JPH0533457Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a double-row chain in which multiple rows of chains are connected in parallel by the same pin, and in particular,
This invention relates to a double-row chain used in container processing equipment.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, a chain is made into an endless chain by alternately connecting outer links and inner links with a large number of pins, which are looped around multiple sprockets, and the teeth of the sprockets are engaged between each set of links. It is now possible to run the vehicle with A double-row chain made by arranging multiple rows of chains in parallel and connecting them with long pins is also known in the past, in which the chain is meshed with a plurality of overlapping sprockets at the same time and runs. .

However, in a conventional double-row chain, multiple sets of links connected between two pins, for example,
If one of the links is a narrowly spaced inside link, the other links that line up with it are also the same inside links, and the links on both sides of each pair are outside links, and by alternating this combination, it becomes a single link. A set of double-row chains was constructed.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

In the conventional double-row chain mentioned above, the links that mesh with the teeth at the same position on multiple sprockets are
All were either inside links or outside links. Normally, the thickness of the sprocket is such that it meshes with the inner link with almost no play, and when it meshes with the outer link, it always has play. When such a double-row chain is run horizontally, it tends to sag due to its own weight, and there is a risk that mis-meshing will occur when it meshes with the sprocket.

The present invention has been devised to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and provides a double-row chain for a container processing device that can be reliably engaged with a sprocket.

[Means for solving problems]

In this invention, multiple rows of chains each consisting of alternately connecting inner links and outer links with a large number of pins are arranged in parallel, and the same number of chains as the number of rows are stacked one on top of the other. In a container processing device equipped with a double-row chain that meshes with an integrally rotating sprocket and runs, and a bottle gripper that is attached between two adjacent pins and holds a container, there is a Multiple rows of chains are connected by shifting the phases so that the narrowly spaced inner links and the widely spaced outer links are located at the same time, and the plurality of sprockets are engaged between the inner links and between the outer links at the same time. In addition, the thickness of each of the sprockets is made slightly thinner than the interval between the inner links so that they can mesh without play.

[Effect]

In the double-row chain of the container processing apparatus according to the present invention, at least one set of inner links always meshes with teeth at the same position on a plurality of sprockets.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below with reference to illustrated embodiments. Second
The figure is a perspective view of a line rinser to which a double-row chain is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention. The bottles 4 conveyed by the conveyor 2 are positioned at predetermined intervals by a screw 6 and introduced into the apparatus by a feed star wheel 8. Introduced bottle 4
The heads of each bottle are gripped one by one by a large number of bottle grippers 16 attached to a double-row chain 14 wound between a driving wheel 10 and a driven wheel 12. The bottle 4 gripped by the bottle gripper 16 in an upright position is reversed into an inverted position at the supply side reversing section 18 .

Below the drive wheel 10 is an inner washing mechanism 20 that cleans the inside of the bottle 4 by moving a washing nozzle inserted into the bottle 4 to follow the bottle 4, and above the drive wheel 10, there is an inner washing mechanism 20 for washing the inside of the bottle 4. An external washing mechanism 22 is provided.

The washed bottle 4 is drained while being conveyed through the draining section 24 while being gripped by the bottle gripper 16 in an inverted state. In addition, on the outside of the draining part 24, there is a chain 1 that meshes with the chain 14.
Support wheel 26 to prevent 4 from hanging down
is provided. The bottle 4, which has been conveyed around the driven wheel 12 through the draining section 24, is returned to an upright state at the discharge side reversing section 28, and is discharged onto the conveyor 2 via the discharge star wheel 30 and sent to the next process. It will be done.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the double-row chain 14 is
The configuration will be explained in detail. Double-row chain 1 to which a large number of bottle grippers 16 are attached
4 has a double structure as shown in FIG. 1, and the upper and lower links are assembled with the phases shifted. That is, when the outer link 34 with a wide vertical interval is attached to the upper part of the connecting pin 32, the inner link 36 with a narrow vertical interval is attached to the lower part. The outer links 3 are located on both sides of the upper outer link 34.
An inner link 36 sandwiched between the inner links 36 and 4 is attached, and outer links 34 sandwiching this inner link 36 are attached on both sides of the lower inner link 36. The outer and inner links 34 are vertically misaligned,
36 are in a row. A roller 40 is fitted between each set of upper and lower links 34, 36 of each connecting pin 32 via a bush 38, and between the upper links 34, 36 and the lower links 36, 34. A spacer 42 is fitted therein. The lowest link of each of the links 34 and 36 is bent downward so that both the outer link 34 and the inner link 36 are located on the same plane.

