JP2021014297A - Posture correction device and posture correction method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an attitude correction device capable of maintaining the corrected attitude of an article.SOLUTION: An attitude correction device 1 comprises: a pair of conveyance guides 5A, 5B which are provided to face each other and through which a container 100 conveyed from an upstream side U toward a downstream side D along a conveying direction L passes; an attitude correction body 7 that projects from one of the conveyance guides 5A, 5B toward the other and causes the container 100 to generate moment around the center axis C of the container 100 when the container 100 interferes; and a container support 9 that comes into contact at a surface with the container 100 having the attitude corrected around the center axis C by the attitude correction body 7.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to, for example, a device and a method suitable for correcting the posture of a square tubular container filled with a beverage.

In a beverage filling facility, a plurality of molded containers are continuously conveyed to fill the beverage, the mouth of the container filled with the beverage is capped, and a label is attached to the body of the container. After being pasted, a predetermined number of containers are boxed. In the beverage filling equipment, the container is transported between the molding part of the container and the filling part of the beverage, between the labeling part and the boxing part, and the like. During this transfer, the container may rotate around its central axis. In the following, the rotation around the central axis may be simply referred to as rotation.

Here, there are containers having various appearance shapes such as a cylindrical container and a square tubular container. Since the cylindrical container has no directionality with respect to the transport direction, the posture around the central axis is constant even if it is rotated. However, since the square tubular container is directional with respect to the direction of transportation, the posture around the central axis is not constant when it is rotated. That is, the linear front edge (rear edge) of the body of the container may be parallel to the width direction of the conveyor, or the front edge (rear edge) may intersect. .. It should be noted that the normal posture is that the linear front edge (rear edge) of the body of the container is parallel to the width direction, and that the front edge (rear edge) intersects in the width direction. Is tilted. If the posture around the central axis of the square tubular container is different in this way, for example, when attaching a label, it is not easy to attach the label to the required position of the container, and the work can be performed smoothly. Sometimes not. In addition, during the boxing work, the postures of the plurality of boxes packed in the box are different, so that the containers may not fit in the box in the correct posture or the appearance may be spoiled.

Therefore, various proposals have been made for aligning the regular postures of the square tubular container. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a posture correction device in which a pair of correction guides reciprocate in parallel and relatively in the front-rear direction in a transport direction of a square tubular container.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-035001

According to the posture correction device of Patent Document 1, one of the pair of correction guides moves forward and the other guide moves backward. As a result, a frictional force toward the front is generated at one of the opposite corners of the container that contacts the pair of guides, and a frictional force toward the rear is generated at the other corner, so that the frictional force is generated around the central axis of the container. A moment is generated to correct the posture of the container. However, according to the posture correction device of Patent Document 1, the moment due to the above-mentioned frictional force may continue to be generated before the container corrected to the normal posture passes through the pair of correction guides. As a result, the posture-corrected container may tilt again.

Based on the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a posture correction device and a posture correction method capable of maintaining the posture of a corrected container.

The posture correction device of the present invention includes a pair of transport guides, a posture correction body, and an article support.
The pair of transport guides are provided so that articles transported from upstream to downstream pass along the transport direction and face each other.
The posture corrector protrudes from one of the pair of transport guides toward the other, and when the articles interfere with each other, a moment around the central axis of the articles is generated in the articles.
The article support crosses the longitudinal direction in the transport direction and comes into contact with the article whose posture has been corrected around the central axis by the posture corrector in a surface or line.

In the posture correction device of the present invention, preferably, the article support transports the article by pushing the article downstream.

In the posture correction device of the present invention, when the article has a square tubular shape, it is preferable that the following equations (1) and (2) hold.
However, W1, W2 (W2 <W1), D1 and D2 are defined as follows.
W2 <D1 <W1 ... Equation (1) D2 <W2 ... Equation (2)
W1: Width dimension between the pair of transport guides W2: Width dimension between the pair of transport guides in the area where the posture corrector is provided D1: Dimension between the opposite corners of the article D2: Article Dimension between opposite sides parallel to each other in

In the posture correction device of the present invention, the posture correction body is integrally formed on one of the pair of transport guides, or is easily attached and detached.

