JPS5920563B2 - air conveyor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a pneumatic conveyor for bottles and plastic bottles and plastic bottle semi-finished products.

Blow molded bottles, especially blow molded plastic bottles, are now commonly used for the packaging of a variety of consumer products, including soft drinks.

In manufacturing such blow-molded plastic bottles, a semi-finished product is first made and then blow-molded to form a regular sized bottle.

Both the semi-finished bottle and the finished bottle have rounded bottoms, making them difficult to transport in an upright position in conventional handling facilities.

Needless to say, conveying in an upright position is most desirable since it facilitates connection with other machines at each end of the conveying section in the bottle and bottle semi-finished product manufacturing process.

Therefore, belt conveyors, bulk conveyors, and side conveyors are not satisfactory as conveyors for conveying bottles and their semi-finished products.

Furthermore, plastic bottles or their semi-finished products are easily damaged during handling, and current conveyors are therefore unsuitable for this purpose.

Bulk conveyors and side conveyors are not good because they damage the threads and sealing surfaces of plastic bottles and their semi-finished products.

The pneumatic conveyor according to the present invention is used for transporting plastic racks and semi-finished products thereof, and is particularly suitable for transporting plastic racks and semi-finished products thereof.

According to the invention, the bottles and their semi-finished products are suspended by their necks from a suitable guide rail and are moved along the guide rail by an upward jet of air emerging from an air conveyor.

The conveyor further includes depending sidewall members or curtain members extending along both sides of the bottles or semi-finished products being conveyed.

This hanging side wall member limits the movement of the bottles and their semi-finished products within the transport path.

It also forms an air channel through which surplus conveying air exits the air conveyor.

As a result, the air channel momentarily traps the remaining amount of conveying air, which aids the conveyance of the sheets and semi-finished products in the air channel formed by the open side curtain on which the conveyor is operating.

Therefore, it is possible to operate this conveyor efficiently with low-pressure conveying air not only for conveying in the horizontal direction but also for conveying from a low position to a high position.

In addition to this, residual air in the air channels allows collection of accumulated cargo.

In other words, the bottles or their semi-finished products stuck in the air conveyor are easily moved in the conveying direction by the influence of the direct air conveying jet and the residual air in the channels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a pneumatic conveyor for transporting bottles and bottle semi-finished products.

Another object of the invention is to transport semi-finished products in bottles and containers with rounded bottoms in a vertical position.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient pneumatic conveyor that can start conveying from a rest position where bottles or semi-finished products are accumulated.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pneumatic conveyor for plastic bottles or semifinished products that minimizes scratches or other damage to the plastic bottles or semifinished products during transportation.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description set out below.
Further details will be apparent to those skilled in the art when practicing the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Air conveyor 10 shown in the drawings, particularly in FIGS. 1 and 3
includes an elongated fill chamber 12 surrounded by an elongated top wall 14, side walls 16 and bottom walls 18, and an end wall 20.

The plenum chamber 12 typically receives pressurized air from an air supply fan (not shown) at a pressure of 13 centimeters (5 inches) of gage head.

The bottom wall 18 of the plenum chamber (d) includes an elongated gap or slot 22 that extends the entire length of the air conveyor and mates with the conveying path 24.

This elongated slot 22 is covered over its entire length by an inverted U-shaped air conveying channel member 26.

The channel member 26 is formed by a top wall 28 and side walls 30.32 joined to the spaced edges of the bottom side wall slot 22 by suitable devices.

As best shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of slots 34 are cut into each of the transfer channel side walls 30,32.

These slots 34 are vertically oriented and arranged in rows along the length of the air channel sidewalls.

These air slots are formed by the conventional method of cutting the channel sidewall and forcing the downstream portion 36 of the sidewall into the plenum chamber 12.

When the plenum chamber 12 receives pressurized air, a jet of air flows through the slot 34 as indicated by the arrow in FIG.

Each air jet has a substantial flow component along the inner surface of the channel sidewalls 30,32.

The air jet directed into the conveying channel creates a flow of conveying air which impinges on the necks of the bottles or bottle blanks and moves them.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, each bottle and bottle semi-finished product 40 includes a neck 42 having a cap-engaging threaded portion 44;
Includes a neck ring 46 and a body portion 48.

