Loading and / or unloading device and method for the parallel loading and / or unloading of containers
Patent Information
- Application Number
- EP2023730769
- Authority / Receiving Office
- EP · EP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2022-07-13
- Filing Date
- 2023-06-02
- Publication Date
- 2025-05-21
Smart Images
Figure 1.1
Abstract
Description
[0001] Description
[0002] Loading and / or dispensing device and method for parallel loading and / or dispensing of containers
[0003] The invention relates to a loading and / or unloading device for the parallel loading and / or unloading of containers, in particular for a container cleaning machine, comprising a disk shaft with a plurality of disks arranged on a common disk shaft axis for displacing a container from a first position to a second position, wherein each disk has at least one finger for raising or lowering a container in the region of the container base and at least one back for contact with a container side wall. Furthermore, the invention relates to a device for treating, in particular for cleaning, containers, a method for the parallel loading of containers, and a method for the parallel unloading of containers.
[0004] Loading and / or unloading devices for the parallel loading and / or unloading of containers are known from the prior art. These devices are commonly used for loading or feeding, or for unloading or removing containers in the area of a container handling device. For example, reusable bottles are cleaned before further use and are fed from a conveyor belt to a bottle washing system using a loading device. Following cleaning, they are removed from the bottle washing system using a unloading device. The cleaned bottles are then fed to the refilling process using another conveyor belt.
[0005] In the loading and / or dispensing devices known from the prior art, a rotatable disc shaft is typically arranged at the end of a pivoting rocker arm, wherein the disc shaft has at least one finger and optionally also a back for raising or lowering a bottle from a first position to a second position. Due to the arrangement of the rotatable disc shaft on a rocker arm, the possible movement during bottle loading or unloading is limited to an arc with a radius corresponding to the length of the rocker arm. Thus, a pivoting movement determined by the shape of the rocker arm and a rotation of the disc shaft about its axis occur.
[0006] This arrangement of the disc shaft results in large masses having to be moved along the swing arm lever, which, on the one hand, requires high drive power and thus leads to high energy consumption, and, on the other hand, leads to increased wear and tear and thus high operating costs. Furthermore, arranging the disc shaft on a rigid swing arm does not allow for precise control and only allows a single movement path defined by the swing arm.
[0007] The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a method and a loading and / or dispensing device for the parallel loading and / or dispensing of containers, which allows a diverse design and precise control of a control curve, while having low energy consumption and generally low operating costs.
[0008] The object is achieved according to the invention by a loading and / or dispensing device for the parallel loading and / or dispensing of containers according to claim 1, by a device for treating containers according to claim 13, a method for the parallel loading of containers according to claim 14, and by a method for the parallel dispensing of containers according to claim 15. Advantageous developments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.
[0009] The loading and / or unloading device according to the invention for the parallel loading and / or unloading of containers, in particular for a container cleaning machine, has a disk shaft with a plurality of disks arranged on a common disk shaft axis for displacing a container in each case from a first layer and / or position into a second layer and / or position, wherein each disk has at least one finger for lifting and / or lowering a container, in particular in the region of the container base, and preferably also at least one back for contact with a container side wall, and wherein the disk shaft is rotatably mounted and arranged to be linearly displaceable, so that the disk shaft is or can be moved along a linear-rotary control curve for loading and / or unloading.
[0010] The device according to the invention for treating, in particular for cleaning, containers has a first conveyor means for feeding containers, a container treatment device arranged downstream of the first conveyor means, in particular a container cleaning machine, and a second conveyor means for guiding away the treated containers, wherein a feeding device according to the invention for feeding the containers into the container treatment device is arranged between the first conveyor means and the container treatment device and / or a discharge device according to the invention for unloading the containers from the container treatment device is arranged between the container treatment device and the second conveyor means.
[0011] Finally, the invention relates to two methods, one for the parallel loading of containers and the other for the parallel dispensing of containers. These are two possible uses of the loading and / or dispensing device according to the invention, with the difference between the two methods preferably essentially being the position at which the container comes into contact with the finger and the position at which the container is dispensed or placed down.
[0012] The method according to the invention for the parallel feeding of containers, in particular by means of a feeding device according to the invention, has as method steps first feeding containers to a disk of a rotatable and linearly displaceable disk shaft of the feeding device, followed by picking up each container from a first position by means of a finger of the disk in the region of the container bottom and finally lifting the container and / or rotating the container by means of the finger to displace the container into a second position for feeding the container into a container treatment device, wherein the lifting and / or rotating takes place by rotating the disk shaft about a disk shaft axis and by linearly displacing the disk shaft.
