JPS5928466B2 - Positioning device for containers with spots - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a positioning device for a container with a spot used in a rotary labeling machine, a printing machine, etc. Labels can be affixed or printed with high precision at predetermined positions on containers.

A conventional positioning device for a container with a spot mainly consists of a roller that is brought into elastic contact with the outer peripheral surface of the container, and the roller is rotationally driven to rotate the container, and a stopper provided on the container is provided at a predetermined position. The rotation of the container is regulated by making contact with the container, thereby determining the rotational position of the container.

However, in such conventional positioning devices, the roller needs to be brought into elastic contact with the container with sufficient force to rotate the container, and after the spot of the container contacts the stopper, the roller and the container must be brought into contact with each other with sufficient force to rotate the container. Since it is necessary to cause the rollers to slip, it is difficult to optimally adjust the contact force between the rollers and the container, and there is a drawback that the rollers often slip and the container cannot be positioned accurately or at all.

In view of the above drawbacks, the present invention rotates and drives an engaging member corresponding to a conventional stopper, engages this engaging member with a spot provided on a container, and further rotates the engaging member to a predetermined rotation angle. To provide a positioning device for a container with a spot, which can position the rotation angle position of the container with extremely high precision and reliably by rotating the container together with the container engaged with the container.

The invention will now be explained with reference to an illustrative embodiment, in which, in FIG. 1, 1 is a supply conveyor for supplying containers A; 2 is a series of discharge conveyors forming an extension of this conveyor; 3 is a machine 4 traversed by these conveyors; A rotating body 5 of the labeling machine provided above rotates in synchronization with a timing screw 6 provided on one side of the supply conveyor 1, and the containers A arranged at predetermined intervals are sequentially moved by the timing screw 6. A star wheel on the supply side that supplies the rotating body 3; 7 is a conventionally known label sticking mechanism provided on the machine base 4; 8 is a brush member provided downstream of this label sticking mechanism; 9 is the rotating body 3 is a discharge side star wheel for discharging the container A onto the discharge conveyor 2; 10 is a discharge side star wheel located between both star wheels 5 and 9, and a container A between the supply/discharge conveyors 1 and 2 and the rotating body 3;
This is a guide that guides you through the process of receiving.

In Fig. 2, 11 is a vertically arranged and fixed main shaft, 12 and 13 are a pair of disc-shaped cam plates fixed to the upper and lower ends of this main shaft, and the cam plates are rotatable about the main shaft between the two cam plates. Discs 15 and 16 are fixed to the upper and lower ends of the attached cylindrical body 14, and the rotary body 3 is constituted by the cylindrical body 14 and the discs 15 and 16.

The rotating body 3 is configured to be rotated about the axis of the main shaft 11 by a drive source (not shown). As will be described in detail later, on the lower disk 16 constituting the rotating body 3, that is, on the periphery of the container receiving portion, the containers A that are sequentially supplied by the supply star wheel 5 are placed. Positioning mechanism 17 that positions the container A
A large number of container holding mechanisms 1 are arranged at equal intervals, and a container holding mechanism 1 is provided at the periphery of the upper blade disc 15 at a position directly below each positioning mechanism 17.
There are 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, the positioning mechanism 17 includes a disc 1
The container A has a cylindrical body 19 fixed to the container A, and the upper end opening 19a of the cylindrical body is formed to substantially match the outer diameter of the bottom of the container A.

Further, the central portion of the inner surface of the cylindrical body 19 is formed to have a larger diameter than the upper and lower portions, and step portions 19b and 19c are provided at the upper and lower ends.
A support member 20 that supports the bottom surface of the container A is fitted into the opening 19a of the cylindrical body 19 so as to be able to rise and fall freely, and between this support member 20 and the spring seat 21 supported by the stepped portion 19c of the lower blade. A spring 22 is elastically loaded to hold the support member 20 at the rising end position. At this time, a flange portion 20a is formed on the outer periphery of the lower end portion of the support member 20, and the flange portion 20a abuts against the upper step portion 19b, and the elastic force of the spring 22 urges the support member 20 upward. When the step portion 19b is held in contact with the step portion 19b, the upper end surface of the cylindrical body 19 and the upper surface of the support member 20 are in the same horizontal plane, and a portion of the flange portion 20a is By engaging the protrusion 20b with a guide groove 19d formed on the inner surface of the cylindrical body 19, the support member 20 is prevented from rotating. A rotary shaft 23 is rotatably supported on the disc 16 supporting the cylindrical body 19 so as to coincide with the axis of the cylindrical body 19, and two guide pins 24 are attached to the upper end of the rotary shaft 23. The plate bodies 25 erected in parallel are fixed.

