JPH0752097Y2 - Can body alignment device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a device for aligning a cylindrical can body. More specifically, a large number of cylindrical cans, which are transferred upright on the horizontal conveyor during the washing process, drying process, etc., are turned 90 degrees forward from the front end position of the horizontal conveyor, and are aligned in a single row (sideways). The present invention relates to a can body aligning device which is arranged in parallel in a state and is sent to the next step.

(Prior Art) In the can manufacturing industry, when cleaning and drying cylindrical cans such as beverage cans and beer cans, a horizontal conveyor that conveys a large number of these cans in an upright state is used. When supplying washed and dried can bodies from such a horizontal conveyor to the next process can manufacturing machine, such as printing machines and inspection machines, most of them are arranged as one can from the top of the machine. It is necessary to supply each one. Therefore, in the conventional aligning device, as shown in FIG. 5, an aligning means having a simple curved guide structure, which is commonly called a waterhole unloader, is often used at the front end position of the horizontal conveyor 2.

That is, one end of two upper and lower curved guides 60, 61 slightly wider than the can height dimension is located at the front end position of the horizontal conveyor 2, and the other end thereof extends in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the horizontal conveyor 62 ( It may be an inclined chute), and the received upright can body is allowed to fall naturally between the curved guides 60 and 61 by its own weight, and the can body is turned forward by 90 °. After the direction is changed, it is dropped on the transfer conveyor 62. The cans transferred to the transfer conveyor 62 are rolled on the transfer conveyor 62 to be aligned in a single row, and are transferred to the next step.

In addition to this, the conveying path for dropping and aligning the cans is connected in a high-pressure space, and a large amount of air is blown from the lower side of the cans that naturally fall due to gravity to reduce the canning speed and reduce the cans. A method of arranging the cells in a single row state has also been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho.
54-95487 publication).

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, the former, that is, the can body aligning device for naturally aligning the cans by gravity is inefficient (1000 cans /
(There is only a processing capacity of about a minute), the collision noise between the cans is noisy, and when the cans fall between the curved guides, the cans become unstable and the opening edge is caught on the curved guide surface, and The cans may become clogged between the curved guides (this phenomenon is more common in thin and lightweight cans where the can body wall is thin and the can body is more likely to deform). The gap between the curved surface guides must be changed for each product having a different can body height, which requires replacement work of the upper curved guide, and its adjustment is difficult, which is not suitable for high-mix low-volume production. Furthermore, if the cans naturally fall from the waterhole unloader onto the transport conveyor, the dropping speed will increase during the fall, so the once dropped cans will bounce on the transport conveyor, and then from the top naturally. It will repeatedly collide with the next can that falls, and not only will it generate dent (concave) cans due to the collision, but it will take time for the cans to be aligned and ejected, causing the cans to concentrate and fall. In this case, there are drawbacks such that the transport path of the transport conveyor is blocked by the cans, the brush of the cans is deteriorated, and the cans are clogged in the unloader.

In the latter method of creating and aligning a high-pressure space by operating pressurized air, collision between cans can be buffered, but the distance between the upper and lower curved surface guides needs to be finely adjusted to allow a gap slightly smaller than the height of the cans. There is a problem similar to that of the natural drop method, that is, the opening edge of the can body is caught on the curved guide and the trouble of adjusting the guide gap remains.
After all, it is not suitable for high-mix low-volume production. Further, it is extremely difficult to finely adjust the gap between the guide plates in the high-pressure space uniformly over a long conveyance path.

(Means for Solving Problems) The present invention solves the above problems, and receives a large number of cylindrical cans from a horizontal conveyor in an upright state,
A can body that changes the direction by 90 ° forward, minimizes the rebound of the can body that has been transferred and lowered on the conveyor, improves the can body processing capacity, and prevents the occurrence of dent cans and the collision noise between the cans. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an aligning device, the structure of which is as follows.

