JP7594166B2 - Container Processing Equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a container processing device that can perform multiple processes on the containers it holds.

As a method for filling multiple product liquids with a single rotary filling device, a configuration has been proposed in which two nozzles corresponding to two types of product liquid and a nozzle switching means are provided for each container held by the rotary filling device (Patent Document 1). In this device, the nozzle corresponding to each container can be selectively switched by the nozzle switching means. In other words, by operating the nozzle switching means, the nozzle facing each container can be switched to the nozzle corresponding to the product liquid to be filled.

Patent No. 5771409

However, the configuration of Patent Document 1 requires a number of nozzle switching means corresponding to the number of containers held by the device. This results in an increase in weight due to the weight of each part of the nozzle switching means and the air piping, and the problem of increased manufacturing costs due to larger load-bearing structures and motor ratings, etc.

The objective of the present invention is to provide a low-cost container processing device that can be used by switching processing heads.

A first invention of the present invention is a container processing apparatus comprising: a main shaft fixed to an apparatus body; a first rotating body having a plurality of container holding parts provided on its outer periphery; a second rotating body having first processing heads, the same number as the number of container holding parts, and second processing heads , the same number as the number of container holding parts , arranged alternately along a circumferential direction, each of which performs a predetermined processing on a container held in the container holding parts; and a switching means for switching between a first processing state in which the first processing heads are positioned at a processing position to perform a processing on the container, and a second processing state in which the second processing heads are positioned at a processing position to perform a processing on the container, wherein both the first rotating body and the second rotating body are rotatably arranged around the main shaft, and the switching means is configured to switch the first rotating body between a first processing state in which the first processing heads are positioned at a processing position to perform a processing on the container, and a second processing state in which the second processing heads are positioned at a processing position to perform a processing on the container. The apparatus has a first motor that rotates the first rotor and a second motor that rotates the second rotor, and by driving either or both of the first and second motors, the first rotor and the second rotor are rotated relative to each other, and the positions of each of the container holding parts are changed to match the positions of either the first processing head or the second processing head, thereby switching between the processing position of the first processing state and the processing position of the second processing state, and with the first processing head positioned at the processing position, the first motor and the second motor are operated synchronously to form the first processing state, and with the second processing head positioned at the processing position, the first motor and the second motor are operated synchronously to form the second processing state.

The present invention provides a container processing device that can be used by switching processing heads at low cost.

1 is a plan view showing the arrangement of a container processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the container processing apparatus of FIG. 1 .

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the arrangement of a container processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the container processing device of FIG. 1.

The container processing device of this embodiment is, for example, a wheel-type capper 10 that caps containers using multiple methods. The capper 10 is a capper that selectively caps, for example, with a screw cap and a PP cap, and is equipped with multiple capping heads (first processing heads) 12 for servo screw cappers and multiple capping heads (second processing heads) 14 for PP cappers.

Containers V and PP caps can be supplied to the capper 10 from a container/cap supply wheel 16. A container V is supplied to the container/cap supply wheel 16 from a container supply conveyor 18, and a cap supply device 20 supplies the container V so that the PP cap is placed on the mouth of the container V being transported by the container/cap supply wheel 16. In addition, a cap disk 22 is arranged upstream of the container/cap supply wheel 16 on the transport path of the capper 10, and supplies a screw cap to the capping head 12 for the servo screw capper.

The capper 10 receives the container V from the container/cap supply wheel 16, and also receives the PP cap or screw cap from the container/cap supply wheel 16 or the cap disk 22. After capping, the capped container V is transferred to the container discharge wheel 24. The container V transferred to the container discharge wheel 24 is discharged downstream through the container discharge conveyor 26.

As shown in FIG. 2, the capper 10 comprises a fixed main shaft 28, a lower rotor (first rotor) 30 rotatably arranged around the lower part of the main shaft 28, and an upper rotor (second rotor) 32 rotatably arranged around the upper part of the main shaft 28. In the capper 10 of this embodiment, the same number of capping heads 12 for the servo screw capper and capping heads 14 for the PP capper are alternately arranged along the outer periphery of the upper rotor 32.

