JPH0640157Y2 - Cap delivery device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Industrial Application Field" The present invention relates to a cap delivery device adapted to deliver a cap from a picker that is rotationally transferred to a cap holding mechanism that is transferred around another rotation center.

"Prior Art" Conventionally, as a cap delivery device for a directional cap such as a square type, an elliptical type, or a spout, a picker provided on the first rotating body for transporting the cap is different from the first rotating body. A cap holding mechanism that is provided on a second rotating body that rotates about a rotation center and that receives a cap from the picker and caps the cap on a container; and a cap delivery section from the picker to the cap holding mechanism, where the picker is It is known that a follow-up mechanism that operates following the movement of the cap holding mechanism and a direction restricting unit that matches the direction of the cap conveyed by the picker with the holding direction of the cap by the cap holding mechanism ( (Kaikai Sho 63-62399 publication).

According to the above cap delivery device, the direction of the non-circular cap can be made to coincide with the holding direction of the cap by the cap holding mechanism by the direction restricting means, and the picker can be operated by following the movement of the cap holding mechanism by the follow-up mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to relatively lengthen the delivery time for delivering the cap from the picker to the cap holding mechanism, and therefore it is possible to deliver the cap reliably even when the capper is speeded up.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the cap delivery device, the direction regulating means is composed of a pair of left and right guide members disposed on both sides of the movement locus of the picker, and these guide members allow the cap to be moved in the delivery section. I was trying to regulate the direction.

As a result, in the first part of the delivery section where the movement locus of the picker and the movement locus of the cap holding mechanism coincide with each other, the cap guide surface of the guide member is smoothly continued from the movement locus of the picker to the movement locus of the cap holding mechanism. Even if the picker is moved to the delivery section, the cap direction regulation is not completed, and the cap direction regulation is completed only when the picker becomes the delivery section and is moved by a predetermined amount. Was there.

As described above, in the conventional device in which the direction of the cap is regulated by the pair of left and right guide members, the entire cap delivery section cannot be used as the cap delivery section, which makes it difficult to further increase the speed. It was

[Means for Solving the Problem] In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a cap delivery device as described above, wherein the cap is attached to the picker substantially non-rotatably with respect to the picker, and the direction regulating means is provided. A support shaft integrally connected to the picker for rotating the picker, a lever attached to the support shaft, a cam follower provided on the lever, and a cam member for engaging the cam follower to rotate the picker. And the cam curve of the cam member is set so as to start the direction regulation of the cap at least at a position before the delivery section.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, since the direction regulation of the cap can be started before moving to the delivery section, the direction regulation is completed before the cap is carried into the delivery section or immediately after it is carried in. Therefore, substantially the entire cap delivery section can be used as a section for the cap holding mechanism to receive the cap from the picker, so that it is possible to further increase the speed of the capper.

[Embodiment] The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiment. In FIG. 1, a container 2 conveyed by a conveyor 1 is shown.
After the timing screw 3 synchronizes the operation of the capper 4 (see FIG. 3), the supply side star wheel 5
Is introduced into the rotating body 6 of the capper 4 and held by a container holding mechanism (not shown).

On the other hand, the rectangular cap 7 (see FIG. 2) capped in the container 2 is delivered from a chute (not shown) to a picker 8 provided on the star wheel 5, and is conveyed by the picker 8.

The rotating body 6 is provided with a cap holding mechanism 9 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) at a position directly above each container 2 gripped by the container holding mechanism, and each cap holding mechanism 9 is provided with the picker 8 described above. After gripping the square cap 7 conveyed by the cap transfer section A, the cap 7 can be capped on the mouth of the container 2.

