JP3739664B2 - Star wheel equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a star wheel device suitably used for transporting beverage containers and the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a star wheel device that conveys a plurality of articles of the same shape such as beer lees on the circumference, when trying to convey articles of different container diameters, it can be handled by a screw-like rotating member. When it is not provided, it is necessary to change the star wheel that holds the article each time.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, at that time, the parts constituted by the rotating shaft, the upper and lower wheels with rollers, etc. are integrated, so that the weight is increased, and it is necessary to use a tool in order to secure the fixing.
[0004]
For example, in the conventional star wheel device shown in FIG. 11, since the rotating shaft and the upper and lower star wheels with rollers that are not divided are integrated, the weight of the replacement part is very large, and the work at the time of changing the mold is difficult. Met. Correspondingly, in order to reduce the weight, a method of dividing the star wheel into four parts has been proposed and realized as an apparatus as shown in FIGS. In the case of such an apparatus, the number of pockets of each divided star is required to be a multiple of 4, and cannot be configured with, for example, 18, 22 or the like and lacks flexibility.
[0005]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a star wheel device that can easily replace a star wheel and can arbitrarily take the number of pockets of each divided star.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention will be described below. In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, reference numerals in the accompanying drawings are appended in parentheses, but the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment.
[0007]
In one aspect of the star wheel device (100) according to the present invention, a rotating shaft, a flange attached to the rotating shaft and having a groove portion, and a hook portion that is divided in an unequal manner in the radial direction and engages with the groove portion of the flange. And a pressing plate that can be fixed to the rotating shaft and sandwiched between the flange and the star wheel divided by engaging the groove portion of the flange and the hook portion. It is characterized by.
The presser plate has a fixing member that fixes to the rotating shaft, and the fixing member fixes the presser plate to the rotating shaft in a state where the flange and the presser plate sandwich the star wheel. be able to.
Further, the star wheel device according to the present invention is divided into a rotating shaft, an upper flange and a lower flange respectively attached to an upper portion and a lower portion of the rotating shaft, and each of them is divided into unequal portions in the radial direction, and via a fixing member. An upper star wheel and a lower star wheel configured integrally; the upper star wheel engages with the upper flange, and the lower star wheel engages with the lower flange; And the lower flange is positioned.
[0008]
In this way, since the star wheel is divided, the weight of each wheel can be reduced and the replacement work can be facilitated. Further, since the division is not evenly divided, the number of pockets of each star wheel can be arbitrarily set, and the degree of freedom of selection can be increased.
[0009]
In the above aspect, the star wheel device is provided with the upper flange (70) and the lower flange (90) in the vertical direction of the rotation axis (6) of the star wheel, and the star wheel is provided with the fixing member (40). An upper star wheel (USW) and a lower star wheel (LSW) which are integrally formed are provided, and the star wheel of the star wheel is formed by engaging the upper star wheel with the upper flange and the lower star wheel with the lower flange. You may comprise so that positioning to an apparatus may be made. Furthermore, in this aspect, the upper star wheel and the lower star wheel have an outer peripheral portion and an inner peripheral surface that are concentric, and the engagement between the upper star wheel and the upper flange is a hook portion ( 38) is engaged with the groove (75) formed in the upper flange, and the engagement between the lower star wheel and the lower flange is achieved by the inner peripheral surface formed on the lower star wheel and the outer peripheral surface of the lower flange. (93) can be realized by abutting.
[0010]
In this way, the upper and lower star wheels can be temporarily fixed at the correct positions in the radial direction by the upper and lower flanges to facilitate the replacement work.
[0011]
Further, in the above aspect, the upper flange is fixedly provided with pins (72) upward by the number of unequal divided star wheels, and each of the unequal divided upper star wheels has a position corresponding to the pin. You may comprise so that the elongate hole (32) provided so that it might be inserted long and formed in the radial direction outer side might be provided.
