JPH0620935B2 - Container orientation device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a container direction alignment device, and more particularly to a container direction alignment device configured to rotate and position a container housed in a holder.

“Prior Art” Conventionally, as a container direction aligning device for rotating and positioning a container housed in a holder, when the holder itself is incorporated in an intermittent transfer means to position the container housed in each holder Is known to rotate the holder at an intermittent stop position of the holder, and to stop the rotation of the container when the container is rotated in a predetermined direction as the holder rotates. (Actual public Sho 49-46
No. 386, Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-251).

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" By the way, when filling a tubular container with a filling, a container having a cap screwed in advance is stored in an inverted manner in a holder, and the bottom portion of the container is opened to open the container. I am trying to fill the filling from. Then, after this, the bottom of the container is pressure-bonded by a pair of pressure-bonding members and heated by a heater to weld the part. At this time, since various printing is generally applied to the surface of the container, when crimping the bottom of the container with the pair of crimping members, the container is preliminarily positioned in a predetermined direction in accordance with the printing. I need to put it. In addition, work such as printing or attaching a label to a predetermined portion of the container may be performed as needed.

However, in the conventional container directional aligning device, since the holder constitutes a part of the directional aligning device as described above, it is not possible to separate the holder from the directional aligning device and the container positioning state. The container could not be separated from the holder in order to maintain

As a result, it is necessary to integrally incorporate the filling device, the sealing device, the printing device, and the label sticking device into the container direction aligning device. However, there is a drawback that the processing capacity is small and the processing capacity is small.

"Means for Solving the Problem" In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a container direction aligning device configured to position a container housed in a holder in a predetermined direction with respect to the holder. The holder is provided with a positioning part for positioning the holder in the direction of the holder, and container fixing means for fixing and supporting the container to the holder. Further, the direction aligning device conveys the holder and the holder has Guide means for engaging the positioning portion provided and maintaining the direction of the holder conveyed by the conveying means in a predetermined direction, and rotating the container in the non-fixed state housed in the holder to place the container in the holder On the other hand, the container rotating mechanism for positioning the container at a predetermined rotation position, the container in the non-fixed state positioned by the container rotating mechanism, and the container fixing means are engaged with each other so that the container is opened. It is characterized in the provision of the engaging means for fixing to da.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the holder can be conveyed by the conveying means in a state in which the holder is directed in a predetermined direction, and the container housed in the holder is moved by the container rotating mechanism with respect to the holder. The container can be rotated to be positioned at a predetermined rotation position, and the positioned container can be fixed by the container fixing means provided in the holder and held in that state.

As described above, in the present invention, the container is positioned at the predetermined rotation position with respect to the holder, and the holder is conveyed in the predetermined direction by the guide means. The directional aligning device is not part of the directional aligning device, and even if the directional aligning device is separated from the directional aligning device, the guide means always conveys the holder in a predetermined direction. It is possible to orient the holder in a predetermined direction.

Therefore, if the holder is maintained in a predetermined direction by the guide means, for example, the holder is configured as a separate body from the directional aligning device according to the present invention, like the conventional container processing line. Since it is possible to sequentially convey to a filling device, a sealing device, a capper, etc. to perform each processing, it is not necessary to integrally configure those devices with a direction alignment device as in the conventional case, and the entire device can be made compact. At the same time, high-speed processing by continuous operation becomes possible.

"Example" The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated example.
In FIG. 2, a tube-shaped container 1 made of a synthetic resin material is inserted into a holder 2 in an inverted state with its mouth portion facing downward, and is conveyed with the holder 2 being conveyed in that state. It is like this. A cap 3 is screwed on the mouth portion of the container 1 in advance to hermetically seal the container 1.
The bottom of the container is opened so that the container can be filled with the filler.

