Filling system

Abstract

To provide a filling system that has a simpler configuration than conventional ones and is highly versatile.SOLUTION: A linear conveying device 6 includes a large number of movable elements 17 with hooks 3 attached to the upper parts, and movement of each movable element 17 in the conveyance direction is controlled by a control device 11 via an electromagnetic coil provided in an electromagnetic coil unit 16. A filling device 5 includes a filling nozzle 21 facing downward and a moving mechanism 24 that moves the filling nozzle 21 in the Y direction. These operations are controlled by the control device 11. When a container 2 stops at a filling position B, the filling nozzle 21 is lowered and inserted into the container 2, after that, when liquid starts to be discharged from the filling nozzle 21 into the container 2, the moving mechanism 24 moves the filling nozzle 21 forward and backward in the Y direction, and the container 2 is moved forward and backward in the X direction via the movable elements 17. Thereby, the filling nozzle 21 moves spirally within the container 2, and the filling liquid is evenly filled into the container 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a filling system, and more particularly to a filling system suitable for filling a container with a highly viscous liquid such as jam.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in order to fill a container uniformly across the entire width with a highly viscous liquid such as hand cream, pomade, jam, butter, curry, mayonnaise, or ketchup, a method of rotating the container of Patent Document 1 or a method of rotating the filling nozzle of Patent Document 2 has been adopted.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, the conventional filling devices described above had the following problems. That is, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, since it is necessary to rotate the plate that supports the container, a mechanism for transferring the container from the container supply conveyor to the plate is required, resulting in a complicated configuration and high cost. On the other hand, when rotating the nozzle as in Patent Document 2, there was a problem that the mechanism for rotating the nozzle became complicated. Further, the rotation locus of the nozzle was fixed, and there were problems such as inability to handle containers with different body diameters and poor compatibility.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In view of the circumstances described above, the present invention provides a plurality of holding members for holding a container having an opening, a linear conveying device for conveying a container by individually moving the holding members holding the container with a movable element, and the linear conveying device circulation Transport route filling position A filling system comprising a filling device provided above for filling the container with liquid, and a control device for controlling the operation of the linear conveying device and the filling device, The above-mentioned filling device comprises a filling nozzle for discharging liquid into the container and a moving mechanism for moving the filling nozzle in a direction intersecting the direction of movement of the holding member. The above control device is used when the container held by the holding member Reaching the above filling position Then, the linear transport device is controlled to move the holding member back and forth in the transport direction, and the filling device is controlled to move the filling nozzle by the moving mechanism. In a direction intersecting the direction of movement of the above-mentioned retaining member The method is characterized by discharging liquid from the filling nozzle while moving the container to fill it. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] With this configuration, For example, even highly viscous liquids such as ketchup can be filled into the container without shifting. Therefore, This system offers superior versatility compared to conventional systems and allows for a simplified rotation mechanism. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] A plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] A longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main part along line II-II in Figure 1. [Figure 3] An enlarged view showing the arrangement of the main components of the filling system in Figure 1. [Figure 4] This figure shows the relative movement process between the filling nozzle and the container during filling with the filling liquid using the filling system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 5]These figures illustrate the relative movement between the filling nozzle and the container in the filling system of the present invention. Figure 5(a) shows the movement trajectory of the relative movement between the filling nozzle and the container in Figure 4, and Figures 5(b) to 5(c) show the movement trajectories of the relative movement between the filling nozzle and the container in other embodiments. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The present invention will now be described with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In Figures 1 and 2, 1 is a filling system for filling a container 2 with a highly viscous liquid. This filling system 1 consists of numerous shallow, cup-shaped skirts 3 (holding members) that circulate along a circulating transport path R in the direction of the arrow. After a supply robot 4 supplies and holds a container 2 to a skirt 3 stopped at supply position A, the container 2 held by the skirt 3 is transported to filling position B and stopped, where a filling device 5 fills the container 2 with a highly viscous liquid. The filling system 1 includes a linear transport device 6 that holds and transports containers 2 in a skirt 3, a supply robot 4 positioned at supply position A in the circulating transport path R of the linear transport device 6 to place empty containers 2 into the skirt 3, a filling device 5 positioned at filling position B downstream of supply position A in the circulating transport path R to fill liquid into containers 2, a capping device 7 provided at capping position C downstream of filling position B in the circulating transport path R, an inspection device 8 provided at inspection position D downstream thereof to inspect containers 2, a discharge robot 9 provided at discharge position E downstream of inspection position D, and a control device 11 that controls the operation of these components, etc.

