DISC SHAFT FOR A LOADING AND / OR DISPENSING DEVICE FOR CONTAINER TREATMENT

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a disc shaft for a loading and / or dispensing device for container treatment as well as a loading and / or dispensing device for the parallel loading and / or dispensing of containers, in particular for a container cleaning machine.

[0002] Loading and / or dispensing devices with a disc shaft are known in various designs from the prior art and are commonly used to load or discharge containers to be treated, for example, reusable bottles to be cleaned, into or from a container handling device. For this purpose, such a dispensing device has a disc shaft with several loading and / or dispensing discs arranged on a common disc shaft axis, each with one or two fingers for moving a container from a first position to a second position.

[0003] From DE 25 35 064 A1, a dispensing device for vessels from a cleaning machine is already known, which has a rotating disc with two fingers for lowering and dispensing a cleaned vessel.

[0004] However, such a device has the disadvantages that strong acceleration and deceleration forces occur when operating the discs with the two fingers, resulting in high wear on the components of the disc shaft and the drive mechanism that powers this shaft. Furthermore, the rapid rotation of the disc shaft during operation with high container throughput leads to suboptimal loading and unloading of the containers, resulting in inaccurate container transport, undesirable noise generation, and generally suboptimal operation of the loading and / or unloading device, leading to malfunctions and resulting operational interruptions.

[0005] US 2,128,192 A discloses a device according to the preamble of claim 1 and relates to a device for loading or feeding containers onto a conveyor belt, particularly in conjunction with container cleaning machines. Containers, such as bottles, are transferred from a conveyor belt, on which they are conveyed in an upright position into the machine, into bottle receiving pockets of an endless, intermittently forward-moving conveyor belt in order to transport the bottles from a loading station in a horizontal position to the cleaning devices of the machine. For this purpose, a device for feeding the containers into the pockets is provided, including a movable container transport element with a plurality of container bottom engagement sections arranged in series.

[0006] US Patent 3,110,387 A relates to a bottle handling device for unloading rows of bottles from a bottle washing machine and placing the rows on a horizontal surface, comprising a plurality of rotatable cam elements and a plurality of interacting pairs of first and second support surfaces on each of the cam elements. The support surfaces are configured to make contact with the bottom or side of a bottle. Each interacting pair of first and second support surfaces is configured to support a bottle when the cam elements are rotated, thereby unloading a plurality of rows from the washing machine and placing them on a horizontal surface for each rotation of the cam elements.

[0007] The invention is therefore based on the objective of providing a disc shaft for a loading and / or unloading device that enables error-free loading and unloading of containers even with a high container throughput, minimizing the forces occurring and thus the associated wear, and achieving precise container transport with low noise levels.

[0008] The problem is solved according to the invention by a disc shaft for a feeding and / or dispensing device according to claim 1 and by a feeding and / or dispensing device according to claim 13. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

[0009] The disc shaft according to the invention for a loading and / or dispensing device for container treatment, in particular for the parallel loading and / or dispensing of containers, has several loading and / or dispensing discs arranged on a common disc shaft axis for moving each container from a first position to a second position, wherein each loading and / or dispensing disc has three drive fingers distributed around the circumference for supporting the container to be moved in the area of ​​the container bottom.

[0010] Furthermore, the invention relates to a loading and / or dispensing device for the parallel loading and / or dispensing of containers, in particular for a container cleaning machine, with a disc shaft according to the invention.

[0011] The inventors recognized that by arranging three or more drive fingers along the circumference of the feed and / or discharge disc, it can be rotated more slowly to achieve the same container throughput as a device with only one or two drive fingers. This not only allows for a smaller drive shaft for the disc, but also advantageously reduces the kinematics of the drive elements and, in particular, the acceleration and deceleration forces. Consequently, the catch-up time between bottle movements is also significantly extended. Furthermore, less wear occurs, thus considerably increasing the service life. Finally, with the slower rotating disc shaft, dynamic optimization of the motion sequence is considerably easier, resulting in more precise operation and reduced noise.However, the inventors had to fundamentally change the shape and design of the loading and / or dispensing disc in order to still be able to move the closely spaced containers without interference.

