Individual product conveying device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a conveying device intended for individually separated products, in particular tablet products produced by a tablet press, which comprises a sliding base (19) and a conveying mechanism (20), which runs on the sliding base and has a number of receiving pockets (22) for the separated products (11), said receiving pockets opening onto the sliding base (19) located below and movable on the sliding base (19) by the conveying mechanism (20) along a conveying path (23) in a conveying direction (24). The present invention proposes a discharge device (27) for a particular device for conveying products so that they are reliably discharged from the conveying path without being damaged in the process, the discharge device (27) having a movable discharge base (30) provided on a sliding base (19), having an opening (28) which encompasses a discharge section (29) of the conveying path (23), and which is assigned to the opening (28) and has at least one closed base area (32) for closing the discharge section (29) and at least one open through-passage area (33) for freeing the discharge section (29), the direction of movement (37) of the discharge base (30) for optionally closing or freeing the discharge section (29) being essentially the same as the conveying direction (24) of the conveying mechanism (20).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a conveying device for individual products, particularly a conveying device for tablet products manufactured using a pelletizing device, comprising a sliding base and a conveying element running on the sliding base, the conveying element having a plurality of receiving pockets for individual products that can be moved in a conveying direction along a conveying track on the sliding base by the conveying element.

Background Art

[0002] Such a conveying device is used, for example, to remove tablet products manufactured by a rotary pellet molding machine. The products are supplied from the die table of the pellet molding machine to a conveyor device and are individually received in receiving pockets. The receiving pockets are generally designed, for example, as a star conveyor and are arranged above the sliding base and in the outer peripheral region of a conveying element that is rotationally driven by a drive device. Thereby, the system conveys the products captured in the receiving pockets onto the sliding base on a circular path to a discharging device.

[0003] In order to monitor the product quality of tablet products in a form that can be conveyed using the present invention, it is often desirable to discharge individual products from the transport path as soon as possible after production so that appropriate inspection measures can be implemented. The high production speeds currently achievable on pellet molding machines, which reach several hundred tablet products per minute using a rotary pellet molding machine, make it difficult to reliably discharge individual products without the risk of them being damaged during the discharging process.

[0004] We investigated various solutions for releasing individual tablet products after manufacturing in a tablet press. A simple option for taking individual samples from manufacturing is to briefly stop manufacturing and remove one of the manufactured tablets through a window that opens for access. This sampling method while the system is stopped does not involve any investment cost or adjustment to the system, and damage to the tablets is also usually avoided. However, this procedure is time-consuming and therefore clearly involves a significant loss of production volume.

[0005] Another approach involves using already packaged tablets as samples, so that individual tablets are not discharged from production at all; rather, one of the packages is reopened only after production and packaging are complete to obtain a sample. Even with this method, there is no need to change the pelletizing system and there is no burden on the tablets caused by the discharge process. However, the drawback here is that the tablets must first go through the entire process of further processing after actual production (transportation, packaging) and then be opened again, which means that a considerable amount of time has passed before the tablets can be audited after production. If product defects are found during this audit, they can only be repaired after this delay.

[0006] Attempts to discharge individual tablets from a conveyor track using compressed air by blowing compressed air through compressed air nozzles to move them (laterally) from their normal conveying path reveal several drawbacks to this method. On the one hand, a reliable supply of compressed air must be ensured for application to the compressed air nozzles, and on the other hand, appropriate stop guides must be provided for the tablets to be blown so that they are not removed from the conveyor belt or other conveying elements in an uncontrolled manner. Tablets blown laterally from the conveyor track by compressed air can easily be damaged when they hit the stop guides, leading to situations where subsequent audits, particularly weight determination, result in defective (i.e., underweight) products, but this defect is not caused by the manufacturing of the tablets, but rather occurs during discharge.

[0007] Similar problems arise when attempting to eject a single sample tablet by applying a vacuum or by using a mechanical diverter that deflects the tablet laterally into the sample removal channel. These measures can also easily result in damage to the ejected product.

