JPH0636010Y2 - Consolidation device for conveyed articles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a confluence device for conveying articles, in which a part of the articles is extracted from a conveyor that continuously conveys articles such as containers, and then the articles are joined again to the conveyor. It is about.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in a filling machine that fills contents into a container such as a bottle, it is necessary to pull out some containers from time to time to inspect whether the internal volume is appropriate after filling. When performing such a sampling inspection, pull out a part of the container that is continuously conveyed on the main conveyor, transfer it to the sampling conveyor, send it to the inspection area and inspect it, and then again from the sampling conveyor onto the main conveyor. Must be returned to.

When returning the sampled container to the main conveyor,
Conventionally, this machine such as a filling machine was once stopped, a space was sufficiently opened on the main conveyor, and then these containers were joined.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

The conventional merging device described above has a problem in that the operating rate is lowered because the main unit must be stopped once.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and provides a merging device for conveying articles which can merge sampled articles such as containers into a main conveyor without stopping the machine.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The confluent device for conveying articles according to the present invention is such that a part of articles that are continuously conveyed on the main conveyor is extracted by the extracting means and transferred onto the sub-conveyor, and then returned by the returning means to the main conveyor again. A stopper for temporarily stopping the articles on the sub-conveyor and a control means for controlling the operation timings of the stopper and the returning means are provided to move the space caused by the articles on the main conveyor being pulled out. By opening the stopper at the same time and returning the stopped article to the space formed on the main conveyor by the length corresponding to the length of the removed article via the return means. , Is designed to fill the space on the main conveyor.

[Action]

In the confluence device for conveying articles according to the present invention, the articles already extracted and on the sub-conveyor are moved to the space on the main conveyor which conveys the articles in a state where some of the articles are extracted and a space is generated. Since it is returned at the same time, it is not necessary to stop the entire device, improving the operating rate.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a confluence unit for conveying articles according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, (2) is a main conveyor that is arranged along a plurality of container processing devices such as a filling machine and a capper to continuously convey a large number of containers, and (4) is filled with the content liquid by the filling machine. A capper for attaching a cap to the container, (6) a supply wheel for supplying the container into the capper (4), and (8) a discharge wheel for discharging the capped container from the capper (4). The discharge wheel (8) is placed on a sampling conveyor (12) arranged so that a part of the capped container is orthogonal to the main conveyor (2) according to a command from a control device (10) described later. Can be removed.

The sampling conveyor (12) is the main conveyor (2)
When a part of the containers (for example, a predetermined number such as the number of heads of the filling machine) that are continuously conveyed by the discharge wheel (8) is extracted and transferred by the discharge wheel (14), the containers are filled with the filling inspection area (14). ) Transport to. In the filling inspection area (14), the amount of liquid filled in the container is inspected.

(16) is a return conveyor for returning the inspected container to the main conveyor (2), and (18) is a main conveyor (2)
Waiting conveyor for waiting the inspected container before returning to (2
Reference numerals 0) and (22) are transfer wheels for transferring containers between the sampling conveyor (12), the return conveyor (16) and the standby conveyor (18). Reference numeral (24) is a pair of switching guides which are arranged on both sides of the main conveyor (2) and which can swing about the downstream side as a fulcrum. When the switching guides (24) are located on both sides of the main conveyor (2), the containers on the main conveyor (2) are advanced as they are, and when they are swung to the standby conveyor (18) side as indicated by the broken line, they are on standby. The container conveyed by the conveyor (18) is transferred to the main conveyor (2).

(26) is a first stopper for temporarily stopping the container conveyed on the main conveyor (2) before the switching guide (24), and (28) is a container conveyed on the standby conveyor (18). The second stopper is a second stopper that is temporarily stopped before the switching guide (24). The stoppers (26) and (28), the switching guide (24), and the discharge wheel (8) of the capper (4) are the control device ( Its operation is controlled by 10). Also, the second stopper (28) of the standby conveyor (18)
A sensor (30) for detecting that the container on the standby conveyor (18) has moved to the main conveyor (2) is provided in the vicinity.

