Cap winding machine

Abstract

To provide a cap seaming machine suitable for tightening a cap provided with a dispenser to a container by rotating only a cap without rotating the dispenser.SOLUTION: A cap seaming machine 1 comprises a main frame 10, a fastening arm 20, a guide shaft part 40, a slider 50, an air chamber 70, and a coil spring 60. A fastening roller 22 can take a closing state and an open state when a cam 23 moves along a cam surface 52 of the slider 50. The fastening roller 22 is made to be in the open state by pushing the slider 50 up with the coil spring 60 in a state in which no high pressure air is introduced into the air chamber 70. The fastening roller 22 is made to be in the closing state by pushing the slider 50 down against the coil spring 60 in a state in which the high pressure air is introduced into the air chamber 70. At least a part of the coil spring 60 is provided around the guide shaft part 40 on an inner side than the cam surface 52.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a cap tightening machine.

Background Art

[0002] A cap tightening machine for attaching a cap to a container is known from Patent Document 1 and the like.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The cap tightening machine of Patent Document 1 includes a tightening chuck that rotates a dispenser when attaching a cap with a dispenser to a container. In the device of Patent Document 1, a rotating shaft portion that transmits the rotational force of a rotation drive source provided in the upper part to a tightening chuck provided in the lower part extends from the upper part to the lower part of the device. The present invention provides a cap tightening machine suitable for tightening a cap with a dispenser to a container by rotating only the cap without rotating the dispenser.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The cap tightening machine according to the present invention a main frame, a pair of tightening arms that are swingably supported by the main frame and have tightening rollers for tightening a cap with a dispenser to a container, a rotating shaft portion that extends in the vertical direction and is rotatably supported by the main frame, a guide shaft portion that is non-rotatably supported by the main frame below the rotating shaft portion, A slider that moves vertically with respect to the main frame along the guide shaft portion and has a cam surface on its outer peripheral surface; An air chamber formed between the main frame and the slider; A pressure source capable of introducing high-pressure air into the air chamber; A coil spring provided between a flange portion provided on the guide shaft portion and the slider, and constantly biasing the slider upward; and Each of the tightening arms; A cam provided on the upper portion of the tightening arm; An arm swing shaft portion provided below the cam, extending in the horizontal direction, and swingably supported by the main frame; A tightening roller provided below the arm swing shaft portion, contacting the cap portion of the dispenser-equipped cap, and tightening the cap portion onto the container; A rotation transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotational force of the rotation shaft portion to the tightening roller; and When the cam moves along the cam surface of the slider, the tightening roller provided at the lower portion of the tightening arm can take a closed state in which it contacts the cap portion and an open state in which it is separated from the cap portion; In a state where high-pressure air is not introduced from the pressure source into the air chamber, the slider is pushed upward by the coil spring, and the tightening roller is in an open state; In a state where high-pressure air is introduced from the pressure source into the air chamber, the slider is pushed downward against the coil spring, and the tightening roller is in a closed state; At least a part of the coil spring is provided around the guide shaft portion inside the cam surface.

[0006] According to the present invention, there is provided a cap winding tightening machine suitable for tightening a dispenser-equipped cap onto a container by rotating only the cap without rotating the dispenser.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings based on embodiments. The same or equivalent components, members, and processes shown in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated explanations will be omitted as appropriate. Also, the embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive of the invention, and not all of the features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the invention.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cap winder 1 according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the cap winder 1 attaches a cap 2 with a dispenser to a container (not shown). The cap 2 with a dispenser includes a dispenser portion 3 provided at the upper portion and a cap portion 4 provided at the lower portion. The cap portion 4 is rotatable relative to the dispenser portion 3. The cap winder 1 holds the dispenser portion 3 and rotates the cap portion 4 to attach it to a threaded portion provided at the upper portion of the container.

[0010] The cap tightening machine 1 waits in a state of gripping the cap 2 with a dispenser. Below this cap tightening machine 1, a container is conveyed via a conveying means such as a belt conveyor. When the container is positioned at a predetermined position with respect to the cap tightening machine 1 and the container is placed in a predetermined orientation, the cap tightening machine 1 descends and attaches the cap 2 with a dispenser to the container.

