JPS6330233B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a pallet solution filling method in which a plurality of containers are placed on a pallet and the containers are successively filled with solution, capped, inspected for foreign objects, etc.

More specifically, by providing a structure on the pallet that allows the containers on the pallet to be directly manipulated during the process of arranging a plurality of containers, placing them on a pallet, and transporting them, the containers can be placed on the pallet while the containers are being transferred. It is possible to continuously perform solution filling, capping, and foreign matter inspection for each container in the same state.This allows each process, such as solution filling and foreign matter inspection, to be linked and automated, increasing work efficiency. The present invention also relates to a pallet solution filling method that improves work management by quantifying the throughput of each work and speeds up work by processing each pallet.

A method of arranging a large number of containers on a plane and filling all the containers with liquid at the same time is already known. This method simply automates one step of filling multiple containers with liquid at the same time. Automation of traditional continuous work is generally
There is a strong tendency to automate only the work in each process independently of other work. With such a method,
In the work process where each container is processed continuously, the processing cannot be well balanced between the short work time process and the long work time process, resulting in the material to be processed being retained in the long work time process, etc. Problems may arise, and work efficiency may deteriorate despite automation.

Therefore, if we analyze the work characteristics of each process and perform work processing with a certain relationship between each work, for example, solution filling, capping, and foreign object inspection, in other words, we can establish a predetermined synchronization. It is believed that automation can further improve work efficiency and improve work management. However, creating a certain relationship between each work process and automating it has been a difficult problem in reality.

In view of the above-mentioned situation, the present inventors have created the present invention in order to effectively solve the problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pallet on which a plurality of containers are placed and to transport the containers to each work process, and to provide a structure in which the containers can be attached to and removed from the pallet. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pallet-type solution filling method that allows work to be performed directly on containers on a pallet in each work step, and processing can be performed on a pallet basis.

Therefore, the present invention has the advantage that work can be done on a pallet-by-pallet basis, speeding up work and improving product and work management.

Furthermore, the present invention has the advantage that by processing each pallet in each work process and synchronously processing each work process, the overall work can be made smoother and work efficiency can be improved. have

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of bottle-shaped containers 1 are placed in a predetermined arrangement relationship on a pallet 2 that is being transported in the A direction. As shown in FIG. 2, each container 1 is placed on the pallet with its bottom supported by a saucer 3 provided on the pallet 2, and the saucer 3 has an operation hole 3a in its center, The container 1 is tapered into engagement with an operating hole 2a formed in the pallet 2, so that the container 1 and the saucer 3 can be attached to and removed from the pallet 2 upwardly.

In FIG. 3, 4 is a control device, which controls each step of the work. The transferred containers 1 are sorted by a distribution device 5 that swings around a shaft 5a, sent by a conveyor 6, and aligned by a wall 7. The containers 1 lined up at position B are arranged on prepared pallets at predetermined pitches P _X and P _Y as shown in FIG. are arranged and placed on top.

The pallet 2 on which the container 1 is placed is transported to a conveyor 9.
During this transfer, steps C, D, and E are provided in which the containers 1 on the pallet are filled with solution, capped, and inspected for foreign matter.

The solution filling step C will be explained with reference to FIG. The pallets 2 sent to the filling process are made to stand still by aligning the openings 1a of each container 1 with the supply nozzle 11 provided in the solution tank 10, which is a filling device. When the pallet 2 comes to rest, the hydraulic valve 12 is actuated by a command a from the control device 4, and hydraulic pressure is applied to the cylinder 13, so that the solution filling meter 14 provided below the pallet 2 moves upward. The weighing device 14 has the same number of weight detectors 16 as the number of the trays 3 on the plate 15 so as to match the positions of the trays 3.
A saucer support rod 17 with A rod 19 that can be freely inserted into the guide 18 is provided. Measuring device 14
Due to the upward movement of the container 1, the saucer 3 supported by the rod 17 is removed from the hole 2a, and the entire container 1 moves upward together with the saucer 3.

After the above operation, the next command b is issued and the valve 20 is actuated, which causes the cylinder 21 to be actuated, causing the tank 10 to move downward and all the nozzles 11 to be inserted into the container 1 through the mouth 1a. Then, the switching valve 22 is operated in accordance with the generated command c, and the valve 23 provided in each nozzle 11 is operated to supply and fill the container with the solution 24 from the tank.

When the supply of the solution is started, as the liquid level in the container 1 rises, all the nozzles 11 are
gradually raise the nozzle 11.
The tip must be placed in the solution 24 to prevent bubbles from forming.