The semi-finished product has an axially symmetrical shape and is basically cylindrical.

The bottle shown in FIG. 3 is formed by blow molding the main body of the semi-finished product shown in FIG. 1 to the size and shape shown in FIG.

In the final configuration, each fin is symmetrical about the axis and is cylindrical with a rounded bottom.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pneumatic conveyor for conveying semifinished products includes a channel guide member 50. As shown in FIGS.

This channel guide member 50 has an opposing U-shaped member 52
．． 52 to receive the neck ring 46 of each semi-finished product.

Each edge of the U-shaped member 52, 54 is provided with a protective strip.
IJ knob 58 is fitted.

This protective strip 58 extends the entire length of the channel guide member 50 to minimize friction on the bottle blank.

The channel guide member 50 conveys the semi-finished product in an upright position to facilitate transfer to other semi-finished product forming or handling machines that continuously move the semi-finished product also in the upright position.

This upright transport can be carried out without causing any damage to the bottle neck thread 44, sealing surface 47 or body portion 48.

In the rest state, the bottle blank 40 is vertically suspended by a neck ring that engages the channel guide 50.

However, during transport, the semifinished product tends to oscillate in a vertical plane cut in the direction of transport.

The upper and lower rails 60, 62 of the channel guide member are spaced apart to limit rocking movement of the neck ring and workpiece.

The channel guide member prevents the semi-finished product from swinging laterally and also from moving back and forth.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the air conveyor 40 for the bottles includes a single air conveyor 40 that engages and guides each bottle under the neck ring.
It includes pairs of spaced guide rails 64 and 66.

These guide rails have protective strips 68 of low friction, non-wearing material to minimize frictional contact and wear between the guide rails and the bottles.

The shoulder portion of each bottle opens outwardly beyond the neck ring and cooperates with guide rails #64, 66 to minimize back and forth rocking of the bottle during bottle transport.

Preventing the bottle from rocking sideways is an important issue.

This side wall or side curtain is used as described below.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the air conveyor has side curtains 72.74.76. extending along its entire length.
It has 78.

Side curtain of air conveyor reservoir for semi-finished products 76.78
The container is spaced inwardly from the side wall of the filling chamber so as to be in close proximity to the semi-finished bottle.

These side curtains are substantially impermeable so that air cannot escape.

However, the pressurized conveying air is discharged through an elongated opening 80 formed by the edge 82.84 of the side curtain 76.78.

The opposing side curtains form a transport channel 86.

In this conveying channel, residual pressurized air acts on the body portion 48 of the semi-finished product to help move the semi-finished product in the transport direction.

As will be explained in more detail below, the residual pressurized air in the conveying channel 86 is particularly useful in making it possible to retrieve a row of semi-finished products that are at rest in the conveyor.

Furthermore, the side curtains make it possible to carry out both semi-finished products and bottles using low fill air pressure.

Side curtains 72°74 (third
) extends downwardly substantially in line with the side wall of the plenum to form an air channel 88.

Residual air within this air channel 88 assists in transporting the bottles.

The edges of the side curtains are bent inward to form lower guide rails 90,92.

These lower guide rails 90,92 have protective strips 94
．． 96 and guides the lower part of the bottle during transportation.

The lower guide rails 90,92 prevent the bottles from swinging laterally when they are being transported.

This prevents the bottles from shifting sideways or overlapping and clogging.

In action, pressurized air from the plenum chamber exits the air slot in a jet of pressurized air.

This air jet has a main flow component in the conveying direction that hits the neck of the bottle and the semi-finished product.

The air jet then passes through the gap between the neck guide rails and constitutes a residual pressurized air portion with a residual flow component in the conveying direction.

This residual flow component impinges on both the semifinished product and the bottle, allowing it to move in the conveying direction.

In the process of transporting bottles and semi-finished products, accumulation occurs when the bottles or semi-finished products come to a halt as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

In the case of semi-finished products, air jets emerge from a limited number of air slots (the air slots upstream of each semi-finished product) and impinge directly on the neck of the semi-finished product.

Although this limited number of air jets can maintain the movement of one semi-finished product, the group of air jets upstream of each semi-finished product cannot move the entire stack of semi-finished products.

