JPS6326003B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a device that can be used as a caser and an uncaser at the same time. This invention relates to a device that simultaneously unpacks and packs boxes, shortens the production line, and contributes to significant cost reductions (initial costs, running costs, etc.).

[Prior Art] Conventionally, for example, when producing beer products at a beer factory, etc., boxed empty bottles are supplied to a production line, the empty bottles are taken out using an uncaser, and then subjected to cleaning, sterilization, filling, inspection, packaging, etc. After going through each line, the filled bottles are sent to a caser, packed in boxes, and shipped as products. That is, in the above-mentioned production line, the uncaser and the caser were installed separately, and each carried out unboxing and packing independently.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] Looking at the production lines of beer factories such as those mentioned above, the reality is that the line systems of major factories that produce in large quantities have been carried over to factories with small production scales. . However, production lines have not always been satisfactory for small and medium-sized factories, which are subject to site constraints and need to make effective use of the site.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made to satisfy the above-mentioned requirements, and its purpose is to provide a device that can simultaneously function as a caser and an uncaser, allowing one device to take out empty bottles and box filled bottles. We are in the process of providing equipment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device that can be used simultaneously as a caser and an uncaser, which shortens the production line and contributes to significant cost reduction.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above object of the present invention is to provide a frame box W having storage sections S arranged in a predetermined matrix by grid-like partitions M.
An empty box B containing nothing and an empty bottle box A containing an empty bottle E are brought in alternately, and the empty bottle E is taken out from the empty box W from the empty bottle box W. A first conveyor mechanism 6 that alternately carries out empty boxes F and products D containing filled bottles C in the framed boxes W; a second conveyor mechanism 24 for carrying in filled bottles C in the same arrangement as the arrangement of the storage section S and carrying out empty bottles E taken out from the empty bottle box A; 6,24
In the meantime, the speed is synchronized at the reference point on the first conveyor mechanism 6 so that it is positioned above the empty bottle box A, and then it descends to support the empty bottle E in the empty bottle box A. An uncaser head 38 and a second
The caser head 37 is synchronized in terms of speed so as to be positioned above the filled bottle C at a reference point on the conveyor mechanism 24, then descends to support the filled bottle C, and then rises.
The grip mechanism 36 has two heads 37 and 38 arranged alternately, and an uncaser head which supports the empty bottle E on the first conveyor mechanism 6 and is in a raised state. 38 is transferred to the second conveyor mechanism 24 by a circulation drive mechanism in one direction, and the support is released at a reference point on the second conveyor mechanism 24, and the filled container is transferred onto the second conveyor mechanism 24. The caser head 37 that supports the bin C and is in the raised state is transferred by the circulating drive mechanism onto the empty box B which moves on the first conveyor mechanism 6 in synchronization with both heads 37 and 38. transfer means 4 having a structure capable of lowering and releasing the support over the empty box B and storing the filled bottle C in the empty box B;
This is achieved by a device that functions as both a caser and an caser at the same time, which is characterized by being provided with a zero.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of essential parts of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of the same, and FIG. 4 is a second conveyor of the same. It is a schematic front view showing a mechanism part.