In the posture correction device of the present invention, preferably, the pair of transport guides extend linearly along the transport direction.

In the posture correction device of the present invention, preferably, a pair of transport guides provided with a posture corrector and an article support are arranged in a plurality of rows in a width direction (W) orthogonal to the transport direction.

The present invention provides a method for correcting the posture of a square tubular article transported in a transport direction from upstream to downstream along a transport path.
This posture correction method includes a first step and a second step.
The first step is to correct the posture around the central axis of the article by locking the corners of the article to be transported and generating a moment around the central axis.
The second step regulates the generation of a moment around the central axis of the article whose posture has been corrected by the first step, so that the article is conveyed downstream while maintaining the corrected posture.

In the posture correction method of the present invention, preferably, the article is conveyed by pushing the article downstream before the first step, and the article is pushed downstream by pushing the article downstream in the second step. Transport.

In the first step of the posture correction method of the present invention, the posture can be corrected by sequentially applying moments to a plurality of articles transported side by side in the transport direction.

According to the posture correction device of the present invention, the posture of an article can be corrected by providing a posture correction body on one of a pair of transport guides. Moreover, according to the posture correction device of the present invention, since the article support that comes into contact with the article in the corrected posture by a surface or a line is provided, the corrected posture is maintained. Therefore, for example, if the present invention is applied immediately before packing a container, the container arranged in a normal posture can be packed.

A schematic configuration of a posture correction device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, (a) is a plan view, (b) is a side view, and (c) is a front view. It is a figure explaining the relationship between the dimension in the width direction in the posture correction apparatus which concerns on this embodiment, and the dimension of the container which the posture is corrected. It is a top view which shows how the container of an inclined posture is corrected to the normal posture in the posture correction apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a front view which shows how the container of a tilted posture is corrected to a normal posture in the posture correction device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a top view which shows the state which the container of a normal posture is conveyed while being maintained in the posture correction apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a top view which shows a mode that a plurality of containers of an inclined posture are corrected to a normal posture in the posture correction apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. Following FIG. 6, it is a plan view showing how a plurality of containers in a tilted posture are corrected to a normal posture in the posture correction device according to the present embodiment. In the posture correction device according to the present embodiment, an example of a container confined to the body is shown, (a) to (c) show a state in which the container in a normal posture is transported while being maintained, and (d) to (d). (F) is a plan view showing how the container in the tilted posture is corrected to the normal posture. It is a top view which shows the example which arranges a plurality of posture correction devices which concern on this Embodiment in parallel. A container applied to the posture correction device of the present embodiment is shown, (a) shows an example of a container having no constriction in the body, and (b) shows an example of a container having a constriction in the body.

Hereinafter, the posture correction method by the posture correction device 1 and the posture correction device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. The posture correction device 1 will be described by taking a resin container 100 filled with a beverage as an example, but the present invention can be widely applied to a square tubular article whose posture around the central axis is required.

[Overall configuration of posture correction device 1]
As shown in FIG. 1, the posture correction device 1 includes a transport path 3 on which the container 100 is placed and transported.
A pair of transport guides 5A and 5B arranged at predetermined intervals above the transport path 3 in the height direction V are provided. Further, the posture correction device 1 is arranged between the posture correction body 7 provided inside one of the transfer guides 5A and 5B of the pair of transfer guides 5A and 5B, and the transfer path 3 and the transfer guides 5A and 5B in the height direction V. The container support 9 is provided and moves toward the downstream D in the transport direction L.

In the posture correction device 1, the height direction V, the width direction W, and the transport direction L are defined as the directions of the respective arrows shown in FIG. 1, and are orthogonal to each other. The height direction V coincides with the vertical direction, and the width direction W coincides with the horizontal direction.
Further, in the posture correction device 1, as shown in FIG. 1, the upstream U and the downstream D are specified with reference to the direction in which the container 100 is conveyed. Upstream U and downstream D have relative meanings.

