JPH068149B2 - Automatic capping device for containers - Google Patents

Description

Description: [Industrial application] The present invention relates to an automatic capping device for a container for automatically covering various containers such as cups of instant food with a lid.

[Prior Art] In a conventional device of this type, a lid and a container are respectively transferred to a capping section by a transfer means, and when each of them reaches a predetermined position of the capping section, the temporary movement is stopped and then the capping is performed. The container is covered with a lid by being operated, and after the operation is completed, the container is covered again with the lid, and the container with the lid is ejected from the capping section. When the container covered with the lid is discharged as described above, the next container and the lid are continuously fed to the capping section, and similarly, the transfer is stopped and the capping operation is performed. Needless to say, the above operation is repeated.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned conventional example, since the transfer of the lid and the container is stopped during the capping operation of the container, the movement of the lid or the container or the container covered with the lid is smooth. Lacking, it takes some time to match the centers of both in the capping section, and as a result, the capping operation is delayed,
There is a limit to improving the operation speed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve such problems and to provide a highly efficient and reliable capping device that does not perform a capping operation speedily.

[Means for Solving the Problem] A gist of the present invention is to provide a star wheel for a lid, which holds the lids transferred by a conveyor device one by one in each notch holding portion, the star foil for the lid being provided along the outer circumference. With a plurality of the above-mentioned notch holding portion formed at regular intervals,
And a star wheel for the lid which itself rotates, and a cradle located below the star wheel for the lid, wherein the lid body transferred by the conveyor device is a cutout holding of the star wheel for the lid. A pedestal with raised guide edges for guiding to the holding part, and one lid from below that is moved to the delivery position while being held in the notch holding part by the rotation of the lid star wheel. Main foils respectively received in the respective receiving holes, which are located at the same height as the receiving base of the lid star wheel, and are provided with a plurality of the receiving holes at regular intervals along the outer periphery,
And a main wheel that itself rotates, a holding means that holds the lid received in the receiving hole so that it does not drop while being transferred to the capping position by the rotation of the main foil, and another conveyor device. A star wheel for a container that holds the transferred containers one by one in each notch holding part, which is located below the main wheel and has a plurality of the notch holding parts formed at regular intervals along the outer circumference. A container star wheel provided with the container star wheel and a cradle positioned below the container star wheel, the container being transferred by the other conveyor device is a cutout holding of the container star wheel. A pedestal having a raised guide edge for guiding to the holding portion, and a container in which the lid is covered and engaged with the opening at the capping position is transferred to a discharge position. A carrier foil that is positioned at the same height as the cradle of the container star wheel and that rotates with the main foil, and a capping pad that is vertically movable in all the receiving holes of the main foil. By the rotation of the lid star wheel and the main wheel, respectively, the holding centers of the former notch embracing portion located above and the receiving hole of the latter located below are located at the delivery position relative to each other. When they match, the lid held by the notch holding portion is lowered to push it down into the corresponding receiving hole, and further, by the continuous rotation of the main foil and the rotation of the star wheel for a container, the upper portion is moved upward. When the holding centers of the former receiving hole located at and the lower notch holding portion located below are coincident with each other at the capping position, the receiving hole is formed. A capping pad configured to descend so as to cover-engage the lid body held by the above with the opening portion of the container held in the corresponding notch holding portion, and the lid body cover transferred to the discharge position. It consists of various constituent elements such as discharging means for sequentially discharging the engaged containers from the carrier foil, and in the above constituent elements, the star star wheel for the lid and the main foil are rotated about the center of both the former and the latter. On the line connecting the two, the respective holding centers of the plurality of notch holding portions of the former and the respective holding centers of the plurality of receiving holes of the latter are operated in synchronism with each other so that they sequentially coincide with each other, and for the container. Each rotation center of the star wheel and the main wheel, on the line connecting the centers of the former and the latter, each holding center of the plurality of notch holding portions of the former and each holding center of the plurality of receiving holes of the latter respectively Sequentially A so as to operate as much as possible synchronization matches an automatic capping device containers that defines the respective rotation operations.

