JP2024143396A - Rotary type container transport device - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a rotary container transport device capable of handling both transport using a neck guide and transport using a pocket by a simple parts replacement operation, and further having a configuration that can easily handle the height dimensions of containers in both transport methods. [Solution] The device comprises a second base 21 disposed below a first base 11, forming a gap between it and the first base 11, horizontally and rotatably arranged coaxially with a rotation shaft 5 of a rotor 3, a third base 31 provided with a nut portion that screws with a trapezoidal screw of a screw shaft 23 that is journaled on the second base 21 and supported so as to be able to rise and fall in the gap between the first base 11 and the second base 21, and a fourth base body 41a supported above the first base 11 by a support shaft 32 that is erected from the third base 31, and the fourth base body 41a can be mounted interchangeably between an annular neck guide base 51 provided with a neck guide 52 and an annular pocket base 61 provided with a pocket cutout portion 62. [Selected figure] Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a rotary container transport device that can handle both of the following transport methods with minimal part replacement: a method of transporting a container by holding it in two locations near the neck and bottom in the height direction with pocket guides installed in two levels, one above the other, and a method of transporting a container by holding it by its neck.

A conventional rotary container transport device includes an annular transport table arranged around the rotation axis of a rotor with a bottle placed thereon so as to rotate integrally with the rotor, an annular guide mounting base arranged around the rotation axis of the rotor and above the transport table so as to rotate integrally with the rotor, and a plurality of neck guides arranged at equal intervals on the outer periphery of the guide mounting base as container holders that hold the neck portions, which are the held portions, of the bottles on the transport table, and which intermittently transports containers whose neck portions are held by the neck guides by intermittently rotating the rotor (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In this container transport device, the circular path of the neck guide on the transport table becomes the transport path for the containers, and between receiving bottles supplied from a transport means etc. arranged upstream at the carry-in position and sending them out at the carry-out position arranged downstream, there are various work areas arranged, such as a filling area where the bottles are filled with the filling material, a capping area where caps are applied, and an inspection area where the filling state is inspected and checked. The neck guide not only holds the containers (including both gripping and hanging), but also centers the mouth of the container in the filling area and capping area, for example.

The container transport device described above has a held portion such as a neck, and is applicable to transporting relatively lightweight containers such as bottles, tubes, and pouches that can be transported while holding the non-held portion. However, some types of containers are not suitable for transport using a neck guide, such as cylindrical containers that are difficult to grip or that are quite heavy when combined with their contents. In such cases, a container transport device with a circular transport table and pockets for storing containers is used to support and transport the container.

JP 2022-006991 A

In other words, users of container transport devices may need two different types of container transport devices depending on the type of container they use. Also, if the containers have different height dimensions, in the case of a container transport device that uses a neck guide, the neck guide must be adjusted to match the height position of the held part, and even in the case of a container transport device that uses a pocket, the height dimension of the pocket must be changed.

In recent years, container shapes and types have become increasingly diverse, creating a demand for the development of a rotary container transport device that can easily handle the transport of many types of containers.

The present invention responds to this demand, and aims to provide a rotary container transport device that can handle both transport using neck guides and transport using pockets with a simple parts replacement operation, and that has a configuration that can easily accommodate the height dimensions of containers when transporting using both methods.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the rotary container transport device of the present invention comprises: a cylindrical rotating body erected from a stage so as to be intermittently rotatable by a servo motor; a first base connected to the rotating body above the stage and disposed horizontally and coaxially with the rotating body's rotation axis; a second base disposed below the first base around the rotating body by a spacer interposed between the first base and the second base and/or connected to the rotating body to form a gap between the first base and the second base, and disposed horizontally and coaxially with the rotating body's rotation axis; a third base disposed horizontally and coaxially with the rotating body's rotation axis and supported so as to be raised and lowered by a nut portion that screws into a trapezoidal screw formed on an outer circumferential surface of a screw shaft that is erected and journaled on the second base; and a fourth base main body supported above the first base around the rotating body by a support shaft erected from the third base so as to be horizontally and coaxially rotatable with the rotating body's rotation axis, By rotating the screw shaft forward and backward, the fourth base body can be raised and lowered relative to the first base via the third base having the nut portion and the support shaft, and the fourth base body can be interchangeably mounted with a circular neck guide base having neck guides at equal intervals on the outer periphery that hold the held portion of the container, and a circular pocket base having pocket cutouts at equal intervals on the outer periphery that store the container placed on the first base, to form the fourth base.

