JPH03200625A - Container feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform stable delivery of a container by providing a rotary stopper, a star wheel, and a drive device to move the rotary stopper to the rear side in a conveying direction according to the speed of a carriage conveyor. CONSTITUTION:A speed detector 30 is mounted to the drive shaft of a star wheel 7 and a signal therefrom is inputted to a controller 31. By means of a signal from the speed detector 30, the conveying speed of a carriage conveyor 1 driven according to the rotation speed of the star wheel 7 is detected, and a servo motor 15 is controlled according to the magnitude of the conveying speed. The servo motor 15 is controlled according to the increase of the conveying speed, and a rotary stopper 4 is moved forward along the carriage conveyor 1 so as to coincide with displacement in a position between stop positions 3a and 3b of a container 3. Even when the conveying speed of the carriage conveyor 1 is increased and a slip amount is increased, the container is stopped in a regular stop position 3a, and smooth delivery is practicable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a container feeding device, and more particularly to a container feeding device including a rotary stopper and container receiving means such as a star wheel.

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, as a container supply device, a conveyor for conveying containers, a rotatable rotary stopper that engages with the containers conveyed by the conveyor, and a rotary stopper for moving the containers by the conveyor. a drive shaft that is rotatably driven at a speed slower than the conveyance speed to brake the container engaged with the rotary stopper; and a drive shaft that is disposed downstream of the rotary stopper and is operated in synchronization with the drive shaft, and that is operated from the rotary stopper. It is known to include container receiving means, such as a star wheel, for receiving containers that have been separated and transported by a transport conveyor.

In this type of container feeding device, a container conveyed by a conveyor is engaged with a rotary stopper, braking is applied, and the container is released from the rotary stopper in synchronization with the star wheel.
The containers are fed to the star wheel by the conveyor in a synchronous manner.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" In the container delivery device having the above configuration, while the container is being braked by the rotary stopper, there is slip between the container and the conveyor, and from this state, the rotary stopper is not able to brake the container. When this is released, the slip between the container and the transport conveyor quickly becomes zero and the container is transported at the same speed as the transport conveyor. Therefore, from the moment when the brake on the container is released, that is, from the time when there is slip between the container and the transport conveyor until the slip becomes zero, the container is in the transport direction relative to the transport conveyor. The position will shift towards the rear.

The amount of positional deviation increases quadratically as the speed difference between the transport conveyor and the container increases, so the synchronization relationship between the container and the star wheel It will vary depending on the size of the difference.

Conventionally, fluctuations in the synchronization relationship between the container and the starwheel have been covered by the size and shape of the pocket formed in the starwheel, but this has certain limitations.

Accordingly, the present invention maintains a substantially constant synchronous relationship between the containers and the star wheel even as the operating speed of the conveyor varies, and is capable of responding to wide variations in operating speed.

"Means for Solving the Problems" That is, the first invention of the present application provides the above-mentioned container supply device, in which the rotary stopper is provided to be movable forward and backward in the container conveyance direction of the conveyor, and the rotary stopper is connected to the conveyor. The container is provided with a drive mechanism that moves the container forward or backward in the transport direction in response to an increase or decrease in the operating speed of the container.

Further, a second invention of the present application provides the rotary stopper movable forward and backward in the container conveyance direction of the conveyor, and a drive mechanism for moving the rotary stopper forward and backward in the container conveyance direction, and an operating position of the container receiving means. a container detector disposed between the rotary stopper and the container receiving means to detect containers on the conveyor; and a container detector for detecting containers on the conveyor; and a control device that controls the drive mechanism based on the input signal.

"Operation" According to the configuration of the first invention, for example, when the operating speed of the conveyor increases, the drive mechanism moves the row wrist collar forward, so that the operating speed of the conveyor increases. When a container is displaced rearward with respect to the transport conveyor, the displacement can be compensated for by moving the rotary stopper forward, thus improving synchronization between the container and a container receiving means such as a star wheel. It is possible to maintain the relationship substantially constant and perform stable delivery.

Further, according to the configuration of the second invention, for example, when the operating speed of the conveyor increases and the container is displaced rearward with respect to the conveyor, the operating position detector is input to the control device. The signal from the container detector is based on when the container receiving means is in the predetermined operating position.
The container detection signal from the container detector is input later than in normal times.

