JPH105701A - Container cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] After washing the inside and outside of a folded container,
Try to fold again. SOLUTION: An insertion port 5 with each folded wall facing downward.
, The container 3 is pinched and conveyed by a pair of right and left transfer devices 11. Subsequently, the center of the bottom surface of the container 3 is pressed by the pressing member 51. At this time, due to the warp of the container itself, the left and right side walls pass through the both side wall push-out members 53 while being slightly opened left and right, and are pushed right and left during this passage. The container 3 whose side wall is expanded is washed by washing water jetting devices 57, 59, 61, 63 for jetting washing water from above, below, right and left, and both side walls are rotated inward with a time lag between right and left contacts. It is folded by a folding guide member 93 having a contact guide surface 93c at a different position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning plastic containers used in agricultural cooperatives and supermarkets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, fruits and vegetables handled in agricultural cooperatives and supermarkets are shipped or carried in plastic containers.

[0003] Plastic containers are washed after use and are used repeatedly. For example, in a large supermarket, etc., a large amount of containers are handled, so that containers are stored after taking out fruits and vegetables. Needs a lot of space in place.

[0004] For this reason, in recent years, foldable containers have been developed in which the front side wall, the rear side wall, and the left and right side walls can be foldable. This makes it possible to stack containers up to a predetermined height in a folded state, which makes it possible to store a large amount of containers, but at the time of washing, each folded wall must be opened, and automation is required. It was the bottleneck.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a container cleaning apparatus capable of automatically cleaning a folded container.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a structure in which a front wall and a rear wall are folded inward,
Furthermore, an insertion port for inserting the container with the left and right side walls folded on it so that each folded wall faces downward, and a pair of left and right for transporting the container backward while holding both sides of the container from the insertion port And a pressing member that presses against the center of the bottom surface of the container conveyed by the conveying device and slightly expands the left and right side walls by warping the container itself, and enters the side walls slightly opened left and right with the conveyance. And a push-expanding member formed at both ends formed into an acute angle to push and spread the left and right side walls to a substantially vertical state; a washing water spraying device for spraying washing water to the container having a widened side wall; and a widened side wall And a folding guide member having a contact guide surface for rotating the inside in accordance with the conveyance.

In a preferred embodiment, the pressing member is a pressing roll or a pressing rod. Alternatively, the folding guide member has a contact guide surface for rotating the left and right side walls and a contact guide surface for rotating the front and rear side walls.

Alternatively, the contact guide surfaces for rotating the left and right side walls are arranged so that the contact start positions with the both side walls are different.

According to such a container cleaning apparatus, the container is inserted into the insertion opening with each folded wall facing downward. The container inserted into the insertion port is transported while being clamped from the left and right by the transport device. During this transfer, the central part of the bottom of the container is pressed by a pressing member such as a pressing roller or a pressing rod,
By warping the container itself, the left and right side walls are slightly opened to the left and right, and the container passes through the side wall pushing and expanding member with the left and right side walls slightly opened to the left and right.

During the passage of the side wall push-out members, the left and right side walls are spread until they are substantially vertical. At the same time, the front side wall and the rear side wall of the container frequently used hang down under its own weight. In this state, the inside of the container and the outside of the container are cleaned under the action of the washing water from above and below, and from the left and right by the washing water injection device.

[0011] The front and rear walls of the cleaned container are:
It comes into contact with a folding guide member having a contact guide surface that can be turned inward, and is folded while being turned inward with conveyance. Subsequently, the left and right side walls are folded while rotating by being brought into contact with the contact guide surfaces of the folding guide members located on the left and right, and are conveyed rearward. When the left and right side walls are folded, in the case of containers with high side walls that overlap each other, the length of the folding guide members located on the left and right are made different, so that there is a time difference in the contact between the left and right side walls and the contact guide surface, For example, the left side wall and the right side wall may be folded in this order.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a container cleaning device for cleaning a folded container 3 (described later).

The container 3 is made of plastic as shown in FIG. 9 and includes front and rear front and rear side walls 3a and 3b and left and right side walls 3a.
c, 3d, and has a box-like shape whose upper part is open, and has a front side wall 3a, a rear side wall 3b, and both side walls 3c, 3d.
Is a folding type that turns toward the bottom plate 3e, that is, rotates inward.

As shown in FIG. 3, the container washing apparatus 1 has an insertion port 5 at the start end side, and a transfer device such as a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor is disposed in the insertion port 5, and the containers 3 are sequentially supplied. The insertion slot 5 is connected to the left and right transfer devices 11, 1
The container 3 is held between the transfer devices 11 by adjusting the height of the transfer device.

The right and left transfer devices 11 are provided on a main frame 13 arranged substantially in parallel with a driving sprocket 17 to which rotational power is given by a driving motor 15, a driven sprocket 19, and a driving sprocket 17 and a driven sprocket 19. The transport surface side inside the chain 21 is configured to rotate from the start end side to the end side (from right to left in FIG. 1).

