JPH0141570B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a container discharging device, and more particularly, to a container discharging device for transporting and discharging containers by intermittently dropping a group of containers onto a continuously rotating screw in an unscrambler.

Conventionally, in an unscrambler or the like, a plurality of containers are intermittently dropped into each pocket of a continuously rotating destroyer screw installed on a conveyor, and the containers are discharged by the rotation of the screw. It is known what they emit. In such a discharging device, the container falls due to its own weight, so the time it takes for the container to fall is constant; however, if the rotational speed of the screw is increased to increase the discharging capacity, the container that is being discharged will The disadvantage is that the next container must be dropped while the last one of the containers is located below the group of containers to be dropped next, which limits the discharge capacity due to interference between the containers. It was hot.

The present invention was made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and when dropping a container onto the screw,
By providing a guide mechanism that pushes the sides of each of these containers in the direction of movement of the screw at approximately the same speed and guides them into each pocket of the screw.
A container discharging device capable of discharging containers at high speed is provided.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.
In Fig. 1, 1 is a hopper for storing a large number of containers A, 2 is a container transfer mechanism installed at an angle at the bottom of the hopper, and this container transfer mechanism is connected to a shaft 3 rotatably supported at the upper and lower ends. , 4, a plurality of pulleys 5, 6 attached to the respective shafts, and each pulley 5, 6.
It has a belt 7 stretched between them, and container pushing members 8 attached to each belt 7 at predetermined intervals. Further, as clearly shown in FIG. 3, guides 9 for guiding both sides of the outer surface of the container A are provided on both sides of each belt 7, and the upper surface of each pair of guides 9 is placed inside the hopper 1. The inclined surface is inclined inward so that a large number of containers stored therein can be guided between each set of guides 9.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an impeller 10 is placed above the hopper 1 and faces the top surface of the container transfer mechanism 2.
is arranged so that containers that are piled up on top of containers A to be transferred by this container transfer mechanism 2 can be knocked down into the hopper 1 by the rotation of the impeller 10. On the other hand, this impeller 10
As can be understood from FIGS. 1 and 3, on the downstream side of the A substantially elliptical cam plate 13 is attached so as to alternately appear and disappear into the hopper 1 from between the two. Therefore, the container A stored in the hopper 1 falls by its own weight between each set of guides by the inclined surface of the guide 9, and is transferred upward along the guide 9 by the container pushing member 8. At this time, even if a situation occurs in which container A crosses guide 9 and rides on the guide, or containers are piled up in an arch shape between the guides and the container does not fall into the guide, the container will not fall into hopper 1. Since the container is moved by the cam plate 13 that retracts from the container or the arch-shaped stack of containers is broken, the container A reliably falls between the guides. Then, the containers that are piled up on top of the containers A that have fallen between the guides and are transferred together with the containers are knocked down into the hopper 1 by the impeller 10, so that they are eventually stored in the hopper 1. The containers are sequentially transferred one by one in a plurality of rows by the container transfer mechanism 2.

However, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper end of the container transfer mechanism 2 is configured to guide the container A, which has been transferred by the container transfer mechanism 2, in a diagonally downward direction that is slightly inclined from the vertical direction. A chute 14 is installed in series. At the bottom of this chute 14, a second
As shown in the figure, there is a stopper 15 that appears in the chute 14 to stop and release the containers falling inside the chute, and when the stopper 15 releases the stop, the container following the released container is placed in a stopped state. A container holding member 16 for holding the container is provided. The stopper 15 and the container holding member 16 are fixed to a shaft 18 that is momentarily rotated back and forth by a predetermined angle by a rotary solenoid 17.
Therefore, as shown in FIG.
When the rotary solenoid 17 is energized and the shaft 18 momentarily rotates by a predetermined angle from a state in which the container A protrudes into the chute 14 and prevents the container A from falling,
The container that was prevented from falling by contacting the stopper 15 falls downward due to the release of the stopper, and at the same time, the containers following the dropped container are pressed against the inner surface of the chute by the container holding member 16.
Falling is prevented. Next, when the stopper 15 and the container pushing member 16 are returned to their original states by the rotary solenoid 17, the container, which had been prevented from falling by the container holding member 16, falls inside the chute 14 and reaches the stopper. 15 stops its fall. At this time, the container holding member 16
If there is no container to be held by the chute and the container falls with the container holding member 16 protruding into the chute 14, the container will come into contact with the container holding member 16 and will not fall. stopped,
Next, the stopper 15 prevents it from falling.