The holder 2 is formed into a substantially cubic shape, so that the horizontal cross section is formed into a substantially rectangular shape, and each surface of the rectangular portion serves as a positioning portion 2a for aligning the holder 2 in a predetermined rotation direction. . For example, as shown in FIG.
The guide members 5 provided on both sides of the conveyor 4 guide the positioning portions 2a on both sides of the holder 2 so that the holder 2 can be conveyed while being restrained from rotating. In the case of the present embodiment, the holder 2 takes one of four types of rotation angle positions for every 90 degrees, but in any case, it is sufficient if the holder 2 can be conveyed while the rotation is restricted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shaft portion of the holder 2 has a through hole 6 having a step in the vertical direction, and the upper portion thereof has a diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the container 1. The large-diameter hole 6a is formed, and the lower part is a small-diameter hole 6b having substantially the same diameter as the cap 3. The holder 2 is provided with container fixing means 7 for fixing and supporting the container 1 on the holder 2.

In the illustrated embodiment, the container fixing means 7 is formed in the holder 2 in the horizontal direction and is opened in the lower portion of the large-diameter hole 6a, and the lateral hole 8 is rotatably accommodated in the lateral hole 8. Ball 9
And a spring for urging the ball 9 toward the opening of the lateral hole 8.
10 and the opening is formed to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the ball 9 so that the ball 9 does not fall off.

In the container 1 inserted in the holder 2 in an inverted state, the lower surface of the shoulder portion projects into the large diameter hole 6a in the unfixed state before the positioning in the circumferential direction is performed, as shown in FIG. It is designed to be placed on a ball 9
After the positioning, the container 1 is further pushed into the holder 2 so that the balls 9 press the outer peripheral surface of the shoulder portion of the container 1. In this state, the container 1
Is fixed to the holder 2 by the ball 9 and is prevented from rotating with respect to the holder 2.

The holder 2 accommodating the container 1 has the guide member 5
While being guided by the conveyor 4, it is conveyed by the conveyor 4 to the container directional aligning device 14 and, via the timing screw 15 and the supply-side star wheel 16, the directional aligning device 14 described above.
Is introduced into the rotating body 17 of.

In the container direction aligning device 14, as will be described in detail later,
With the holder 2 fixed, the container 1 is rotated with respect to the holder 2, whereby the cap 3 is retightened and the container 1 is positioned in the rotation direction. Stop and push container 1 down,
As described above, the container 1 can be fixed to the holder 2 by the balls 9 of the container fixing means 7.

When the cap 3 is retightened in this manner and the container 1 is fixed to the holder 2 in a predetermined direction, the holder 2 is again discharged onto the conveyor 4 via the discharge side star wheel 18, and Both sides are guided by guide members 5 provided on both sides of the conveyor 4. Therefore, the containers 1 aligned by the container direction aligning device 14 so that they are all aligned in the same direction and discharged from the discharge-side star wheel 18 are held in their respective holders 2 in that state and conveyed by the conveyor 4. Become so.

The container 1 conveyed by the conveyor 4 is then carried into a rotary filling device (not shown), and the filling device fills the container 1 with the filling material. During this time, the holder 2
Are positioned so that they cannot rotate freely, so that the holder 2 discharged from the filling device onto the conveyor 19 and guided on both sides by the guide members 20 and the container 1 held on the holder 2 are All are kept in the same direction. Further, since the cap 3 is retightened, leakage of the filling material due to the looseness of the cap does not occur during filling.

Further, the container 1 conveyed by the conveyor 19 is then passed through the timing screw 25 of the rotary sealing device 24 and the star wheel 26 on the feed side to the rotary sealing device 24.
It is introduced into the rotating body 27 of. In this rotary sealing device 24, the bottom of the container 1 in an inverted state, that is, the upper end can be sealed while the holder 2 is positioned.

At this time, the upper end of the container 1 is pressure-bonded by a pair of pressure-bonding members (not shown) and heated by a heater to be sealed, but since the container 1 is aligned in a predetermined direction via the holder 2, the container 1 It is possible to apply a seal in a predetermined direction to the printing surface of the. After that, the container 1 is discharged onto the conveyor 19 via the discharge side star wheel 28.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the container 1 is fixed in the state of being positioned in the holder 2 and is conveyed in the state of being in the position of the holder 2, the direction aligning device 14, the filling device and the sealing device 24 are Each of them can be configured as a separate body, and manufacturing is easier than when they are integrated, and high-speed processing is possible by continuously operating each.

