JPH0333595B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is an automatic capping machine, particularly for a bottle with a non-circular cross section. This invention relates to an automatic capping machine for capping.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, bottles for household detergents and the like have become larger, have a flat cross section, have a handle, and are increasingly equipped with an inner stopper with a spout.

With this type of bottle, since the position in which it is held is specified, the inner stopper must be fixed to the bottle mouth with its spout facing a specific direction. Generally, such an inner stopper has projections and recesses for engagement on the inside of the inner stopper and the outside of the bottle, and is attached to the bottle by driving and engaging and fixing using the elasticity of the plastic.

Conventionally, a mounting device has been provided that automatically aligns the spout of a spout in a certain direction and attaches it to a paper container for milk, juice, etc. by heating and bonding the spout (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1983-1999).
27724), the positioning of the spout in this device is performed by forming a protrusion around the spout and engaging the engaging pawl with the protrusion. This method is applicable only to a special type of spout having a section, and no automated device has yet been provided for driving, engaging and fixing the inner plug of a detergent container or the like as described above by utilizing the elasticity of plastic. Therefore, the current situation is that this kind of medium stopper is conventionally plugged manually.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As mentioned above, the filling of the inner stopper, which requires aligning the spout of the inner stopper in a certain direction and filling the bottle, has traditionally been done manually. Since it requires manpower and is inefficient, complete automation is desired. In addition, since the capping is done manually, there are problems such as insufficient capping and incomplete capping.

The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the present invention automatically aligns the inner plug supplied in a random direction in a certain direction and places it in the opening of the body aligned in a certain direction. , an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic inner stoppering machine for capping this.

Means for Solving the Problem Generally, as shown in FIG. 3, the inner stopper with a spout that is attached to the plastic bottle has a recess 8' formed on the bottom of the spout at a position that is on the upper side when liquid is poured out. has been done. The present invention positions the inner stopper by rotating the inner stopper and engaging an engagement pin in the recess, and then plugs the inner stopper while maintaining that state.
It has the following configuration.

That is, an automatic inner stopper capping machine of the present invention to achieve the above object includes a positioning rotor that rotates intermittently and has a pocket formed on its outer periphery to receive inner stoppers supplied in random directions, and a pocket of the positioning rotor. a rotary head disposed at a passing position and capable of being raised and lowered to rotate the inner plug by engaging from above with the inner plug fitted in the pocket; and a rotating head formed on the bottom surface of the inner plug rotated by the rotary head. An inner stopper positioning means consisting of an engaging pin that can be raised and lowered to engage the recess from below and position the cap, a cap supply rotor that transfers the positioned inner stopper to the main rotary, and a cap supply rotor that is aligned in a fixed direction from the body supply star wheel. a pocket for receiving and holding a bottle body; and a capper, which is arranged above the pocket so as to be able to rise and fall freely, and which grips an inner stopper supplied from the cap supply rotor and moves up and down to drive the inner stopper into the opening of the body. A technical means is adopted consisting of a main rotary having a head and a discharge star wheel for discharging the corked body.

Effects The effects of the present invention will be explained based on the drawing of FIG. 1, which corresponds to an embodiment.