[0012] According to the invention, the loading and / or dispensing device is a device for simultaneously moving several containers from one position to another, in order to load the containers into or from another device. The loading and / or dispensing device for containers is preferably used in the field of industrial container filling and particularly preferably on a container cleaning machine. Moving each container from the first position to the second position during loading and / or dispensing can involve a change in the orientation and / or spatial position of the container, whereby pure rotation, pure translation, or a superposition of rotation and translation can be used to move from the first position to the second position.

[0013] According to the invention, the disc shaft is formed from several feed and / or discharge discs arranged on the disc shaft axis. The disc shaft is also referred to as the feed, inlet, or outlet shaft. Preferably, the feed and / or discharge discs are arranged parallel to each other on the disc shaft and / or have an identical angular orientation, particularly with respect to the disc shaft axis. It is also preferably the case that all feed and / or discharge discs are arranged on the disc shaft at the same distance from each other and from the adjacent disc. This distance is preferably greater than the diameter of a container and / or less than twice the diameter of the container.

[0014] The disc shaft axis can be of any shape and, in particular, have any cross-section. Preferably, the disc shaft axis has a non-circular cross-section. The disc shaft axis is further preferably formed as a shaft and, more preferably, as a hollow shaft. Although the disc shaft axis can also consist of several components as an assembly, it is preferably formed in one piece.

[0015] To advantageously minimize the moving masses, the feed and / or discharge discs, and especially the disc bodies of the feed and / or discharge discs, are preferably designed as lightweight structures and feature numerous recesses. Particularly preferably, the feed and / or discharge discs, and especially the disc bodies, are designed in a truss or frame-like structure. Most preferably, the material is removed from non-load-bearing areas and / or reduced to load-bearing areas in the form of struts.

[0016] The disc shaft, the feed and / or discharge discs, and / or the disc base bodies can, in principle, be made of any material, wherein the components of the disc shaft, in particular the feed and / or discharge discs, the disc base bodies, the disc shaft axis, a frame, and / or other components, are preferably made of metal and particularly preferably of stainless steel. Furthermore, the feed and / or discharge disc can also be made entirely or at least partially, especially in the areas that come into contact with a container, of plastic.

[0017] The container can be any type of vessel, but is preferably made of plastic or glass and / or designed to hold food, and in particular a beverage. Accordingly, the container is preferably a bottle. Furthermore, the container is preferably part of a reusable system and, more preferably, a reusable bottle, especially made of glass or plastic.

[0018] According to the invention, each loading and / or dispensing disc has three drive fingers that are evenly distributed around the circumference of the loading and / or dispensing disc, so that a container to be moved can be received after each rotation of the disc shaft axis by 120°. Accordingly, an even distribution of the drive fingers around the circumference means that, in a loading and / or dispensing disc with three drive fingers, a drive finger is arranged every 120°, and in a loading and / or dispensing disc with four drive fingers, every 90°.

[0019] In principle, the feed and / or dispensing disc can be designed as a multi-finger disc with any number of drive fingers, preferably having between 3 and 5, and particularly preferably between 3 and 4, drive fingers. However, an excessive number of drive fingers poses a risk of collision between successive containers in the area of ​​a feed and / or dispensing disc, especially if the diameter of the feed and / or dispensing disc is not increased compared to a feed and / or dispensing disc with only one or two drive fingers, in order to maintain compatibility with a corresponding feed and / or dispensing device.

[0020] The primary function of the drive finger is to support the container being moved in the area of ​​the container base. This support preferably occurs throughout the entire moving process and / or throughout the entire contact of the container with the feed and / or discharge disc. Preferably, a surface of the drive finger continuously contacts the container base, and more preferably, the drive finger supports at least partially, and most preferably, at least predominantly, the weight of the container being moved. To ensure particularly gentle contact between the drive finger and the container, the drive finger, at least in the area in contact with the container (the contact area), is preferably made of plastic.

[0021] According to the invention, the feed and / or discharge disc is formed from at least two disc base bodies that can be fixed to the disc shaft axis and a drive element, preferably detachably fixed to the disc base body and having the drive finger, whereby a particularly easy replacement of the drive finger is possible and a particularly simple construction of the feed and / or discharge disc is achieved.