In the above embodiment, the conveyors 4 and 19 and the guide members 5 and 20 are provided between the direction aligning device 14, the filling device and the sealing device 24. By making the supply side star wheel of the filling device common, or by connecting both,
The holder 2 may be delivered from the discharge side star wheel 18 directly into the rotating body of the filling device, or the container may be delivered from the discharge side star wheel 18 to the supply side star wheel of the filling device. Even in this case, it is clear that the holder 2 can be transferred while being restrained from rotating.

Next, a specific configuration of the container direction aligning device 14 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the direction aligning device 14 includes a fixed shaft 31 fixed in a machine frame (not shown) in a vertical direction. This fixed shaft 31 is provided with the above-mentioned rotating body 17 rotatably supported via a complicated bearing 32, and this rotating body 17 can be rotationally driven in one direction by a motor (not shown). There is.

The rotary body 17 is integrally provided with a rotary table 34 for mounting the holder 2 at a lower position, and a guide having a large number of pockets 35a for accommodating the holder 2 is formed on an upper inner peripheral side of the rotary table 34. A holding star wheel 35 as a means is attached so that the holder 2 supplied from the supply side star wheel 16 can be sequentially accommodated in each pocket 35a.

An arcuate guide member 37 fixed to the machine frame 36 is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the rotary table 34, and the holder 2 is positioned by the pocket 35a and the guide member 37, that is, the holder. The holder 2 can be transported in a state where the holder 2 does not rotate with respect to the turntable 34.

A container rotating mechanism 41 for rotating the container 1 is arranged at a position directly above each holder 2 positioned by the pocket 35a and the guide member 37.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, each of the container rotating mechanisms 41 has two columns 42 and 43 standing upright on the rotating body 17, and brackets vertically attached to the columns 42 and 43. 44, the cam follower 45 provided on the bracket 44, and the fixed shaft 31
And an elevation cam 46 integrally connected to the bracket 44.By engaging the cam follower 45 with the elevation cam 46, the bracket 44 can be moved up and down as the rotating body 17 rotates. There is. As will be understood from the description below, the cam follower 45, the lifting cam 46, etc.
An engaging means 47 for pushing the unfixed container 1 positioned by the container rotating mechanism 41 into the holder 2 to engage the container fixing means 7 and fixing the container to the holder 2 by the fixing means 7 is constructed. There is.

A cylindrical housing 49 arranged vertically is attached to the bracket 44, and a servo motor 51 is attached above the cylindrical housing 49 via a bracket 50. The drive shaft 52 of the servo motor 51 is arranged on the axis of the cylindrical housing 49, and the gear 53 provided on the drive shaft 52 is rotatable around the shaft portion of the cylindrical housing 49 via a reduction mechanism 54. It is interlocked with the gear 56 of the hollow shaft 55 that is pivotally supported on the.

The speed reduction mechanism 54 integrally includes a support shaft 59 arranged and fixed in the cylindrical housing 49 in parallel with its axis, a large-diameter gear 60a and a small-diameter gear 60b rotatably supported on the support shaft 59. The large-diameter gear 60a meshes with the gear 53 provided on the drive shaft 52, and the small-diameter gear 60b meshes with the gear 56 of the hollow shaft 55.

Below the tubular housing 49, a tubular bearing member 63 is provided so as to be able to move up and down, and a rotary shaft 64 is rotatably supported by the bearing member 63. The upper end of the rotary shaft 64 is interlocked with the shaft of the hollow shaft 55 via a ball spline mechanism 65 so as to be able to move up and down and integrally rotate, and the lower end of the rotary shaft 64 opens the container 1. A frustoconical fitting member 66 is provided which is fitted into the bottom portion. This mating member
A step portion 66a is formed at a required position above 66, and the step portion 66a is formed.
The container 1 can be pushed down by 66a.

The rotating shaft 64 is a spring mounted between the rotating shaft 64 and the hollow shaft 55.
An air passage 68 that is urged downward by 67 and that supplies air into the container 1 when the fitting member 66 is pulled out of the container 1 is provided in the shaft portion of the rotary shaft 64 and the fitting member 66. Is forming. The air passage 68 communicates with an annular groove 63a formed on the inner peripheral surface of the bearing portion 63, and further communicates with a compressed air source (not shown) through an air pipe 69 in the radial direction connected to the bearing member 63. The air pipe 69 is a cylindrical housing 49.
Through the vertical slit 49a formed in the bearing member 63
The bearing member 63 can be moved up and down integrally with the bearing member 63.