[0011] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of Figure 1. As shown in Figure 2, the cap tightening machine 1 includes a main frame 10, a pair of tightening arms 20, a rotating shaft portion 30, a guide shaft portion 40, a slider 50, and a coil spring 60.

[0012] The tightening arm 20 is attached to the main frame 10 so as to be swingable around the arm swing shaft portion 21. The tightening arm 20 is a long member extending approximately in the vertical direction. A tightening roller 22 is provided at the lower portion of the tightening arm 20. This tightening roller 22 contacts the cap portion 4 and rotates the cap portion 4 to tighten the cap 2 with a dispenser to the container. A pair of tightening rollers 22 are provided on the tightening arm 20. The cap tightening machine 1 has four tightening rollers 22.

[0013] As shown in Figure 2, at the upper portion of the main frame 10, a rotating shaft portion 30 extending in the vertical direction is rotatably supported. The rotating shaft portion 30 is supported by a thrust bearing 31 at the lower portion and an axial bearing 32 at the middle portion. This rotating shaft portion 30 is rotated by a drive source (not shown). The rotating shaft portion 30 meshes with a gear 241 of a rotation transmission mechanism 24 described later. When the rotating shaft portion 30 rotates, the tightening roller 22 rotates via the rotation transmission mechanism 24.

[0014] The guide shaft portion 40 is provided at the lower portion of the rotating shaft portion 30. In the illustrated example, the guide shaft portion 40 is provided coaxially with the rotating shaft portion 30. The guide shaft portion 40 is supported by the main frame 10 so as not to be rotatable.

[0015] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a flange portion 41 is provided on the guide shaft portion 40. At the lower part of the main frame 10, an arm holder 11 extending in the horizontal direction is provided. The arm holder 11 is screwed to the main frame 10 by a screw 11a extending in the horizontal direction. The arm holder 11 is provided with a through hole 11b penetrating in the vertical direction. The lower part of the guide shaft portion 40 is inserted into the through hole 11b of the arm holder 11, and the flange portion 41 of the guide shaft portion 40 is in contact with the upper surface of the arm holder 11. Further, the bottom surface of the guide shaft portion 40 is in contact with the dispenser gripping portion 90. A screw 91 is screwed into the guide shaft portion 40 from below upward toward the bottom surface of the guide shaft portion 40 from the dispenser gripping portion 90. By this screw 91, the dispenser gripping portion 90, the arm holder 11, and the guide shaft portion 40 are integrated. That is, the guide shaft portion 40 is immovably fixed to the main frame 10 via the arm holder 11.

[0016] In this embodiment, the dispenser gripping portion 90 is provided with a concave portion having a shape corresponding to the head of the dispenser portion 3. This concave portion is tapered so as to widen downward to lure the dispenser portion 3.

[0017] The slider 50 is provided with a through hole 51 extending in the vertical direction. The guide shaft portion 40 is inserted into this through hole 51. The slider 50 is relatively displaceable in the vertical direction with respect to the main frame 10 along the guide shaft portion 40. The slider 50 is provided with a cam surface 52 on the outer peripheral surface.

[0018] A coil spring 60 is provided between the slider 50 and the flange portion 41 of the guide shaft portion 40. The lower part of the coil spring 60 is in contact with the flange portion 41 of the guide shaft portion 40 fixed to the main frame 10. The upper part of the coil spring 60 is in contact with the slider 50. The coil spring 60 constantly imparts a force to push up the slider 50 upward to the slider 50. That is, in the normal state, the slider 50 is pushed upward by the coil spring 60.

[0019] As shown in Fig. 2, each clamping arm 20 includes an arm swing shaft portion 21, a clamping roller 22, and a cam 23. Further, as shown in Fig. 3, the clamping arm 20 includes a rotation transmission mechanism 24. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the arrow III-III line in Fig. 1. One rotation transmission mechanism 24 is provided for one clamping roller 22. That is, the cap winding machine has four rotation transmission mechanisms 24.