[0008] The objective of the present invention is to design the first type of conveying device so that individual products being conveyed with the conveying device can be reliably discharged from the conveying path as samples without being damaged during the process. [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0009] The present invention achieves this objective through a discharge device having a recess provided in a sliding base, the recess comprising a discharge section of a transport truck, and comprising a dedicated movable discharge base in the recess having at least one closing base region for closing the discharge section and at least one opening passage region for opening the discharge section, wherein the direction of movement of the discharge base for selectively closing or opening the discharge section is basically synchronized with the transport direction of the transport element. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] Accordingly, according to the present invention, the possibility of downward discharge is created to discharge individual products within the sliding base of a conveyor device in which products are transported. During the periodic transport operation of the device, the sliding base is also closed at the discharge section by the closing base region of the discharge section. To discharge a product, the discharge base is moved to open the discharge section by bringing an open passage scope beneath the product to be discharged. According to the present invention, the direction of movement of the discharge base synchronized with the transport direction of the transport element restricts the passage area, and the opening and closing edges of the discharge base located in front of and behind the direction of movement move in at least essentially the same direction as the flow of tablets being transported on the sliding base, thus ensuring that the maximum possible time interval is available for opening and closing movement. Thus, the product to be discharged has sufficient time to fall through the sliding base through a temporary opening formed within the base, for example, onto a product chute that can be driven by gravity to slide further.

[0011] An advantageous design of the present invention includes the fact that the discharge base is formed by a circular disk driven by rotation with respect to at least one base window that forms a passage area. According to the present invention, the circular disk is rotated in a direction such that the base window, which is positioned beneath the product being discharged to open the discharge device, moves in at least essentially the same direction as the product.

[0012] The discharge base is preferably positioned coplanar with the sliding base within a recess provided therein, thereby ensuring a stepless transition between the discharge base and the sliding base, allowing the product being transported over it to move without damage.

[0013] It is advantageous if the discharge floor can be driven at a speed synchronized with the conveying speed of the conveying elements. This minimizes the relative speed of the passage area to the conveying speed of the product moving on the sliding base, and therefore maximizes the time the discharge device opens to remove the product from the product flow.

[0014] In a manner known to itself, the transport element may be a rotating transport star positioned above the sliding base, with receiving pockets formed on its radially outer scope. The discharge base may be driven by a discharge drive that can be drawn out from the drive for the transport element. This configuration may be manufactured so that the discharge drive can be connected to the drive for the transport element by gears that can be engaged and disengaged. However, it is also possible to provide a separate drive for the discharge base, independent of the transport element drive, such as a pneumatic drive or a servo motor. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the drive for the discharge base is carried out by a pneumatic cylinder, which is coupled via a freewheel ratchet gear so that it rotates by a fixed, specific angular amount, for example, 90° in the desired rotational direction, during the full operating stroke of the cylinder, and remains in that position during the opposite stroke of the cylinder. In this way, by operating and retracting the pneumatic cylinder several times, particularly four times, the discharge base can be fully rotated in a corresponding number of steps and returned to its original position, thereby allowing each base window provided in the discharge base, which opens once during this single rotation to discharge the article, to access a recess in the sliding base and release the discharge section. The operating speed of the pneumatic cylinder, i.e., the speed at which its piston rod extends or retracts, is preferably matched to the conveying speed at which the article is conveyed on the sliding base, so that the discharge base or discharge window formed therein moves at essentially the same speed and in at least substantially the same direction as the discharged article moved by the conveying element.

[0015] The discharge device is preferably located below the discharge section and includes a product chute through which the product is accessed from above when the discharge base is in a predetermined position when the discharge section is released. The discharge device is preferably located between a feeder device for the product on the sliding base and a removal device for the product downstream of the feeder device in the conveying direction. The feeder device (feeder) can be formed at least partially by the die table of the pelletizing device. The removal device is preferably substantially formed by a base opening provided in the sliding base, through which the product moved over the sliding base by the conveying element can fall to the end of their conveying path, for example, onto a subsequent conveyor belt or onto the discharge chute.

[0016] Further features and advantages of the present invention arise from the drawings and the following description, in which preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in more detail using examples. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0017] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a simplified perspective view of a pelletizing system equipped with the apparatus according to the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a perspective view of an object according to Figure 1, showing an object according to the present invention, with the components having a closed discharge section omitted. [Figure 3] This figure shows the item discharge port in Figure 1 with the port open. [Figure 4] This figure shows another embodiment of a pelletizing system having an alternative drive unit for the discharge base of the discharge device, in representation corresponding to Figure 1. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0018] In the figure, 10 shows a pelletizing system used for manufacturing tablet products, such as detergent tablets 11. System 10 includes a rotary tablet press, as is known in the state of the art for manufacturing compressed products made from powder. Since the structure of such a tablet press is well known to those skilled in the art, as an example, only a pair of die punches 12 having an upper punch 13 and a lower punch 14 are shown in the drawing from the tablet press. During one rotation of the die plate 12 in the rotational direction 15, the product 11 pressed by the pair of die punches in the associated die opening 16 is pushed upward from the die opening 16 by the respective lower punches 14 at the end of the rotation of the die table 12 and transferred to a feeder 17 of the conveyor device which is the subject of the present invention.