[0013] The method according to the invention for the parallel dispensing of containers, in particular by means of a feeding device according to the invention, comprises the following method steps: first, feeding containers, in particular from a container handling device, to a disk of a rotatable and linearly displaceable disk shaft of the dispensing device, then removing the container from a first position by means of a finger of the disk in the region of the container base, and finally lowering the container and / or rotating the container by means of the finger to displace the container into a second upright position for dispensing the container. During the lowering, the container is supported laterally by a back of the disk and / or, after lowering into an upright storage position, is displaced away from the storage position by means of the back of the disk shaft in order to be able to lower another container.Alternatively or additionally, the lowering and / or rotation is carried out by rotating the disc shaft around a disc shaft axis and by linearly displacing the disc shaft.
[0014] The invention advantageously enables a container or format change without modifying the device thanks to the flexible design of the control cam. The inventors fundamentally recognized that, instead of requiring modification, a container or format change can be achieved particularly quickly and easily by simply changing the software or the control cam. Furthermore, the inventive design reduces the number and mass of the moving parts, thereby lowering the manufacturing costs of the device and requiring less drive power, which lowers energy consumption and, once again, reduces operating costs. Finally, more precise control is possible due to the lower moving mass.
[0015] According to the invention, the loading and / or dispensing device is a device for moving multiple containers simultaneously from one position to another, in order to load the containers into another device or to dispense them 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.
[0016] The parallel loading of containers preferably involves picking up several containers simultaneously, each by means of a disc of the disc shaft, and in particular by means of a single finger of the disc shaft. Particularly preferably, the parallel loading also involves a spatially parallel arrangement of the containers, in particular in the first position, in the second position, and / or during movement from the first to the second position. The containers are preferably picked up by a conveying means, in particular a conveyor belt or the like.
[0017] Furthermore, each container is preferably moved during loading into a bottle magazine and in particular into a receiving opening or a container cell of a bottle magazine. The loading preferably takes place by lifting the container, in particular by means of the finger and / or in the region of the container base, and / or by rotating the container, preferably by at least 45°, particularly preferably by an angle between 45° and 135° and most particularly preferably by an angle between 75° and 105°. The rotation of the container preferably takes place together with a rotation of the disc shaft and / or in the direction of the linear displacement of the disc shaft. Alternatively or additionally, the container is preferably finally inserted linearly into a receiving opening ora container cell of a bottle magazine, which is particularly preferably carried out by a linear displacement of the disc shaft and very particularly preferably exclusively by a linear displacement of the disc shaft and / or without a rotation of the disc shaft.
[0018] Accordingly, the displacement of each container from the first position to the second position during loading and / or unloading can be a change in the orientation and / or spatial position of the container, whereby a pure rotation, a pure translation or a superposition of a rotation and a translation can be used to get from the first position to the second position.
[0019] The parallel delivery of containers preferably involves lowering several containers simultaneously, each by means of a disk of the disk shaft and in particular by means of a single finger of the disk shaft. The container is preferably delivered in an upright position. The container is further preferably delivered onto a conveyor, in particular a conveyor belt or the like, or onto a container receiving plate, on which each of the containers is placed upright or positioned upright by means of the finger. Furthermore preferably, a conveyor for transporting the containers away is arranged behind the container receiving plate, and particularly preferably the containers are pushed by the container receiving plate in the direction of the conveyor, particularly preferably by means of the respective back of the disk or the disk shaft.
[0020] Furthermore, each container is preferably moved during dispensing from a bottle magazine, in particular from a receiving opening or a container cell of a bottle magazine. Dispensing preferably occurs by lowering the container, in particular by means of a finger and / or in the region of the container base, although in principle, rotation of the container is also possible. However, it is preferred that the container be rotated by less than 20°, more preferably by less than 10°, and most preferably by less than 5° during dispensing.
[0021] The container can, in principle, be any vessel, with the container preferably being made of plastic or glass and / or being intended for holding a food item and, in particular, a beverage. Accordingly, the container is preferably a bottle. Furthermore, the container is preferably part of a reusable system and, accordingly, is particularly preferably a reusable bottle, in particular made of glass or plastic.
[0022] According to the invention, the disc shaft is formed from a plurality of discs arranged on the disc shaft axis. The discs are preferably arranged parallel to one another on the disc shaft and / or have an identical angular orientation with regard to the position of the at least one finger, in particular with respect to the disc shaft axis. Likewise preferably, all discs on the disc shaft are arranged at the same distance from one another or 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. In order to advantageously keep the moving masses particularly low, the disc shaft is preferably designed as a lightweight construction and for this purpose has numerous recesses. Particularly preferably, the disc shaft or the discs are designed in the manner of a framework or scaffold.It is particularly preferred that the material be removed from non-load-bearing areas and / or reduced to force-absorbing areas in the form of struts.