[0022] According to the invention, the feed and / or discharge disc is formed from two disc base bodies arranged adjacent to one another and jointly surrounding the disc shaft axis. One disc base body has a drive element, and the other disc base body has two drive elements. Dividing the feed and / or discharge disc into at least two disc segments, each consisting of a single disc base body, enables particularly simple fixing and / or mounting of the feed and / or discharge disc on the disc shaft axis. All disc segments of a feed and / or discharge disc essentially completely surround the disc shaft axis. Preferably, a feed and / or discharge disc has 2 to 4, and particularly preferably 2 to 3, disc segments. Furthermore, preferably, all feed and / or discharge discs of the disc shaft are formed from an identical number of disc segments and / or disc base bodies.Preferably, all loading and / or dispensing discs of the disc shaft are identical to each other. In a design of a loading and / or dispensing disc with one drive element on one disc base body and two further drive elements on another disc base body, the two disc base bodies are preferably not identical to each other.

[0023] According to an advantageous embodiment of the disc shaft according to the invention, all drive elements of a feed and / or discharge disc are identically shaped and / or each formed in one piece, which makes replacement particularly easy and quick and requires only a single drive element. Furthermore, the drive element is preferably formed as a plate-shaped plastic part.

[0024] Although each drive element can have any number of drive fingers and / or backs for supporting the container to be moved, it is preferred that each drive element has one drive finger, preferably exactly one drive finger, and one back, preferably exactly one back. The drive finger and / or the back are particularly preferably designed such that the drive finger comes into contact with the container to be moved exclusively in the area of ​​the container bottom and / or the back comes into contact with the container to be moved exclusively in the area of ​​the container side wall. In an alternative design of a drive element with one drive finger and one back, a drive element can also have only one drive finger or one back, in which case drive elements with one drive finger and drive elements with one back are particularly preferably arranged alternately along the circumference of the disc shaft axis.Particularly preferably, at least one drive element with a drive finger and one drive element with a back are arranged together on a disc base body. As with the drive fingers, it is preferred that the backs are made of a plastic, and in particular of the same plastic as the drive fingers.

[0025] A preferred embodiment of the disc shaft according to the invention provides that the drive finger is shaped such that, throughout the entire movement of the container, there is only one contact point between the drive finger and the container, located in the region of the container base and preferably in the region of the center of the container base, thereby achieving the lowest possible friction. For the purposes of the invention, the contact point is defined as a non-two-dimensional contact surface, i.e., a line- or dot-shaped contact area, whereby this contact point can shift on the surface of the drive finger during the movement of the container. However, even then, at any given time during the movement, there is only contact between the container and the drive finger in a single area, the respective contact point.However, in this embodiment of the invention, a planar contact is undesirable, and in particular the container does not stand flat and / or at several points on a surface of the drive finger.

[0026] A particularly preferred embodiment of the disc shaft according to the invention further provides that the drive finger has a strongly convexly curved surface in the area of ​​a contact surface for establishing a contact point with the container to be moved, wherein the radius of this curvature is preferably at most 50%, particularly preferably at most 25%, and most preferably at most 10% of the bottle diameter. The contact point preferably lies on the contact surface throughout the entire movement of the container, and the contact point can shift on the contact surface, and particularly preferably shifts continuously during the movement.

[0027] To achieve particularly low-friction guidance of the container to be moved, even in the area of ​​the back, the back preferably has a strongly convex curved surface in the area of ​​a contact surface with the container to be moved, and especially also in the area of ​​a contact point, wherein the radius of this curvature is preferably at most 50%, particularly preferably at most 25%, and most preferably at most 15% of the bottle diameter. Furthermore, to enable particularly dynamic guidance of the container to be moved, an advantageous embodiment of the disc shaft according to the invention also provides that the drive element is designed such that, throughout the entire movement of the container, the contact points of the drive finger to the container bottom and of the back to the container side wall are spaced apart from one another and / or there is no contiguous contact between the drive finger and the back with the container.Particularly preferably, there is no continuous contact and, in particular, generally no contact between the edge of the bottle bottom and / or the bottle side wall and a part of the drive element, and especially with the drive finger and / or the back, so that tilting and / or discontinuous guidance is excluded.

