JP2559967B2 - Leak inspection device for Otaru - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention detects, for example, a minute leak from a welded portion between a top mirror and a body portion of a large beer barrel container (hereinafter referred to as "Otaru") and a main seal packing portion to detect defective products. The present invention relates to a leak inspection device for large barrels that rejects large barrels (so-called leak barrels) from the production line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Usually, in a large barrel for beer, for example, foreign matter is often caught in the main seal packing portion for injecting beer, or a leak often occurs from the large barrel due to damage to the packing itself. is there. Also, salt and lemon juice infiltrate into the gap between the top mirror of the barrel and the body of the barrel in the beer barrel distribution market, and as time passes, this portion corrodes and leaks from this portion. May occur. This leakage phenomenon was further promoted by applying pressure inside Otaru, and it was sometimes returned from the secondary market as a complaint. Therefore, it is necessary to reliably remove these leaking barrels as defective products from the manufacturing line in the manufacturing process.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, conventionally, in the leak detection of the packing portion of the large barrel, the water accumulated on the packing is blown away by air to remove it, and pure water is further applied to it. And the conductivity is measured. If it leaks, the beer leaks from the packing portion, and the conductivity of that portion rises. Therefore, it was determined that there was a leak (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9235/1993). Also, in the case of a large beer barrel, since the barrel is filled with carbon dioxide gas, a device that sucks the atmosphere around the packing part and the outside and detects the leaking carbon dioxide gas to determine the leak is conventionally available. (See JP-A-63-29225). There is also a method of directly immersing a large barrel in a water tank and determining the presence or absence of bubbles to detect leakage.

[0004]

However, in the conventional leak detecting method, it is extremely difficult to completely remove the water accumulated on the packing by the former method described above, and the manufacturing method before the leak is detected. When there was a leak barrel in the line, there was often a malfunction in leak detection due to the fact that even a small amount of leaked liquid remained in the leak measuring section. Also, in the latter case described above, there may be more carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere in the beer manufacturing process than in the normal atmosphere, which also causes a malfunction of the leak detection, and the leak barrel is accurately removed. There was a problem that it could not be removed from the beer production line as a defective product. In addition, it was difficult to detect minute leaks by the method of directly immersing the large barrel in the water tank.

Therefore, the leak inspection device for large barrels of the present invention is
This was done in view of the problems of the prior art, and in order to detect a minute leak from the weld between the upper mirror of the barrel and the barrel and the main seal packing, helium gas was placed inside the barrel. It is an object of the present invention to provide a leak inspection device for large barrels in which the external atmospheres around them are separately sucked by the suction nozzle, and the concentration of helium is measured by an analyzer to determine whether or not there is a leak. .

[0006]

A leakage inspection apparatus for barrels according to the present invention comprises a conveyor for transporting barrels installed in a production line, and a stopper for indexing barrels arranged on the conveyor. And a device for inspecting leakage from the large barrel, and a reject reject conveyor that discharges the large barrel in which leakage is detected by the leakage inspection device from the production line, and the leakage inspection device should be inspected for leakage. For carrying in to a predetermined inspection position, a gas injection head for injecting helium gas into the large barrel, and a welded portion and packing portion of the upper mirror and barrel of the large barrel for contacting these parts. The suction nozzle for sucking the atmosphere of the entire circumference, the rotary table for rotating the barrel, and the analyzer for determining the helium concentration of the sucked atmosphere.

[0007]

In the leakage inspection device for large barrels of the present invention, the large barrels conveyed by the conveyor are indexed by the indexing stopper and then fed into the leakage inspection device, where the helium gas from the gas injection head is large. It is poured into the barrel. Next, the suction nozzle is applied to the welded portion and the seal portion between the upper mirror of the barrel and the barrel, respectively, and the atmosphere is sucked separately while rotating the barrel, and the concentration of helium is measured by an analyzer. Here, the large barrel in which the helium concentration of the specified value or more is detected is discharged to the outside of the production line by the defective reject conveyor as a defective product, and the large barrel in which no leak is detected is returned to the manufacturing line as a normal product.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the leakage inspection device for large barrels of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a large barrel of beer or the like, which is an inspection target of the large barrel leakage inspection apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this barrel O is composed of a body 1 and an upper mirror 2 and a lower mirror 3 which are welded to the upper and lower portions of the barrel 1, and the beer is poured into the barrel at the center thereof. Alternatively, a spear valve 6 having a packing 4 for sealing is attached to an upper portion of the spear valve 6 which is poured out from the inside. And, as described above, the leakage from Otaru B is caused by the packing 4
May occur from the portion 5 and the portion 5 where foreign matter is accumulated and corroded. Therefore, as will be described later, helium gas is supplied to Otaru B.
A predetermined amount is injected into the inside, and the leakage is separately sucked from the packing 4 and the corroded portion 5 by the suction nozzles 25a and 25b, and the mass analysis (concentration measurement) is performed to determine the presence or absence of the leakage. . 7 suction nozzles 25a, 25b
It consists of a pipe with a diameter of ~ 8 mm, and a rubber tube with elasticity is attached to its tip.

