JP2000142886A - Automatic unplugging device for threaded plug - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably engage a tool with a groove on an upper face while holding a flange of a threaded plug of a drum can for unplugging and to transfer the threaded plug to a predetermined region. SOLUTION: This device comprises an air motor 41 attached to a lift board 33 which is raised/lowered by air cylinders 35, 36 which are in tandem. An unplugging head 45 is attached to a lower end of a rotary shaft 44, a plurality of levers 49, 49, 49 having a claw 51 whose upper part is pressed outwardly by a spring 52 to direct downward are pivoted around the unplugging head 45, and a tool 54 which can be fitted into a groove on an upper face of a threaded plug 7 is inserted into a tool holding hole 53 opened on a lower face of the unplugging head 45 for pressing the tool 54 downwardly by springs 55, 55. A plug receiving chute 59 is provided so that it can advance/retreat toward below a raised position of the head 45 by the air cylinder, and a plug release fitting 46 is provided for pressing the levers 49, 49, 49 to raised position of the head 45 by activation of the air cylinders and opening the claw 51 outwardly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically opening a screw stopper such as a drum can.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The operation of cleaning a large number of used drums for reuse is performed in the following order, for example. Put the cleaning liquid and metal particles into the drum that was brought in with the stopper open, shake the cover thoroughly after removing the stopper, remove the deposits on the inner wall, open the stopper, remove the cleaning liquid and metal particles with a suction pump, and wash with hot water Then, the inside is evacuated to a low pressure to perform a leak inspection, the outer surface is painted and the inner surface is visually inspected, plugged and delivered.

There are two large and small screw stoppers on the top plate of a drum can. Conventionally, in order to automatically remove these stoppers, the opening head is lowered from above, the upper flange of the screw stopper is held from below by a claw provided around the head, and the center of the head is removed. The head is rotated by engaging a plate-shaped screwdriver hanging from the upper part of the screw stopper, and when the screw stopper comes off, it is raised together with the head while being held by these claws, The nail was opened at the height position and the screw stopper was dropped on the chute.

[0004]

The above-mentioned screw plug often has a groove on the upper surface damaged, and when the amount of protrusion of the screwdriver from the head is small, the screw stopper idles in a state where it cannot be sufficiently engaged with the groove. And further increase the damage of the groove. Conversely, when the projecting amount of the tool is large, the claw cannot hold the screw plug even if the screw plug is disengaged, so that the detached screw plug cannot be moved to a predetermined position. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an opening device in which a claw can always hold a screw plug and a tool can be securely engaged with a groove on the upper surface of the screw plug.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An automatic opening apparatus according to the present invention comprises an opening head mounted above a screw plug and attached to a lower end of a rotating shaft hanging down from a rotating motor, the rotating motor and the rotating shaft. Lifting and lowering means for supporting and vertically moving them, stopper releasing means for releasing the screw plug which is provided at a fixed position close to the rotation axis and which is held by the opening head, and the opening head And a receiving means for the released screw stopper provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the lifting path.

The opening head has a holding member for holding the flange of the screw plug, and a tool for engaging with a groove of the screw plug. The tool is vertically movable into the opening head. It is supported and is pressed down by the spring. The stopper releasing means is provided at a fixed position close to the rotating shaft, and controls to release the screw stopper held by the holding member when the stopper head rises and comes into contact therewith. .

When the drum can is transported to the opening position,
The opening heads for the large plug and the small plug are lowered by the elevating means while being rotated by the rotary motor, and come into contact with the large plug and the small plug, respectively, and the holding member holds the flange of each screw plug. And, the tool of each opening head is pressed by the ridge and securely engages with the groove of each screw stopper. As each opening head continues to rotate, each screw stopper rotates and separates from the drum. Next, when the movement of the lifting / lowering means starts to rise, each of the opening heads starts to ascend while holding the screw plug, and when each opening head rises to a certain height, the receiving means advances below it, When each opening head is further raised, it comes into contact with the release means, thereby releasing the held screw plugs, and each receiving means receives each dropped screw plug and transports it to a predetermined position.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The holding member of the opening head is a plurality of levers each having a claw directed inward at a lower end, an intermediate portion of which is axially fixed around the opening head, and the upper end thereof is formed by a projection. A structure pressed outward is appropriate. Since the claw at the lower end is pressed inward by the projection, the flange of the screw plug can be securely held. The release means is formed in an annular shape surrounding the rotation shaft, and the inner surface thereof is formed as a tapered control surface having a downwardly expanded surface. As a result of the upper end of each lever of the head being pressed inward by the control surface, the lower end of each lever expands outward to release the held screw plug.

