JP5079490B2 - Container lid winding head - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a container lid winding head that is attached to a lower end portion of a rotation shaft provided in a container lid winding device and that screwes a container lid onto a screw portion of a mouth-neck portion of a bottle.

As is well known, as a beverage container, a container composed of a container body formed from a synthetic resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and a container lid formed from a synthetic resin such as polyethylene or polypropylene is widely used in practical use. Yes.
For example, a bottle liquid filling and capping processing line is widely known in which a PET bottle is filled with a liquid such as drinking water and a container lid is fastened to the mouth and neck of the bottle filled with the liquid to close the bottle opening. Has been put to practical use.
Such a processing line includes a filling machine that fills a bottle with liquid, a rotary intermediate bottle conveying device (conveying turret) that receives a bottle filled with liquid and conveys it along a circular path, and an intermediate bottle conveying device. A capping device or the like is arranged that receives the bottle that has been conveyed and fastens the container lid to the mouth and neck of the bottle.

The capping device includes a rotating bottle transport device that transports bottles along a transport circular path, and capping means for fastening a container lid to the mouth and neck of the bottle transported by the bottle transport device.
The bottle conveying device provided in the capping device is provided with a rotating body, and a plurality of grip mechanisms are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction on the peripheral portion of the rotating body. Each grip mechanism is provided with a pair of open / close grippers. In the transport device, the bottle is transported along the transport circular path in a state where the neck portion is gripped by the gripper of the grip mechanism and suspended.
Conventionally, with regard to capping between the container lid and the bottle neck of the bottle, as the mechanical accuracy, the concentricity with respect to the central axis of the winding head for housing the container lid of the capping means and the winding head and the container are held. Position accuracy (centering accuracy) with the gripper is important. For this reason, the current winding head has adopted a structure with high mechanical rigidity, and has a head structure that does not cause a core blur even when receiving a tightening torque at the time of tightening or resistance in screw engagement between the bottle and the container lid. .
Patent Document 1 below discloses an example of a conventional winding head structure in which winding is performed by matching the center axis of the container lid and the bottle mouth neck.
JP 11-49286 A

However, in such a capping device, a container lid fastening process is performed while the bottle is being conveyed. In other words, the bottle neck is gripped by the gripper of the grip mechanism and suspended along the transport circular path. On the other hand, the winding head is conveyed corresponding to the upper part of each gripper along a coaxial circular orbit, descends at the tightening position, and the container lid is wound around the mouth and neck of the container.
When the bottle is transported along the transport circular path with the gripper gripper gripped by the gripper gripper, the lower part of the bottle is shaken by centrifugal force and the transport posture becomes unstable and the bottle tilts. In this state, the container lid may be attached to the container lid, and the container lid may be capped while the bottle neck is inclined.
Therefore, when capping is performed, the center of the opening of the bottle and the center of the container lid held by the grip mechanism are not always located on the same axis, and the capping process is performed while the centers of each other are shifted. Sometimes. If the threaded part of the bottle neck and neck and the threaded part of the container lid are not successfully screwed together, the container lid may not be properly attached. Furthermore, a container with a tamper-evident band (tamper-evident band) formed on the container lid has a problem that the tamper-evident band is cut and cannot be used as a product.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and when the container lid is wrapped around the bottle neck and neck, the center of the opening of the container lid is shifted or the axis of the container lid is inclined. It is an object of the present invention to provide a container lid winding head that can correctly wind the container lid around the mouth and neck.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a container lid winding head mounted on a rotating body mounted on a rotating body that is rotatable and can be moved up and down about a rotation axis extending vertically.
A suspension means fixed to the lower end of the rotating body and a chuck means suspended from the suspension means;
The suspension means includes a spline member having a plurality of splines extending in the axial direction at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface, and the chuck means has equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface. A spline groove member having a plurality of spline grooves extending in the axial direction and a chuck member for holding the container lid, and the spline of the spline groove member is connected to the spline of the spline member. A groove is engaged, and the thickness of the spline is smaller than the width of the spline groove, and the outer diameter of the spline is smaller than the bottom diameter of the spline groove. The means is formed to be horizontally displaceable with respect to the suspension means ,
The suspension means includes a suspension member disposed below the spline member and having a frustoconical suspension surface, the chuck means includes a suspended member fixed to the spline groove member, and the chuck member includes the suspension member The suspended member has an inverted frustoconical suspended surface, and the chuck means is suspended from the suspended means by placing the suspended surface on the suspended surface. Has been
The chuck means is formed to be tiltable with respect to the suspension member.
In the container lid winding head, the displacement length of the central axis of the chuck means relative to the suspension means is preferably 0.5 to 2.5 mm .
Upper Symbol vessel Futamakishime head tilt angle of the central axis of the chuck means with respect to the central axis of the該懸rack means can be 1 to 3 degrees.
The container lid winding head is elastic between the suspension means and the chuck means to elastically bias the chuck means downward with respect to the suspension means and press the suspended surface against the suspension surface. It is preferable that a biasing means is interposed.