[0023] Preferably, the disc shaft is formed in such a way, and particularly preferably, the finger and / or the back are arranged and / or formed in such a way that the loading and unloading of the containers takes place in the same direction of rotation of the disc shaft. Theoretically, it would thus be conceivable for containers to be loaded on one side of the disc shaft and unloaded on the other side of the disc shaft at the same time.
[0024] The disc shaft, the discs, the fingers, and / or the backs can, in principle, be made of any material. Preferably, the fingers and / or the backs are made of a plastic. Likewise, the remaining components, in particular the disc shaft, the discs, a frame, and / or other components, are preferably made of metal, particularly preferably stainless steel.
[0025] According to the invention, the at least one finger of the disc is provided to come into contact with a container in the region of the container base and in doing so to raise or lower the container or to displace it from the first position to the second position. Preferably, the finger comes into contact with the container exclusively in the region of the container base and / or a lower container edge. The finger preferably has a rounded portion at its tip or at the position with maximum distance from the disc shaft axis or in the region coming into contact with a container base, wherein the rounded portion preferably extends over an external angle or over an angular range on its surface of at least 90°, particularly preferably greater than 90° and less than 145° and most particularly preferably between 100° and 135°.
[0026] Furthermore, the finger is preferably formed in such a way and in particular forms the outer edge of the disc, so that containers can be picked up from an elevated position, in particular the uppermost quadrant of the disc, by means of the finger, wherein the containers only fall over a small height until contact with the finger and preferably only over a height not greater than 25%, particularly preferably not greater than 15% and most particularly preferably not greater than 10% of the container height.
[0027] The at least one finger and the at least one spine of a disk can each be a separate component or formed integrally and thus each be a section of a common component. In particular, the finger and spine can merge seamlessly into one another. A finger of a disk of the disk shaft is preferably longer in the radial direction, particularly preferably at least 1.5 times longer, and most particularly preferably 2 times longer than the spine.
[0028] The back for contact with a container side wall is preferably provided for stabilizing the container during container loading, whereby additionally or alternatively the container can also be stabilized by means of a container guide, in particular a fixed container guide rail and / or a container guide rail arranged on both sides of the container. Accordingly, it is also conceivable for the back to have no function during container loading, to only perform an auxiliary function and / or not come into contact with the container or only immediately at the start of the lifting process. Furthermore, a container guide can also rotate with the disk shaft and / or be fixedly arranged on it.
[0029] When dispensing containers, in particular by lowering containers, the back for contact with a container side wall is preferably provided to push a container that has been lowered by means of the finger and is already placed down and / or is no longer in contact with the finger out of the pivoting range of the disc or finger, so that a subsequent container can be placed in that position and / or the container is fed to a conveyor. This "pushing out" of the container by means of the back has the advantage, particularly compared to directly positioning the container on a conveyor, that disruption and, in particular, jamming of contaminants such as broken glass, container closures, labels, and the like, is effectively prevented.
[0030] According to the invention, the disk shaft is mounted so as to be rotatable and arranged so as to be linearly displaceable, whereby the disk shaft is thus both rotatable and linearly displaceable relative to a frame and / or a housing of the loading and / or unloading device, relative to the environment and / or relative to a conveying means. The rotation takes place around the central longitudinal axis of the disk shaft, around the center point of each of the disks and / or around the disk shaft axis. The linear displacement of the disk shaft can in principle take place at any angle. Preferably, the linear displacement takes place along the horizontal or parallel to the floor in an installation position of the loading and / or unloading device. However, it is also conceivable for the linear displacement to take place in an ascending or descending direction relative to the horizontal in order to optimize the control curve.Finally, it is conceivable to make the angle of the linear displacement adjustable or variable manually, electrically or even during operation of the loading and / or unloading device.
[0031] According to the invention, the disc shaft is moved along a linear-rotary control curve for loading and / or dispensing, whereby the course of the control curve is not predetermined by the components of the loading and / or dispensing device, but is limited by them at most. The control curve can be programmed by freely controlling the rotation of the disc shaft and by freely controlling the linear displacement and can be particularly preferably adapted to individual requirements, such as the respective container shape and size, as well as the geometric design of the individual components of the loading and / or dispensing device, in particular the finger and / or the back.Thus, the invention enables a wide variation of the control cam, with exemplary variables for its adjustment being the angular velocity and the adjustment angle of the disk shaft, the speed and travel distance of the linear adjustment, a combination of rotation and linear translation, and an at least temporary, purely rotary or translational drive of the disk shaft, which can be adjusted individually and / or independently of one another or in combination. The adjustment and / or programming of the control cam preferably takes place in a control unit, which can be part of the loading and / or unloading device or a higher-level control system.