The elevating means is driven by a tandem-coupled long-stroke cylinder and a short-stroke cylinder. When the opening head is raised by a long-stroke cylinder and then by a short-stroke cylinder. It is advantageous. When the screw stopper is released, the long stroke cylinder is first activated to raise the opening head to a sufficient height, and the chute as the stopper receiving means advances below the head. Next, when the short stroke cylinder is activated,
The opening head further rises into the opening means, and the opening head releases the held screw plug and drops it onto the chute which is the receiving means. Therefore, it is possible to determine the advance timing of the stopper receiving means without using a sensor for detecting the position of the stopper head.

[0010]

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 10 denotes a stopper holding part, 30 denotes a small stopper opening part, and 60 denotes a large stopper opening part. As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 5, sleeves 12, 12, 12, 12
The sliding shafts 13 and 1 are movable in the vertical direction.
The upper ends of these sliding shafts are fixed to a connecting plate 14, and an air cylinder 15 is interposed between the substrate 11 and the connecting plate 14. Sliding shaft 13,
An elevator plate 16 bent in a U-shape is fixed to the lower ends of 13, 13, 13.

Two horizontal guides 17, 17 are passed between the two wings of the lifting plate 16, and drive plates 18, 19 parallel to the two wings are supported on the guides 17, 17 by sleeves 20, 20, respectively. ing. The piston 22 of the air cylinder 21 attached to the drive plate 18
9. At the lower edges of the driving plates 18 and 19, stoppers 23 and 24 extending horizontally are fixed, and each stopper 23 and 24 is provided at one end of the opposite side for holding a small stopper. Notches 25, 25 are provided at the other end with notches 26, 26 for holding a large plug.

In the small plug opening section 30, a vertically extending substrate 31 supports the upper and lower ends of two vertical guides 32,32. Note that, among these guides 32, 32, those located at the rear are not shown because they are located behind the one located at the front. Each guide 32, 32,
An elevating plate 33 is supported by sleeves 34, 34 so as to be able to move up and down. 35 is a long stroke air cylinder,
36 is a short stroke air cylinder, both cylinders are connected in tandem on the back side, and the piston 37 of the long stroke cylinder 35 is a metal fitting 38 provided on the lifting plate 33.
And the piston 3 of the short stroke cylinder 36
9 is connected to a metal fitting 40 provided at the lower end of the substrate 31.

An air motor 41 is mounted on the upper part of the elevating plate 33, and an opening head 45 for a small plug is mounted on a lower end of a rotating shaft 44 of the air motor 41 supported and suspended by bearings 42 and 43. Have been. Above the opening head 45, a release bracket 46 surrounding the rotation shaft 44 is provided with the substrate 3.
1 is attached.

The opening head 45 for a small plug is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 7, the lower screw 47 is connected to the lower end of the rotating shaft 44 by a left screw 47 projecting from the upper surface.
(See FIG. 3). Lever 49, 49, 49 are arranged at equal intervals around the opening head 45, and the intermediate part thereof is supported by shafts 50, 50, 50. Each lever has a claw projecting into the recess 48 at the lower end. 51, 51, 51, and the upper end is pressed outward by springs 52, 52, 52 interposed between the stopper head 45 and the opening head 45. A deep tool holding hole 53 having a rectangular cross section is formed in the ceiling of the recess 48, and a rectangular plate-shaped tool 5 is formed therein.
4 are fitted. The tool 54 is pressed downward by ridges 55, 55 interposed between its upper end and the ceiling of the hole 53, and a pin 57 penetrating the opening head 45 is pulled out of a vertically long hole 56 provided at the center thereof. It is inserted as a stop.

The configuration of the large plug opening section 60 is almost the same as the configuration of the small plug opening section 2. That is, the substrate 61 extending vertically
Supports vertical guides 62, 62, and each guide 6
An elevating plate 63 is supported by the sleeves 64 and 64 so as to be able to ascend and descend. A long-stroke air cylinder 65 and a short-stroke air cylinder 66 are tandem-coupled on the back side,
Reference numeral 7 denotes a metal fitting 68 provided on the lifting plate 63 and a cylinder 66.
The piston 69 is connected to a metal fitting 70 provided at the lower end of the substrate 61.

