EP0978463A1 - Dispenser for blisters containing small items - Google Patents

Abstract

The dispenser consists of a basically parallelpiped box (2) open at the top for loading a cartridge (4) filled with blister packs (6). The box is also open at the bottom, where it has guides (14) for sliding the blister packs out one by one in a horizontal direction as they drop down from the cartridge. Each pack has a series of transparent blisters (9) each containing a single article (12) which is pushed out through a fragile base layer (8) when required for use.

Description

The present invention relates to the field of small industrial hardware and applies more particularly to a distributor capable of delivering, under improved safety and efficiency conditions, fasteners or the like, more particularly intended to be used on assembly or maintenance in the aeronautical industry.

We know that the multiple operations to be carried out on such assembly lines, especially on aircraft cabins to fix the overlapping sheets these or on certain parts of their reactors, require the use of a very high number various screws, suitable for each use, to be fitted each in a specific location, these screws in front meet tight tolerances and very high quality.

Therefore, these screws have a significant cost price, which which makes it particularly timely that their losses at during the operations carried out be the lowest possible.

In addition, due to the large number of references to use with these screws it is essential that a control permanent and rigorous be carried out by technicians working on the chain, to prevent a screw not exactly suitable is used in place of a other which does not strictly include the characteristics required.

In the usual technique used for this kind of work, these conditions as a general rule are only not adequately met. Indeed, the screws disposal are distributed in bulk in bins or similar containers, which are placed in the vicinity each other on an appropriate workbench or stand of the same kind, brought to a suitable height near the cabin or engine on which the planned operations are to be carried out, so that the fitters can grip these screws as ergonomically as possible, nevertheless making a choice among the various bins for take in one of these the only screw suitable for intended use.

Therefore, due to the neighboring arrangement of various tanks, mixes are possible, otherwise frequent, screws, which are generally elements of short length and reduced diameter, not comprising individually an engraved or otherwise worn reference on each of them, which would identify them, the size of the screws further imposing that such reference, if it existed, be traced with very small characters and / or numbers, making them difficult reading if not almost impossible by the user, notwithstanding the loss of time which would result.

Finally, with the classic system of adjacent bins containing loose screws which can be very similar, but which are not identical and which from therefore can induce likely confusion cause serious consequences, especially if an unsuitable screw is used instead of a other, the technician can also be brought in relatively frequent to let out such a screw, for example by taking another one from a given bin, or again by mistake, these screws that fall to the ground since the workbench never being recovered to be reused, taking into account cleanliness requirements essential to respect and risk of deformation even minimal that the shock due to their fall could cause.

The present invention relates to a screw distributor or analogues, and in particular supports for such screws on which they are arranged ready to use and immediately identifiable, this distributor and its supports avoiding the aforementioned drawbacks, by allowing in particular a rational and safe use of these screws, with a minimum of losses during manipulations of the latter.

According to another aspect of the invention, it aims also the screw holder as such which can be distributed by this type of box.

To this end, the distributor considered, comprising a generally parallelepiped-shaped housing, with a lower base with lateral access opening inside, is characterized in that this case is adapted to receive at least one cartridge having substantially the same dimensions in height and in depth, each cartridge containing a plurality of overlapping supports for screws or the like and comprising a removable closure at its lower part, at the base of the housing in order to deliver one by one these supports through the side opening of this base, and in that each support is constituted by a plate, preferably rectangular, made of a sheet of material easily frangible and a sheet covering hood, this hood, of more rigid material, advantageously being transparent, glued or otherwise applied against sheet and having, according to a given distribution, raised cells delimiting between itself and the sheet of housing each reserved for one screw or analog of determined characteristics, corresponding to an exactly identified reference.

The screw supports are thus in the form usual of a "blister", commonly used in others industries or for other uses, especially in the pharmaceutical field to allow the user, by breakage of the wafer sheet by means of a at the touch of a finger, in front of one of the cells of the cover forming housing for receiving a screw, to access to this housing and extract it for use for which it is specifically intended.

