JP3335448B2 - Rotary blow molding equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used in the technical field of a rotary blow molding apparatus, and more particularly to a rotary blow molding apparatus having a device for supplying and delivering a label to a molding surface of a molding die.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method of attaching a label to a blow molded container, a method of attaching a label after the container is formed,
It is known that it is applied simultaneously with molding. In the former case, a step is generated between the container surface and the edge of the label by the thickness of the label, which is not preferable in appearance. It is also conceivable to form a dent in the label affixing part by the thickness of the label
It is difficult to accurately apply the label to the dent, and furthermore, the shape of the mold must be changed each time the shape and thickness of the label change.

Therefore, as in the latter case, a so-called in-mold label system is widely used in which a label is supplied to a molding surface of a mold immediately before molding, and the label is attached to a container by blow molding. By doing so, a mold may be used for any kind of label, and the surface of the container and the surface of the label are the same, which is aesthetically preferable.

As an in-mold label sticking device,
For example, there is one disclosed in International Publication WO90 / 00138. In this known device, the rotary blow molding machine is, as shown in FIG.
Driven by the horizontal shaft 52, a series of dies 51 are disposed around the rotor 57 and rotate in a vertical plane. Each mold 51 is divided into two by a plane parallel to the paper surface, and is composed of a pair of molds that open and close in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and is closed at a position in a range indicated by S in the drawing. In other positions, it is open.

The die 53 that pushes out the parison 59 is located at the upper left position in the figure, and the mold 5 at the final position A in the open state.
I am drawn to 1. The mold 51 is closed at the position B, and the parison in the mold 51 is blow-molded by the supply of air within the range S to form a container. Mold 51 at position C
The scrap parison is blown into the receptacle 56, and the container 58 is taken out as a product by the take-out device 55 at the next position D.

In the above apparatus, one label supplied from the label supply device is delivered to the molding surface of the mold at the position E. The label transfer device 54 rotates the arm 54A in the vertical plane so as to enter the space between the pair of molds 51 in the open state, and transfers the label L held at the tip of the arm 54A to the mold. 51.
The delivery is performed by suction pressure on the molding surface of the mold.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned known apparatus, even if the peripheral speed of the tip of the arm of the label transfer device is the same as the peripheral speed of the mold on the rotor, the label transfer is possible.
Position of the center of rotation of the device, versus the position of the center of rotation of the rotor
Then, since it is in the opposite direction from the label delivery position,
Each rotation pitch circle is not concentric. Follow
If the timing of the delivery of the label is slightly out of order ,
Has a problem that the label affixing position greatly shifts in the radial direction of the rotor .

In addition, the label transfer device must have both a mechanism for rotating the arm and a mechanism for moving the label holding portion at the end of the arm in the direction of the molding surface of the mold (perpendicular to the paper). In addition, there is a problem that the mechanism becomes complicated.

The present invention solves the problems of the conventional apparatus, and has a simple mechanism and a rotary blow molding apparatus having a label transfer apparatus capable of bringing a label to an accurate position with respect to a molding surface of a mold. It is intended to provide a device.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a label supply device which takes out and supplies one by one from a plurality of labels, and a pair of openable and closable blow molding dies are provided with a rotor. A plurality of pairs of peripheral blown rotary molding machines rotating in a horizontal plane, and a pair of dies which are synchronously moved at a constant interval along the moving direction of the dies at the same angular velocity as the dies when the dies are in an open state. A reciprocating table, and a label transfer device provided on the reciprocating table, receiving one label from the label supply device and transferring the label to a molding surface of an open mold, wherein the label transfer device includes: It has a first lever and a second lever that are rotatably supported at one end about a first axis and a second axis, respectively, in which the relative positional relationship between the axes is constant and vertical. Slidable in the longitudinal direction of one lever Slider, which is guide is provided,
The second lever is connected at one end to a drive unit for reciprocatingly rotating the second lever by a predetermined angle and at the other end is swingably connected to the slider with respect to the slider, The slider is provided with an arm extending laterally with respect to the first lever, a label suction member is provided on the arm, and the label suction member is open with the label supply device. This is achieved by being characterized by being reciprocally movable between the molding surface of the mold.

[0011]

In the apparatus of the present invention having the above structure, a plurality of pairs of dies move around the rotor in a horizontal plane. Each pair of molds is open in a part of the periphery. In a part of the process, the reciprocating table moves in the same direction at the same angular velocity along the moving direction of the pair of dies in the open state. Therefore, in this state, the relative speed between the reciprocating table and the mold in the open state is zero.