[0020] The rotation transmission mechanism 24 transmits the rotation of the rotation shaft portion 30 to the clamping roller 22. The rotation transmission mechanism 24 includes a gear 241 that meshes with the rotation shaft portion 30, a first shaft portion 242, a first universal joint 243, a second shaft portion 244, a second universal joint 245, and a third shaft portion 246. The first shaft portion 242 is fixed to the gear 241 and rotates together with the gear 241. The first universal joint 243 and the second universal joint 245 are so-called universal joints. The first universal joint 243 connects the lower part of the first shaft portion 242 and the upper part of the second shaft portion 244 and transmits the rotation of the first shaft portion 242 to the second shaft portion 244. The second universal joint 245 connects the lower part of the second shaft portion 244 and the upper part of the third shaft portion 246 and transmits the rotation of the second shaft portion 244 to the third shaft portion 246. The third shaft portion 246 is fixed to the clamping roller 22. When the third shaft portion 246 rotates, the clamping roller 22 also rotates.

[0021] As described above, the clamping arm 20 is supported by the main frame 10 so as to be swingable around the arm swing shaft portion 21. The cam 23 is provided above the arm swing shaft portion 21, and the clamping roller 22 is provided below the arm swing shaft portion 21. When the cam 23 provided above is displaced in the horizontal direction, the clamping roller 22 provided below is displaced in the horizontal direction in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the cam 23. That is, as the slider 50 is displaced in the vertical direction, when the cam 23 moves along the cam surface 52 of the slider 50, the clamping roller 22 can take an open state (the state shown in Figs. 1 to 3) in which it is separated from the cap portion 4 and a closed state (the state shown in Fig. 4) in which the clamping roller 22 contacts the cap portion 4.

[0022] The arm swing shaft portion 21 and the third shaft portion 246 are attached to the arm frame 25 of the tightening arm 20. Even when the arm frame 25 rotates around the arm swing shaft portion 21 due to contact with the cam surface of the cam 23, the rotational force from the rotary shaft portion 30 is continuously transmitted to the tightening roller 22 by the first universal joint 243 and the second universal joint 245.

[0023] Figure 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 of the cap winding machine 1 in the closed state. As shown in FIG. 4, the cam surface 52 of the slider 50 is an inclined surface that is larger in diameter at the upper part and smaller in diameter at the lower part. When displacing from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the state shown in FIG. 4, when the slider 50 descends, the cam 23 of the tightening arm 20 climbs the cam surface 52, and the tightening roller 22 displaces toward the cap 2 with a dispenser held by the dispenser gripping portion 90.

[0024] The slider 50 displaces downward when high-pressure air is introduced into the air chamber 70. An air chamber 70 hermetically sealed by a sealing member 71 such as an O-ring is provided between the upper surface 50a of the slider 50 and the main frame 10. The guide shaft portion 40 penetrates this air chamber 70. The air chamber 70 is connected to a pressure source (not shown). When high-pressure air is introduced from the pressure source into the air chamber 70, the slider 50 displaces downward against the upward pushing force applied by the coil spring 60, and becomes the open state shown in FIG. 4.

[0025] Figure 5 is a view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 5, in the closed state, the four tightening rollers 22 contact the cap portion 4 of the cap 2 with a dispenser, the four tightening rollers 22 rotate in the same direction synchronously, and the cap portion 4 rotates and is attached to the container.

[0026] Returning to FIG. 4, in the cap tightening machine 1 configured as described above, at least a part of the coil spring 60 is provided around the guide shaft portion 40 inside the cam surface 52. The coil spring 60 is housed in a spring housing portion. The spring housing portion is formed by the shaft portion 45 of the guide shaft portion 40, the flange portion 41 of the guide shaft portion 40, and the housing recess 55 provided on the lower surface of the slider 50.

[0027] The housing recess 55 is formed between a first portion 56 that protrudes downward along the shaft portion 45 of the guide shaft portion 40 from the lower surface of the slider 50, and a second portion 57 that protrudes downward from the temporary surface of the slider 50 at a position spaced apart from the inner peripheral sleeve by a space sufficient to accommodate the coil spring 60 from the outer peripheral side. The second portion 57 is provided closer to the axis of the rotary shaft portion 30 (inner side) than the cam surface 52. The second portion 57 protrudes downward more than the first portion 56 and abuts against the flange portion 41 of the guide shaft portion 40. The inner peripheral surface of the upper part of the coil spring 60 can contact the outer peripheral surface of the first portion 56 of the slider 50. The inner peripheral surface of the lower part of the coil spring 60 faces directly against the shaft portion 45 of the guide shaft portion 40 without an intervening member. The separation distance between the inner peripheral surface of the lower part of the coil spring 60 and the shaft portion 45 of the guide shaft portion 40 is longer than the separation distance between the inner peripheral surface of the upper part of the coil spring 60 and the first portion 56.