Container holders 34 that hold containers V are arranged along the outer periphery of the lower rotating body 30. The number of container holders 34 is the same as the number of capping heads on one side. In FIG. 1, the capper 10 is shown functioning as a servo screw capper, and the container holders 34 are arranged directly below the capping heads 12 for each servo screw capper. Note that in the vertical cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, the capping heads 12 for servo screw cappers and the capping heads 14 for PP cappers are shown on the left side of the wheel rotation axis L when the capper 10 functions as a servo screw capper, and on the right side when it functions as a PP capper.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lower rotor 30 of the capper 10 is placed on, for example, a thrust bearing 36A arranged around the lower end of the main shaft 28, and is arranged so as to be freely rotatable around the main shaft 28. The lower rotor 30 has a rotating table 30A on the lower side, around which a bottle stand (container holder) 38 for placing the container V is arranged.

The lower rotor 30 is also provided with a gripper 40 that grips the neck of each container V placed on the bottle stand 38. A pair of gripper pieces that make up the gripper 40 are attached to the lower ends of support rods 42 that are each arranged vertically. The support rods 42 are rotatably supported by support disks 30B, 30C that are provided at the upper end and middle part of the lower rotor 30. The pair of support rods 42 are connected by gears (not shown) and rotate the same amount in opposite directions, and a cam follower 42A for opening and closing the gripper is provided at the upper end of one of the support rods 42.

At the middle of the main shaft 28, directly above the upper end of the lower rotor 30, a cam holder 44 is integrally provided on the outer periphery of the main shaft 28. A thrust bearing 36B is interposed between the lower end of the cam holder 44 and the upper end of the lower rotor 30. That is, the lower rotor 30 is sandwiched between the upper and lower thrust bearings 36A and 36B and is held rotatably around the main shaft 28. A passive gear 30D that meshes with a drive gear 46A of a lower rotor rotation motor (first motor) 46 installed in the fixed part is provided around the lower end of the lower rotor 30, and the lower rotor 30 rotates around the main shaft 28 (rotation axis L) due to the rotation of the lower rotor rotation motor 46.

A cam 44A for opening and closing the gripper is provided around the cam holder 44 and engages with the cam follower 42A of the support rod 42. When the lower rotor 30 rotates around the main shaft 28 by the lower rotor rotation motor 46, the cam follower 42A runs on the cam surface of the cam 44A, and the gripper 40 opens and closes at a predetermined timing in accordance with the shape of the cam 44A.

Above the lower rotor 30, the upper rotor 32 is rotatably attached around the main shaft 28 via bearings 48A, 48B. The upper rotor 32 holds the capping heads 12 for the servo screw capper and the capping heads 14 for the PP capper alternately along its outer periphery. The capping heads 12, 14 are each attached to the lower end of a vertically extending support rod 50, which passes through the lower support disk 32A of the upper rotor 32 and is supported by the support disk 32A so that it can move up and down and rotate freely.

A cam follower 50A is attached to the side of the upper end of the support rod 50, which engages with a grooved cam 44B for raising and lowering the capping head, which is provided around the cam holder 44. In the upper rotating body 32, an upper support disk 32B is provided above the lower support disk 32A. A motor 52 for rotating the support rod 50, i.e., each of the capping heads 12 and 14, is disposed on the upper support disk 32B. The rotating shaft 52A of the motor 52 passes through the upper support disk 32B and is spline-engaged with the upper end of the support rod 50.

In addition, an upper rotor rotation motor (second motor) 54 is provided at the upper end of the main shaft 28, which rotates the upper rotor 32 around the main shaft 28 (rotation axis L). The rotation axis of the upper rotor rotation motor 54 is vertically disposed and a drive gear 54A is attached to the motor. The drive gear 54A engages with a passive gear 32C that is disposed along the inner circumference of the upper end of the upper rotor 32.

