the bottle pass non-conforming or similar in an ejection corridor, and that the cut-off cams provided on each of m circumferences similar to the m concentric circumference
• the cut-off cams for the vacuum supply are produced in the form of cams with vertical or horizontal offset, the displacement of which is caused concomitantly with the erasing of the cam for switching on the circuit. 'vacuum supply, by receiving the error signal, to cause the release of a bottle opposite that of the dividing lanes in which a hole has been produced in the divided flow, by the error signal, and fill that hole.
• the number of valves distributed over the circumference corresponding to the dividing passage which is to receive the greatest number of bottles or the like is assigned by a corresponding multiplying coefficient with respect to the number of valves distributed over the circumference corresponding to the dividing passage which is to receive the smallest number of bottles or the like.
• the cut-off cams are coupled to a counting system which programs any unbalanced divisions of the different flows.
• the same dividing device in accordance with the present invention can be easily adapted to these lower division modes, for example by combining two adjacent lanes into one and removing all or part of the suction cups corresponding to the release in the deleted lane.
• the star wheel is made of a light material, in particular a plastic, having a high mechanical strength such as that known under the brands "HYPALON” or “HOSTALEN", while the star wheels which equip sorting devices in accordance with the prior art have metal elements, in particular steel.
• the number of cells of the star wheel produced in accordance with the invention must be a multiple of the maximum division to be produced, this multiple not having to not be less than four times the maximum division to be achieved, so that the speed of the bottles or the like entrained in the rotational movement of the star wheel cannot be opposed to the running speed of the bottles brought by the conveyor supplying said wheel with bottles to be divided and / or at the speed of the bottle discharge conveyors or the like.
• the dividing lanes are formed by guides advantageously arranged on a very wide conveyor, parallel to each other and parallel to the conveyor for supplying the bottles to the dividing device, the extension of which also serves as a dividing corridor. or possibly ejection.
• the cams for switching on and cutting the vacuum are mounted on an element of the fixed support of the device, the valves being mounted on the hub. of the star wheel with which they are rotated.
• the dividing and possibly ejection device can be made independent of the conveyor with individual aisles, in particular by securing it to an appropriate fixing element mounted on the workshop ceiling, or to a transverse bar or still at a gantry mounted on the sides of the conveyor.
• the invention relates more particularly to the devices for dividing and ejecting bottles and the like in accordance with the above provisions, as well as the means for their production and for their implementation, as well as assemblies and assembly installations comprising such devices.
• FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an embodiment of the dividing and optionally ejection device according to the invention according to an embodiment of a division by three;
• - Figure 2a is a half-section view and Figure 2b is a quarter view from above of the device of Figure 1;
• FIG. 3 and 4 show, in section, the operating diagrams of a valve in the device according to the invention
• FIG. 8 represents a diagram of a dividing and ejection device according to the invention.
• a star wheel 1 comprising a lower element 1a and an upper element 1b, mounted on a rotating hub 2, the rotating support 3 of which is provided, at its upper part, with a rotating joint 4 connected by a connection pipe 5 to a vacuum pump (no shown).
• This rotating assembly is associated, for example by means of the ball bearings 6, with a fixed assembly support 7 which supports a plate 8, also fixed, for supporting the cams which will be described later.
• the hub 2 carries valves 9, 10, etc., the actuation of which feeds suction cups 13 carried by hollow rods 14 connected to said valves, in vacuum.
• valves 9, 10, etc. are distributed on the hub 2, on several circumferences 15, 15, etc. concentric, the number of the circumferences being less by one unit than the number of flows to be divided.
• FIG. 1 shows by way of example two circumferences on which valves 9 and 10 are distributed respectively
• FIGS. 5 to 7 show four circumferences 15, 16, 17, 18 on which are respectively distributed valves 9, 10, 11, 12, these two non-limiting examples of valve distribution, providing respectively three division lanes D 1 , D 2 , D 3 and five division lanes D 1 , D 2 , D 3 , D 4 , D 5 of bottles, B 0 , in flow of bottles B 1 , B 2 , B 3 ....
• the dividing lanes are advantageously constituted by a conveyor comprising individual transport lanes (D 1 , D 2 , D 3 in Figure 1 and D 1 , D 2 , D 3 , D 4 , D 5 in Figures 5 to 7) for the different flows of divided bottles. It will be easily understood that if we refer more specifically to the bottles represented in FIG. 1, the division of which is illustrated, it is understood that by bottles, it is necessary to understand not only the bottles, but also all other receptacles such as jars, pots, boxes, etc.
• the distribution of the valves (9 for example) over a given circumference (15 for example) is such that a valve is found every n cells 19, of the wheel in star 1 on the same circumference, while on the adjacent circumference (16 for example), if the distribution of the valves (10 for example) is always all the n cells, 19, it is however shifted by the space of one cell 19 with respect to the previous circumference, and so on (of. in particular Figures 5 to 7).