In a can body aligning device that receives a large number of cylindrical cans transferred by a horizontal conveyor in an upright state, aligns them in a single row, and conveys them, substantially 1 on a part of an upper wall provided with a plurality of small holes. / 4 equipped with a vacuum chamber having an arcuate curved surface, a vacuum suction means for making a negative pressure in the vacuum chamber, and a perforated endless belt rotating along the upper surface wall, and transferred by the horizontal conveyor A first conveyor that conveys the can body by adsorbing the can end of the can body onto the endless belt, and a first conveyor that is arranged downstream of the first conveyor and moves forward by the first conveyor.
It has a conveying surface parallel to the side surface of the can body which is turned by 90 ° and has a higher conveying speed than the first conveyor, and the can body is perpendicular to the traveling direction of the horizontal conveyor. Having a second conveyor that rolls and conveys,
In the downstream vertical wall surface region of the upper surface wall of the first conveyor, vacuum suction closing means for forming a can body adsorption release line is provided,
The vacuum suction closing means has a structure that can be adjusted in the vertical direction with respect to the transfer surface of the second conveyor, and determines the fall distance of the can body, which has been released from the suction on the first conveyor, to the second conveyor. , The can body aligning device, which is provided so as to increase from the upstream side to the downstream side of the second conveyor (action) According to the present invention, a large number of cans are transported upright on the horizontal conveyor. The cylindrical can of the first from the front end of the horizontal conveyor
The end of the can is forcibly adsorbed from the position where it is transferred to the conveyor, and the advancing direction of the can body is changed by 90 ° by passing through the curved part of the approximately 1/4 arc shape while adsorbing the can end. The suction state is maintained until the conveying surface of the second conveyor, which conveys in a single horizontal state while conveying in the direction perpendicular to the traveling direction, faces the side surface of the can body, and the can body adsorption release line is transferred to the conveying surface of the second conveyor. On the other hand, by vertically moving the second conveyor, the conveyance path of the second conveyor is adjusted so as not to block the cans, and a large number of cans are aligned and conveyed in a single row.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 (a front view showing an outline of the apparatus of the present example, FIG. 2 (similarly a side view), and FIG. 3 (a perspective view of a vacuum suction closing means and a vacuum chamber)). , FIG. 4 (a schematic side view of the main part of the apparatus of this example).

First, referring to FIG. 4, 2 is a horizontal conveyor that conveys a large number of cans A in an upright state, 3 is the canister A that receives the cans A from the horizontal conveyor 2, and the second conveyor 4 is turned by 90 °. It is the first conveyor to be delivered to. This first conveyor is approximately 1 / in a part of the upper wall 5 having a plurality of small holes 22.
4 A vacuum chamber 6 having a curved surface 5A in an arc shape (see FIG. 3), a vacuum suction means for making the inside a negative pressure, and a porous endless belt 7 rotating along the upper wall. , The can end of the can body A sent to the endless belt 7
It is conveyed while being adsorbed on the top. The second conveyor 4 is arranged downstream of the first conveyor 3 and has a first
It has a conveying surface parallel to the side surface of the can body A that is turned 90 ° forward from the conveyor 3 and conveys the can body A by rolling in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal conveyor 2. Yes, its transport speed is set faster than that of the first conveyor. In FIGS. 3 and 4, 23 is a can body adsorption release line in the downstream vertical wall surface region of the upper surface wall 5 of the vacuum chamber 6 (this is below the curved surface 5A and near the second conveyor 4). It is a strip plate provided as a vacuum suction closing means forming L (FIG. 1), and is bolted between the upper surface wall 5 and the endless belt 7. Reference numeral 24 is a long hole that allows the strip plate 23 to be attached to the conveying surface of the second conveyor 4 so as to be vertically movable.

