WO2016071075A1

WO2016071075A1 - Transport star for guiding containers

Info

Publication number: WO2016071075A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/073398
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nils MALLITZKI
Original assignee: Khs Gmbh
Priority date: 2014-11-03
Filing date: 2015-10-09
Publication date: 2016-05-12
Also published as: DE102014116005A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a transport star for guiding containers. The aim of the invention is to provide a transport star whose container receptacles are adjustable in a particularly easy and precise manner and which is structurally simple and easy to clean. In order to achieve said aim, it is provided that the transport star comprises a first and a second contact body which are movably arranged on a base body, said contact bodies comprising respectively a first and a second contact surface and an adjustment device for linearly moving the contact body in the radial direction between a first and a second position.

Description

Transport star for guiding containers

The invention relates to a transport star for circulating transporting and guiding containers.

Format parts, such as transport stars, are used in container treatment plants to hold and guide the containers as they pass through the system along a transport path. In this case, transport stars are used, for example, in the field of liquid fillers, labeling or closing machines.

The format parts are usually matched to a type of container or limited container sizes, so that when a container change and the format parts must be replaced. In order to avoid the complex change of transport stars, transport stars are known, which have adjustable in size container receptacles, so that a transport star can hold containers with different diameters and lead through the container system.

The containers, esp. Bottles, held at the neck or neck with a gripper, if necessary, additionally placed with at least a portion of the container bottom on a suitable floor element. It is often necessary that the container in addition to the gripper on the neck or neck, are protected against rocking, centrifugal forces, vibrations, etc. by container receptacles or guide elements, which are brought to the abdomen or foot.

Known adjustable container receptacles or guide elements of transport stars, are usually formed of two superposed transport discs with bulges in the outer edge. The transport discs are mutually displaceable, so that the container receptacle can be enlarged and reduced. The adjustment of the container receptacles takes place in the known transport stars accordingly by means of a rotational movement about the axis of rotation of the transport star, such as. In DE 694 05 650 T2. Such transport stars usually rotate about a central, vertical machine axis and have a high design effort and are also due to the complex mechanics particularly difficult and time-consuming to dismantle, whereby a necessary cleaning of the transport stars, for example. When used in the food industry is difficult ,

The invention is thus based on the object to provide a transport star, whose container receptacles are particularly simple and precisely adjustable, which is structurally simple and easy to clean.

The invention solves the problem by a transport star with the features of claim 1. Advantageous developments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims. The transport star according to the invention rotates about a vertical machine axis, wherein the containers to be transported for a certain angular range carried on the star or held rotate with this. For this purpose, in addition to grippers, clips or receiving pockets which fix or support the container below the mouth in the neck region, in particular on the neck ring, the transport star has adjustable guide elements for stabilizing the containers.

As a guide element, the transport star has at least one first and one second body movably arranged on a base body, each with a first and a second contact surface, a container receptacle formed from the first contact surface of a first contact body and the second contact surface of a second contact body and an adjusting device , which is arranged and formed such that the abutment bodies are movable linearly and in the radial direction between a first and a second position. The plant body is arranged vertically below the gripper or Klipses and comes in normal operation in the abdomen or foot area of each container to rest against the outer surface. The transport star according to the invention is thus adjustable and can be adapted to the diameter of the container. The containers abut against at least two areas of the container receptacle. Accordingly, the transport star interacts with a further format part associated with the transport star, on which the containers form at least one third contact point on which they slide along.

The linear displaceability of the contact surfaces in the radial direction has the effect that, when changing the containers with different diameters, the changing gap between the contact surfaces of the transport star and the contact surface of the format part is largely bridged by the radially displaced contact bodies. Due to the adjustability of the transport star according to the invention, in a container change, i. when changing a type of container to a type of container with a different diameter at least the transport stars remain in the container treatment system and must be adjusted only in the radial direction.

In addition, the particularly simple structural design of the transport star causes the transport star to have only a small number of different components and, secondly, to be particularly easily accessible, so that it is particularly easy to clean the transport star.

The main body may, for example, be annular. In particular, it has a planar design and can, for example, consist of several composite basic body segments. The main body may also be formed with connecting devices for connecting the main body or the entire star transport to the container treatment plant.

