Device and method for diverting objects from a moving transport device

Abstract

Expulsion system, comprehensive - several discharge tracks (18) for beverage containers (12), - a device (10) for discharging beverage containers (12) from a moving transport device (14) with beverage containers (12) standing one after the other, with a discharging device (20) for discharging selected objects (12) perpendicularly or obliquely to a conveying direction of the transport device (14), wherein the discharging device (20) is formed by a position-controlled linear drive (22) and the beverage containers (12) can be pushed laterally from the transport device (14) onto the plurality of discharging tracks (18) by means of the position-controlled linear drive (22), characterized in that the discharging system - a cleaning machine and - has a container, wherein a discharge track (18) is designed as a conveyor belt which returns the beverage containers (12) to the cleaning machine and wherein a further discharge track (18) is designed as a further conveyor belt which forwards the beverage containers (12) into the container, which container is positioned below the further conveyor belt.

Description

The invention relates to an apparatus for diverting objects from a moving transport device having the features of the preamble of independent claim 1.In bottle filling systems and transport devices for bottles, provisions are necessary to separate defective and / or damaged bottles from a continuous conveying stream. Various systems are already known for deriving erroneous faults from a continuous bottle flow. For this purpose, pusher devices, so-called "pushers", are used, which push the defective bottles out of the bottle stream in the lateral direction. These pushers are usually operated with compressed air, which brings with it the undesirable effect that when the bottles transported in the system are changed, the working pressure must be adapted to the new type of bottle; likewise, the delivery to the belt must also be corrected manually.This principle has already been known for a very long time and can be regarded as prior art, but has the disadvantage that the modulability and controllability of these pneumatic slide devices is greatly restricted. Manual adaptation of the control parameters and / or the trigger times and / or the positions of the slide to changed circumstances such as, for example, different bottle sizes and / or filling degrees of the transported bottles is inevitable in this case.WO 1999020551 A1 discloses a device with which beverage containers slide out and for this purpose are pushed onto different tracks. The WO specification also discloses different movement profiles which can be provided for discharging different beverage containers. A decision as to which objects will slide out can be made in the WO document with the aid of an inspection system.It is an object of the present invention to provide a lead-out system in which the control parameters for the lead-out device can be adapted to different requirements more easily and quickly.This object of the invention is achieved with the subjects of the independent claims. Features of advantageous refinements of the invention are evident from the dependent claims.The invention relates to a system for discharging objects constituted by beverage containers and in particular bottles or the like. This discharge is effected by a moving transport device with successive standing beverage containers. In addition, a lead-out device serves for the pushed lead-out of the selected objects. Selected objects are, for example, selected objects. Bottles, containers or the like which have a defect or contamination.The process of discharging selected objects takes place perpendicularly or obliquely to a conveying direction of the transport device. The lead-out device takes place as a function of a superordinate control which distributes the selected objects to one or more lanes.According to the present invention, the discharge device is formed by a position-controlled linear drive which is designed as a slide and which slides the selected objects laterally by a conveying device on a plurality of discharge tracks. A possible discharge path is a conveyor belt which returns the objects to a cleaning machine. The return of objects takes place, for example, when dirt is detected in the objects. A further discharge track can be designed as a transport belt which transfers the objects into a container placed under the transport belt. This container collects, for example, the objects that are no longer to be used for further treatment. Furthermore, the discharge tracks can comprise discharge shafts.In the position-controlled linear drive, the force transmission and the force generation take place uniformly. Therefore, they have advantages over transmission-based concepts in the field of positioning accuracy and dynamics. In addition, the position-controlled linear drive comprises an electric linear motor which has an integrated position control installed and can be parameterized by a control system. That is to say, the linear drive or the electric linear motor is coupled to a control device, with which different movement parameters of the drive can be predefined.The force of the discharge device with which the selected objects are pushed by the transport device is dependent on the expected resistance of the selected objects, for example on their weight. The force of the ejection can vary from object to object and must be adjusted accordingly. As an example, there may be mentioned a empty bottle inspection in which contaminated or damaged objects must be discharged from the transport device. The soiled objects must be supplied with the energy necessary for their empty weight, while objects with remaining contents, for example with a remaining cleaning solution, have a weight of approximately twice as high and must therefore be supplied with a greater force for discharge. The situation is similar when filled. In the case of a fill level control which is connected downstream of a filling machine, objects which are filled in an unsatisfactory manner are likewise discharged. Here too, objects which are only half filled have less weight than objects which have approximately reached their optimum filling height.In principle, the optimum parameters for a stationary guidance can be set when setting up the objects. For example, a stroke, a stroke speed and / or an acceleration of the drive for the removal of the objects can be controlled in a desired manner by means of the control device. The parameters for this are previously input into the control device. However, during a stroke movement, the control parameters of the drive can be varied selectively. Furthermore, an absolute zero position of the drive can be set to the belt and relative to the objects.For setting the drive acceleration, different parameter sets can be applied in the control device. These parameter sets are dependent on the object state; for example, a fill level control can be applied as the first parameter set. If an excessively low filling or an excessively high filling of an object is detected in this fill level control, this object is to be discharged via the discharge device. A further parameter set could consist in discarding objects without or with too little filling by the lead-out device after the corresponding parameter set has been specified.The required