JPH068151B2 - How to fix deformed plastic bottles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a method for correcting a plastic bottle that has been deformed into a concave shape due to a collision or the like.

(2) Conventional technology Plastic bottles filled with soy sauce, edible oil, miso, etc. are transferred to the filling process after being removed from the carton, aligned, etc., but collide with other bottles or equipment during the transfer. It may be deformed into a concave shape due to. However, since many of these plastic bottles are transparent and it is difficult to detect the deformed ones, the fact is that they are transferred to the filling process as they are.

(3) Problems to be solved by the invention When a liquid is filled in a plastic bottle that is deformed into a concave shape, the filling amount becomes insufficient and the commercial value is lost.In particular, the deformation of the bottom of the bottle is transferred by a star wheel, a screw conveyor, etc. This is a problem that has been urged to be solved because it seriously hinders the subsequent process.

In addition, inspection using a TV camera can be mentioned, but it is not practical because it takes time and the device is expensive.

(4) Means for solving the problem In view of such a current situation, the inventors of the present application have earnestly studied, and when filling a liquid such as soy sauce into a plastic bottle, injecting air into the bottle in advance, Focusing on the fact that cleaning is performed, the present invention has been completed by finding that a bottle deformed into a concave shape can be corrected by pressurizing the inside of the bottle with the jet air.

In the process of inserting the pipe-shaped nozzle of the nozzle device into the inside of the plastic bottle and injecting air through the nozzle to wash the plastic bottle with air, the nozzle device is further moved downward and the protrusion member attached to it is buffered. A method for correcting a deformed plastic bottle, comprising the step of sealing the plastic bottle with a member and pressurizing the plastic bottle with air jetted from a nozzle.

In order to explain the present invention in detail, first, a procedure for cleaning a plastic bottle with air will be described for convenience of description.

1 and 2, 1 is a bottle cleaning device for cleaning a plastic bottle 2 by jetting air, 3 is a bottle supply device for supplying the plastic bottle 2 to the cleaning device 1, and 4 is the plastic bottle 2 for the next step. A bottle sending device for sending out, the supplying and sending devices 3, 4 are screw conveyors 5 for transferring the plastic bottles 2 in a row,
And a star wheel 6 that supplies the plastic bottle 2 to the cleaning device 1 or discharges it from the bottle cleaning device 1 while making a U-turn of the plastic bottle 2.

The outline of the process in the bottle cleaning apparatus 1 is that A-B is an introduction section of the plastic bottle 2, BC is an air cleaning section, and CD is a delivery section.

The outline of the bottle cleaning apparatus 1 is configured as shown in FIG. 2. First, 7 is a disk-shaped bottle table on which the plastic bottle 2 is mounted in an annular shape on the outer periphery as shown in FIG. 2 is a bearing frame that rotatably supports a nozzle device 9 that injects air for use. The bearing frame 8 has a cylindrical shape, bearings 12 are arranged on upper and lower cover plates 10 and 11, and the bottle table 7 and the bearing frame 8 are integrated by a pipe-shaped connecting member 13. A large number of the bearings 12 are arranged on the outer peripheral portions of the cover plates 10 and 11 at equal intervals. For example, in the case of this embodiment, 24 bearings are arranged.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a fixed shaft which is inserted through the connecting member 13 and penetrates through the bearing frame 8 in a skewered manner. The nozzle cam 1 is connected to the nozzle device 9 at the upper part thereof to move the nozzle cam 1 up and down.
5 is integrally installed so as to be wrapped in the bearing frame 8.

The bearing frame 8 is fixed to the fixed shaft 1 via the bearing 16.
Therefore, the bearing frame 8, the bottle table 7, and the connecting member 13 are integrally rotated about the fixed shaft 14. Further, a nozzle device 9 is provided on the top of the fixed shaft 14, and a distribution device 1 for supplying jet air individually.
7 is inserted and supplied with blast air from an air inlet 18 provided at the top of the shaft 14, and a distributor 17
The jet air is supplied from the air outlet 19 of the nozzle device 9 to the nozzle device 9. The distributor 17 is fixed to the cover 10 and rotates integrally with it.

The nozzle device 9 is formed of a rod-shaped shaft member 20 and a pipe-shaped nozzle 21. The shaft member 20 is inserted into the bearing 12, and a cam engagement member 22 is provided at a position of the shaft member 20 corresponding to the nozzle cam 15. Are fixed and move up and down according to the rotation of the bearing frame 8.
In this case, the vertical movement of the nozzle device 9 is in two stages, and the movement operates as shown in FIG.

