WO2007023195A2

WO2007023195A2 - Device for manipulating treated tinplate sheets

Info

Publication number: WO2007023195A2
Application number: PCT/ES2005/000651
Authority: WO
Inventors: Esteban Martin Garcia
Original assignee: Comasur 2000, S.L.L.
Priority date: 2005-08-22
Filing date: 2005-11-30
Publication date: 2007-03-01
Also published as: ES2268989B1; ES2268989A1; WO2007023195A3; EP1949983A2

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for manipulating treated tinplate sheets, combining a tinplate sheet cutter and a machine for forming containers for food products or similar and comprising a receiving table (1-2) containing a plurality of number- and width-configurable channels (3) which receive different sizes of sheets with the treated surface thereof facing downwards. According to the invention, when a signal detector (4) establishes that there are a pre-determined number of sheets in the channels (3), a signal is transmitted to a first cylinder (5) which lifts the channels and, immediately thereafter, a second cylinder (6) pulls the sheets from the loading area (1) to the discharge area (2), whereat piles of sheets are deposited on supports (7) in order to be gripped by a manipulator arm which conveys said sheets either to a collection tray or to an unloading/turning arm which conveys same to the tower used to feed the container-forming machine. The inventive process is fully automatic and the treated surface of the sheets is always protected, with the position thereof being inverted just prior to reaching the forming machine.

Description

HANDLER FOR TREATED SHEET SHEETS

D E S C R I P C I Ó N

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a manipulator that has been specially designed to take tin plates from a receiving table and deposit them, either on a turner or on a collection tray, in order to prevent the treated side of the sheet from being damaged. during handling

The object of the invention is to ensure that the transfer of the tin plates between the reception area thereof and the deposition zone is carried out in a fully automated manner, in addition to the aforementioned of avoiding damage to the treated surface.

The invention is applicable in the field of manufacturing containers for food products, based on tinplate, such as canned food containers and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the packaging of certain food or similar products, metal cans based on tin plates are used, which, duly stamped, shaped and fixed together, determine a tightly closed receptacle, whose internal surface is properly treated to avoid the risk of oxidation that could harm food products. This internal treatment of the cans is originally carried out, in the tin plates prior to punching and assembly thereof.

Consequently, in the manufacturing process of this type of packaging, there is a first stage of manufacturing the treated tinplates, and a second phase in which a machine manufactures the containers at the expense of said sheets.

For the transfer of the sheets from one of the operational phases mentioned, there are two solutions, a manual, in which one or several people manually transfer the sheets from the cutting machine to the pallets where they are stored until they are used, or to the tray of supply to the machine to manufacture the containers, what supposes a considerable loss of time and participation of manpower, to which it is necessary to add a remarkable risk of which the operators can suffer accidents.

The other solution, mechanical, uses linear actuating machines, so that a conveyor belt moves the cut plates from the cutter to an elevator that lifts them so that a mechanical arm picks them up and directs them to the machine supply tray that manufactures the containers The problem is that it is always in a linear plane with the conveyor belt; On the other hand, in the case where these plates are chosen to be stored, transport to the pallet or storage area must be done by manual means. In addition, all handling is carried out with the treated side of the iron facing upwards, which is how the machine that manufactures the containers should receive it, which implies a permanent risk of scratches on said treated surface that render the sheet unusable. for its transformation into a container, so if you want to solve this problem, the cutting machine must supply the sheet metal with its treated surface facing down, which requires manual turning immediately before reaching the machine that manufactures the containers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The manipulator proposed by the invention solves in a fully satisfactory manner the aforementioned problem, allowing the entire transfer process to be carried out in an automated manner, whether the deposition of the plates is carried out on a pallet or storage tray, as if It is made on the feeding tower of the packaging forming machine, and also allowing all this handling of the sheets to be carried out with the treated surface of the same oriented downwards, also making its automatic turning immediately before the feeding of the cited machine.