It goes without saying that both the notch holding portions and the receiving holes should be formed so as to correspond to the shapes of the lid and the container.

Various structures can be freely adopted as the holding means, that is, the holding means for holding the lid body received in the receiving hole so as not to drop while the lid body is transferred to the capping position. For example, it is configured by a plate disposed immediately below the moving range of the receiving hole and between the delivery position of the lid and immediately before the capping position. Alternatively, a plurality of rubber pieces or the like facing inward are arranged on the lower edge of the inner periphery of the receiving hole, and the rubber pieces are held by this.

Further, the capping pad can be freely configured as long as it is suitable for its application. For example, it is appropriate that the capping pad has its outer shape determined according to the planar shape of the target lid body, and its lower surface, that is, the surface contacting the upper surface of the lid body, is formed in a spherical shape with a bulge in the center. is there. The purpose of this is to allow the engagement edge that hangs downward from the outer periphery of the lid body to slightly expand in the radial direction when it is brought into pressure contact with the lid body to facilitate engagement with the opening portion of the container.

The capping pad, for example, has a lower end of an elevating rod fixed to the center of the upper surface thereof, a follower roller provided at the upper end of the elevating rod, and a cam groove formed on the outer periphery of a drum fixed above the main wheel. The follower roller is engaged with the cam groove. Then, as the main wheel rotates, the capping pad is rotated around the drum, and the follower roller is moved in the cam groove, so that the follower roller is moved up and down according to the elevation of the cam groove. Cause motion.

If the discharging means is capable of discharging the lid-covered and engaged container transferred to the discharging position by the carrier foil,
Any configuration can be adopted.

For example, it is possible to adopt a configuration using a discharge star wheel that holds the containers covered with the lids that have been transferred to the discharge position by the carrier wheel one by one by each notch holding portion and transfers the container to the discharge position. it can. In this case, the discharging star wheel is located above the carrier wheel, and the plurality of notch holding portions are formed along the outer periphery at regular intervals. It is also configured to rotate itself. Further, below the discharge star wheel, a pedestal located at the same height as the carrier wheel is attached. On the pedestal, a guide edge for guiding the container covered and engaged by the discharge star wheel and transferred to the conveyer device connected to the container, which has been engaged and transferred, is formed upright. .

[Operation] Since the present invention is configured as described above, continuous and speedy capping processing can be performed without stopping the lid and the container fed by the conveyor device and the other conveyor device, respectively. it can.

In this device, the lid should be supplied with the engaging part facing downward, and the container with the opening facing upward.

First, on the side of the star wheel for the lid, a large number of lids fed by the conveyor device are fed onto the pedestal, and the front lid is pushed by the latter lid to move forward on the pedestal. . At this time, on the outside of the cradle, that is, outside the star wheel for the lid,
Since the guide edge is raised in an arc shape concentric with this,
The lid body advances on the receiving table guided by the lid body, and is sequentially held by the notched holding portion of the lid star wheel, and is transferred to the delivery position along with its rotation, and the star wheel for the lid body is held. When the holding center of the corresponding notch holding part of the main foil coincides with the holding center of the main foil, the capping pad attached to the corresponding receiving hole moves down by the required height to push the lid into the receiving hole. To do.

Subsequently, the lid body pushed into the receiving hole is transported to the capping position while the lower part of the lid body is held by the holding means and the main wheel rotates.

On the other hand, on the side of the star wheel for containers, a large number of containers fed by another conveyor device are fed onto the pedestal, and the preceding containers are pushed forward by the latter containers on the pedestal. At this time, the outside of the cradle, that is, the outside of the star wheel for the container, the guide edge is erected in an arc shape concentric with it, so that the container is guided by this and advances on the cradle, The container is sequentially held in the notched holding portion of the star wheel and is transported to the capping position along with its rotation.
At the capping position, in the middle of the height of the container, as described above, the container is held by the notch holding portion of the star wheel, and the lower end of the container is already placed on the carrier foil. Has become.