[0028] To enable the unimpeded and, in particular, collision-free transfer of successive containers by means of a single loading and / or unloading disc on the disc shaft, the individual drive elements must be arranged along the circumference of the loading and / or unloading disc on the respective disc base body in such a way that the distance between two successive drive elements, especially in the area where they are fixed to the disc base body, is at least as large as the length of the drive elements in this area or in the circumferential direction. The gaps or free spaces between the individual drive elements are therefore greater than the length or angular segment of the drive elements along the circumference.

[0029] To enable particularly easy mounting of the feed and / or discharge disc on the disc shaft axis and to allow for particularly precise positioning, the disc base bodies are arranged on the disc shaft axis and fixed to one another, and in particular screwed together, in such a way that fixing to the disc shaft axis is achieved by a prism clamp and / or each disc base body and the disc shaft axis are designed in such a way that self-centering and / or forced alignment of all disc base bodies with respect to the disc shaft axis occurs during fixing. Preferably, the disc base bodies or the disc segments, and thus the entire feed and / or discharge disc formed from them, are fixed exclusively by clamping to the disc shaft axis.The disk base bodies, and in particular two disk base bodies opposite each other with respect to the disk shaft axis, are arranged to exert a force on both sides of a surface of the disk shaft axis, thus achieving a rotationally fixed and / or translationally fixed fixation to the disk shaft axis. Particularly preferably, the clamping is achieved such that a force is applied to each surface section along the circumference of the disk shaft axis and / or between the surface of the disk shaft axis and the disk base bodies.

[0030] Finally, an alternative, preferred embodiment of the disc shaft according to the invention provides that the feed and / or discharge disc is formed in one piece and has an axial opening for positive locking on the disc shaft axis as well as sections formed as drive fingers and / or a back, thereby enabling particularly cost-effective and simple manufacturing. Furthermore, preferably, the entire feed and / or discharge disc has a constant material thickness. It is also preferably the feed and / or discharge disc is then made of plastic.

[0031] Several embodiments of the loading and / or dispensing device according to the invention, as well as of disc shafts, are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings. The figures show: Fig. 1 a perspective view of a loading and / or dispensing device for container treatment, Fig. 2 a perspective view of a disc shaft of the in Fig. 1shown dispensing and / or delivery device, Fig. 3 a side view of the in Fig. 2 The disc shaft shown, Fig. 4, is a view of the installation position of the [part] in the Fig. 2 and 3 The illustrated disc shaft in a feed and / or discharge device, and Fig. 5 a perspective view of another, non-inventive embodiment of a disc shaft with a one-piece feed and / or discharge disc.

[0032] During a Fig. 1 In the illustrated embodiment of a loading and / or dispensing device 2, a disc shaft 1 is arranged inside a housing for the parallel loading and / or dispensing of containers 5.

[0033] The disc shaft 1 is formed from several feed and / or discharge discs 4 arranged parallel to each other on a disc shaft axis 3. The feed and / or discharge disc 4 is formed from two disc base bodies 8 made of stainless steel, which together substantially completely surround the disc shaft axis 3 (see Fig. 2 The feed and / or discharge disc 4 is exclusively clamped to the disc shaft axis 3 by means of the disc base bodies 8, so that due to the square cross-sectional area of ​​the disc shaft axis 3, the feed and / or discharge disc 4 is self-centered.

[0034] Three drive elements 9 are arranged evenly distributed around the circumference of the disc base bodies 8 of the feed and / or discharge disc 4 (see Fig. 3), wherein the drive elements 9 are each formed in one piece and made of plastic. To make the drive elements 9 particularly easy to replace, they are fixed to the disc base bodies 8.

[0035] Each drive element 9 has a drive finger 6 for lifting or lowering a container 5 in the area of ​​the container bottom 7 and a back 10 for supporting the container 5 in the area of ​​a container side wall 11. The drive finger 6 and the back 10 each have a strongly convex curved surface 13, 15, so that a container 5 moved by means of the lifting and / or discharging disc 4 is in contact only with a linear contact surface 12, 14 of the drive finger 6 and the back 10 during the entire movement (see Fig. 4 ), so that a particularly easy and low-friction sliding of the container 5 on the drive element 9 is enabled.