The first base is characterized in that it is capable of mounting a container held by each neck guide arranged on a neck guide base mounted on the fourth base body, or a second pocket base formed with a second pocket cutout portion that accommodates the vicinity of the bottom of a container held in each pocket cutout portion formed on a pocket base mounted on the fourth base body.

With this configuration, the container transport device can be used for both transport using the neck guide and transport using the pocket cutout portion simply by replacing the neck guide base and pocket base mounted on the fourth base body. Moreover, all of the screw shafts can be rotated by rotating any one of the screw shafts, so the fourth base body can be raised and lowered while remaining horizontal without becoming distorted. By raising and lowering the fourth base body, the neck guide of the neck guide base mounted on the fourth base body or the pocket cutout portion of the pocket base can be easily adjusted to match the height dimensions of various containers.

In addition, by mounting a second pocket base on the first base of the container transport device, the lower part of the container in the height direction, i.e., near the bottom, can be held, making intermittent transport of the container more stable.

In this way, the rotary container transport device of the present invention has the excellent effect of being able to handle both transport using a neck guide and transport using a pocket cutout with a small number of replacement parts and simple replacement work, and can easily accommodate the height dimensions of containers in both transport methods.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of a rotary type container transport device of the present invention (equipped with a neck guide base) as viewed from a horizontal direction. (A) An explanatory diagram showing the main parts of another embodiment of the rotary container transport device of the present invention equipped with a neck guide base (equipped with a pocket base) viewed obliquely downward from above; (B) An explanatory diagram showing the main parts of another embodiment of the rotary container transport device of the present invention equipped with a pocket base (equipped with a pocket base) viewed obliquely downward from above

In this embodiment, the rotary container transport device 1 has a cylindrical rotating body 3 that is supported by a rotating shaft 5 that is erected from a stage 4, and is arranged so that it can be intermittently rotated in the forward direction at any speed and rotation angle by a servo motor (not shown) that serves as a drive source arranged within the stage.

In this embodiment, the rotor 3 is provided with three annular bases 11, 21, and 31 and a base body 41a arranged in parallel in the vertical direction, the base body 3 rotating intermittently with the rotor 3. Each base 11, 21, and 31 and the base body 41a may be formed into an annular shape by a single member, or may be formed into an annular shape by connecting multiple fan-shaped parts.

The first base 11 is disposed directly above the stage 4, with its annular inner periphery connected to the rotor 3, and is arranged horizontally and rotatably coaxially with the rotation axis 5 of the rotor 3. In this embodiment, the top surface of the first base 11 is flat. This surface is used as the reference for adjusting the height position of the neck guide 2.

Below the first base 11, the second base 21, which is formed in a circular ring shape, is arranged around the rotor. The second base 21 is connected to the first base 11 by six spacers 22 that are interposed between the first base 11 and the second base 21 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and is arranged to be horizontal and rotatable coaxially with the rotation axis 5 of the rotor 3, forming a gap between the first base 11 and the second base 21. As described later, the gap determines the liftable distance of the fourth base 41, which is provided with a neck guide 52 and a pocket cutout 62 as a container holding section, so the length of the spacer 22 is designed to be equal to or greater than the height of the bottles to be transported by the device. Three screw shafts 23 are rotatably supported and erected at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the second base 21.

The third base 31 is disposed around the rotor in the gap between the first base 11 and the second base 21. The third base 31 is supported so as to be movable up and down by having a nut portion (not shown) that screws into a trapezoidal thread (not shown) formed on the outer peripheral surface of the screw shaft 23, and is disposed so as to be horizontal and rotatable coaxially with the rotation shaft 5 of the rotor 3. Six support shafts 32 are erected on this third base 31.

Above the first base 11, a fourth base body 41a is supported around the rotor by a support shaft 32 that passes through an axial hole 42 formed in the first base 11 and connects the third base 31 to the base body 41a, so that the fourth base body 41a can rotate horizontally and coaxially with the rotation shaft 5 of the rotor 3.