Next, the construction of the leakage inspection apparatus for large barrels of the present invention used for detecting leakage from the large barrels B will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a leakage inspection apparatus for large barrels according to the present invention. The large barrel B to be inspected for leakage is conveyed by a conveyor 7 such as a beer manufacturing line as shown by an arrow at the right end of the drawing. Be transported. Otaru B is the indexing stopper 40 in advance
Detected by the operating sensor S1, the stopper cylinder 41 of the indexing stopper 40 is operated by a pneumatic circuit (not shown), and the tip 42a of the stopper 42 extends to the indexing position. As a result, the tips 42a come into contact with the barrel of the barrel B for indexing.

First, the main body of the leakage inspection apparatus 10 pushes out a large barrel B horizontally attached to a bracket 14 fixed to a frame of the conveyor 7 as shown in the central portion of FIG. 2 and FIG. It is composed of an inspection carry-in cylinder 11 that is carried in to the leak inspection device 10, and a large barrel carry-in pusher 13 attached to the tips of the pair of guide bars 12. The large barrel B loaded into the main body of the leak inspection device 10 with the indexing stopper 40 released by the transport conveyor 7 is configured to activate the sensor S2 for operating the inspection loading cylinder 11.

Further, the leak inspection device 10 is particularly shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a rotary table 15 that rotates the barrel B that has been carried in for inspection and a table rotation geared motor 18 that rotates the rotary table 15 are provided. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a lower base plate 20 is attached to the frame body 10 a of the leak inspection apparatus 10, four columns 21 are fixed to the base plate 20, and upper ends of the columns 21 are attached to the upper portion. The base plate 19 is fixed. A pedestal 22 for moving the probe up and down is slidably fitted to the column 21, and a cylinder 2 for moving the probe up and down is provided.
3 is operated via the cylinder rod 24 and the joint 28 so that the cylinder rod 24 becomes
Is reciprocated along a pair of columns 21 so that the tip of a probe (suction nozzle) 25 attached to the tip of the column is brought into contact with or away from the leak inspection point of the large barrel B. A ventilation fan 26 for diffusing the surrounding atmosphere is arranged near the probe 25,
The probe 25 follows the reciprocating motion and moves up and down.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the pedestal 22 is horizontally provided with the suction nozzle moving cylinders 30 and 3.
1 are provided, and suction nozzles 25a and 25 are provided, respectively.
b is moved horizontally to the leak detection point of Otaru B. The suction nozzle 25a is covered with a transparent cover 32 to be isolated from other atmospheres.

Further, a head lifting cylinder 32 is erected at the center of the upper base plate 19, and a reciprocating cylinder rod 33 reciprocally moves a gas injection head 35 provided at its tip through a joint 34. The column 21 is joined to the base portion 4a of the barrel B by another mounting seat 36a.
Helium gas (2 kg / cm ² G) supplied from the supply pipe 36 fixed to the inside of the barrel is injected into the barrel B. After the helium gas is injected, the head lifting cylinder 32 is operated to separate the injection head 35 from the mouthpiece 4a of the barrel B.

The oscillating arm 1 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the rotary table 15 by the carry-out arm cylinder 24.
7 is arranged to push back the barrel B, which has been subjected to the leak check, from the rotary table 15 to the line of the conveyor 7. Further, a sensor S for checking the presence or absence of the barrel B by straddling the diagonal line of the turntable 15
3 is provided.

On the downstream side of the leak inspection device 10 of the transport conveyor 7, a large barrel B whose leak is detected by the leak inspection device 10 is detected.
A defective product rejector 50 that rejects the defective product to the defective product reject conveyor 8 is arranged. The defective product rejector 50 includes a defective product reject cylinder 51, a cylinder rod 52 thereof, and a pusher 53 attached to the tip of the defective product reject cylinder 51. The defective barrel C is detected by the reject cylinder operation sensor S as the defective product reject cylinder 51. Is operated to reject to the defective product reject conveyor 8. The confirmation of the discharge of the defective defective product is confirmed by the sensor S5. The reject conveyor 8 may be double-rowed.

Finally, a helium detector used for detecting a leak will be described with reference to FIG. In the exhaust system diagram of FIG. 5, the helium gas leaking from the large barrel B sucked separately from either one of the probes (suction nozzles) 25a and 25b is sucked by the dry pump 60 and sent to the manifold 61, After passing through the probe 62, it is pulled by the vacuum pump 63 and passed through the sluice valve 64 to the analyzer 65.
(Commercial item) and analyze the concentration of helium. Here, the reason why helium gas is used for the leak detection is that the malfunction thereof is small because the content thereof in the atmosphere is small (only about 5 ppm exists). Further, since the leak of the helium gas is separately detected and judged from the gap between the upper mirror and the body or the packing part, it is possible to judge the leak from either one. Therefore, if there is a leak from the packing part, the packing is replaced, and if there is a leak from the barrel itself, it is discarded.