On the other hand, in the label transfer device, the second lever receives a reciprocating rotation drive at one end by a drive unit by a predetermined angle, and the other end performs a reciprocating circular motion. Because the other end of the second lever is rotatably connected to the slider,
The slider pivots the first lever around one end while sliding back and forth on the first lever. That is, the position of the slider is located at the other end of the second lever that performs the circular motion, and its direction is determined by the second lever.

An arm is provided to extend laterally from the slider, and a label suction member is located on the arm. Therefore, when the label suction member is located in a range away from the mold in the open state, the moving direction of the other end of the second lever has a large directional component perpendicular to the first lever. Since the slider slides on the first lever at the same time, the label suction member draws a substantially linear movement trajectory in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first lever, and is then positioned in a range approaching the mold. The other end of the second lever makes a motion having a small component in a direction perpendicular to the first lever and a large component in the longitudinal direction. It suddenly changes to the above mold.

That is, after the label adsorbing member provided on the arm portion receives one label from the label supply device, the label advancing device advances in the substantially radial direction of the rotor with respect to the pair of dies in the open state, and the metal dies are placed on the die. When the positions of the first shaft and the second shaft and the lengths of the first and second levers are set in advance so as to approach the mold, the label suction member holds the label while holding the pair of open metal members. It enters between the dies in the radial direction, and then changes its direction to approach at right angles to the molding surface of the dies. When the label comes into contact with the molding surface, the label is delivered to the molding surface by suction pressure acting on the molding surface. Thereafter, the label adsorbing member supplies the label to receive the next label through the same path in the opposite direction. Return to device position. In the meantime, the reciprocating table returns to the opening start position of the next mold.

The mold receiving the label rotates together with the horizontally rotating rotor, and receives the supply of the parison extruded from the die of the extruder to close the mold. Next, when air is blown into the molten parison in the mold by a blow nozzle (not shown), the parison is blow-molded along the inner shape of the mold, and the label held on the inner surface of the mold is subjected to the internal pressure of the blow-molded product. Thereby, pressure is applied between the surface of the blow molded product and the inner surface of the mold. Therefore, the label adheres to the surface of the blow molded product by the heat of the blow molded product and the adhesive applied to the back surface of the label. In this way, a blow-molded product to which the label is adhered is completed.

Further, the molding rotor rotates to separate the molding dust above and below the blow molded product, and the mold is opened at the next station, and the blow molded product is removed from the mold.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an outline of the entire molding apparatus of this embodiment.

D indicates the position of the molten parison extruded from the extruder die. R ₁ cuts the extruded molten parison into a predetermined length, holds the cut parison in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper, and uses a rotor rotating counterclockwise to form eight cages at equal intervals on the circumference. It is a first rotor having.

R ₂ is a forming rotor that rotates clockwise and is a _second rotor in which 24 sets of opening and closing dies for blow molding are installed at equal intervals on the circumference of the set. In FIG. 8, only some of the 24 molds are shown, and other molds are not shown.

R ₃ is a _third rotor which rotates in a counterclockwise direction and is provided with four sets of chucks circumferentially at equal intervals for separating the upper and lower molding chips of the blow molded article.

R ₄ rotates counterclockwise, and takes out the blow-molded molded product from between the open molds of the second rotor. The molded product take-out rotor has six product gripping portions at equal intervals on the circumference. Is arranged.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a reciprocating table, which is an arc-shaped rail 6.
It is a table that reciprocates as indicated by the arrow above. Shuttle table 7 is stopped after moving at a part of the section of the R ₂ angular velocity and the same angular velocity of the moving section when moving in the same direction as the clockwise direction R _2, then opposite to the direction of rotation of the R ₂ It is configured to return quickly around.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the apparatus of this embodiment. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a rotor forming a part of a rotary blow molding machine, which is continuously rotating at a constant speed in a direction indicated by an arrow P in a horizontal plane. The rotor 1 is provided with a plurality of support arms 3A, 3B, 3C and the like extending radially from the center thereof.
Molds 4A, 4 that can be opened and closed around A, 5B, 5C
B, 4C, etc. are supported. The pair of dies has a molding surface on the opposing surface, for example, a concave portion corresponding to a half surface of a bottle to be blow molded.

