JPH055725B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a conveying device for bottles such as ampoules and vials.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, ampules, vials, etc., were mainly transported in a vertical position with respect to the screw in a sterilization furnace using a screw. In this method, cleaned ampoules and vials are sterilized at high temperature.
"Squeaks" occur on the surfaces of ampoules and vials (hereinafter referred to as ampoules, etc.), increasing frictional force, and the guides at the bottom etc. are severely worn, causing breakage. Additionally, there is a risk that fragments may scatter and enter the ampoule or other openings. In addition, the vertical position also had the disadvantage that foreign objects were likely to get mixed into the bottle.

On the other hand, in conventional transport devices, the guides that support ampules, etc. other than the transport screw are fixed, so the high temperature inside the sterilization furnace causes temperature unevenness, making it difficult to maintain uniform clearance between the transport screw and the guide. It was hot.

For this reason, it is preferable to transport the ampules and vials in a horizontal state on a screw to prevent foreign matter from getting into them. In this case, in order to stably transport the ampoule or the like in a horizontal state, it is necessary to reduce the frictional resistance of each support guide. If the frictional resistance is large, the screw groove will be tilted in line with the slope of the groove, resulting in unstable balance and unstable conveyance.

<Purpose of the invention> Therefore, in the present invention, as a method for reducing the frictional force, as the frictional force increases on the screw, the pressing force against the bottom guide rod increases, and the rotation of the bottom guide rod causes the ampoule, etc. to be pushed away from the screw surface. It floats up and the frictional force decreases. It falls onto the screw again due to its own weight. By repeating this phenomenon, stable conveyance is possible. Furthermore, in order to reduce contact resistance, the principle that dynamic frictional resistance is smaller than static frictional resistance is utilized. In other words, by rotating the member that serves as a guide for the bottle, the contact friction resistance is reduced, and due to the rotation, the member is evenly exposed to the heat in the furnace, so the whole expands uniformly, and the ampoule, etc. Transport of bottles becomes stable.

<Structure of the Invention> The present invention is a device for conveying bottles such as ampoules and vials through a furnace, and includes a conveying screw that places a part of the side circumference of the bottle in a screw groove and conveys the bottle by rotation thereof; a holding member having an axis parallel to the screw and rotating in the opposite direction while holding the bottle together with the screw in a substantially horizontal position; and a round bar shape extending linearly in a direction parallel to the conveying screw; In addition, it comes into contact with the bottom of a bottle placed substantially perpendicularly to the axis of the conveying screw and the holding member to regulate its position, and rotates in a direction that pushes the bottom of the bottle upward. This is a conveying device for bottles such as ampoules and vials, which is characterized by having a guide rod.

<Example> FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a sterilization furnace, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an implementation device, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another implementation device.

As shown in FIG.
This is a transport device suitable for transporting inside a furnace exposed to high temperatures such as. That is, the conveying apparatus of the present invention conveys ampules and the like through a tunnel 4 made of ceramic material 3 in which a heat source 2 is embedded, as shown in FIG. The ceramic material 3 is surrounded by a heat insulating material 5.

In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the conveyance screw 20, the holding member 30, and the guide rod 10 are arranged so that their axes are parallel,
0, hold the guide rod 10 in the same direction as the holding member 3.
0 is rotated in the opposite direction. For this example,
The holding member 30 is also formed in a screw shape with a screw groove 31. The conveyance screw 20 and the holding member 30 are formed as screws of the same pitch in opposite directions. The distance between the conveying screw 20 and the holding member 30 is such that the conveying screw 20 receives the body 51 of the ampoule 50 and the holding member 30 receives the head 52 of the ampoule 50. Further, by disposing the holding member 30 at a slightly higher location with respect to the conveying screw 20, the ampoule 50 is held in a substantially horizontal position such that the head 52 is slightly higher. Furthermore, when the side peripheral surface 11 of the guide rod 10 is at the leftmost position in the drawing, the guide rod 10 comes into contact with the bottom surface 53 of the ampoule 50 so that the center of gravity of the ampoule 50 is on the axis of the conveying screw 20. regulate.
That is, the guide rod 10 is attached to the bottom surface 53 of the ampoule 50.
The ampoule is placed in such a position that the center of gravity of the ampoule is on the axis of the conveying screw 20. The center of gravity position may be slightly shifted from the axis toward the holding member 30 side.