With the above configuration, when the upper rotor 32 is rotated by the upper rotor rotation motor 54, the cam followers 50A of the capping heads 12, 14 run along the groove cam 44B, and the capping heads 12, 14 rise and fall at predetermined circumferential positions according to the shape of the groove cam 44B. Note that the left side of Figure 2 shows the servo screw capper capping head 12 in a raised state, and the right side shows the PP capper capping head 14 in a lowered state with the cap pressed against the opening of the container V.

The motor 52 for rotating the capping head is supplied with a control signal and power from the control device 56 and power source via a rotary connector 32D provided at the center of the upper end of the upper rotor 32. The control device 56 in this embodiment also controls the driving of the motor 46 for rotating the lower rotor and the motor 54 for rotating the upper rotor.

In the capper 10 of this embodiment, depending on whether the capper 10 is used as a servo screw capper (first processing state) or a PP capper (second processing state), either the lower rotor rotation motor 46 or the upper rotor rotation motor 54, or both, are driven to rotate the lower rotor 30 and the upper rotor 32 relative to each other, thereby aligning the position of the bottle stand 38 of the lower rotor 30 with either the capping head 12 for the servo screw capper or the capping head 14 for the PP capper of the upper rotor 32. In other words, all of the bottle stands 38 are positioned directly below either the capping head 12 or the capping head 14.

When the bottle table 38 is aligned with either the capping head 12 for the servo screw capper or the capping head 14 for the PP capper, the lower rotor 30 and the upper rotor 32 are rotated synchronously and integrally by the lower rotor rotation motor 46 and the upper rotor rotation motor 54. When the upper rotor 32 rotates, the capping heads 12, 14 are raised and lowered in sequence according to the shape of the groove cam 44B, and the capping head rotation motor 52 corresponding to the selected capping head rotates the desired amount when the upper rotor 32 reaches the desired position, and selects and caps the container V on the bottle table 38. The container V that has been capped is transferred to the container discharge wheel 24 as described above.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the rotor that holds the container and the rotor that holds the processing head can be rotated by different motors, so that the processing head can be easily switched. With this configuration, there is no need to provide a mechanism for switching the head for each processing head, and container processing devices such as cappers can be constructed at low cost.

In this embodiment, the processing head can be switched between two types of capping heads, but it may be configured to selectively switch between three or more types of capping heads. Also, in this embodiment, a servo screw capper and a PP capper are used as examples, but it is also possible to combine them with a stopper capper that drives a cap into a container.

The capper of this embodiment has been described as performing capping using different methods, but it can also be applied to a configuration in which capping heads of the same type but different sizes are switched between. In addition, the container processing device is not limited to cappers, and can also be applied to fillers that switch between multiple types of filling valves.

10 Capper (container treatment device)
12 Capping head for servo screw capper (first processing head)
14 PP capper capping head (second processing head)
30 Lower rotating body (first rotating body)
32 Upper rotating body (second rotating body)
38 Bottle stand (container holding part)
46 Lower rotor rotating motor (first motor)
54 Upper rotating body rotation motor (second motor)

Claims (1)

A main shaft fixed to the device body;
A first rotor having a plurality of container holding portions provided on an outer periphery thereof;
a second rotor in which first processing heads, the number of which is the same as the number of container holding parts , and second processing heads, the number of which is the same as the number of container holding parts, are alternately arranged along a circumferential direction, each of which performs a predetermined process on a container held in the container holding part ;
A container processing apparatus including a switching means for switching between a first processing state in which the first processing head is positioned at a processing position for processing the container and a second processing state in which the second processing head is positioned at a processing position for processing the container,
the first rotor and the second rotor are both rotatably disposed around the main shaft,
the switching means has a first motor for rotating the first rotating body and a second motor for rotating the second rotating body, and drives either or both of the first and second motors to rotate the first rotating body and the second rotating body relative to each other, and changes the positions of the container holders to match the positions of either the first processing head or the second processing head, thereby switching between a processing position of the first processing state and a processing position of the second processing state;
a first processing state is established by synchronously operating the first motor and the second motor with the first processing head positioned at the processing position;
a container processing apparatus configured to perform the second processing state by synchronously operating the first motor and the second motor with the second processing head positioned at the processing position.

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