In the chain 21, elastic members 23 made of synthetic resin sandwiching both sides of the container 3 are arranged at predetermined intervals. The dimension D from the opposing elastic bodies 23 to the elastic bodies 23 is set to be smaller than the width dimension of the container 3, and the elastic body 23 is elastically deformed by the set dimension, so that the pair of left and right guide rails 25 on the upper side. , 25 strongly clamp the container 3 in a state where the upward movement is restricted.

The left and right main frames 13 are formed in the shape of a rectangular tube which is continuous in the longitudinal direction, and have first mounting shafts 27 for supporting at predetermined intervals as shown in FIGS.
, And second mounting shafts 29 for rotation are provided. The first mounting shaft 27 is rotatably supported by a support arm 31 extending from the main column 30 through a through hole 13 a of the main frame 13. In addition, main pillar 3
The upper end of 0 is fixedly supported by the mounting bracket 35 fixed to the main body frame 33, and the lower end is fixedly supported by the main body frame 33.

As shown in FIG. 7, the second mounting shaft 29 is supported by a support arm 39 extending from the main column 37 through the hole 13a of the main frame 13. Main pillar 37
And the support arm 39 are integrally fixed, and the main column 37 is rotatably supported at both ends with respect to the main body frame 33 by the driving device 41, so that the holding width of the left and right transfer devices 11, 11 can be adjusted. Has become.

That is, the upper end of the main column 37 is
A drive arm 43 is fixed to the protruding shaft end, and the drive arm 43 is connected to an operation rod 45 that is controlled to be operated by the drive device 41.

The driving device 41 is composed of a cylinder 47 and a piston 49 which can be extended and contracted with respect to the cylinder 47. The piston 49 is connected to an operating rod 45. As a result, the second mounting shaft 29 is rotated by a predetermined angle in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 5 by the expansion and contraction of the piston 49, so that the holding width D of each of the transfer devices 11, 11 corresponds to the size of the container 3. Can be adjusted.

A pressing member 51 for pressing the central portion of the bottom surface of the container 3 sandwiched by the conveying device 11 and the right and left side walls 3 of the container 3 are provided between the left and right conveying devices 11.
The side wall pushing and expanding members 53 for pushing and opening c and 3d are respectively arranged.

The pressing member 51 is fixedly supported by the main body frame 33 of the container cleaning device 1 as shown in FIG. The lower surface of the pressing member 51 is set at a position slightly lower than the transfer nipping position of the transfer devices 11, 11, and warps the container 3 itself when pressing the center of the bottom surface of the container 3. It functions to slightly open the left and right side walls 3c, 3d.

As shown in FIG. 1, both side wall pushing and expanding members 53 are provided.
Is located at the rear of the pressing member 51 in the transport direction, and has an acute entry surface 53a that enters the left and right side walls 3c and 3d of the slightly opened container 3 and two guiding surfaces 53b that are continuous with the entry surface 53a. The shape is composed of

The guiding surfaces 53b are substantially parallel, and the dimension from one guiding surface 53b to the other guiding surface 53b is
The right and left side walls 3c, 3d are set to a size that can be pushed and spread to a substantially vertical state, and the expanded left and right side walls 3c, 3d are guided by a pair of left and right guide rails 55, 55 and conveyed rearward. Has become.

Behind the side wall push-out members 53, first, second, third, fourth
Are provided, respectively, and FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and 13 show specific examples of the cleaning water injection devices 57, 59, 61, and 63.

The first cleaning water injection device 57 shown in FIG. 10 has upper and lower injection nozzles 65 and 66, and is of a type in which used cleaning water is collected in a tank 67 and reused.
The upper and lower spray nozzles 65 and 66 swing a predetermined angle in the transport direction with respect to the transport direction by the swing device 69, so that the cleaning water acts on the upper and lower, front and rear inner and outer walls of the container 3, respectively. It has become.

The swing device 69 includes injection nozzles 65, 6
6 for swinging the swing arm 6 and a rotating shaft 73 driven by a drive motor (not shown)
It is composed of

The second washing water spraying device 59 of FIG. 11 has a plurality of spray nozzles 75 and 76 above and below, and is of a type in which used washing water is collected in a tank 67 and reused. The upper injection nozzle 75 is of a fixed type. The lower spray nozzle 76 is of a swing type that swings by a swing device 77 so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction, so that the washing water acts on the upper, lower, left and right inner and outer walls of the container 3. Has become.

The swing device 77 is composed of a rod 79 linked to each of the injection nozzles 76 and a drive chain 81 for giving a swing motion to the rod 79 via a swing mechanism 80. The drive chain 81 is driven by a drive motor (not shown). The operation is controlled.

The third washing water injection device 61 shown in FIG. 12 has upper and lower injection nozzles 83, 83, and is of a type in which used washing water is collected in a tank 67 and reused. The upper and lower injection nozzles 83, 83 have a structure extended in the radial direction, and are rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow around a nozzle shaft 85 by a drive motor (not shown) so that the upper, lower, front, rear, left, and right Wash water acts on each of the inner and outer walls.