The nozzle 21 is linearly fixed to the lower part of the shaft member 20, the blast air inlet 22 is branched at the upper part thereof, and the lower part forms an blast air outlet 23. The blast air inlet 22 is connected to the air outlet 19 of the distributor 17 and is configured to receive the blast air supply.
1 is inserted into a plastic bottle 2 to clean the inside of the bottle 2 with jet air.

On the other hand, on the outer peripheral portion of the bottle table 7, a bottle pressing device 24 is arranged in an annular shape corresponding to the nozzle device 9 so as to be movable up and down, and the device 24 penetrates the bottle table 7 and is installed in an inverted L shape. The bottle pressing member 25 is shaped like a letter, a bottle pressing cam 26 that moves the member 25 up and down, and a spring 27 that presses the bottle pressing member 25 downward. As shown in the figure, the spring 27 is provided with a collar-shaped member 28 fixed to the lowermost end of the bottle pressing member 25 and the bottle table 7.
Intervened between.

Since the plastic bottle 2 is thus fixed to the bottle table 7 by the elastic force of the spring 27, the inverted L-shaped member 25 and the bottle holding cam 2 are operated while the bottle holding device 24 is operating.
6, the lower end of the bottle pressing member 25 is pushed up by the bottle pressing cam 26 only when the bottle pressing force is released, for example, when the plastic bottle 2 is discharged from the bottle cleaning device 1. There is.

The other tip portion 29 of the bottle pressing member 25 is formed in a ring shape, and has an action of placing the plastic bottle 2 at a predetermined position on the bottle table 7 by the elastic force of the spring 27.

The bottle cleaning device 1 is configured as described above, and the plastic bottle 2 supplied onto the bottle table 7 by the bottle supply device 3 is immediately placed on the table 7 by the bottle pressing device 24 at the position A in FIG. Fixed to. Next, when the nozzle device 9 reaches the position B, the nozzle device 9 descends,
The nozzle 21 is inserted into the plastic bottle 2 and air is injected into the bottle 2 to clean the inside. This process is continued to the position C advanced by 240 degrees, at which position the nozzle 21 is elevated to the height shown on the right side of FIG. 2, and the cleaning process is completed. After that, at the position D, the pressing force of the bottle pressing device 24 is released by the bottle pressing cam 26, and the bottle sending device 4 sends it to the next step.

Next, the pressurizing means for the plastic bottle 2 according to the present invention will be described. In FIG.
-G is a correction section, GH is a washing section, and HI is a delivery section, and all the plastic bottles 2 are configured to go through the correction section.

Therefore, in the present invention, the nozzle device 35 is composed of a pipe-shaped nozzle 36, a nozzle body 37 that supports the nozzle 36 so as to be vertically movable, and a spring 38 that presses the nozzle 36 downward, as shown in FIG. In the figure, the nozzle 36 to be inserted into the plastic bottle 2 has projecting members in the middle part and the upper part, respectively, and the projecting member 39 having an inverted triangular pyramid shape in the middle part is used when the nozzle device 35 descends in the plastic bottle 2. , The opening 40 of the plastic bottle 2 is brought into contact with the plastic bottle 2 as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, plastic bottle 2
Will be held down by the bottle holding device 24.

The other flange-shaped projection member 41 is provided with a spring 38 as described later.
For engaging with.

On the other hand, the nozzle body 37 has a nozzle insertion hole 42 at the center thereof.
Are provided up to the upper part, and the injection air inlet 43 is opened on the upper side surface, and they are communicated with each other. A cylindrical space 45 is provided in the center of the body 37, and the spring 38 is housed therein.

The nozzle 36 is vertically movably inserted into the nozzle insertion hole 42 of the nozzle body 37, and the nozzle 3 of the blast air inlet 43 is inserted.
6 communicates with the air hole 44, and the injection air from the inlet 43 is injected into the plastic bottle 2 through the air hole 44. At that time, the projecting member 41 of the nozzle 36 is located below the space 45, the spring 38 is interposed between the ceiling surface 46 of the space 45 and the upper surface 47 of the projecting member 41, and the projecting member 39 and the plastic bottle 2 are provided. When the opening 40 of 1 is brought into contact, sealing is performed by the pressing force of the spring 38. The spring 38 also acts as a cushion to prevent the plastic bottle 2 from being crushed.