Further, subsequently, at the capping position, when the corresponding notch holding portion of the container star wheel and the holding center of the receiving hole of the main foil coincide with each other, the capping pad attached to the corresponding receiving hole. Is further lowered by the required height to push down the lid held in the receiving hole,
The lid is covered and engaged with the opening of the container held by the notch holding portion. In this way, the capping operation of the lid to the container is completed.

After that, the container with the lid engaged is sequentially transferred to the discharge position by the rotation of the carrier foil, and is discharged to the conveyor device for taking out at the discharge position.

The above operation is repeatedly and continuously performed, and the container can be capped with high efficiency.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a carrier wheel 4 and a main wheel 5 are mounted on a rotary drive shaft 2 arranged upright in the center of a machine base 1 through a mounting member 3 in this order from below.
Install.

The upper end of the rotary drive shaft 2 is rotatably supported by a bearing 15 arranged in the center of a drum 14 described later, as shown in FIG. In addition, the drum 14 has four columns 1
It is fixed to the lower surface of the support plate 17 supported by 6, 16 ...

The distance between the carrier foil 4 and the main foil 5 is set to be slightly longer than the height of the target container 7 covered with the lid 6.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main foil 5 is provided with receiving holes 8, 8 ... For the lid 6 at equal angular intervals in the vicinity of the outer circumference. In this example, twelve receiving holes 8, 8 ... Are drilled at angular intervals of thirty degrees. The inner diameters of the receiving holes 8, 8 ... Are set to a length slightly exceeding the outer diameter of the lid body 6. Each of the receiving holes 8, 8 ... Has a plurality of rubber holding pieces 20, 20 ...
Attach. These are means for holding the lid 6 inserted into the receiving holes 8, 8 ... Until the position just before the operating position without disturbing the capping operation described later.

Further, capping pads 9, 9 ... Which move up and down are installed in all the receiving holes 8, 8 ... Of the main foil 5, respectively. The capping pads 9, 9 ... Have their lower surfaces formed in a spherical shape that bulges downward, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Further, each capping pad 9 has a lower end of an elevating rod 10 fixed to the center of the upper surface thereof, and a follower roller 11 is provided on the upper end of the elevating rod 10. On the other hand, a support wheel 12 is fixedly installed on the upper part of the mounting member 3, and the support wheel 12 has a bearing 1 corresponding to the receiving holes 8, 8 ...
3 are arranged, and the middle of the lifting rods 10, 10 of the capping pads 9, 9 ... Is vertically inserted into the bearings 13, 13. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a cam groove 18 is formed on the outer periphery of the drum 14, and the capping pads 9, 9 are formed in the cam groove 18.
The follower rollers 11, 11 ... Are engaged movably. The cam groove 18 is formed so that the capping pads 9, 9 ... Ascend as follows by the ascending operation of the follower roller 11 accompanying the rotation of the main wheel 5. That is, in the cam groove 18, the capping pad 9 is located at the delivery position, which will be described later, and the star wheel 2 for the lid body.
The lid 6 held in 1 is pushed into the receiving hole 8 of the main wheel 5, and the height position is maintained until the corresponding receiving hole 8 moves to the position immediately before the capping position described later due to the rotation of the main wheel 5, and the capping is performed. In position, lid 6
Is further lowered until it can be covered and engaged with the opening of the container 7 located therebelow, and this height position is maintained until the corresponding receiving hole 8 moves immediately before the discharging position by the subsequent rotation of the main wheel 5. Then, at the discharge position, it rises above the upper surface of the main wheel 5, and at this height position, the corresponding receiving hole 8
Is formed so as to be held until just before reaching the delivery position again.

The carrier wheel 4 is a disk having a diameter slightly smaller than that of the main wheel 5, and plays a role of transferring the container 7 with which the lid body 6 is covered and engaged, from almost the capping position to the discharging position.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the lid star wheel 21 is arranged corresponding to the delivery position.
The lid star wheel 21 is located at a position slightly higher than the main foil 5 and the notch holding portions 22, 22 are rotated, so that the receiving holes 8, 8 of the main foil 5 are formed at the delivery position. Sequentially arrange the holding centers so that they coincide with each other. Since the lid body 6 to be processed here is circular when viewed from a plane, the holding center is a position corresponding to the center of the circle.
An upper end of a rotary drive shaft (not shown) is fixedly installed at the center of the lid star wheel 21.