The drive wheel 10, driven wheel 12, and support wheel 26 mesh with the double-row chain position 4 and make the chain 14 travel according to the above configuration.
are both upper and lower sprockets 10a, 1
It is composed of 0b, 12a, 12b, 26a, and 26b (see Fig. 2). Each set of sprockets 10a, 10b, 12a, 12b, 26a, 26
b is the upper link 3 of the double-row chain 14;
4, 36 and the lower links 36, 34 at approximately equal intervals, and each of these sprockets 1
0a, 10b, 12a, 12b, 26a, 26b
have a thickness slightly less than the spacing of the inner links 36 of the chain 14. When the chain 14 and each wheel 10, 12, 26 engage,
The inner link 36 is connected to the sprocket 10a, 10b,
12a, 12b, 26a, and 26b with almost no play, and at the same time, the outer link 34 is engaged with some play. Therefore, either one of the links 34, 36, which are vertically overlapped, is always engaged with each other without play.

Each connecting pin 32 of the double-row chain 14 projects upwardly from the uppermost links 34, 36, and the bottle gripper 16 is attached to this projecting portion.

In addition, FIG. 1 is a front view of the bottle gripper 16 gripping the bottle 4 and setting the bottle 4 to a horizontal position (indicated by reference numeral 4a in FIG. 2) during inversion, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the bottle 4.
4 is a plan view of the state shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the state shown in FIG. 1. , the bottle gripper 16 will be explained with reference to these figures.

The bottle gripper 16 basically includes a support part 44 attached to the connecting pin 32, a main grip member 48 rotatably supported with respect to the support part 44 via a horizontal shaft 46, and the main grip member 48. A grip finger 52 fixed to a rotating shaft 50 rotatably inserted through the grip finger 52
It is composed of.

The support portion 44 has projecting portions 44a, 44b having different heights in the front and rear (left and right in FIG. 1), and these projecting portions 44a, 44b are overlapped and connected in sequence. A notch 44c is formed at the upper end of this support portion 44.
The base 48a, which is the center of rotation of the main grip member 48, is fitted into the base 4c, and is connected and supported by the horizontal shaft 46 as described above.

A gripper rubber 54 is fitted to the movable end (upper end in FIG. 1) of the main grip member 48. This gripper rubber 54 has an arc shape slightly exceeding half the circumference, and the gripper rubber 54 has an inner peripheral surface.
An unevenness 54a is formed which almost matches the shape of the head of the bottle 4 held by the bottle 4 (see FIG. 3). The gripper rubber 54 is attached to the main grip member 48 so that its unevenness 54a is located slightly above the unevenness of the head of the bottle 4 standing upright on the dead plate.

A rotating shaft 50 is inserted through the side of the gripper rubber 54 of the main grip member 48 in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal shaft 46 . From the portion of the rotating shaft 50 that fits inside the main grip member 48 toward the base 48a of the main grip member 48, approximately
Two spiral guide grooves 50a (see FIG. 5) are formed at an angle of 90°, upper and lower. On the other hand, a bolt 56 is inserted into the main grip member 48 from both sides, and two balls 58 are supported at the tip thereof, and these balls 58 are fitted into the upper and lower guide grooves 50a of the rotating shaft 50, respectively. Therefore, when the rotary shaft 50 is moved back and forth, the guide groove 50a moves along the ball 58, thereby rotating the shaft 50 by about 90 degrees.

A grip finger 52 is fixed to a protrusion of the rotating shaft 50 from the main grip member 48 . The grip finger 52 has finger rubber 6 at a position facing the inner surface of the gripper rubber 54.
0 is attached, and Figs. 1, 3 to 5
As shown in the figure, when the rotating shaft 50 is retracted, the head of the bottle 4 can be gripped in the same plane as the main grip member 48, and the rotating shaft 50 moves forward and rotates 90 degrees. At times, the main grip member 48 rotates away from the gripper rubber 54 to release the bottle 4. The contact surface of the finger rubber 60 against the bottle 4 is also formed with unevenness 60a that matches the unevenness of the head of the bottle 4, similarly to the gripper rubber 54 described above.
In addition, the finger rubber 60 and the grip rubber 54
Both are removable and can be used for a variety of containers by replacing them according to the shape of the bottle processed by this device.
Further, the materials of these 54 and 60 are not necessarily limited to rubber, but may be other elastic bodies.

A roller (reversing roller) 62 is provided at the tip of the rotating shaft 50, and as will be described in detail later, by guiding this roller 62 with a guide rod, the horizontal shaft 46 is attached to the support portion 44. The main grip member 48 and grip finger 52, which are supported through the main grip member 48, are integrally inverted.