In addition, a limit switch 19 is provided at the top of the chute 14, which is activated by the passage of the container A.
When containers remain in the chute 14 and the limit switch 19 is continuously operated, the container transfer mechanism 2 can be stopped.

The containers falling through the chute 14 are both upright and inverted, so below the chute, the inverted containers are inverted and all the containers are placed in the upright position. A container alignment device 20 is provided to align the containers. This container alignment device 20 includes a rod-shaped support member 21 that receives the containers A falling within the chute 14, and a rod-shaped support member 21 that receives the containers A falling within the chute 14, and transports the containers received by the support member 21 into the chute 14.
A container pushing member 22 that pushes out the container laterally through an opening 14a formed on an upper side surface of the container is provided. The distance between the support member 21 and the support surface 14b formed by extending the lower surface of the chute 14 is set to such a distance as to allow the neck a of the container A to pass through and come into contact with the shoulder b of the container. As a result, a concave portion 21a is formed in which only the neck portion a can be accommodated. Therefore, when the container A falls in the chute 14 in an inverted state, the container A is stopped by the shoulder b of the container coming into contact with the support member 21.
On the other hand, if the container falls in an upright position,
When the bottom surface of the container comes into contact with the support member 21, the container is stopped. Further, the vertical distance between the openings 14a is set to be slightly larger than the length of the body c of the container A. The container pushing member 22 is attached to a rotating shaft 23, and the body c of the container A can be pushed out laterally by reciprocating rotation of the rotating shaft 23.

Therefore, when the container A is received by the supporting member 21 in an inverted state and the neck portion a of the container A is stored in the recessed portion 21a, the container pushing member 22 pushes the container A laterally. When pushed out, the container is rotated around the support member 21 that supports the step between the neck a and the shoulder b, and this support member 21
The discharge chute 24 is arranged diagonally downward from the
Then, it is turned over with the bottom facing the direction of travel, that is, in an upright position, and then dropped. On the other hand, when the container A is received by the support member 21 in an upright state, the container A is initially moved laterally by the container pushing member 22, and the neck portion a of the container A is moved into the opening 1.
When the container A comes into contact with the support member 25 at the upper edge forming the container A, the container A is rotated around the support member 25, and when the bottom surface is separated from the support member 21, the container A is turned with its bottom surface facing the direction of travel, that is, it is reversed. Exhaust chute 2 above while standing upright.
It will fall to 4.

The discharge chute 24 is curved vertically downward from the middle, and is connected to a support wall 26 and a screw 27.
It is placed above the gap between the two. This discharge chute 2
Stoppers 28 and 29 are provided at two locations in the middle of 4.
Each stopper, like the stopper 15, is attached to shafts 32, 33 which are reciprocated by rotary solenoids 30, 31. These stoppers 28 and 29 are each operated in synchronization with the rotation of the screw 27, so that the containers can be dropped into the screw 27 one after another. Further, a conveyor 34 is disposed at a lower intermediate position between the screw 27 and the support wall 26, and conveys multiple rows of containers dropped into the gap between the screw 27 and the support wall 26 in a row in the lateral direction. I'm trying to make it possible.