Thanks to the proposed distributor, the technician at work on the assembly line can easily remove one by one from the housing, as and when required, supports contained in the cartridge mounted in this case by the lower part of it once closing removable from the removed cartridge, this cartridge being placed in an inverted position inside the case while the frangible sheet of each support, successively extracted by the lateral opening of the base, can then be broken to the right of one of the housings delimited by the cover applied to this sheet in order to extract a screw and only one, while that all the other screws, still carried by the support, remain immobilized on it, avoiding any loss or untimely fall.

According to a particular characteristic of the distributor considered, the base advantageously comprises at least one longitudinal middle slit, opening into the opening side of the box to allow exercise on the support arranged at the lower part of the cartridge, a transverse force sliding it towards this opening to extract it from the housing.

Preferably, the cartridge and the housing comprise, in their facing fronts, a light longitudinal provided above the base, in order to allow a control of the filling level of the cartridge by the superimposed supports it contains, as they are extracted through the opening lateral.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the housing also supports, at its upper part, a removable tray, open on top and intended for recovery of exhausted media or not entirely used. Advantageously, the container has extensions clean side to cover the sides of the housing by socket, to ensure positioning suitable for this bin.

In another embodiment, the housing comprises at less internal separation, allowing the establishment inside this case of at least two cartridges side by side, so as to allow delivery, by the lateral opening of the base, separate supports containing screws corresponding to references different, from each cartridge respective.

Of course and whatever the embodiment adopted, each cartridge advantageously comprises in its outer surface a label or element similar identification, on which the reference of the screws carried by the supports contained in this cartridge, this reference being notably reported on each support individually.

Depending on the case and in particular depending on the dimensions relative supports and screws carried by them, the number of cells of each support can be variable from one embodiment to another, as well as the amount of media contained in each cartridge. Also, the distributor can include several similar boxes, themselves superimposed, for constitute a store capable of supplying a high number of screws of different references.

• La Figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un distributeur selon l'invention.
• La Figure 2 illustre un support délivré à partir du distributeur selon la Figure 1.

Other characteristics of a dispenser for small hardware articles, in particular for supports for such articles such as in particular screws, established in accordance with the invention, will become more apparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment, given at indicative and non-limiting, with reference to the attached drawing in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a dispenser according to the invention.
• Figure 2 illustrates a medium delivered from the dispenser according to Figure 1.

In Figure 1, reference 1 designates as a whole a screw distributor or the like according to the invention, this distributor being here made up of two housings identical parallelepiped, respectively 2 and 3, likely to be superimposed on each other, each case being intended to contain cartridges 4 and 5 of same profile containing screw supports 6 and the detail of the realization appears more clearly on the Figure 2.

As seen on this one, each support 6 is present in the form of a thin plate 7 constituted by gluing or joining by any other process classic, of a lower sheet 8, of a material frangible, of the kind of an aluminum complex or similar, and an upper cover 9, made of a material more rigid, for example made of transparent plastic, like P.V.C. or other.

The cover 9 comprises a plurality of cells 10 formed in relief, so as to delimit between it and the face in look at the bottom sheet 8 of the wafer 7, housings 11 inside each of which is trapped a screw 12 whose characteristics are exactly determined, all 6 superimposed supports in a cartridge 4 or 5 separately, corresponding naturally to the same reference, which can be the same or different from one box to another.

Advantageously, this reference, which can be consisting of any appropriate sign, consisting of letters, figures or other marks, is carried over to a label 13, stuck on the plate 7 of each support 6, and also taken up on the cartridge 4 or 5 which contains these.

The case 2 or 3 containing a cartridge 4 or 5, has at its lower part a base 14 comprising lateral sides 15 and 16 terminated by returns planes 17 and 18, the base thus delimiting a slot median 19 between the opposite edges of these returns and a lateral opening 20 to the right of the face 21 located at front of the case on the diagram in Figure 1.

The face 21 of the housing includes a vertical light 22, also provided in the wall opposite the cartridge 4 or 5, so as to allow permanent control the level of filling of each cartridge by the supports 6, superimposed therein.

Finally, each box is usefully associated in part greater than a recovery tank 23, open on the above and which has lateral extensions 24 and 25 allowing this bin to come fit on the housing, this tray being in particular intended to receive the platelets 6 exhausted, that is to say of which all the screws 12 have been extracted, or partially used and pending for further complementary use.

The implementation of the screw holder distributor according to the invention is immediately deduced from the description above.

