JPH0853121A - Stainless steel container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a stainless steel container on which an identification number can be marked clearly. CONSTITUTION:An identification number (control number) N is marked directly to the surface 2a of a stainless steel container (a beer barrel) 1 by means of shedding laser beams. The surface of the beer barrel 1 is locally heated by energy of the laser beams. As the identification number N is marked on the heated spot when the heated spot is melted instantaneously, the container 1 does not deform on occasion of marking the identification number. As film is formed on heating and melting made locally by shedding of the laser beams by oxidation of ingredients (iron oxide, chromium oxide, etc.) included in the stainless steel, black marks are left to the part irradiated with the laser beams, and the identification number N can be marked clearly with sharp contrast made between the part irradiated and the part not irradiated with the laser beams. The identification number N is hard to be erased even though the stainless steel container is used for a long period of time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stainless steel (rust-free steel) container having an identification mark.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Stainless steel containers are widely used as containers for transporting and storing beer and soft drinks, and most of them are repeatedly used by refilling the contents. For example, beer sold in a glass at a restaurant or the like is barrel-packaged in a stainless steel beer barrel and shipped from a beer factory, and then dispensed into a glass from the beer barrel by a dispenser provided at the restaurant or the like. The empty beer barrels are then collected, transported to a beer factory, washed and reused.

A license plate (name plate) is attached to the stainless steel container thus repeatedly used for the purpose of controlling the shipping quantity and the like. This license plate is a rectangular plate made of stainless steel stamped with an identification symbol such as a management number assigned to each container.
It is attached to the surface of the container by spot welding several points on the periphery.

[0004]

However, when the license plate is attached to the stainless steel container by spot welding as described above, residual stress is generated in the spot welded portion and the license plate and the stainless steel container are connected to each other. Since water is likely to accumulate, stress corrosion, crevice corrosion, and electrolytic corrosion are likely to occur, and as a result, the spot welds corrode and the license plate easily peels off. If even one of several welded parts is peeled off, the license plate will be partly turned over, and it is easy to damage your hands when handling it.

In addition, when attaching identification symbols to stainless steel containers, number plates corresponding to the number of containers are prepared.
After engraving the identification symbol on one, one license plate 1
Since it has to be attached to one container, it takes a lot of work and there is a problem in cost.

As a means for avoiding such inconvenience, a method of directly stamping an identification mark on a stainless steel container or a method of printing directly can be considered. However, when stamping the identification symbol directly on the hollow container, to the extent that the container is not deformed,
Moreover, since the stamping force must be adjusted to the extent that the strength of the container is not reduced, it is difficult to clearly mark the identification mark. Further, the identification mark attached to the container surface by printing becomes unreadable because the paint peels off or wears out after a short period of use.

The present invention was devised to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and its object is to provide a stainless steel container having an identification mark clearly marked on the surface of the container.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the stainless steel container of the present invention is characterized in that the container surface is marked with an identification mark by laser light irradiation.

The depth of engraving of the identification mark engraved on the surface of the stainless steel container by the laser irradiation is 5 μm.
It is desirable that it is m to 50 μm.

[0010]

In the stainless container of the present invention, the container surface is locally heated by the energy of the laser beam, and the portion is instantaneously melted, whereby the identification mark is imprinted. It does not deform. In addition, since a film of oxides (iron oxide, chromium oxide, etc.) of the components contained in stainless steel is formed during local heating and melting with laser light, black traces remain on the laser light irradiation part, A clear identification mark with a clear contrast between the laser light irradiation part and the non-irradiation part is engraved. This identification mark is not easily erased by long-term use of the stainless steel container.

Sufficient visibility is obtained and the strength of the container is not impaired if the depth of engraving of the identification mark engraved on the container surface by laser light irradiation is in the range of 5 μm to 50 μm.

