JPH0640571A - Device for taking out bottle and hand thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve an operation rate, and reduce excessive manual work through coping with a change of setting-up flexibly by connecting arms having plural hands with each other using a pantograph mechanism, and by arranging a convergent detachable nozzle at the tip of the arm, and by holding a suction nozzle at the middle of the arm using a cushion spring. CONSTITUTION:When a pitch of arrangement of a kind of decorative bottles 7 contained in a corrugated fiberboard case 8 is changed according to size and arrangement pattern of the bottles, it is necessary to adjust the interval of a nozzle 11 of a hand 1. The interval of the nozzle 11 of the hand 1 attached to a jointed point 22 of a pantograph mechanism is adjusted by changing expansion and contraction of an arm 21 at that time. When the suction nozzle 11 approaches an object to be sucked and held, a cushion spring 15 arranged on the upper part of the suction nozzle 11 absorbs an impact force in the axial direction of the nozzle 11 and prevents damage of the bottles due to collision of the nozzle 11. Adjustment of a spring force of the cushion spring 15 is done freely by means of a fixed bolt 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bottle take-out device and a hand for taking out bottles made of glass, ceramics or other materials from a corrugated cardboard case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a production line that handles bottles for beverages and pharmaceuticals that belong to mass-produced products, the shape and size of bottles and the number of bottles stored in a cardboard case are constant, so long-term continuous operation is possible. It is possible. The technology for taking out bottles from the cardboard case has been completed and has been put into practical use as a take-out device referred to as an answerer. As the means for gripping bottles in this kind of automatic machine, (1) means for gripping with a gripper, (2) means for tightly gripping an air tube expanded from the inside or outside of the bottle mouth, and (3) the top surface A means for sucking and grasping a flat capped bottle with a vacuum pad is known. On the other hand, cosmetic bottles and corrugated cardboard cases have different handling characteristics from those of beverages and pharmaceuticals in the following points. (1) There are many types of bottles in terms of size and shape.
(2) It is difficult to understand future trends in cosmetic bottle design due to improvements in design and fashionability. (3) Small in size compared to mass-produced bottles. (4) The skin of the bottle is mostly made of printed glass, which is easily damaged, and is difficult to handle. That is, the so-called "press-and-press" transfer method, in which bottles are pressed against each other to be transferred, cannot be adopted. (5) The number of bottles in the cardboard case depends on the size of the bottle,
Also, in order to avoid damage caused by the bottles coming into contact with each other, they are separated by paper and stored. Therefore, when the above-mentioned practically used caser is applied to take out the bottles for cosmetics which have such characteristics and are produced in a small amount of many kinds, there are the following problems. (1) As for the relationship between the hand structure and the applied work, the inner grip type and the inner air tube type hand structures are effective only for the bottle mouth size limited by the relatively large bottles. It is not suitable for small mouth sizes. The mechanical type hand structure is based on the assumption that the bottles are aligned in the height direction, and cannot be applied to bottles with uneven heights. The vacuum type hand structure is limited to bottles with a wide flat top and a flat cap. Since the hand structure is common to the inner grip type, the inner air tube type, and the mechanical type, it is not possible to flexibly respond to changes in the size of the bottle, and the hand structure is complicated and the cost is high. In addition, the external dimensions are generally large due to structural restrictions, and the individual partition paper of the corrugated cardboard case becomes an obstacle. (2) As a problem of the center pitch expansion / contraction method of the hand, when adjusting the pitch of the hand according to the arrangement of the bottles stored in the cardboard case, the conventional expansion / contraction device using the spring method has a large error. In the spring method, the expansion / contraction range is fixed, and it is not possible to set / change the expansion / contraction range in real time during frequent setup changes or during operation. Therefore, even if an introducer is introduced into the line for handling cosmetic bottles, no effect can be expected due to the large number of bottle types and the complexity of setup change, and the actual situation is that they rely on manual work.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to change bottles and form of cardboard case (size of case, height of bottle in a line for handling cosmetic bottles of high-mix low-volume production). , The arrangement of bottles, the change in the number of stored bottles, that is, flexibly responding to setup changes to improve the line operation rate, and to provide a bottle take-out device and its hand that do not require excessive manual work. .