A pedestal 23 is disposed below the lid star wheel 21 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The pedestal 23 guides the lids 6, 6 ... Which have been fed by the conveyor device 19a so as to sequentially hold the lids 6, 6 ... In the cutout holding portions 22, 22 of the lid star wheel 21. Is erected on its outer circumference, and as described above, the lid body 6,
The height of the upper surface of the main wheel 5 is made to coincide with the height of the upper surface of the main foil 5 so that the cut-out holding portions 22, 22 can be slid on the main wheel 5 and slid.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the container star wheel 25 is arranged corresponding to the capping position. The container star wheel 25 is located at a position slightly higher than the carrier foil 4, and the cutout holding portion 26,
26 are rotated so that the holding centers of the receiving holes 8 of the main foil 5 are sequentially aligned with each other at the capping position. Since the lid body 6 to be processed here is circular when viewed from above, the holding center is naturally at a position corresponding to the center of the circle. At the center of the container star wheel 25, an upper end of a rotation drive shaft (not shown) is fixedly installed.

A pedestal 27 is disposed below the container star wheel 25, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The pedestal 27 guides the containers 7, 7 ... Supplied by the conveyor device 19b so as to sequentially hold the containers 7, 7 ... In the cutout holding portions 26, 26 of the container star wheel 25.
8 upright on its outer periphery, and as described above, the container 7,
The height of the upper surface of the carrier foil 4 is made to coincide with the height of the upper surface of the carrier foil 4 so that the cut-out holding portions 26, 26 can be slid on the carrier foil 4.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a discharging star wheel 29 is arranged corresponding to the discharging position. The discharge star wheel 29 is located at the same height as the container star wheel 25 and has the notch holding portions 30, 30.
Is rotated by the rotation of the main wheel 5 at the discharge position.
The receiving holes 8, 8 ... Are sequentially arranged so that their holding centers coincide with each other. Since the lid body 6 to be processed here is circular when viewed from above, the holding center is naturally at a position corresponding to the center of the circle. An upper end of a rotary drive shaft (not shown) is fixedly installed at the center of the discharge star wheel 29.

Below the discharging star wheel 29, a cradle 31 is provided.
To arrange. The pedestal 31 conveys the engaged containers 7, 7 ... Of the lid 6 which are held and discharged from the carrier foil 4 by the cutout holding portions 30, 30, ... Of the discharge star wheel 29. Guide edge 32 to guide to 19c
Can be formed along the outer circumference, and as described above, the target containers 7, 7 ... Can be held by the notch holding portions 30, 30, ... And smoothly slid onto the carrier foil 4 from above. The height of its upper surface so that the carrier foil 4
Match the height of the top surface of.

And among the above-mentioned components, the rotation of each of the lid star wheel 21 and the main wheel 5 is transferred at a delivery position located on the line connecting the centers of the former and the latter, and the plurality of notch holding portions 22 of the former are provided. , 22 ... and the holding centers of the plurality of receiving holes 8, 8 ... of the latter are operated in synchronism with each other so that they sequentially coincide with each other, and the container star wheel 25 and the main wheel. At the capping position located on the line that connects the centers of the former and the latter, the respective rotation centers of the plurality of notch holding portions 26, 26 ... Of the former and the plurality of receiving holes 8, 8 of the latter. The rotation operation is determined so that the holding centers of ... Are sequentially synchronized with each other so that they are sequentially matched. Also, the respective rotations of the discharge star wheel 29 and the main wheel 5 are held at the discharge positions located on the line connecting the centers of the former and the latter, and each of the plurality of notch holding portions 30, 30, ... Of the former is held. The operation is determined so that the center and the holding centers of the latter plurality of receiving holes 8, 8 ...

