JPH0216853B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sampling device for taking out sampling cans from a can conveyance path and then feeding them back into the can conveyance path in a canned beverage production line.

After filling empty cans with beverages and the like and sealing them using a sealing machine, it is necessary to take out a certain number of sample cans from the can transport path in order to check the sealing condition and the amount of filling.

However, checking the filling amount takes time and cannot be performed at the speed of a normal conveyor line. For this reason, it is common practice to take the sampling can out of the conveyance path and weigh it.

Conventionally, sample cans were taken out by temporarily stopping the conveyor, but this required about 30 to 60 minutes to manually measure the filling amount, as well as the loss of operational efficiency due to temporarily halting production. There was a problem in that it was not possible to check the filling amount of the production line at any time.

On the other hand, the flow of empty cans is temporarily stopped on the conveyor supplying empty cans to the filler, and a group of sampling cans with blank areas at the front and back are fed to the filler and the seaming machine. It has been proposed to remove the sampling cans to a bypass conveyor by switching guides, thereby eliminating the need to stop the production line. However, since a group of empty sampling cans is separated by a stopper before being supplied to the filler, the reliability of the correspondence between each sampling can and the filling valve of the filler is poor, and if underfilling or overfilling occurs. Furthermore, it is difficult to determine which valve has the problem. Furthermore, additional manual work is required to weigh the sample cans taken out and return them to the line, which does not improve the overall efficiency of operations such as checking the amount of filling.

In addition, sampling inspection of the seaming condition of the seaming machine is conducted in the same manner as for the filler above, and if a can with poor seaming occurs, the seaming head that seamed the can can be identified. It is difficult, etc.
The same problem as in the case of sampling inspection of filling amount occurred.

The present invention was devised in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of sampling inspection in the conventional can manufacturing line. It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for taking out and weighing sampling cans, which allows identification of the filling valve or seaming head that has been affected.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a bypass conveyor in parallel with a main conveyor that conveys cans after seaming is completed in a can production line,
The bypass conveyor is provided with an inspection device, and the filler or seaming machine is provided with a sensor for detecting a specific nozzle or a specific seaming head, and a can detection sensor and a switch are provided near the bypass conveyor entrance of the main conveyor. A can row switching means such as a guide is provided. Then, counting of cans is started based on the detection signal of the sensor, and when the counted value reaches the number of cans accumulated between the preset sensor position and the can detection sensor position, the can row switching means is activated. to switch the flow of the can row from the main conveyor to the bypass conveyor, and feed a predetermined number of sampling cans to the bypass conveyor, with cans filled with the specific filler or cans sealed with the specific seamer at the top. , the can row after inspection is returned to the main conveyor from the end of the bypass conveyor.

A detailed explanation will be given below with reference to the drawings.

The figure is a plan view showing essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention.

Empty cans cleaned with Empty Can Rinser 1 are sent to Shute 2.
After being sent to a rotary filler 3 and filled with contents, it is sent to a seaming machine 4 and seamed. The wrapped cans are conveyed by a conveyor 5 through various checkers, can coolers, etc., and packed into cases.

In the sampling device of the present invention, a bypass conveyor 6 is provided in a part of the discharge conveyor 5 in parallel with it, and an inspection device 7 such as a weight checker for checking the filling amount is provided in the middle of the bypass conveyor 6. A starting end and a terminal end of the bypass conveyor 6 are connected to the discharge conveyor 5, respectively. 8 and 9 are counters, 10 is a switching guide, 11 is a twister, 1
2 and 13 are sensors, and 14 is a can stopper.

The sampling device described above operates as follows.

Under normal operating conditions, the number of cans accumulated between the rotary leaf sealer 3 and the switching guide 10, or between the sealing machine 4 and the switching guide 10, always depends on the speed of the main conveyor 5 and the line speed. constant.

When checking the quality of the filling valve of the rotary filler 3, the number of cans remaining between the filler 3 and the switching guide 10 is set in the counter 8. At the same time, the counter 9 is set to the number of valves in the filler 3 or an integral multiple thereof. When the sensor 12 is activated manually or by a sampling can removal signal issued at regular intervals, and a specific valve of the filler 3 passes in front of the sensor 12,
The sensor 12 detects the mark provided on the rub and sends a signal to the counter 8 to start counting. This position may be read by any suitable electrical or optical reading device known in the art. In response to the counting start signal, the counter 8 counts the can detection signals from the sensor 12, and when the set number is reached, it drives the can stopper 14 to separate the rows of cans on the main conveyor 5 and stop the cans for a certain period of time. A predetermined distance is left between the cans and the previous can, and then the switching guide 10 is driven to switch the flow of cans to the bypass conveyor 6, and the stoppage of the cans by the stopper 14 is released. Further, at the same time as the can stopper 14 is driven, the counter 9 is started to start counting the can detection signal of the sensor 13.