Each ampoule 50 is placed in a state where it is fitted into the screw groove 21 of the conveying screw 20 and the screw groove 31 of the holding member 30, and in a state where it is oriented approximately perpendicular to the axis of the conveying screw 20 and the holding member 30. As the conveyance screw 20 rotates, the conveyance screw 20 rotates in the axial direction of the conveyance screw 20 and is conveyed. In this case, the holding member 30 is rotated in the opposite direction to the conveying screw 20 at the same speed. Ampoule 50
By making the head 52 of the ampoule 50 slightly higher and by locating the center of gravity of the ampoule 50 on the conveying screw 20, the ampoule 50 is always slightly pressed against the guide rod 10 while the ampoule 50 is being conveyed. In this case, as the pressing force increases, the frictional force against the guide rod 10 increases, and therefore, the rotation of the guide rod 10 causes the ampoule 50 to be lifted up a little. As a result, the pressing force by the conveying screw 20 decreases, and the ampoule 50 is lifted again. It returns to the top of the conveying screw 20. The holding member 30 reduces the frictional force generated in the conveyance screw 20 by its rotation, and when the ampoule 50 floats up, it quickly pulls back the ampoule 50 in the direction of the arrow P, so that the ampoule 50 is attached to the screw groove 21 of the conveyance screw 20. prevent it from falling off.

The example shown in FIG. 4 is also similar to the example shown in FIG. The only difference is that in this example, the holding member 40 is a round bar without a screw groove. The holding member 40 made of a round bar receives a bottle 60 such as a vial 60 in a manner that it fits into the neck part 61 of a bottle having a neck part 61.

The holding member 40 and the guide rod 10 are attached to the vial 60
is regulated so that its center of gravity is above the conveying screw 20. The vial 60 is conveyed in the axial direction of the conveyance screw 20 in a substantially horizontal orientation. Further, the vial 60 is conveyed while being lightly pressed against the guide rod 10 by the rotation of the conveyance squeeyu 20. If the pressing force increases, guide rod 1
The frictional force due to zero increases and the vial 60 floats up. When it floats up, the pressing force of the screw 20 decreases and the vial 60 returns to the top of the screw 20 again. The role of the holding member 40 is similar to that of the holding member 30 described in connection with the embodiment shown in FIG.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the screw grooves 21 and 31 are shaped to match the cross-sectional shape of the bottle to ensure stability of the bottle. Groove 21, 3
1 can be formed by making the part concave or by making the part other than the part convex.

<Effects> According to the present invention configured as described above, since the holding member and guide rod that hold the ampoule in a substantially horizontal direction are rotated in a predetermined direction, the contact resistance of the bottle is small, and the bottle is easily transported. is stable, and the bottles can be transported smoothly and without fear of damage to the bottles. Furthermore, since the holding members and guide rods are rotating, they are heated uniformly in the furnace, and uneven expansion does not occur, so eccentricity of the holding members and guide rods and local fluctuations in clearance do not occur. Stable transportation of ampoules, vials, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a sterilization furnace, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an implementation device, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another implementation device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Sterilization furnace, 10... Guide rod, 20... Conveyance screw, 30, 40... Holding member, 50...
... Ampoule, 60... Vial bottle.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A device for transporting bottles such as ampoules and vials through a furnace, which comprises: a transporting screw that places a part of the side circumference of the bottle in a screw groove and transports the bottle by rotation; a holding member having an axis parallel to the screw and holding the bottle together with the screw in a substantially horizontal position while rotating in the opposite direction; and a round bar shape extending linearly in a direction parallel to the conveying screw; , for a bottle placed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis of the conveying screw and the holding member, abutting against the bottom surface of the bottle to regulate its position;
An ampoule characterized by having a guide rod that rotates in a direction to push the bottom of the bottle upward;
Transport device for bottles such as vials. 2. The apparatus for conveying bottles such as ampoules and vials according to claim 1, wherein the holding member is formed in a screw shape, and the screw groove receives the ampoule substantially horizontally. 3. The apparatus for transporting bottles such as ampoules and vials according to claim 2, wherein the holding member is arranged to receive the bottle while rotating while being fitted into the neck portion of the bottle.