As a result, the control device controls the drive mechanism to move the rotary stopper forward to catch up with the delay, thereby maintaining a substantially constant synchronous relationship between the container and the container receiving means such as a star wheel. It is possible to maintain stable delivery.

"Embodiment" The present invention will be described below with reference to an illustrated embodiment. In FIG. 1, a conveyor l is driven by a motor 2,
° The containers 3 can be conveyed continuously in a line.

A rotary stopper 4 is provided on one side of the conveyor 1, and this rotary stopper 4 is connected to the conveyor 1.
It is designed to rotate at a slower speed. Further, the rotary stopper 4 is provided with stopper portions 5 that protrude radially outward at equally spaced positions on the outer periphery.
By engaging the containers 3 transported by the transport conveyor 1 with each stopper portion 5, each container 3 can be braked.

The rotary stopper 4 is placed on the other side of the conveyor l.
A rotary filling machine 6 is provided at a downstream position, and this filling machine 6 is equipped with a star wheel 7 as a container receiving means. The rotary stopper 4 and the star wheel 7 are driven in synchronization with each other by the motor 2 that drives the conveyor 1, and are separated from the stopper portion 5 of the rotary stopper 4 to move the conveyor 1.
The containers 3 transported by the star wheel 7 are sequentially received by the pockets 7a of the star wheel 7 and introduced into the rotary filling machine 6.

The rotary stopper 4 is provided so as to be movable forward and backward in the container conveyance direction of the conveyor 1.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rotor stopper 4
The drive shaft IO connected to the movable frame 11 is vertically disposed and rotatably supported by the movable frame 11.
1 is placed on a rail 13 provided on a frame 12 in parallel with the conveyor 1. And the above frame 1
The movable frame 11 is moved by the drive mechanism 14 provided at 2.
can be moved forward and backward along the rail 13 in the container conveyance direction of the conveyor 1.

The drive mechanism 14 includes a servo motor 15 and a screw shaft 16 rotated by the servo motor 15, and the screw shaft 16 is screwed into a connecting portion 17 provided on the movable frame 11.

On the other hand, the drive shaft 10 connected to the rotary stopper 4 is connected to a telescopic coupling mechanism 22 via a transmission mechanism 21, and this telescopic coupling mechanism 22 has a pair of universal joints 23a, 23b and a spline mechanism 24 in between. It is equipped with And the above universal joint 23
b is connected to a rotating shaft 26 that is horizontally supported within a case 25 fixed to the frame 12.

A bevel gear 27 is attached to the rotating shaft 26, and this bevel gear 27 meshes with a bevel gear 29 provided at the upper end of a vertical shaft 28 that is vertically supported on the frame 12, so that the vertical shaft 28 can be connected to the aforementioned motor. It is linked to 2.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, a speed detector 30 consisting of a rotary encoder or a tacho generator is attached to the drive shaft (not shown) of the star wheel 7, and a signal from this speed detector 30 is inputted to a control device 31. ing.

This control device 31 detects the rotational speed of the star wheel 7 and therefore the conveyance speed of the conveyor 1 driven in synchronization with the rotation speed of the star wheel 7 based on the signal from the speed detector 30, and determines the magnitude of the conveyance speed. The servo motor 15 can be controlled accordingly.

In the above configuration, when the motor 2 is operated at low speed,
The control device 31 positions the rotary stopper 4 at a non-operating position on the rear side in the container conveyance direction. In this state,
The container 3 transported by the transport conveyor 1 is
The rotary stopper 4 is sequentially engaged with the stopper portion 5 of the rotary stopper 4 to receive braking, and is released from the stopper portion 5 at a timing synchronized with the star wheel 7, and is conveyed again by the conveyor 1 and smoothly transferred to the downstream star wheel 7. It will be handed over.

When the operating speed of the motor 2 is increased from this state, the container 3, which had been engaged with and braked by the stopper part 5 of the rotary stopper 4, is disengaged from the stopper part 5 and the conveyance speed of the conveyor 1 is increased. When the container 3 returns to its original position, the amount of slippage of the container 3 on the conveyor l increases.
A displacement of the container 3 occurs from the previous stop position 3a of the container to the stop position 3b on the rear side in the transport direction.

However, at this time, the control device 31 detects the speed detector 3
Since the conveying speed of the conveyor 1 can be detected via the conveyor 1, the servo motor 15 is controlled in accordance with the increase in the conveying speed, and the rotary motor is rotated by an amount that corresponds to the amount of positional deviation between the stop positions 3a and 3b. The stopper 4 is advanced along the conveyor 1.