The fourth cleaning water injection device 63 in FIG. 13 is used for finishing and has injection nozzles 87, 87 above and below.

The upper and lower spray nozzles 87, 87 are adapted to spray cleaning water at a predetermined angle with respect to the transport direction, and are connected to a water pipe 89.

As shown in FIG. 8, the front and rear walls 3a, 3b of the front and rear of the container 3 after cleaning are located on the transport terminal side of the transport devices 11, 11, respectively.
And a folding guide member 9 for folding the left and right side walls 3c, 3d
1 and 93 are arranged respectively.

The folding guide member 91 is formed in the shape of a rod, is disposed along the transport direction at the transport device 11 and substantially at the center of the transport device 11, and transports the front side wall 3a and the rear side wall 3b which are suspended by its own weight. The contact guide surface 91c formed by the inclined surface 91a rotated inward and the horizontal surface 91b brought into contact with the floor plate 3e by contact with the
It has a structure having.

The folding guide member 93 is arranged left and right behind the folding guide member 91 in the transport direction, and is rotated inward by making contact with the left and right side walls 3c and 3d in a hanging state along with the transport. The structure has a contact guide surface 93c composed of a rotating surface 93a and a horizontal surface 93b. Contact guide surfaces 93c, 93 of the folding guide member 93
c is, for example, the left side wall 3d followed by the right side wall 3c
The contact action position is set at a position shifted by α on the left and right so as to rotate with a time difference in the order of, and the final end side of the folding guide member 93 is a container take-out portion 95.

According to the cleaning apparatus 1 configured as described above, the container 3 is inserted into the insertion port 5 with each folded wall facing downward. The container 3 inserted into the insertion port 5 is
It is conveyed in a state of being pinched from left and right by 1,11.
During this transfer, the center of the bottom surface of the container 3 is pressed by the pressing member 51, and the left and right side walls 3c and 3d are slightly opened right and left by warping the container 3 itself. Go through 53.

At the time of passing through the side wall pushing and expanding members 53,
Under the action of the entry surface 53a and the guide surface 53b, the left and right side walls 3c, 3d are pushed and expanded until they are substantially vertical.
At the same time, the front wall 3a and the rear wall 3b hang down under their own weight. In this state, the container 3 is the first, second, third,
The dirt on the inside and outside of the container 3 is removed by the action of the washing water from up and down, left and right, and front and rear by the fourth washing water injection devices 57, 59, 61 and 63.

As shown in FIG. 14, the front side wall 3a and the rear side wall 3b of the contaminated container 3 are turned inward by coming into contact with the contact guide surface 91c of the first folding guide member 91 during the conveyance. It is folded while moving. Subsequently, the left and right side walls 3c and 3d come into contact with the contact guide surface 93c of the second folding guide member 93 located on the left and right with a time lag, for example, the left side wall 3d and the right side wall 3c. After being folded while rotating in the order of, and being conveyed rearward, it is taken out from the container take-out part 95.

[0040]

As described above, according to the container washing apparatus of the present invention, the folded container can be opened, and the inside and the outside of the opened container can be cleaned with cleaning water. it can.

In addition, the dirty container can be taken out in a folded state again.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a container cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the container cleaning device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an insertion slot.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of a pressing member.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a part of the transfer device.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view of a first folding guide member and a second folding guide member.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a container.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a first cleaning water injection device.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a second cleaning water injection device.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of a third cleaning water injection device.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of a fourth cleaning water injection device.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing a folding step of the container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 container 5 insertion opening 11 transfer device 51 pressing member 53 side wall pushing and expanding member 57, 59, 61, 63 washing water jetting device 91 first folding guide member 91c contact guide surface 93 second folding guide member 93c contact guide surface

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location // B65D 6/18 B65D 6/18 C

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An insertion opening for inserting a container having a front side wall and a rear side wall folded inward, and further having left and right side walls folded thereon, such that each of the folded walls faces downward, and an insertion opening. A pair of left and right transfer devices that convey the container backward while holding both sides of the container from above, and a pressing member that presses the bottom central part of the container conveyed by the transfer device and slightly widens the left and right side walls by warping the container itself With the transport, the two-sided wall push-out member formed into an acute angled shape that enters into the side walls slightly opened to the left and right along with the transfer and pushes the left and right side walls almost vertically, and the container with the expanded side wall. 1. A container cleaning apparatus comprising: a cleaning water spraying device for spraying cleaning water, and a folding guide member having a contact guide surface for rotating an expanded side wall inward with conveyance. 2. The container cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is a pressing roll or a pressing rod. 3. The container cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the folding guide member has a contact guide surface rotating on the left and right side walls and a contact guide surface rotating on the front and rear side walls. 4. A contact guide surface for rotating left and right side walls,
4. The container cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact start positions with the side walls are different from each other.