Air duct bottle inlet structure

Abstract

The utility model discloses a kind of air duct bottle inlet structures, including bottom plate and bottle feeding, bottle separating star wheel assembly, bottle feeding star wheel assembly includes bottle feeding star wheel axle seat, its top is provided with mounting plate, first, second bottle clamping star wheel are sequentially stacked on mounting plate, the first, second bottle clamping star wheel outer edge respectively evenly distribute bottle neck, bottle mouth and the first, second clamping groove of alignment;Bottle separating star wheel assembly includes bottle separating star wheel axle seat, its top is provided with bottle separating star wheel, the third clamping groove of the edge of bottle separating star wheel evenly distribute and the first, second clamping groove alignment and hold bottle mouth to bottle neck transition section. The utility model structure is simple, since the bottle position clamped by bottle separating star wheel is the transition section between bottle mouth and bottle neck, and the bottle mouth position clamped by the first bottle clamping star wheel, second bottle clamping star wheel is staggered in axial direction, avoid to occur handover interference, therefore complete handover in the instant of the third clamping groove and the first clamping groove, second clamping groove coincide, make that the bottle separating conveying of bottle is more stable and smooth, improve the efficiency of bottle separating and conveying.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of liquid packaging machinery, specifically to the bottle inlet structure for conveying bottles via an air duct. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of liquid packaging machinery, the bottle conveying system directly determines the overall operating efficiency and finished product qualification rate. Currently, the industry commonly uses a combination of air duct and star wheel for long-distance conveying of PET bottles: the bottle is suspended by the bottle neck on the bottle support plate of the air duct, and is pushed to the star wheel under the continuous air pressure of the blower. The star wheel then sends the bottle to the subsequent washing, filling, and capping stations.

[0003] The advantages of this solution are mainly reflected in two aspects: First, it has a long conveying distance, a simple structure, and requires no additional power; second, it eliminates the traditional screw bottle-separating mechanism, and can achieve continuous bottle feeding by relying on the subsequent bottle thrust, thus reducing equipment costs.

[0004] However, the above structure has the following four shortcomings: (1) Bottles are piled up and squeezed. Because the bottles are arranged in a continuous "gap-free" manner in the air duct, they will inevitably be piled up before entering the star wheel, resulting in uneven stress on the side wall and neck of the bottle. This can cause scratches and deformation, or even bottle breakage and increased scrap rate.

[0005] (2) Bottle jamming and friction: Before the star wheel slot reaches the docking position, the bottle neck will continuously rub against the non-slot area of ​​the star wheel; once the bottle neck size deviates or the wind speed fluctuates, it is very easy to cause jamming and shutdown, affecting the efficiency of the entire line.

[0006] (3) Poor synchronization of bottle entry. The air duct thrust cannot guarantee the precise alignment of the bottle body and the star wheel slot. The bottle body often enters prematurely or lately before the slot is fully in place, resulting in misalignment of the bottle entry and missing bottles, which in turn affects the subsequent filling accuracy.

[0007] (4) Bottle clamping interference: When the downstream of the star wheel adopts the bottle washing / filling / capping station that clamps the bottle neck, the movement trajectory of the star wheel slot and the station fixture overlaps; due to the lack of bottle separation buffer distance, the two directly interfere with each other, which makes it impossible to smoothly hand over the bottle body. In severe cases, manual intervention is required, which limits the possibility of single machine developing towards higher speed and higher integration. Utility Model Content

[0008] This invention provides a smooth, efficient, and stable air duct inlet structure.

[0009] The bottle inlet structure of this utility model includes a base plate and a bottle feeding star wheel assembly and a bottle separating star wheel assembly mounted on the base plate. The bottle separating star wheel assembly is arranged adjacent to one side of the bottle feeding star wheel assembly. The bottle feeding star wheel assembly includes a bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat rotatably mounted on the base plate. A circular mounting plate is coaxially mounted on the top of the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat. A first bottle-locking star wheel and a second bottle-locking star wheel are stacked sequentially on the mounting plate from bottom to top. The outer edge of the first bottle-locking star wheel is evenly distributed with a plurality of first slots for locking the bottle neck, and the outer edge of the second bottle-locking star wheel is evenly distributed with a plurality of second slots for locking the bottle mouth. The first slots and the second slots are aligned and coincident. The bottle separating star wheel assembly includes a bottle separating star wheel shaft seat rotatably mounted on the base plate. A bottle separating star wheel is coaxially mounted on the top of the bottle separating star wheel shaft seat. The edge of the bottle separating star wheel is evenly distributed with a plurality of third slots for locking the transition section between the bottle mouth and the bottle neck, and which are aligned and coincident with the first slots and the second slots.

