Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02232996 1998-03-24
DESCRIPTION
Conveyor Chain Apparatus
Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus for conveying hollow
vessels and, in particular, to a conveyor chain apparatus for conveying
hollow vessels in a suspended state after blow molding thereof has
ended.
Background of the Invention
In a production line for fabricating hollow vessels, which are bottles
or the like formed by blow-molding a synthetic resin or plastics, a
belt conveyor or air conveyor is often used in the art as an apparatus
for conveying the m olded bottles.
H o wever, a proble m occurs during the conveying of bottles by a belt
conveyor in that, if the conveyor apparatus is started or halted while
the bottles are being conveyed, the bottles frequently fall over, and
these bottles are particularly likely to fall over at a feed-screw
inlet portion thereof, forcing the mechanism of the manufacturing line
to halt.
The conveying of bottles by an air conveyor involves a problem in
that, although it is possible to prevent the bottles fro m falling over
because the neck portions of the bottles are suspended fro m rails
provided in an opening in a lower surface of the wind tunnel box and an
airflo w fro m an air blo wer is blo wn against the m outh portions of the
bottles to convey the m, friction between the rails and the bottle necks
occurs along the entire length of the bottle conveyor path, which tends
to da m age the bottles.
A nother proble m occurs because the bottles are conveyed by an airflo w,
in that the conveyor speed can easily become unstable due to variations
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in the air pressure or the like, and this causes bottles that have been
halted to be hit by bottles co m ing fro m behind, defor m ing the m.
A further problem occurs in that there is likely to be dust in the
airflow fro m the air blower, leading to the danger that this dust will
be mixed into the interior of the hollow vessels, such as bottles.
Disclosure of the invention
The present invention was devised with the ai m of solving the above
described proble m s with the prior art and has as its objective the
provision of a suspended-bottle type of conveyor chain apparatus that
has none of the above problems, such as bottles falling over or
beco m ing da m aged.
In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention
configures a conveyor chain apparatus as a conveyor chain apparatus for
bottles in such a m anner that a conveyor chain for m ed integrally of a
m ain link m a m ber and a bottle conveyor m a m ber is disposed on both sides
of a conveyor path for bottles, and bottles are conveyed suspended
thereby with neck portions thereof held by bottle conveyor m a m bers on
both sides.
In addition, the conveyor chain is formed by linking chain links by
connector pins. where each chain link is formed integrally of a bottle
conveyor m a m ber that is provided with a bottle holder plate and a m ain
link me m ber that is equipped with a pin connection link, a bushing, and
a conveyor m a m ber attach m ent portion, as specific m eans for the conveyor
chain apparatus; the conveyor chain apparatus is configured by
supporting this conveyor chain on sprocket wheels and intermedi-ate
guidance members on either side; the thus configured pair of conveyor
chain apparatuses are disposed on either side of the conveyor path for
bottles in such a m anner that neck portions of bottles are held by
bottle holder plates on both sides; and bottles are conveyed by the
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driving of chain-driving sprocket wheels in a state in which the bottles are
suspended.
Furthermore, the bottle conveyor member provided with the bottle holder
plate is formed of a low-friction material as the bottle conveyor member, side
surfaces on both sides of the bottle holder plate are formed in such a manner
that
lower edges thereof are inclined forward in the conveyor direction, so that,
wrren
bottles are delayed, the bottles are maintained in a suspended state and slide
over
the bottle holder plate.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a conveyor chain
apparatus for conveying a bottle along a conveyor path by a holder ring in
the neck of the bottle, comprising: a conveyor chain formed of chain links
connected by connecting pins, each of said chain links comprising: a main link
portion with a projecting end and a receiving end, each end having one or more
holes so that the projecting end of one link fits into the receiving end of
another
link and the connecting pins form the chain links into the conveyor chain; and
a
bottle conveyor portion, wherein said conveyor chain apparatus is disposed on
both
sides of the conveyor path.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig.i is a plan view of a conveyor chain apparatus in accordance with the
present invention;
Fig. 2 is a side view, schematically showing a state in which bottles are
conveyed by using the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention;
Fig. 3(a) is a perspective view of a chain link used in the first embodiment
of
the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention;
Fig. 3(b) is a side view thereof, Fig. 3(c) is a front view thereof, and Fig.
3(d)
is cross-sectional view of the chain link of Fig. 3(a) taken along the line G-
G;
Fig. 4(a) is a plan view illustrating a bottle conveyor portion of the
conveyor
chain of the present invention and Fig. 4(b) is a side view thereof;
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Fig. 5(a) is a perspective view of a chain link used in a second embodiment of
the present invention and Fig. 5(b) is a cross-sectional view of the chain
link of Fig.