[0019] The conveyor device, shown as 18 overall, has a sliding base 19 whose top is at the same height as the top of the die plate 12, and the die plate 12 has an interface surface in the shape of a segment of a circle running within the range of the feed device 17. The rotating conveying element in the form of a conveying star 20 is rotatably positioned about a vertical axis just above the sliding base 19. The star conveyor 20 has a plurality of carrier fingers 21 provided on its outer circumference that project radially outward, and these carrier fingers form receiving pockets 22 for the product 11 between them. The receiving pockets 22 open at the bottom toward the sliding base 19, and as a result the product 11 taken up by the die plate 12 is pushed toward the circular conveying track 23 in the conveying direction 24 toward the removal device 25 on the sliding base 19 of the device 18, starting from the feed device 17 over an angular range of about 180°. Within the range of the feeder 17, the carrier fingers 21 protrude laterally beyond the drafted interface on the upper side of the die plate in the form of circular segments, thereby enabling them to take the product from the die plate. Lateral guidance of the tablet product 11 along the transport track 23 outside the periphery-open receiving pocket 22 is achieved by a stationary guide rail 26 in the shape of a circular segment, which extends from the feeder 17 to the removal device 25 and defines the outer arc-shaped transport track 23.

[0020] Approximately halfway between the supply device 17 and the removal device 25, the device 18 is equipped with a discharge device 27, which allows one or more products 11 to be discharged from the transport truck 23, for example, so that they can be audited as product samples. The discharge device 27 is best seen in Figures 2 and 3, where the circular segmented guide rails 26 are not shown.

[0021] As can be seen from the figure, the discharge device 27 comprises a recess 28 provided in the sliding base 19 of the discharge section 29 of the transport truck 23, and a movable discharge base 30 dedicated to the recess 28, which in the illustrated preferred exemplary embodiment is formed by a rotary-driven circular disc 31. It has a closing base region 32 extending over a circumferential angle of about 270° to close the discharge section 29, and an opening passage region 33 in the form of a base window 34 that can release the discharge section. The circular disc can be rotated around a vertical axis using a drive device 35 connected to the discharge base 30. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, this drive device consists of a servo motor located below the discharge base, and the circular disc forming the discharge base is flanged to the output shaft of this servo motor either directly or via a gear mechanism. In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the drive mechanism for the discharge base is essentially formed using a pneumatic cylinder 40, which, when the piston rod 42 extends during the cylinder's operation, advances the discharge base by at least a quarter turn via a (simplified) ratchet gear 41 connected to the rotation axis of the discharge base 30. Although not shown in detail, a ratchet mechanism provided on the ratchet gear ensures that the discharge base maintains its position when the piston rod retracts, i.e., when the piston rod does not rotate again. The reciprocating motion of the piston rod of the cylinder is therefore converted into a rotational indexing motion of the discharge base in one rotational direction using four consecutive full operating strokes of the pneumatic cylinder in the illustrated embodiment, causing the discharge base to complete rotation to its starting position.

[0022] By means of the drive device 35, the closing base region 32 of the discharge base 30 is arranged in the recess 28 in order to close the discharge part 29, or an open passage region 33 is brought into the recess 28, thereby opening the discharge part 29, whereby the product 11 arriving on the transport truck 23 then descends from below the discharge part 29 onto a discharge chute 36 that discharges the product from the conveyor device 18. According to the invention, the direction of movement of the discharge base 30 in the region of the recess 28 for selectively closing or releasing the discharge part 29, i.e., the circumferential direction 37 of the circular disk 31 under the recess of the conveyor star in the exemplary embodiment, is essentially the same as the conveying direction 24 of the conveying element 20. This particular configuration has the advantage that when the circular disk rotates, the front and rear circumferentially extending bottom windows 34 are defined at the front and rear in the circumferential direction, and the front and rear window edges 38 extending essentially radially do not move contrary to the conveying direction 24 of the tablets 11, but rather move essentially in the same direction, so that there is no situation where the tablets discharged from the conveyor device 18 become clogged and thereby damaged in the discharge device 27 between the carrier fingers 21 of the conveyor star 20 or the edge of the recess 28 and the window edge 38 of the base window 34 in the discharge base 30.