A cylindrical body 26 that is movable up and down along the guide pin 24 is engaged with the guide pin 24, and the upper end of the cylindrical body 26 is slidable in a hole 20c opened in the center of the support member 20. Penetrating. The upper end surface of the cylindrical body 26 has a groove-shaped spot S carved on the bottom surface of the container A (see FIG. 5), and the engaging portion 2
A disc-shaped engagement member 27 having a protruding portion 7a is fixed, and the outer circumference of the lower end surface of this engagement member 27 is usually
And the hole 20 of the support member 20 due to the weight of the cylinder 26
e is in contact with a protrusion 20d protruding from the inner lower part. In this state, the upper end surface of the engaging portion 27a does not protrude above the upper surface of the support member 20. Further, the cylindrical body 26 houses a spring 28 placed on the plate 25, and in a normal state, the upper end of the spring 28 and the upper inner wall surface of the cylindrical body 26 are engaged by forming a predetermined gap. The member 27 is prevented from protruding beyond the support member 20 toward the upper blade, while the support member 20 is
When pushed down against the elastic force of the container A, the spring 28 causes the engaging member 27 to protrude outward from the supporting member 20, so that the engaging portion 27a and the spot S of the container A can be engaged with each other. I am trying to make it so that At this time, these rotating shafts 23
A plate body 25, a guide pin 24, a cylinder body 26, which are installed in the soil.
The spring 28 and the engagement member 27 function as a spot search mechanism that searches for a spot position by rotating the engagement portion 27a of the engagement member 27 into contact with the bottom surface of the container by rotating the rotating shaft 23, as will be described later. It serves as a mechanism. moreover,
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, a pinion 29 is fixed to the lower end of the rotary shaft 23, and a fan-shaped gear 31 fixed to a shaft 30 rotatably supported on the disc 16 is connected to the pinion 29. mesh with.

An arm 33 having a cam follower 32 at its tip is fixed to the lower end of the shaft 30, and the cam follower 32 is engaged with a cam groove 34 carved in the outer periphery of the disk 13 fixed below the disk 16. Match. Therefore, when the disk 16 rotates about the shaft 11, the cam follower 32 travels within the cam groove 34, causing the arm 33 to swing according to the shape of the cam groove 34. This rotates the gear 31 via the shaft 30, and this rotation is transmitted to the rotating shaft 23 via the pinion 29. The spot searching mechanism including the rotating shaft 23 is rotationally driven by these rotational drive mechanisms, and the engaging member 27 rotates to search the bottom surface of the container, so that the locking portion 27a is attached to the spot S of the container A as described later. engage. next,
The container holding mechanism 18, as shown in FIG.
5, and a container holder 37 rotatably attached to the lower end of the elevator rod via a bearing 36. are provided directly above each positioning mechanism 17, as described above.

The upper end of the lifting rod 35 slidably passes through the shaft of the cylinder 38, and is prevented from slipping out of the cylinder 38 by a plate 40 attached to the end of the lifting rod 35 with bolts 39. There is. A spring 11 that biases the lifting rod 35 downward is housed in the cylindrical body 38, and a cam follower 42 provided on the lower circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 38 is carved on the circumferential surface of the fixed disc 12. It is engaged with the cam groove 43. With the above configuration, when the container A is supplied to the support member 20 soil of the positioning mechanism 17 by the supply side star wheel 5 (
(See FIG. 2), the container holder 37 is immediately lowered by the function of the cam groove 43, holding the upper end of the container A, and the container A and the support member 20 supporting the container being moved by the elastic force of the spring 22. resist and lower it slightly. Then, as can be understood from FIG.
Then, the engaging member 27 is energized upward, and the engaging part 27a of the engaging member 27 is made to protrude beyond the soil surface of the supporting member 20 to the upper blade, and this engaging part 27a is attached to the spot S on the bottom surface of the container A. Try to engage. However, the container A supplied to the positioning mechanism 17 by the supply star wheel 5
Since the direction of the engaging portion 27a is not controlled at all, the engaging portion 27a cannot normally engage with the spot S, and is kept in a state in which it is lightly elastically contacted with the bottom surface other than the spot S. When the rotating body 3 continues to rotate in this state, the cam groove 3
4 functions: cam follower 32, arm 33, shaft 30
, gear 31. The engagement member 27 is rotated via the pinion 29, the rotating shaft 23, the plate 25, the guide pin 24, and the cylinder 26, and the container A is rotated by force due to the engagement between the protrusion 20b and the guide groove 19d. Since the supporting plate 20 is supported by the earth, the engaging portion 27a of the engaging member 27 rotates relatively while being in contact with the bottom surface of the container A, and finally engages with the spot S. .