The central protrusion 48b on one side of the main grip member 48 (the lower side when gripping the bottle 4 in an upright state) is cut out, and the rotating shaft 50 is
A spring 64 disposed between the spring seat 50b at the distal end and the end face side of the notch 48b biases it toward the retracted position shown in each figure.

Inside the notch 48b of the main grip member 48 is a lever 6 that can swing about a pin 66.
8 is provided. A roller (cam roller) 70 is attached to the swinging end of this lever 68 via an upright pin 69 (see FIG. 6).
When the roller 70 is pushed toward the tip of the rotating shaft 50, the recess 6 formed on the side surface of the lever 68
When the end portion of the rotating shaft 50 that is in contact with the roller 8a is pressed to move the rotating shaft 50 forward and rotate, and the force applied to the roller 70 to push the lever 68 is removed, this lever 68 is pressed against the spring 64. is returned to the base 48a side of the main grip member 48 via the end of the rotating shaft 50, and the notch 48 is
It stops when it hits the rear surface of b. Same notch 48
Inside b, a guide roller 74 is provided which runs on a guide surface 72 (see FIG. 3) to support the bottle 4 in an upright state when it is gripped and conveyed.

Next, the running of the chain 14 and the bottle gripper 16 attached thereto will be explained.
FIG. 7 shows a reversal section on the supply side, indicated by the reference numeral 18 in FIG. 2, in which the double-row chain 14 is guided by guides 76 from both sides and travels in a straight line.

By guiding the reversing roller 62, the supply side reversing section 18 integrally inverts (turns over) the main grip member 48 of the bottle gripper 16 and the grip finger 52 supported thereon.
A set of two guide rods 78 and 79 are provided to allow the guide rods to move. The two guide rods 78 and 79 are
The distance is approximately equal to the diameter of the roller (reversing roller) 62 provided at the tip of the grip finger 52, and the two guide rods 78 and 79 are vertically parallel in the section (a to b) (erect section). (see Fig. 10), and in the sections (b to c to d) (reversal section), the two guide rods 78 and 79 both draw an upward arc, and from the outside of the traveling trajectory of the double-row chain 14. Rod 78, which was located above in the above-mentioned upright section (a-b), went around to the circle side.
moves inward (upward in Fig. 7), and the lower rod 79 moves outward, and at approximately midpoint c of section (b to d), both rods 78 and 79 become parallel in a horizontal state. , (see the upper part of Fig. 11), on the downstream side, the inner rod 78 gradually wraps downward, turning the upright section (a to b) upside down, and the section (d to
In e) (inverted section), the objects are in an upside-down parallel state (see the right side of Figure 11). That is, in the upright section (a to b), the bolt gripper 16 is in a position where it can grip the upright bottle 4 as shown in FIG. (the state shown in Figure 1), and then it is turned over again, and after the inverted section (d to e), the bottle 4
Hold it upside down and transport it.

A rotating cam 80 (a cam that rotates the grip finger 52) that continues from the upstream side (shown in FIG. 8, which will be described later) is provided near the entrance of the supply-side reversing section 18. The right end of FIG. 7 continues to the left end of FIG. 8, and the right end of FIG. 8 continues to the left end of FIG. 9. The rotating cam 80 has a front cam surface 8 that projects forward from the center line of the chain 14.
0a, an inclined cam surface 80b on the downstream side of the front cam surface 80a, and a rear cam surface 80c that is most retracted toward the chain 14 side.

The front cam 80a presses the cam roller 70 in the state shown in FIG. 3 to move it forward in a direction away from the chain 14 (leftward in FIG. 3, downward in FIG. 7). As a result, the rotating shaft 50 is pushed out and rotated via the lever 68, and the grip finger 52 rotates upward to a state where it can grip the bottle 4 within the gripper rubber 54 of the main grip member 48, and in this position, the supply star wheel 8 supplies the bottle 4. On the subsequent inclined cam surface 80b, the cam roller 70 gradually retreats, and the rotating shaft 50 rotates backward by the force of the spring 64, so that the grip finger 52 returns to the front while approaching the main grip member 48, and is supplied. Grasp the head of bottle 4. As described above, the unevenness of the grip rubber 54 and the finger rubber 60 are located slightly above the unevenness of the bottle 4, so the bottle 4 is gripped and conveyed with the bottle 4 slightly pulled up.

Subsequently, the bottle 4 is turned upside down through the reversal sections (b to d) of the guide rods 78 and 79, and the inner washing mechanism 2
0 and a washing section equipped with an external washing mechanism 22 and a draining section 24, and a discharge side reversing section 28 (see Fig. 9).
reach.