[0032] It is particularly advantageous to program the control cam by freely controlling the rotation of the disk shaft and / or by freely controlling the linear displacement, and in this case, it is particularly preferable to adapt the control cam to individual requirements, such as the respective container shape, the container size and / or the geometric design of the individual components of the loading and / or dispensing device, in particular the finger and / or the back. Thus, the invention enables a wide variation of the control cam, with exemplary variables for its adjustment being the angular velocity and the adjustment angle of the disk shaft, the speed and travel distance of the linear adjustment, a combination of rotation and linear translation, and an at least temporary, purely rotary or translational drive of the disk shaft.
[0033] The movement of the disk shaft or the course of the control cam is not limited to a movement along an arc, as was the case with the prior art when the disk shaft was fixed to a pivotable, rigid arm or rocker. Rather, it is preferred that the control cam or the movement of the disk shaft be a reciprocal orbital rotation. Furthermore, the disk shaft is moved along its linear-rotary control cam for loading and / or unloading, i.e., the disk shaft is at least temporarily rotated and at least temporarily displaced linearly, in particular in a direction orthogonal to the disk shaft axis.
[0034] In the method according to the invention, a container is preferably fed to the disk shaft and in particular to the finger for subsequent lowering of the container via a discharge plate, which can be manually or motor-adjustable and, in particular, adjustable to the respective container format. In particular, the angle of the discharge plate and / or the distance of an edge of the discharge plate to the tip of the finger can be adapted to the respective container format. Alternatively, the discharge plate can also be arranged stationary, and adaptation to the respective container format can be achieved exclusively by adjusting the control cam of the disk shaft or by an adapted rotation and / or an adapted linear displacement.
[0035] In an advantageous embodiment of the loading and / or dispensing device according to the invention, each disc of the disc shaft has a plurality of pairs each consisting of a finger and a back, which are arranged and / or distributed evenly over the circumference of the disc. Preferably, a finger and a back are arranged alternately along the circumference of the disc. A design of the disc with two fingers and two backs is particularly preferred, as this allows a particularly large variety of different container formats to be handled. Generally speaking, each disc of the disc shaft preferably has an identical number of fingers and / or backs, with one finger and one disc particularly preferably forming a cooperating unit for loading and / or dispensing a single container. In particular, all discs of the disc shaft are formed identically to one another.
[0036] According to a preferred development of the loading and / or unloading device according to the invention, the rotation and linear displacement of the disk shaft can be controlled independently of one another, thereby advantageously allowing a particularly wide variety of possible control curves to be programmed, wherein, in particular, the rotation and / or linear displacement can also be carried out discontinuously and / or only temporarily superimposed. The controllable variables of the rotation are, in particular, the rotational or angular velocity and / or the rotation angle. The controllable variables of the linear displacement are, in particular, the speed, the direction, and / or the adjustment path, wherein control of the angle of the linear displacement is also conceivable.
[0037] An advantageous embodiment of the loading and / or unloading device according to the invention provides that the linear displacement of the disk shaft is carried out by means of a rack arranged on a stationary frame of the loading and / or unloading device and / or extending along the direction of the linear displacement, as well as by means of a gear wheel rolling thereon and / or connected to the disk shaft. Driving the linear displacement by means of a rack advantageously leads to a reduction in the drive torque and correspondingly to a low mechanical load on the device. The gear wheel preferably does not rotate with the disk shaft or the disk shaft axis. For this purpose, the gear wheel is preferably connected to the disk shaft directly or indirectly via a bearing and particularly preferably also via other frame components, so that the linear displacement can be controlled independently of the rotation of the disk shaft.The gear and / or the rack preferably have straight teeth and / or no helical teeth. The teeth can generally run along a straight path or along a curved path. Particularly preferably, the teeth run along a path parallel to the linear guide or to the guide rail(s). The gear is preferably made of plastic, which advantageously allows it to be operated without lubricant.
[0038] The rotation can in principle be driven in any way, with a one-sided rotation drive and / or a drive by means of an electric motor being preferred, which is particularly preferably designed as a servo motor or a stepper motor and very particularly preferably identical to the motor(s) of the linear displacement drive. Furthermore, the rotation drive is direct, i.e. the motor is directly connected to the disk shaft axis, although in principle a drive via a gear would also be conceivable, for example. Likewise preferably, the disk shaft and in particular the disk shaft axis are mounted on both sides, in particular by means of a ball or roller bearing, although a plain bearing is also conceivable in principle.