This operation ensures that a row of cans is sent to the bypass conveyor 6, starting with the can that left the filler 3 just after issuing the count start signal.
When the counter 9 finishes counting the preset number of cans, the can stopper 14 is driven again to stop subsequent cans on the main conveyor 5 for a certain period of time until the sampling cans have moved to the bypass conveyor 6. The switching guide 10 is restored to its original state,
By stopping the drive of the can stopper 14, the cans return to the flow on the main conveyor 5. As a result, sampling cans corresponding to the number of valves are sent onto the bypass conveyor, starting with the can filled by a specific valve of the filler 3, so that the inspection device 7 detects the lack of filling in each valve.・It is possible to check whether the operating condition is good or not, such as overfilling.
Record data using a recorder as necessary. or,
In order to record the omission of cans being fed, the sensor 12 is equipped with a timer to measure the interval between counts of cans passing in front of it. For example, increase the speed of a production line to 700
If cans/minute, 700/60 seconds + α after counting the previous can
If the sensor 12 cannot detect the next can even after the elapse of time, it is determined that the can sent out from the rinser has fallen out for some reason, and the sensor 12 outputs a measurement cancel signal to the counter 8. Of course, the counter 8 may be automatically returned to the starting time by the cancel signal, and counting may be started by the next counting start signal.

The cans that have passed the inspection device 7 are transferred to the bypass conveyor 6
returns onto the main conveyor 5 from the end of the line. The rows of cans on the main conveyor 5 are usually formed with sufficient intervals between them, so the cans fed by the bypass conveyor 6 are automatically pushed into each other within this interval. Arranged.

Also, when checking the quality of the seaming head, set the number of cans accumulated between the seaming machine and the switching guide 10 in the counter 8 as before, and take out the counting start signal from the specific head. Then, the sampling can array corresponding to each head can be taken out in exactly the same way. Sealing inspection usually involves visual inspection of the seaming area,
Since measurement and inspection are carried out manually, it is possible to automatically stop the bypass conveyor 6 after taking out the sampling cans and prepare the sampling cans arranged in accordance with the order of the seaming heads for this inspection. I can do it.

As described above, the present invention automatically takes out sampling cans from the production line using the bypass conveyor and returns cans that have been inspected to the main conveyor, so that an inspection device with a speed different from that of the production line can be installed online on the production line. It can be incorporated into Since the sample can take-out signal is obtained from the filling device and the seaming device, the correspondence between each valve and head and the sample can is clear, and the quality of each can be reliably checked. Since the sampling can array is automatically checked for omissions, correspondence between the sampling can array and each individual valve or head is guaranteed.
The filling amount measurement time is greatly shortened, and the filling status can be easily checked at any time. It produces remarkable effects such as

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a plan view of essential parts of one embodiment of the sampling device of the present invention. 2...Empty can feed conveyor, 3...Rotary filler, 4...Sealing machine, 5...Main conveyor, 6...Bypass conveyor, 7...Inspection device,
8, 9...Counter, 10...Switching guide, 1
2, 13...sensor, 14...can stopper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a can production line, a bypass conveyor is installed in parallel with the main conveyor that conveys the cans after seaming, an inspection device is installed on the bypass conveyor, and a specific nozzle or a specific winding is installed on the filler or seaming machine. A sensor for detecting the tightening head is provided, and a can detection sensor and a can row switching means are provided near the bypass conveyor entrance of the main conveyor, and counting of cans is started by the detection signal of the sensor, and the counted value is set in advance. When the set number of cans accumulated between the sensor position and the can detection sensor position is reached, the can row switching means is activated to switch the flow of the can row from the main conveyor to the bypass conveyor, and the can row is switched from the main conveyor to the bypass conveyor. A predetermined number of sampling cans are fed, starting with cans filled with a specific filler or cans seamed with a specific seamer, and the row of cans is returned to the main conveyor from the end of the bypass conveyor after inspection. Features a sampling can removal and weighing system.