5(a) taken along the line H-H;
Fig. 6(a) is a perspective view of the bottle conveyor member used in the
second embodiment of the present invention and Fig. 6(b) is a cross-sectional
view
of the bottle conveyor member of Fig. 6(a) taken along
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the line I-I;
Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the sprocket portion of the
conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention, taken along the line
E-E of Fig. 1; and
Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the chain guidance m a m ber portion
of the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention, taken along
the line F - F of Fig. 1.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
E m bodi m ents of the present invention are described below with
reference to the acco m panying figures.
The state of the conveyor chain apparatus when in use is configured as
denoted overall by A in Figs. 1 and 2. This conveyor chain apparatus A
is designed to convey a bottle, which has a m outh portion for m ed into an
annular holder portion, in a suspended state as denoted by the sy m bol
B.
A belt conveyor C1 that carries bottles from a previous stage is
provided overlapping a forward portion of the conveyor chain apparatus
A and another belt conveyor C2 and a feed screw D that supply bottles to
a next stage are provided overlapping a rear portion thereof.
The conveyor chain apparatus A is formed in such a manner that a pair
of chain devices A 1 and A2 are disposed on either side of a path along
which bottles are conveyed, and these chain devices A 1 and A2 are fixed
to a device frame (not shown in the figure) by support frames 1.
Each of the chain devices A 1 and A2 is equipped with a conveyor chain
2 and a sprocket wheel 3 that drives the conveyor chain 2 around, to
form a circuit
The sprocket wheels 3 are driven to rotate by a drive source Cnot
shown in the figure) that is mounted on the device frame, in such a
m anner that the conveyor chains 2 are driven in a circuit thereby.
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Chain guidance members 5 and 6 are attached by support brackets 4 to
either side of each of the support fro mes 1, and an idler sprocket
wheel 7 is also attached to a rear end of each of the support frames 1
in such a manner as to enable positional adjustment in the forward and
rearward directions.
Each conveyor chain 2 is supported in a freely rotational manner by
the corresponding driving sprocket wheel 3, chain guidance m a m hers 5 and
6, and idler sprocket wheel 7, and is configured to be driven along the
chain guidance m a m hers 5 and 6 by the rotational drive of the driving
sprocket wheel 3.
The linkage configuration of this conveyor chain 2 will now be
described.
Each chain link 9 of the conveyor chains used in the present invention
is constructed of a m ain link m a m ber 10 and a bottle conveyor m a m ber 11
that is for m ed integrally with this m ain link m a m ber, as shown in Fig.
3.
It is m ost suitable to for m each chain link 9 by using stainless
steel., which has abrasion resistance and low friction characteristics,
as a m aterial.
A synthetic resin co m prising a polya m ide, polyacetal, polyethylene
terephthalate (P E T), polybutylene terephthalate (P B T), or other plastic
could be used as a plastic material therefor, but polyacetal would be
best if the bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate
Connecting links, offset links, or the like could be used as the chain
link structure, but each of the m ain link m a m bers 10 used in the present
invention is of a so-called offset link type having an integral
structure of a link plate and a running fit, co m prising a pin
connection link portion 12, a bush portion 13, and a conveyor m a m ber
attach m ent portion 14.
Two link plates (offset plates) 15a and 15b are provided on the pin
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connection link portion12, opposed upper and lower end surfaces
to
thereof. through holes connection pins are provided
17a and 17b for 16
penetrating through link plates and 15b. and er and lower
the 15a upp
end surfaces of the plates 15a 15b are formed surfaces
link and as 18a
and 18b that slope s the conveyerm a m ber attachside.
to ward m ent
The bush portion 13 supported he conveyor member
is by t attachment
portion 14 and support arms 19a and 19b that are connected to the
respective link plates 15a and 15b, and a through hole 20 for one of
the connection pins 16 is provided penetrating through the center of the
bush portion 13.
T l1e bottle conveyor m a m ber 11 is for m ed to have an approxi m ately L -
shape of an attachment plate portion 21, which is connected to the
attach m ent portion 14 of the m ain link m a m ber 10, and a bottle holder
plate 22, which extends horizontally fro m the attach ment plate portion.
In addition, cut surfaces 23 on either side of the bottle holder plate
22 are formed as inclined surfaces where the lower edge thereof points
forward with respect to the conveyor direction (indicated by the arrow
X ).