In this embodiment, since it is configured as described above, it is possible to continuously and speedily without stopping the lids 6 and 6 and the containers 7 and 7 which are respectively fed by the different conveyor devices 19a and 19b. Can be capped.

Note that the lid 6 and the container 7 which are the targets of this apparatus have the shapes as shown in FIG. 4, and the lids 6, 6 ... Have the engaging portions downward and the containers 7, 7 ... Have the opening upward. Are supplied from different conveyor devices 19a and 19b, respectively. Further, the containers 7, 7 ... Are filled with contents in another process in advance and then fed.

First, on the star wheel 21 side for the lid, the conveyor device 19
The large number of lids 6, 6 ...
3 is moved to a state in which the lid body 6 is pushed into the lid body 6 fed later, and then the lid body 6 is moved. At this time, since the guide edge 24 is formed in an arc shape along the outer boat of the pedestal 23, the lids 6, 6 ...
Is guided by this and moves on the pedestal 23, and one by one, the notch holding portions 22, 22, ...
When the lid star wheel 21 is rotated, it is transported to the delivery position. Then, the corresponding notch holding portion 22 of the star wheel 21 for the lid body
When the holding center of the corresponding receiving hole 8 of the main wheel 5 and the holding center of the main foil 5 coincide with each other, the capping pad 9 attached to the receiving hole 8 is lowered by a required height to receive the lid body 6. It pushes into the hole 8 and operates. The lowering operation of the capping pad 9 is performed by the follower roller 11 engaging with the cam groove 18 of the drum 14 descending following the cam groove 18 as the main wheel 5 rotates.

The lid 6 which is subsequently pushed into the receiving hole 8 is held by the holding pieces 20, 20, ...
It is transferred to the capping position as the car rotates.

On the other hand, on the side of the container star wheel 25, a large number of containers 7, 7 ... Which have been fed by another conveyor device 19b are fed onto the pedestal 27, on which the former container 7 is fed later. It is pushed by the coming container 7 and moves forward. At this time, since the guide edge 28 is formed in a circular arc shape so as to rise along the outer periphery of the pedestal 27, the containers 7 are guided by the container 7 and proceed on the pedestal 27, one by one. The container star wheel 25 is held by the notch holding portions 26, 26, ... And is transported to the capping position as it rotates. At the capping position, the container 7 is, as described above, halfway in the height direction, as described above.
It is held by being held by the notch holding portion 26 of No. 5, and the lower end thereof has already been placed on the carrier wheel 4 and transferred.

Further subsequently, at the capping position, when the corresponding notch holding portion 26 of the container star wheel 25 and the holding center of the receiving hole 8 of the main foil 5 are aligned with each other, the receiving hole 8 is attached to the corresponding receiving hole 8. There is the capping pad 9
Is further lowered by a required height to push down the lid body 6 held in the receiving hole 8, and the lid body 6 is covered and engaged with the opening portion of the container 7 held in the notch holding portion 26. . In this way, the capping operation of the lid 6 to the container 7 is completed. The lowering operation of the capping pad 9 is performed by the cam groove 1 of the drum 14 as the main wheel 5 rotates.
The follower roller 11 engaged with the cam groove 8
It goes without saying that this is done by descending in accordance with.

The holding pieces 20, 20, ... Are made of a rubber material and do not hinder the capping operation.

After that, the closed container 7 is sequentially transferred to the discharge position by the subsequent rotation of the carrier wheel 4.

Then, at the discharging position, the corresponding receiving hole 8 of the main wheel 5 and the notch holding portion 3 of the discharging star wheel 29.
When the holding center of 0 is reached, the closed container 7 placed in the corresponding position of the carrier foil 4 is held by the notch holding portion 30, and at the same time, the capping pad 9 moves upward. To do.

The ascending operation of the capping pad 9 is due to the follower roller 11 following the cam groove 18 as described above.

By the subsequent rotation of the discharging star wheel 29, the closed container 7 is slid from the carrier wheel 4 onto the pedestal 31 and is guided by the guide edge 32 while the pedestal 31 is being guided. It slides up and is transferred to the discharging conveyor device 19c.