The container lid winding head of the present invention comprises suspension means fixed to the lower end of a rotating body and chuck means suspended on the suspension means, and the chuck means is displaced in the horizontal direction with respect to the suspension means. Since the axis of the bottle and the container lid supported by the container lid winding head is displaced and the container lid is tightened, the container lid can follow the position of the mouth and neck of the bottle. It is possible to perform the tightening by matching the axes of each other.
Further, the suspension means of the container lid winding head of the present invention includes a suspension member disposed below the spline member and having a frustoconical suspension surface, and the chuck means is fixed to the spline groove member. Including a suspended member, the chuck member being fixed to the suspended member, the suspended member having an inverted frustoconical suspended surface, and placing the suspended surface on the suspended surface The chuck means is suspended by the suspension means, and the chuck means is tiltable with respect to the suspension member, so that the bottle axis remains inclined with respect to the axis of the chuck means. Even when the container lid is attached to the mouth and neck, the chuck means can be tilted, so that the container lid can be wound with the two axes aligned and the axis tilted.
Furthermore, between the suspension means and the chuck means of the container lid clamping head of the present invention, the chuck means is elastically biased downward with respect to the suspension means, and the suspended surface is placed on the suspension surface. Since the elastic biasing means for pressing is interposed, even if the chuck means is tilted, the suspended surface of the chuck means can be guided to the suspension surface and returned to the initial position by the biasing force of the elastic biasing means. it can.

Hereinafter, a container lid winding head according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a container lid winding device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a container lid winding head provided at the lower end of the winding device.
In the winding device 1, a cylindrical housing 3 having a shaft arranged in the vertical direction is supported by a base 2. A main shaft 5 as a rotating body that passes through the central axis of the housing 3 is disposed inside the housing 3, and the main shaft 5 can rotate about the shaft relative to the housing 3 and move up and down in the axial direction of the housing 3. It is configured to be able to.
At the upper end of the housing 3, a transmission 6 and a drive motor 7 attached to the upper part of the transmission 6 are disposed. The transmission 6 is connected to a cylindrical connecting member 8 having a rotating portion 6a on the lower end side extending in the axial direction, and an inner peripheral portion on the lower end side of the connecting member 8 and an outer peripheral portion of the main shaft 5 are connected by a spline connecting portion 9. The rotational force of the drive motor 7 is transmitted to the main shaft 5 through the transmission 6, the connecting member 8, and the spline coupling portion 9.