According to the leakage inspection apparatus for the large barrel of the present invention, for example, 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ cc · atm / sec or more (corresponding to 10 ppm)
Could be reliably detected and removed from the production line within 25 seconds.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the leak detecting device for the large barrel of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the large barrel B conveyed by the conveyer 7 is detected by the sensor S1 and stopped by the indexing stopper 40 to be indexed. When it is confirmed by the sensor S3 that the large barrel B is not on the rotary table 15, the indexing stopper 40 is opened and the large barrel B is further fed into the leak inspection device 10. When the sensor S2 detects the passage of the large barrel B, the inspection carrying-in cylinder 11 is activated, and the pusher 13 pushes the large barrel B until it hits the stop plate of the centering cylinder 16 for centering.

When this centering is performed, the head lifting cylinder 32 operates, the gas injection head 35 descends and joins the mouthpiece portion 4a of the barrel B, and the inside of the barrel portion 4a into the barrel barrel 4a. Inject helium gas (about 2 kg / cm ² G). After the injection of the helium gas is completed, the gas injection head 35 is lifted away from the base 4a. And the suction nozzle 25
a and 25b are horizontally moved by the cylinders 30 and 31, respectively, and the probe lifting cylinder 23 is operated to lower the suction nozzles 25a and 25b to lower the suction nozzles 25a and 25b to the upper mirror welded portion 5 and the packing portion 4 (Fig. 1). (Refer to FIG. 4), the tip thereof is brought into contact with the rotary table 15, and at the same time, the rotary table 15 is rotated once to separately suck the atmospheres around the entire circumference of those portions. The sucked atmosphere is sent to the analyzer 65, and the helium concentration is analyzed to see if it contains helium above a specified value. If either or both of them detect helium above a certain level, it is judged as a defective product. judge. Further, the fan 26 is rotationally activated to diffuse the helium in the vicinity thereof to prepare for the next leak inspection.

When the leak inspection is completed, the suction nozzle 25a,
25b is separated from Otaru B, the Otaru B is returned to the conveyer conveyor 7 by the arm 17, and the leaked Otaru B detected by the sensor S4 is rejected to the defective product reject conveyor 8 by the defective product rejecting cylinder 51. Is discharged as a defective product to the outside of the system. This defective product discharge is confirmed by the sensor S5.

On the other hand, the normal barrel B that does not leak is further sent to the manufacturing line by the conveyor 7.

[0025]

According to the leakage inspection apparatus for large barrels of the present invention,
Small leaks from the upper mirror welded part of the main barrel and the main seal packing are extremely accurately and automatically detected during the process of beer production and are efficiently removed in the process, so there is a so-called leak barrel. It is prevented as much as possible from accidentally entering the secondary market. Further, since the helium gas, which is low in the atmosphere, is used to detect the leak, it is possible to accurately detect the leak without malfunction. Further, since the leak is directly detected from the defective portion of the o barrel itself, it is extremely accurate and does not require double inspection. In addition, since it is possible to separately judge whether there is a leak from the welded part of the top mirror or from the packing part, it is possible to deal with leakage of the packing part by replacing the packing. To play.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a cauldron to be inspected by a leakage inspection device for a casket according to the present invention, showing a state where a suction nozzle of a probe is applied to a packing part of a spear valve and a corroded part of an upper mirror. .

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an embodiment of the leakage inspection apparatus for the barrel according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the leakage inspection device for the barrel shown in FIG. 2, which is a view seen from the probe lifting cylinder side.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the leakage inspection device for the large barrel shown in FIG. 2, as viewed from the side of the head lifting cylinder.

FIG. 5 shows an exhaust system diagram of a helium detection device used in the leakage inspection device for large barrels of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Transport Conveyor 8 Defective Product Reject Conveyor 10 Leakage Inspection Device 11 Inspection Carry-In Cylinder 13 Otaru Carry-In Pusher 15 Rotary Table 16 Centering Cylinder 18 Table Rotating Geared Motor 23 Probe Lifting Cylinder 25 Suction Nozzle 30, 31 Suction Nozzle Moving cylinder 32 Head lifting cylinder 35 Gas injection head 40 Indexing stopper 41 Stopper cylinder 42 Stopper 50 Defective product rejector 51 Defective product rejecting cylinder S1 to S5 Sensor B Otaru

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location G01M 3/32 G01M 3/32 T

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conveyor for arranging a cask arranged on a production line, a stopper for indexing a cask arranged on the conveyor, a device for inspecting leakage from the cask, and the leakage. An inspection carry-in means for delivering a large barrel whose leakage is to be inspected to a predetermined inspection position by the leakage inspection device, which comprises a defective product reject conveyor for discharging the large barrel whose leakage is detected by the inspection device from the production line. , A gas injection head for injecting helium gas into the large barrel, and a suction nozzle for contacting the welding portion and packing portion of the upper mirror of the large barrel and the body portion and sucking the atmosphere around these portions, respectively, A leak inspection apparatus for a large barrel, comprising: a rotary table for rotating the large barrel; and an analyzer for determining the helium concentration of the sucked atmosphere.