As shown in FIG. 7, the air jet moving one semi-finished product is usually blocked by the next semi-finished product.

Accumulation recovery of this movement is made possible by the residual air flow passing through the neck ring gap into the residual air channel and impinging on the body portion of the workpiece.

Side curtains are effective in trapping residual air;
Therefore, the residual air cooperates with the directional air to move the semifinished product.

After assisting the movement in this way, the residual air is evacuated from the air channel and no back pressure is created in this air channel.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 8, a motion-accumulated fan requires residual air in the residual air channel along with an upstream air jet to effect its transport.

The pneumatic conveyor according to the invention is such that bottles and semi-finished products can be lifted up an inclined conveyor section.

As shown in FIG. 6, the air conveyor 10 is for inclined conveyance.

This air conveyor (which shall include those for semi-finished products and for bottles) is provided at the bottom of the side curtains 72.74 and 76.78 by a distance sufficient to redirect the residual air along the sloped section. Bottom plate 9 covering discharge gap 80
8 is a provision.

That is, the bottom plate 98 changes the direction of residual air.

This residual air would otherwise leave the bottom gap 80 tangentially at the entrance to the upper slope of the conveyor.

The bottom plate preferably extends from 1/4 to 2/3 of the total length of the sloped portion.

This base plate should be long enough to redirect residual air in the direction of the ramp, but not so long as to create back pressure within the residual air channel.

The formation of back pressure in the residual air channels is undesirable since it interferes with the conveyance of the bottles or semi-finished products.

According to the invention, by engaging the neck of the bottle or semi-finished bottle in a protective guide rail and by using an air jet as a conveying medium, the bottle or semi-finished bottle is protected from scratches, scratches or abrasion. A pneumatic conveyor is provided that conveys in a protected upright position.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an air conveyor for semi-finished bottles according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing details of the air conveyor of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of an air conveyor for daily use according to the invention. , FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing details of the air conveyor shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a part of the air conveyor shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of an air conveyor for conveying semi-finished bottles, and FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of the air conveyor of the present invention for conveying bottles. 10...Air conveyor, 12...Full chamber, 14...Top wall, 16...Side wall, 1
8... Bottom wall, 20... End wall, 22...
... Slot, 24 ... Conveyance passage, 26.
...Transportation channel room, 28...Top wall,
30° 32...Side wall, 34...Slot, 42...Neck, 44...Threaded part,
46...Neck ring, 46...Sealing surface, 48...Body portion, 50...Channel guide member, 52, 54... U-shaped member, 6
0゜62...Rail, 64.66...
Guide rail, 68...Protective strip, 70.
...shoulder part, 72.74, 76.78...
...Side curtain, 80...Opening or gap,
82, 84... Edge portion, 86... Conveyance channel, 88... Air channel, so,
92...Guide rail, 94.96...
protective strip.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An air conveyor for transporting bottles having a neck and a main body portion depending from the neck, which includes: a device for supplying pressurized air to a filling chamber; an elongated slot provided in the bottom wall; an elongated U-shaped channel disposed above the slot and forming a conveying passage; and a pressurizing device provided in the channel; a plurality of air slots for permitting air jets to enter the plenum through the channels; and a plurality of air slots that engage and support each bottle at its neck to propel the air jets into the channel. a pair of opposing side curtains that hang down from opposite sides of the conveyor in proximity to the main body of the bottles; an opening formed by the bottom edge of the curtain for exhausting air from the conveyor. 2. An air conveyor according to claim 1, characterized in that the engagement support device cooperates with a neck ring located intermediate the neck and body portion of the bottle. 3. An air conveyor as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the U-shaped channel has air slots cut into both sides of the bottle neck. 4. The air conveyor according to claim 1, characterized in that a guide surface is attached to the bottom edge of each side curtain, thereby guiding the bottom portion of the bottles. 5. In the air conveyor according to claim 1, a part of the total length is inclined between the conveyor parts of different heights, and the bottom plate is 1/4 to 2/2 of the length of this inclined part.
An air conveyor characterized in that the bottom edges of the side curtains are connected over a distance of 3 to assist bottles in being conveyed upwardly on this slope.