In the figure, 1 is a frame box W having storage parts S arranged in 4 columns and 3 rows by a grid-like partition M, an empty box B containing nothing, and an empty bottle E in the frame box W, for example. This is a case selector for alternately sending out empty bottle boxes A stored in 4 rows and 3 rows, and is aligned with a caser head 37 (described later) to select empty bottles by turning on/off a filled bottle sorting claw 30 (described later). A feeding/stopping mechanism 2a that operates to select the feeding operation of the boxes B is provided in the supply line 4 for the empty boxes B, and is aligned with the uncaser head 38, which will be described later, and is located on the carrying out conveyor 27, which will be described later. A sensor (not shown) that detects the amount of empty bottle E and issues a signal
The sending/stopping mechanism 2b operates to select the sending operation of the empty bottle box A according to the feeding operation of the empty bottle box A.
It is provided in the supply line 3 of. 5 is a drive roller.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a first conveyor mechanism for carrying in the empty bottle boxes A and empty bottles B alternately supplied from the case selector 1. A carry-in conveyor 7 is provided at the entrance of the conveyor mechanism 6, and a support plate 8 is fixedly provided in front of the conveyor 7 in the conveyance direction on a horizontal plane that is substantially the same as the surface of the conveyor 7. At both ends of the mechanism 6 in the conveying direction, endless chains 9 are connected to the sprocket 1.
It meshes with 0 and 11. 12 is a sprocket connected to a drive motor (not shown), 13 is a sprocket fixed coaxially with sprocket 11, and 14 is sprocket 12 and sprocket 13.
It is a chain strung over the A plurality of feed pawls 15 are provided between the chains 9, 9 for pushing the empty bottle boxes A and B at regular intervals. The support position (height) for the feeding claws 15 to push the boxes A and B is preferably a position that is somewhat higher than the bottom surfaces of the boxes A and B, and accordingly,
The running height of the chain 9 is also determined. The feed pawl 15 has the function of adjusting the phase of the head 37 and the empty bottle box B, which will be described later, to synchronize them in terms of speed, and at the same time has the function of adjusting the phase of the head 38 and the empty bottle box A, which will be described later, i.e., synchronizes the speed. It performs a synchronizing action.

16 is a case sorting mechanism provided in front of the first conveyor mechanism 6 in the conveying direction (rightward in the drawing);
17 is a sorting device such as a piston that operates in synchronization with heads 37 and 38, which will be described later, and 18 is a sorting piece that is swung in the direction of arrow X about a fulcrum 19. 20 is a drive roller, 21 is a partition member, and is divided into a product line 22 and an empty box line 23 by distribution.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a second conveyor mechanism installed in parallel with the first conveyor mechanism 6, and the material is conveyed in a direction opposite to the conveyance direction of the first conveyor mechanism 6 (leftward in the drawing). 25 is a bottle conveyor provided in the mechanism 24, 26 is a conveyor for carrying in filled bottles C, and 27 is a conveyor for carrying out empty bottles E. 28 is a pre-sorting chain for bottles, 29 is a sprocket, and 30 is a sorting claw provided on the chain 28. 31 is a bottle synchronization chain, 32 is a sprocket, and 33 is a bottle synchronization claw provided on the chain 31, which aligns the phases of the head 37 and the filled bottle C, that is, synchronizes them in terms of speed. 3
4 is the conveyor 25 and the preliminary sorting chain 2
This is a sprocket for a driving source for driving the tuning chain 31.

Reference numeral 35 denotes a clutch brake built into the sorting pawl 28, which is provided to turn on and off in accordance with the phase of the synchronizing pawl 33, depending on the amount of filled bottles C. That is, a sensor (not shown) that detects the amount of filled bottles on the incoming conveyor 26 and issues a signal.
Preferably, the clutch brake 35 is turned on and off in response to a signal from.

Reference numeral 36 denotes a grip mechanism for gripping the neck of the bottle, and the grip mechanism is not limited to gripping from the outside as shown in the figure.
It may also be a means of supporting from inside the bottle. As described above, the term "grip" in the present invention includes support in a broad sense. The grip mechanism 36 has a caser head 37 and an uncaser head 3.
It has two types of 8, each with 37 and 38 heads.
is provided with a grip 39. grip 3
The arrangement of 9 corresponds to the bin arrangement and bin pitch to be supported. That is, the grip 39 provided on the caser head 37 aligns the filled bottles C conveyed on the bottle conveyor 25 with the arrangement and pitch, and
The grips 39 provided at 8 are matched to the arrangement and pitch of the empty bottles E in the empty bottle box A. The grip mechanism 36 is fixed to a transfer means 40 provided between the first conveyor mechanism 6 and the second conveyor mechanism 24 so as to be movable up and down and horizontally.

Both heads 37, 38 of the grip mechanism 36 are alternately fixed to the transfer means 40. In this specification, "alternating" may literally mean alternating as in this embodiment, or may be a combination such as repeating two heads 37 and one head 38, for example. That is, the combinations are not particularly limited as long as they are repeated with a certain regularity.