[0010] The described air duct bottle inlet structure synchronizes the first slot of the first bottle-holding star wheel, the second slot of the second bottle-holding star wheel, and the third slot of the bottle-separating star wheel. Before the bottle enters the third slot of the bottle-separating star wheel, the edge of the star wheel without the third slot separates the bottle, preventing it from being pushed and squeezed into the space by subsequent bottles, thus avoiding jamming. When the third slot of the bottle-separating star wheel rotates to the receiving position, the bottle smoothly enters the third slot. Since the bottle position held by the bottle-separating star wheel is the transition section between the bottle mouth and neck, axially offset from the bottle mouth positions held by the first and second bottle-holding star wheels, interference is avoided. Therefore, the handover is completed the instant the third slot coincides with the first and second slots, making the bottle separation and conveying smoother and more efficient.

[0011] As a preferred embodiment of this utility model, a first gear and a second gear are coaxially mounted on the bottom of the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat from top to bottom, and a third gear that meshes with the first gear and rotates synchronously is coaxially mounted on the bottom of the bottle separating star wheel shaft seat.

[0012] As a preferred embodiment of this utility model, it further includes an inner bottle protection structure installed on the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat and fitting against the inner side of the bottle body. The inner bottle protection structure includes an inner bottle protection plate coaxially installed on the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat and rotatable with the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat as the axis. The edge of the inner bottle protection plate is provided with a number of grooves that are adapted to the bottle body.

[0013] As a preferred embodiment of this utility model, a plurality of connecting rods are provided between the inner bottle protector and the mounting plate.

[0014] As a preferred embodiment of this utility model, the bottle is provided with an outer bottle protection structure that fits against the outer side of the bottle body on the side opposite to the inner bottle protection structure along the conveying path of the bottle feeding star wheel assembly. The outer bottle protection structure includes a support rod vertically arranged on the bottom plate, and a first outer protective plate with a shape adapted to the conveying path of the bottle through the bottle feeding star wheel assembly is provided in the middle of the support rod and fits against the outer side of the bottle body.

[0015] As a preferred embodiment of this utility model, the top of the support rod is provided with a second outer protective plate that is attached to the bottle mouth and whose shape is adapted to the conveying path of the bottle through the bottle feeding star wheel assembly.

[0016] As a preferred embodiment of this utility model, the second outer protective plate is equipped with a third bottle protection plate that is opposite to the first bottle-carrying star wheel and in contact with the bottle neck, and a fourth bottle protection plate that is opposite to the second bottle-carrying star wheel and in contact with the bottle mouth.

[0017] As a preferred embodiment of this utility model, the outer bottle structure is further equipped with a guide plate for guiding and conveying the bottle from the outer bottle structure to the workpiece clamping. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a bottle inlet structure with an air duct.

[0019] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Sectional view along the AA direction.

[0020] Figure 3 for Figure 1 Sectional view along the AB direction.

[0021] Figure 4 for Figure 2 Enlarged view of part C in the middle.

[0022] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram showing the side and top views of the star wheel of the bottle.

[0023] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram showing the mounting plate from the side and top.

[0024] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the first card bottle star wheel from the side and top.

[0025] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the second card bottle star wheel from the side and top. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this utility model, and not all of them. Based on the embodiments of this utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of this utility model.

[0027] It should be noted that if any directional indication (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, top, bottom, inside, outside, vertical, horizontal, longitudinal, counterclockwise, clockwise, circumferential, radial, axial, etc.) is involved in the embodiments of this utility model, the directional indication is only used to explain the relative positional relationship and movement of each component in a certain specific posture (as shown in the figure). If the specific posture changes, the directional indication will also change accordingly.

[0028] In the description of this utility model, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "setting," "equipped with," "connected," and "linked" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model based on the specific circumstances.

[0029] If the embodiments of this utility model involve descriptions such as "first" or "second," such descriptions are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, features defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of those features. In the description of this utility model, "several" means one or more, "multiple" means two or more, and "above," "below," and "within" are all understood to include the stated number. Furthermore, the technical features of each embodiment can be arbitrarily combined. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments are described; however, as long as these combinations of technical features do not contradict each other, they should be considered within the scope of this specification.