[0036] One in Fig. 5The illustrated alternative, non-inventive loading and / or dispensing disc 4 is formed in one piece from plastic and also has three drive fingers 6 evenly distributed around its circumference and a back 10. The loading and / or dispensing disc 4 is secured exclusively by a positive locking mechanism via an axial opening 16 in the loading and / or dispensing disc 4, which is adapted to the shape of the cross-sectional area of ​​the disc shaft axis 3. In this embodiment as well, the area of ​​the drive finger 6 and the back 10 are designed such that the container 6 to be moved rests on the loading and / or dispensing disc 4 at only two contact points at any given time. Reference symbol list

[0037] 1 Disc shaft 2 Feed and / or discharge device 3 Disc shaft axle 4 Feed and / or discharge disc 5 Container 6 Drive finger 7 Container bottom 8 Disc base body 9 Drive element 10 Back 11 Container side wall 12 Contact surface of the drive finger 13 Convex curved surface of the drive finger 14 Contact surface of the back 15 Convex curved surface of the back 16 Axle opening

Claims

1. Plate shaft (1) for a pick-up and / or set-down device (2) for container handling, with - a plurality of pick-up and / or set-down plates (4) arranged on a common plate shaft axis (3) for moving one container (5) each from a first position to a second position, wherein - each pick-up and / or set-down plate (4) has three carrier fingers (6) distributed over the circumference for supporting the container (5) to be moved in the region of the container bottom (7), characterised in that - the pick-up and / or set-down plate (4) is formed of two adjacent plate base bodies (8) jointly around the plate shaft axis (3), wherein - on one plate body (8) a carrier element (9) having a carrier finger (6) is arranged and on the other plate body (8) two carrier elements (9) each having one carrier finger (6) are arranged.

2. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to claim 1, characterised in that the carrier element (9) is fixed detachably on the plate body (8) and has the carrier finger (6).

3. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to claim 1, characterised in that each carrier element (9) has a carrier finger (6) and / or a back (10) to support the container (5) in the area of a container side wall (11).

4. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that all the carrier elements (9) of a pick-up and / or set-down plate (4) are shaped identically and / or are each formed of one piece.

5. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that each carrier element (9) has precisely one carrier finger (6) and precisely one back (10), wherein these are formed such that the carrier finger (6) comes into contact with the container (5) to be moved exclusively in the region of the container bottom (7) and the back (10) comes into contact with the container (5) to be moved exclusively in the region of the container side wall (11).

6. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the carrier finger (6) is shaped such that during the entire movement of the container (5) there is exclusively one contact point of the carrier finger (6) with the container (5) in the region of the centre of the container bottom.

7. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the carrier finger (6) has a convex surface (13) in the region of a contact surface (12) to create a contact point to the container (5) to be moved, wherein the radius of this convex bend is a maximum of 10% of the diameter of a container.

8. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the back (10) has a convex surface (15) in the region of a contact surface (14) to create a contact point to the container (5) to be moved, wherein the radius of this convex bend is a maximum of 15% of the diameter of a container.

9. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the carrier element (9) is formed such that during the entire movement of the container (5) the contact points of the carrier finger (6) to the container bottom (7) and of the back (10) to the container side wall (11) are spaced apart from each other and / or there is no contiguous contact of the carrier finger (6) and at the same time of the back (10) to the container (5).

10. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the individual carrier elements (9) are arranged over the circumference of the pick-up and / or set-down plate (4) in such a way on the particular plate body (8) that the distance between two consecutive carrier elements (9) is at least as great as the length of the carrier elements (9).

11. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the plate bodies (8) are arranged on the plate shaft axis (3) and bolted to each other in such a way that fixing on the plate shaft axis (3) by prisma clamping results.

12. Plate shaft for a pick-up and / or set-down device according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the pick-up and / or set-down plate (4) is formed as one piece and also has an axis opening (16) for form-fitting fixing on the plate shaft axis (3) and has sections configured as carrier fingers (6) and as backs (10).

13. Pick-up and / or set-down device (2) for the parallel picking-up and / or setting-down of containers (5), in particular for a container cleaning machine, with a plate shaft (1) according to at least one of claims 1 - 12.