The plastic bottle bodies filled with contents such as detergent in the filling process are aligned in a fixed direction by a body supply star wheel 2, supplied to the main rotary 1, and rotated while being gripped by a pocket of the main rotary 1. On the other hand, the inner stopper having the spout is supplied to the rotary plate of the positioning rotor in random directions, and is transferred to the midline positioning section 5 where the inner stopper positioning means is provided by the intermittent rotation of the rotary plate. When reaching the inner stopper positioning part 5, the rotary plate temporarily stops,
The engagement pin rises from below and comes into contact with the lower surface of the spout, and at the same time the rotating head descends from above to press the inner stopper and rotate it by frictional force. When the inner stopper rotates and the engagement pin engages with the recess formed on the lower surface of the spout, the inner stopper is prevented from rotating by the engagement pin, and the spout of the inner stopper is aligned at a fixed position. Thereafter, the rotary plate rotates again to transfer the inner stopper to the transfer position to the main rotary 1, and the positioned inner stopper is supplied to the main rotary 1 by the cap supply rotor 6. The inner stopper is held by a stoppering head disposed on the main rotary 1 so as to be movable up and down, and rotates in synchronization with the pocket holding the body.
While the main rotary is rotating, the capping head, which grips the inner stopper aligned in a certain direction, is lowered by a cam and drives the inner stopper into the opening of the body located below. Thereby, the inner stopper can be plugged into the bottle with the spout aligned in a certain direction. For bottles that have already been capped, use the discharge star wheel 3.
is discharged to the next process.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall arrangement of an automatic inner stoppering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a main rotary 1 which positions the spout in a certain direction and places the supplied inner stopper on the body and plugs the stopper. 2 is a body supply star wheel that supplies bodies in a fixed direction, and 3 is a discharge star wheel 3 that discharges a capped bottle, both of which are driven to rotate in a fixed relationship with the main rotary. Reference numeral 4 denotes a positioning rotor which is driven to rotate intermittently by placing an inner stopper in a pocket arranged on the outer periphery, and an inner stopper positioning part 5 is disposed at a position where the inner stopper passes through the pocket, and controls the spout of the inner stopper. Align in a certain direction. Further, 6 is a cap supply rotor that supplies the positioned inner cap to the main rotary 1. Further, 35 is a conveyor for conveying the plastic bottles to the body supply star wheel 2, 58 is a height check rotary for inspecting the capping state of the bottle that has already been capped, 65 is a star wheel, and 66 is a conveyor.

Hereinafter, details of the capping machine according to the above embodiment will be explained in detail based on the drawings shown in FIG. 2 and subsequent figures.

FIG. 2 shows the feeder 14 of the inner stopper. Inside the guide 7, inner stoppers 8 are supplied in a stacked state with the orientation of the spout 9 being random, and the supporting claws 1
0. As shown in FIG. 1B, another set of supporting claws 11, 11 is provided at right angles to 10, 10 shown in FIG.
These claws 10, 11 are attached to air cylinders 10', 1
1' allows it to take an engagement position with the inner stopper and a disengagement position. Reference numeral 12 denotes a peeling member having a narrowing rubber at the tip, and the inner stopper 8 is held between the bracket mounting ring 12'' and the air cylinder 12' attached to the air cylinder 13 with the bracket 12. It goes up and down depending on.

Details of the positioning rotor 4 and the inner plug positioning means are shown in FIG. The positioning rotor 4 is a first
As shown in the figure, pockets 4' are provided at equal intervals on the outer periphery, and the inner stopper 8 is inserted into these pockets at the feeder 14 portion. An engagement pin 1 is provided on the lower side of the rotor 4.
The engaging pin 15 is raised to the position shown in the figure when the arm 16 is rotated by a cam 18 about a shaft 17 provided in the machine frame, and the engaging pin 15 is raised to the position shown in the figure. Touch the bottom. pin 15
is biased by a weak spring 19, and is pressed down by contacting the bottom surface of the inner stopper 8. Reference numeral 20 designates a spring for lowering the engagement pin 15 when the feed roller 18' of the arm 16 is not pressed by the cam 18, and is stretched between the arm 16 and the machine frame.