As shown in FIG. 2, a container support mechanism 36 and a guide mechanism 37 are provided between the discharge chute 24 and the screw 27 disposed below it. The container support mechanism 36 consists of a support plate 39 that swings around a support shaft 38 and a cylinder 40 that swings this support plate 39, and supports the container group A dropped from the lower stopper 29 to the support plate in a horizontal state. After receiving the container group A at 39, the container group A, which had previously fallen and is already being ejected by the screw 27, is kept on standby until the ejection is completed, and then the support plate 39 is swung downward to remove the container group A. Then, one container A is inserted into each pocket 35 formed by each recess of the screw 27 and the support wall 26. Further, the guide mechanism 37 is connected to the screw 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.
A pair of sprockets 41 are disposed above the sides of both ends of the screw 27, an endless chain 42 runs between the two sprockets 41, and each pocket 3 of the screw 27 is connected to the chain 42 at a predetermined interval.
The guide member 43 is fixed at intervals corresponding to 5. Each of these guide members 43 has a U-shaped cross section, and is formed so that the container A can be positioned within its recess. 44 is a support roller that prevents each guide member 43 from retreating. The guide mechanism 37 having the above configuration is intermittently driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) in synchronization with the rotational speed of the screw 27 that rotates continuously, so that each container A falling from the container support mechanism 36 is moved through the screw 27.
guide so that it can be smoothly inserted into each pocket 35 of the device. Note that the shape of the guide member 43 is not limited to a U-shaped cross section, and may be any shape as long as it can press the container A from behind in the advancing direction of the screw 27.

Containers A are aligned by the container aligning device 20 and dropped into the discharge chute 24.
is sequentially moved to the stoppers 28 and 29 by its own weight, and then falls onto the container support mechanism 36 and is supported on the support plate 39. At this time, the guide mechanism 3
7 is in a stopped state, and each container A is located within the recess of each guide member 43. Further, below, the screw 27 and the conveyor 34 are discharging the container A that fell last time. Next, Screw 27
Immediately before the container A in the pocket 35 is completely discharged, the container support mechanism 36 is activated, the support plate 39 is released, and the containers begin to fall. At the same time, the guide mechanism 37 operates and each container A is moved to each guide member 43.
While being pushed by the screw 27 and moving at the same speed as the screw 27, it slides down the inner surface of the guide member 43 and is thrown into the pocket 35 one by one. In this way, when container A falls, this container
are moved at approximately the same speed in the advancing direction of the screw 27, so that each pocket 35 of the screw 27
Containers can be smoothly inserted into the container. When the container A falls into the screw 27, the guide mechanism 37 stops and waits for the next group of containers to be supplied to the support mechanism 36 at a predetermined position, that is, a position corresponding to each container. By repeating the above series of operations, the containers are continuously discharged.

As described above, according to the present invention, the guide member is provided on one side of a group of containers supported on a container support mechanism and protrudes from the side of each container, When the containers are opened by the container support mechanism, the containers are moved intermittently at approximately constant speed in the same direction as the transport mechanism to press the sides of each container, and the containers that are falling are moved into the container receiving portions of the transport mechanism. Since a guide mechanism is provided to guide the containers, when the containers fall, they are guided by the guide members on the sides of each container while moving almost synchronously over the spots of the transport mechanism, that is, over each container receiving section. The containers can be loaded reliably and smoothly into each spot, and even if the transport mechanism increases in speed, the containers can be sufficiently accommodated without fear of mutual interference. Furthermore, even when the transport mechanism is operated at low speed, even if a dropped container bounces and tries to deviate from the spot position, it will be blocked by the guide member that moves synchronously directly above it and will be returned to the original spot position. This has the effect of preventing container clogging caused by bounce, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 4 all show one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 1 is a schematic side view showing the front half of the unscrambler, Figure 2 is a schematic side view showing the rear half, and Figure 3 is a schematic side view showing the rear half of the unscrambler. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 1, and a plan view showing a simplified guide mechanism for guiding eight rows of containers. A: Container, 27: Transport mechanism, 35: Receiving portion of transport mechanism, 36: Container support mechanism, 37: Guide mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container support mechanism that supports the lower surface of a plurality of containers supplied from above and intermittently opens and drops these container groups, and is disposed so as to be freely retractable in the supply path of the container group, and the lower part of this container support mechanism. and a transport mechanism for transporting a group of containers that have fallen from the container support mechanism. In a container discharging device that continuously conveys and discharges in one direction, the container is disposed on one side of a group of containers supported on the container support mechanism, and protrudes so as to be located on the side of each container. A guide member is provided, and when the container support mechanism opens the container, the guide member moves intermittently at substantially constant speed in the same direction as the traveling direction of the transport mechanism to press the side surface of each container, and transports each container that is falling. A container discharging device characterized by being provided with a guide mechanism that guides the containers into each container receiving portion of the mechanism.