[0012]

EXAMPLES Examples of the stainless steel container according to the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the stainless steel container according to the present invention is applied to a beer barrel. The beer barrel 1 shown in FIG. 1 is configured by integrally mounting cylindrical stainless skirts 3 and 4 on an upper portion and a lower portion of a barrel body 2 made of stainless steel for storing beer. The barrel body 2 is provided with a mouthpiece 5 at the center of the upper end thereof, and a pair of handles 6, 6 are provided at positions facing each other across the mouthpiece 5 of the upper skirt 3.
Are formed. And barrel body 2 of this beer barrel 1
A management number N is engraved on the upper surface 2a as an identification symbol by laser light irradiation.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a beer barrel marking device for marking the management number N on the beer barrel 1. This beer barrel marking device is installed in the final process section of the beer barrel manufacturing line.
1st conveyer 7 which conveys 1, ..., 2nd conveyor 8 which conveys the beer barrel 1,1, ... which has been stamped to the next process, 1st conveyor 7 and 2nd conveyor 8 Between the rotary table 9 and the first conveyor 7
Rotating table 9 with unmarked beer barrels 1, 1, ...
To the first transfer arm 10, a laser marking machine 11 for irradiating the beer barrels 1, 1, ... On the turntable 9 with a laser beam to stamp a control number N, and a beer barrel that has been stamped. The second transfer arm 12 for transferring 1, 1, ... To the second conveyor 8 constitutes a main part.

At the end of the first conveyor 7, a pair of contact plates 13, 13 are arranged in a V shape so as to face the direction in which the beer barrels 1, 1, ... By contacting the beer barrels 1, 1, ..., Which have been made, with the contact plates 13, 13, the beer barrels 1, 1, ... Are positioned and stopped on the center line of the first conveyor 7. It has become. Before the beer barrel stop position at the end of the first conveyor 7, beer barrels 1, 1
A barrel slicing machine 16 is provided for passing the 1, ... At a predetermined timing one by one toward the terminal end side. The barrel cutting machine 16 is composed of a pair of cylinder mechanisms 17, 17 arranged on both sides of the first conveyor 7, and extends both cylinder mechanisms 17, 17 to extend a piston rod 18,
By projecting 18 onto the first conveyor 7 from both sides, the movement of the beer barrel 1 is blocked, and both cylinder mechanisms 1
It is configured to pass through the beer barrel 1 by shortening the lengths of 7 and 17. At the tip of the piston rods 18, 18 that come into contact with the beer barrels 1, 1, ..., A plastic cap 19, so as not to damage the beer barrel 1,
19 is attached.

To the turntable 9 beer barrels 1, 1, ...
1st transfer arm 10 for transferring and this rotary table 9
The second transfer arm 12 for transferring the beer barrels 1, 1, ... From the second conveyor 8 to the second conveyor 8 is driven by a common arm drive device 20 installed beside the first and second conveyors 7 and 8. To be done. The arm driving device 20 supports the pair of arm members 10 a and 10 b that configure the first transfer arm 10 and connects the beer barrel stop position at the end of the first conveyor 7 and the beer barrel placement position on the turntable 9. A beer barrel mounting position on the rotary table 9 and a beer barrel on the second conveyor 8 supporting the first arm moving mechanism 21 that reciprocates between the first transfer mechanism 21 and the pair of arm members 12a and 12b forming the second transfer arm 12. The second arm moving mechanism 22 that reciprocates between the transfer position and the transfer position is provided. The first arm moving mechanism 21 is equipped with a mechanism that opens and closes the arm members 10a and 10b according to the beer transport method and moves the beer barrels 1, 1, ... On the first conveyor 7 as arm members. 10
The beer barrels 1, 1, ... Are transferred onto the turntable 9 after being gripped and lifted by a and 19b. The second arm moving mechanism 22 is equipped with a mechanism that opens and closes the arm members 12a and 12b according to the beer transport method and moves the arm members 12a and 12b in the up-down direction. The beer barrels 1, 1, ... Are transferred onto the second conveyor 8 after being gripped and lifted by the arm members 12a and 12b.