[0012]
In this way, by inserting the pin attached to the upper flange into the elongated hole of each divided star wheel and pulling the star wheel in the outer peripheral direction, combined with the engagement with the upper and lower flange portions, Each star wheel can be easily positioned in the rotational direction.
[0013]
In the above aspect, the star wheel device is provided with a pressing plate (50) movable in the vertical direction of the rotation shaft (6) and a fixing member (10) for fixing the pressing plate to the rotation shaft, The star wheel may be fixed to the star wheel device by sandwiching the upper star wheel with the pressing plate. Furthermore, in this aspect, it can also comprise so that the engaging part (51) may be formed in the lower surface of a pressing board so that it may engage with the internal peripheral surface (39) of an upper star wheel.
[0014]
In this way, each star wheel can be securely fixed at a predetermined position of the star wheel device.
[0015]
Such an operation and gain of the present invention will be clarified from the embodiments described below.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings. First, an entire star wheel device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, and then main components of the star wheel device will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 10.
[0017]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a front cross-section passing through the central axis of a star wheel device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2a is a plan view of the star wheel device 100 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2b is a view taken along the line II-II of the star wheel device 100 of FIG. The star wheel device 100 includes a lower rotary shaft 3, a rotary shaft 6 fixed to the lower rotary shaft 3 and mounted on the same axis, an upper flange 70 mounted at two locations in the vertical direction of the rotary shaft 6, and a lower portion A flange 90, a lower star wheel LSW having an inner peripheral surface provided in circumferential contact with the outer peripheral surface of the lower flange 70, and a cylindrical member 40, 40,... Integrally above the lower star wheel LSW. An upper star wheel USW that can be engaged with the upper flange 70, a shaft 15 mounted on the same axis as the upper portion of the rotary shaft 6, and a shaft 15 that can slide in the axial direction of the shaft 15. Are attached to the upper star wheel USW and the upper flange 70, and the bottom plate is screwed into a male screw formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 15. And a knob 10 which is in contact with the upper surface of the pressing plate 50.
[0018]
The lower rotating shaft 3 is rotatably attached to the housing 1 fixed to the floor surface FL with bolts 2 through an upper bearing 4a and a lower bearing 4b. The rotating shaft 6 is directly connected to the lower rotating shaft 3 by a bolt 7, and the rotational driving force transmitted to the lower rotating shaft 3 by a driving device (not shown) is directly transmitted to the rotating shaft 6.
[0019]
The rotary shaft 6 is provided with a flange 8 at the upper portion and a flange 9 at the middle portion, and an upper flange 70 and a lower flange 90 are attached to the flanges 8 and 9 via bolts 71 and 91, respectively. . Details of the upper flange 70 and the lower flange 90 will be described later.
[0020]
As is apparent from FIG. 1, the star wheel portion is composed of an upper star wheel USW and a lower star wheel LSW formed in parallel to each other in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the rotation shaft 6, and a vertical cylindrical member that fixes both of them. 40, 40,... The inner peripheral surface radius of the lower star wheel LSW is set to be equal to or slightly larger than the outer peripheral surface radius of the lower flange 90. On the other hand, the inner peripheral surface radius of the upper star wheel USW is set smaller than the outer peripheral surface radius of the upper flange 70.
[0021]
The upper star wheel USW includes a split flange 30 and a container contact portion 35 attached to the outer periphery of the split flange 30. The container contact portion 35 is provided with a plurality of pockets alternately on the circumference, which are pockets into which the upper side surface of the container BT fits, and rollers that promote the rotation of the container BT. The container contact portion 35 includes two upper and lower plates, and the convex portion provided between the plates is fixed to the upper star wheel USW by fitting with the fitting holes 33 and 34 provided in the upper star wheel USW. Is done.