An inner coil spring 10 and an outer coil spring 11 are provided on an outer peripheral portion of the main shaft 5 at an almost intermediate portion, and the lower end portion of the inner coil spring 10 is connected to the upper end portion of the regulating member 12 that moves up and down together with the main shaft 5. The upper end of the inner coil spring 10 biases the spring seat 16 fixed to the housing 3 side. Further, the lower end portion of the outer coil spring 11 biases a spring receiving member 13 that can slide in the housing 3, and the upper end portion of the outer coil spring 11 biases a spring seat 17 fixed to the housing 3. A winding head 21 is attached to the lower end portion of the main shaft 5, and a head receiving member 14 is disposed above the winding head 21. The head receiving member 14 penetrates the main shaft 5 and is relatively rotatable on the inner periphery of the head receiving member 14, and is restricted to move together with the main shaft 5 in the axial direction. ing. A bellows is disposed between the flange portion 14a formed at the lower portion of the head receiving member 14 and the lower end portion of the housing 3, a guide hole 3a is formed in the housing 3, and a guide pin is provided in the head receiving member 14. 14b is attached. A bellows 15 is provided between the lower end portion of the housing 5 and the head receiving member 14. When the head receiving member 14 moves up and down together with the main shaft 5, the guide pin 14 b is guided to the guide hole 3 a and the bellows 15 is provided. 15 also expands and contracts at the same time. With such a configuration, the main shaft 5 can advance and retreat in the vertical direction with respect to the housing 3 and can rotate around the shaft.
The winding device 1 is provided with a support (not shown) that allows the winding device 1 to move up and down.

As shown in FIG. 2, a winding head 21 is attached to the lower end portion of the main shaft 5. The winding head 21 includes suspension means 22 and chuck means 23.
The suspension means 22 includes a spline member 24 and a suspension member 25, and the spline member 24 has a circular inner hole 24 a in the inner peripheral portion passing through the main shaft 5, and a key groove 24 b formed in the inner peripheral surface. A rotation stop relative to the main shaft 5 is provided. The spline member 24 includes an upper cylindrical portion 27 formed at the upper portion and a lower cylindrical portion 28 formed at the lower portion.

  The upper cylindrical portion 27 has an annular shape having a smaller diameter than the lower cylindrical portion 28, and the upper end surface abuts on a bearing portion 29 provided at the lower end of the housing 3, so that the entire outer peripheral portion of the lower cylindrical portion 28 is surrounded. 3 is formed with a spline 28a shown in FIG. 3 extending in the axial direction of the lower cylindrical portion 28. The suspension member 25 having a substantially inverted pan shape in the vertical direction has a female screw 25a formed on the inner peripheral surface, and the female screw 25a can be screwed onto a male screw 5a formed at the lower end of the main shaft 5. The upper end surface of the suspension member 25 abuts on the spline member 24, and the spline member 24 can be fixed between the bearing portion 29 and the suspension member 25. The suspension member 25 is formed with a truncated cone-shaped suspension surface 25b whose diameter is reduced toward the upper side, and a spring seat 25c is formed on the lower end surface extending in the horizontal direction on the bottom surface of the truncated cone shape.

The chuck means 23 includes a spline groove member 31, a chuck holder 32 that is a suspended member with respect to the suspension surface 25b, and a chuck member 33 from the upper side to the lower side. The spline groove member 31 having an annular shape has a spline groove 31 a formed on the inner peripheral portion thereof and meshes with the spline 28 a on the outer peripheral portion of the spline member 24.
As shown in FIG. 4, the mating tooth thickness L1 of the spline 28a is formed smaller than the mating groove width L2 of the spline groove 31a, and the outer diameter of the spline 28a is formed larger than the tip diameter of the spline groove 31a. The outer diameter of 28a is formed smaller than the bottom surface diameter of the spline groove 31a (that is, the virtual diameter formed by the bottom surface of each spline groove 31a).
Thus, the spline 28a and the spline groove 31a are sized so that the spline coupling does not idle so that the original action as the spline coupling is exerted. In the present embodiment, in addition to this, the clearance between the spline 28a and the spline groove 31a is formed larger than that of the normal spline coupling.

