JP4892235B2 - Mouth supply device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a plug supply device that supplies, for example, a plug attached to a spout edge of a paper container so as to be able to be positioned in the rotational direction about its axis.

  This type of plug supply device includes a conveying means for conveying a flanged plug having an axis along a fixed path, and a plug in a rotational direction around the axis at a positioning position on the conveyance path of the conveying means. And a positioning means for positioning, and the positioning means has a driving and driven roller disposed so as to sandwich the outer periphery of the flange of the plug at the positioning position (for example, patents) Reference 1).

  The flanges of this type of plug are often warped. In particular, in the case of a plug in which aluminum is in-molded in order to maintain the quality of the contents, it is difficult to return to the original shape once the flange is warped.

When the above-mentioned conventional apparatus is used for positioning such a plug, a positioning failure has occurred.
JP 2003-266559 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a plug positioning device that can accurately position a plug with a warped flange without causing a positioning defect.

  The plug supply device according to the present invention comprises a conveying means for conveying a flanged plug having an axis along a fixed path, and positioning the plug in the rotational direction around the axis at a positioning position on the conveying path of the conveying means. In the plug supply device, the positioning means holds the plug at the positioning position at a portion other than the flange, and holds the plug so that the plug can rotate around the axis. And rotating means for rotating the means.

  In the plug supply device according to the present invention, since the plug is held and rotated by a portion other than the flange, the plug is accurately positioned without causing a positioning defect regardless of whether the flange is warped or not. be able to.

  Furthermore, when the conveying means includes a chute that drops the plug in a direction that intersects the axis, and a stopper that stops the plug that can be dropped inside the chute at the positioning position, the plug is stopped. Since positioning can be performed in a state, the positioning operation can be reliably performed in a stable posture.

  Also, the chute is dropped one by one from the lower end of the upper chute, one lower chute that extends parallel to each other, and the lower end of the upper chute, and this is alternately distributed to the upper ends of the lower chute When the stopper is arranged at the lower end of both lower chutes, the plug can be efficiently transported. Moreover, since the plug after positioning is not dropped in the chute, the plug can be held in the positioning posture.

  In addition, the holding means has a drive holding member and a driven holding member arranged so as to be able to approach and separate from each other with the plug at the positioning position interposed therebetween, and the rotating means is aligned with the axis of the plug. A drive shaft and a driven shaft that have a stretched axis and are moved back and forth in the axial direction, the drive clamping member is fixed to the end of the drive shaft facing the driven shaft, and the driven clamping member is When the driven shaft is fixed to the end of the driven shaft facing the drive shaft, the shaft can be rotated without blurring when the plug is rotated, so that positioning can be performed accurately.

  According to this invention, even a plug with a warped flange can be accurately positioned without causing a positioning failure.

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

  In the following description, the front and rear refer to the right side in FIG. 1 as the front and the opposite side as the rear, and the left and right refer to the left and right sides as viewed from the rear (left and right sides in FIG. 2). To do.

  Referring to FIG. 8, the spigot P includes a cylindrical trunk B, a flat top plate T provided at one end of the trunk B, and an annular flange provided at the other end of the trunk B. It consists of part F. A tapered inclined portion S is provided at the boundary between the body portion B and the top plate portion T. On a part of the outer periphery of the flange portion F, an arcuate cutout C constituting the detected portion is formed.

<Embodiment 1>
The first embodiment is shown in FIGS.

  The plug supply device is arranged in order from the top to the bottom along the chute 11 and the vertical chute 11 that drops the plug P with the axis of the plug P in the front-rear direction and the flange F side forward. A cutting device 12, a positioning device 13 and an extraction device 14.

  The chute 11 is for guiding the body part B between the pair of vertical thick plate-like side guides 21 that are opposed to each other with a gap in the left-right direction, and the flange part F together with the side guides 21. It is composed of a vertical thin plate-like front guide 22 having a width substantially equal to the interval between the side guides 21 and positioned in front of the interval. The distance between the side guides 21 is such that the body B of the plug P can be sandwiched with a slight gap. The gap is, for example, 0.5 m. A flange portion F of the plug P is loosely sandwiched between the front surface of the side guide 21 and the rear surface of the front guide 22.