For this purpose and more specifically in the manipulator that the invention proposes, a receiving table participates, on which the sheets supplied by the cutting machine are deposited, with their treated face facing down, receiving table that has several configurable streets in number and width, for the reception of different types or sizes of sheets, with a loading area where said sheets are deposited as they are cut by the cutting machine, either directly by said machine and with the help of an operator, controlling the amount of sheet deposited on each street with the collaboration of a stacking height detector, which governs an elevator that lifts the stack, which moves to the opposite side of the table, where the stack descends to be deposited on a support, with the particularity that the supports corresponding to the different streets of the table alternately adopt different heights, so that the blocks or packages of sheets are in turn distributed to the tresbolillo, facilitating their subsequent grip for the next manipulation.

A manipulator arm moves the plates from the receiving table towards the unloading zone of the packaging machine, or towards a tray or pallet.

Said manipulator arm incorporates a claw with rubber-coated calipers and wheels, configurable calipers in width to adapt to different sheet formats, collaborating with said adjustable ram clamps that sandwich the tin plates once the clamps are closed, by means of a pneumatic cylinder, said arm being movable in the direction of the axes of a Cartesian coordinate system, also capable of rotating at the same time.

In the discharge zone the manipulator incorporates a turner, based on a claw very similar to the manipulator arm, but in this case it is mounted between two points of an axis that allows it to be turned by means of a turning actuator. Since in this turning maneuver the claw could operate on the feeding tower of the container forming machine, it is foreseen that said claw performs a preliminary lifting maneuver, to find an obstacle-free zone and carry out the turning , subsequently descending to the desired discharge position.

Finally, the manipulator incorporates a collection tray, which allows storing tin plate blocks with different lithographs, with as many possibilities as configurable streets incorporates the receiving table, said collection tray being assisted by a cylinder tire that allows the exit of the plates to the outside, so that they can finally be removed by a person.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description that is being made and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred example of practical implementation thereof, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said description. In an illustrative and non-limiting manner, the following has been represented:

Figure L- Shows a perspective detail of the receiving table that participates in the manipulator for lithographed tinplate sheets object of the present invention.

Figure 2.- It shows another perspective view, now partial, of the same receiving table, specifically of the area thereof in which the sheet blocks receive the actuation of the manipulator arm.

Figure 3.- Shows, also according to a perspective view, the manipulator arm for removing the plates from the receiving table.

Figure 4.- Shows another perspective view similar to Figure 3 but corresponding to the unloader / turner.

Figure 5.- Shows, finally, a perspective detail of the collection tray. PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

As has just been said, in figures 1 and 2 the receiving table has been shown, in which a loading zone (1) and a discharge zone (2), laterally adjacent, are established. On the loading area (1) a plurality of streets (3), (3 '), (3 ") are established to receive respective stacks of sheets, each street materializing in a pair of parallel slats, of adjustable distance, at object to adapt it to different sizes of sheets.

The number of plates placed on each street (3) is controlled by a stacking detector (4), so that when such a situation is detected, the streets (3) are raised, by means of a pneumatic cylinder (5), and immediately A pneumatic cylinder (6) then moves the sheet to the area (2), where it is deposited on a plurality of supports (7), (7 '), (7 ") _> - - - numerically and positionally coinciding with the number of streets (3) that are established in the loading area (1), but with the particularity that these supports (7) are of different heights, as it is perfectly observed in Figure 2, determining an arrangement to the tresbolillo for the different stacks of sheets located on them, which facilitates the grip of said blocks of sheets by the manipulator arm, the one shown in Figure 3.

Said manipulator arm (8), suspended from the structure (9) of the manipulator in a considerably elevated position with respect to the receiving table (1-2), constitutes a kind of claw in which tweezers (10) participate, finished off by pairs of rubber coated wheels (11) so as not to damage the tin plate in the handling process, said calipers being

(10) configurable or adjustable in width, by means of a guidance and interlocking system to adapt to different sheet formats. With the clamps (10) collaborate also tampers (12) also adjustable, which as previously said, sandwich the tin plates once the clamps (10) are closed by means of a pneumatic cylinder.

As also stated above, this manipulator arm (8) is capable of moving vertically, transverse and longitudinally, that is to say in accordance with the three axes of a Cartesian coordinate system to access any point of the receiving table (1- 2) and it is also capable of turning on itself to give any orientation to its tweezers.

