Conveying device for individual products

Abstract

The invention relates to a conveying device intended for individual products, in particular sheet products produced by means of a tabletting device, comprising a sliding base (19) and a conveying element (20) which moves on the sliding base and has a plurality of receiving bags (22) for the individual products (11) which are open toward the sliding base (19) arranged below, and the receiving bags can be moved from the conveying element (20) in a conveying direction (24) along a conveying path (23) above the sliding base (19). In order to enable several of the individual products transported thereby to be reliably discharged as samples from the conveying path in such a device without damaging them at the same time, the present invention proposes a discharge device (27), which has a recess (28) of a discharge section (29) arranged in a sliding base (19) and including a conveying track (23) and a movable discharge base (30) assigned to the sliding base (19), the discharge base having at least one closed base area (32) for closing the discharge section (29) and at least one open channel area (33) for opening the discharge section (29), wherein the movement direction (37) of the discharge base (30) for selectively closing or opening the discharge section (29) is substantially synchronized with the conveying direction (24) of the conveying element (20).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a conveying device for independent products, especially sheet products produced by a tabletting device, which has a sliding base and a conveying component moving above the sliding base, the conveying component has a plurality of receiving bags for the independent products that are open toward the sliding base arranged below, and the receiving bags can be passed by the conveying component above the sliding base along a conveying track in a conveying direction. Background Art

[0002] Such conveying devices are used, for example, for discharging tablet products produced in rotary tablet presses, which are fed from the tablet press template to the conveying device and are simultaneously individually accommodated in receiving bags. The receiving bags are generally located in the peripheral area of ​​a conveying element, for example, designed as a conveying star, which is arranged above the sliding base and is driven in rotation by a drive device, whereby the products accommodated in the receiving bags are conveyed along a circular path past the sliding base to a discharge device.

[0003] In order to monitor the product quality of the tablet-like products which can be conveyed with the invention, it is usually desirable to discharge the individual products from the conveying path as soon as possible after production so that they can be subjected to suitable inspection measures. The high production speeds achieved in tablet presses, which are several hundred tablets per minute, by means of rotary tablet presses, make it difficult to reliably discharge an individual product without the risk of damaging the product during the discharge process.

[0004] Various solutions for removing individual tablets after production in a tablet press have been investigated. One simple possibility for removing individual samples from production is to temporarily stop production and remove a few finished tablets through a window that allows access after opening it. This type of sampling during plant downtime is not associated with investment costs or plant adjustments and generally avoids tablet damage. However, this procedure is obviously time-consuming and therefore involves a not insignificant loss of production capacity.

[0005] Another solution is to use already packaged tablets as samples, i.e. not to unload individual tablets from production at all, but only to open one of the packages after production and packaging to obtain a sample for the next inspection. In this approach, the tableting equipment does not need to be changed and no loading of the tablets by the unloading process occurs. However, the disadvantage is that the tablets only pass through the entire path of their further processing after their own production (transport, packaging) and then have to be unpacked again, so that a considerable time passes before they are inspected after their production. If it should be proved that the product is insufficient during this inspection, they can only be stopped after the time delay mentioned.

[0006] Attempts to discharge individual sheets from the conveying path with compressed air in such a way that they are blown away by compressed air nozzles and thereby (laterally) removed from their usual conveying path reveal various disadvantages of this approach. Firstly, a reliable compressed air supply must be ensured for the compressed air nozzles to act, and secondly, stop and guide means must be provided for the blown sheets so that the sheets cannot be removed uncontrollably from the conveyor belt or other conveying elements. It can easily happen that the sheets blown away laterally from the conveying path with compressed air are damaged when they hit the stop and guide means, and that subsequent inspection, in particular determination of their weight, shows that the product is defective (i.e. underweight), although this error does not originate from the production of the sheets but is only caused during discharge.

[0007] Similar problems occur when attempting to discharge individual sample sheets by means of a vacuum or by means of a mechanical diverter, by which the sheet is deflected laterally into the sample removal channel. Damage to the product to be discharged can also occur easily in these measures. Summary of the invention

[0008] The object of the present invention is to configure a conveyor device of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that a product conveyed by the conveyor device can be reliably removed from the conveying path separately as a sample without it being damaged in the process.

[0009] This object is achieved according to the invention by a unloading device, which has a recess of a unloading part including a conveying track arranged in a sliding base plate and a movable unloading base plate dedicated to the recess, the unloading base plate having at least one closed bottom area for closing the unloading part and at least one open channel area for opening the unloading part, wherein the movement direction of the unloading base plate for selectively closing or opening the unloading part is basically synchronized with the conveying direction of the conveying component.