• the valves are distributed on n-1 circumferences, that is to say on a circumference of less than the number of dividing lanes, so that no valve is found associated with the nth cell , which also does not carry a suction cup; such an arrangement has the effect that the extension D 5 of the conveyor 20 for feeding the bottles to the star wheel constitutes an additional division corridor, except that the bottles which access the nth cell are not sucked by any suction cup, are forced to continue their straight course in corridor D 5 , and are divided in the latter, thus constituting the nth divided flow (see Figure 7).
• the vacuum supply of the suction cups 13 from an external source such as a vacuum pump (not shown) for example is done via the rotary joint 4 and the hub support 3 which are hollow, until to the vacuum chamber 21 provided in the hub 2, from which the vacuum reaches the suction cup 13 via the channels 22, 23 and 24 and the hollow rod 14, by actuation of the valve (9 for example).
• valve 25 mounted on the fixed plate 8 which is integral with the fixed assembly support 7 of the device according to the invention; this cam 25 drives any valve (9, 10, 11, 12 .7) carried by the rotating hub 2 which is opposite said cam 25 during the rotation of said hub.
• the valve slides in the channel 23 to adopt the position represented in FIG.
• the adaptation of the dividing device according to the invention to the division-ejection operation is very easy and can be such, for example, as that shown in FIG. 8.
• all the cells 19 of the wheel in star 1 carry a bottle gripping suction cup and valves (31a, 31b, 31c, etc.) are distributed on the hub along m circumferences (30a, 30b, 30c, etc.) which correspond to m dividing lanes (D 1 'D 2 , D 3 , etc ... by example) a valve (31a, 31b, 31c) is associated on all the circumferences (30a, 30b, 30c) with each of the cells 19.
• valves of the m circumferences are actuated simultaneously by a cam 32 for switching on the supply vacuum suction cups, which is carried by the fixed plate 8 described above.
• this cam 32 instead of being fixed as in the embodiment described above, is a movable cam capable of erasing on reception of a signal emitted by any suitable detection system, such erasure causing the interruption of the vacuum supply to the suction cup associated with the valves which pass opposite the cam 32.
• the nonconforming bottle detected is not picked up by said suction cup and continues on its path on the conveyor 20, the extension therefore constitutes an ejection corridor E E.
• the cam 25 establishes the vacuum circuit by depressing the valves 31a, 31b, 31c which occur simultaneously to it, and the bottle is gripped by the corresponding suction cup to successively reach the cams 33a, 33b, 33c for cutting the vacuum circuit which are positioned opposite the dividing lanes D 1 , D 2 , D 3 , the release of the bottles in one or the other of these lanes being selected by cutting the the vacuum supply of a valve of one of the m circumferences on its passage opposite one of the cutting cams 33a, 33b, 33c.
• the cut-off cams 33 are produced in the form of offset cams, either vertical 34 (FIG. 9) or horizontal 35 (FIG. 10), the displacement of which is controlled by the erasure of the cam 32 to advance the bottle housed in the next cell and fill the "hole" in the corresponding divided flow.
• the very great adaptability of the dividing-ejection device makes it possible to operate it to allow the division into flow of the number of unequal bottles, by providing for example the circumference corresponding to the dividing corridor which is to receive the largest number of bottles of a corresponding number of valves; it also makes it possible to reduce the number of divided flows by bringing together two or more corridors and by removing all or part of the suction cups corresponding to the deleted corridor (s); it allows any other combination of increasing or reducing the number of divided streams and the number of divided bottles in a stream; it allows, in its divider-ejector variant, to program at will a systematic division according to m ⁇ 1 flow and any division-ejection less than or equal to m, for example by positioning the number of corresponding cut-off c ⁇ ia.es necessary and by neutralizing the corridors that have become useless; it also makes it possible to carry out flow divisions of unequal values by associating the cut-off cams with an appropriate counting system.
• the device according to the invention can be independent of the conveyor and be hung on the workshop ceiling or on a transverse bar or be fixed to a gantry itself fixed to the sides of the conveyor.
• the division-ejection device conforms to the invention can, moreover, be associated with a plurality of any suitable ejection systems controlled by fault detection systems of types known per se, such as systems for detecting the presence of residual liquid in the bottles at the exit of the washer, detection of the absence of a stopper, detection of non-compliant filling, detection of absence of label, detection of ring chipping, etc., etc.
• the device conforms to the present invention is very simple in design; it is very robust and its reliability is excellent.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Specific Conveyance Elements (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=9247965

Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (10)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (3)

• 1980
  • 1980-11-14 FR FR8024202A patent/FR2499034A1/fr active Granted
• 1981
  • 1981-11-05 BE BE1/10348A patent/BE890995A/fr not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1981-11-10 WO PCT/FR1981/000144 patent/WO1982001697A1/en unknown
  • 1981-11-13 CA CA000390019A patent/CA1177786A/fr not_active Expired
  • 1981-11-14 ES ES81507151A patent/ES8300627A1/es not_active Expired
  • 1981-11-16 IT IT25098/81A patent/IT1139760B/it active

Patent Citations (3)

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