In the posture correction device 1, the posture correction body 7 is responsible for correcting the tilted container 100 to a normal posture, and the container support 9 is responsible for maintaining the corrected posture of the container 100. The posture correction device 1 realizes the posture correction corresponding to the first step of the present invention and the maintenance of the corrected posture corresponding to the second step of the present invention by an extremely simple configuration.

[Transport path 3]
As shown in FIG. 1, the transport path 3 is arranged so that the transport surface 3A on which the container 100 is placed is parallel to the width direction W. The transport path 3 is wider than the distance between the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B in the width direction W. The transport path 3 in the present embodiment may be driven by itself, such as a conveyor device, or may be fixed without being driven. In the following, it is assumed that the transport path 3 is fixed without being driven, and the transport of the container 100 is carried out by the container support 9. In this case, since the container 100 slides on the transport surface 3A, it is preferable that at least the transport surface 3A is made of, for example, stainless steel having a small friction coefficient. Stainless steel having excellent corrosion resistance is also preferable for maintaining the cleanliness of the posture correction device 1 that handles beverages. This also applies to the transport guides 5A and 5B, the posture corrector 7 and the container support 9. When the transport path 3 is driven, it is necessary to make the traveling speed of the transport path 3 slower than the drive speed of the container support 9. This is to prevent the container support 9 from being separated from the container 100 toward the upstream U side.

[Transport guide 5]
The pair of transport guides 5A and 5B prevent the container 100 to be transported from shifting in the width direction W and separating from the transport path 3. As shown in FIG. 1, each of the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B is formed so as to extend linearly along the transport direction L, and the intervals thereof are set to be equal along the transport direction L. However, in the region of the transport direction L where the posture correction body 7 is provided, the distance between the transport guides 5A and 5B is narrowed by the thickness of the posture correction body 7.
The transport guides 5A and 5B shown here are provided above the region in the height direction V where the container support 9 moves in order to avoid interference with the container support 9, but this is just an example. is there. That is, the form is arbitrary as long as it does not interfere with the container support 9 and can prevent the container 100 from coming off from the transport path 3 in the width direction W.

[Posture correction body 7]
The posture correction body 7 generates a moment to rotate the container 100 transported in an inclined posture around the central axis C (FIGS. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 10). As shown in FIG. 1, the posture correction body 7 is provided inside one of the transport guides 5A, and protrudes toward the other transport guide 5B by the thickness thereof. As a result, the distance between the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B is narrower in the region where the posture correction body 7 is provided than in the other regions. The central axis C of the container 100 referred to here is a virtual line connecting the centers of a plurality of cross sections having different height directions V of the container 100 in the height direction V, and coincides with the rotation axis of the container 100. .. Further, when the container 100 is conveyed, the central axis C is along the vertical direction.

When the corner portion of the container 100 transported in an inclined posture interferes with the posture correction body 7, the movement of the container 100 in the transport direction L to the downstream D at the corner portion is hindered. However, the container support 9 continuously pushes the container 100 toward the downstream D, and the corner 101C (FIGS. 3 and 4) facing the corner 101A (FIGS. 3 and 4) that interferes with the posture correction body 7 is used. ) Has a small force to prevent movement to the downstream D. Therefore, a moment (M) is generated in the container 100 counterclockwise (FIG. 3). As a result, the container 100 rotates around the central axis C and is corrected to a normal posture. The container 100 corrected to the normal posture passes through the region in the normal posture because the distance between the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B in the region where the posture correction body 7 is provided is narrow. The above procedure for posture correction will be described in more detail later.

The posture correction body 7 is provided with inclined surfaces 7A on the upstream U side and the downstream D side. The inclined surface 7A is a preferred embodiment of the present embodiment, and suppresses scratches when the container 100 interferes with the posture correcting body 7.

Further, the posture correction body 7 may be easily attached to and detached from the transport guide 5A by fastening means such as bolts and nuts, or may be integrally formed with the transport guide 5A.