The laser marking machine 11 includes a marking machine body 23 provided beside the rotary table 9 and a laser irradiation arm 24 projecting from the marking machine body 23 onto the rotary table 9.
Consists of The YAG laser 25 is installed in the marking machine body 23.
The laser light emitted from the YAG laser 25 is guided to the laser irradiation arm 24 by the optical fiber 26, passes through the optical scanning diameter provided in the tip of the laser irradiation arm 24, and then on the rotary table 9. The beer barrel 1 is irradiated. The oscillation wavelength of the YAG laser 25 is 1.064 μm, and the maximum output is 40 to 1
It is 00W. As shown in FIG. 3, the optical scanning system comprises an X-axis galvanometer mirror 27, a Y-axis galvanometer mirror 28, and mirror drive mechanisms 29, 29 for individually rotating these. Each of the mirror driving mechanisms 29, 29 is controlled by a control device 35 mainly provided with a microcomputer provided in the marking machine main body 23. This control device 35
Based on the pattern information of the management number to be stamped, which is input from an input device (not shown), each mirror drive mechanism 29, 29
Is programmed to provide a control signal to. Then, under the control of the control device 35, each mirror driving mechanism 2
By driving 9 and 29 to change the rotation angles of the X-axis galvanometer mirror 27 and the Y-axis galvanometer mirror 28, respectively, the laser light B is sequentially reflected by these two galvanometer mirrors 27 and 28, and the barrel body upper surface 2a. Is scanned at a predetermined position, and an arbitrary pattern is engraved. The light irradiation window 24a of the laser irradiation arm 24 is provided with a condenser lens 30 to prevent the spot diameter of the laser light B from expanding.

An image pickup device 41 including a CCD or the like is provided at the tip of the laser irradiation arm 24 with its light receiving surface facing downward, and the top shape of the beer barrel 1 placed on the rotary table 9. Can be imaged over a wide range including the upper skirt 3. The control device 3
Reference numeral 5 has a function of recognizing a position on the top surface 2a of the beer barrel 2 that can be engraved based on the image data from the image pickup device 41. The turning angle of the turntable 9 is controlled based on the result of position recognition by the control device 35.

The second transfer arm 1 of the second conveyor 8
Beer barrel top surface 2 beside the beer barrel transfer position by 2
An inspection device 31 for inspecting the engraved state of a is provided. The inspection device 31 includes an apparatus main body 32 installed beside the second conveyor 8 and an inspection arm 33 protruding from the apparatus main body 32 onto the second conveyor 8. Below the tip of the inspection arm 33, an image pickup device 34 including a CCD or the like is provided to read the control number N of the beer barrel upper surface 2a transferred by the second transfer arm 12. An inspection circuit for judging whether or not the management number N is correctly marked on the beer barrel upper surface 2a based on the pattern information of the management number to be marked and the image data from the image pickup device 34 in the device main body 32. Is equipped with.

Further, the inspection device 3 of the second conveyor 8
In the vicinity of the downstream side of No. 1, a defective product collecting stage 37 for collecting the beer barrels 1, 1, ... Having a defective management number N and a defective beer barrel 1, 1 ,. The second
A defective product delivery mechanism 38 for delivering the defective product from the conveyor 8 onto the defective product collection stage 37 is provided across the transport path. The defective product delivery mechanism 38 projects onto the second conveyor 8 and delivers the defective beer barrels 1, 1, ... To the defective product collection stage 37, and a push rod 39.
The driving device 40 drives the push rod 39 based on the inspection information from the inspection device 31.

The operation of the beer barrel marking device configured as described above will be described according to the flow of FIG.