If the engaging portion 27a is further rotated in the state in which the engaging portion 27a is engaged with the spot S, the container A will rotate on the support member 20 integrally with the engaging portion 27a. Therefore, by positioning the engaging portion 27a at an arbitrary position, as shown in FIG. The engaging portion 27a is rotated by more than 360 degrees and stopped at a predetermined position between the position where the container A is lightly held and the position where the container A approaches the labeling mechanism 7 on the downstream side. If the engaging part 27a is
must be engaged with the spot S of the container A to rotate the container A integrally, and by stopping the engaging member 27 at a predetermined position, the rotational angular position of the container A is positioned at a predetermined angular position. becomes. When the positioning of the container A is completed in this way, the container holder 37 is inserted into the cam groove 43.
is further lowered to firmly hold container A, and container A
When the container A is firmly held, the container passes through the labeling mechanism 7, and the labeling mechanism 7 labels the container A as in the conventional case.
A label is affixed to a predetermined position. After the label is pasted on the container A, from that state, the above-mentioned engaging part 2 is attached in the same manner as described above.
7a is rotated 90 degrees so that the center part of the label affixed to the container A faces forward in the direction of the advancing force, and in this state, the container A passes between the brush members 8 shown in FIG. As a result, the label is completely attached to container A. When the pasting of the label is completed in this way, the container holder 37 is raised back to the initial position, and the container A is moved from the original cylindrical body 19 by the spring 22 which biases the support member 20 to the soil force. The soil is lifted up to a horizontal plane that coincides with the upper end surface, and further discharged onto the discharge conveyor 2 by the discharge side star wheel 9. In the above embodiment, the engaging member 27 is rotated 360 degrees or more for positioning. , the spot S may be provided at the center of the bottom of the container A, and the engaging member 27 may be rotated 180 degrees.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
In this embodiment, a container A provided with a groove-shaped spot S on the outer peripheral surface can be positioned.The positioning mechanism 17 in this embodiment includes a circular support member 50 that supports the bottom surface of the container A, and a circular support member 50 that supports the bottom surface of the container A. A cylindrical body 51 that rotates around the axis of the member 50 is provided. Two sliding rods 52 that slidably pass through the disk 16 are attached to the lower surface of the support member 50, and these sliding rods prevent the support member 50 from rotating. A stopper 53 is attached to the lower end of the spring 5 that urges the support member 50 upward.
4 prevents the supporting member from slipping out of the cylindrical body 51. Note that when the stopper 53 is in elastic contact with the lower surface of the disc 16, the upper surface of the support member 50 and the soil surface of the cylindrical body are configured to be on the same horizontal plane, similar to the above embodiment. . A hole 55 is formed in the upper part of the cylindrical body 51 in the radial direction, and an engaging member 56 is slidably fitted into the hole. are made to protrude from the inner surface of the cylindrical body 51.

Further, as will be described later, when the container A is lowered and its bottom is inserted into the cylindrical body 51, the engaging member 56 is moved back to its original raised end position by the lowered supporting member 50 and the spring 54. Both corners under the soil are formed in an arc shape so as not to block their movement when returning to the ground. Further, a stopper 58 is attached to the disk 16 at a position below the support member 50, and the support member 50 is further moved from the height position where the engagement member 56 can engage with the spot S of the container A. Make sure it doesn't fall. Then, the cylindrical body 5
A gear 59 is fixed to the outer circumferential surface of the rotor 1, and this gear is meshed with a gear 60 fixed to the rotating shaft 23 which is driven to rotate once through the cam groove 34 and the like.