Further details will be described with reference to FIGS.
The conveyor 3 is a horizontal conveyor (the front end of which is shown in FIG.
It is disposed between the second conveyor 4 and the front end position (shown by the dotted chain line). The perforated endless belt 7 is a vacuum chamber 6
Drive roll 1 that is narrower than the width of the vacuum chamber 6 and that is axially supported by two sets of bearings 9 and 10 that extend from both side walls of the vacuum chamber 6 toward the second conveyor 4 side and the horizontal conveyor 3 side, respectively.
1, Tension roll 1 between both rolls of driven roll 12
3, it is passed over via idler roll 14. Reference numeral 8 is a drive mechanism 8 for running the endless belt 7, and includes a sprocket 16 fixed on an extension shaft of a shaft 15 of a drive roll 11 and a stand F ₁
Sprocket fixed to the shaft of variable speed motor 17 fixed to
18 and a chain 19 are hung over the variable speed motor 17
Drive the drive roll 11 to rotate the endless belt 7. The traveling speed of the first conveyor 3 can be changed according to the speed of the horizontal conveyor 2.

Further, a dead plate 25 is provided so that the can body A can easily transfer from the front end position of the horizontal conveyor 2 onto the first conveyor 3. Reference numerals 26 and 26 'denote side guides for guiding the can body adsorbed on the endless belt 7 so as not to spread to both sides, and extend from the position of the dead plate 25 to the can body adsorption release line L. It is provided.

Note that F ₂ is a pedestal for fixing the vacuum chamber 6. A vacuum inlet 20 is provided on the side wall of the chamber 6 to provide a vacuum source.
Piped to 21.

In this example, the upper surface wall 5 of the vacuum chamber 6 is made of a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 2 mm, and a large number of small holes 22 having a diameter of 20 mm are provided in multiple rows over the entire surface. The strip 23 is a nylon endless rope belt for the upper surface wall conveyor of the vacuum chamber 6, and is fixed to the pedestal F ₂ and has bearings 41 and 42 respectively projecting to the upstream side and the downstream side. It is hung around the grooved pulleys 43 and 44 supported. The groove pulley 43 on the drive side is fixed to the drive shaft 45, and the sprocket 46 fixed on the extension shaft thereof and the motor 47 fixed on the floor surface.
The chain 49 is wound around the sprocket 48 fixed to the shaft of the, and the rope belts 40, 40 run by the drive of the motor 47. In addition, the conveying surfaces of the rope belts 40 and 40 are respectively wound around separate tension pulleys 50a and 50b and idler pulleys 51a to 51e on the return side on the opposite side, and the tension of the belts on the conveying surface side is two rows. It can be adjusted separately. In addition, as shown in FIG.
Guide plates 52, so that there is a small clearance with respect to the height of the can on both sides of the can conveying path from the area for receiving the large number of cans A transferred by the first conveyor 3 to the discharge to the next step. 53 are provided. The outer guide plate 52 is attached to a moving frame F ₃ that can move in the width direction (left and right direction in the figure), and the guide width W of both guide plates is set to 50 in accordance with the can body.
It can be adjusted up to ~ 155mm. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, a fixed base F ₂ and a plurality of screw jacks
The plurality of jacks 54 are connected together by the same drive source (not shown) to uniformly adjust the guide width W over the conveying path of the can body. The inner guide plate 53 is fixed to the gantry F _{2 so as} to match the transfer surface of the first conveyor 3.

In this embodiment, the width of the endless belt 7 of the first conveyor 3 is 60
0 mm, the belt speed is 50 m / min, the downward inclination angle of the second conveyor 4 is 20 °, the belt speed is 150 m / min, and the can body adsorption release line L is the upstream conveyor surface of the second conveyor 4 (first
The can body that descended along the side guide 26 'in the figure is the second
It is positioned about one can diameter above the position where it falls onto the conveyor's conveying surface), and the can adsorption release line L is expanded toward the downstream side with respect to the conveying surface of the second conveyor 4.