The positional relationship between the nozzle device 35 and the plastic bottle 2 in the present invention is as shown in FIG. 5. First, in FIG. 4, the EF introduction section is shown in FIG. 5 (a), and the FG pressurization section is shown in FIG. The washing section of FIG. 5B and GH corresponds to FIG. 5C, and the delivery section of HI corresponds to FIG. 5A.

Therefore, in order to perform the above steps, the nozzle device 35 is actuated in accordance therewith, and the means thereof is performed by a cam mechanism, and the actuation is made in three stages, and the actuation may be performed as shown in FIG. . In addition, the pressurizing section of F-G and G
The order of the -H air cleaning section may be reversed, and in that case, the shape of the nozzle cam 15 may be adjusted.

Regarding the operation of the nozzle device 35, the nozzle device 35 is provided in the opening 40 of the plastic bottle 2 in the pressurizing section.
In addition to the contact of the projection member 39, the nozzle device 35 is further pushed down, and the nozzle cam 15 operates the nozzle device 35 so as to press the opening 40 by the elastic force of the spring 38.

The present invention is configured as described above, and the plastic bottle 2 supplied to the bottle cleaning device 1 by the bottle supply device 3 is displayed on the rotating bottle table 7 as indicated by E in FIG.
Is moved to the position of, and immediately placed by the bottle pressing device 24, and at the same time, the nozzle 36 of the nozzle device 35 is inserted from the opening 40 of the plastic bottle 2.

Next, at the F position, the plastic bottle 2 is sealed by the protruding member 39 of the nozzle 36, and the inside thereof is pressurized by the blast air blown from the nozzle 36 to correct the shape of the plastic bottle 2. In this case, although it depends on the strength of the plastic bottle 2, the pressure of the blast air is appropriately 1 to 5 kg / cm in the case of a 1-liter bottle, and the pressurizing time may be at least about 1 second.

Thereafter, the nozzle device 35 is slightly raised at the position G to open the plastic bottle 2, the plastic bottle 2 is cleaned with air as described above, and the cleaning is completed at the position D. Then, the nozzle device 35 further rises and is pulled out of the plastic bottle 2 at the position I,
Further, the pressing force of the bottle pressing device 24 is also released, and the bottle sending device 4 sends the bottle pressing device 24 to the next step.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the sealing means for the plastic bottle 2. In this embodiment, the bottle holding member 25 of the bottle holding device 24 is used to open the opening 40 of the plastic bottle 2.
, And the plastic bottle 2 is sealed via the member 25. In this embodiment, if the protruding member 39 is made of a plastic material, the sealing property is improved.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of the vertical moving means of the nozzle device 35, which uses a cylinder 50. According to this embodiment, the cylinder 50 has a cushioning action,
No spring mechanism as shown is required.

(5) Effects of the Invention The invention of the present application is configured as described above, and it is possible to correct a deformed plastic bottle by a simple means, and it is possible to eliminate insufficient filling amount, loss of commercial value, and the like. Further, troubles in the post process, such as biting into the star wheel, are eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an air cleaning step of a plastic bottle, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22-2 of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an operation diagram of the nozzle device in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of such a bottle correcting method, FIG. 5 is a positional relationship diagram in each step of a nozzle and a plastic bottle, FIG. 6 is a front sectional view of a nozzle device according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a nozzle device according to the present invention. Fig. 8 is an operation diagram, Fig. 8 is a detailed view of the sealing means of the plastic bottle by the nozzle device, Fig. 9 is another embodiment of the sealing means, and Fig. 10 is another embodiment of the vertical moving means of the nozzle device. In the drawings, 1 is a bottle cleaning device, 2 is a plastic bottle, 3 is a bottle supply device, 4 is a bottle delivery device,
7 is a bottle table, 8 is a bearing frame, 9 is a nozzle device, 15 is a nozzle cam, 17 is a distributing device, 24 is a bottle pressing device, and 35 is a nozzle device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A step of inserting a pipe-shaped nozzle of a nozzle device into a plastic bottle and injecting air through the nozzle to wash the plastic bottle with air.
A method for correcting a deformed plastic bottle, which further comprises a step of further moving the nozzle device downward, sealing the plastic bottle with a projection member and a cushioning member attached thereto, and pressurizing the plastic bottle with air jetted from the nozzle. .