[0022]
As is clear from FIG. 2 a, the upper star wheel USW is divided into four parts, namely, a first part A, a second part B, a third part C, and a fourth part D, which are unequal in the radial direction. (In the following, when each divided portion is distinguished and represented, a, b, c, and d are added to the reference and expressed as “30a”, etc., and when representing the entire divided portion, it is not necessary to distinguish each divided portion. In some cases, it is simply expressed by a symbol, for example, “30”.) The split flange 30 and the container contact portion 35 are formed at the same split angle so that the split portions coincide.
[0023]
Similarly to the case of the upper star wheel USW, the lower star wheel LSW also includes a split flange 31 and a container contact portion 36 attached to the outer periphery of the split flange 31. The container contact portion 36 is provided with a plurality of pockets on the circumference alternately with pockets into which the lower side surface of the container BT fits and rollers for promoting the rotation of the container BT. The container contact portion 36 also includes two upper and lower plates, and a convex portion provided between the plates is fixed to the lower star wheel LSW by fitting with a fitting hole provided in the lower star wheel LSW.
[0024]
As is apparent from FIG. 2b, the lower star wheel LSW is equally divided into four in the radial direction so as to coincide with the division of the upper star wheel USW. Moreover, the division | segmentation angle of each division part is formed so that the division | segmentation part 31 and the container contact part 36 may correspond in a division | segmentation part.
[0025]
In FIG. 1, a pin 72 is attached upward to a hole 73 (see FIG. 7) provided near the outer periphery of the upper flange 70, and a long hole 32 (FIG. 3) is located at a position corresponding to this of the split flange 30. Reference) is provided.
[0026]
As is clear from FIG. 2 b, two cylindrical members 40 for fixing the upper and lower star wheels are assigned to each divided flange, and the circles are arranged on the same circle centered on the axis of the rotating shaft 6. It is arranged at a position that divides into eight equal parts.
[0027]
FIG. 3 is a view showing the split flange 30 constituting the upper star wheel USW. As described above, the upper star wheel USW is equally divided into four in the radial direction. Each part is divided equally. However, the configuration of each part is basically the same except for the angle of the division, and therefore, the first part A will be described as a representative of the other parts. The split flange 30a of the first part A is formed in a sector plate shape having an outer peripheral surface 49 and an inner peripheral surface 39 arranged on a concentric circle with the axis of the rotating shaft 6 as the center.
[0028]
A long hole 32a that is long in the radial direction is formed in a substantially central portion near the inner peripheral surface 39. The long hole 32a is an insertion hole into which the pin 72 formed upward on the upper surface of the upper flange 70 is to be inserted. The inner hole 32ai formed slightly larger than the horizontal cross section of the pin 72 and a diameter larger than that are formed. The outer holes 32ao are overlapped in the radial direction to form a gourd mold.
[0029]
Two holes 37a and 37a are provided in a substantially middle portion between the inner peripheral surface 39 and the outer peripheral surface 49. The cylindrical members 40, 40 for fixing the upper and lower star wheels together are attached to the holes 37a, 37a.
[0030]
Near the outer peripheral surface 49, a total of eight holes 33a, 34a; 33a, 34a; 33a, 34a; 33a, 34a are provided one by one. These holes are used to attach the container contact portion 35a to the split flange 30a as described above.
[0031]
Next, how the long holes 32a, the holes 37a, the holes 33a, 34a, etc. are arranged when the divided flanges 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d are attached to the star wheel device 100 will be described. First, the elongated hole 32a is divided into four parts, a line formed by equally dividing the circle formed by the outer peripheral surface 49 of the four divided flanges into four equal parts in the radial direction, and a circle slightly concentrically with the circle and slightly outside the inner peripheral surface 39. It is arranged on the intersection. On the other hand, a total of eight holes 37a are provided on the same circle at substantially the middle portion between the inner peripheral surface 39 and the outer peripheral surface 49 at a point shifted by 22.5 degrees to the left and right from the position of the long hole 32a. That is, two holes 37 are assigned to each divided flange at equal intervals. On the other hand, three to four pairs of holes 33a and 34a are assigned to each flange depending on the size of the split angle of the split flange. These holes 33a and 34a are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the fan-shaped center line formed by the split flange 30a, even in the case of three or four pairs.