[Container support 9]
The container support 9 comes into surface contact with the container 100 to prevent the container 100 whose posture has been corrected from tilting again. Further, the container support 9 transports the container 100 toward the downstream D by pushing the container 100 while moving above the transport path 3 from the upstream U in the transport direction L toward the downstream D. The container support 9 has its longitudinal direction (width direction W) intersecting with the transport direction L, specifically orthogonal to each other.
As shown in FIG. 1, the container support 9 has a support surface 9A on the side in contact with the container 100 that is parallel to the width direction W. That is, the container support 9 comes into contact with the container 100 in a normal posture on the surface, and regulates the generation of a moment around the central axis C in the container 100, so that the container maintains the corrected posture. 100 can be transported toward the downstream D.
The container support 9 illustrated here has a rod-like shape, but as long as it has a support surface 9A that contacts the container 100 in a normal posture with a surface or a line, the shape of other parts is It is optional.

The container support 9 moves, for example, in the following circulation path. After moving to the most downstream D by a drive device (not shown), it moves above the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B. After that, the container 100 is pushed and conveyed while moving to a position corresponding to the start point of the container support 9 in the upstream U, moving downward, and moving toward the downstream D again.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the posture correction body 7 and the container support 9 are arranged close to each other in the height direction V. This is to prevent the container 100 that hits the posture correction body 7 from tipping over. That is, when the container 100 hits the posture correcting body 7, the container 100 is pushed toward the upstream U, and if there is no support, the container 100 may fall. However, according to the present embodiment, since the container support 9 is arranged close to the posture correction body 7, the container support 9 supports the container 100 and the container 100 can be prevented from tipping over. On the other hand, if the container support 9 is separated downward from the posture correction body 7, the container 100 cannot be supported, and conversely, a fall is induced.

[Relationship between the distance between the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B and the dimensions of the container 100]
Next, the relationship between the dimension (width) of the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B in the width direction W and the dimension of the container 100 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the width of the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B is W1, and the width in the region where the posture correction body 7 is provided is W2 (W2 <W1). That is, the thickness of the posture correction body 7 is specified as the difference between W1 and W2. For the container 100, the maximum distance between the corner portions 101A and 101C facing each other is D1, and the dimension between the side surfaces 103 and 103 facing each other in parallel is D2.

Since the container 100 in an inclined posture needs to pass between the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B, it is necessary to make the width W1 larger than the dimension D1. That is, D1 <W1 holds. The tilted posture here means that the posture is tilted by 45 ° with respect to the normal posture.
Next, since it is necessary to restrict the container 100 in an inclined posture from passing between the posture correction body 7 and the transport guide 5B facing the posture correction body 7, it is necessary to make the width W2 smaller than the dimension D1. That is, D1> W2 holds.
Further, since the container 100 in a regular posture needs to pass between the posture correction body 7 and the transport guide 5 facing the posture correction body 7, the width W2 needs to be larger than the dimension D2. That is, D2 <W2 holds.

Summarizing the above, W1, W2, D1 and D2 have the relations of the following equations (1) and (2). The pair of transport guides 5A and 5B are manufactured so as to have the relationship of the formulas (1) and (2) with the container 100 to be transported.
W2 <D1 <W1 ... Equation (1)
D2 <W2 ... Equation (2)

As shown in FIG. 10A, the container 100 described here has constant dimensions D1 and D2 in the body portion. Further, the body portion has a square shape when the container 100 is viewed in a plan view.

[Operation of posture correction device 1]
Next, the operation of correcting the posture by the posture correction device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIG. 3, the white arrow indicated by the broken line indicates the direction in which the container 100 is conveyed.
As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 4 (a), it is assumed that the container 100 has been transported toward the downstream D in a posture tilted by 45 ° with respect to the normal posture as an example. At this time, a reaction force F00 is generated on the central axis C of the container 100 toward the upstream U with respect to the force F0 that the container support 9 pushes the container 100. The reaction force F00 is specified by the coefficient of friction between the mass of the container 100 and the transport surface 3A. Since this mass and friction coefficient are small, the pushing force F0 is much larger than the reaction force F00.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the container 100 is conveyed by pushing one corner portion 101B from the container support 9. Since the other corner portions 101A and 101C come into contact with the transport guides 5A and 5B, respectively, a frictional force F1 is generated at the contacted corner portions 101A and 101C. This frictional force F1 is sufficiently smaller than the pushing force F0. Therefore, the container 100 is conveyed toward the downstream D while being tilted.
In addition, in FIGS. 3A to 3D, the pushing force F0, the reaction force F00, etc. required to explain the operation of the posture correction device 1 are shown, but in reality, the container 100 is here. Forces other than those shown may also be applied.