Further, in FIG. 4, a support plate 72 is attached to the rotating body 17 at the bottom of the container 1 housed in the holder 2, that is, at a position close to the upper end, and each container is attached to the support plate 72. A detector 73 for detecting a register mark (not shown) is provided at a predetermined position on the bottom of the unit 1. The signal from each detector 73 is input to a control device 74 having a microcomputer, and the control device 74 starts the servo motor 51 and inputs a signal from each detector 73 which detects the register mark. At that time, the servo motor 51 can be stopped.

Further, on the rotary table 34, a pressing rod 77 which is inserted from below into the through hole 6 formed in each holder 2 and comes into contact with the cap 3 of the container 1 is vertically movable. Each pressing rod 77 is provided with a cam follower 78, and the pressing follower 78 is prevented from rotating by projecting the cam follower 78 radially outward from the slit 34a formed in the rotary table 34. There is.

Each of the pressing rods 77 is biased upward by a spring 79, and by engaging the cam follower 78 with a cam member 80 fixed to the machine frame 36, the pressing rod 77 is moved up and down according to the cam curve of the cam member 80. It can be operated.

In the above structure, when the holder 2 accommodating the container 1 is carried into the rotary table 34 of the direction aligning device 14 via the supply side star wheel 16, the holder 2 is accommodated in the pocket 35a of the holding star wheel 35. The rotary table 34 is conveyed by the rotation of the rotary table 34 while being held by the guide member 37 and being restricted from rotating with respect to the rotary table 34.

When the holder 2 comes to be conveyed integrally with the rotary table 34, the pressing rod 77 is raised by the cam member 80, and the upper end portion thereof is inserted into the through hole 6 of the holder 2 from below to cap the container 1. 3, the lower surface of the shoulder portion of the container 1 is lifted to a position where it is slightly lifted from the ball 9 of the container fixing means 7.

When the pressing rod 77 raises the container 1 slightly from the container fixing means 7 and surely brings it into the non-fixed state, at the same time,
The container rotating mechanism 41 provided above the rotary table 34 is lowered by the elevating cam 46, the fitting member 66 provided at the lower end thereof is fitted into the opening of the container 1, and the fitting member 66 is attached to the fitting member 66. The step portion 66a thus formed abuts on the upper edge of the opening of the container 1, and the container 1 is held by the step portion 66a and the pressing rod 77.

In this state, the control device 74, which detects the rotational angle position of the rotary table 34 by a detector (not shown), activates the servomotor 51, and the container 1 via the fitting member 66.
Is rotated in the direction in which the cap 3 is tightened. At this time, since the pressing rod 77 that is in contact with the cap 3 cannot rotate, if the cap 3 is loose, the cap 3 is relatively fastened to the container 1, and the tightening force is When the value exceeds a certain value, slippage occurs between the cap 3 and the pressing rod 77, and the cap 3 rotates together with the container 1.

The container 1 rotates and the register mark provided on it rotates to the detector.
When detected by 73, the signal is input to the control device 74. The control device 74 ignores the input of the first detection signal and ignores it even when the second detection signal is input. The rotation of the servo motor 51 is stopped. As a result, the containers 1 are rotated at least one rotation or more, whereby the caps 3 can be securely tightened, and all the containers 1 can be aligned in the same direction.

When the cap 3 is retightened and the direction of the container is determined in this manner, the mixing member 66 and the pressing rod 77 are then integrally lowered, and the container 1 is maintained while the rotation direction of the container 1 is maintained. And the ball 9 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the shoulder portion of the container 1 to fix the container 1 to the holder 2.