When the cap holding mechanism 9 caps the cap 7 on the mouth of the container 2, the holding of the cap 7 by the cap holding mechanism 9 is released, and then the holding of the container 2 by the container holding mechanism is released. The container 2 capped with the rectangular cap 7 is discharged onto the conveyor 1 by the star wheel 10 on the discharge side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cap holding mechanism 9 is configured to move on a fixed circular movement locus C as the rotating body 6 rotates, while the picker 8 is also basically supplied. It moves on a constant circular movement locus B as the side star wheel 5 rotates, but in the delivery section A where the movement locus B of the picker 8 intersects the movement locus C of the cap holding mechanism 9, the following mechanism is used. By means of 14, the picker 8 can be moved at the position directly below it following the movement of the cap holding mechanism 9.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the follow-up mechanism 14 is a rotary plate that is disposed above the star wheel 5 and rotates integrally.
15 and a plurality of holders 17 which are arranged on the rotary plate 15 in the radial direction at equal intervals and whose inner ends are pivotally supported by pins 16 so as to be swingable.
An arm 18 slidably engaged in a guide groove 17a formed in the longitudinal direction of each holder 17, and a compression spring 20 elastically mounted between each arm 18 and the holder 17, The picker 8 is provided at the tip of each arm 18.

And while providing a cam follower 21 on each arm 18,
Each cam follower 21 is elastically brought into contact with the inner peripheral cam surface 23 of the cam member 22 surrounding the rotary plate 15 by the elastic force of the compression spring 20. The cam member 22 is arranged between the rotary plate 15 and the star wheel 5 and fixed by a fixing member (not shown). The inner peripheral cam surface 23 of the cam member 22 normally keeps the picker 8 constant. Move on the circular movement locus B,
In the cap delivery section A, the picker 8 can be displaced toward the center of the rotary plate 15 and moved on the circular movement locus C of the cap holding mechanism 9.

Further, the rotary plate 15 is provided with the same number of substantially triangular arms 25 as the holders 17, one apex of each arm 25 is pivotally supported on the rotary plate 15 by a pin 26, and the other one apex of each arm 25 is provided. Is linked to the holder 17 via a pin 27 standing on the upper surface of the holder 17.

A cam follower 28 is provided on the remaining top of each arm 25, and a tension spring 29 is stretched between the pin 27 and the rotary plate 15 to move the holder 17 to a second position with the pin 26 as the center.
The cam follower 28 is elastically contacted with the cam member 30 by swinging clockwise in the figure.

The cam member 30 is fixed to the upper part of the rotary plate 15 by a fixing member (not shown), and cooperates with the cam member 22 to move the picker 8 along a fixed circular movement locus C of the cap holding mechanism 9. There is a cam curve that moves the position directly below the cap holding mechanism 9 that moves at a constant speed on the circular movement locus C at the same time when the cap holding mechanism 9 is moved.

However, each of the pickers 8 is provided with a square engaging portion 8a in conformity with the shape of the inner surface of the square cap 7, and the inner surface of the cap 7 supplied to the picker 8 from the above-mentioned supply chute is used for this engagement. By engaging the mating portion 8a, the cap 7 can be attached to each picker 8 substantially non-rotatably.

Each picker 8 is directed in a desired direction by the direction restricting means 32, and in the cap delivery section A, the longitudinal direction of the rectangular cap 7 is always the cap holding mechanism 9 as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. Positioning is performed so as to face the cutting line of the circular movement locus C. On the other hand,
The cap holding mechanism 9 is the cap 7 oriented in that direction.
It is possible to grip.

The direction restricting means 32 includes a support shaft 33 that is integrally connected to each of the pickers 8 and is rotatably supported by the arm 18, a lever 34 attached to a lower end of the support shaft 33, and a tip of the lever 34. And a cam follower 35 provided on the above-mentioned portion, and each cam follower 35 is engaged with a cam groove 36 formed on the upper surface of the cam member 22.

Therefore, each picker 8 is positioned in the rotational direction based on the cam curve of the cam groove 36. In this embodiment, the cam curve indicates the direction of the cap 7 at a position before the delivery section A. It is set so that the regulation is completed, that is, the longitudinal direction of the cap 7 is oriented in the tangential direction of the circular movement locus C of the cap holding mechanism 9.

The cam curve of the cam groove 36 is, of course, set so that each picker 8 is positioned in a direction in which it can be engaged with the cap 7 at the receiving position of the cap 7 supplied from a chute (not shown). .