When the container 100 is further conveyed toward the downstream D, the corner portion 101A of the container 100 interferes with the posture correction body 7 as shown in FIG. 3 (b). A black circle is attached to the corner 101A to distinguish it from other 101B and the like. When the corner portion 101A interferes with the posture correction body 7, the corner portion 101A is locked to the posture correction body 7, and the movement of the corner portion 101A toward the downstream D is hindered. However, the container support 9 continues to press the container 100 toward the downstream D. Here, a frictional force F1 is generated between the corner portion 101C facing the corner portion 101A that interferes with the posture correction body 7 and the transport guide 5B, and this frictional force F1 is a force F0 that the container support 9 pushes the container 100. Smaller. Therefore, in the container 100, as shown in FIGS. 3 (b) and 3 (c), a moment M is generated in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing around the central axis C. Here, a frictional force F2 is also generated between the corner portion 101B that interferes with the container support 9 and the container support 9, but the rotational force due to the moment M is larger than the frictional force F2. As a result, the container 100 rotates around the central axis C and is corrected to a normal posture according to the movement of the container support 9 toward the downstream D as shown in FIGS. 3 (d) and 4 (d). To.

As shown in FIG. 3D, the side surface 103 of the container 100 in the normal posture is in contact with the support surface 9A of the container support 9 on a surface, and the container 100 is placed around the central axis C. Moment is unlikely to occur. Therefore, unless a moment that tilts the posture is intentionally applied in the subsequent transportation process, the vehicle is transported toward the downstream D while maintaining the normal posture. In particular, since the distance between the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B is narrow in the region where the posture correction body 7 is provided, the posture cannot be tilted, and the region passes through the region in the normal posture.

[Operation of posture correction device 1 when transported in a normal posture]
Next, the operation when the container 100 transported in the normal posture passes through the posture correction body 7 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, as a typical example in which the container 100 in the normal posture interferes with the posture correction body 7, as shown in FIG. 5A, an example in which the container 100 is transported while being in contact with one of the transport guides 5A is shown. Has been done.

As shown in FIG. 5B, when the corner portion 101A of the container 100 interferes with the posture correcting body 7, a moment is likely to be generated in the container 100 as described above. However, the side surface 103 of the container 100 is in surface contact with the support surface 9A of the container support 9, which regulates the generation of a moment around the central axis C of the container 100. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D, a frictional force F3 is generated at the corner portion 101A, but since the frictional force F3 is small, the container 100 keeps the normal posture and the transport guide 5B. Move to the side of. After that, as shown in FIG. 5 (e), the container 100 is conveyed toward the downstream D while being in contact with the posture correcting body 7.

Although an example in which the container 100 interferes with the posture correcting body 7 is shown here, when the container 100 is typically transported while contacting the transport guide 5B so as not to interfere with the posture correcting body 7. Passes between the posture correction body 7 and the transport guide 5B while maintaining the normal posture.

[Effect of posture correction device 1]
According to the posture correction device 1 described above, the following effects are obtained.
The posture correction device 1 can correct the posture of the container 100 by providing the posture correction body 7 on one of the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B. Therefore, the posture of the container 100 can be corrected by an extremely simple structure as compared with, for example, Patent Document 1, which includes a mechanism for moving each of the pair of transport guides back and forth.
Moreover, since the posture correction device 1 includes the container support 9 that comes into surface contact with the container 100 in the corrected normal posture, the container 100 corrected to the normal posture may be in a tilted posture again. rare.
Therefore, if the posture correction device 1 is provided immediately before packing the containers 100, a plurality of containers 100 arranged in a regular posture can be packed in a box without lowering the commercial value.