[0009] A linear supply conveyor 12 is positioned parallel to the circulating transport path R at supply position A, and a case 13 containing eight empty containers 2 is supplied to supply device A by the supply conveyor 12 and then stopped. A supply robot 4 is positioned in the supply device A. The supply robot 4 grasps the empty containers 2 in the case 13, widens the spacing between adjacent containers 2, and then places and holds the containers 2 in the eight skirts 3 that are stopped at the supply position A. In this embodiment, the containers 2 are placed and held in the skirts 3 with a small gap between the inner surface of the skirt 3 and the outer surface of the containers 2. However, the system is not limited to this configuration; the skirts 3 may also be equipped with gripping members for gripping the containers 2, and the skirts 3 may be used to grip the containers 2. The container 2 into which the liquid is filled is made of glass and is roughly cup-shaped, with its entire upper end being an open opening 2A. The liquid filled into the container 2 by the filling device 5 at filling position B is a highly viscous liquid such as hand cream, pomade, jam, butter, curry, mayonnaise, or ketchup.

[0010] The linear conveying device 6 comprises a pair of upper and lower rails 15 arranged along an endless circulating conveying path R, an electromagnetic coil unit 16 arranged over the entire area of ​​the circulating conveying path R between these rails 15 and having numerous electromagnetic coils provided inside at predetermined intervals, and numerous movable elements 17 arranged adjacent to the electromagnetic coil unit 16 and guided by the rails 15 to move along the circulating conveying path R. Permanent magnets 18 are embedded in the movable elements 17 facing the electromagnetic coil unit 16, and one skirt 3 is connected to the upper end of the movable element 17. In addition, the movable elements 17 are rotatably provided with multiple rollers 17A at vertical positions that roll along the guide surfaces of the upper and lower rails 15. The numerous electromagnetic coils located within the electromagnetic coil unit 16 are individually energized at the required timing by the control device 11, thereby enabling the control device 11 to individually control the position and movement speed of each movable element 17 (each skirt 3) on the circulating transport path R. By energizing the electromagnetic coils at the required positions along the circulating transport path R, the control device 11 can cause each movable element 17 and the skirt 3 attached to it to circulate through positions A to E along the circulating travel path R at a predetermined speed, and to stop and move forward and backward at the required positions. The container 2, held by the skirt 3, is transported from the supply position A to the discharge position E by the linear transport device 6. Note that the configuration of the linear transport device that moves the movable elements by linear drive is conventionally known, so a detailed explanation is omitted here.