On the main body can be arranged a plurality of abutment bodies in the direction of rotation about the main body side by side. For a particularly simple arrangement of the system body on the body of these recordings, to which the system body can be easily arranged. In this case, the receptacles can be designed in particular as receiving tongues which extend in the radial direction Extend direction. The radial direction relates to the axis of rotation of the transport star, so that the receiving tongues are arranged perpendicular to the axis of rotation and, for example, extend away from the outer edge of the main body. In this case, the receiving tongues can be formed integrally with the base body or with the base body segments.

Each system body has two contact surfaces, namely a first and a second contact surface. An abutment surface can be understood as a section on the abutment body which is designed to come into contact with the container. Depending on the shape of the contact surface and the shape of the container, the contact surfaces can thus be designed for a punctual concern of the container on the contact surface or for a flat abutment of the container on the contact surface. For example, the contact surfaces can be straight or arcuate, i. For example, be adapted to the outer shape of the container. The abutment bodies can also be constructed flat in accordance with the receiving tongues.

The contact surfaces can be formed by the end faces of the contact body. It is also possible, for example, to arrange additional contact bodies with abutment surfaces on the abutment bodies, as a result of which it is possible, for example, to form particularly large abutment surfaces for a particularly good hold of the containers.

The adjusting device is provided for linear movement of the bearing body in the radial direction. In this case, the adjusting device is designed in particular for displacing the contact body relative to the base body. The contact body and the main body or the receiving tongue can thus be arranged directly above one another and / or possibly in direct contact with each other, in particular parallel to one another at least in sections. Linear means that the path of movement of the contact body is rectilinear. According to the statements made above, the radial direction relates to the axis of rotation of the transport star.

The first position is understood to be a position of the abutment body in which the transport star is used to guide containers with particularly large diameters. is suitable. The second position is thus understood to mean a position of the abutment body in which the transport star is suitable for guiding containers of particularly small diameters. The abutment bodies are infinitely adjustable between the two positions, so that all containers having a diameter between the two extreme diameters can be transported by the transport star.

Containers are understood in particular containers for drinks. This can be, for example, bottles or cans. In this case, containers are understood to mean, in particular, plastic bottles, for example of PET, glass bottles, metal bottles or cans made of metal or plastic or another material. Especially with the use of beverage bottles, which are guided at the bottleneck (Neck guided bottles), the inventive transport star causes a particularly good damping of the rocking movement of the container occurring during operation.

The container receptacle is understood to mean the portion on the transport star which is suitable for receiving, i. for contact with the containers, is provided. The container receptacle is therefore basically formed from a first contact surface of a first contact body and a second contact surface of the adjacent (second) contact body. According to a development of the invention, the abutment body on a head end with converging contact surfaces. That is, the head end is wedge-shaped or arrow-shaped, with the wedge or arrowhead pointing radially outward away from the axis of rotation of the transport star. In this case, the abutment bodies, as already mentioned above, in particular have a planar design and are arranged parallel to the base body, in particular to the receptacle on the base body.

The arrangement of the contact body on the base body can, for example, by means of a storage unit. The bearing unit can, for example, be designed as a ball or as a roller bearing. Also, for example, a slotted guide can be arranged. In order to ensure the special simplicity of the design and the good cleanability of the transport star bearing between the body and the plant body is designed as a thrust device in which the investment body and the Base body parallel to each other, ie, at least in sections, surface to each other and, for example, directly to each other, are. For secure positioning of the contact body on the base body, in particular a bearing bracket is provided which, for example, is arranged on the receptacle of the base body and whose clamping arms extend up to the contact body, for example to a base body of the arrow shape. Of course, the pusher may also be supplemented by other bearing components such as, for example, a link guide.

According to a development of the invention, the adjusting device is designed to move all of the attachment bodies disposed in the direction of rotation about the transport star synchronously between the first and the second position. The term "synchronous" is understood to mean that the adjusting device simultaneously moves all the abutment bodies by the same distance between the first and the second position.

In addition to a drive unit, which can be provided, for example, for manual or motorized drive of the adjusting device, the adjusting device particularly preferably comprises coupling units, via which all contact bodies are coupled together. The coupling unit can, for example, be driven by the drive unit. The coupling unit is in particular designed such that it engages a foot end of the contact body opposite the head end.

The coupling unit is particularly preferably designed as a coupling ring, which is arranged rotatably about the axis of rotation of the transport star and forms a link guide with each contact body. In this case, for example, be arranged on each abutment body crank pin, which are each in engagement with a guide slot on the coupling ring and form the slide guide. The link bolts are arranged in particular at the foot end opposite the head end of the contact body.