  Specifically, in order to eliminate misalignment in a normal container lid winding head such as a plastic bottle, the clearance between the mating tooth thickness L1 of the spline 28a and the mating groove thickness L2 of the spline groove 31a is 0.1 mm or less, The clearance of the outer diameter W1 of the spline and the bottom diameter W2 of the spline groove is about 0.23 mm per radius. In the present embodiment, within the allowable range of misalignment, the clearance between the mating tooth thickness L1 of the spline 28a and the mating groove thickness L2 of the spline groove 31a is 0.5 mm or less, and the outer diameter W1 outside the spline 28a is the spline groove 31a. The clearance of the bottom surface diameter W2 is about 1.3 mm per diameter.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper end surface of the spline groove member 31 forms a gap G <b> 1 with respect to the lower end surface of the housing 3, and a chuck holder 32 is provided below the spline groove member 31. The chuck holder 32 is provided with an annular flange 32a and a cylindrical portion 32c formed at the lower portion of the annular flange 32a. The annular flange 32 a is disposed at the lower part of the spline groove member 31, and has an upper end fitted in a circular recess 31 b having an opening on the lower side of the spline groove member 31. The annular flange 32a is formed over the outer side and the inner side of the chuck holder 32 in the radial direction, and the spline groove member 31 and the annular flange 32a are fastened by a bolt 35, and both are integrally fixed. An inverted frustoconical suspended surface 32b corresponding to the suspended surface 25b is formed on the inner peripheral side flange of the annular flange 32a, the suspended surface 32b is suspended on the suspended surface 25b, and the spline groove member 31 is connected to the spline described above. When inclined due to the clearance with the member 24, the suspended surface 32b slides so as to incline the suspended surface 25b, and the spline groove member 31, the chuck holder 32 and the chuck member 33 are integrated. Can tilt.
The inner peripheral flange of the annular flange 32a is supported in a loosely fitted state between the bottom surface of the spline member 24 and the suspension surface 25a of the suspension member 25, and the bottom surface of the spline member 24 and the upper end surface of the chuck holder 32 are A gap G2 is formed between them in the vertical (axial) direction. The gap G2 serves to allow the chuck means 23 to tilt.

A cylindrical portion 32c is formed below the annular flange 32a of the chuck holder 32, and a chuck member 33 is attached to the inner hole of the cylindrical portion 32c. The cylindrical chuck member 33 is fixed to the chuck holder 32 by forming a male screw 33g on the outer peripheral surface on the upper side and screwing with a female screw 32d formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 32c of the chuck holder 32. The
A small-diameter portion 33b is formed at an intermediate position in the vertical direction of the inner hole of the chuck member 33, and a spring seat 33c is formed at a step portion formed by the small-diameter portion 33b and formed above the small-diameter portion 33b. ing. A spring spring 37 as an elastic biasing means is disposed in a compressed state between the spring seat 25c formed on the lower end surface of the suspension member 25 described above. The spring spring 37 urges the spring seat 33c downward so that the chuck means 23 is in the lower position, and a gap G1 is formed between the upper end surface of the spline groove portion 31 and the lower end surface of the housing 3 during normal (no addition). Forming.

  A container lid housing hole 33d is formed below the small diameter portion 33b. An annular groove 33e is formed in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral portion of the chuck member 33, and a ball receiving hole 33f penetrating from the annular groove 33e to the container lid receiving hole 33d is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the annular groove 33e. In the hole 33f, a part of the surface of the ball 38 is protruded from the container lid housing hole 33d. In this embodiment, it is formed in three places at equal angular intervals. An O-ring 39 is mounted in the annular groove 33e and urges the ball 39 toward the center of the container lid housing hole 33d. The container lid housing hole 33d can accommodate a container lid 34 having a predetermined shape, and the ball 38 urges the outer peripheral surface of the container lid 34 during housing. An inverted conical guide surface 33a is formed below the container lid housing hole 33d.

In such a winding head 21, the spline member 24 is inserted into the lower end portion of the main shaft 5, the spline groove portion 31 and the chuck holder 32 are assembled with the bolt 35, and then the spline groove 31a is passed through the spline 28a. A suspension member 25 is screwed to the lower end of the chuck holder 32 and the spline groove 31 is suspended so that an annular flange 32 a is sandwiched between the spline member 24 and the suspension member 25. Then, one end of the spring coil 37 is pressed against the spring seat 25c of the suspension member 25, and then the chuck member 33 is screwed onto the threaded portion of the chuck holder 32, and the winding head 21 is assembled.
The winding device 1 is provided with a plurality of such winding heads 21, each configured to rotate on the same rotation path.