When a specified amount of solution is filled into the container 1, the control device 4 issues commands d and e based on the signal output from the detector 16, and the valves 22 and 20 operate to supply the solution and open the nozzle 11. Stop the upward movement. Next, the command f is issued, the plate 15 is moved down through the cylinder by the operation of the valve 12, the saucer 3 is fitted into the hole 2a again, the container 1 is placed on the pallet 2, and the solution filling process is started. Finish C.

The capping step D will be explained with reference to FIG. The pallet 2 that has completed the filling process C is transferred to the capping process D by the conveyor 9. The capping device 25 includes a final tightening punch 26 and a final tightening punch 27, each consisting of four punches arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction, and the interval between the punches 26, 27 is equal to _PX . The pallet 2 is transported until the containers in the front row are positioned directly below the punch 26, and at this position, the cylinders 28, 28 are operated to allow the pallet 2 to be supported by the roller conveyor 29.
Connect the rear end of pallet 2 to cylinder 3 using electromagnet 30, etc.
It is fixed to the rod 31a of No.1. Therefore, the pallet 2 is moved one by one on the conveyor 29 by the cylinder 31.
Punch _P
6 and 27, the capping operation is performed in the order of preliminary tightening and final tightening for each row. When the capping work for the four rows of containers on the pallet 2 is completed, the cylinder 28 is activated, the conveyor 29 is moved down, the pallet 2 is transferred to the conveyor 9, and the capping process D is completed.

The foreign matter inspection process E will be explained with reference to FIG. The pallet 2 sent by the conveyor 9 is moved up and down by the roller conveyor 3 by cylinders 32, 32.
At the same time, the rear end of the pallet 2 is fixed to the tip of the rod 35a of the cylinder 35 by the electromagnet 34. Thereafter, the pallet 2 is transferred by the cylinder 35 until the front row of containers 1 is located directly above the rotating device 36. At this position, cylinder 36
a and a rod 3 equipped with a motor 36b.
At step 6c, the saucer 3 is removed from the hole 2a to move the container 1 upward, and then the motor 36b is activated to give the solution in the container 1 a rotational motion of about 600 to 800 rpm. The tip of the rod 36c is provided with the aforementioned engaging portion 36d that engages with the saucer 3. After giving rotational motion to the solution, the motor 36b is stopped, and the cylinder 36a is operated to move the saucer 3 and container 1 down, the saucer 3 is fitted into the hole 2a, and the container 1 is placed on the pallet.

Next, operate the cylinder 35 to make one pitch.
P Send _X pallets in the forward direction. As a result, the containers in the first row are located directly above the container lifting device 37, and the containers in the second row are located directly above the rotating device 36, respectively. When the cylinder 37a of the lift device 37 operates, the containers in the first row are raised by the rod 37b so that they are located between the light projector 38 and the light receiver 39. The engagement relationship between the tip of the rod 37b and the saucer 3 is as described above, and the projector 38 consists of a light source 38a and a Fresnel lens 38b, while the light receiver 39 consists of an objective lens 39a and a light receiving plate 39b. The light-receiving plate 39b is composed of several thousand light-receiving elements arranged in a straight line in the vertical direction, and a signal corresponding to the amount of light is sent from each light-receiving element to the arithmetic unit 40.

The principle of foreign matter inspection will be explained with reference to FIG. 9. If a foreign matter 41 is present in the solution 24 that undergoes a rotational motion given by the rotation device 36, the foreign matter 41 will definitely come into contact with the light source 38a once during one rotation. Since a shadow is created on the light receiving element 39b-1 by blocking the transmitted light L from the light receiving element 39b-1, this method determines suitability or unsuitability based on a change in the amount of light received by the light receiving element 39b-1. In reality, one container is repeatedly measured multiple times (approximately 100 times), and each measured value is 42% as shown in Figure 8.
is integrated by the arithmetic unit 40, and the judgment is made based on the magnitude of the integrated value 43. For example, if a foreign substance exists in the solution 24, this can be determined because the integrated amount of received light 43 becomes extremely small.

As described above, the containers in the first row are inspected for foreign substances, and the solution in the containers 1 in the second row is given rotational motion by the rotating device 36 as described above. As described above, the inspection work and the rotation work are performed almost simultaneously, and then the respective saucers 3 are returned to the holes 2a and the containers 1 are placed on the pallet 2, and the inspection process E is completed. After this, the above operation is repeated, but in this embodiment, in order to save time, the foreign object inspection E is divided into two times in relation to other work processes, and therefore the foreign object inspection of the containers in the second row is completed. After that, it is transferred to the next foreign substance inspection device 44b and the same operation is repeated.