[0030] like Figure 1-8As shown, a bottle inlet structure in an air duct includes a base plate 1 and a bottle feeding star wheel assembly 2 and a bottle separating star wheel assembly 3 mounted on the base plate 1. The bottle separating star wheel assembly 3 is arranged adjacent to one side of the bottle feeding star wheel assembly 2. The bottle feeding star wheel assembly 2 includes a bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat 201 rotatably mounted on the base plate 1. A circular mounting plate 202 is coaxially mounted on the top of the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat 201. A first bottle-holding star wheel 203 and a second bottle-holding star wheel 204 are stacked sequentially on the mounting plate 202 from bottom to top. A plurality of bottles are evenly distributed on the outer edge of the first bottle-holding star wheel 203. The first slot 205 is used to hold the bottle neck, and the outer edge of the second bottle-holding star wheel 204 is evenly distributed with several second slots 206 for holding the bottle mouth. The first slot 205 and the second slot 206 are aligned and overlapped. The bottle-distributing star wheel assembly 3 includes a bottle-distributing star wheel shaft seat 301 rotatably mounted on the base plate 1. A bottle-distributing star wheel 302 is coaxially mounted on the top of the bottle-distributing star wheel shaft seat. The edge of the bottle-distributing star wheel 302 is evenly distributed with several third slots 303 for holding the transition section between the bottle mouth and the bottle neck, and which are aligned and overlapped with the first slot and the second slot. By synchronizing the first slot of the first bottle-carrying star wheel, the second slot of the second bottle-carrying star wheel, and the third slot of the bottle-separating star wheel, the bottle is separated at the edge of the bottle-separating star wheel before it enters the third slot. This prevents the bottle from being pushed and squeezed into the third slot by the following bottles, thus avoiding jamming. When the third slot of the bottle-separating star wheel rotates to the receiving position, the bottle can smoothly enter the third slot. Since the position where the bottle is held by the bottle-separating star wheel is the transition section between the bottle mouth and the bottle neck, which is axially offset from the bottle mouth position held by the first and second bottle-carrying star wheels, interference is avoided. Therefore, the handover is completed at the instant the third slot coincides with the first and second slots, making the bottle separation and conveying smoother and more efficient.

[0031] Specifically, the first slot of the first bottle-clamping star wheel is shaped like an arc, retaining only the minimum contact surface, to provide auxiliary support. The second slot of the second bottle-clamping star wheel has an arc at the root that matches the diameter of the bottle mouth, and a flared guide arc at the entrance, allowing the bottle mouth to slide smoothly into the second slot when the second bottle-clamping star wheel rotates. This difference allows the first bottle-clamping star wheel to be arranged on the same plane as the workpiece in the next station, clamping the bottle mouth while simultaneously allowing space for the workpiece, achieving zero-interference and highly reliable handover of the bottle during final transfer.

[0032] Furthermore, the third slot of the bottle-separating star wheel also has an arc at the base that matches the diameter of the bottle mouth, and a flared guide arc at the inlet.

[0033] The bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat 201 has a first gear 207 and a second gear 208 coaxially mounted from top to bottom at its bottom. The bottle separating star wheel shaft seat 301 has a third gear 304 coaxially mounted at its bottom, meshing with the first gear 207 and rotating synchronously. The first gear, arranged coaxially from top to bottom at the bottom of the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat, directly meshes with the third gear of the bottle separating star wheel, providing synchronous transmission. Specifically, the gear ratio of the first gear and the third gear can be configured according to actual needs, so that the third slot of the bottle separating star wheel aligns with the first slot of the first bottle-locking star wheel and the second slot of the second bottle-locking star wheel at the junction point, ensuring smooth bottle transfer and avoiding bottle jamming or leakage.

[0034] It also includes an inner bottle protection structure 4, which is installed on the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat and fits against the inner side of the bottle body. The inner bottle protection structure 4 includes an inner bottle protection plate 401, which is coaxially installed on the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat and can rotate with the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat as the axis. The edge of the inner bottle protection plate is provided with several grooves that are adapted to the bottle body. During the process of the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat driving the bottle to rotate, the inner bottle protection plate is coaxially fixed with the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat and rotates synchronously. The grooves of the inner bottle protection plate always maintain a close fit and support with the inner side of the bottle body, preventing the bottle from shaking, tipping or getting stuck, thereby ensuring the stability of continuous bottle conveying.