[0011] Here, we will briefly explain the transport of the container 2 via the skirt 3 by the movable element 17 of the linear transport device 6 and the processing performed at each position A to E. With eight empty containers 3 stopped at supply position A, when a case 13 containing eight empty containers 2 is supplied to supply device A by supply conveyor 12, the supply robot 4 grasps the empty containers 2 inside case 13, widens the spacing between adjacent containers 2, and then places and holds the containers 2 in the eight containers 3 stopped at supply position A. When the containers 2 are placed in the container frames 3 at supply position A, the six container frames 3, each holding an empty container 2, are transported by a linear transport device 6 to the filling position B and stopped there. A filling device 5, which will be described in detail later, is located at filling position B, and this filling device 5 fills the six containers 2 with a predetermined amount of highly viscous liquid. After this, the six holders 3, each holding a liquid-filled container 2, are transported by a linear transport device 6 to a capping position C, where they are stopped. A capping device 7 is located at capping position C, and caps are attached to the upper openings 2A of the six containers 2 by the capping device 7, thus closing them. After this, the hakama 3, which holds the containers 2 with caps attached, is transported to inspection position D by a linear transport device 6 and stopped. An inspection device 8 is located at inspection position D, and the inspection device 8 inspects every four containers 2 for the presence of foreign matter, capping defects, etc. After the inspection by the inspection device 8 at inspection position D is completed, the containers 2 are transported to the discharge device E by the linear transport device 6 and stopped. At discharge position E, a discharge robot 9 and a discharge conveyor 19 are positioned, and the discharge robot 9 takes out four containers 2 at a time from the stopped container 3 at discharge position E and transfers them onto the discharge conveyor 19. The containers 2 that are passed onto the discharge conveyor 19 are transported downstream. On the other hand, the empty containers 3 that have been removed from the containers 2 at the discharge position E are transported to the supply position A by the linear transport device 6 and stopped there again. Containers 2 that are determined to be defective by the inspection device 8 are passed onto the discharge conveyor 19 and then rejected from the discharge conveyor 19 by a reject device (not shown). In this embodiment, the container 2 held in the skirt 3 is sequentially transported from supply position A to discharge position E by the linear transport device 6, and the liquid is filled into the container 2, followed by capping and necessary inspections.

[0012] However, this embodiment is characterized in that, when filling the container 2 with liquid using the filling device 5, the filling nozzle 21 and the container 2 are moved relative to each other in the horizontal and vertical directions, thereby enabling even highly viscous liquids to be filled evenly throughout the entire container 2. As shown in Figure 2, the filling device 5 includes eight filling nozzles 21 positioned above the container 2 held by the hakama 3 (above the circulation transport path R), a lifting mechanism 22 for raising and lowering these filling nozzles 21, and a moving mechanism 24 for moving the movable platform 23 on which the lifting mechanism 22 is provided in a direction (Y direction) perpendicular to the transport direction (X direction) of the hakama 3 by the linear transport device 6. A horizontal support frame 25 is arranged on the inner side of the circulation conveyance path R, and a screw shaft 26 is rotatably supported on this support frame 25 in a direction (Y direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction (X direction) of the hakama 3 by the linear conveyance device 6. This screw shaft 26 is connected to the drive shaft of a servo motor M1, and the operation of this servo motor M1 is controlled by a control device 11. A pair of nut members 27 are connected to the bottom surface of the movable table 23, and these nut members 27 are screwed onto the screw shaft 26. When the servo motor M1 is rotated forward and backward by a required amount by the control device 11, the screw shaft 26 is rotated forward and backward, so that the filling nozzle 21 can be moved forward and backward in the Y direction via the movable table 23 and the lifting mechanism 22 provided thereon. The moving mechanism 24 is constituted by the screw shaft 26, the nut members 27, and the servo motor M1. A screw shaft 28 is rotatably supported in the vertical direction on the front surface of the movable table 23, and this screw shaft 28 is connected to the drive shaft of a servo motor M2 provided on the movable table 23. The filling nozzle 21 is attached to the support member 31 facing vertically downward, and a nut member 32 connected to the back surface of the support member 31 is screwed onto the screw shaft 28. The operation of the servo motor M2 is controlled by the control device 11. By rotating the screw shaft 28 forward and backward by the control device 11 via the servo motor M2, the filling nozzle 21 is lifted and lowered via the nut member 32 and the support member 31. The lifting mechanism 22 is constituted by the support member 31, the nut member 32, the screw shaft 28, and the servo motor M2. The filling nozzle 21 is connected to a liquid tank (not shown) via a liquid supply pipe 33, and a highly viscous liquid is stored in the liquid tank. The operation of the on-off valve of the filling nozzle 21 is controlled by the control device 11. When the empty container 2 stops at the filling position B, the control device 11 opens the on-off valve of the filling nozzle 21 to discharge the liquid and start the filling. Thus, the filling nozzle 21 for filling the liquid into the container 2 can be moved up and down by the servo motor M2 of the lifting mechanism 22, and can be moved in the direction (Y direction) orthogonal to the moving direction (X direction) of the mover 17 and the hakama 3 by the servo motor M1 of the moving mechanism 24. Note that, instead of the above-described moving mechanism 24, the filling nozzle 21 may be moved in the Y direction by attaching the support member 31 of the filling nozzle 21 so as to be swingable in the Y direction.

