DE29722245U1 - Transport device for plastic bottles - Google Patents

Description

Transport device for plastic bottles

The innovation relates to a transport device for plastic bottles with an air conveyor for hanging transport of the bottles between bottle treatment machines and a transfer point as well as at least one dividing screw arranged at the transfer point for feeding the bottles into the infeed star of the bottle treatment machine in accordance with the correct division.

Lightweight bottles, e.g. made of plastic, in single-use or reusable configurations, are conveniently transported between the individual treatment machines using air conveyors. The bottle necks or their neck collar contours slide on sliding surfaces within an air-filled conveyor channel and are thus transported from one treatment machine to another. Since the treatment machines are mainly rotary machines that have different treatment heads on their rotors that are pitch-matched, the bottles that are practically next to one another in the area of the air conveyor must be fed to the infeed star according to the pitch of the respective bottle treatment machine. For this purpose, transfer points are provided that consist of one or more dividing screws arranged one above the other, which ensure the required pitch distance with the respective screw thread up to the infeed star. Due to the back pressure in front of these feed screws, tilts can often occur, which prevent the screw from continuing smoothly and thus lead to disruptions in the production process.

The aim of the innovation is to remedy this situation and to create a trouble-free transfer at the transfer point between the dividing screw and the infeed star. As many bottle sizes as possible should be able to be processed with such a device.

This task underlying the innovation is solved in a device of the type mentioned above in that a height-adjustable guide device for guiding the bottle bottom is arranged starting in front of and/or with the inlet-side area of the dividing screw.

In an independent embodiment, it is proposed that the belt conveyor device is arranged laterally offset from the outer contour of one or more dividing screws arranged one above the other and can be guided laterally past at least the lower dividing screw when the height is adjusted.

Further features emerge from the subclaims.

With this innovative design, the incoming bottles are guided and supported on the bottom directly in the entry area of the dividing screw, so that they can no longer be positioned at an angle. The height-adjustable guide device is conveniently adjusted in such a way that a certain support pressure is ensured by the weight of the plastic bottles, thus preventing them from drifting sideways at an angle.

The innovation is explained in more detail below using an example shown in the drawing.

The drawing shows

Fig. 1 a cross section through the device and

Fig. 2 shows a corresponding side view.

As shown in Fig. 1, the device in the area of the transfer point consists of two dividing screws 1 arranged one above the other, to which the bottles 3 hanging in air conveyors 2 and transported by them are fed.

The air conveyor 2 consists of a substantially closed channel with a lower opening 4 and sliding strips 5 located there, on which the neck collar 6 of a bottle 3 slides during hanging transport. The center of the air conveyor 2 is offset laterally to the dividing screws 1, so that practically only a certain area of the jacket of these bottles 3 is gripped by the screw flights of the dividing screws 1 and can thus be brought to the appropriate distance. Guide strips 7 are expediently arranged to the side of the bottle transport plane, which prevent these bottles 3 from swinging sideways. As the exemplary embodiment shows, a guide device 8, designed as a belt conveyor device, is arranged below this conveyor plane, which can consist of a circulating belt, with the upper belt set at the level of the bottle bottom. The adjustment of this upper belt is carried out in such a way that a certain load pressure is ensured by the plastic bottles during the infeed, so that they cannot break out against the transport direction. The guide device begins shortly before the infeed to the dividing screws begins and ends practically after the bottles have been transferred to the infeed star 9 of the respective bottle processing machine.

As shown in particular in Fig. 2, the belt conveyor device is held on a multi-joint linkage 10 or parallelogram linkage and is pivotably mounted in this way, whereby the lower bearing points 11 of the pivot lever 12 have a further lever 13 on which an adjustment device can engage, with which the height adjustment of this belt conveyor device can be carried out, for example by manual or motorized adjustment.

The manual adjustment can have a crank with which the lifting device 13 can be adjusted back and forth in connection with the rod 10, thus allowing a corresponding height adjustment of the transport level of the belt conveyor device 8. Since the intended bearings mean that a circular path is followed during the pivoting of the belt conveyor device 8, the start area of this belt conveyor device is designed in the upper position so that it begins well in front of the respective dividing screws 1. On the other hand, in the lower position of this belt conveyor device, i.e. with large bottles, it is ensured that this belt conveyor device is also sufficiently effective up to the transfer point from the dividing screw 1 to the infeed star 9.

It is also conceivable to provide a corresponding guide device only in the immediate inlet area of these dividing screws, which can then end as soon as the bottles have achieved sufficient stabilization against the bottles pushing up behind them.

Claims (8)

Protection claims 1. Transport device for plastic bottles with an air conveyor for the hanging transport of the bottles between bottle treatment machines and a transfer point and at least one dividing screw arranged at the transfer point for feeding the bottles into the inlet system of the bottle treatment machine in accordance with the division, characterized in that a height-adjustable guide device (8) for guiding the bottle base is arranged starting in front of and/or with the inlet-side area of the dividing screw (1). 2. Transport device according to the preamble of claim 1, characterized in that the guide device (8) is arranged laterally offset to the outer contour of one or more superimposed dividing screws (1) and can be guided laterally past at least the lower dividing screw when the height is adjusted 3. Transport device according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide device ends in the region of the inlet star. 4. Transport device according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide device (8) is mounted so as to be adjustable in height. 5. Transport device according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide device (8) is mounted on a multi-joint linkage (10) so as to be height-adjustable. 6. Transport device according to the preceding claims, characterized in that an adjusting device which can be actuated by motor and/or manually acts on a multi-joint coupling rod (10) and/or parallelogram rod. 7. Transport device according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide device (8) is designed as a belt conveyor device. 8. Transport device according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the belt speed of the belt conveyor device can be adjusted synchronously with the transport speed of the bottle treatment machine.