Further, the posture correction device 1 is realized by the moment M generated when the posture correction of the container 100 interferes with the posture correction body 7, and more specifically, the corner portion 101 is locked to the posture correction body 7. .. Therefore, the effect of posture correction can be stably obtained as compared with the posture correction that relies on frictional force as in Patent Document 1. That is, in the posture correction by the frictional force, the frictional force fluctuates depending on the wear state of the transport guide that causes friction, so that the effect of the posture correction decreases with the elapsed time.

Further, in the posture correction device 1, the pair of transport guides 5A and 5B are linear, and a mechanism for driving the transport guides 5A and 5B as in Patent Document 1 is not required. Therefore, the posture correction device 1 can reduce the dimension of the width direction W.

Further, in the posture correction device 1, if the posture correction body 7 is detachably attached, it can be applied to various containers such as a cylindrical container and other articles.

[Additional Notes]
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the configurations listed in the above embodiments can be selected or appropriately changed to other configurations as long as the gist of the present invention is not deviated.

[Transporting means of container 100]
In the present embodiment, the container support 9 is responsible for transporting the container 100, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
For example, by configuring the transport path 3 with a conveyor device, the transport path 3 is responsible for transporting the container 100. On the other hand, the container support 9 does not actively carry the container 100, but only follows the transport of the container 100 through the transport path 3. For example, the transport speed of the container 100 and the moving speed of the container support 9 are made the same by the transport path 3, so that the container support 9 only follows the container 100. Even in this case, if the container support 9 comes into contact with the container 100 and supports it, it is possible to prevent the container 100 corrected to the normal posture from returning to the tilted posture again.

Further, instead of the transport path 3 carrying the transport of the container 100, for example, a driving force may be applied to the neck of the container 100 in the direction of transport to carry the transport of the container 100. As an example, the air conveyor described in Patent Document 1 corresponds. That is, the container support 9 in the present embodiment has both a function of transporting the container 100 and a function of maintaining the posture of the container 100 whose posture has been corrected, but the container support has a function of transporting the container 100. Can be separated from body 9. However, if the container support 9 has a function of transporting the container 100, there is an advantage that the device for transporting the container 100 can be omitted.

[Continuous posture correction of multiple containers 100]
Next, in the embodiment described above, an example of correcting the posture of one container 100 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of containers 100 transported side by side in the transport direction L are not limited to this. Each of can be corrected. Hereinafter, this example will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.
As shown in FIG. 6A, it is assumed that the three containers 100 having their respective tilted postures have been transported. As shown in FIGS. 6 (b) and 6 (c), when the leading (first) container 100 interferes with the posture correcting body 7, the container 100 is corrected to a normal posture. This correction of the posture of the first container 100 does not affect the posture of the second container 100.
As the transport toward the downstream D of the container 100 proceeds, the posture of the second container 100 is corrected as shown in FIG. 7A. As the transportation proceeds further, the posture of the third container 100 is also corrected as shown in FIGS. 7 (b) and 7 (c).

As described above, according to the posture correction device 1, even if a plurality of containers 100 are transported while being in contact with each other, the posture of each container 100 can be corrected in order. Moreover, by correcting the posture of the container 100 in order in this way, it is difficult to return to the tilted posture as described below.

When the posture of the second container 100 is corrected, the first container 100 and the second container 100 come into surface contact with each other, as shown in FIG. 7A. Further, when the posture of the third container 100 is corrected, the second container 100 and the third container 100 come into contact with each other in a plane as shown in FIG. 7 (c). Then, since the first container 100 and the second container 100 regulate the rotation of each other, the first and second containers 100 and 100 are less likely to maintain their postures and become tilted. Similarly, since the second container 100 and the third container 100 regulate the rotation of each other, the second and third containers 100 and 100 are less likely to maintain their postures and become tilted.