[0004]

The above object is to connect arms of a hand pitch expansion / contraction device having one or more hands with each other by a pantograph mechanism, and the hands are provided with a tapered removable nozzle at the tip, A suction nozzle with a suction tube connected to the middle part is held by an arm via a buffer spring, and an elastic material is attached to the tip of the tapered removable nozzle, and the tip of this nozzle is a conical enlarged part that can be removed. This can be achieved by providing a vacuum break valve in the suction tube line.

[0005]

[Function] Since the arm holding the nozzle (or the pneumatic holder) is connected to the pantograph mechanism, the nozzle pitch (or the pitch of the pneumatic holder) can be flexibly adjusted by expanding and contracting the pantograph mechanism. , Adapt to the bottle pitch. Also, the nozzle (or pneumatic holder) of the hand is removable, so that it can be appropriately adapted to the size of the cardboard case and the number of bottles arranged. Furthermore, the size of the nozzle (or the pneumatic holder) itself is changed to accommodate the change in the outer diameter of the bottle mouth. In particular, for the bottle mouth with a small dimensional difference from the body, the diameter of the removable nozzle (or pneumatic holder) is changed. Also, when the bottle is taken out, the hand descends until the nozzle contacts the bottle shoulder (or until the holder is fully inserted in the bottle mouth), so the hand nozzle (or holder) has a buffer mechanism (spring) to avoid collision. By mounting, it is possible to respond to changes in bottle height. Further, the elastic material attached to the tip of the nozzle increases the negative pressure inside the nozzle at the time of suction to increase the suction gripping force. Furthermore,
The tapered removable nozzle such as a cone attached to the tip of the nozzle pushes the partition paper in the corrugated cardboard case forward and backward, and takes out the bottle.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a bottle extracting device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a structure of a hand pitch expanding / contracting device in the device of FIG. 1 (note that some members are omitted to clarify the structure). is doing). FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a hand of the bottle take-out device. FIG. 4 shows a pitch expansion / contraction mechanism in which a pneumatic holder is attached instead of the nozzle of the hand of FIG.
1 and 2, 1 is a hand, 1'is a bottle that is gripped, 2 is a pantograph mechanism of a hand pitch expansion / contraction mechanism,
3 is a movable support, 4 is a fixed frame, 5 is a robot device such as electric or pneumatic, 6 is a movable shaft, 7 is a cosmetic bottle, 8 is a cardboard case for storing cosmetic bottles, 9 is a cardboard case for storing 21, 21 is an arm of pantograph mechanism,
Reference numeral 22 is a link intersection of the pantograph mechanism. When taking out the cosmetic bottles 7 from the storage cardboard case 8,
The robot device 5 is driven to move the movable support 3 downward, and the hand pitch expansion / contraction mechanism 2 attached to the movable support 3 is moved. Grip the bottle by contacting it with the mouth of the bottle (contact grip)
After that, the robot device 5 is driven again to move the movable support 3 upward. This completes the removal of the makeup bottles 7. When it is necessary to transfer the taken-out makeup bottles 7 to another device such as a belt conveyor, the robot device 5
Drive in that direction. When the arrangement pitch of the makeup bottles 7 stored in the corrugated cardboard case 8 changes depending on the size and arrangement of the bottles, it is necessary to increase or decrease the interval between the nozzles (or pneumatic holders) of the hand 1. At that time, a hand pitch expansion / contraction mechanism 2 having a pantograph mechanism
The hand 1 attached to the link intersection 22 of the pantograph mechanism is adjusted by adjusting the expansion / contraction of the arm 21.
Adjust the nozzle (or pneumatic holder) spacing in.