parameters for fill level control can be determined by a sensor which is coupled to the control device and outputs a signal to the lead-out device when a parameter set is triggered. Furthermore, the sensor can serve for detecting weight and / or center of gravity parameters of the objects, which sensor likewise forwards the values to the control device. The sensor can be formed, for example, by a camera or another optical detection device.With the camera as a sensor, the fill height control for the waste can be effected in a simple manner. For this purpose, the fill state of the objects is determined. If the fill state of an object is full, half full or empty, then a decision is made depending on the parameter set. These parameter sets are set in a type-specific manner in the control device.The linear drive can be initialized before starting up and / or during running operation; i.e. if a drag fault of the linear motor occurs, it can be adjusted in its position during running operation. In the present context, drag error is understood to mean an error which is caused between the position setpoint value and the actual position value on the basis of a speed. This means that an actual value of the slide follows the position setpoint value. This drag error is recognizable, for example, on the basis of a deviation or irregularity of a position-actual value curve in a control diagram which indicates the actual and target values. By increasing the speed amplification factor, the drag error can be reduced again.The position adjustment of the linear drive can be controlled by the control device as a function of the detected sensor values with regard to weight- and / or center-of-gravity- and / or size-dependent parameters of the objects. If a new object type is loaded into the transport device, the horizontal position of the drive is automatically adjusted to the object.In addition to the apparatus, the invention equally comprises a method for diverting objects. The discharge takes place in a moving transport device with objects following one another. The selected objects are pushed by means of a discharge device for discharge perpendicularly or obliquely to a conveying direction of the transport device. The selected objects are thus conveyed out via a position-controlled linear drive which is formed by a position-controlled electric linear motor. This linear drive or the electric linear motor is controlled by a control device for presetting different movement parameters of the drive.The drive is controlled by the control device, which controls a stroke, a stroke speed and / or an acceleration. The control parameters during the stroke movement of the drive can be varied. For example, the drive is controlled as a function of weight and / or center of gravity parameters of the objects; in addition, the linear drive can be initialized before startup and / or during ongoing operation.By detecting the drag error of the linear drive, the latter can be adjusted in its position during operation. The position adjustment is controlled by the control device as a function of the detected sensor values with regard to weight- and / or center-of-gravity- and / or size-dependent parameters of the objects.In the method for separating objects, these are formed by beverage containers or bottles which are pushed laterally by a conveying device onto one or more discharge tracks by means of the position-controlled linear drive designed as a slide.Other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, given by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.The single FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of an apparatus for diverting objects.The schematic illustration of FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a device 10 according to the invention for diverting objects 12, which objects 12 can be formed in particular by bottles or the like. In the present exemplary embodiment, the device 10 is composed of a total of three transport belts 14, 18. A transport device 14 ensures that the objects 12 are moved past a sensor 40 in an upright position. This sensor 40 recognizes the type of the objects 12 and transmits the data of this type to a control device 30.If the sensor 40 detects, in the case of a fill level check, that the objects 12 are only half full instead of full, a signal is transmitted to the discharge device 20. This signal transmission is effected via the control device 30, which is operatively connected to a linear drive 22. The linear drive 22 has a position-controlled electric linear motor 24. The various movement parameters of the linear drive 22 are stored beforehand, so that the linear motor 24 can execute those control commands which it is transmitted from the control device 30.The defective objects 12 are discarded after the signal is transmitted from the controller 30 via a shifter 26. The slide 26 is driven via the position-controlled linear drive 22 and can eliminate the defective objects 13 via one or more discharge tracks 18 arranged next to one another. In addition to the actual transport device 14, which transports the objects 12 in the direction of the further treatment T, the discharge tracks 18 arranged next to them guide the defective objects 13 either for disposal T 1 or onto a transport belt for return T 2.Defective objects 13 are separated out onto the conveyor belt for return T 2, which objects are to be returned to a cleaning machine, for example. This transport belt of the return line T 2 is in FIG. 1 the second discharge path 18, which is arranged next to the transport belt for disposal T 1, which in turn is arranged next to the transport device 14. This parallel arrangement of the discharge tracks 18 is to be considered as only one of several possible exemplary embodiments. It is quite conceivable that only one or more than two discharge tracks 18 are present.In principle, it is expedient when setting up the objects 12 to set up the optimum parameters for a stationary diversion in the control device 30. Thus, for example, for the acceleration, different bottle state-dependent parameter sets can be applied in the control device 30. These parameters are also stored in a type-specific manner. Since different object or bottle sizes can each have different center of gravity positions, they require appropriately adjusted settings of the slide 26 for trouble-free discharge. In connection with the detection of the fill level by means of the sensor 40, these parameters can be superimposed by further weight-oriented and / or center-of-gravity-oriented parameters.Only the use of an electric linear motor 24 as a slider drive enables the exact transfer of the defective objects 13 to one of the desired discharge belts 18; the pneumatically driven sliders used in the prior art, on the other hand, enable only a relatively rough positioning during discharge, since no position-controlled drive is available.The invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Rather, a large number of variants and modifications are conceivable which make use of the inventive concept and therefore likewise fall within the scope of protection.List of reference characters10 Device 12 Objects 13 Defective objects 14 Transport device 18 Discharge tracks 20 Discharge device 22 Linear drive 24 Linear motor 26 Slide 30 Control device 40 Sensor T Transport belt for further treatment T 1 Transport belt for disposal T 2 Transport belt for return