First, the unmarked beer barrels 1, 1, ... Which are successively conveyed by the first conveyor 7 are cut out one by one by the barrel cutting machine 16 and the first conveyor 7 is conveyed at a predetermined timing. The sheets are sequentially conveyed to the end portion (step S100). Beer barrels 1, 1, ... are contact plates 1
It abuts against Nos. 3 and 13, is positioned on the center line of the first conveyor 7, and stops. Next, the first transfer arm 10 is moved to the first conveyor 7 side by driving the first arm moving mechanism 21, and the beer barrel 1 on the first conveyor 7 is held by the arm members 10a and 10b and then raised ( Step S1
01). Thereafter, the first transfer arm 10 is attached to the rotary table 9
Are moved to the side, lowered, and the beer barrels 1, 1, ... Are transferred onto the rotary table 9 (step S102). When the beer barrels 1, 1, ... Are transferred, the rotary table 9 starts to rotate (step S103). Simultaneously with the rotation of the turntable 9, the control device 35 of the laser marking machine 11
Starts detecting the shapes of the beer barrels 1, 1, ... With the image pickup device 41 provided on the laser irradiation arm 24, and first detects the positions of the handles 6, 6 of the upper skirt 3 (step S104). When the positions of the handles 6 and 6 are detected, a stop signal is given to the drive control unit of the turntable 9 so that the two handles 6 and 6 of the beer barrel 1 are at predetermined positions, for example, the first and second positions.
The rotary table 9 stops at the rotational position that is arranged symmetrically with respect to the central axes of the conveyors 7 and 8 (step S105). Next, the laser marking machine 11 uses the imaging device 4
The marking position of the beer barrel surface 2a is recognized by 1 and a positioning signal is given to the drive control unit of the rotary table 9 to rotate the rotary table 9 character by character for positioning (step S107), and the marking should be performed. By controlling the optical scanning system according to the pattern information of the management number, the upper surface 2a of the barrel body 2 is scanned with the laser light to imprint the management number N (step S108). When this marking is completed, the second transfer arm 12 is moved to the rotary table 9 side by driving the second arm moving mechanism 22, the beer barrel 1 on the rotary table 9 is gripped by the arm members 12a and 12b, and then raised. (Step S109). After that, the second transfer arm 12
It moves to the second conveyor 8 side, descends, and the beer barrel 1,
1, ... are transferred onto the second conveyor 8 (step S110). During this transfer, the inspection device 31 is moved when the second arm moving mechanism 22 moves onto the second conveyor 8.
Reads the management number N of the beer barrel upper surface 2a by the imaging device 34, performs image processing, and inspects whether the management number N is correctly marked on the beer barrel upper surface 2a (step S111). The inspection data from the inspection device 31 is immediately given to the control section of the defective product delivery mechanism 38. Then, the defective beer barrels 1, 1, ... In Which the management number N is not stamped correctly, are defective during the transportation.
8 is delivered to the defective product collecting stage 37, and the good beer barrels 1, 1, ...
Is carried to the next process (step S112).

According to the above beer barrel marking device, the control numbers N are sequentially stamped on the upper surface 2a of the unmarked beer barrels 1, 1, ... Can be done. This beer barrel marking device locally heats the surface of the beer barrel 1 with the energy of the laser beam and instantaneously melts the portion to mark the control number N, so that the marking can be performed quietly. , The beer barrel 1 is not deformed by imprinting. In addition, since a film of oxides (iron oxide, chromium oxide, etc.) of the components contained in stainless steel is formed during local heating and melting with laser light, black traces remain on the laser light irradiation part, A clear control number N with a clear contrast between the laser light irradiation area and the non-irradiation area
Is imprinted. This management number N does not easily disappear even when the beer barrel 1 is used for a long period of time. Beer barrel 1,1, ...
・ Because it is engraved with, it is possible to minimize the reading error of the control number N by the optical character reader, etc., and the beer barrels 1, 1, ... A system for centrally managing 1, 1, ... Can be constructed.

In the above embodiments, beer barrels 1, 1,
The case where the management number N is stamped on the barrel main body 2 of ... Is described, but the stamped position of the management number N is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. The surface of 3 may be stamped.
Further, the management number N may be stamped on two or more places on the surface of the beer barrels 1, 1, ....

Although only the beer barrel has been described in this embodiment, the stainless steel container of the present invention can be applied to all stainless steel containers for transporting and storing soft drinks and other drinks.

Further, the identification symbol engraved on the stainless steel container of the present invention is not limited to the numerical symbol such as the management number N, but may include alphabets and other character symbols, patterns and the like. .

[0026]

In summary, according to the beer barrel of the present invention, since the container surface is locally heated by the energy of laser light and the portion is instantaneously melted, the identification mark is imprinted. The container is not deformed by applying. Further, since an oxide film of a component contained in stainless steel is formed at the laser light irradiation portion and a black trace remains, a clear identification mark with clear contrast is engraved. This identification mark is not easily erased by long-term use of the stainless steel container.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an example in which the stainless steel container of the present invention is applied to a beer barrel, (a) is a longitudinal sectional view, and (b) is a sectional view.
Is a plan view.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a beer barrel marking device for marking an identification symbol on the beer barrel of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a laser irradiation unit of the apparatus of FIG.

4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment in which the stainless steel container of the present invention is applied to a beer barrel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Beer barrel (stainless steel container) 2a Upper surface of barrel body (surface) B Laser light N Control number (identification symbol)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A stainless steel container having an identification mark attached to the surface of the container by laser light irradiation. 2. The stainless steel container according to claim 1, wherein the engraved depth of the identification mark on the surface of the container by the laser light irradiation is 5 μm to 50 μm.