Next, the structure of the hand 1 will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 11 is a suction nozzle, 12 is a suction tube, 13 is an elastic material such as sponge, 14 is a detachable nozzle tip enlarged portion, 15 is a buffer spring, and 16 is a fixing bolt. The hand 1 is fixed to the hand pitch expansion / contraction mechanism 2, and as a result, moves up and down as the movable support 3 moves in the vertical direction. Further, the suction tube 12 is attached independently of the hand. Suction nozzle 1
In No. 1, the target bottle mouth is inserted into the nozzle and the bottles are sucked through the suction tube 12 by utilizing the negative pressure generated at the time of sucking air. Blower (fan) for suction
To use. The nozzle internal pressure (negative pressure) when the nozzle tip is in close contact with the bottle shoulder and is in a suction state is -100 mmHg.
It is enough if there is only about 1 kg as the suction force at this time.
The above power can be expected. Here, the suction nozzle 11
Is close to the object to be suction gripped, the bottle mouth is inserted into the nozzle for suction gripping, and for the wide mouth container, the nozzle tip is adsorbed to the bottom surface of the container to suck and grip. Is to do. An elastic substance 13 such as a sponge is thinly attached to the tip of the inner surface of the nozzle to fill the gap between the tip of the nozzle and the shoulder of the bottle, thereby increasing the negative pressure inside the nozzle at the time of suction and suction gripping force. To increase the Further, in order to prevent the occurrence of scratches due to the contact between the bottles, the corrugated cardboard case is partitioned by a thick paper one by one. This allows the bottles to be stored tightly, but this hinders the removal of the bottles. Therefore, the detachable nozzle tip expanding portion 14 having a conical shape or the like is attached to the tip portion of each nozzle, and the partition paper is spread to the left and right and back and forth to facilitate the taking out of the bottle. The buffer spring 15 provided at the upper end of the suction nozzle 11 absorbs the impact force in the nozzle axial direction and prevents the bottles from being damaged by the collision of the nozzle. Then, the spring force of the buffer spring 15 can be freely adjusted by the fixing bolt 16. Furthermore, when the taken out bottles are moved to a predetermined position, it is necessary to instantly recover the internal pressure of the nozzle (= negative pressure) to normal pressure in order to separate the bottle at that position. For that purpose,
The nozzle is provided with a vacuum breaking valve composed of an electromagnetic air release valve (not shown). In addition, if the nozzle drops the bottle once taken out during movement or fails to take it out, sufficient gripping force of the nozzle cannot be obtained. Therefore, there is provided a function of detecting whether or not the bottle is sucked to the tip of the nozzle being used by a pressure sensor (not shown), and actuating and closing the solenoid valve provided in the nozzle. In this embodiment, the tip of the nozzle has a conical shape, but the cross section of the nozzle and the nozzle tip shape portion may have a quadrangular shape, and the tip of the nozzle has a special shape that requires a shape other than a flat surface. In the case of the above bottle, it is possible to use a cut-out nozzle that fits the shape of the bottle shoulder.
Further, the arrangement of the nozzles is not limited to one row, but may be arranged in a plurality of rows to form a surface arrangement hand.

Next, a pitch expanding / contracting mechanism holding a pneumatic holder will be described with reference to FIG. This pitch expansion / contraction mechanism employs an air type holder 17 in place of the detachable nozzle 14 of the hand 1 of FIG. 3, and this air type holder 17 is used as an air cylinder (or buffer spring) 1 at the tip of the arm.
It differs from FIG. 3 in that it is attached via 9. The pantograph 18 has the same structure and function as the hand pitch expansion / contraction mechanism 2 of FIGS. 1 and 2, and the air cylinder (or buffer spring) 19 also corresponds to the buffer spring 15 of FIG. The suction tube 12 of FIG. 3 is connected to the connection port 20. Here, the function of the pneumatic holder 17 is that the removable nozzle 1 of the hand 1 of FIG.
4, the shape of the tip of the holder 17 may be a conical shape or a quadrangular cross section, and the tip of the holder 17 has a special shape that requires a shape other than a flat surface. In the case of, it is possible to use a cut-shaped holder that fits the shape of the bottle shoulder.
Further, the arrangement of the holders is not limited to one row, but may be arranged in a plurality of rows to form a surface arrangement.