  The cutting device 12 includes a pair of upper and lower horizontal round bar-shaped cutting members 31 and 32. The cutout members 31 and 32 are integrated with the piston rods of the fluid pressure cylinders 33 and 34 so as to pass through the right side guide 21 of the chute 11 and to protrude into and out of the chute 11.

  The positioning device 13 is arranged so that the positioning stopper 41 that stops the stopper P that is dropped in the chute 11 at the positioning position and the stopper P that is stopped at the positioning position can be sandwiched from the front-rear direction. A drive clamping member 42 and a driven clamping member 43; a drive shaft 44 and a driven shaft 45 having a horizontal axis extending in line with the axis of the same stopper P; and an optical sensor 46 for detecting a notch C of the same stopper P. It has. As the optical sensor 46, a reflective photoelectric sensor capable of detecting a small spot of 1/5 or less of the depth from the outer periphery of the flange portion F of the notch C is used.

  The positioning stopper 41 has a substantially L-shaped stopper member 51 that can appear and disappear in the chute 11. A horizontal portion of the stopper member 51 has an upward concave stopper surface 52. The stopper surface 52 has a semicircular arc shape with a cross-sectional contour that matches the substantially lower half of the body B. A piston rod of a forward fluid pressure cylinder 53 is connected to the lower end of the vertical portion of the stopper member 51. The drive clamping member 42 has a substantially horizontal round bar shape, and has a positioning recess 54 on the front end surface. The positioning recess 54 is formed in a shape that matches the top plate portion T including the inclined portion S. The driven clamping member 43 has a horizontal round bar shape having a flat surface 55 opposed to the positioning recess 54.

  The drive shaft 44 is connected to the drive holding member 42 at its front end. A spline 56 is formed on the front surface of the drive shaft 44. A driven gear 57 is fitted to the spline 56 so that the drive shaft 44 can freely move back and forth. A drive gear 58 is engaged with the driven gear 57. The drive gear 58 is fixed to the output shaft of the motor 59. The rear portion of the drive shaft 44 is supported by a rear bearing 72 accommodated in the rear housing 71. The rear housing 71 is connected to the piston rod of the forward rear fluid pressure cylinder 73.

  The driven shaft 45 is connected to the driven clamping member 43 at the rear end thereof. The front portion of the driven shaft 45 is supported by a front bearing 75 accommodated in the front housing 74. A piston rod of a rearward forward fluid pressure cylinder 76 is connected to the front housing 74.

  A notch 77 (FIG. 2) is formed in the left edge portion of the left side guide 21 at the same level as the axis of the plug P stopped at the positioning position. So that the cutout C can be detected.

  The take-out device 14 includes a shutter 81 that opens and closes so as to take out the plug P from the lower end of the chute 11, and a standby stopper 82 so as to temporarily stop the plug P taken out immediately before.

  The shutter 81 has a rectangular parallelepiped left and right slide block 84 having a front open mouth plug receiving recess 83 on the upper surface, and a block so that the mouth plug receiving recess 83 can be advanced and retracted below the chute 11. And a rodless cylinder 85 that reciprocates 84.

  The standby stopper 82 has the same structure as the positioning stopper 41, and includes a stopper member 86, a stopper surface 87, and a fluid pressure cylinder 88.

  A plurality of plugs P are stacked on the cutting members 31 and 32. A part of the outer peripheral edge of the flange portion F of the upper plug P is brought into contact with the body B of the stacked lower plug P. By alternately advancing and retracting the two cutout members 31 and 32 in the chute 11, the stacked plugs P can be dropped one by one from the lowest one.

  When the stopper member 51 of the positioning stopper 41 is made to enter the chute 11 and the driving holding member 42 and the driven holding member 43 are separated from each other, the dropped stopper P is received by the stopper surface 52. It is stopped (state shown in FIG. 1). Then, the drive clamping member 42 and the driven clamping member 43 are brought closer by the operation of both the fluid pressure cylinders 73 and 76, and the plug P is sandwiched and held from both the front and rear sides by the both clamping members 42 and 43. Subsequently, the stopper member 51 of the positioning stopper 41 is retracted from the chute 11, and the drive shaft 44 is rotated by the operation of the motor 59 (the state shown in FIG. 4).