[0039] According to a preferred embodiment of the loading and / or dispensing device according to the invention, the rack is arranged with a toothed side facing downwards in the installed position of the loading and / or dispensing device, in particular on the frame, to prevent contamination of the toothing. The direction "downward" refers in particular to the direction of gravity, whereby a deviation from this direction of up to 15°, preferably not more than 10°, and in particular less than 5°, is conceivable.
[0040] Although the linear displacement can in principle be driven in any desired manner, for example by means of a spindle drive, a preferred development of the loading and / or unloading device according to the invention provides that the linear displacement of the disk shaft is driven by electric motors arranged on both sides of the disk shaft and / or operated synchronously with one another. The electric motors are preferably servo motors or stepper motors. Furthermore, the two motors are preferably operated in synchronous mode, i.e. the speed and / or angle of rotation of both motors are controlled identically or, more preferably, are operated in a regulated manner relative to one another.
[0041] Furthermore, a loading and / or unloading device is preferred which has a linear guide for the disk shaft for linear displacement with at least one and preferably two mutually parallel guide rails and one, preferably two, guide rollers rolling thereon, wherein the linear guide by means of the guide rails and the guide rollers is preferably a positive guide. For this purpose, it is particularly preferred that at least two guide rollers are arranged on opposite sides of the guide rails and roll in particular on surfaces of the two guide rails facing away from one another. In general, the positive guidance is preferably carried out in such a way that movement orthogonal to the guide rails is not possible. Likewise preferably, the guide rails are arranged parallel to one another and / or to the rack.Particularly preferably, the rack is simultaneously a guide rail and, for this purpose, particularly preferably has a surface on a side opposite the toothing, on which at least one guide roller rolls. The guide rollers are preferably designed as grooved rollers and roll on a correspondingly formed surface of the guide rail.
[0042] According to an advantageous development of the loading and / or dispensing device according to the invention, the rack and the gear and / or the linear guide are arranged between a stationary frame and a motor mounting plate for the motor for linear displacement and / or for the motor for rotation of the disc shaft, whereby the area for the linear drive, in particular the area of the gear, is not accessible from the area of the containers on the disc shaft and / or from an outside of the loading and / or dispensing device and is thus protected.Furthermore, the entire drive for rotation and linear displacement is preferably arranged outside an area that is accessible to containers, and particularly preferably at least one component of the loading and / or dispensing device, in particular the stationary frame and / or a motor mounting plate, is arranged between the containers and the parts of the drive, in particular the motors, the linear guide and / or the rack and the gear. Likewise, the entire drive for rotation and linear displacement is preferably arranged to the side of the disk shaft or outside the area of the disks. Preferably, both motors for linear displacement and for rotation of the disk shaft are arranged, at least on one side of the loading and / or dispensing device, on a common motor mounting plate or on two motor mounting plates that are fixed immovably relative to one another. Likewise, the frame is preferably stationary orimmobile relative to the installation position of the loading and / or unloading device. Furthermore, the rack is preferably arranged on the frame.
[0043] In a preferred embodiment of the loading and / or dispensing device according to the invention, a further drive, in particular a further linear drive, is arranged for the linear displacement of the disk shaft in a second direction and / or at an angle to the direction of the first linear displacement, whereby even more complex control curves can be implemented in a simple manner and the loading and / or dispensing device can be used in even greater versatility. The linear displacement by means of the further drive preferably takes place at an angle between 45° and 90°, particularly preferably between 75° and 90° and most preferably exactly at right angles to the direction of the first linear displacement. In a setup position of the loading and / or dispensing device, the first linear displacement particularly preferably takes place horizontally and / or the second linear displacement vertically or along a vertical axis.Furthermore, the additional drive for linear displacement preferably also has a gear that rolls on a rack. Likewise, the additional drive for linear displacement preferably also has at least one, particularly preferably two, linear guides, which are most preferably identical to the linear guide(s) of the linear guides for the first linear displacement. Most preferably, both drives for linear displacement are identical to one another.
[0044] In order to enable a rapid dispensing of several containers one after the other, in particular by means of one of the discs of the loading and / or dispensing device, a preferred embodiment provides that the back is so long or extends so far in the radial direction of the disc or to the disc shaft axis that it is possible to push away a container placed by the finger in a storage position by a distance that is greater than the diameter of a container, in particular greater than the diameter of the largest possible container to be loaded and / or dispensed by means of the loading and / or dispensing device.