According to a development of the invention, the adjusting device on a gear transmission for connection to the plant bodies. It can, for example, at each Plant body to be arranged a control rod, which is connected via a gear connection with a arranged around the axis of rotation of the transport star toothed ring. The gear connection is designed such that during a rotational movement of the toothed ring about the axis of rotation of the contact body by means of the control rods between the first and the second position back and forth are movable.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the adjusting device on a linkage for connection to the plant bodies. In this case, for example, each abutment body can be connected to a knee lever which is driven by means of a coupling ring or, for example, a toothed ring. Basically, combinations of transmission types (slotted guide, gear transmission and / or toggle lever) are possible. The transport star with basic body and system body shown so far forms a single transport plane of a transport star. In particular, in the case of tall containers, such as, for example, large beverage bottles, it is necessary to guide the containers over their height to two transport levels in order to prevent the containers from tipping over. According to a development of the invention, it is therefore provided that the transport star has at least one second plane with container receptacles spaced apart from a first plane with container receptacles.

The second or each further transport plane may be identical to the first transport plane described above. In this case, the second transport plane is arranged in the rotational axis direction above or below the first transport plane. Due to the particularly simple design of the individual components, each transport plane has only a small height, so that even flat transport stars can be formed with two or more transport planes. The two transport levels can each have their own adjustment device and be controlled separately. For example, it would be possible to displace the abutment bodies differently far in the radial direction so that, for example, even high bottles (or containers) with a large diameter in the abdominal region can be guided with a lower transport plane, while the bottles (or containers) are guided in the narrower neck area of an upper transport plane. Alternatively, it is also possible to arrange a further coupling unit which couples the adjusting devices to one another, so that, for example, only a single drive unit simultaneously drives the two adjusting devices.

Furthermore, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to several embodiments. 1 shows a schematic top view of a first embodiment of the transport star with abutment bodies in a first position;

2 is a schematic perspective view of a section of the

Transport star of Fig. 1;

3 is a schematic plan view of a detail of the transport star of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the abutment bodies in a second position;

4 is a schematic perspective view of a section of the

Transport star with an alternative embodiment of the contact surfaces. Fig. 1 shows schematically in plan view a first embodiment of a transport star 1, which is designed for rotation about a generally vertical axis of rotation C. The transport star 1 has a main body 2 which is designed to be largely ring-shaped or wheel-shaped and has connecting devices 3 for connecting the transport star 1 to a container treatment plant (not shown here). The main body 2 is flat, largely annular and integrally formed. Alternatively, the base body 2 may, for example, be formed from a plurality of composite single-ring segments. The other conventional elements of the transport star 1, such as a central column or storage in a body, feet, fasteners to neighboring devices are not shown.

The main body 2 has in the direction of rotation a plurality of receiving elements 4, which are formed as extending in the radial direction receiving tabs are. Each receiving element 4 is designed for the movable mounting of a contact body 5. The contact body 5 are connected via a thrust bearing, which is designed here as a bearing bracket 6, with the receiving element 4. The abutment bodies 5 are linear, ie, they are movably mounted along a straight trajectory and in the radial direction.

The plant body 5 are arrow-like with a wedge-shaped head 7 is formed. The head end 7 has a first and a second abutment surface 8a, 8b. The contact surfaces 8a, 8b are formed from the side surfaces (front sides) of the wedge-shaped head end 7 that are perpendicular to the plane of the contact body 5. The abutment bodies 5 are arranged on the base body 2 and in the receiving element 4 such that in each case the first abutment surface 8a of a first abutment body 5 forms a container receptacle 9 with the second abutment surface 8b of a second abutment body 5 arranged next to the first abutment body 5. Containers 17, here beverage bottles, are shown in the container receptacles 9.

Furthermore, FIG. 1 shows an adjusting device 10 with a coupling unit designed as a coupling ring 11. The coupling ring 1 1 is also formed in one piece, but may alternatively be composed of a plurality of ring segments. The coupling ring 1 1 has for each system body 5 a slotted guide 12 with a guide slot 13 and a guide slot 13 arranged in the guide slot 13 and connected to a foot end 15 of the contact body 5 slide pin 14. The adjusting device 10 further has a drive device 16 for moving the coupling ring 1 1. In this case, the coupling ring 1 1 is mounted on bearing devices 18 on the base body 2 such that it is rotatable about the axis of rotation C. The coupling ring 1 1 is arranged in the rotational axis direction above the contact body 5.