On the other hand, a rotary head 21 shown in FIG. 4 is provided above the engagement pin 15 with the positioning rotor 4 in between, and is movable up and down. The rotary head 21 has a rubber 22 that rotates the inner plug 8 by friction when pressed against the inner plug 8, and is rotationally driven by a gear train 23 via a shaft 24. This gear train 23 includes a gear 23 ₁ fixed to a shaft 68 to which a cam 26 for raising and lowering the rotary head 21 is attached, a gear 23 ₂ rotatably attached to an intermediate shaft 69,
23 ₃ and a gear 23 ₄ fixed to the rotary head mounting shaft 24, the gear 23 ₃ is pressed toward the gear 23 ₂ by a spring 70, and the torque from the gear 23 ₂ is transmitted to 23 ₃ by friction. are doing. Therefore, if a load above a certain level is applied, slippage will occur between gear 23 ₂ and gear 23 ₃ . Arm 2 is attached to the shaft 24.
5 is engaged, and this arm 25 is rotated by a cam 26 rotating via a gear train (not shown) that rotates the rotor 4, when the pocket 4' of the rotor 4 enters the inner stopper positioning section 5. It descends, presses the inner stopper 8 in the pocket 4' with the rubber 22, and rotates the inner stopper.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cap supply rotor 6 includes two grippers 27 that rotate intermittently. The gripper 27 is provided with a diameter reducing member 28 made of rubber at its lower end, as shown in a partial cross section in FIG.
After covering the inner stopper 8, the rubber member 28 contracts in diameter by introducing air to grip the inner stopper. The supply and discharge of air, that is, the gripping and release of the inner stopper, is controlled by a valve 29, which is opened and closed by an air cylinder 30 that operates in synchronization with the vertical movement and rotation of the gripper 27. Ru. The rotation of the gripper 27 is driven by a gear 31 and a shaft 32, while a cam 34 is mounted on the upper part of the central fixed shaft 33.
is provided to be movable up and down, and is moved up and down by a cam mechanism (not shown), and the gripper gripping the inner plug 8 is lifted, rotated, and lowered to transfer the inner plug 8 onto the guide. At this time, the inner stopper 8 is placed on the guide 41 so that the long end of the bottom inclined spout (see FIG. 2a) of the inner stopper 8 is located on the downstream side of the rotating locus of the cap setter, which will be described later. be placed.

Details of the main rotary 1 are shown in FIG.
In FIG. 1, bodies 36 carried by a transfer device 35 such as a conveyor are aligned in the circumferential direction of the wheel 2 by the star wheel 2 and the guide so that their flat surfaces are parallel to the guide. It is fed into a pocket 37 provided in the lower rotor 1' of the rotary 1. At the neck position of the body 36 is an air cylinder 3 operated by a fixed cam 38.
The network holder 40 operated by the body 3
Hold the neck part of No. 6 to absorb the impact when positioning and simultaneously inserting the inner stopper.

On the other hand, the upper rotor 1'', which rotates in synchronization with the lower rotor 1', has a pocket 3 of the lower rotor 1'.
A capping head 49 is provided above the capping head 6 so as to be movable up and down, and a capsetter 42 is rotatably provided between the capping heads in pairs with each capping head. The cap setter 42 is provided so as to rotate below the guide 41, engages with the lower surface of the inner stopper 8 on the guide 41, slides it on the guide 41, removes it, and inserts the cap setter while maintaining a fixed direction. Transfer onto 42. The setter 42 is rotatable by a shaft 43, and as the rotary 1 rotates, one end of a cam follower 44, which is a lever, is pushed around by a cam 45, so that a gear train 46 engages the shaft 43.
The inner plug 8 on the setter 42 is rotated at an arbitrary angle by the sector gears 47 and 48 and brought directly above the pocket 37 of the rotary 1.

As shown in FIG. 8, the capping head 49 is similar in structure to the rotary head 21, and has a rubber member 50 inside which is compressed in diameter with air and grips the inner cap 8; It differs in that it includes a member 51 that is joined to the top surface.

When the inner stopper is brought onto the pocket 37 by the setter 42, the stopper head 49 is lowered by the fixed vertically movable cam 52 and covers the inner stopper 8, and at the same time, the fixed cam 53 moves the stopper head 49 to the valve 54. is activated, air is introduced, the rubber member 50 of the capping head 49 contracts in diameter, grips the inner stopper, and then the capping head 49 is raised by the vertical movement cam 52. Thereafter, as the rotary rotates, the capping head 49 is lowered by the vertically moving cam 52, and the valve 54 is moved by the cam 53.
operates, releases the grip on the inner stopper, and places the inner stopper in the body opening. At this time, the cam surface of the vertically movable cam 52 is at a low position, disengaged from the cam follower of the shaft 57, and the capping head is supported by the inner cap placed on the body. When the air cylinder 55 operates in this state, the head 56 hits the upper end of the shaft 57 and drives the inner plug into the body neck.

The discharge wheel 3 carries out the corked body, and the bottle is fed into the height check rotary 58.

The height check rotary 58 is shown in FIG. 9, but since the height check rotary is not an essential component of the present invention, only an outline will be described. The bottle 36 is fixed by a pocket and a neck holder similar to those of the main rotary 1, and a check head 59 is lowered by a cam 60 and placed on the inner stopper 8.