In this embodiment, the top surface of the fourth base main body 41a is provided with either a circular neck guide base 51 having neck guides 52 for holding the held portion of the bottle at equal intervals on its outer periphery as shown in Figs. 1 and 2(A), or a circular pocket base 61 having pocket cutouts 62 for storing the bottle placed on the first base at equal intervals on its outer periphery as shown in Fig. 3. These are fixed horizontally at several points in the circumferential direction by connecting members 43 that also function as stays, depending on the type of container, and are arranged to form the fourth base 41.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, a second pocket base 71 is fixedly disposed on the upper surface of the first base 11. The second pocket base 71 has second pocket notches 72 formed therein, which accommodate the bottom vicinity of the container accommodated in each pocket notch 62 formed in the pocket base 61 mounted on the fourth base body 41a. When the pocket base 61 is mounted on the fourth base body 41a, the pocket notches 62, 72 are disposed in upper and lower stages, so that for bottles with a large height, the pocket notch 62 formed in the pocket base 61 of the fourth base body 41a holds the upper part of the bottle, and the pocket notch 72 formed in the second pocket base 71 of the first base 11 holds the lower part of the bottle near the bottom, thereby ensuring the holding of the bottle. The second pocket base 71 can also be used in combination with the neck guide base 51.

In this embodiment, one of the three screw shafts 23 is arranged to extend upward from the shaft hole 13 formed in the first base 11, and an indicator 6 is provided at its open end to rotate the screw shaft 23 in the forward and reverse directions. A sprocket 7 is provided on each of the three screw shafts 23, and the rotational force of the screw shaft 23 on which the indicator 6 is provided is transmitted to each screw shaft 23 when the endless timing belt 8 meshed with each sprocket 7 is stretched. In this embodiment, a chain belt is used as the timing belt 8, and so-called chain drive is performed.

The rotary container transport device 1 of this embodiment is equipped with a control unit (not shown) that drives the servo motor intermittently, and the rotor 3 and each base 11, 21, 31, 41 are configured to rotate intermittently at a predetermined speed and rotation angle (for example, 15° in a case where 24 neck guides 52 are provided) under the control of the control unit, and the bottles held in a centered state by the neck guide 2 are intermittently transported along the transport path.

Next, we will explain the operation of the container transport device of this embodiment.

The rotary container conveying device 1 of this embodiment intermittently rotates a fourth base 41 on which a neck guide 52 or a circular neck guide base 51 or a pocket base 61 with a plurality of pocket notches 62 formed on the outer periphery as a container holding portion for holding a bottle (not shown) as a container is mounted horizontally. The bottle is then received on the conveying path at a loading position provided upstream in the circular path of the neck guide 2, conveyed to a work area (not shown) provided on the conveying path, and after a predetermined work is performed using a device or the like provided in each work area, the bottle is sent to the conveying path at an unloading position provided downstream.

Before being driven, the rotary container transport device 1 of this embodiment selects the neck guide base 51 or the pocket base 61 depending on the type of bottle to be supplied, and mounts it on the fourth base body 41a. Then, the fourth base 41 is adjusted up and down to match the height position of the held portion of the bottle held by the container holding portion of the fourth base body 41.

In this embodiment, the first base 11 is provided on the stage 4 so that it is at the same height as the conveying surface of the upstream bottle conveying means facing the loading position and the conveying surface of the downstream bottle conveying means facing the unloading position. This allows the height to be adjusted using the top surface of the first base (container placement surface 12) as a reference surface.

As mentioned above, the fourth base 41 is raised and lowered by rotating one screw shaft 23 extending upward from the shaft hole 13 formed in the first base 11 using the indicator 6 attached to the screw shaft 23 in the forward and reverse directions, thereby rotating the other two screw shafts 23 via the sprockets 7 and timing belt 8.

When the screw shaft 23 rotates in the forward and reverse directions, the third base 31, which is formed with a nut portion that meshes with the trapezoidal thread on the outer periphery of the screw shaft 23, rises and falls, and as the third base 31 rises and falls, the fourth base 41 supported by the support shaft 32 rises and falls while maintaining a horizontal state. At this time, by rotating one of the screw shafts 23, all of the screw shafts 23 can be rotated simultaneously, so the fourth base 41 can be raised and lowered while maintaining a horizontal state without distorting it.

After this setting, the container transport device 1 is driven to receive the bottle into the transport path at the loading position. The bottle is then transported to a work area (not shown) provided on the transport path, and a specified operation is performed using devices provided in each work area. The bottle is then sent out to the unloading path at the unloading position. At this time, if the second pocket base 71 is disposed on the first base 11, during transport it is placed on the container placement surface 12 on the first base 11, and supports the vicinity of the bottom of the bottle that is intermittently transported by the intermittent drive of the servo motor, so that the bottle is held more firmly.