The transfer means 40 has a pair of rotating shafts 41 and 4 provided vertically between the conveyor mechanisms 6 and 24, respectively.
2, sprockets 43, 44 fixed at the upper and lower positions of each rotating shaft, and the sprockets 43, 4.
Chains 45 and 46 are respectively spanned between the sprockets 44 and 44, and the chains 45 and 46 are provided with brackets 47 and 46 at predetermined intervals.
48 is installed and the upper and lower brackets 4
Two vertical guide rods 49 are installed between each of 7 and 48. The distal end portion 51 of a support rod 50 for suspending the grip mechanism 36 is fitted between the guide rods 49 to raise and lower the mechanism 36.

A cam rail 52 is installed between both chains 45 and 46.
A wheel 53 provided on the support rod 50 of the grip mechanism 36 is placed on the upper surface of the cam rail 52, and the brackets 47, 48 and the guide rod 49 move horizontally together with the chains 45, 46. At this time, the grip mechanism 36 is configured to be able to move up and down and move in the horizontal direction. 54 is a bracket capable of supporting the lower side of the bracket 48;
This prevents the grip mechanism 36 from sagging.

The transfer means 40 can transfer in the direction of arrow Y in the drawing by the circulation drive mechanism having the above-mentioned configuration. Note that the above embodiment merely shows an example of a circulation drive mechanism in the direction of the arrow Y.

The control system and operation of the present invention will be explained below. First, if the amount of empty bottles E on the carry-out conveyor 27 is below the specified amount, and at the same time, the amount of empty bottles E on the carry-in conveyor 26 is
A case where the amount of filled bottle C above is equal to or greater than the specified amount will be explained.

From the supply line 3 of the empty bottle box A and the supply line 4 of the empty box B, by the operation of the case selector 1,
Empty bottle box A and empty box B are head 3 for the answerer.
8 and the caser head 37 and are alternately sent to the carry-in conveyor 7. The empty bottle box A and the empty box B are pushed back by the feed claw 15 and reach the reference point.

In this specification, the reference point refers to the point at which the grip mechanism 36 reaches the lowest point and grips or releases the bottle (the second conveyor mechanism 24 also has a reference point in this sense).

The moving speed of the feed claw 15 is set equal to the moving speed V of the grip mechanism 36, and after the grip mechanism 36 grips the empty bottle E from the empty bottle box A at the reference point, the transfer means 40 moves the empty bottle E from the empty bottle box A to the second empty bottle. conveyor mechanism 24.

On the other hand, the filled bottles C are fed into the carry-in conveyor 26 and are controlled by a clutch brake 35 built into the bottle pre-sorting pawl 30. The brake 35 is turned on and off by matching the phase of the bottle synchronizing claw 33 according to the amount of filled bottles C. The spacing between the preliminary sorting claws 30 is set to a length that allows gripping of all the bottles, depending on the arrangement of the grips 39.

When the clutch brake 35 is applied, the sorting claw 30 is released and the filled bottles C are transferred to the bottle conveyor 2.
5 and is engaged with the bin synchronizing pawl 33 that is in phase with the caser head 37, and is conveyed on the conveyor 25 at the same speed as the grip mechanism 36. At the reference point, the filled bottles are gripped and transferred to the first conveyor mechanism 6 by the transfer means 40, and packed into boxes at the reference point on the first conveyor mechanism 6.

In addition, depending on whether the preliminary sorting claw 30 is turned on or off, the empty box B
In addition, in the above, the speed of the bottle conveyor 25 is
V ₂ , speed of the bottle synchronizing pawl 33 V ₁ , grip mechanism 3
When the speed V is 6, the control is performed so that V=V ₁ and V ₂ >V ₁ . That is, the speeds of the gripping mechanism 36 and the bottle synchronizing pawl 33 are set to be the same speed V=V ₁ for ease of gripping, etc., and the speeds of the bottle conveyor 25 and the bottle synchronizing pawl 33 are determined by the action of stopping the bottle synchronizing pawl 33. In order to accomplish this (braking action), it is preferable that V ₂ >V ₁ .

The filled bottle-containing box containing the filled bottle C is carried out from the product line 22 as a product D.