A gauge gap 61 is provided at the top of the head 59, and if the capping is incomplete, a total height detection part 62 is provided.
When contacting Hige Micro 63, a defective signal is sent. On the other hand, the head 59 is provided with a set of inclination detectors 64, and when the capping is incomplete, the inclination of the capping is detected based on the difference in height between the two.

This capping machine operates as follows.

In synchronization with the intermittent rotation of the positioning rotor 4, the second
The support claw 11 of the feeder 14 shown in Figures a and b enters under the second inner stopper from the bottom by means of an air cylinder 11', and supports the fall of the inner stopper above it.
Next, the support claw 10 is retracted by the cylinder 10', and at the same time the peeling member 12 grips the lowermost inner stopper 8 by the cylinder 12'. Next, the lowermost inner stopper 8 is inserted into the pocket 4' of the rotor 4 using the air cylinder 13.

As the rotor 4 rotates, the inner stopper is transferred to the inner stopper positioning section 5, and the rotor 4 is temporarily stopped at that position. In the inner stopper positioning section 5, the engaging pin 15 is raised by the cam 18 and comes into contact with the bottom surface of the inner stopper 8, and at the same time, the rotary head 21 is lowered by the cam 26 and presses against the inner stopper 8, thereby releasing the rubber material. The inner stopper 8 is rotated by the frictional force of 22. The tip of the engagement pin 15 slides on the bottom surface, and when the recess 8' reaches the pin position, the spring 1
9 enters and engages into this recess 8', and the inner plug 8
Stop further rotation of. At that time, gear 23 ₁
Even if the gears 23 2 and 23 3 are rotationally driven, the gears 23 ₂ and 23 ₃
Since a slip occurs between the rotary head 49 and the rotary head 49, the rotary head 49 can maintain a stopped state. Next, the rotating head 21 is raised by the cam 26, and the rotor 4
The inner stopper 8 is rotated again and the spout 9 is directed in a certain direction.
is sent to the position of the cap supply rotor 6, and the next inner cap is positioned in the inner cap positioning section 5 in the same manner as described above.

In the cap supply rotor 6, the cam 34 is lowered by a mechanism not shown, and when the gripper 27 covers the inner stopper 8 on the positioning rotor 4 as shown in FIG.
is activated, air is introduced, and the rubber member 28 shown in FIG. 6 is reduced in diameter and grips the inner stopper 8. Next, as the cam 34 rises, the inner plug 8 is moved to the positioning rotor 4.
When the shaft 32 is driven by the gear 31, the inner stopper 8 is transferred onto the guide 41. Next, the cam 34 is lowered, the valve 29 is opened by the cylinder 30, air is exhausted, and the gripper 27 places the inner stopper 8 on the guide 41.

The main rotary 1 is continuously rotating, and the trajectory of the capsule 42 overlaps with the guide 41. When the cap setter 42 enters under the guide 41, it carries the inner stopper 8 on the guide, and at the end of the guide 41, the inner stopper 8 is transferred onto the setter 42, which has the same shape as the inner surface of the spout 9. Next, the shaft 43 is rotated by the cam 45 pushing the cam follower 44, and the capsetter 42 is rotated to the position of the adjacent capping head 49. This rotation causes the sector gears 47, 48 to
rotates the capsule 42 and aligns the spout 9 of the inner stopper 8 in a predetermined direction.

Next, the cap head 49 is lowered onto the cap setter 42 by the cam 52, the valve 54 is actuated by the fixed cam 53, the rubber member 50 contracts in diameter, grips the inner cap, and then the head 49 is raised. The inner plug is removed from the setter 42, and the setter 42 returns to the position shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the bottle bodies 36 transferred by the conveyor 35 are supplied one by one to the pockets 37 by the body supply star wheel 2, but at the same time, the open neck holder 40 is moved to the fixed cam 38 and the valve 3.
9' operates the air cylinder 39 to grip and fix the body 36 neck.