  When the flange portion F of the spout P to be rotated turns to the front of the sensor 46, the sensor 46 detects this. The motor 59 is stopped by the detection signal of the sensor 46, whereby the plug P is positioned. The notch C of the positioned plug P faces left as shown in FIG.

  When the positioning is completed, the drive holding member 42 and the driven holding member 43 are separated from each other again, and the plug P held by this is dropped again.

  In the state where the stopper member 86 of the standby stopper 82 is made to enter the chute 11, the plug P falls. When the falling stopper P is received by the stopper member 86, the stopper accommodating recess 83 is caused to enter below the chute 11. When the stopper member 86 is withdrawn from the chute 11, the stopper P is dropped again and is accommodated in the stopper accommodating recess 83. When the block 84 is moved to the left, the plug P is moved away from the lower side of the chute 11 while being accommodated in the plug accommodating recess 83 to prepare for the next process.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the above, a CCD camera 91 may be employed instead of the optical sensor 46. The CCD camera 91 is arranged so that the stopper P stopped at the positioning position can be imaged from the flange portion F side. The positioning stopper 41 includes an upper stopper member 92 and a lower stopper member 93 that can sandwich the body portion B of the same stopper P from above and below. The lower stopper member 93 has the same structure as the stopper member 51 of the positioning stopper 41. The upper stopper member 92 has a structure in which the lower stopper member 93 is just upside down. When such a CCD camera 91 and positioning stoppers 92 and 93 are employed, a suction member 94 capable of sucking the top plate portion T of the plug P is used in place of the drive clamping member 42 and the driven clamping member 43. A member corresponding to the sandwiching member 43 can be omitted.

  The position of the plug P in the rotational direction is determined by comparing the image captured while the plug P is rotated by the CCD camera 91 with image processing, for example, an image captured in advance. Although the notch C may be adopted as the detected part, it may be another detected part. That is, when the plug is of a hinge cap type, the hinge constitutes a protruding portion, and this can be used as a detected portion. In such a case, the adsorbing member 94 may be provided so as to be adsorbed from the flange portion side (front side) of the plug P, and the one corresponding to the driven clamping member 43 may be unnecessary.

<Embodiment 2>
6 and 7 show the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, portions corresponding to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment, and description thereof is omitted. Only the differences between the two will be mainly described below.

  The plug supply device includes a chute 11, a cutting device 12, a positioning device 13, and a take-out device 14 as in the first embodiment.

  The chute 11 includes one upper chute 101, two left and right lower chutes 102 that extend in parallel to each other at an interval in the left-right direction, and a plug P that can be dropped from the lower ends of the upper chute 101. And a cutting device 12 that alternately distributes them.

  The basic structure of each of the upper chute 101 and the lower chute 102 is the same as that of the chute 11 of the first embodiment.

  The cutting device 12 includes a horizontal plate-shaped guide member 111 that is passed to the upper ends of opposing side guides of the lower chutes 102, a cutting member 112 that is mounted on the guide member 111 so as to be movable left and right, and a cutting device 112. And a fluid pressure cylinder 113 for reciprocating the output member 112.

  In the cutting member 112, two vertical plug passages 114 on the left and right sides are formed at a distance of ½ of the distance between the lower chutes 102.

  Left and right plug passages 114 are alternately connected to the lower end of the upper chute 101 by the left and right movement of the cutting member 112, the left plug passage 114 is at the upper end of the lower left chute 102, and the right port at the upper end of the lower right chute 102. The plug passages 114 are connected alternately.

  As in the first embodiment, the positioning device 13 includes a positioning stopper 41, a drive clamping member 42, a driven clamping member 43, a driving shaft 44, and a driven shaft 45.

  Two positions below the lower ends of both lower chutes 102 are positioned. The plugs P that are alternately dropped from the lower ends of the lower chutes 102 are alternately positioned at both positioning positions.