[0010] According to the invention, therefore, the invention provides for the possibility of downward escape for the discharge of individual products in the sliding floor of the conveying device by means of which the products are conveyed. In normal conveying operation of the device, the sliding floor is also closed in the discharge section by the closed bottom area of ​​the discharge floor. The discharge floor is moved for the discharge section to open the discharge section in order to discharge the products, in that the open passage area is placed below the products to be discharged. By the direction of movement of the discharge floor provided according to the invention, which is parallel to the conveying direction of the conveying element, it is ensured that the greatest possible time interval is provided for the opening and closing movement, because the front and rear opening and closing edges of the discharge floor, which delimit the passage area in the direction of movement, limit the passage area and the devices located at the front and rear in the direction of movement move at least substantially in the same direction as the sheet flow conveyed via the sliding floor. As a result, the respective product to be discharged has sufficient time to fall downward through the sliding floor through the opening temporarily provided therein, for example, into a product chute provided there, on which the product continues to slide under the force of gravity.

[0011] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the discharge floor is formed by a disk that can be driven in rotation and has at least one bottom window that forms the passage area. According to the invention, the rotation of the disk is carried out in such a direction that the bottom window placed under the product to be discharged in order to open the discharge device moves at least substantially in the same direction as the bottom window.

[0012] The discharge floor is preferably arranged at least partially coplanarly with the sliding floor in a recess provided therein, so that a stepless transition between the discharge floor and the sliding floor is ensured, through which the products moving thereon can be moved without being damaged.

[0013] Advantageously, the unloading base can be driven at a speed of movement that is synchronized with the conveying speed of the conveying element. This allows the relative speed of the passage area to the conveying speed of the product moving on the sliding base to be minimized, while the unloading device is opened during this time to remove a product from the product flow.

[0014] In a manner known per se, the conveying element can be a conveying star, which is rotatably arranged above the sliding base and forms the receiving pocket in its radially outer peripheral area. The discharge base can be driven by means of a discharge drive that can be derived from the drive for the conveying element. It can be arranged here that the discharge drive can be engaged with the drive for the conveying element by means of a transmission mechanism that can be engaged and disengaged. However, it is also possible to provide an independent drive for the discharge base that is independent of the conveying element drive, such as a pneumatic drive or a servomotor. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the drive for the discharge base is realized by a pneumatic cylinder, which is engaged with the discharge base by a freewheel ratchet transmission mechanism, so that the discharge base is rotated in the desired rotation direction at a fixed angle value, such as 90°, during a complete working stroke of the pneumatic cylinder and remains in its position during the reverse stroke of the pneumatic cylinder. In this way, by a plurality of, in particular four, actuations and retractions of the pneumatic cylinder, the unloading floor can be completely rotated at once in a corresponding number of steps and brought back into its initial position, wherein each bottom window provided in the unloading floor enters once into a recess of the sliding floor during this rotation and opens the unloading portion for unloading an object. The operating speed of the pneumatic cylinder, i.e. the extension and retraction speed of its piston rod, is preferably adapted to the conveying speed of the products conveyed through the sliding floor, so that the unloading floor or the unloading window formed therein moves at substantially the same speed and at least approximately in the same direction as the products to be unloaded which are moved by the conveying element.

[0015] The discharge device is preferably equipped with a product chute arranged below the discharge section, into which the product reaches from above when the discharge floor is in its position releasing the discharge section. The discharge device is suitably arranged downstream of the supply device in the conveying direction between a supply device for the product on the sliding floor and a discharge device for the product. The supply device can hereby be formed at least partially by a template of the tableting device. The discharge device is preferably formed essentially by a bottom opening provided in the sliding floor, through which the product moved by the conveying element through the sliding floor can fall at the end of its conveying path, for example onto a subsequent conveyor belt or a discharge chute. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Further features and advantages of the invention are derived from the figures and the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention which are described in detail by way of example, in which:

[0017] Figure 1 A simplified perspective view showing a tabletting apparatus having a device according to the invention;

[0018] Figure 2 A perspective diagram showing Figure 1 The object of the invention is omitted here by dispensing with the part of the device according to the invention having a closed discharge part.

[0019] Figure 3 Show according to Figure 1 The discharge portion is open; and

[0020] Figure 4 Corresponding to Figure 1 The illustration of FIG. 1 shows a further embodiment of a tablet pressing device with an alternative drive for a discharge floor of the discharge device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In the figure, a tableting device for producing a tablet-like product, such as a detergent tablet 11, is indicated by 10. The device 10 comprises a rotary tablet press as known in the prior art for producing compressed products made from powder. Since the structure of such a tablet press is familiar to the person skilled in the art, only one template 12 of the tablet press in the figure and a die punch pair with an upper punch 13 and a lower punch 14 are shown by way of example. The product 11, which is pressed by the die punch pair in the corresponding die opening 16 during the rotation of the template 12 in the direction of rotation 15, is pushed upwards out of its die opening 16 by the respective lower punch 14 at the end of one rotation of the template 12 and is handed over to the supply device 17 of the conveying device as the subject of the present invention.