5 and 6 show the gripper 42 of the grip mechanism of the bottle conveying device 40 in which only a part of the bottle 41 is shown. The gripper 42 is attached to the gripper support shaft 45 so that a pair of clamping pieces 43a and 44a can rotate. Grip portions 43b and 44b having arcuate surfaces are formed at the tip portions of the sandwiching pieces 43a and 44a. The grip portions 43b and 44b are formed substantially corresponding to the curvature of the lower portion of the neck ring 41b of the bottle 41, and can grip the lower portion of the neck ring 41b.
A plurality of gripper support shafts 45 are provided in the bottle transport device 40, each rotating on the same circular track, while the winding head is transported along the coaxial circular track corresponding to the upper part of each gripper. The container lid descends at the tightening position, and the container lid is wound around the mouth and neck of the container.

  With such a configuration, when the winding head 21 winds the container lid 34 around the mouth-neck portion 41 a of the bottle 41, the bottle 41 is transported on the circular path of the winding head 21 by the bottle transport device 40. . A container lid 34 is supplied to the container lid housing hole 33d in advance at a predetermined position on the winding head 21. When the bottle 41 reaches the position of the winding head 21, the winding head 21 descends and is disposed above the mouth and neck portion 41 a of the bottle 41, and the container lid 34 is disposed on the mouth and neck portion 41 a of the bottle 41. To do. 1 is lowered by a support means (not shown), whereby the neck and neck portion 41a is inserted into the container lid 34 supported by the winding head 21.

  The pressing force of the container lid 34 on the mouth-and-neck portion 41a is generated when the coiling device 1 is lowered and added in the order of the inner coil spring 10 and the outer coil spring 11, and the coil springs 10 and 11 are contracted. . In the state of FIG. 1, the coil springs 10 and 11 are contracted, and when the unloaded state is reached, the gap Y is expanded. Then, the main shaft 5 rotates and the container lid 34 is wound. At this time, the mouth-and-neck portion 41a is tightened by the spring force of the spring coil 37 so that the container lid 34 presses the mouth-and-neck portion 41a. In a state where the center of the container lid 34 and the bottle 41 is not misaligned, the female screw of the container lid 34 and the male screw of the mouth-and-neck portion 41a are normally screwed together, and the winding is usually performed.

Further, when the bottle 41 is transported, the container lid 34 may be placed on the mouth / neck portion 41a with the axis of the bottle 41 inclined. In such a tilted state, when the mouth / neck portion 41a is pressed by the spring coil 37 via the container lid 34, the container lid 34 covers the mouth / neck portion 41a in a state of being misaligned. Since the clearance is formed in the spline 28a and the spline groove 31a when the container lid 34 is wound, the chuck means 23 is inclined so as to match the inclination of the mouth-and-neck portion 41a, and the container lid 34 remains tilted. Can be tightened. During this tightening, the axes may be corrected, or the axes may be tightened with the axes shifted as they are.

When the bottle 41 is wound with the axis line inclined, the spline 28a and the spline groove 31a are not displaced without the displacement of the suspension surface 25b of the suspension member 25 and the suspended surface 32b of the chuck holder 32. In addition to the inclination caused by the clearance, the suspension surface 25b and the suspended surface 32b may further be inclined in a misaligned state.
The inclination of the chuck holder 32 is determined by the size of the gap between the lower end of the housing 3 and the spline groove portion 31, and the lower end of the housing 3 serves as a restriction portion of the spline groove portion 31. In this embodiment, a deviation of up to 3 degrees with respect to the axis of the housing 3 is allowed.

When the tightening of the bottle 41 on the mouth / neck portion 41 a is completed, the tightening head 21 is raised to separate the winding head 21 from the container lid 34 of the bottle 41.
As described above, when the axis of the container lid 34 and the bottle 41 do not coincide with each other, after the winding head 21 and the container lid 34 are separated, the axis of the spline 28a and the spline groove 31a are misaligned or suspended. There is a state in which the suspended surface 32b of the chuck holder 32 remains displaced with respect to the suspended surface 25b of the member 25. As described above, when the axis of the chuck holder 32 is displaced in the horizontal direction or tilted with respect to the suspension member 25, the spline 28a and the spline groove 31a are substantially separated by the tensile force of the spring coil 37. The axes of the suspension surface 25b and the reverse taper surface of the suspended surface 32b can be returned to the initial state (on the same axis).

