Device for gripping and conveying containers for powder, granule, or flake materials

Abstract

A gripping and conveying device (1) for gripping and conveying containers comprising a gripping element (6), designed to grasp and support said containers, characterized in that it further comprises a weighing device (5) to which said gripping element (6) is fitted, said weighing device being configured to detect the weight, and / or the weight variations, of an assembly consisting of said gripping element (6) and said container.

Description

DEVICE FOR GRIPPING AND CONVEYING CONTAINERS FOR POWDER, GRANULE, OR FLAKE MATERIALSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for gripping and conveying containers, in particular flexible containers, designed to contain powder, granule, or flake materials.

[0002] The gripping and conveying device is suitable in particular for removing the flexible containers, opened beforehand by an opening device, and supporting the flexible containers during conveying to dosing stations, in which dosed quantities of products in powder, granule or flake form are introduced into the containers. The gripping and conveying device being further easily adapted to grasping and conveying stiff containers.PRIOR ART

[0003] Plants are known from the prior art for filling flexible containers, in the form of sacks, of various dimensions, with precisely dosed quantities of powder, granule or flake products.

[0004] These plants are used, for example, in the pharmaceutical or food industry.

[0005] The flexible containers are provided with an opening, also known as a mouth, through which a powder, granule or flake product can be introduced into the container.

[0006] When a container is empty, the edges of the opening are in contact with one another, in fact closing the mouth of the container and making the inside of the container inaccessible.

[0007] In order to be able to fill the container, the edges of the opening have to be moved away and kept distanced to enable the dispenser of a dosing device to be introduced into the mouth of the container and a dosed quantity of a powder, granule or flake product to be introduced into the container.

[0008] Each flexible container to be filled is taken from a warehouse and transferred to an opening device, that moves away and keeps distanced the edges of the mouth of the container, which is thus open, until a gripping and conveying device takes the open container from the opening device to convey the container subsequently to one or more dosing stations, in each of which there is a dosing device for a powder, granule or flake product.

[0009] In each dosing station, a weighing device is present on which the flexible container is rested during dosing operations.

[0010] The weighing device is operationally associated with a respective dosing device and commands the start of the dosing operation when the container is rested on the dosing device and the end of the dosing operation when it detects that the intended quantity of product has been delivered to the container.

[0011] The presence of a weighing device in each dosing station makes known prior-art stations complicated and costly.

[0012] Alternatively, a single dosing station can be provided, with a relative single weighing device, but in this case a complex system for moving the dosing devices would be necessary to take the dosing devices in turn to the dosing station.

[0013] One object of the present invention is to simplify dosing operations, reducing plant costs without affecting dosage precision.

[0014] A further object of the present invention is to provide a device for gripping and conveying flexible containers, which enables the operations to control the weight of the products delivered to the containers during dosing operations to be performed simply, rapidly, and precisely.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0015] The objects of the invention are achieved with a device for gripping and conveying flexible containers into which a weighing device according to claim 1 is integrated.

[0016] Owing to the invention, a previously open flexible container can be conveyed to the dosing stations into each of which a dosed quantity of a powder, granule or flake product is delivered into the container and checked by the weighing device integrated into the gripping and conveying device, without any need to provide each dosing station with a weighing device for testing the quantity of product delivered to the container.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Further features and advantages of the invention will be clear from the following description of an embodiment of the invention that is provided merely by way of nonlimiting example with reference to the attached drawings, in which: figure l is a perspective top view of a device for gripping and conveying flexible containers according to the invention;figure 2 is an elevation view of the device of figure 1, in a first operating condition; figure 3 is an elevation view of the device of figure 1 in a second operating condition.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] With reference to the figures, the device 1 for gripping and conveying flexible containers according to the claim comprises a support plate 2 provided with an interface 3 that for example enables the device 1 to be coupled with a robot arm 4, for example an arm of an anthropomorphic robot, or with another movement device, for example a magnetically propelled movement device, for conveying the containers to the different dosing stations.

[0019] A weighing device 5, for example a load cell, is fixed to the support plate 2, to which a gripping element 6 is fitted that is designed to grasp and support the flexible containers, the mouth of which has been previously opened by a container-opening device that has not been shown.

[0020] The weight of the gripping element 6 with the corresponding container lies on the load cell that then detects the weight variations of the gripping element-container assembly, corresponding to the quantity of product delivered into the container in each dosing station.

[0021] The gripping element 6 comprises a pair of arms 7, fixed to a first supporting element 8, arranged above the weighing device 5 and connected to the weighing device 5.

[0022] Each arm 7 supports a pincer element 9 designed to grasp a previously open flexible container, and to support the flexible container during the operations of conveying to the dosing stations and during dosing operations.

[0023] Each pincer element 9 comprises a fixed jaw 10, fixed to a first end 14 of the respective arm 7, and a movable jaw 11, fixed to a slide 12, that can slide along a respective first sliding guide 13 fixed to the respective arm 7.

[0024] Each slide 12 is slided along the sliding guide 13 by a respective first operating cylinder 15, the stem 16 of which is hinged on the slide 12 and the body 17 of which is hinged on a second end 18 of the respective arm 7, opposite the first end 14.