When the rotary 1 further rotates, the capping head 49 holding the inner stopper 8 by the cam 52 descends, and the air in the head 49 is discharged by the cam 53 directly above the body neck, releasing the inner stopper 8. Next, the fixed cam 55
The air cylinder 55 operates, and the head 56
hits the top of the shaft 57. This impact causes the member 51 to drive the inner stopper 8 into the bottle mouth.

The bottle 36 that has been filled is transferred by the rotation of the rotary 1, and after passing the position where the cap setter 42 receives the inner stopper 8, it is delivered to the discharge star wheel 3, and the height check rotary 5
will be transferred to.

The check head 59 is lowered by the cam 60 and placed on the inner stopper of the bottle fixed to the pocket of the height check rotary 58. At the upper part of the check head 59, there is provided a cap 61 which acts as a limit gauge, and if the inner stopper 8 is not at a predetermined height, the cap 63 of the total height detection section 62 will be checked.
and generates an ejection signal. Further, the inclination detection section 64 detects the inclination of the upper surface of the inner stopper 8, that is, the one-sided driving, and simultaneously generates a discharge signal.

The bottles that have been inspected are discharged onto a conveyor 66 by a star wheel 65.

Effects Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, the inner stopper facing in a random direction is automatically aligned in a certain direction, is poured onto the bottle, and is always poured in a certain direction with respect to the body. Bottles with a spout can be supplied, and the filling process, which has traditionally been done manually, can be completely automated. In addition, it has excellent effects such as being able to reliably close the inner stopper and reducing the number of defective products.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the overall arrangement of an embodiment of the capping machine of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view and a plan view of the inner cap feeder, and Fig. 3 explains the operation of the engagement pin of the positioning rotor. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the rotating head of the positioning rotor, FIG. 5 is a partially cross-sectional side view of the cap supply rotor, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the gripper. ,
Figure 7 is a partially sectional side view of the main rotary, Figure 8
The figure is a partially sectional view of the capping head, and FIG. 9 is a partially sectional side view of the height check rotary. 1: Main rotary, 2: Body supply star wheel, 3: Discharge star wheel, 4: Positioning rotor, 5: Inner plug positioning section, 6: Cap supply rotor, 7, 41: Guide, 8: Inner plug, 9: Note Mouth, 10, 11: Support claw, 10', 11', 13,
55: Air cylinder, 12: Peeling member, 14:
Feeder, 15: Engagement pin, 16: Arm, 1
7, 24, 32, 43, 57: axis, 18, 26,
34, 45, 60: cam, 19, 20: spring, 2
1: Rotating head, 22: Rubber, 23: Gear train, 2
5: arm, 27: gripper, 28: diameter reducing member,
29: Valve, 30, 39: Air cylinder, 3
1: Gear, 33: Fixed shaft, 35: Conveyor, 3
6: Bottle body, 37: Pocket, 38,5
3: Fixed cam, 40: Network holder, 42: Cap setter, 44: Cam follower, 46: Gear train, 47, 48: Sector gear, 49: Capping head,
50: Rubber member, 51: Member, 52: Vertical cam, 54: Valve, 56: Head, 58: Height check rotary, 59: Check head, 6
1: Between gauges, 62: Total height detection section, 63: Beard micro, 64: Tilt detection section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic inner capper that plugs a plastic bottle with an inner cap with a spout so that the spout is at a specific position relative to the bottle, and accepts inner caps supplied in random directions. A positioning rotor that rotates intermittently and has a pocket formed on its outer periphery; a positioning rotor that is disposed at a position where the positioning rotor passes through the pocket, and that can be freely raised and lowered to engage from above with the inner plug fitted in the pocket and rotate the inner plug. An inner stopper positioning means comprising a rotating head and an engaging pin that can be raised and lowered to position the cap by engaging from below with a recess formed on the bottom of the inner stopper rotated by the rotating head; A cap supply rotor that transfers to the main rotary, a pocket that receives and holds the bottle bodies aligned in a certain direction from the body supply star wheel, and an inner stopper that is arranged above the pocket so as to be able to rise and fall freely and is supplied from the cap supply rotor. An automatic inner cappering machine consisting of a main rotary having a capper head that grips and moves up and down to drive the inner cap into the opening of the body, and a discharge star wheel that delivers the capped body.