Apparatus for holding containers and container processing apparatus.

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device (1) for holding a container (7), preferably a beverage container (7) by its neck or body, in a container processing device (100) comprising two gripping arms (2) pivotable relative to one another in a pivot plane (21) and each having a holding part (20) for holding a container (7) to be held, a lifting rod (3) movable along a longitudinal axis (30) relative to the pivot plane (21), a connecting member (4) rotatably connected to a pivot lever (23) non-rotatably arranged on one of the gripping arms (2) and rotatably connected to the lifting rod, and a magnet assembly (8) formed to hold the connecting member (4) in a predetermined position with respect to a geometric axis (46) oriented between a coupling (41) of the connecting member (4) to the lifting rod (3) and a coupling (42) of the connecting member (4) to the pivot lever (23), as well as a container processing device comprising such a device.

Claims

1. In a container processing apparatus (100), the apparatus (1) for holding a container (7) comprises: two gripping arms (2) that are rotatable relative to each other on a rotational plane (21) and each having a holding part (20) for holding a container (7) to be held; a lifting rod (3) that is movable along a longitudinal axis (30) relative to the rotational plane (21); and a connecting member (4) that is rotatably connected to a rotational lever (23) that is immobilely positioned on one of the gripping arms (2) and rotatably connected to the lifting rod, The apparatus is characterized by a magnet assembly (8) formed to hold the connecting member (4) in a predetermined orientation with respect to a geometric axis (46) oriented between the coupling (41) of the connecting member (4) with the lifting rod (3) and the coupling (42) of the connecting member (4) with the swivel lever (23).

2. The apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus (1) holds the beverage container (7) at the neck or body.

3. The apparatus (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the magnet assembly (8) has at least one magnet element (80) in the coupling member (4) that points in the direction of the lifting rod (3), and at least one magnet element (81) on the side of the lifting rod (3) that points in the direction of the coupling member (4), the magnet elements (80, 81) are arranged to face each other substantially, and the magnet elements (80, 81) are oriented to point toward each other with the same polarity.

4. The apparatus (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that a plurality of magnetic elements (80) located opposite to the plurality of magnetic elements (81) on the side of the lifting rod (3) are provided on the coupling member (4).

5. The apparatus (1) according to claim 4, wherein at least one pair of opposing magnetic elements (80, 81) are arranged on one side of the geometric axis (46) of the coupling member (4), and the other at least one pair of opposing magnetic elements (80, 81) are arranged on the other side of the geometric axis (46).

6. The apparatus (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the gripping arms (2) are arranged to be rotatable about a common pivot axis, or each of the gripping arms (2) has its own pivot axis (22) and is arranged to be rotatable about its own pivot axis, and / or both gripping arms (2) each have a pivot lever (23) which is coupled to the lifting rod (3) via a coupling member (4), or the gripping arms (2) are rotatably coupled to one another.

7. The apparatus (1) according to claim 6, wherein both gripping arms (2) are rotationally coupled to each other via two meshing gears.

8. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the connecting member (4) is connected to the lifting rod (3) by a ball joint (45), and / or the swivel lever (23) is connected to the connecting member (4) by a ball joint (45), and / or the connecting member (4) has an adjustment element (43) for adjusting the swivel position of the gripping arm (2).

9. The apparatus (1) according to claim 8, wherein the connecting member (4) has an eccentric element as the adjustment element (43).

10. The apparatus (1) according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the distance (48) between the connection portion between the coupling (41) or the coupling member (4) and the lifting rod (3) and the connection portion between the coupling (42) or the coupling member (4) and the swivel lever (23) can be changed by adjusting the adjustment element (43).

11. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the lifting rod (3) includes a carriage element (31), and at least one of the connecting members (4) is connected to the carriage element (31).

12. The apparatus (1) according to claim 11, wherein the coupling member (4) is coupled to the carriage element (31) on one side with respect to the longitudinal axis (30), and the coupling member (4) is coupled to the swivel lever (23) on the other side.

13. The apparatus (1) according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the carriage element (31) is formed in an S shape and is connected to the lifting rod (3) at its central portion (32).

14. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the carriage element (31) comprises at least one magnet element (81) of the magnet assembly (8).

15. With respect to the orientation of the container (7) held by the gripping arm (2), the coupling (41) of the connecting member (4) to the lifting rod (3) is positioned above the coupling (42) of the connecting member (4) to the swivel lever (23) in the direction of the longitudinal axis (30), or the coupling (41) of the connecting member (4) to the lifting rod (3) is positioned below the coupling (42) of the connecting member (4) to the swivel lever (23) in the direction of the longitudinal axis (30). The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 14, characterized in that, and / or the coupling (42) between at least one of the swivel levers (23) and at least one of the coupling members (4) is positioned opposite the holding portion (20) with respect to the swivel axis (22), or the coupling (42) between at least one of the swivel levers (23) and at least one of the coupling members (4) is positioned on the side of the holding portion (20) with respect to the swivel axis (22).

16. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the lifting rod (3) has a control unit (5) on the opposite side of the gripping arm (2) for controlling the position of the lifting rod (3) with respect to the longitudinal axis (30), and the control unit (5) comprises a biasing element (50) for biasing the lifting rod (3) to a predetermined position and / or an interaction part (51) for interacting with a designating device for specifying the position of the lifting rod (3).

17. The apparatus (1) according to claim 16, wherein the biasing element (50) is a spring.

18. The apparatus (1) according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the interacting part is formed in the form of a sliding element, a bolt, and / or a roller (52).

19. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the interacting portion is formed to slide and / or roll on a designated device formed as a guide cam or guide groove.

20. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the lifting rod (3) includes two rod elements (33, 34) that are movable relative to the longitudinal axis (30), and the rod elements (33, 34) are connected via a spring element (35) in the direction of the longitudinal axis (30).

21. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 20, characterized in that the lifting rod (3) includes a seal (36) for sealing the lifting rod (3) with respect to a housing opening (121) of the housing (120) of the container processing apparatus (100) through which the lifting rod (3) extends.

22. The apparatus (1) according to claim 21, wherein the seal (36) is attached to the lifting rod (3) and / or the seal (36) is formed to be attached to the housing opening (121).

23. The apparatus (1) according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the seal (36) is formed to compensate for the stroke of the lifting rod (3) necessary to rotate the gripping arm (2) during operation.

24. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein the seal (36) comprises a silicone material and / or is formed as a bellows.

25. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 24, characterized in that the coupling housing (6) houses at least one of the coupling members (4) and at least one of the swivel levers (23), and each of the gripping arms (2) is attached to a shaft (24) that is rotatable about the swivel axis (22) of the gripping arm (2), and the shaft (24) extends through a hole (61) in the coupling housing (6).

26. The apparatus (1) according to claim 25, wherein the lifting rod (3) extends through the opening (60) of the coupling housing (6).

27. ​​The apparatus (1) according to claim 26, wherein the opening (60) is sealed.

28. The apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 25 to 27, wherein the hole (61) is sealed.

29. In a container processing apparatus (100) equipped with a transfer device (110) for transporting containers (7), A container processing apparatus characterized in that the transfer device (110) has a device (1) for holding the container (7) according to any one of claims 1 to 28.

30. The container processing apparatus (100) according to claim 29, further comprising a housing (120) for providing a closed space, wherein the gripping arm (2) is located inside the housing (120), the lifting rod (3) extends through a housing opening (121), and the control unit (5) is located outside the housing (120).

31. The container processing apparatus (100) according to claim 30, wherein the control unit (5) is positioned above the housing opening (121).

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