As a result, even if the conveyance speed of the conveyor 1 increases and the amount of slip increases, the containers are stopped on the conveyor l at the regular stop position 3a, and are therefore smoothly delivered to the star wheel 7. It becomes like this.

Note that, of course, when the operating speed of the motor 2 is reduced, the operation opposite to that described above is performed. Further, when an operating speed command is given to the control device 31 and the control rB device 31 controls the operating speed of the motor 2, the control device 31 controls the motor 2 without going through the speed detector 30. The servo motor 15 may be controlled at the same time as controlling the operating speed.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, instead of providing the speed detector 30, a rotary encoder is used to detect the operating position of the star wheel 7. A container detector 41 is provided between the rotary stopper 4 and the star wheel 7 to detect containers on the conveyor 1. The operating position detector 40 and container detector 41
The detection signal is input to the control device 31.

In this embodiment, the container detector 41 is provided at a position where the container 3 should be present when each pocket 7a of the star wheel 7 reaches a predetermined rotation angle position, so that the operating speed of the motor 2 is As the displacement amount of the container increases, each pocket 7 of the star wheel 7
From the moment a reaches a predetermined rotation angle position, the container 3 begins to be detected with a delay. Then, since the container 3 was detected with a delay, the control device 31 controls the servo motor 15 to advance the rotary stopper 4 to prevent the delay from occurring.

Further, when the operating speed of the motor 2 is reduced, the container 3 is detected faster than the moment when each pocket 7a of the star wheel 7 reaches a predetermined rotational angle position. The rotary stopper 4 is moved backward to prevent a shift in detection timing from occurring.

As a result, even if the conveyance speed of the conveyor 1 is changed and the slip amount of the container changes, the container will always be stopped on the conveyor l at the regular stop position 3a, and therefore the star wheel 7 will always be stopped. Delivery will be smooth.

In addition, although the star wheel 7 is used as a container receiving means in the said Example, it is not limited to this. For example, as another container receiving means, a plurality of sets of grippers each having a pair of grip arms are arranged around a rotating body at regular intervals, and the supplied container is gripped between each pair of grip arms. Can be mentioned.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the motor 2 of the conveyor 1 drives the star wheel 7 and the rotary stopper 4, but the drive motor of the filling machine 6 drives the conveyor 1, the star wheel 7, and the rotary stopper 4 synchronously. Alternatively, a motor may be provided for each, and the motors may be operated in synchronization.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, according to the present invention, even if the operating speed of the conveyor changes, the synchronous relationship between the containers and the container receiving means can be maintained substantially constant, so The advantage is that the container can be supplied to the container receiving means at the same time, and the speed of the device can be increased.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of essential parts, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example. 1... Transfer conveyor 3... Container 4... Rotary stopper 5... Stopper part 7... Star wheel (container receiving means) lO... Drive shaft 13... Rail 15... Servo Motor 31...Control device 41...Container detector 11...Movable frame 14...Drive mechanism 16...Screw shaft 40...Operating position detector

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A conveyor that conveys containers, a rotary stopper that is rotatable and engages with the containers conveyed by this conveyor, and a rotary stopper that is driven to rotate at a speed slower than the speed at which the containers are conveyed by the conveyor. a drive shaft for braking the containers engaged with the rotary stopper; In a container supplying device equipped with a container receiving means for receiving containers, the rotary stopper is provided to be movable forward and backward in the container conveyance direction of the conveyor, and the rotary stopper is adapted to increase or decrease the operating speed of the conveyor. 1. A container feeding device comprising a drive mechanism for moving the container forward or backward in the transport direction. (2) A conveyor that conveys containers, a rotary stopper that is rotatable and engages with the containers conveyed by the conveyor, and a rotary stopper that is driven to rotate at a speed slower than the speed at which the containers are conveyed by the conveyor. a drive shaft for braking the containers engaged with the rotary stopper; A container feeding device comprising a container receiving means for receiving a container, wherein the rotary stopper is provided to be movable forward and backward in the container conveyance direction of the conveyor, and a drive mechanism that moves the rotary stopper forward and backward in the container conveyance direction; an operating position detector for detecting the operating position of the container receiving means; a container detector disposed between the rotary stopper and the container receiving means for detecting containers on the conveyor; 1. A container supply device comprising: a control device that inputs a signal from a container detector and controls the drive mechanism based on the signal.