In this portion 28 as well, two guide rods 82 and 83 are arranged, similar to the supply side reversing section 18. These two guide rods 82 and 83 are vertically parallel in the inverted section (f to g), and in the inverted section (g to h to i), they wrap around from the inside to the outside of the chain 14 while drawing an upward arc, and are horizontal. After passing through the parallel position h, the position changes to the upright section (i to f), which is upside down and parallel to the inverted section (f to g).

The bottle gripper 16 operates in this reversal section (g to h
In ~i), the bottle 4 is inverted to the erect state shown in FIG. to release.

The portion of this rotating cam 80 shown in FIG.
It has an upstream side portion of the front cam surface 80a in the figure, an inclined cam surface 80d upstream of the front cam surface 80a, and a rear cam surface 80e on the upstream side thereof. As mentioned above, the calomoura 70 of the bottle gripper 16 which is inverted to the upright state while gripping the bottle 4 is
The bottle 4 is pushed forward (downward in FIG. 8) from the rear cam surface 80e to the inclined cam surface 80d, and the bottle 4 is released by rotating the grip finger 52.
This bottle 4 is taken out by a discharge star wheel 30 and discharged onto the conveyor 2.

While the cam roller 70 is engaged with the long front cam 80a and travels, the grip finger 52 continues to rotate upward. A cleaning mechanism 85 for cleaning the bottle gripper 16 is provided in that section. This gripper cleaning mechanism 85,
This will be explained with reference to FIGS. 8, 12, and 13. This cleaning mechanism 85 cleans the main grip member 4.
The upper nozzle 8 is provided on the line along which the gripper rubber 54 of No. 8 moves and sprays the cleaning liquid downward.
4, a horizontal nozzle 88 that is connected to the base of the upper nozzle 84 and is disposed at approximately the same height as the main grip member 48 via a pipe 86 that extends downward through the front, and that sprays cleaning liquid in the horizontal direction. The washing liquid supply hose 92 is connected to the nozzles 84 and 88 via a valve 90.

The bottle gripper 16 is equipped with a gripper cleaning mechanism 85.
When passing through the hole, the gripper 52 advances and rotates to release the bottle 4,
Since the inner surface of the gripper rubber 54 is exposed, the cleaning liquid jetted from the horizontal nozzle 88 is sprayed directly onto the inner surface of the gripper rubber 54, thereby ensuring reliable cleaning.

The double-row chain 14 used in the line rinser having the above configuration connects the two rows of chains with their phases shifted, so that each wheel 10, 12,
One sprocket of 26 is always the inner link 36
They will mesh with each other without any play, and their height will be accurately positioned. Therefore, there is no risk of friction between the sprocket and the link when they are engaged, and there is no possibility of wear of the sprocket or misalignment between the two.

Note that the double-row chain is not limited to two rows as described above, but may be a multi-row chain with three or more rows. Furthermore, this double-row chain can be used in various devices other than rinsers, such as fillers, labelers, and bottle inspection machines.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to the present invention, the phases of multiple rows of chains are shifted so that the narrowly spaced inner links and the widely spaced outer links are located simultaneously between two pins, and the A double-row container processing device with two sprockets that mesh simultaneously between the inner links and the outer links, which prevents the chain and sprockets from rubbing against each other, causing wear and misalignment of the sprockets. You can get a chain.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side view showing the main parts of a double-row chain according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a line rinser to which the above chain is applied, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the chain and bottle gripper. Figure 4 is a plan view of the bottle gripper, Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of the bottle gripper, Figure 6 is a front view of the lever attached to the bottle gripper, Figure 7 is a plan view of the supply side reversing section, and Figure 8. 9 is a plan view showing the middle part of both reversing parts, FIG. 9 is a plan view of the discharge side reversing part, and FIG.
The figure is a sectional view taken along the X-X line in FIG. 7, and FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the XIA-XIA line in FIG.
FIG. 12 is a front view of the gripper cleaning mechanism, and FIG. 13 is a plan view of the gripper cleaning mechanism. 14...Double row chain, 32...Pin (connecting pin), 34...Outer link, 36...Inner link.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] Multiple rows of chains consisting of alternately connecting inner links and outer links with a large number of pins are arranged in parallel, and the same number of chains as the number of rows are stacked one on top of the other and rotate as one. In a container handling device, a double-row chain runs while meshing with a sprocket, and a bottle gripper is attached between two adjacent pins to hold a container. The multiple rows of chains are connected by shifting the phases so that the links and the widely spaced outer links are located at the same time, and the plurality of sprockets are simultaneously engaged between the inner links and between the outer links, and A double-row chain for a container processing apparatus, characterized in that the thickness of each of the sprockets is slightly thinner than the interval between the inner links so that they mesh without play.