Claims

Discharge system, comprising - a plurality of discharge tracks (18) for beverage containers (12), - a device (10) for discharging beverage containers (12) from a moving transport device (14) with beverage containers (12) following one another, having a discharge device (20) for the pushed discharge of selected objects (12) perpendicularly or obliquely to a conveying direction of the transport device (14), wherein the discharge device (20) is formed by a position-controlled linear drive (22) and the beverage containers (12) can be pushed laterally from the transport device (14) onto the plurality of discharge tracks (18) by means of the position-controlled linear drive (22), characterized in that the discharge system has - a cleaning machine and - a container, wherein a discharge track (18) is formed as a transport belt, which returns the beverage containers (12) to the cleaning machine and wherein a further discharge path (18) is designed as a further transport belt which transfers the beverage containers (12) into the container, which container is set up below the further transport belt.The lead-out system according to claim 1, wherein the lead-out system of the linear drive (22) comprises a position-controlled electric linear motor (24).The lead-out system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the linear drive (22) or the electric linear motor (24) is coupled to a control device (30), with which different movement parameters of the drive (22) can be preset.Discharge system according to claim 3, in which a stroke, a stroke speed and / or an acceleration of the drive (22) can be controlled by means of the control device (30).Discharge system according to Claim 3 or 4, in which the control parameters can be varied during the stroke movement of the drive (22).The lead-out system according to one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the control device (30) is coupled to a sensor (40) for detecting weight and / or center of gravity parameters of the objects (12).Discharge system according to one of Claims 1 to 6, in which the discharge system of the linear drive (22) can be initialized before starting up and / or during running operation.Discharge system according to one of Claims 1 to 7, comprising a tracking error detection of the linear drive (22).Discharge system according to one of Claims 1 to 8, in which the position of the linear drive (22) is adjustable during operation.Discharge system according to claim 9, in which the position adjustment can be controlled by the control device (30) as a function of detected sensor values with respect to weight- and / or centroid- and / or size-dependent parameters of the objects (12).Method for discharging beverage containers (12) from a moving transport device (14) with successive beverage containers (12) by means of a discharge device (20) for the pushed discharge of selected beverage containers (12) perpendicular or at an angle to a conveying direction of the transport device (14), wherein beverage containers (12) are discharged by means of a position-controlled linear drive (22) and are pushed laterally by the transport device (14) onto a plurality of discharge tracks (18), characterized in that - in addition to the actual transport device (14) which transports the beverage containers (12) in the direction of a further treatment, the discharge tracks (18) arranged next to them conduct defective beverage containers (13) either for disposal (T1) or onto a transport belt for return (T2) and in that - defective beverage containers (13) are discharged onto the transport belt for return (T2), which are returned to a cleaning machine.Method according to claim 11, wherein the linear drive (22) or the electric linear motor (24) is controlled by a control device (30) for presetting different movement parameters of the drive (22).Method according to claim 12, wherein the control device (30) controls a stroke, a stroke speed and / or an acceleration of the drive (22).Method according to Claim 12 or Claim 13, wherein the control parameters are varied during the stroke movement of the drive (22).Method according to one of Claims 12 to 14, wherein the drive (22) is actuated as a function of weight and / or center of gravity parameters of the objects (12).Method according to one of Claims 11 to 15, wherein the linear drive (22) is initialized before startup and / or during ongoing operation.Method according to one of Claims 11 to 16, having a tracking error detection of the linear drive (22).Method according to one of Claims 11 to 17, wherein a position adjustment of the linear drive (22) is effected by means of the control device (30) as a function of detected sensor values with respect to weight- and / or centre-of-gravity- and / or size-dependent parameters of the objects (12).

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