The user, especially the technician working on an assembly line, has at appropriate height a workbench (not shown), on which can be set places boxes 2 and 3, arranged here one above the other, these boxes having been previously trimmed a cartridge comprising a plurality of supports 6 whose references are exactly identified by means of signs on these supports as on the cartridges that contain them. These usually include a removable closure cover (not shown on the figures), removed before each cartridge is turned over and placed vertically in its housing.

The dispenser is then ready for use, the user can, by a simple transverse force according to the direction of arrow 26, exerted on the lower support contained in the cartridge 4 or 5 concerned, through the slot 19 of the corresponding base 14, slide this support towards opening 20 of the latter and extract it from housing.

The user just has to break the frangible sheet 8 of the support 6 in line with a cell 10 under the cover 9, to extract the screw 12 from the corresponding housing 11 before using this screw, all others who correspond to the same reference, carried by the support, remaining trapped in their homes until they are removed one by one and used in turn.

It is thus possible to check at any time that the screw used corresponds well to the ad hoc reference, the distributor and the supports delivered by it allowing, at any time, to follow and identify the lots used, while limiting losses and drastically reducing waste.

Of course, it goes without saying that the invention is not limited not to the embodiment more specifically described above with reference to the accompanying drawings; she in on the contrary embraces all variants.

In particular, provision can easily be made for the inside of each box two or more, juxtaposed cartridges, to deliver the choice of screws corresponding to separate references, these always remaining identifiable by the markings on the media provided by these cartridges. In this case front face 21 of the housing has as many lights control 22 that of cartridges.

Finally, it should be emphasized that the invention applies in particular whatever the dimensions screws and consequently supports, these being limited in size and number of screws only by their manufacturing possibilities for a cost price which remains sufficiently reduced.

Claims (10)

Distributor for small hardware items, of the kind of screw or the like, comprising a housing (2) generally parallelepipedic, with a base lower (14) provided with a lateral opening (20) access to the interior, characterized in that this housing is adapted to receive at least one cartridge (4, 5) having substantially the same dimensions in height and in depth, each cartridge containing a plurality of supports (6) superimposed for screws (12) or the like and comprising a removable closure at its lower part, at the base of the housing in order to deliver one by one these supports through the side opening of this base, and in that each support (6) is constituted by a plate (7), preferably rectangular, made of a sheet (8) of a material easily frangible and a cover (9) covering the sheet, this cover, of more rigid material, being advantageously transparent, glued or otherwise applied against the leaf and showing, in a distribution given, raised cells (10) delimiting between itself and the housing sheet (11) each reserved for a screw or the like with specified characteristics, corresponding to an exactly identified reference. Dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the base (14) has at least one central slot (19) longitudinal, opening into the lateral opening (20) of the housing (2) to allow to exercise on the support (6) arranged at the bottom of the cartridge (4, 5), a transverse force making it slide towards this opening to extract it of the case. Distributor according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the cartridge (5, 6) and the housing (2) have, in their front faces (21) facing each other, a longitudinal light (22) provided above the base, to allow control of the level of filling of the cartridge by the superimposed supports that it contains, as they are extracted through the side opening. Distributor according to any of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the housing (2) also supports, at its upper part, a tank removable (23), open on top and intended for recovery of media (6) which has been exhausted or not entirely used. Dispenser according to claim 4, characterized in that the recovery tank (23) has lateral extensions (24) suitable for covering the sides of the housing (2) by socket, to ensure the proper positioning of this tray. Distributor according to any of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the housing (2) has at least one internal separation, allowing placing inside this housing at least two cartridges (4, 5)) side by side, so that allow to deliver, through the lateral opening (19) of the base (14), separate supports (6) containing screws corresponding to different references, in provenance of each respective cartridge. Distributor according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that each cartridge (4, 5) has in its outer surface a label or similar identification item on which is registered the reference of the screws carried by the media contained in this cartridge, this reference being notably reported on each support (6) individually. Distributor according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the number of cells (10) of each support (6) is variable by embodiment to another. Distributor according to any of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises several similar boxes, themselves superimposed, for constitute a store capable of supplying a high number of screws of different references. Support for screws or the like, suitable for use with the distributor according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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