With this can aligning device, the can processing capacity is
It has improved to more than 1350 cans and can prevent the rebound of the cans that have fallen on the second conveyor, so even when a large number of cans are transferred in a concentrated manner, they do not stay in the transport path and are in a single row Can be aligned.

It should be noted that it is possible to quickly change the type of product by simply activating the screw jack 54 and moving the outer guide plate 52 for the second conveyor.

Note that the second conveyor of this example is a downwardly inclined conveyor conveyor, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the can body adsorption release line L is tilted according to the number of can bodies processed, and the first and second conveyor speeds are respectively set. It is also possible to make the second conveyor 4 horizontal when adjusted.

Further, the second conveyor 4 is a two-row rope conveyor, but if there is an overturned can on the way to the horizontal conveyor, the second conveyor 4 naturally moves between the two rope belts of the conveyor. It is dropped and discharged so that it does not get in the way of transportation, if the fall can is processed at another place,
The present invention is not limited to this, and a flat belt is sufficient and can be appropriately designed.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the closing means uses a strip plate, but the closing means is not limited to the strip plate, and the can suction release position line L can be changed so as to spread toward the downstream side of the conveying surface of the second conveyor. In that case, a closing means such as a damper may be provided in the chamber.

(Effect of the Invention) According to the present invention, a large number of irregular cylindrical cans are received in an upright state, and the cans are placed on the endless belt of the first conveyor until they are turned 90 ° forward. Since it is sucked and dropped, the upper curved guide is unnecessary,
It is no longer necessary to replace the upper curved surface guide or adjust the gap between the upper and lower curved surface guides, which is conventionally performed according to the height of the can body each time the product type is changed. Further, the can body is not caught or jammed between the upper and lower curved surface guides.

Further, since the dropping speed of the can body falling on the second conveyor can be reduced, the dropped can body does not rebound on the second conveyor, and there is no collision with the next can body coming from above, The generation of dent cans and noise is prevented, and the rolling can be arranged in an orderly manner so that the processing time from dropping to discharging can be shortened and the processing capacity of the can can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an example of the can aligning device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a vacuum suction closing means and a vacuum chamber, and FIG. 4 is a main part of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a main part of a conventional can body aligning device. A: Can body, L: Can body adsorption release line, 1: Can body aligning device, 2: Horizontal conveyor, 3: First conveyor, 4: Second conveyor, 5: Top wall, 5A: Curved surface, 6: Vacuum Chamber, 7: Perforated endless belt, 20: Vacuum inlet, 22: Small hole, 23: Strip plate.

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A can body aligning device for receiving a large number of cylindrical cans transported by a horizontal conveyor in an upright state, aligning them in a single row, and transporting them. A vacuum chamber having a substantially 1/4 arc-shaped curved surface in its part, a vacuum suction means for making a negative pressure in the vacuum chamber, and a porous endless belt rotating along the upper wall, A first conveyor that conveys the can body by adsorbing the can end portion of the can body transferred by a conveyor onto the endless belt; and a first conveyor that is arranged downstream of the first conveyor and that moves forward by the first conveyor. ° It has a conveying surface parallel to the side surface of the can body that is redirected and conveyed, has a conveying speed higher than that of the first conveyor, and rolls the can body in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the horizontal conveyor. A second conveyor for moving and transporting the second conveyor; 1. A vacuum suction closing means for forming a can adsorption release line is provided in the downstream vertical wall surface region of the upper surface wall of the first conveyor, and the vacuum suction closing means has a structure that can be adjusted in the vertical direction with respect to the transfer surface of the second conveyor. And is provided so as to increase the fall distance of the can body, which has been released from the suction to the first conveyor, to the second conveyor from the upstream side to the downstream side of the second conveyor. Can body aligning device. 2. A strip plate long in the width direction, wherein the vacuum suction closing means is provided between the endless belt and the top wall of the vacuum chamber, and closes small holes in the top wall in the width direction. Item 1. A can body aligning device according to item 1.