[0025] The gripping and conveying device 1 is further provided with a supporting element 19, on which the flexible containers rest and are supported during movements of the gripping and conveying device 1, to prevent the flexible containers from oscillating during these movements, which would make it necessary to wait for the complete cessation of oscillationsbefore proceeding with introducing into the container a dosed quantity of a product, with an intolerable slowing of the dosing operations.

[0026] In fact, possible oscillation of the container would make it difficult to position the container below the dosing devices and would alter measuring the quantity of product introduced into the container by a dosing device.

[0027] The supporting element 19 can consist of an L-shaped plate 32 connected to a second supporting element 20, that comprises a first part 21 and a second part 22.

[0028] The first part 21 of the second supporting element 20 is connected to a first pair of ears 23 by a pair of hinges 33, which define a rotation axis A.

[0029] The first pair of ears 23 is fixed below the plate 2.

[0030] The second part 22 of the second supporting element 20 can slide, with respect to the first part 21, along a pair of second sliding guides 24 that are fixed to the first part 21.

[0031] In the figures, only one sliding guide 24 of the pair of sliding guides is visible.

[0032] The supporting element 19 can be rotated around the rotation axis A, between a first retracted position, visible in figures 1 and 2, in which the supporting element 19 does not perform any function, and a second extended position, visible in figure 3, in which the L- shape plate 32, fixed to the second supporting element 20 is so positioned as to act as rest and support for a flexible container, preventing the flexible container from oscillating during movements of the gripping and conveying device 1 by the robot arm 4, to take the flexible container to the different dosing stations.

[0033] The supporting element 19 can be rotated by a pair of second operating cylinders 25, whose respective stems 26 are hinged on the first part 21 of the supporting element 20.

[0034] The respective bodies 27 of the second operating cylinders 25 are hinged on a pair of second ears 28, which are also fixed below the plate 2.

[0035] The second part 22 of the supporting element 20 can be slided with respect to the first part 21 by a third operating cylinder 29 whose body 30 is connected to the second part 22 of the second supporting element 20, whereas the stem 31 of the third operating cylinder 29 is connected to the first part 21 of the second supporting element 20.

[0036] When the supporting element 19 is in the extended position, with a flexible container resting on the L shape plate 32 a, the third operating cylinder 29 can be driven the shake the flexible container, in order to distribute a product uniformly inside the container that has been delivered by the dosing devices.

[0037] The embodiment of the disclosed invention refers to gripping and conveying flexible containers. It is nevertheless clear that the gripping and conveying device 1 is usable also with stiff containers by simply modifying the gripper elements 9 to adapt the pincer elements 9 to the structure of stiff containers.

Claims

CLAIMS1. Device (1) for gripping and conveying containers comprising a gripping element (6), designed to grasp and support said containers, characterized in that it further comprises a weighing device (5) to which said gripping element (6) is fitted, said weighing device being configured to detect the weight, and / or the weight variations, of an assembly consisting of said gripping element (6) and said container.

2. Gripping and conveying device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said gripping element (6) comprises a pair of arms (7), fixed to a first supporting element (8) connected to the weighing device (5), wherein each arm (7) supports a pincer element (9), which comprises a fixed jaw (10), fixed to a first end (14) of the respective arm (7), and a movable jaw (11), fixed to a slide (12), that can slide along a respective first sliding guide (13) fixed to the respective arm (7).

3. Gripping and conveying device (1) according to claim 2, wherein each slide (12) is driven to slide along the respective sliding guide (13) by a respective first operating cylinder (15), the stem (16) of which is hinged on the slide (12) and the body (17) of which is hinged on a second end (18) of the respective arm (7) opposite said first end (14).

4. Gripping and conveying device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said weighing device (5) is fixed to a support plate (2), wherein the support plate (2) is provided with an interface (3) by which the gripping and conveying device (1) can be fixed to a movement device (4).

5. Gripping and conveying device (1), characterized in that it further comprises a supporting element (19), designed to provide rest and support to said containers, wherein said supporting element (19) comprises a support plate (32) connected to a second supporting element (20), that comprises a first part (21), connected to the support plate (2), and a second part (22) to which the support plate (32) is fixed.

6. Gripping and conveying device (1) according to claim 5, wherein the support plate (32) is L-shaped.

7. Gripping and conveying device (1), according to claim 5, or 6, wherein said second part (21) of the second supporting element (20) is movable with respect to said first part (21).

8. Gripping and conveying device (1) according to one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the first part (21) of the supporting element (20) is connected to a first pair of ears (23), protruding below the support plate (2), by a pair of hinges (33), which define a rotation axis (A).

9. Gripping and conveying device (1), according to one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that it further comprises a pair of second operating cylinders (25), whose respective stems (26) are hinged on the first part (21) of the supporting element (20) and whose respective bodies (27) are hinged on a second pair of ears (28) that also protrude below the support plate (2), in which said second pair of operating cylinders is configured to rotate the second supporting element (20) around the rotation axis (A).

10. Gripping and conveying device (1) according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that it further comprises a third operating cylinder(29) whose body (30) is connected to the second part (22) of the second supporting element (20), whereas the stem (31) of the third operating cylinder (29) is connected to the first part (21) of the second supporting element (20).

11. Gripping and conveying device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said containers are flexible containers.

12. Gripping and conveying device (1), according to one of claims 4 to 11 wherein said movement device (4) is a robot arm or a magnetically propelled movement device.

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