[0032]
4 is a cross-sectional view of the split flange 30 shown in FIG. A groove 45 having a predetermined circumferential width is formed in the split flange 30 at a position where the long hole 32 is provided on the lower surface side. The hook portion 38 formed by the groove portion 45 is locked so as to be hooked on the positioning portion 76 (see FIG. 8) of the upper flange 70. In order to facilitate this hooking and locking operation, the hook portion 38 is slightly formed with a taper so that the width of the groove portion 45 becomes narrower in the upward direction. The positioning portion 76 of the upper flange 70 will be described in detail later.
[0033]
FIG. 5 is a view showing the pressing plate 50. The holding plate 50 is formed in a disc shape having a center hole 52. The shaft 15 is passed through the center hole 52, and the pressing plate 50 can slide up and down along the shaft 15.
[0034]
FIG. 6 is a view of the pressing plate 50 shown in FIG. A positioning portion 51 is formed circumferentially on the lower surface of the pressing plate 50. The positioning portion 51 is formed with a slight taper so that the radius becomes smaller as it goes downward. The uppermost radius of the positioning portion 51 is set slightly smaller than the radius of the inner peripheral surface 39 of the split flange 30.
[0035]
FIG. 7 is a view showing the upper flange 70. The upper flange 70 is provided with four holes 74a, 74b, 74c, 74d on the inner peripheral side. Bolts 71 are inserted into these holes and screwed into a female screw formed on the flange 8 of the rotating shaft 6 and tightened, whereby the upper flange 70 is fixed to the rotating shaft 6 and both are integrated. Rotate.
[0036]
Four holes 73 a, 73 b, 73 c, 73 d are also provided on the outer peripheral side of the upper flange 70. Using these holes, four pins 72a, 72b, 72c, 72d (see FIG. 1) are attached to the upper surface side of the upper flange 70 upward. These pins 72 are formed at positions to be inserted into the inner holes 32ai, 32bi, 32ci, 32di of the respective long holes 32 of the split flange 30. As described above, the horizontal cross-sectional shape of the pin 72 is slightly smaller than the inner hole 32ai.
[0037]
FIG. 8 is a view in the direction of the arrows VIII-VIII of the upper flange 70 shown in FIG. As is apparent from the figure, the upper flange 70 is formed with a circumferential groove 75 having a width slightly closer to the inner periphery of the hole 73. The radius of the positioning portion 76 that is the outer peripheral shoulder of the groove portion 75 is formed to be slightly larger than the upper radius of the tapered surface of the hook portion 38 of the split flange 30.
[0038]
FIG. 9 is a view showing the lower flange 90. The lower flange 90 is formed in a substantially semicircular shape in which a disc is divided into two in the diameter direction. Two holes 92a, 92b; 92c, 92d are provided on the inner peripheral side of each divided portion. Bolts 91 are inserted into these holes, and are screwed onto a female screw formed on the flange 9 of the rotating shaft 6 and tightened. As a result, the lower flange 90 is fixed to the rotating shaft 6, and both rotate together.
[0039]
10 is a view of the lower flange 90 shown in FIG. The outer peripheral surface 93 of the lower flange 90 is formed so as to contact the inner peripheral surface of the split flange 31 of the lower star wheel LSW in a circumferential shape.
[0040]
As described above, in a state where the star wheel is assembled to the apparatus 100, the hook portion 38 of the split flange 30 of the upper star wheel USW is hooked on the positioning portion 76 of the upper flange 70 so as to be circumferential. Engage in surface contact. Further, the upward pin 72 of the upper flange 70 is fitted into the long hole 32 of the split flange. At this time, the inner peripheral surface of the split flange 31 of the lower star wheel LSW is engaged with the outer peripheral surface 93 of the lower flange 90 in circumferential contact with each other.