After the solution filling step C, the capping step D, and the foreign matter inspection step E are carried out as described above, the pallet 2 is sent to the container unloading device 45 shown in FIG. A container gripping device 45b that reciprocates while being guided by frames 45a, 45a is provided at the end of the conveyor 9 and on the discharge conveyor 46, whereby containers 1 on the pallet 2 transferred to the end of the conveyor 9 are
is transferred onto the carry-out conveyor 46. The containers 1 transferred onto the conveyor 16 are transferred by the conveyor 46 to a line conveyor 47, by which the containers 1 are transferred in a line to the next process.

A return conveyor 48 is a device for returning the pallet 2 from which the containers 1 have been removed to the container arrangement device 8.

Next, the relationship between the operations in each of the above steps C, D, and E will be explained based on the movement of the pallet 2.

FIG. 4 shows the movement of pallets in each process, the distance between pallets, and the distance between devices.
The distance between each device is determined by the pitch _PX and the reference distance L (transfer distance), with the distance between the containers in the first row on the pallet 2 as a reference. Reference numeral 9 denotes a conveyor, and along the conveyor 9, an arrangement device 8, a filling device 10, a capping device 25, a first foreign matter inspection device 44a, a second foreign matter inspection device 44b, and a carry-out device 45 are sequentially provided. 2'... is the initial position of the pallet in each device, 2''... is the final position, 4
9 indicates the arrangement position of the containers in the first row of each pallet.

The flow of work on the conveyor 9 will be explained based on FIGS. 4 and 10. In FIG. 10, a large number of rectangular frames represent pallets, the horizontal direction shows a series of processes, and the vertical direction shows a chronological order showing the progress of the work. The explanation will be based on the chronological order (1) to (15).

(1) In (1), the containers transferred from the previous process are aligned and then placed on the pallet 2A by the array arrangement device 8.

(2) In (2), the pallet 2A is moved by the distance L by the conveyor 9 and is transferred to the filling device 10. The containers on the pallet 2A are filled with the solution by the filling device 10 as described above, and at the same time new containers are placed on the pallet 2B in the same manner as described above.

(3) In (3), after the pallet 2A has been filled into the container, the conveyor 9 is moved by L, and the pallet 2A is transferred to the capping device 25.
B is transferred to the filling device 10, and at the same time, a new pallet 2C is set in the arranging device 8.

In (3) to (5), caps are added to the containers of pallet 2A, the containers of pallet 2B are filled with solution, and the containers are arranged and placed on pallet 2C. At this time, in steps (3) to (5), palette 2
A is sent by one pitch _PX by the conveyor 29, and capping work is performed as described above.

(4) In (6), the conveyor 9 is moved by L, and the pallet 2A is transferred to the first foreign object inspection device 44a, the pallet 2B is transferred to the capping device 25, and the pallet 2B is transferred to the capping device 25.
C transfers it to the filling device 10 and newly arranges it in the arranging device 8.
Palette 2D is set.

In (6) to (8), the same operations as in steps (3) to (5) above are performed for pallets 2B, 2C, and 2D.
On the other hand, regarding the pallet 2A, the containers in the two front rows are inspected for foreign matter as described above.

(5) In (9), the conveyor 9 is moved by L, and the pallet 2A is transferred to the second foreign object inspection device 44b, and the pallets 2B, 2C, 2D, and 2
Regarding E, the same operation as in (6) above is performed.

In (9) to (11), the remaining containers in the rear two rows of pallet 2A are inspected for foreign objects, and pallets 2B and 2 are inspected for foreign objects.
For C, 2D, and 2E, the same operations as in (6) to (8) above are performed, respectively.

(6) In (12), the conveyor 9 is moved by L to transfer the pallet 2A to the conveyance device 45, and for the pallets 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, and 2F,
This is the same operation as in (9) above.

In (12) to (14), the container of pallet 2A is carried out to the next process, pallet 2A disappears, and pallets 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, and 2F are processed in the same way as in (9) to (11), respectively. work will be carried out.

(7) In (15), conveyor 9 moves by L,
The same operation as in (12) above is performed. After that (1)
The states of ~(6) are repeated.

As mentioned above, each work process consists of distance L, pitch _R
By determining the device time distance in consideration of the operating characteristics of each device, a predetermined synchronization is achieved.
Efforts are being made to facilitate work.