[0035] Several connecting rods 402 are provided between the inner bottle protector plate 401 and the mounting plate 202. By adding several connecting rods between the inner bottle protector plate and the mounting plate, a multi-support rigid connection frame is formed, which significantly improves the overall stability of the inner bottle protector plate. When rotating with the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat, it can effectively suppress the radial runout and axial sway of the inner bottle protector plate, ensuring that the groove is always precisely fitted with the inner side of the bottle body, thereby greatly improving the stability and positioning accuracy during the rotation process and avoiding bottle shaking or displacement.

[0036] On the side of the bottle conveying path of the bottle feeding star wheel assembly, opposite to the inner bottle protection structure, there is an outer bottle protection structure 5 that fits against the outer side of the bottle body. The outer bottle protection structure 5 includes a support rod 501 vertically set on the base plate. The middle of the support rod has a first outer protective plate 502 that fits against the outer side of the bottle body and whose shape is adapted to the conveying path of the bottle via the bottle feeding star wheel assembly. With the inner side of the bottle already fitted and limited by the inner bottle protection plate, an outer bottle protection structure composed of the support rod and the first outer protective plate is added on the other side of the conveying path, so that the bottle forms a three-point closed loop clamping of "inner bottle protection plate - bottle body - first outer protective plate" during rotation. The first outer protective plate is designed to follow the shape of the conveying path of the bottle feeding star wheel assembly, which not only provides continuous radial support for the outer edge of the bottle body, but also is rigidly fixed to the base plate by the support rod. This significantly suppresses the radial swaying and tangential slippage of the bottle under start-stop, speed change, or impact load, thereby improving the overall stability and positioning accuracy of the conveying process, reducing the risk of bottle tipping and jamming, and ensuring the reliability of continuous operation.

[0037] The top of the support rod is equipped with a second outer protective plate 503 that fits against the bottle mouth and is shaped to match the conveying path of the bottle via the bottle feeding star wheel assembly. With the addition of this second outer protective plate, the bottle body forms a complete longitudinal closed-loop constraint at three points: "bottom – body – mouth," during high-speed rotation. The second outer protective plate is designed to conform to the conveying path of the bottle feeding star wheel assembly, providing continuous axial restraint and radial alignment at the bottle mouth, effectively suppressing vertical movement and pitching of the bottle body during high-speed start-stop or speed changes. Working in conjunction with the first outer protective plate and the inner bottle protection plate, it achieves stable clamping of the bottle body throughout its entire height and circumference, further reducing the risk of bottle tipping or jumping, and ensuring the accuracy and reliability of high-speed conveying.

[0038] The second outer protective plate is equipped with a third bottle protection plate 504, which is opposite to the first bottle clamping star wheel and attached to the bottle neck, and a fourth bottle protection plate 505, which is opposite to the second bottle clamping star wheel and attached to the bottle mouth. The third and fourth bottle protection plates are respectively attached to the bottle neck and the bottle mouth, and are arranged opposite to the first and second bottle clamping star wheels respectively, so that the bottle protection area only covers the bottle neck and the outer edge of the bottle mouth, while leaving the middle section of the bottle mouth completely empty. When the bottle rotates to the next station, this empty area just avoids the clamping path of the clamping parts, eliminates the motion interference between the outer bottle protection structure and the workpiece clamped at the next station, and ensures high-speed continuous conveying and seamless connection with subsequent stations.

[0039] The outer bottle structure is also equipped with a guide plate 6 for guiding and conveying the bottle from the outer bottle structure to the clamping workpiece 7. Before being conveyed to the handover position of the clamping workpiece, the guide plate forms an arc-shaped transition slide that matches the bottle's conveying trajectory. When the outer bottle structure cannot be set close to the clamping workpiece due to interference, the guide plate can take over the supporting role, smoothly guiding the bottle into the clamping workpiece, ensuring that the bottle can remain stable even without the support of the outer bottle structure, and achieving zero-interference connection and conveying with the next station.