[0022] The conveying device, which is generally designated by 18, has a sliding base 19, the top side of which is located at the same level as the top side of the template 12 and is provided with a circular segment-shaped interface along which the template 12 moves in the area of ​​the supply device 17. A rotating conveying element in the form of a conveying star 20 is arranged immediately above the sliding base 19 so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis. The conveying planet 20 is provided with a plurality of radially outwardly projecting carrying fingers 21 on its outer circumference, between which receiving pockets 22 for the products 11 are formed. The receiving pockets 22 are open downwardly toward the sliding base 19, so that the products 11 received by the template 12 are moved in a circular conveying path 23 in the conveying direction 24 from the supply device 17 over an angular range of approximately 180° to the discharge device 25 through the sliding base 19 of the device 18. It can be seen that in the area of ​​the supply device 17, the carrying fingers 21 protrude laterally beyond the interface drawn there in the shape of a circular arc to the top side of the template, so that the products can be received there. The sheet products 11 are guided transversely along the conveying path 23 on the outer side of the circumferentially open receiving pocket 22 by a stationary circular segment-shaped guide rail 26 which extends from the supply device 17 to the discharge device 25 and delimits the circular arc-shaped conveying path 23 on the outside.

[0023] Approximately midway between the supply device 17 and the discharge device 25, the device 18 is provided with a discharge device 27, by means of which one or more products 11 can be discharged from the conveying path 23 in order to be able to be checked as product samples. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The unloading device 27 can be seen most clearly in the figure, in which the arc-shaped guide rail 26 is not shown.

[0024] As can be seen, the discharge device 27 comprises a recess 28 provided in the sliding base 19 in the discharge section 29 of the conveying track 23 and a movable discharge base 30 assigned to the recess 28, which in the preferred embodiment shown is formed by a disc 31 that can be driven to rotate. It has a closed bottom area 32 extending over a circumferential angle range of about 270° for closing the discharge section 29 and an open passage area 33 in the form of a bottom window 34, through which the discharge section can be released. The disc can be rotated about a vertical axis by means of a drive device 35 connected to the discharge base 30. Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the drive device is formed by a servomotor arranged below the discharge bottom plate, and the disc forming the discharge bottom plate is flange-connected to its output shaft either directly or with an intermediate transmission mechanism. Figure 4In the embodiment shown, the drive for the discharge floor is essentially formed by a pneumatic cylinder 40, which, when its piston rod 42 is extended when the pneumatic cylinder is actuated, always advances the discharge floor by a quarter turn via a (simplified) latching switch transmission 41 connected to the rotation axis of the discharge floor 30. A latching mechanism (not shown in detail) provided in the latching switch transmission ensures that the discharge floor retains its position when the piston rod is retracted, i.e. it cannot rotate back again. The reciprocating movement of the piston rod of the pneumatic cylinder is thus converted into a rotary switching movement of the discharge floor in one rotation direction, wherein in the embodiment shown, four consecutive complete working strokes of the pneumatic cylinder cause the discharge floor to return to its initial position by a full rotation.

[0025] By means of a drive device 35, the closed bottom area 32 of the discharge floor 30 is arranged in the recess 28 in order to thereby close the discharge section 29, or the open channel area 33 is inserted into the recess 28 in order to thereby open the discharge section 29, so that the products 11 that have reached it on the conveying path 23 then pass downwards to a discharge chute 36 that begins below the discharge section 29, by means of which the products are discharged from the conveying device 18. According to the invention, the direction of movement of the discharge floor 30 in the region of the recess 28, i.e., in this embodiment, the circumferential direction of the disk 31 below the recess in the conveying star, for selectively closing or opening the discharge section 29, is essentially parallel to the conveying direction 24 of the conveying element 20. This special design has the following advantages: when the disc rotates, the front and rear window edges 38 that define the bottom window 34 in the circumferential direction and are basically radially front and rear do not move opposite to the conveying direction 24 of the sheet 11, but move in basically the same direction therewith, so that the sheet to be extracted from the conveying device 17 at the unloading device 27 will not be clamped between the edge of the carrying finger 21 or the recess 28 of the conveying star 20 and the window edge 38 of the bottom window 34 in the unloading bottom plate 30 and thus damaged.