[0028] Unlike the present invention, the cap tightening machine of Patent Document 1 includes a tightening chuck that rotates a dispenser portion when attaching a cap with a dispenser to a container. In the apparatus of Patent Document 1, a rotary shaft portion that transmits the rotational force of a rotary drive source provided in the upper part to a tightening chuck provided in the lower part extends from the upper part to the lower part of the apparatus.

[0029] On the one hand, the cap tightening machine 1 of the present embodiment relates to a device that attaches the cap 2 with a dispenser to a container by rotating only the cap portion 4 without rotating the dispenser portion 3. In the cap tightening machine 1 of the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to rotate the dispenser portion 3, a non-rotating guide shaft portion 40 is provided below the rotating shaft portion 30. The non-rotating guide shaft portion 40 and the slider 50 simply displace relative to each other in the vertical direction. Since a rotational force does not act on the sealing member 71 such as an O-ring provided between the guide shaft portion 40 and the slider 50, wear of the sealing member 71 can be suppressed.

[0030] Also, in Patent Document 1, when the coil spring 60 is disposed around the rotating shaft portion 30 that rotates, the coil spring 60 rotates together when the rotating shaft portion 30 rotates, generating abnormal noise. For this reason, in Patent Document 1, the coil spring 60 is provided outside the cam surface 52 so that the coil spring 60 does not contact the rotating shaft portion 30. Different from Patent Document 1, according to the cap tightening machine 1 of the present embodiment, at least a part of the coil spring 60 that biases the slider 50 upward is provided around the guide shaft portion 40 inside the cam surface 52. Since the guide shaft portion 40 does not rotate, even if the coil spring 60 is directly provided around the guide shaft portion 40, no abnormal noise is generated. Furthermore, the coil spring 60 can be disposed inside, and the lateral dimension of the device can be reduced. As described above, according to the cap tightening machine 1 of the present embodiment, there is provided a cap tightening machine 1 suitable for attaching the cap 2 with a dispenser to a container by rotating only the cap portion 4, which has little wear of the sealing member 71 and is small in the lateral direction.

[0031] Also, in the cap tightening machine 1 of the present embodiment, a housing recess 55 for housing the upper portion of the coil spring 60 is provided on the lower surface of the slider 50. Thereby, the mounting position of the coil spring 60 is stabilized and difficult to shift, so that the force with which the coil spring 60 presses the slider 50 is stabilized.

[0032] Furthermore, according to the cap tightening machine 1 of the present embodiment, the guide shaft portion 40 has a cushion ball 80, a housing portion 81 that houses the cushion ball 80 so as to be laterally displaceable, and a cushion spring 82 that biases the cushion ball 80 toward the tightening arm 20 within the housing portion 81. Even when the tightening arm 20 is displaced from the open state to the closed state at high speed, when the tightening arm 20 is displaced from the open state to the closed state, after the tightening arm 20 first hits the cushion ball 80, the tightening roller 22 contacts the cap portion 4. For this reason, even when the displacement of the tightening arm 20 from the closed state to the open state is performed at high speed, a large impact force hardly acts on the cap portion 4 from the tightening arm 20, so the tightening arm 20 can be operated at high speed.

[0033] In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the dispenser gripping portion 90 is formed as a recess has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this example. FIG. 6 is a view showing an open state of a cap tightening machine 1A according to a modified example of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a view showing a closed state of the cap tightening machine 1A according to a modified example of the present invention.

[0034] As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a dispenser contact portion 91 having a bottom surface 91a of a flat surface that can contact the dispenser-equipped cap 2 is provided at the lower portion of the guide shaft portion 40. Stoppers 92 that protrude toward the side surface of the dispenser-equipped cap 2 are provided on each of the pair of tightening arms 20. The base portion of this stopper 92 is fixed to the frame 25 of the tightening arm 20. A rubber cap 93 is put on the tip of the stopper 92. In the closed state, the distance between the tips of the pair of stoppers 92 is approximately the width dimension of the dispenser portion 3.