[0045] In an advantageous development of the loading and / or dispensing device according to the invention, the finger and / or the back are formed as independent components and / or are interchangeably attached to the disc or disc shaft. Furthermore, a finger and a back can each be interchangeably attached to the disc or disc shaft as a structural unit. The attachment is preferably effected in a form-fitting and / or force-fitting manner, in particular by locking, screwing, and / or securing with a cotter pin or pin.
[0046] Finally, a preferred development of the loading and / or dispensing device according to the invention provides that each disc of the disc shaft is formed from several, preferably identical, parts. Each part preferably has exactly one finger and one spine.
[0047] A preferred embodiment of at least one of the methods according to the invention for the parallel feeding and / or parallel dispensing of containers provides for an adjustment of the linear movement of the disk shaft, wherein preferably the adjustment path, the adjustment speed and / or the acceleration of the disk shaft can be adjusted, in particular along the linear guide or along the rack. In particular, an adjustment or variation of the linear movement and in particular the adjustment path, the adjustment speed and / or the acceleration can take place during a movement sequence or along the course of the linear-rotary control cam. Furthermore, the disk shaft is preferably moved at least in sections in the course of the control cam along a linear and / or non-curved movement path.
[0048] An embodiment of the loading and / or dispensing device according to the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings. The figures show:
[0049] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a loading and / or dispensing device,
[0050] Fig. 2 is a view of a first side of the loading and / or dispensing device shown in Fig. 1,
[0051] Fig. 3 is a view of the side of the loading and / or dispensing device shown in Fig. 2,
[0052] Fig. 4 is a detailed view of a disc shaft unit with associated motors for rotating and linearly moving the loading and / or unloading device,
[0053] Fig. 5 is a view of the top of the disc shaft unit shown in Fig. 4,
[0054] Fig. 6 is a view of the front of the disc shaft unit shown in Fig. 4,
[0055] Fig. 7 is a side view of the disc shaft unit shown in Fig. 4,
[0056] Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a section of the
[0057] Fig. 4 shown disc shaft unit in the area of the motors and a linear guide,
[0058] Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the linear guide area of the section shown in Fig. 8,
[0059] Fig. 10 is a side sectional view of the loading and / or dispensing device shown in Fig. 1,
[0060] Fig. 11 is an enlarged partial view of the area of the disc shaft of the loading and / or dispensing device shown in Fig. 10 with a container in a storage position, and
[0061] Fig. 12 is a schematic sectional view of a bottle receiving area along the disc shaft of the loading and / or dispensing device.
[0062] In an embodiment of a loading and / or dispensing device 1 shown in Fig. 1, a disk shaft 3 for the parallel loading and / or dispensing of containers 2 is arranged in the interior of a housing 22, which disk shaft 3 is rotatably mounted and linearly displaceable and is moved for the loading and / or dispensing of the containers 2 by means of a motor for linear displacement 12 and by means of a motor for rotation 13 along a freely programmable, linear-rotary control curve.
[0063] In order to enable the containers 2 to be raised or lowered, as well as rotated, during parallel loading and / or unloading, the disc shaft 3 has a disc shaft axis 4 that can be rotated directly by means of the motor for rotation 13. In the embodiment shown in the figures, four discs 5 are arranged on this disc shaft axis 4, equidistant from one another and in the same orientation. Each disc 5 is formed from two mutually identical parts 19 that are screwed together and completely surround the disc shaft axis 4. Due to their shape adapted to the square cross-sectional area of the disc shaft axis 4, they are fixed to the disc shaft axis 4 in a twisted manner (see Fig. 12).
[0064] Each part 19 of the disc 5 has a finger 6 and a back 7, which are formed from a single piece of plastic and merge into one another. Unless otherwise stated, the other parts of the loading and / or dispensing device 1 are made of stainless steel. The finger 6 is provided to support a container 2 on its base surface and to raise or lower it and to guide it during rotation. Accordingly, the task of the finger 6 is to absorb the weight of the container 2. The container 2 is picked up on the finger 6 for lowering the container 2 via a dispensing plate 24 (see Fig. 11 ), which can be either fixed or movable in order to be able to adapt to the respective format of the container 2.