  As described above, in this embodiment, even when the bottle 41 is displaced in the axial direction or conveyed with the shaft inclined by the gripper 42 of the bottle conveying device 40, the chuck portion 23 of the winding head 21 is It is possible to follow the deviation. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent erroneous mounting in which the female screw of the container lid 34 gets over the male screw of the mouth and neck portion 41a. Further, the container lid 34 having the tamper evident band can prevent the tamper evidence band from being erroneously cut due to the erroneous attachment.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, of course, the present invention can be variously modified or changed based on the technical idea of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, the winding head 21 is rotated by supporting the suspension portion 22 on the main shaft 5 and rotating the main shaft 5. However, such a winding apparatus 1 includes a type in which the rotation axis is not the center side but supports the outer peripheral portion of the winding head 21 and the outer cylinder side rotates. That is, with respect to the support of the spline groove tightening head 21 in the inner hole of the housing connected to the drive source, the upper end portion of the tightening head 21 in the inner hole of the spline member 24 is rotated by the drive source. The cylinder 47 may be inserted and attached to the lower end portion. Thus, even if comprised, the effect similar to the said embodiment can be acquired.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the suspension part 22 formed the spline member 24 and the suspension member 25 separately, these spline members 24 and the suspension member 25 may be formed by integral molding. However, it is necessary to devise such that the chuck holder 32 is divided into two in the axial direction and supported between the bottom surface of the spline member 24 and the suspension surface 25a of the suspension member 25.
Similarly, although the spline groove member 31, the chuck holder 32, and the chuck member 33 are three parts, they may be formed into two parts or one part.

It is sectional drawing of the winding apparatus which employ | adopts the container lid winding head by embodiment of this invention. It is an expanded sectional view of the container lid winding head by the embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing in the XX line direction of FIG. It is a top view of those members for demonstrating the relationship between the spline member of FIG. 3, and a spline groove member. It is a side view of the bottle supported by the grip of a bottle conveyance apparatus, and this grip. FIG. 6 is a plan view of FIG. 5.

Explanation of symbols

1 Winding device 5 Spindle (Rotating body)
21 Clamping head 22 Suspension means 23 Chuck means 24 Spline member 25 Suspension member 25b Suspension surface 28a Spline 31 Spline groove member 31a Spline groove 32 Chuck holder (suspended member)
32 b Suspended surface 33 Chuck member 34 Container lid 37 Spring coil 41 Bottle 41a Mouth and neck portion 41b Neck ring

Claims (4)

In a container lid winding head mounted on a rotating body mounted so as to be rotatable and movable up and down about a rotation axis extending vertically,
A suspension means fixed to the lower end of the rotating body and a chuck means suspended from the suspension means;
The suspension means includes a spline member having a plurality of splines extending in the axial direction at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface, and the chuck means has equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface. A spline groove member having a plurality of spline grooves extending in the axial direction and a chuck member for holding the container lid, and the spline of the spline groove member is connected to the spline of the spline member. A groove is engaged, and the thickness of the spline is smaller than the width of the spline groove, and the outer diameter of the spline is smaller than the bottom diameter of the spline groove. The means is formed to be horizontally displaceable with respect to the suspension means ,
The suspension means includes a suspension member disposed below the spline member and having a frustoconical suspension surface, the chuck means includes a suspended member fixed to the spline groove member, and the chuck member includes the suspension member The suspended member has an inverted frustoconical suspended surface, and the chuck means is suspended from the suspended means by placing the suspended surface on the suspended surface. Has been
The container lid winding head, wherein the chuck means is formed to be tiltable with respect to the suspension member . The container lid winding head according to claim 1 , wherein a displacement length of a central axis of the chuck means with respect to the suspension means is 0.5 to 2.5 mm. The container lid winding head according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the tilt angle of the central axis of the chuck means with respect to the central axis of the suspension means is 1 to 3 degrees. Between the suspension means and the chuck means, there is interposed an elastic biasing means for elastically biasing the chuck means downward with respect to the suspension means and pressing the suspended surface against the suspension surface. The container lid winding head according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .

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