[0026] exist Figure 2 and Figure 3 It can be clearly seen that the unloading bottom plate 30 is arranged coplanarly with the sliding bottom plate 19, that is, the top surface of its bottom area is at the same level as the top surface of the sliding bottom plate. Figure 2In the closed state shown, the products 11 are thus moved steplessly from the conveying star 20 through the narrow gap 39 between the sliding floor and the discharge floor. The recess 28 in the sliding floor has an approximately semicircular shape, which, in the closed state of the discharge device 27, is essentially completely filled by the disk 31 forming the discharge floor 30, while only a very narrow gap 39 is formed. The discharge floor 30 can be rotated or turned in by a servomotor 35 or a pneumatic cylinder drive 40, 41 at a movement speed that is synchronous with the conveying speed of the conveying star 20, so that in this way the bottom window 34 of the disk 31 is placed in the recess 28 ( Figure 3 ) and thereby opens the discharge section 29 for a product, which then reaches the discharge chute 36 downwards and is thus ejected from the normal conveying path. It is obvious that a plurality of products can also be ejected, for example as a sample series, for which purpose, in particular according to Figure 4 In the embodiment of the invention, the unloading base can be kept in its open position for a correspondingly long time, so that a corresponding number of consecutive products can be ejected, or in particular by Figure 1 An embodiment of the present invention rotates the discharge base plate a plurality of times at a rotation speed adapted to the conveying speed of the conveying star, so that with each rotation of the discharge base plate the bottom window reaches below the products accommodated in the receiving bag and then already at the discharge device escapes from the normal conveying trajectory between the supply device and the discharge device, for example every second, every third or every nth product located in adjacent receiving bags.

[0027] Of course, other types of sampling can also be implemented with correspondingly different designs of the discharge device, in particular of the discharge floor. For example, the discharge floor can also be equipped with a plurality of bottom windows, which alternate evenly with correspondingly sized closed floor areas. This design can be advisable if, for example, it is to be provided that every second product produced in the tablet press should be diverted to another position at regular intervals. It is also possible that the discharge device is not designed with a rotating disk as the discharge floor, but, for example, with a flexible transmission element, such as a flat-link chain, which circulates around two deflection rollers or a chain star, on which one or more closing plates are arranged protruding laterally, and into which the closing plates can be moved to close the recess in the sliding floor.

Claims

1. A conveying device for individual products, the conveying device comprising a sliding bottom plate (19) and a conveying member (20) moving on the sliding bottom plate (19), the conveying member (20) comprising a plurality of receiving bags (22) for the individual products (11) which are open toward the sliding bottom plate (19) arranged below, the receiving bags being movable in a conveying direction (24) along a conveying track (23) above the sliding bottom plate (19) by the conveying member (20), characterized in that: A discharge device (27) is provided, the discharge device (27) having a recess (28) located in the sliding bottom plate (19) and a movable discharge bottom plate (30) dedicated to the recess (28), the recess (28) including a discharge portion (29) of the conveying track (23), the discharge bottom plate having at least one closed bottom plate area (32) for closing the discharge portion (29) and at least one open channel area (33) for opening the discharge portion (29), wherein the movement direction (37) of the discharge bottom plate (30) for selectively closing or opening the discharge portion (29) is substantially synchronized with the conveying direction (24) of the conveying component (20), The unloading bottom plate (30) is formed by a rotatably driven disc (31), and the disc (31) has at least one bottom window (34) forming the passage area (33).

2. The conveying device according to claim 1, characterized in that The independent product is a sheet-like product produced by a tablet pressing device.

3. The conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The discharge bottom plate (30) is arranged at least partially coplanarly with the sliding bottom plate (19) in the recess (28) provided in the sliding bottom plate.

4. The conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The discharge bottom plate (30) can be driven at a movement speed synchronized with the conveying speed of the conveying member (20).

5. The conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The conveying element is a conveying star which is rotatably mounted above the sliding base (19) and forms the receiving pocket (22) on its radially outer surrounding area.

6. The conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The unloading base (30) can be driven by means of an unloading drive which can be derived from a drive for the conveying element (20).

7. The conveying device according to claim 6, characterized in that The discharge drive can be coupled to the drive for the conveying element by means of a gear transmission which can be engaged and disengaged.

8. The conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The unloading device (27) is equipped with a discharge chute (36) arranged below the unloading portion (29).

9. The conveying device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The unloading device (27) is arranged downstream of the supply device (17) for the products (11) on the sliding floor (19) in the conveying direction (24) between the supply device (17) and the discharge device (25) for the products.

10. The conveying device according to claim 9, characterized in that The supply device (17) is at least partially formed by a template (12) of the tableting device.

11. The conveying device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that: The discharge device (25) is essentially formed by a bottom opening provided in the sliding bottom plate (19).

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