2 shows in perspective a section of the transport star 1 from FIG. 1 with the thrust bearing of the contact body 5. For this purpose, a bearing bracket 6 is arranged on each receiving element 4, the clamping arms of which extend at least in sections. extend over the contact body 5 and position it on the receiving element 4. In addition, the Verstellvorricla ng 10, the slide guide 12, arranged in the guide ring guide slot 13 and arranged at the foot end 15 of the contact body 5 slide pin 14 is shown. Furthermore, FIG. 2 shows the bearing 18 of the coupling ring 11 by which a rotational movement of the coupling ring 11 about the axis of rotation C is made possible.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the abutment bodies are shown in a first position, in which the container receptacles 9 for receiving containers 17 are formed with a particularly large diameter.

Fig. 3 shows a section of the transport star 1 of Fig. 1 and 2. The coupling ring 1 1 was rotated by means of the drive device 16 counterclockwise. In this case, the guide pins 14 were moved in the guide slots 13 from an inner side 20 to an outer side 21, whereby the bearing bodies 5 connected to the guide bolts were displaced linearly in the radial direction outwards (away from the axis of rotation C).

The first and second abutment surfaces 8a, 8b further form the container receptacles 9, which are provided in the second position shown for containers 17 with a particularly small diameter.

Furthermore, more than one of the abovementioned abutment bodies can be identified on a transport star 1 with the corresponding adjustment devices, in particular two abutment bodies arranged vertically one above the other according to FIG. the previous versions with two or a common adjusting device.

Fig. 4 shows schematically in a perspective view a detail of the transport star of Fig. 1 to 3 with an alternative embodiment of the contact surfaces 8a, 8b. In order to achieve better support of the container, 7 additional contact body 22 are arranged in the region of the head end. The contact bodies 22 are plate-shaped and aligned with their plane perpendicular to the plane of the contact body 4. The contact bodies 22 are in the region of the wedge surface. chen of the head end 7 is arranged. The plate-shaped contact body 22 protrude beyond the height of the contact body 4. A ne main side surface of the contact body 22 is formed as a contact surface 8a, 8b. The contact bodies 22 are formed as separate components, which are connected to the contact bodies 4. Alternatively, the contact bodies 22 may also be formed integrally with the contact body 4.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 transport star

2 main body

3 connection device

4 receiving element

5 plant body

6 Lagerklannner (Schublagerung)

7 head end

8a, 8b contact surface

9 container receptacle

10 adjustment device

1 1 coupling ring

12 slide guide

13 guide slot

14 link bolts

15 feet

16 drive device

17 containers

18 bearing coupling ring

19 circular path

20 inside

21 outside

22 contact bodies

C rotation axis transport star

Claims

claims

1 . Transport star for guiding and circulating transport of containers (17), comprising grippers, clips or receiving pockets, for fixing or carrying the container (17) below the mouth in the neck region and / or in the region of a neck ring, with

a first and a second abutment body (5) movably arranged on a base body (2), each abutment body (5) each having a first and a second abutment surface (8a, 8b),

- One from the first bearing surface (8a) of a first contact body (5) and from the second bearing surface (8b) of a second contact body (5) formed container receptacle (9) and

- An adjustment device (10) which is arranged and designed such that the contact body (5) are linear and movable in the radial direction between a first and a second position.

2. Transport star according to claim 1, characterized in that the bearing body (5) has a head end (7) with converging contact surfaces (8a, 8b).

3. Transport starter according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that between the base body (2) and the contact body (5) a thrust device, in particular a bearing bracket (6), for positioning the contact body (5) on the base body (2) is arranged.

4. Transport starter according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjusting device (10) is arranged and designed such that the abutment body (5) are movable synchronously between the first and the second position.

5. Transport starter according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjusting device (10) has a connecting body (5) connecting the coupling unit. A star conveyor according to claim 5, characterized in that the coupling unit is designed as a coupling ring (1 1) with a slotted guide (12).

Transport starter according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjusting device (10) has a gear transmission.

Transport starter according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjusting device (10) has a linkage.

Transport star according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one to a first level with container receptacles (9) spaced second plane with container receptacles (9) is arranged.