[0013] In this embodiment, when filling the liquid into the container 2 by the filling nozzle 21 of the filling device 5, the control device 11 combines the forward and backward movement of the filling nozzle 21 in the Y direction by the moving mechanism 24 with the forward and backward movement in the conveying direction (X direction) of the container 2 by the mover 17 of the linear conveying device 6, so as to discharge and fill the highly viscous liquid into the container 2 while relatively moving the filling nozzle 21 inserted into the container 2 and the container 2. Hereinafter, the details of the filling operation into the container 2 performed by combining the moving mechanism 24 and the lifting mechanism 22 of the filling device 5 and the forward and backward movement of the mover 17 of the linear conveying device 6 at the filling position B will be described. That is, the empty containers 2 held by the six hakama 3 are conveyed to the filling position B by the linear conveying device 6 and stopped below the filling nozzle 21 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). When these six containers 2 are supplied to the filling device 5 at the filling position B and stopped, the positional relationship between the container 2 and the filling nozzle 21 is such that directly below the filling nozzle 21 is located in front in the conveying direction (X direction) of the opening 2A of the container 2, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4(a). Thereafter, the motor M2 of the lifting mechanism 22 is operated to lower the filling nozzle 21 by a required amount via the support member 31, so that the filling nozzle 21 is inserted into the container 2 from the upper opening 2A, and the lower end portion of the filling nozzle 21 stops near the bottom surface in the container 2. Immediately after this, the on / off valve of the filling nozzle 21 is opened, and liquid is discharged into the container 2 from the lower end of the filling nozzle 21, starting the filling process. In conjunction with the start of this filling operation, the filling nozzle 21 is gradually raised by the lifting mechanism 22 at a speed at which no liquid adheres to the lower end of the filling nozzle 21, that is, at a speed at which the lower end of the filling nozzle 21 does not come into contact with the liquid rising during the filling operation, and the filling is carried out. Subsequently, as shown in Figure 4(b), the control device 11 moves the container 2 forward (to the left) in the X direction by the movable element 17 by a predetermined amount, and simultaneously moves the filling nozzle 21 downward in the Y direction in Figure 4 by the moving mechanism 24 in conjunction with the movement of the container 2. Next, as shown in Figure 4(c), the container 2 is moved a predetermined amount further forward in the X direction by the movable element 17, and the filling nozzle 21 is moved a predetermined amount upward in the Y direction in accordance with the movement of the container 2. Next, as shown in Figure 4(d), the container 2 is moved by a predetermined amount backward (to the right) in the X direction by the movable element 17, and the filling nozzle 21 is moved by a predetermined amount upward in the Y direction in Figure 4 by the moving mechanism 24 in conjunction with the movement of the container 2. Next, as shown in Figure 4(e), the container 2 is moved a predetermined amount further backward in the X direction by the movable element 17, and the filling nozzle 21 is moved a predetermined amount downward in the Y direction in Figure 4 by the moving mechanism 24 in accordance with the movement of the container 2. Next, as shown in Figure 4(f), the container 2 is moved forward in the X direction by the movable element 17 by a predetermined amount, and the filling nozzle 21 is moved downward in the Y direction by the moving mechanism 24 by a predetermined amount in the Y direction as shown in Figure 4, in conjunction with the movement of the container 2. Next, as shown in Figure 4(g), the container 2 is moved a predetermined amount further forward in the X direction by the movable element 17, and the filling nozzle 21 is moved a predetermined amount upward in the Y direction in Figure 4 by the moving mechanism 24 in accordance with the movement of the container 2. Next, as shown in Figure 4(h), the container 2 is moved a predetermined amount backward in the X direction by the movable element 17, and the filling nozzle 21 is moved a predetermined amount upward in the Y direction in Figure 4 by the moving mechanism 24 in conjunction with the movement of the container 2. In Figures 4(b) to 4(h), the dotted lines indicate the filling nozzle 21, skirt 3, and container 2 in their previous positions. The dotted line in Figure 4(b) indicates the filling nozzle 21, skirt 3, and container 2 as in Figure 4(a), and the dotted line in Figure 4(c) indicates the filling nozzle 21, skirt 3, and container 2 as in Figure 4(b). By performing these operations continuously, the filling nozzle 21 rotates horizontally relative to the container 2 and gradually rises vertically. As a result, as shown in Figure 5(a), the highly viscous liquid discharged from the filling nozzle 21 fills the container 2 in a spiral trajectory from the outside towards the center. As described above, in this embodiment, by controlling the operation of the filling device 5 and the linear conveying device 6 with the control device 11, even highly viscous liquids can be filled into the container 2 evenly and to the same height without bias. Furthermore, even when filling containers 2 with different diameters of their bodies with liquid, the control device 11 controls the forward and backward movement of the movable element 17 and the operation of the moving mechanism 24 and lifting mechanism 22 of the filling device 5, making it possible to fill containers 2 with different diameters with liquid without any problems. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the versatility is superior compared to the conventional, and the rotation mechanism for relative rotation of the container 2 and the filling nozzle 21 can be simplified.