An arc-shaped rail 6 is provided along a part of the outer periphery of the rotor 1, and a reciprocating table 7 is slidably supported along the rail 6. The reciprocating table 7
Is a range 7A to 7C in which the pair of dies 4A, 4B, 4C and the like are in an open state (in the illustrated example, the position of the dies 4A and
C), the molds 4A, 4
It moves from the position 7A to the position 7C in the direction shown in the figure at the same angular speed Q as the angular speed P of B and 4C, and returns to the position 7A promptly from the position 7C to the position 7A by a quick return mechanism (not shown).

The reciprocating table 7 has two sets of label transfer devices 1 symmetrically arranged with respect to the radius line of the rotor.
0 and 10 are provided. The label transfer device 10 includes:
As shown in FIG. 2 (only one set of label transfer device is shown in FIG. 2),
The first shaft 12, the second shaft 13 and the third shaft 14 are rotatably supported via bearings at the three positions.

The third shaft 14 is connected to a motor (not shown) provided at the lower part of the reciprocating table 7, and rotates in one direction at a constant speed. A relatively short arm 15 is attached to the third shaft 14, and the arm 15 is rotatably connected to a block 17 via a pin 16 at a distal end. A rod 19 having a piston in the cylinder 18 at one end of the cylinder 18 is provided in the block 17.
Is mounted at the end of the rod 19 of the fluid cylinder, which is configured to be freely retractable. A connecting projection 18A is provided on the other end of the cylindrical body 18. The connecting projection 18A is connected to the other end of the arm 20 attached to the second shaft 13 at one end. Arm 20 and pin 21
Are rotatably connected via a. Normally, the cylinder 18 is sealed with a fluid such as air or oil so that the position of the piston in the cylinder is maintained at a fixed position so that the rod 19 does not protrude and retract from the cylinder 18. Is kept constant. Thus, when the third shaft 14 rotates continuously in one direction, the cylindrical body 18 and the rod 19, the arm 15,
By the operation of the link mechanism formed by the arm 20, the arm 20 reciprocates by a predetermined angle.

At the upper end of the second shaft 13, the arm 2
The second lever 22 is attached at one end so as to have an angle deviation from 0, and when the arm 20 performs a reciprocating rotation motion, the second lever 22 is also moved by the second shaft 13 with this. It is driven to perform a reciprocating rotation motion.

At the upper end of the first shaft 12, a first lever 23 is rotatably supported at one end with respect to the first shaft 12. A rail-like slide guide surface 23A extending in the longitudinal direction is formed below the first lever 23, and a slider 24 having a groove 24A on the upper surface is slidably guided in the longitudinal direction of the first lever 23. . The slider 24 is rotatably connected to the second lever 22 at the other end of the second lever 22 by a shaft 25 on the lower surface side.

The slider 24 is provided with an arm 26 extending laterally with respect to the longitudinal direction of the first lever 23. A support plate 27 is provided upward from the distal end of the arm 26, and a suction member 28 is attached to an upper portion thereof. The suction member 28 is connected to a vacuum device via an on-off valve that is opened and closed at a predetermined time by a control device (not shown).

On the side of the label transfer device 10, a label supply device 30 is provided at a stationary position. The type of the label supply device 30 is not limited as long as it brings labels one by one to the supply position. In this embodiment,
A cassette 31 for accommodating a large number of labels is held by a stand 32, and labels can be taken out one by one from a lower opening of the cassette 31 by a suction member 33. As shown in FIG. 2, the suction member 33 is supported by the arm 34A of the block body 34. After receiving the label from the cassette 31 by the same link mechanism as the label transfer device 10, the suction member 33 is temporarily lowered. After retreating, it moves forward in the lateral direction to reach the supply position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. That is, a shaft 35 that is rotationally driven by a motor or the like (not shown) corresponds to the second shaft 13 of the label transfer device 10, and a lever 36 that is rotated by being driven by an arm (not shown) is a second lever 22. , The block body 34 rotatably connected to the lever 36 corresponds to the slider 24, and the lever 37 slidably guiding the block body 34 corresponds to the first lever 23. The shaft 38 that rotatably supports the first shaft 12 is the first shaft 12.
Is equivalent to Then, when the block body 34 holding the suction member 33 comes to the supply position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2, it is located above the reciprocating table 7 as shown in FIG.