[0041]
On the other hand, the inner peripheral surface 39 of the split flange 30 is engaged with a positioning portion 51 formed on the lower surface of the pressing plate 50 in a circumferential contact manner. The pressing plate 50 receives a downward pressing force by the knob 10. Therefore, the upper and lower star wheels USW and LSW are positioned and fixed at predetermined positions in relation to the upper flange 70 and the lower flange 90 in spite of being divided into four parts. Therefore, when the rotating shaft 6 rotates, the upper and lower star wheels USW and LSW can rotate together.
[0042]
When removing the star wheel from the assembled state, first, the knob 10 is rotated counterclockwise, and the holding plate 50 is shifted upward or removed. In this state, the split wheels (the container contact portions 35 and 36 assembled to the respective split flanges 30; the same applies hereinafter) are lifted upward to release the pin 72 from being inserted into the long hole 32 and to start the split wheel. It can be removed from the wheel device 100. Conversely, when the split wheel is assembled to the star wheel device 100, the pin 72 is moved into the inner peripheral hole 32ai by inserting the pin 72 into the outer peripheral hole 32ao of the long hole and then pulling the split wheel toward the front side. At this time, the hook portion 38 of the split flange 30 of the upper star wheel USW is engaged with the positioning portion 76 of the upper flange 70 so as to be hooked. Then, the inner peripheral surface of the split flange 31 of the lower star wheel LSW is engaged with the outer peripheral surface 93 of the lower flange 90 by pulling the entire split flange horizontally. In this way, it is possible to remove and assemble the split wheel from the star wheel device without using any tools or jigs.
[0043]
In the above embodiment, the star wheel device with 18 containers is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of containers assigned to each divided wheel may be arbitrary. For example, it can be rearranged into a 22-stand or 26-stand star wheel device.
[0044]
While the present invention has been described in connection with embodiments that are presently the most practical and preferred, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed herein. However, the present invention can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit or concept of the invention which can be read from the claims and the entire specification, and a star wheel device with such a change is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Must be understood as.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, if the star wheel device is configured to be detachable and is provided with a star wheel that is divided evenly in the radial direction, since the star wheel is divided, The weight can be reduced and the replacement work can be facilitated. Further, since the division is not evenly divided, the number of pockets of each star wheel can be arbitrarily set, and the degree of freedom of selection can be increased.
[0046]
In the above aspect, an upper flange and a lower flange are attached to the star wheel device in the vertical direction of the rotation axis of the star wheel, and the upper star wheel and the lower star wheel that are integrally formed with the star wheel via a fixing member And the upper star wheel is engaged with the upper flange and the lower star wheel is engaged with the lower flange so that the star wheel is positioned on the star wheel device. The star wheel and the lower star wheel have an outer peripheral portion and an inner peripheral surface that are concentric, and the engagement between the upper star wheel and the upper flange is a hook portion formed on the upper star wheel on the upper flange. Lower star wheel and lower flange realized by being locked in the groove If the upper and lower star wheels are positioned correctly in the radial direction by the upper and lower flanges, the engagement of the upper and lower star wheels can be achieved by contacting the inner peripheral surface formed on the lower star wheel with the outer peripheral surface of the lower flange. It is possible to make the replacement work easy by temporarily fixing. Also, it does not require the use of tools or jigs.
[0047]
Furthermore, in the above aspect, the upper flange is provided with pins fixed upward by the number of unequal divided star wheels, and each of the unequal divided upper star wheels is radially outward from the position corresponding to the pin. If the long hole is provided so that the pin can be inserted, the pin attached to the upper flange is inserted into the long hole of each divided star wheel, By pulling the wheel in the outer circumferential direction, the positioning of each star wheel in the rotational direction can be easily performed together with the engagement with the upper and lower flange portions.