[0040] Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that after the bottle-separating star wheel transfers the bottles to the bottle-feeding star wheel assembly, when the bottle-feeding star wheel shaft seat rotates at low speed to drive the bottles, it can rely entirely on the first and second bottle-clamping star wheels in conjunction with the existing conventional conveyor chain set at the bottom of the bottles for rotational conveying; it is only when the bottle-feeding star wheel shaft seat rotates at high speed that the inner and outer bottle protection structures are required to improve the stability of bottle conveying.

[0041] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of this utility model and does not limit the patent scope of this utility model. Any equivalent structural transformations made based on the inventive concept of this utility model and the content of this specification and drawings, or direct / indirect applications in other related technical fields, are included within the patent protection scope of this utility model. In the description of this utility model, the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "embodiment," "illustrative embodiment," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., refer to specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with that embodiment or example, which are included in at least one embodiment or example of this utility model. In this specification, illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples. Those skilled in the art will understand, explicitly and implicitly, that, without conflict, the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments, and the embodiments of this utility model and the features within those embodiments can be combined with each other.

Claims

1. A bottle inlet structure with an air duct, characterized in that, The system includes a base plate (1) and a bottle feeding star wheel assembly (2) and a bottle separating star wheel assembly (3) mounted on the base plate (1). The bottle separating star wheel assembly (3) is arranged adjacent to one side of the bottle feeding star wheel assembly (2). The bottle feeding star wheel assembly (2) includes a rotatable bottle feeding star wheel bearing (201) mounted on the base plate (1). A circular mounting plate (202) is coaxially mounted on the top of the bottle feeding star wheel bearing (201). A first bottle-holding star wheel (203) and a second bottle-holding star wheel (204) are stacked sequentially from bottom to top on the mounting plate (202). Several bottles are evenly distributed on the outer edge of the first bottle-holding star wheel (203) for... The first slot (205) for holding the bottle neck, and the second bottle-holding star wheel (204) has several second slots (206) evenly distributed on its outer edge for holding the bottle mouth. The first slot (205) and the second slot (206) are aligned and coincident. The bottle-distributing star wheel assembly (3) includes a bottle-distributing star wheel axle seat (301) rotatably mounted on the base plate (1). A bottle-distributing star wheel (302) is coaxially mounted on the top of the bottle-distributing star wheel axle seat. Several third slots (303) are evenly distributed on the edge of the bottle-distributing star wheel (302) for holding the transition section between the bottle mouth and the bottle neck, and are aligned and coincident with the first slot and the second slot.

2. The air duct inlet structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom of the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat (201) is coaxially mounted with a first gear (207) and a second gear (208) from top to bottom, and the bottom of the bottle separating star wheel shaft seat (301) is coaxially mounted with a third gear (304) that meshes with the first gear (207) and rotates synchronously.

3. The air duct inlet structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes an inner bottle protection structure (4) installed on the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat and attached to the inner side of the bottle body. The inner bottle protection structure (4) includes an inner bottle protection plate (401) coaxially installed on the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat and rotatable with the bottle feeding star wheel shaft seat as the axis. The edge of the inner bottle protection plate is provided with a number of grooves that are adapted to the bottle body.

4. The air duct inlet structure according to claim 3, characterized in that, A number of connecting rods (402) are provided between the inner protective bottle plate (401) and the mounting plate (202).

5. The air duct inlet structure according to claim 3, characterized in that, The bottle is conveyed along the bottle feeding star wheel assembly and on the side opposite to the inner bottle protection structure, an outer bottle protection structure (5) is provided that fits against the outer side of the bottle body. The outer bottle protection structure (5) includes a support rod (501) vertically set on the bottom plate. The middle part of the support rod is provided with a first outer protection plate (502) that fits against the outer side of the bottle body and whose shape is adapted to the conveying path of the bottle through the bottle feeding star wheel assembly.

6. The air duct inlet structure according to claim 5, characterized in that, The top of the support rod is provided with a second outer protective plate (503) that is attached to the bottle mouth and whose shape is adapted to the conveying path of the bottle through the bottle feeding star wheel assembly.

7. The air duct inlet structure according to claim 6, characterized in that, The second outer protective plate is equipped with a third bottle protection plate (504) that is opposite to the first bottle star wheel and in contact with the bottle neck, and a fourth bottle protection plate (505) that is opposite to the second bottle star wheel and in contact with the bottle mouth.

8. The air duct inlet structure according to claim 5, characterized in that, The outer bottle structure is also equipped with a guide plate (6) for guiding and conveying the bottle from the outer bottle structure to the workpiece clamping.

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