[0009]

As described above, the bottle take-out device and the hand thereof according to the present invention have a nozzle pitch (or holder pitch) which is increased or decreased by expanding or contracting a pantograph mechanism having a nozzle (or a pneumatic holder). It can be flexibly adjusted and adapted to the pitch. Further, since the nozzle (or pneumatic holder) of the hand is detachable, it is possible to appropriately correspond to the size of the cardboard case and the number of bottles arranged. Furthermore, by changing the size of the nozzle (or the pneumatic holder) itself, it is possible to cope with the change in the outer size of the bottle mouth. In particular, for the bottle mouth with a small dimensional difference from the body, the diameter of the removable nozzle (or pneumatic holder) can be changed. Further, when the bottle is taken out, the nozzle descends until it comes into contact with the bottle shoulder portion, so that a buffer mechanism (spring) for avoiding collision is attached to the nozzle of the hand, so that it is possible to respond to changes in the bottle height. Besides, it is possible to overcome the take-out obstacle in the case where the containers are separately stored in the cardboard case, and it is possible to take out even when the bottles in the cardboard case are not properly aligned. And because the equipment is simple, the equipment is inexpensive,
The number of man-hours required for setup change can be reduced, and many effects such as labor saving can be achieved. The time required to grip a row of bottles (1 to 15 bottles) is 1 second or less.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a bottle ejection device of the present invention.

2 shows a structure of a hand pitch expansion / contraction device in the device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a structure diagram of a hand of the bottle removing device.

FIG. 4 shows a pitch expansion / contraction mechanism that holds a pneumatic holder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hand 2 Hand-pitch expansion / contraction mechanism of pantograph mechanism 3 Movable support 4 Fixed frame 5 Robotic devices such as electric and pneumatic 6 Movable shaft 7 Cosmetic bottles 8 Cardboard case for storing cosmetic bottles 9 Frame for storing cardboard case 11 Suction Nozzle 12 Suction Tube 13 Elastic Material such as Sponge 14 Removable Nozzle Tip Enlarged Area 15 Buffer Spring 16 Fixing Bolt 17 Pneumatic Holder 21 Pantograph Mechanism Arm 22 Pantograph Mechanism Link Intersection

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 16, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0008

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Next, a pitch expansion / contraction mechanism holding a pneumatic holder will be described with reference to FIG. This pitch expansion / reduction mechanism is replaced with the detachable nozzle 14 of the hand 1 of FIG.
Adopted pressure type holder 17, the point attached via the air cylinder (or buffer spring) 19 on the arm tip of the pneumatic holder 17 is different from the FIG. The pantograph 18 has the same structure and function as the hand pitch expansion / contraction mechanism 2 of FIGS. 1 and 2, and the air cylinder (or buffer spring) 19 also corresponds to the buffer spring 15 of FIG. In the connection port 20
A tube of compressed air is connected. Here, the function of the air pressure type holder 17, the removable nozzle 1 Hand 1 in FIG. 3
4, the shape of the tip of the holder 17 may be a conical shape or a quadrangular cross section, and the tip of the holder 17 has a special shape that requires a shape other than a flat surface. In the case of, it is possible to use a cut-shaped holder that fits the shape of the bottle shoulder.
Further, the arrangement of the holders is not limited to one row, but may be arranged in a plurality of rows to form a surface arrangement.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Figure 4

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 4]

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A bottle removing device, wherein arms having one or more hands are connected to each other by a pantograph mechanism. 2. A hand of a bottle extracting device, wherein a suction nozzle having a tapered removable nozzle at its tip and a suction tube connected to an intermediate portion is held by an arm via a buffer spring. 3. The hand of a bottle removing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the suction nozzle is a tapered removable nozzle, and an elastic material is attached to the tip of the suction nozzle. 4. The suction tube is attached independently of the hand, according to claim 2 or 3.
Hand of the bottle take-out device described in. 5. The hand of the bottle removing device according to claim 2, wherein the suction tube line is provided with a vacuum breaking valve. 6. A hand of a bottle extracting device, wherein an air type holder is held at the tip of the arm via an air cylinder or a buffer spring.