[0014] In addition to filling the container 2 with liquid while rotating the filling nozzle 21 relative to the container 2 as shown in Figure 5(a), the liquid may also be filled while moving the filling nozzle 21 in a zigzag pattern relative to the container 2 as shown in Figure 5(b). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5(c), the liquid may also be filled while moving the filling nozzle 21 in a zigzag pattern relative to a container 2 with a rectangular horizontal cross-section. Furthermore, instead of continuously moving the container 2 during the filling operation, the container 2 may be temporarily paused. For example, in Figures 5(b) and 5(c), the container 2 may be stopped when the filling nozzle 21 is moving in the vertical direction (Y direction) of Figure 5.

[0015] Furthermore, although one hakama 3 is provided on one movable element 17 in the above embodiment, multiple hakama 3 may be arranged in series or in parallel on one movable element 17. When the hakama 3 are arranged in parallel, the same number of filling nozzles 21 as the hakama 3 will be arranged in parallel. [Explanation of symbols]

[0016] 1…Filling system 2…Container 3...Skirt (holding member) 5...Filling device 6…Linear transport system 11…Control device 15... Rail 16... Electromagnetic coil 17…Modular element 21…Filling nozzle 24...Movement mechanism

Claims

1. A filling system comprising: a plurality of holding members for holding a container having an opening; a linear conveying device for transporting the container by individually moving the holding members holding the container with a movable element; a filling device provided above the filling position in the circulating conveying path of the linear conveying device for filling the container with liquid; and a control device for controlling the operation of the linear conveying device and the filling device, The above-mentioned filling device comprises a filling nozzle for discharging liquid into the container and a moving mechanism for moving the filling nozzle in a direction intersecting the direction of movement of the holding member. The above-described control device is characterized in that, when the container held by the holding member reaches the filling position, it controls the linear transport device to move the holding member back and forth in the transport direction, and controls the filling device to move the filling nozzle in a direction intersecting the direction of movement of the holding member using the moving mechanism, while discharging liquid from the filling nozzle to fill the container.

2. The above-mentioned filling device is equipped with a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the filling nozzle, and this lifting mechanism is controlled by the above-mentioned control device. The filling system according to claim 1, characterized in that the control device lowers the filling nozzle using the lifting mechanism and stops the lower end of the filling nozzle at a position close to the bottom surface inside the container, and then, when liquid discharge from the filling nozzle begins, raises the filling nozzle using the lifting mechanism at a speed that does not cause liquid to adhere to the lower end of the filling nozzle, and in parallel with the raising operation of the filling nozzle, moves the holding member back and forth in the transport direction using the linear transport device, and moves the filling nozzle using the moving mechanism.

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