If necessary, a protective plate 33 could be provided on each of the
to wer edge surfaces of the chain guidance m a m bers 5 and 6 with a liner
32 therebetween, as shown in Fig. 8.
Protruberant ridges 24 are formed at an upper end portion of each
connection pin 16 and a connection between links in accordance with the
present invention is made by inserting the upper end of that connection
pin 16 into the through hole 17a of the link plate 15a and mating the
lower end thereof with the through hole 17b, as shown in Fig. 3(d).
In addition, the bush portion 13 of one m ain link m a m ber 10 fits into
the inner sides of the link plates 15a and 15b of the next main link
member 10, as shown by broken lines, and the link plates 15a and 15b
and the bush portion 13 are connected together by another connection pin
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16, to form the conveyor chain 2 as shown in Figs. 4(a) and 4(b).
The above embodiment was described as having a configuration in which
the attach m ent plate portion 21 of the bottle conveyor m a m ber 11 is
integral with the attach m ent portion 14 of the m ain link m a m ber 10, but
the conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention is not li m ited to
this configuration, so that the bottle conveyor m a m ber 11 and the m ain
link m a m ber 10 could equally well be for m ed as separate bodies using
different m aterials that are fixed together to for m a single body by
welding or other suitable fixing means.
A n exa m ple of such an a m bodi m ent is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, enabling a
configuration wherein a protruding pin 25, to which is attached a head
for preventing re m oval, is provided on the attach m ent portion 14 of each
m ain link m a m ber 10 that for m s the conveyor chain, and a slotted hole
26 is provided in the attach ment plate portion 21 of another bottle
conveyor m a m ber 11, whereby the two co m ponents are engaged together to
for m the conveyor chain.
In such a case, the main link member 10 could be formed of a metal or
of various other co m m only used m aterials, while the bottle conveyor
m a m ber 11 alone is for m ed of a m aterial having abrasion resistance and
low friction characteristics.
The various members configuring the conveyor chain apparatus will now
be described.
The conveyor chain apparatus of the present invention, which is
configured as described above, is arranged in such a manner that the two
chain devices A 1 and A2 disposed on either side of the bottle conveyer
path are capable of pincering and holding the m outh portions of the
moving bottles B, as shown schematically in Fig. 1.
A neck portion provided with a holder ring 28 for conveying is formed
below the mouth portion 27 of each bottle B, as shown in Fig. 8, and the
chain devices A1 and A2 are disposed in such a manner that the bottle
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neck portions provided with the holder rings 28 are pincered and held
fro m both sides while the holder plates 22 of the bottle conveyor
m a m bers 11 attached to the conveyor chains 2 disposed on either side of
the bottle conveyor path hold the m outh portions of the bottles B, as
shown in Figs. 2 and 4.
The sprocket wheel 3 is provided with sprockets 30 that engage with
the bush portion 13 of each chain link 9, as shown in Fig. 7, with the
configuration being such that a drive shaft 31 of this sprocket wheel
is attached rotatably to a bearing (not shown ) provided on the device
fra m a and is rotated by a drive source via a suitable known trans m fission
m echanis m.
A n attach menu plate 33 provided with elongated holes 32 for positional
adjustment is attached by screws 34 to each support frame 1 at a rear
end of the support frame 1, as shown in Fig. l, and the idler sprocket
wheel 7 is fixed by screws 35 to the attach m ent plate 33 in an
adjustable manner.
Indented guide grooves 40 for guiding the m ain link m a m hers 10 of the
conveyor chain 2 are for m ed in the chain guidance m a m bers 5 and 6, as
shown in Fig. 8, inner wall surfaces of the guide grooves are formed as
gripping surfaces 41a and 41b that are a pair of tapered inclined
surfaces matching the upper and lower surfaces 18a and 18b of the link
plates 15a and 15b, are the m ain link m a m hers 10 are guided thereby in
a state in which they are in contact with base wall surfaces 42 of the
guide grooves 40.
If the protective plates 33 are provided on the lower end surfaces of
the chain guidance members 5 and 6, they are provided in such a manner
as to protrude between the holder plates 22 of the bottle conveyor
members 11 and the shoulder portions of the bottles B, and the positions
thereof are fixed in an adjustable manner in accordance with the shape
and size of the bottles by set screws 34 and screw-holes formed as
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elongated slots, in such a m anner that front edge portions of the
protective plates 33 do not touch the m outh portions of the bottles.