Figure 4 shows the unloader / turner of a structure similar to that of the manipulator arm (8), that is to say also equipped with clamps (14) paddled on wheels (15), for smooth mooring of the tin plates, actionable clamps also by a pneumatic cylinder and also movable on the three axes of a Cartesian coordinate system, with the particularity also in the present case that the base body (16) of the turner is mounted on a transverse axis (17) that allows flipping of the same, in order to change the orientation of the treated face of the sheet, as already said before.

Finally, in figure 5 the collection tray (18) has been represented, in which the storage of different blocks or stacks of tin plates with different lithographs is planned, for later use of each of them in a timely manner.

In accordance with the structuring described and as is evident, the manipulator proposed by the invention presents a series of advantages that focus primarily on the following aspects: - Manual participation is limited in almost the entire process, both at the beginning and at the end of the process, which in turn avoids unnecessary accidents and wasted time resulting in a continuous process.

- The manipulator's work is not linear, but moves in four axes, including the axis of rotation.

- It offers the possibility of using different models of sheet metal sheets and once programmed, to provide at any time the format corresponding to the container to be manufactured by having several heads or work streets classifiable directly from the cutter.

- The turning of the plates allows the correct introduction of the same in the machine that manufactures the containers, also without participation of labor.

- The turning is carried out continuously, within the normal process of the manipulator, without the need for stops that would make the process intermittent.

Claims

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N E S

I ^to .- Manipulator plates treated tinplate, of the kind used in the manufacture of packaging for food products or similar, incorporating a suitably treated surface to prevent oxidation inside the container, manipulator is intended to relate the machine sheet metal cutting machine with the packaging forming machine, or, where appropriate, with a storage area for the cut sheets prior to said forming machine, it is characterized in that a receiving table (1-2) with stacking means participates in it of sheets cut in different formats, of control means of the magnitude of said stacks, and of means supplying the different stacks of tin plate, collaborating with said receiving table a manipulator arm (8) provided with a claw capable of moving according to the axes of a Cartesian coordinate system, and also participating in the manipulator an unloader / turner (16), s imitate the manipulator arm (8) but also trained to suffer a turning movement that positionally reverses the plates in their feeding to the packaging machine, and also participating in the manipulator a collection tray (18) provided with implantation areas for stacks of tin plates of different formats, such as those received by the receiving table (1-2)

2 .- Manipulator treated tinplate sheets, according ^to claim I, wherein the receiving table includes a loading zone (1) and an outlet zone (2) in the first of which a plurality of streets are established ( 3), (3 '), (3 ") ... configurable both in number and width, intended to receive different types or formats of cut sheet, these streets (3) being assisted by a lifting cylinder (5) and a transverse displacement cylinder (6), which moves the plates towards the exit zone (2), where they are deposited on a plurality of supports (7), (7 '), (7 ") - - - , with the particularity that said supports (7), also configurable in number and width, alternately have different heights that determine a triplet arrangement of the sheet stacks, for greater ease in the grip of the same by the manipulator arm (8).

3 .- Manipulator treated tinplate sheets, according to previous claims, characterized in that the receiving table incorporates in its loading area (1) a height detector (4) that determines when the stack of sheets on either street (3 ), (3 '), (3 ") - •. Reach the preset level for its displacement to the exit zone (2).

4 .- Manipulator treated tinplate sheets, according ^to claim I, wherein the manipulator arm (8) fitted with clips (10) tilting in width configurable to accommodate different sheet formats and terminating in wheels (11) coated with rubber so as not to damage the tin plates in their handling, collaborating with said tweezers (10) adjustable rammers (12), which sandwich the tin plates once the tongs are closed, by means of a pneumatic cylinder (13 ).

5 .- Manipulator plates treated tinplate, according to claims I and 4th, characterized in that the discharger / tilter (16) has a similar to the manipulator arm structure (8), also provided with grippers (14) and trained to move along the three axes of a Cartesian coordinate system, with the particularity that it also incorporates a transverse axis (17) that allows the turning of the unloader on itself, at an angle of 180 °, to reverse the position of the treated side of the sheets immediately before being supplied to the packaging machine.