When the fourth base 41 is equipped with a neck guide base 51 and the neck guide 52 has a centering function, the neck guide 52 can firmly hold and center the held portion of the bottle, preventing situations in which work on the bottle in each work area is not performed properly due to poor centering.

When mounting a pocket base 61 in place of the neck guide base 51 mounted on the fourth base 41, the bases 51 and 61 can be replaced by attaching and detaching the connecting member 43 that also serves as a stay. The neck guide base 51 and the pocket base 63 do not need to be formed into a ring shape from a single member, and may be formed into a ring shape by connecting multiple fan-shaped parts.

The rotary container transport device 1 of this embodiment, configured in this manner, allows the neck guide base 51 or pocket base 61 to be selected depending on the type of container, etc., and allows easy replacement work.Furthermore, it can accommodate various containers that have different height positions of the held parts from the transport surface when the bottles are transported into and out of the container transport device 1, and allows the height of the container holding parts 52, 62 to be easily adjusted.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, the thickness dimension of the pocket base 61 is not particularly limited, so it may be a thickness dimension that allows the pocket cutout portion 62 formed in the pocket base 61 to adequately accommodate a container when the fourth base 41 is lowered to the lowest position.

In addition, in the above embodiment, three screw shafts 23 are provided as the best mode, but more than one screw shaft 23 may be provided. The point is that the number of screw shafts 23 should be such that the third base 31 and the fourth base 41 can be raised and lowered without twisting while maintaining their horizontal state.

The second base 21, which is disposed below the first base 11, is not limited to being disposed on the first base 11 via a stay-shaped spacer 22, but the spacer 22 may be a plate-shaped wall portion, or, similar to the first base 11, the inner peripheral edge of the annular second base 21 may be directly connected to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical shaft-shaped rotor 3.

Furthermore, the timing belt that transmits the rotational force of one screw shaft 23 to the other screw shafts and rotates them simultaneously is not limited to a chain belt.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Rotary container transport device 3 Rotating body 4 Stage 5 Rotating shaft 6 Indicator 7 Sprocket 8 Timing belt 11 First base 12 Container mounting surface 13 Shaft hole 21 Second base 22 Spacer 23 Screw shaft 31 Third base 32 Support shaft 41 Fourth base 41a Fourth base main body 42 Shaft hole 43 Connecting member (including stay)
51 Neck guide base 52 Neck guide (container holding portion)
61 Pocket base 62 Pocket cutout portion (container holding portion)
71 Second pocket base 72 Second pocket cutout portion

Claims (2)

a cylindrical rotating body that is vertically supported on the stage and can be rotated intermittently by a servo motor;
a first base connected to the rotor above the stage and disposed horizontally and rotatably coaxially with the axis of rotation of the rotor; and a second base disposed below the first base around the rotor by a spacer interposed between the first base and the second base and/or connected to the rotor to form a gap between the first base and the second base, the first base being horizontally and rotatably coaxially with the axis of rotation of the rotor;
a third base that is supported so as to be able to rise and fall by having a nut portion that screws into a trapezoidal thread formed on an outer peripheral surface of a screw shaft that is journaled and erected on the second base in the gap between the first base and the second base, and is disposed so as to be able to rotate horizontally and coaxially with the rotation shaft of the rotor;
a fourth base body supported horizontally and coaxially with a rotation axis of the rotor by a support shaft erected from the third base around the rotor above the first base,
By rotating the screw shaft forward and backward, the fourth base body can be raised and lowered relative to the first base via the third base having the nut portion and the support shaft,
The fourth base body is configured to be interchangeably mounted with a circular neck guide base having neck guides at equal intervals on its outer circumferential edge for holding the held portions of the containers, and a circular pocket base having pocket cutout portions at equal intervals on its outer circumferential edge for storing containers placed on the first base, thereby forming a fourth base. The rotary container transport device according to claim 1, characterized in that the first base can be mounted with a container held by each neck guide arranged on a neck guide base mounted on a fourth base body, or a second pocket base formed with a second pocket cutout portion that accommodates the vicinity of the bottom of a container accommodated in each pocket cutout portion formed on a pocket base mounted on the fourth base body.

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