On the other hand, the empty bottle E transferred from the first conveyor mechanism 6 is at the reference point of the second conveyor mechanism 24,
The bottles are placed on the transport conveyor 25, then transported and sent to the production line P, and after passing through various steps such as cleaning, sterilization, filling, inspection, and packaging, they are sent to the delivery conveyor 26 as the filled bottles C as described above. It will be done. At this time, if the amount of empty bottles E is detected and the feeding operation of the empty bottle boxes A is selected, the supply to the production line P can be made smooth.

In addition, when empty bottle E is taken out from empty bottle box A on the first conveyor mechanism 6 and becomes empty box F,
The empty box line 23 passes through the empty box transport line and is sent to the case selector 1.

As mentioned above, the empty bottle E gripped on the first conveyor mechanism 6 is transferred onto the second conveyor mechanism 24 and sent to the production line P, and at the same time, the empty bottle E is transferred onto the second conveyor mechanism 24 and sent to the production line P. The filled bottles C on the top 24 are transferred onto the first conveyor mechanism 6, stored in an empty box B, and shipped as a product D.

Note that the above is a case where the amount of empty bottles E on the delivery conveyor 27 is less than the specified amount, but if the amount is more than the specified amount, the sending/stopping mechanism 2b is activated in response to a signal from a sensor (not shown). , stops feeding out the empty bottle E.

On the other hand, if the amount of filled bottles C on the carry-in conveyor is less than the specified amount, the feed/stop mechanism 2a receives a signal from a sensor (not shown).
is activated, and the feeding of empty box B is stopped.

In the above embodiments, the arrangement of the storage sections S in the frame box W is not limited to that shown in the drawings;
It may be 4 columns and 2 rows, etc.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously take out empty bottles and pack filled bottles into boxes using one device, thereby shortening the production line and contributing to significant cost reductions. be able to.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of essential parts of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a schematic front view of the same, and Fig. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing a second conveyor mechanism portion of the same as above. In the figure, A is an empty bottle box, B is an empty box, C is a product bottle, D is a product, E is an empty bottle, F is an empty box, M is a partition, S is a storage section, W is a frame box, and 6 is a box. 1 is a conveyor mechanism, 24 is a second conveyor mechanism, 36 is a grip mechanism, 37 is a caser head, 38 is an uncaser head, and 40 is a transfer means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An empty box B containing nothing in a frame W having storage sections S arranged in a predetermined matrix by a grid-like partition M, and an empty bottle E inside the frame W. The stored empty bottle boxes A are carried in alternately, and the empty box F, which is made up of a frame box W in which the empty bottle E is taken out from the empty bottle box A, and the product D, in which the filled bottle C is stored in the frame box W, are alternately transported. a first conveyor mechanism 6 for carrying out the first conveyor, and carrying in filled bottles C arranged in parallel with the first conveyor mechanism 6 and facing the mechanism 6 in the same arrangement as the storage section S; and a second conveyor mechanism 24 for carrying out the empty bottle E taken out from the empty bottle box A, and between the two conveyor mechanisms 6 and 24, the empty bottle box is placed at a reference point on the first conveyor mechanism 6. An uncaser head 38 and a second uncaser head 38 are synchronized with the speed so as to be positioned above A, then descend to support the empty bottle E in the empty bottle box A, and then rise to take out the empty bottle E. conveyor mechanism 24
A grip mechanism 36 consisting of a caser head 37 that is synchronized in speed so as to be located above the filled bottle C at the upper reference point, then descends to support the filled bottle C, and then rises. The two heads 37 and 38 of the grip mechanism 36 are provided alternately, and the uncaser head 38, which supports the empty bottle E on the first conveyor mechanism 6 and is in the raised state, is connected to the second head.
is transferred to the conveyor mechanism 24 by a circulation drive mechanism in one direction, and the support is released at a reference point on the second conveyor mechanism 24, and the filled bottle C is supported on the second conveyor mechanism 24. The caser head 37, which is in the raised state, passes over the first conveyor mechanism 6 by the two heads 37, 3.
The filled bottle C can be stored in the empty box B by being transferred by the circulating drive mechanism onto the empty box B that moves in synchronization with the empty box B, lowering the bottle C onto the empty box B, and releasing the support. 1. An apparatus for simultaneously serving as a caser and an uncaser, characterized in that a transfer means 40 having a transfer means 40 is provided.