[Correspondence to container 100 with constriction]
In the embodiment described above, it is assumed that the container 100 has a constant body size (D1, D2) shown in FIG. 10 (a), but the present invention is as shown in FIG. 10 (b). It can also be applied to a container 100 having a constriction 105 on the body.
Assuming that the container 100 having the constriction 105 is transported in a normal posture, the posture correction body 7 can pass through the constriction 105 as shown in FIGS. 8A to 8C. As a result, the container 100 is conveyed toward the downstream D while maintaining the normal posture.
Assuming that the container 100 having the constriction 105 is transported in an inclined posture, as shown in FIGS. 8 (d) to 8 (f), the posture correction body 7 interferes with the container 100 in the constriction 105, so that the container 100 You can correct your posture.

[Multiple row arrangement of posture correction device 1]
In the embodiment described above, an example in which the posture correction device 1 is provided in only one row has been described, but as shown in FIG. 9, the present invention can also arrange a plurality of rows of posture correction devices 1.
In this case, the adjacent posture correction device 1 can share the transport guide 5. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a container support 9 common to each posture correction device 1 can be used. In this case, the container support 9 moves synchronously in each posture correction device 1. Alternatively, although not shown, each posture correction device 1 may include a container support 9 that moves independently.

[Form of contact on the surface]
In the embodiment described above, an example in which the support surface 9A of the container support 9 comes into contact with the entire length of the side surface 103 of the container 100 in the width direction W has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, if the support surface 9A is in contact with the side surface 103 over a length of ½ or more in the width direction W, it is possible to prevent the posture-corrected container 100 from returning to the tilted posture.
Further, in the above embodiment, it has been described that the container 100 and the container support 9 come into surface contact on the premise that the cross section of the container support 9 has a rectangular shape, but the cross section of the container support 9 is circular or In the case of a polygon, the form of contact with the container 100 can be said to be line contact. Even with this line contact, it is possible to prevent the container 100 corrected to the normal posture from returning to the tilted posture again.

1 Posture correction device 3 Transport path 3A Transport surface 5A, 5B Transport guide 7 Posture straightener 7A Inclined surface 9 Container support 9A Support surface 100 Container 101, 101A, 101B, 101C, 101D Corner 103 Side surface 105 Constriction

Claims (9)

A pair of transport guides provided so that articles transported from upstream to downstream pass along the transport direction and face each other.
A posture-correcting body that projects from one of the pair of the transport guides toward the other and causes the article to generate a moment around the central axis of the article when the article interferes with the article.
An article support whose longitudinal direction intersects the transport direction and whose posture is corrected around the central axis by the posture corrector in a surface or line contact with the article.
Posture correction device equipped with.
The article support is
By pushing the article downstream, the article is transported.
The posture correction device according to claim 1.
The article has a square tubular shape, and the following equations (1) and (2) hold.
The posture correction device according to claim 1 or 2.
W2 <D1 <W1 ... Equation (1) D2 <W2 ... Equation (2)
W1: Width dimension between the pair of transport guides W2: Width dimension between the pair of transport guides in the area where the posture corrector is provided D1: Between the opposing corners of the article Dimension D2: The dimension between the side surfaces of the article that are parallel to each other and face each other.
The posture correction body
One of the pair of transport guides is integrally formed or is easily attached and detached.
The posture correction device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The pair of transport guides extend linearly along the transport direction.
The posture correction device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The pair of transport guides provided with the posture correction body and the article support are arranged in a plurality of rows in the width direction (W) orthogonal to the transport direction.
The posture correction device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
It is a method of correcting the posture of a square tubular article that is transported in the transport direction from upstream to downstream along a transport path.
The first step of correcting the posture of the article around the central axis by locking the corners of the article to be conveyed and generating a moment around the central axis.
By restricting the generation of a moment around the central axis of the article whose posture has been corrected by the first step, the second step of transporting the article downstream while maintaining the corrected posture. ,
Posture correction method.
Prior to the first step, the article is transported by pushing the article downstream.
In the second step, the article is conveyed by pushing the article whose posture has been corrected toward the downstream.
The posture correction method according to claim 7.
In the first step, the posture is corrected by sequentially applying moments to the plurality of articles transported side by side in the transport direction.
The posture correction method according to claim 7 or 8.

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