The above operation is repeatedly performed continuously, and the containers 7, 7 ... Can be capped with high efficiency.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, since the capping operation can be performed while the container and the lid are in the moving state, it is possible to quickly and efficiently perform the capping.
Further, since the capping operation can be performed without stopping the container and the lid, it is possible to perform the accurate capping operation by eliminating the wobbling of the container and the lid.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of the same, FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view of the lid and the container. 1 ... Machine stand, 2 ... Rotation drive shaft, 3 ... Mounting member, 4
...... Carrier wheel, 5 ...... Main wheel, 6 ...... Lid body, 7 ...... Container, 8 ...... Reception hole, 9 ...... Capping pad, 10 ...... Elevating rod, 11 ...... Follower roller, 12 ...... Support Wheels, 13, 15 ... Bearings, 14 ...
… Drums, 16… Supports, 17… Support plates, 18
...... Cam groove, 19a, 19b, 19c …… Conveyor device, 20 …… Holding piece, 21 …… Star wheel for lid, 2
2, 26, 30 ... Notch holding part, 23, 27, 31 ...
Cradle, 24, 28, 32 ... Guide edge, 25 ... Star wheel for container, 29 ... Star wheel for discharging.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A star wheel for a lid, which holds the lids transferred by a conveyor device one by one in each notch holding portion, wherein the plurality of notch holding portions are formed at regular intervals along the outer circumference. A star wheel for a lid, which itself rotates, and a cradle located below the star wheel for a lid, wherein the lid body transferred by the conveyor device is a star wheel for the lid body. The pedestal having a raised guide edge for guiding to the notch holding part, and the lid moved to the delivery position while being held in the notch holding part by the rotation of the lid star wheel. Main foils to be received in the respective receiving holes one by one from below, located at the same height as the cradle of the lid star wheel, and provided with a plurality of the receiving holes at regular intervals along the outer periphery,
And a main wheel that itself rotates, a holding means that holds the lid received in the receiving hole so that it does not drop while being transferred to the capping position by the rotation of the main foil, and another conveyor device. A star wheel for a container that holds the transferred containers one by one in each notch holding part, which is located below the main wheel and has a plurality of the notch holding parts formed at regular intervals along the outer circumference. A container star wheel provided with the container star wheel and a cradle positioned below the container star wheel, the container being transferred by the other conveyor device is a cutout holding of the container star wheel. A pedestal having a raised guide edge for guiding to the holding portion, and a container in which the lid is covered and engaged with the opening at the capping position is transferred to a discharge position. A carrier foil that is positioned at the same height as the cradle of the container star wheel and that rotates with the main foil, and a capping pad that is vertically movable in all the receiving holes of the main foil. By the rotation of the lid star wheel and the main wheel, respectively, the holding centers of the former notch embracing portion located above and the receiving hole of the latter located below are located at the delivery position relative to each other. When they match, the lid held by the notch holding portion is lowered to push it down into the corresponding receiving hole, and further, by the continuous rotation of the main foil and the rotation of the star wheel for a container, the upper portion is moved upward. When the holding centers of the former receiving hole located at and the latter notch holding portion located at the lower side are coincident with each other at the capping position, the receiving hole is formed. A capping pad configured to descend so as to cover-engage the lid body held by the above with the opening portion of the container held in the corresponding notch holding portion, and the lid body cover transferred to the discharge position. A discharge means for sequentially discharging the engaged container from the carrier foil, and in the above constituent elements, the rotation of each of the lid star wheel and the main foil is divided into the former and the latter center. On the line connecting the two, the respective holding centers of the plurality of notch holding portions of the former and the respective holding centers of the plurality of receiving holes of the latter are operated in synchronism with each other so that they sequentially coincide with each other, and for the container. Each rotation center of the star wheel and the main wheel, on the line connecting the centers of the former and the latter, each holding center of the plurality of notch holding portions of the former and each holding center of the plurality of receiving holes of the latter respectively One by one It a so as to operate as much as possible synchronization, automatic capping device containers that defines each rotation operation of.