The above described configuration of the conveyor chain apparatus of
the present invention ensures that the conveyor path can be freely
rearran ged, because the m ain link m a m hers 10 of the conveyor chains 2 do
not come out of the guide grooves 40 of the chain guidance members 5
and 6 during the process of conveying the bottles, and the shape of the
chain guidance m a m bers 5 and 6 disposed on either side can take up
various different curves.
The usage of the conveyor chain apparatus will now be described.
W hen blo w m olded bottles B that have been re m oved fro m the blo w -
m ol~ding apparatus after the blow m olding is co m pleted are conveyed by
the belt conveyor C1 to the conveyor chain apparatus A of the present
invention, as shown in Fig. 2, the neck portions of the finished bottles
are pincered and held fro m both sides by the bottle conveyor m a m bers 11
of the conveyor chains 2 of this apparatus, and are conveyed thereby in
a suspended state.
D wring this ti m e, if a bottle on the into m ing belt conveyor C 1 has
fallen over, the fallen bottle will drop fro m the conveyer without
being suspended fro m the conveyor chains, so that only bottles in a
normal state will be conveyed by the conveyor chain apparatus A.
W hen the correctly suspended bottles B transfer fro m the conveyor
chain apparatus of the present invention onto the belt conveyor C2 for
supplying bottles to the next stage, the bottles B are sent on towards
the next processing stage in such a m anner that they are held at a fixed
spacing by the feed screw D.
D wring this process, the bottles B m ay be subjected to to m porary halts
but, since the conveyor m a m bers are for m ed of a m aterial w hick has to w
friction characteristics and also the side surfaces of the bottle holder
plates are formed in a state in which they are inclined forward in the
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conveyor direction, the neck portions of the bottles slide s m oothly over
the holder plates without being caught by the side surfaces of the
holder plates, and the bottles are halted stably while being maintained
in a suspended state.
In addition, if the protective plates for m ed of a m aterial with low
friction characteristics are provided, and if a halt occurs in the
bottles at a position such as at the inlet of the screw and the
subsequent bottles become inclined, the striking of the shoulder
portions of the bottles against the protective plates 33 ensures that
s m ooth sliding occurs between the holder rings and the holder plates,
without the bottle holder plates 22 co m ing into direct contact with the
shoulder portions of the bottles, which ensures that there is no damage
to the bottles which would otherwise occur fro m the strong friction
induced by the bottles in an inclined state beco m ing wedged between the
holder plates.
Th.e above a m bodi m ents were described as being used for bottles for m ed
by blow- m olding, as the objects to be conveyed, but it can easily be
co m prehended by those skilled in the art that the conveyor apparatus of
the present invention can be used for conveying other objects, such as
prefor m s for blow- m olding or cups for m ed to have flanges at upper edges
thereof.
Industrial A pplicability
The use of the above described configuration of the present invention
m kes it possible to i m ple m ent the follo wing effects:
Since the mouth portions of the bottles and pincered and held fr.o m
both sides by the bottle conveyor m a m bers attached to the conveyor
chains, so that the bottles are conveyed in a state in which they are
suspended by the neck portions thereof, there is no likelihood of the
bottles falling down on the conveyor line.
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If a toppled bottle should arrive fro m the previous stage, for
exa m ple, that bottle will auto m atically drop fro m the belt conveyor
without beco m ing suspended by the neck portion thereof, naturally
making it possible to prevent the apparatus of the next stage from
halting.
In addition, friction between the bottle neck portions and the
bottle conveyor m a m bers can be reduced as far as possible by for m ing
the bottle conveyor members of the conveyor chains of a low-friction
m aterial, so that, since friction does not occur, except at portions
such. as the feed screw, the occurrence of da m age to the bottles due to
friction can be suppressed.
The conveyor speed can be controlled in a si m ple m anner by changing
the rotational speed of the sprocket wheels and the conveyor speed of
the bottles is fixed by the chain pitch, so that there are no collisions
between bottles.
W hile bottles are being sent on to the next stage by the conveyor
apparatus of this invention, a feed screw at the inlet of the next stage
ensures that the bottles slide s m oothly over the holder plates without
being caught by the side surfaces of the holder plates, even if they are
to m porarily delayed, so that the bottles are halted stably while being
maintained in a suspended state.
ff a halt occurs in the bottles at a position such as at the inlet of
the feed screw and the subsequent bottles become inclined. The provision
of the protective plates belo w the bottle holder plates ensures s m ooth
sliding between the holder rings of the bottles and the holder plates,
without the bottle shoulder portions co m ing into direct contact with
the bottle holder plates, so that no da m age occurs.
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