In the above configuration, the pickers 8 sequentially take out the square caps 7 from the supply chute (not shown) as the supply side star wheel 5 and the rotary plate 15 rotate, and convey the caps 7 along the circular movement locus B. To do.

When the picker 8 approaches the delivery section A, the picker 8 is rotated by the direction restricting means 32, and before the picker 8 is carried into the delivery section A, the longitudinal direction of the cap 7 engaged with the picker 8 is changed. The cap 7 is directed in the direction of the cutting line of the circular movement locus C of the cap holding mechanism 9, thereby aligning the cap 7 with the holding direction of the cap by the cap holding mechanism 9. Therefore, when the cap 7 transferred by the picker 8 is carried into the delivery section A, the holding mechanism 9 can immediately hold the cap 7.

When the cap 7 thus positioned is carried into the delivery section A, the picker 8 is moved in the delivery section A by the follow-up mechanism 14 so as to follow the position directly below the cap holding mechanism 9. , And the cap 7 engaged with the picker 8 while the picker 8 is moved in the delivery section A.
The direction control means 32 controls the rotation so that the longitudinal direction thereof always faces the cutting line of the circular movement locus C.

Then, while the cap 7 is moved in the delivery section A, the cap holding mechanism 9 is lowered to grip the cap 7,
When the cap holding mechanism 9 grips the cap 7, the cap holding mechanism 9 is lifted to receive the cap 7 from the picker 8.

In this way, the cap 7 is delivered from the picker 8 to the cap holding mechanism 9. However, if the direction of the cap 7 is directed to the required direction before the cap 7 is carried into the delivery section A, the delivery section A The entire section can be used as a section for the cap holding mechanism 9 to receive the cap 7 from the picker 8.

The cam curve of the cam groove 36 formed in the cam member 22 needs to be set so as to start the direction regulation of the cap 7 at least from a position before the delivery section A, but the cap 7 is not necessarily delivered. The direction regulation does not have to be completed before being carried into the section A, and may be almost completed when being carried into the delivery section A.

Further, although the cap delivery device is provided on the star wheel in the present embodiment, it is not limited to this position.

[Advantage of Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, since the direction control of the cap can be started before the cap is moved to the delivery section, before the cap is carried into the delivery section,
Or, it is possible to complete the direction regulation immediately after being carried in, and thus the cap holding mechanism can actually expand the cap delivery section for receiving the cap from the picker, as compared with the conventional case, thereby further improving the capper. It is possible to obtain the effect that the speed can be increased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of an essential part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is III-III of FIG.
It is sectional drawing which follows the line. 2 ... Container, 4 ... Capper 5 ... Star wheel, 6 ... Rotating body 7 ... Cap, 8 ... Picker 8a ... Engagement part, 9 ... Cap holding mechanism 14 ... Follow-up mechanism, 22 ... … Cam member 32 …… Direction control means, 33 …… Support shaft 34 …… Lever, 35 …… Cam follower 36 …… Cam groove A …… Cap transfer section B …… Movement locus of picker 8 C …… Cap holding mechanism 9 Movement trajectory

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A picker provided on a first rotating body for carrying a cap, and a second rotating body rotating about a rotation center different from that of the first rotating body, and receiving a cap from the picker. A cap holding mechanism for capping the container in a container, a follow-up mechanism that operates the picker in the cap delivery section from the picker to the cap holding mechanism, following the movement of the cap holding mechanism, and a cap that is conveyed by the picker. In a cap delivery device having a direction regulating means for matching a direction to a cap holding direction of the cap holding mechanism, the cap is attached to the picker substantially non-rotatably with respect to the picker, and the direction regulating means is provided. A support shaft that is integrally connected to the picker to rotate the picker, and a mount attached to the support shaft. A bar, a cam follower provided on the lever, and a cam member that engages with the cam follower to rotate the picker, and the cam curve of the cam member is at least from the position before the delivery section to the cap. A cap delivery device characterized by being set so as to start the direction regulation of the cap delivery device.