[0065] The back 7 is fundamentally designed and arranged to stabilize the container 2, in particular in the region of a container side wall, and to push a container 2 already placed in a storage position 18, in particular during delivery or lowering, out of the storage position 18 in such a way that a further, subsequent container 2 can be placed again in the storage position 18 without the two containers 2 colliding with each other. In this way, in particular, the containers 2 can then be pushed towards each other from the storage position 18 to a conveyor 23 for transporting the containers 2 away (see Fig. 2). Alternatively or in addition to stabilizing the container 2 by the back 7, stabilizing and / or guiding the container 2 during a displacement from a first position to a second position by the disk shaft 3 can also be achieved by means of a container guide 20 (see Figs. 10 and 11).
[0066] In order to be able to adapt the linear-rotary control cam to a particular container format and other specifications, the rotation and linear displacement of the disk shaft 3 can be controlled independently of one another. During the movement of a container 2 from a first position to a second position, rotation and linear displacement do not have to occur continuously, but rather only one of the two movements can occur temporarily, while preferably both rotation and linear displacement occur temporarily. The control cam is programmed by freely controlling the rotation of the disk shaft and by freely controlling the linear displacement, wherein the control cam is adapted to the respective requirements, such as the respective container shape, the container size and / or the geometric design of the individual components of the loading and / or dispensing device, in particular the finger and / or the back.In order to enable such a wide variation of the control curve, the angular velocity and the adjustment angle of the disc shaft, the speed and the travel distance of the linear adjustment are controlled independently of each other.
[0067] To enable the disk shaft 3 to rotate around the disk shaft axis 4, the disk shaft axis 4 is rotatably mounted on a motor mounting plate 17. The motor 13 is also mounted for rotation opposite the motor mounting plate 17 and directly drives the disk shaft axis 4 (see Figs. 4-9). The motor mounting plate 17 is formed from several individual plates secured to one another (see Fig. 8). The rotation drive is provided only on one side of the disk shaft axis 4.
[0068] For linear displacement, the motor mounting plate 17, to which the disk shaft 3 is rotatably mounted, is displaceably arranged on a frame 8 of the loading and / or unloading device 1 by means of a linear guide 14, wherein the frame 8 is fixedly fixed to the loading and / or unloading device 1. In order to be able to linearly displace the disk shaft 3, a motor 12 for linear displacement is arranged on both sides of the disk shaft 3 or the disk shaft axis 4 on the motor mounting plate 17 located there, wherein both motors 12 are operated synchronously with one another.
[0069] On each motor 12 for linear displacement, a gear 10 is arranged on a motor shaft. The gear 10 has straight teeth and rolls against a rack 9. The gear 10 is made of plastic, which enables lubrication-free operation of the drive for linear displacement. The rack 9 is fixedly mounted on both sides of the disk shaft 3 on the frame 8 and, in the installation position of the loading and / or unloading device,
[0070] I horizontally aligned. One toothing 11 of the rack 9 points downwards or towards the ground, so that no dirt can accumulate on the toothing
[0071] II can come to rest.
[0072] Furthermore, the disk shaft 3 is positively guided in a linear manner by means of the linear guide 14, for which purpose two parallel guide rails 15 are arranged on either side of the disk shaft 3 on the frame 8, the upper of the two guide rails 15 forming a unit with the respective rack 9 (see Figs. 6 - 9). Two guide rollers 16 designed as grooved rollers roll on each of the guide rails 15, the guide rollers 16 being arranged on the outside of the guide rails 15, thus resulting in positive guidance. The linear guide 14 is arranged horizontally to an installation position of the loading and / or unloading device 1.
[0073] In another embodiment of the loading and / or dispensing device 1 according to the invention, the linear guide 14 is arranged at an angle to the horizontal of, for example, 10° - 15°, which allows a correspondingly different design of the linear-rotary control cam. The angle of the linear guide 14 can be either fixed or adjustable. Furthermore, in this embodiment or in a further embodiment, a second linear guide can be provided, which enables the disk shaft 3 to be moved horizontally relative to the installation position of the loading and / or dispensing device 1, wherein both linear guides 14 are preferably arranged at right angles to one another.
[0074] List of reference symbols
[0075] 1 loading and / or dispensing device
[0076] 2 containers
[0077] 3 Disc shaft
[0078] 4 disc shaft axis
[0079] 5 slices
[0080] 6 fingers
[0081] 7 back
[0082] 8 frame
[0083] 9 Rack
[0084] 10 gear
[0085] 11 Gearing
[0086] 12 Linear displacement motor
[0087] 13 Motor of rotation
[0088] 14 Linear guide
[0089] 15 Guide rail
[0090] 16 Leadership role
[0091] 17 Engine mounting plate
[0092] 18 Parking position
[0093] 19 Part of the disc
[0094] 20 Container guidance
[0095] 22 housings
[0096] 23 funding
[0097] 24 delivery tray
Claims
Claims 1. Loading and / or unloading device (1) for the parallel loading and / or unloading of containers (2), comprising a disk shaft (3) with a plurality of disks (5) arranged on a common disk shaft axis (4) for displacing a container (2) from a first position to a second position, each disk (5) having at least one finger (6) for lifting or lowering a container (2) in the region of the container base and at least one back (7) for bearing against a container side wall, characterized in that the disk shaft (3) is rotatably mounted and arranged to be linearly displaceable, so that the disk shaft (3) can be moved along a linear-rotary control curve for loading and / or unloading.