After that, the fitting member 66 is raised and pulled out from the container 1. At this time, since compressed air is supplied into the container 1 through the air pipe 69 and the air passage 68, the fitting member 66 is pressurized by the air. 66 can be smoothly pulled out from the container 1. Further, the pressing rod 77 is pulled out from the through hole 6 of the holder 2, and in this state, the holder 2 is discharged onto the conveyor 4 with the direction of the holder 2 being positioned via the discharge side star wheel 18, and further described above. As described above, it is supplied to the filling device (not shown) while being positioned by the guide member 5.

In the above embodiment, the transport means for transporting the holder 2 is the conveyor 4, 19 or the rotary table 34 of the rotary body 17.
The guide means for maintaining the direction of the holder 2 conveyed by the conveying means in a predetermined direction is constituted by the guide members 5 and 20, or the pocket 35a of the holding star wheel 35 and the guide member 37. There is.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the container fixing means 7 is replaced by a ball 9 or a spring.
It consists of 10, but is not limited to this,
It is needless to say that an appropriate one such as a clamp mechanism can be used, and the engaging means 47 can also have an appropriate configuration according to the configuration of the container fixing means 7. For example, when the container fixing means 7 is composed of a clamp mechanism, the clamp mechanism is normally closed by a spring and the container is supplied onto the clamp mechanism. And when positioning the container at a predetermined rotation position with respect to the holder by the container rotation mechanism,
The engagement means is engaged with the clamping mechanism to force the clamping mechanism to open against the spring, thereby dropping the container into the clamping mechanism. Then, after the container is rotated by the container rotating mechanism with respect to the holder and positioned at the predetermined rotation position, the engaging means is disengaged from the clamp mechanism, the clamp mechanism is closed by the spring, and the container is gripped by the clamp mechanism. This allows
The container can be fixed to the holder by a clamping mechanism or fixing means. Further, the positioning of the container is not limited to the one using the register mark, and the container may be positioned by bringing an engaging portion such as a protrusion provided on the container into contact with a stopper. Further, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a line type direction aligning device and an intermittent feed type direction aligning device.

Furthermore, after the container is positioned at the predetermined rotation position with respect to the holder, it is not necessary to always orient the holder in the predetermined direction by the guide means. In other words, it is much easier to position the holder than to position the unstable container so that it will be housed in the holder. The guide of the holder by the guide means can be released, and the holder can be positioned at a necessary position thereafter by the holder direction device having a relatively simple structure, whereby the container can be positioned at the same time.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, after the container is positioned in the holder, the direction of the container is directed in the predetermined direction by maintaining the holder in the predetermined direction by the guide means. Therefore, it is not necessary to integrally incorporate the holder into the container direction aligning device. Therefore, for example, similar to the conventionally known container processing line, for example, the holder is sequentially conveyed from the direction aligning device according to the present invention to a filling device, a sealing device, a capper, etc., each of which is configured as a separate body, to perform each processing. Therefore, it is not necessary to form those devices integrally with the direction aligning device as in the prior art, and the entire device can be downsized, and high-speed processing by continuous operation can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a holder 2 accommodating a container 1, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a container processing line equipped with a container direction alignment device 14 according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the container direction alignment device 14 shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. Sectional view taken along line V-V in FIG.
The drawing is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of FIG. 4 taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 1 ... Container 2 ... Holder 2a ... Positioning unit 4, 19 ... Conveyor (conveying means) 5, 20, 37 ... Guide member (guide means) 7 ... Container fixing means 14 ... Direction alignment device 17 ... … Rotating body (conveying means) 35 …… Holding star wheel (guide means) 41 …… Container rotating mechanism 47 …… Clamping means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container direction aligning device for positioning a container housed in a holder in a predetermined direction with respect to the holder, wherein a positioning part for positioning the direction of the holder is fixed to the holder, and the container is fixed to the holder. A container fixing means for supporting is provided, and the direction aligning device engages with a carrying means for carrying the holder, and a positioning portion provided on the holder, so that the direction of the holder carried by the carrying means is predetermined. Direction, a container rotating mechanism for rotating the container in a non-fixed state housed in the holder to position the container at a predetermined rotation position with respect to the holder, and a container rotating mechanism for positioning the container rotating mechanism. A container direction aligning device, comprising: a container in a non-fixed state and an engaging means for engaging the container fixing means to fix the container to a holder.