[0023] As is clear from Figures 2 and 3, the discharge base 30 is positioned on the same plane as the sliding base 19, that is, the upper side of its base scope is at the same height as the upper side of the sliding base. In the closed state of the discharge device shown in Figure 2, where the base region 32 is in the recess 28 of the sliding base 19, the product 11 is continuously moved by the star conveyor 20 over the narrow gap 39 between the sliding base and the discharge base. The recess 28 of the sliding base has a substantially semicircular shape and is substantially completely filled by the circular disc 31 that forms the discharge base 30 when the discharge device 27 is closed, forming only a very narrow gap 39. The discharge base 30 can be rotated or advanced by a servo motor 35 or pneumatic cylinder drive devices 40, 41 at a moving speed synchronized with the conveying speed of the conveyor star wheel 20, in this way the base window 34 of the circular disc 31 is positioned in the recess 28 (Figure 3), thereby opening the discharge section 29 for the product, which then descends onto the discharge chute 36 and is therefore pulled out from the normal conveying path. Needless to say, it is possible to keep the discharge base in its open position for correspondingly longer periods of time for some products, for example, in the embodiment according to Figure 4, so that several products following each other are removed accordingly, or, in particular in the embodiment according to Figure 1, the discharge base can be rotated over several revolutions at a rotational speed adapted to the conveying speed of the conveyor star wheel, so that with each revolution of the discharge base the base window comes under the products accumulated in the receiving pockets, and so that, for example, the third or nth product per second, located in adjacent receiving pockets from the normal conveying track between the supply device and the discharge device, is already discharged into the discharge device.

[0024] Of course, other types of sampling can also be carried out using appropriately different designs of the discharge device, particularly the discharge base. The discharge base may also be fitted with, for example, multiple base windows arranged alternately with corresponding large closed base areas. Such a design may be useful, for example, when it is necessary to ensure that the products produced per second by the pellet molding machine should be diverted to different locations. It is also possible to design the discharge device to have a flexible drive element, such as a link chain, that rotates around, for example, two deflection rollers or chain stars, rather than a circular disk that rotates as the discharge base, on which one or more closed plates are positioned to protrude laterally and move into recesses in the base floor to close the base floor.

Claims

1. A conveying device for individual products, comprising: A sliding base (19); a conveying element (20) running on the sliding base (19) and having a plurality of receiving pockets (22) for the individual products (11), the receiving pockets (22) being movable on the sliding base (19) along a conveying track (23) in a conveying direction (24) by the conveying element (20); The apparatus is characterized by comprising a discharge device (27), the discharge device (27) comprising: a recess (28) in the sliding base (19), the recess (28) comprising an outlet (29) of the transport track (23); and a movable discharge base (30) dedicated to said recess (28), comprising at least one closed base area (32) for closing said discharge portion (29) and at least one open passage area (33) for opening said discharge portion (29); a direction of movement (37) of the discharge base (30) for selectively closing or opening the discharge section (29) is the same as the conveying direction (24) of the conveying element (20), The discharge base (30) is formed by a circular disc (31) driven by rotation, and at least one base window (34) forms a passage area (33), Conveying device.

2. 2. The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the ejection base (30) is arranged flush with the sliding base (19) at least partially in the recess (28) provided in the sliding base.

3. 3. Conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the discharge base (30) can be driven at a movement speed synchronized with the conveying speed of the conveying elements (20).

4. 4. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the conveying element is a conveying star (20) rotatably arranged above the sliding base (19) and arranged on a radially outer peripheral area in which the receiving pockets (22) are formed.

5. Conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the discharge base (30) can be driven by a discharge drive which gets its driving force from a drive for the conveying element (20).

6. 6. Conveying device according to claim 5, characterized in that the discharge drive is connectable to the drive for the conveying element by means of an engageable and disengageable gear.

7. 7. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the discharge device (27) comprises a discharge chute (36) arranged below the discharge section (29).

8. 8. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the ejection device (27) is arranged between a supply device (17) for the products (11) on the sliding base (19) and a removal device (25) for the products in the conveying direction (24) downstream of the supply device (17).

9. 9. Conveying device according to claim 8, characterized in that the feeding device (17) is at least partly formed by the die table (12) of a pelletizing machine.

10. Conveying device according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the ejection device (27) is formed by a base opening provided in the sliding base (19).

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