The label supply devices 30 having the above-described configuration are provided symmetrically with respect to the radial line of the rotor in correspondence with the two sets of label supply devices 10, but one of the label transfer devices 10 is provided at a predetermined position. While the label is supplied at a position such that the label can be delivered to one of the pair of molds, the other label supply device operates in a similar manner when the other mold advances to a predetermined position. Positions are set so that labels can be supplied and delivered.

In this embodiment, blow molding is performed as follows. This will be described with reference to FIG.

The molten parison extruded in the direction perpendicular to the paper from the position D of the extruder die is cut to a predetermined length by the first rotor R ₁ and transferred counterclockwise while being held in the direction perpendicular to the paper. , transferred between the second rotor R ₂ of open mold which rotates clockwise, the parison is closed mold with the rotation of R ₂ is the transfer of the mold of the second rotor is completed. With the rotation of R ₂ , air is blown from a blow nozzle (not shown) into the molten parison inside the mold to inflate the parison along the shape inside the mold to form a blow molded product.

Before the second rotor R ₂ rotates to reach the point D, the mold is placed inside the mold when passing through the position of the reciprocating table 7 provided with the label transfer device which is a main part of the present invention. A label is attached inside the mold.

Therefore, when air is blown into the molten parison and the parison is expanded along the inner shape of the mold, the label attached to the inner surface of the mold is formed on the surface of the blow molded product. The label is adhered to the molded article by the action of the heat of the label and the pressure between the adhesive of the label and the molded article and the mold.

As described above, the second rotor R ₂ holding the molded article with the label adhered inside the mold rotates and the upper and lower layers of the molded article are provided on the third rotor at the position of the third rotor R _3. Is separated by the chuck that is
_At the position _4, a molded product is taken out from between the opened molds by the product gripping portion provided on the fourth rotor R ₄ .

The mold from which the product has been discharged further rotates, and a label is mounted inside the mold in the reciprocating section of the reciprocating table 7,
Next, it rotates to the position of the first rotor for transferring the molten parison, and receives a new supply of the molten parison to start blow molding.

Next, the operation of label transfer by the reciprocating table will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 shows only the first lever 23, the second lever 22, the slider 24 of the label transfer device 10, and the arm portion 26 extending from the slider 24 and having the suction member 28, and the driving arms 15, 20 and FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view in which the cylinder 18 is omitted, and the second lever 22 is shown at an intermediate position of a reciprocating rotation range AB thereof.

The rotary blow molding machine rotates continuously at a constant speed in the direction of arrow P. Each mold 4A, 4B,
4C is in an open state as shown in the range of positions 7A to 7C shown in FIG. First, the reciprocating table 7 moved in the direction of the arrow Q is substantially near the position 7A as shown in FIG. At that time, one label transfer device 10 shown below in FIG.
Reference numeral 8 denotes a position where the label L is supplied from the suction member 33 supported by the block body 34 of the label supply device 30 (a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2).

In the label transfer device 10 on the reciprocating table 7 which can be moved in the direction of arrow Q, a motor (not shown)
Rotate, and the third shaft 14 continuously rotates in one direction, and the link mechanism (arms 15 and 20, the cylinder 18, the rod 1
9), the tip of the second lever 22 is located at the position A in FIG. 6 and moves toward the position B within the range of the arc AB indicated by the dashed line. Meanwhile, the mold 4A and the like have also moved in the direction of arrow P.

The tip (the other end) of the second lever 22 is shown in FIG.
When moving from the position A to the position B through the positions indicated by the black dots, the center O of the shaft 25 that rotatably supports the slider 24 also moves on the black dots. That is, the slider 24 slides on the first lever 23 in the longitudinal direction so as to perform such a movement while the first lever 23
Is rotated.

When the center O of the slider 24 moves toward the position B on the dashed-dotted arc AB, the arm 26 attached to the slider 24, that is, the suction member 28 provided at the tip thereof also accompanies it. Then, on the curve of the solid black line, it moves from position A _O to position B _O (A _O is the label L supply position, and B _O is the label delivery position). The movement of the suction member 28 moves from A _O to B _O via the positions indicated by the white circles on the solid black line corresponding to the position of the center O of the slider 24 indicated by the black circle. The solid black curve indicating the movement of the suction member is a slider 24.
While the center O is between the point A and the middle position between the points AB, the slider 24 rotates the first lever 23 relatively large, but slides on the first lever 23.
When the center O approaches the point B, only the sliding of the slider 24 largely acts, and the above-mentioned lateral movement sharply bends at almost a right angle. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the suction member 28 moves in a straight line in the radial direction of the rotor 1 and enters between a pair of molds, and then bends in a substantially right angle direction to form the mold. In addition to the surface 4A ', the suction member 28 itself changes its direction to a substantially right angle at the start point and the end point of the path.