Next, another embodiment will be described based on FIG. 11.
In this embodiment, a cap detection device 50 for checking the presence or absence of a cap, a removal device 51 for removing containers without caps, and a foreign object inspection device 44 are used.
Devices 52 and 53 are provided for rejecting containers rejected by the containers 52 and 44b.

The container arrangement process, solution filling process, capping process, inspection process, and melter unloading process are the same as in the previous embodiment, and therefore their explanation will be omitted.

The container removing devices 51, 52, and 53 are provided with chucks used in an uncaser or the like, and are provided so as to be movable forward and backward between positions 51', 52', and 53' shown by imaginary lines. Each device 51, 52, 53 is
It operates based on signals from the cap inspection device 50 and foreign object inspection devices 44a and 44b, which are disposed in front of it.

Final tightening punch 27, inspection device 50, exclusion device 5
1, each interval is 1 pitch P _x minutes. Also, the detection parts 44a-1, 4 of the foreign object inspection devices 44a, 44b
The distance between 4b-1 and the exclusion devices 52 and 53 is set to an arbitrary distance l. Based on such a distance relationship, the positional relationship of each device in this embodiment is as shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the capping process D consists of the following operations: pre-tightening of the cap, final tightening of the cap, inspection of the cap, and removal of rejected containers. The foreign matter inspection process E consists of the steps of rotating the container, inspecting for foreign matter, and removing rejected containers. The pallet that has passed through the first foreign object inspection device 44a is continuously transferred by the conveyor 33, and if there is a rejected container, it is removed by the removal device 52. The operation of the second foreign matter inspection device 44b is also similar to that of the first foreign matter inspection device 44a.

In the foreign object inspection of the embodiment described above, the containers 1 arranged on the pallet 2 were processed separately into the front two rows of containers and the rear two rows of containers. It is also possible to divide it into

Further, when the number of divisions in the foreign matter inspection step E is further increased, this is made possible by making the number of rows of containers 1 on the pallet 2 a multiple of the number of divisions.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention,
A structure is provided in which a plurality of containers are placed and the containers are attached to and removed from a pallet to be transferred to each work process, and each work is performed on the containers on the pallet in units of pallets in each work process of solution filling, capping, and foreign matter inspection. This makes it possible to speed up work, improve work efficiency, and improve work management when filling containers with solutions. Further, since the solution filling device is provided with a weight measuring device, various effects such as being able to accurately fill a predetermined amount of solution can be exhibited.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view of a pallet on which containers are placed, FIG. 2 is a side view of the pallet with a partially sectional view, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the entire device. Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the arrangement relationship of each work process, Figure 5 is a view taken in the direction of arrow 5-5 in Figure 3,
Figure 6 is a view taken in the direction of arrows 6-6 in Figure 3, Figure 7 is a view taken in the direction of arrows 7-7 in Figure 3, Figures 8 and 9 are diagrams explaining the principle of foreign object inspection, and Figure 10. 11 is a diagram illustrating the work progress in terms of the flow of pallets, and FIG. 11 is a diagram similar to FIG. 3 of another embodiment. In the drawings, 1 is a container, 2 is a pallet, 3 is a saucer, 4 is a control device, 5 is a distribution device, 8 is an arrangement device, 9 is a conveyor, 10 is a solution tank which is a filling device, 11 is a filling nozzle, 16 is a weight detector, 25 is a capping device, 44a and 44b are foreign object inspection devices, 45 is a carry-out device, 50 is a cap inspection device, and 51, 52, and 53 are container removal devices.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of rows of operation holes are provided in a pallet to be transferred to each work process, a saucer member is provided in each of the operation holes in a detachable manner, and the saucer member is inserted through the operation hole in a predetermined process. The containers are placed on the tray member while being supported in a vertically movable manner by a supporting rod, and when transferring the containers to each work process, the containers are transferred by transferring the pallets as one unit. In the step of filling the containers with the solution, all the containers placed on the pallet are simultaneously moved up via the saucer member, and after the containers are filled by inserting a nozzle for filling the solution into the mouth of the container. Then, all the containers are moved down again and placed on the pallet, and then, in the container capping work process and the foreign object inspection work process, the pallet is transferred while the containers are transferred at intervals between rows of containers, in addition to the transfer in the filling process. 1. A pallet solution filling method characterized in that capping work and foreign matter inspection work are performed by moving the containers arranged on top row by row upward.