Next, the operation of the device having the above configuration will be described. The container conveyed from the upstream by the main conveyor (2) is supplied to the inside of the capper (4) by the supply wheel (6), capped, and then discharged onto the main conveyor (2) by the discharge wheel (8) and downstream. Is transported to the side. When a sampling command is input to the control device (10) during such a series of steps, the discharge wheel (8) discharges a predetermined number of capped containers onto the sampling conveyor (12). The predetermined number of containers taken out and transferred to the sampling conveyor (12) are sent to the filling inspection area (14) and inspected, and then the first transfer wheel (20), the return conveyor (16), and the It is transferred to the standby conveyor (18) via the second transfer wheel (22) and stops when the leading end reaches the second stopper (28),
Stand by on the standby conveyor (18). Meanwhile, the container subsequent to the extracted container is discharged onto the main conveyor (2) by the discharge wheel (8) and conveyed. Therefore, a space is created on the main conveyor (2) for the predetermined number of containers extracted on the sampling conveyor (12).

When the next sampling command is input to the control device (10), the discharge wheel (8) again extracts a predetermined number of containers onto the sampling conveyor (12), and a new space is created on the main conveyor (2). Is transported to the downstream side. The distance from the discharge wheel (8) to the switching guide (24) is clear in terms of design, and the container has been transported by this distance, that is, the tip of the space portion without the container has the switching guide (2).
The fact that 4) has been reached is input from the encoder (32) mounted on the downstream side of the main conveyor. By this input, the first stopper (26) is projected to stop the container continuing to the space on the main conveyor (2), and the switching guide (24) is swung to the standby conveyor (18) side to move the second stopper.
Pull back the stopper (28). As a result, the container on the standby conveyor (18) is transferred onto the main conveyor without interfering with the container on the main conveyor (2). When the sensor (30) detects that the containers on the standby conveyor (18) are exhausted, the switching guide (24) returns to the main conveyor (2) side, and the first stopper (26) retracts to return to the normal state. Return to the transport state.

The container sampled in this way is made to stand by on the sub-conveyor (standby conveyor), and the waiting container is inserted into the space created by the container sampled next or even after that. As a result, the sampling container can be merged with the main conveyor (2) without stopping the machine, so that the sampling can be performed without lowering the operation rate. Moreover, since the space on the main conveyor has a length corresponding to the length of the articles waiting on the sub-conveyor, the space on the main conveyor is filled with the returned articles and on the sub-conveyor. All items are returned to the main conveyor.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment, and the same parts as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, a stopper (28) and a sensor (30) similar to the second stopper are provided on the return conveyor (40) from the filling inspection area (14), but the main conveyor (2) There is no stopper on the top. The return conveyor (40) is arranged at a right angle to the main conveyor (2), and the return wheel (42) is provided at this intersection. The return wheel (42) is operated in synchronization with the main conveyor (2), the stopper (28) is retracted, the container on the return conveyor (40) is advanced, and the front (a) of the return wheel (42) is moved. When reached, the return wheel (42) holds this container and transfers it to the position (b) on the main conveyor (2).

In this embodiment, the container extracted on the sampling conveyor (12) by the discharge wheel (8) is conveyed by the return conveyor (40) through the filling inspection area (14) and stopped by the stopper (28). The main conveyor (2) conveys other containers with the extracted container part as a space. Then, when the space created on the main conveyor (2) by the container extracted next to the container stopped by the stopper (28) reaches the position (b) on the main conveyor (2), the return conveyor (40 ), The stopper (28) is retracted at the same timing so that the container is transferred to the main conveyor (2).
As a result, the container extracted before the space is inserted into the space on the main conveyor (2), so that the container conveyed on the main conveyor (2) and the sampling conveyor (40) are extracted. The formed container is joined on the main conveyor (2) without stopping the machine.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the present invention, the articles extracted from the main conveyor onto the sub-conveyor can be merged onto the main conveyor without stopping the device, and further, the articles returned from the sub-conveyor, Since the space on the main conveyor into which this article is inserted has substantially the same length, all the articles on the sub-conveyor are returned to the main conveyor, and there is no meaning on the main conveyor. There is no space.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a conveying article joining device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a second embodiment. (2) ... Main conveyor (8) ... Extraction means (10) ... Control means (12), (16), (18) ... Sub-conveyor (24) ... Return means (28) ... Stopper

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A merging device for conveying articles, wherein a part of articles continuously conveyed on a main conveyor is extracted by an extracting means and transferred onto a sub-conveyor, and then returned by the returning means from the sub-conveyor onto the main conveyor. At
A stopper for temporarily stopping the articles on the sub-conveyor and a control means for controlling the operation timing of the stopper and the returning means are provided, and the timing is adjusted to the movement of the space caused by the withdrawal of the articles on the main conveyor. The stopper is opened, and the stopped article is returned to the space formed on the main conveyor by the length corresponding to the length of the pulled-out article through the returning means, thereby the main conveyor. A merging device for conveying articles, characterized by filling the space above.