With respect to the suction member 28 performing such a movement,
Only while the center O of the slider 24 goes from A to B,
When vacuum pressure is applied, for example, the label L is received by the suction member 28 from the label supply device 30 at the position A _O and delivered to the mold 4A at the position B _O. The delivery of the label L to the molding surface 4A ′ of the mold 4A is performed at the position B _O.
4A immediately before the vacuum pressure supply to the suction member 28 is stopped.
This is performed by applying a vacuum pressure to the adsorption site. Incidentally, the adsorption points of H ₂ adsorption member 28 in the present embodiment, for convenience-determined so as to protrude from the position H ₁ to the center O of the perpendicular line to the first lever 13 as the slider 24 by h, in particular should the There is no. This is also clear from the locus of movement of the H ₁ is not so different locus of H ₂ as a curve shown by a dotted line.

Thus, the suction member 28 is moved from the label supply device 30 to the label L at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line shown in FIG.
, The label L is delivered to one of the dies 4A while the pair of dies 4A move as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. Thereafter, the label transfer device 10
In order for the suction member 28 to receive the supply of the next label,
It returns to position _AO in the opposite direction.

Next, while the pair of dies 4A advance to the positions shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and further to the position of the dies 4B in FIGS. 1 and 3, they are positioned upward in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the other label transfer device 10 goes through the same steps as (1) (however, the path is symmetric with respect to the radius line of the rotor). The label L is delivered to the other mold 4A. Thus, the labels to be applied to both sides of the container to be blow molded are placed in the mold. The rotation of the rotary molding machine further proceeds, and the mold 4A is closed after the parison is supplied, blow molding is performed, and a container with a label is completed.

In the present invention, the label supply device is not limited to the cassette type shown in FIG. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a supply mechanism having a suction member 33 similar to that shown in FIG. 2 can be used, in which a roll 40 in which a label body is continuously held is fed one frame at a time. In FIG. 7, the same parts as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, after a simple link mechanism is used to linearly move the suction member of the label provided at one point of the link and enter the space between a pair of open molds. Since the direction can be changed to a substantially right angle to abut the molding surface of the mold, the label can be easily delivered to the mold even in a limited narrow space between the pair of molds. Furthermore, since the label transfer device does not have a relative speed to the moving mold, the suction member holding the label can move only in a direction component perpendicular to the molding surface at the moment of label transfer. Since it is possible, even if there is a slight difference in the delivery time, there is an advantage that no error occurs in the label arrangement position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of the apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a next step corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 1 and showing the next step.

FIG. 5 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 1 and showing the next step.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing the movement trajectory of the suction member of the apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another label supply apparatus applicable to the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an outline of a rotary blow molding machine employing the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional rotary blow molding machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rotor 4A, 4B, 4C Mold 7 Reciprocating table 10 Label transfer device 12 First shaft 13 Second shaft 22 Second lever 23 First lever 24 Slider 26 Arm part 28 Suction member 30 Label supply device

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page Examiner Yasuhide Nomura (56) References International Publication 90/138 (WO, A1) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B29C 49/00-49/80

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotary device which is provided with a plurality of pairs of blow-molding dies which are openable and closable around a rotor, and which rotates in a horizontal plane. A blow molding machine, a reciprocating table that moves synchronously with the mold at a constant interval along the moving direction of the mold when the pair of molds are in an open state, and is provided on the reciprocating table; A label transfer device for receiving one label from the label supply device and transferring the label to the molding surface of the mold in an open state, wherein the label transfer device has a vertical first axis having a constant relative positional relationship between axes. And a first lever and a second lever rotatably supported at one end about a second axis. The first lever is slidably guided in a longitudinal direction of the first lever. Is provided with a second lever Is connected at one end to a drive unit for reciprocating the second lever by a predetermined angle, and is connected to the slider at the other end so as to be swingable with respect to the slider. An arm extending laterally with respect to the first lever is provided, a label suction member is provided on the arm, and the label suction member is provided with the label supply device and the mold in an open state. A rotary blow molding apparatus characterized by being capable of reciprocating with a molding surface.