2. Loading and / or dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that each disc (5) of the disc shaft (3) has several pairs of one finger (6) and one back (7) each, arranged uniformly distributed over the circumference of the disc (5).
3. Loading and / or dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the rotation and the linear displacement of the disc shaft (3) can be controlled independently of one another. Loading and / or dispensing device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the linear displacement of the disk shaft (3) takes place by means of a rack (9) arranged on a stationary frame (8) of the loading and / or dispensing device (1) and by means of a gear (10) rolling thereon and connected to the disk shaft (3). Loading and / or dispensing device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rack (9) is arranged with a toothed side oriented downwards in the erected position of the loading and / or dispensing device (1) in order to prevent contamination of the toothing (11). Loading and / or dispensing device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the linear displacement of the disk shaft (3) is driven by electric motors (12) arranged on both sides of the disk shaft (3) and operated synchronously with one another.Loading and / or unloading device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized by a linear guide (14) of the disk shaft (3) for linear displacement with two mutually parallel guide rails (15) and two guide rollers (16) rolling thereon. Loading and / or unloading device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the toothed rack (9) and the gear wheel (10) and / or the linear guide (14) are arranged between a stationary frame (8) and a motor mounting plate (17) for the motor (12) for linear displacement and / or for the motor (13) for rotation. Disc shaft (3) are arranged. Loading and / or dispensing device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a further drive for linearly displacing the disc shaft (3) is arranged at an angle to the direction of the first linear displacement. Loading and / or dispensing device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the back (7) extends radially to the disc shaft axis (4) far enough to allow a container (2) placed by the finger (6) in a deposited position (18) to be pushed away by a distance that is greater than the diameter of the largest possible container (2) to be loaded and / or dispensed. Loading and / or dispensing device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the finger (6) and / or the back (7) are formed as independent components and are replaceably attached to the disc (5).Loading and / or dispensing device according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each disc (5) of the disc shaft (3) is formed from a plurality of parts (19) arranged surrounding the disc shaft axis (4). A device for treating containers (2), comprising a first conveyor for feeding containers (2), a container treatment device arranged downstream of the first conveyor, and a second conveyor for conveying the treated containers (2). The device comprises a loading device (1) according to one of claims 1 to 12 arranged between the first conveyor and the container treatment device for feeding the containers (2) into the container treatment device, and / or a discharge device (1) according to one of claims 1 to 12 arranged between the container treatment device and the second conveyor for discharging the containers (2) from the container treatment device. A method for parallel loading of containers (2), in particular by means of a loading device (1) according to at least one of claims 1 to 12, comprising the steps: Feeding containers (2) to a disc (5) of a rotatable and linearly displaceable disc shaft (3) of the feeding device (1), picking up each container (2) from a first position by means of a finger (6) of the disc (5) in the region of the container bottom, lifting the container (2) and / or rotating the container (2) by means of the finger (6) to displace the container (2) into a second position for feeding the container (2) into a container treatment device, characterized in that the lifting and / or the rotation is effected by a rotation of the Disc shaft (3) about a disc shaft axis (4) and by a linear displacement of the disc shaft (3). Method for the parallel dispensing of containers (2), in particular by means of a dispensing device (1) according to at least one of claims 1-12, comprising the steps: Feeding containers (2) to a disc (5) of a rotatable and linearly displaceable disc shaft (3) of the dispensing device (1), removing the container (2) from a first position by means of a finger (6) of the disc (5) in the region of the container bottom, lowering the container (2) and / or rotating the container (2) by means of the finger (6) to displace the container (2) into a second upright position for dispensing the container (2), characterized in that the container (2) is supported laterally by a back (7) of the disc (5) during the lowering and / or, after lowering into a standing storage position (18), the container (2) is displaced away from the disc shaft (3) by means of the back (7) in order to be able to lower another container (2), and the lowering and / or rotation are effected by a rotation of the disc shaft (3) about a disc shaft axis (4) and by a linear displacement of the disc shaft (3). occurs.