  The positioning stopper 41 also functions as the shutter 81 of the take-out device 14 of the first embodiment, and includes a left-right direction slide block 121 and a rodless cylinder 122 that reciprocates the block 121.

  On the upper surface of the block 121, two left and right front opening plug accommodating recesses 123 are formed. The distance between the two recesses 123 is ½ of the distance between the lower shoots 102. A left light hole 124 is formed on the left side of the left recess 123, and a right light hole 124 is formed on the right side of the right recess 123 so as to penetrate the block 121 in the front-rear direction.

  By the left and right movement of the block 121, the left recess 123 is alternately connected to the lower end of the left lower chute 102, and the right recess 123 is connected to the lower end of the lower right chute 102. The stopper P is positioned at the positioning position in the corresponding recess 123 connected to the lower ends of the lower chutes 102.

  The drive clamping member 42 and the driven clamping member 43 as well as the drive shaft 44 and the driven shaft 45 are the same as those in the first embodiment. Equipped to correspond to each. The mechanism for driving each positioning device 13 of each unit, the positioning operation, and the like are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the photoelectric sensor 46 is a reflection type, but in the second embodiment, two transmissive photoelectric sensors (laser sensors) 131 are used instead.

  A sensor projector 132 is disposed on the front side of the slide block 121, and a sensor receiver 133 is disposed on the rear side thereof. According to the transmissive photoelectric sensor 131, the flange cutout C can be detected with higher accuracy.

  The left photoelectric sensor 131 detects the leftward flange notch C of the plug P at the left positioning position, and the right photoelectric sensor 131 detects the rightward flange notch C of the plug P at the right positioning position. Based on the detection signal of the sensor 131, the positioning device 13 rotates the plug P separately by a required angle at the left and right positioning positions so that the flange cutout C is directed in the same direction.

It is a vertical cross-sectional view of the plug supply device of Embodiment 1 according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. It is positioning operation explanatory drawing by the same mouthpiece supply apparatus. It is positioning operation explanatory drawing by the positioning device by the modification of the same cap supply apparatus. FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1 of a plug supply device of Embodiment 2 according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 6. It is a perspective view of the stopper P used for the same stopper supply apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

11 Shoot
13 Positioning device 13
42, 43 Clamping member
44 Drive shaft
45 Driven shaft P

Claims (3)

A port having a cylindrical body and a flange provided at one end thereof , a transfer means for transferring the plug having a notch formed in the outer peripheral edge of the flange along a fixed path, and a transfer of the transfer means In the plug supply device comprising a positioning means for positioning the plug in the rotation direction around the trunk axis on the path,
The conveying means has a chute that drops the plug in a direction that intersects the trunk axis, and a stopper member that can be advanced and retracted into the chute, and the stopper member that has entered the chute can be dropped into the chute. It has a stopper that stops the fall of the mouthpiece by receiving the stopper's body around its axis ,
The positioning means is arranged so that the stoppers stopped by the stopper are sandwiched from and separated from the trunk axis direction, and can be sandwiched when approaching, and around the trunk axis of the stopper plug, respectively. The drive pinching member and the driven pinching member that are rotatable, and the driving pinching member and the driven pinching member sandwich the same plug. A rotating means for rotating the optical device and an optical sensor arranged so as to be able to detect a notch of the plug rotated together with the drive holding member ,
When the sensor detects a notch, the rotation of the drive holding member by the rotating means is stopped .
A plug supply device characterized by that. The rotating means includes a drive shaft having one end connected to the drive clamping member coaxially with the rotation axis and a spline formed on the outer surface, a driven gear fitted to the spline so as to be movable in the axial direction, and a driven gear The plug supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a drive gear meshed with the motor and a motor having an output shaft to which the drive gear is fixed . The chute is cut out so that one upper chute, two lower chutes extending in parallel to each other, and one plug are dropped from the lower ends of the upper chute one by one and distributed alternately to the upper ends of the two lower chutes. The spout supply device according to claim 1 , wherein the stopper supply device is configured by cutting means, and stoppers are respectively disposed at lower ends of both lower chutes.

Images