[0048]
In the above aspect, the star wheel device is provided with a holding plate that can move in the vertical direction of the rotating shaft and a fixing member that fixes the holding plate to the rotating shaft, and the upper star wheel is sandwiched between the upper flange and the holding plate. The star wheel may be fixed to the star wheel device by attaching. Further, in this aspect, if the engaging portion is formed on the lower surface of the pressing plate so as to engage with the inner peripheral surface of the upper star wheel, each star wheel can be securely placed at a predetermined position of the star wheel device. Can be fixed to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a view showing a cross section passing through a central axis in a front direction of a star wheel device of the present invention.
2A is a plan view of the star wheel device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a view taken in the direction of arrows II-II in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a split flange.
4 is a cross-sectional view of the split flange shown in FIG. 3. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a view showing a pressing plate.
6 is a view of the pressing plate shown in FIG. 5 in the direction of arrows VI-VI.
FIG. 7 is a view showing a lower flange.
8 is a view of the lower flange shown in FIG. 7 as viewed in the direction of the arrows VIII-VIII.
FIG. 9 is a view showing an upper flange.
10 is a view of the upper flange shown in FIG.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional star wheel device.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another example of a conventional star wheel device.
13 is a view in the direction of arrow XIII-XIII of the star wheel device shown in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
LSW Lower star wheel USW Upper star wheel 6 Rotating shaft 10 Knob (fixed member)
32 long hole 32a long hole 38 hook part 39 inner peripheral surface 40 cylindrical member (fixing member)
45 Groove 50 Presser plate 51 Positioning part (engaging part)
70 Upper flange 72 Pin 75 Groove 90 Lower flange 93 Outer peripheral surface 100 Star wheel device

Claims (7)

A rotation axis;
A flange attached to the rotating shaft and having a groove;
A star wheel having a hook portion that is divided in an unequal manner in the radial direction and engages with a groove portion of the flange;
A holding plate that can be fixed to the rotating shaft, sandwiching the divided star wheel that engages the groove portion of the flange and the hook portion with the flange;
A star wheel device characterized by comprising: The presser plate has a fixing member for fixing to the rotating shaft,
2. The star wheel device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member fixes the presser plate to the rotating shaft in a state where the flange and the presser plate sandwich the star wheel. 3. A rotation axis;
An upper flange and a lower flange respectively attached to an upper part and a lower part of the rotating shaft;
Each having an upper star wheel and a lower star wheel, which are each divided in the radial direction and are integrally formed via a fixing member;
The upper star wheel is engaged with the upper flange, and the lower star wheel is engaged with the lower flange, whereby the upper star wheel and the lower flange are positioned.   The upper star wheel and the lower star wheel have an outer peripheral portion and an inner peripheral surface that are concentric, and the engagement between the upper star wheel and the upper flange is a hook formed on the upper star wheel. And the lower star wheel and the lower flange are engaged by the inner peripheral surface formed on the lower star wheel, and the lower portion. It is implement | achieved when the outer peripheral surface of a flange contact | abuts, The star wheel apparatus of Claim 3 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The upper flange is provided with pins fixed upward by the number of the unequally divided upper star wheels, and each of the unequal divided upper star wheels is arranged in a radial direction from a position corresponding to the pins. 5. The star wheel device according to claim 3, further comprising a long hole formed so as to be long on an outer side so that the pin can be fitted therein. A presser plate movable in the vertical direction of the rotating shaft;
A fixing member for fixing the presser plate to the rotating shaft;
The star according to claim 5, wherein the fixing member is configured to be able to fix the presser plate to the rotating shaft in a state where the upper flange and the presser plate sandwich the upper star wheel. Wheel device.   The star wheel device according to claim 6, wherein an engaging portion is formed on the lower surface of the pressing plate so as to engage with an inner peripheral surface of the upper star wheel.

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