Note that the other configurations are the same as those in the previous embodiment. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the container A is supplied onto the support member 20 of the positioning mechanism 17 by the supply star wheel 5, the container holder 37 is lowered and the container holder 37 is lowered, as in the previous embodiment. While holding the soil end of the container A, the container A and the support member 50 that supports the container are lowered against the elastic force of the spring 54, and the support member 50 is brought into a state in which it is in slight elastic contact with the stopper 58. Hold.

At this time, the engaging member 56 is smoothly accommodated in the hole 55 against the force of the spring 57 and does not prevent the container A from descending, and when the supporting member 50 is in contact with the stopper 58, The height position is such that the spot S of the container A and the engaging member 56 can engage with each other. As the disc 16 rotates, the rotating shaft 23 and the gears 60, 5
9 and the cylindrical body 51, the container A can be positioned by rotating the engaging member 56 by 360 degrees or more and stopping it at a predetermined position. Further, in the case of a case where a protruding spot S is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the container A, the distance between the cylindrical body 51 and the outer surface of the container A may be widened so that the protruding spot S can be accommodated. However, in this case, as shown in FIG. 8, it is preferable to make the engaging member 56 protrude from the upper surface of the cylindrical body 51 without widening the interval.

In this way, narrowing the distance between the outer peripheral surface of the container A and the cylindrical body 51 or 19 prevents the lower part of the container A from escaping laterally, especially when a label is pasted or printed on the bottom of the container A. This can be prevented and the K label can be reliably pasted or printed. Furthermore, when the protruding spot S is provided on the container A as in this embodiment, unlike the case of a groove-like spot, the container A cannot be immediately rotated in the opposite force direction.
For example, in order to reverse the container A by 90 degrees, the engaging member 5
6 in the forward direction, or rotate only the engaging member 56 by 360 degrees to bring the engaging member 56 into contact with the opposite surface of the spot S, and then integrate the container A with the engaging member. It is necessary to rotate it 90 degrees.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, an engagement groove 61 that engages with the spot S is formed on the upper surface of the cylindrical body 51 close to the engagement member 56, and the engagement member 56 allows the container to be After positioning A, the container A is further lowered by the container holder 37 and shifted so that the spot S is engaged in the engagement groove 61, thereby making it easier to reverse the container A. Note that as the rotational drive mechanism for rotating the engaging members 27, 56, in addition to the cam groove mechanism described above, any appropriate means such as an electric motor can be used, and the present invention is not limited to label pasting machines. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to other container processing machines that require positioning of containers, such as printing machines.

As described above, the present invention involves rotating an engaging member corresponding to a conventional stopper to abut and engage the engaging member with a spot on a container, and further rotating the engaging member to a predetermined rotation angle position. Since it is designed to position the rotation angle of the slipper container, unlike the conventional system in which the container is rotated using rollers and the spot of the container is brought into contact with a stopper, the slip is not positioned. There is no need to raise the container and make it impossible to position the container.
This has the effect that the container can be positioned reliably and with high precision.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures all show embodiments of the present invention; Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view after pasting the label according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 1, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the main part of the main part, FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state different from that in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a bottom view of container A, and FIG. 7 and 8 are longitudinal cross-sectional views of essential parts showing other embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a view taken in the direction of the x arrow in FIG. 8. 18... Container holding mechanism, 27, 56...
・Engagement member, A... Container, S... Spot.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container receiving part that receives and places containers sequentially brought in at a predetermined position and moves; and an upper end part of the containers that moves in synchronization with the container receiving part and is movable up and down to a position directly above the brought containers. a container holding mechanism that holds a container; a spot searching mechanism that includes an engaging member that can freely appear and retract and engage with a spot provided on a container that is rotatably supported by the container receiving portion;
The spot searching mechanism is given a predetermined angle of rotation, and the engaging member is searched and rotated along the outer peripheral surface or bottom surface of the container to engage the spot, and the container is moved together with the engaging member. 1. A positioning device for a container with a spot, comprising: a rotational drive mechanism that rotates the container together to determine a predetermined rotation angle position of the container.