[0035] When shifting from the open state shown in Fig. 6 to the closed state shown in Fig. 7, the rubber caps 93 at the tip ends of the pair of stoppers 92 contact the dispenser unit 3 and guide the dispenser unit 3 directly below the axis of the rotary shaft portion 30. That is, when shifting from the open state to the closed state, the pair of stoppers 92 are each configured to contact the side surface of the cap 2 with dispenser and position the cap 2 with dispenser at a predetermined position. Thereby, even if the cap 2 with dispenser is misaligned with respect to the cap winder 1A, the pair of stoppers 92 can move the cap 2 with dispenser to the predetermined position.

Explanation of Signs

[0036] 1, 1A Cap winder 2 Cap with dispenser 3 Dispenser unit 4 Cap portion 10 Main frame 11 Arm holder 11a Through hole 20 Tightening arm 21 Arm swing shaft portion 22 Tightening roller 23 Cam 24 Rotation transmission mechanism 30 Rotary shaft portion 31 Thrust bearing 32 Axial bearing 40 Guide shaft portion 41 Flange portion 45 Shaft portion 50 Slider 50a Upper surface 51 Through hole 52 Cam surface 55 Accommodating recess 56 First part 57 Second part 60 Coil spring 70 Air chamber 71 Sealing member 80 Cushion ball 81 Accommodating portion 82 Cushion spring 90 Dispenser gripping part 91 Dispenser contact part 92 Stopper 93 Rubber cap 241 Gear 242 First shaft part 243 First universal joint 244 Second shaft part 245 Second universal joint 246 Third shaft part

Claims

1. A main frame, A pair of tightening arms that are swingably supported on the main frame and have tightening rollers for tightening a cap with a dispenser onto a container, A rotating shaft portion that extends in the vertical direction and is rotatably supported on the main frame, A guide shaft portion that is supported on the main frame in a non-rotatable manner below the rotating shaft portion, A slider that moves in the vertical direction with respect to the main frame along the guide shaft portion and has a cam surface on its outer peripheral surface, An air chamber formed between the main frame and the slider, A pressure source capable of introducing high-pressure air into the air chamber, A coil spring provided between a flange portion provided on the guide shaft portion and the slider, and constantly biasing the slider upward, Each of the tightening arms, A cam provided on the upper portion of the tightening arm, An arm swing shaft portion provided below the cam, extending in the horizontal direction, and swingably supported on the main frame, A tightening roller provided below the arm swing shaft portion, contacting a cap portion of a cap with a dispenser, and tightening the cap portion onto the container, A rotation transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotational force of the rotation shaft portion to the tightening roller, When the cam moves along the cam surface of the slider, the tightening roller provided at the lower portion of the tightening arm can take a closed state in which it contacts the cap portion and an open state in which it is separated from the cap portion, In a state where high-pressure air is not introduced from the pressure source into the air chamber, the slider is pushed upward by the coil spring, and the tightening roller is in an open state, In a state where high-pressure air is introduced from the pressure source into the air chamber, the slider is pushed downward against the coil spring, and the tightening roller is in a closed state, At least a part of the coil spring is provided around the guide shaft portion inside the cam surface, A dispenser contact portion having a flat bottom surface that can contact the cap with a dispenser is provided at the lower portion of the guide shaft portion, A cap winding machine in which at least a part of the coil spring in the vertical direction is provided at a position overlapping the cam surface.

2. The cap winding machine according to claim 1, wherein a housing recess for housing the upper portion of the coil spring is provided on the lower surface of the slider.

3. The guide shaft portion has a cushion ball, a housing portion that houses the cushion ball so as to be laterally displaceable, and a cushion spring that biases the cushion ball toward the clamping arm within the housing portion, the cap winding machine according to claim 1.

4. Each of the pair of clamping arms is provided with a stopper that protrudes toward the side surface of the cap with the dispenser. When shifting from the open state to the closed state, each of the pair of stoppers is configured to contact the side surface of the cap with the dispenser and position the cap with the dispenser at a predetermined position, the cap winding machine according to claim 1.

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