A rotating shaft 74 of an air motor 71 mounted on an upper portion of the elevating plate 63 is supported by bearings 72 and 73 and hangs down. A lower end of the opening shaft 75 for a large plug is mounted. Above the opening head 75, a release fitting 76 surrounding the rotation shaft 74 is attached to the substrate 61.

The plug opening head 75 for the large plug is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, the lower screw 77 is attached to the lower end of the rotating shaft 74 by a left screw 77 protruding from the upper surface. Lever 79, 79, 79 is arranged at equal intervals around opening head 75, and each lever is supported on opening head 75 by a shaft 80, 80, 80 at an intermediate portion. Each lever has a claw 81, 81, 81 projecting into the recess 78 at the lower end, and the upper end is pressed outward by springs 82, 82, 82 interposed between the lever and the opening head 75, respectively. A rectangular deep tool holding hole 83 is formed in the ceiling of the recess 78, and a rectangular plate-like tool 84 is fitted therein. The tool 84 has its upper end and the hole 8
3 is pressed downward by the ridges 85 and 85 interposed between the ceiling and the ceiling of the third elongated hole 86 provided near the center thereof.
, A pin 87 penetrating the plug opening head 75 is inserted as a stopper.

FIG. 7 shows the machine frame 1 which supports the above-mentioned stopper opening holding part 10, small stopper opening part 30 and large stopper opening part 60. The machine frame 1 is composed of upper ridges 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and vertical ridges 3a, 3b,
A rectangular parallelepiped is formed by 3c, 3d and lower members 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, and middle members 5a, 5b are respectively passed between the vertical members 3b, 3c and between 3d, 3a. Small plug opening part 30
The upper and lower ends of the substrate 31 are fixed to the upper ridge 2c and the lower ridge 4c, and the upper and lower ends of the substrate 61 of the large plug opening portion 60 are fixed to the upper ridge 2a and the lower ridge 2c. Both ends of the substrate 11 are fixed to the inner ridges 5a and 5b.

As shown in FIG. 7, the large plug 6 and the small plug 7
When the drum can 8 having the following expression comes below the machine frame 1 with the large plug 6 facing the large plug opening section substrate 61, the opening operation starts. In the spout holding section 10, the piston of the air cylinder 15 is retracted, the elevating plate 16 descends, and the spout holding plate 2
3 and 24 are pressed against the top plate of the drum can, and then the piston 22 of the air cylinder 21 is retracted to bring the stopper holding plates 23 and 24 closer to each other, and the stopper 6 is inserted between the stopper holding notches 26 and 26. Notch 2 for holding small plug and small plug
The port of the small plug 7 is sandwiched between 5 and 25.

At this time, the large plug holding notches 26, 26
Has an arc equal to the curvature of the stopcock
The positioning of the large plug with respect to the large plug opening section 60 is performed by this sandwiching. Further, since the small plug holding notches 25 and 25 are linear in parallel with each other, the small plug is held while allowing the small plug to move in accordance with the positioning operation of the large plug.
Then, the swing of the large plug and the small plug during the operation of the large plug opening unit 60 and the small plug opening unit 30 is suppressed.

In the small plug opening section 30, while the air motor 41 is driven to rotate the opening head 45, the air cylinders 35 and 36 retract the pistons 37 and 39, respectively. The plug head 45 is lowered until the small plug 7 fits into the recess 48. As a result, the claws 51, 51, 51 of the levers 49, 49, 49 hold the upper flange of the small plug, and the tool 54 is deeply engaged with the groove on the upper surface of the small plug by the pressing force of the ridges 55, 55. Even in this state, since the opening head 45 continues to rotate, the small plug is removed from the opening.

Next, the air cylinder 35 is
As a result, the lifting plate 33 moves up with the opening head 45. When the air cylinder 35 fully pushes the piston 37, the chute 59 is opened from the side.
Go down below 5. Next, when the air cylinder 36 pushes the piston 39 to further raise the opening head 45, the upper part of the opening head 45 enters the release fitting 46, and the lever 49, 4 is formed by the tapered surface of the inner circumference of the release fitting 46.
As a result of the upper ends of 9, 49 being pressed, the claws 51, 51,
51 is opened outward, the small plug 7 is released and dropped on the chute 59.

In the large plug opening section 60, the small plug opening section 3 is also provided.
Just like 0, the opening head 75 is lowered by the operation of the air cylinders 65 and 66, and the claws 81, 81, 81 hold the flange of the large plug in the recess 78, and the tool 84 is placed on the top of the large plug. The large plug is removed from the stopper port by the rotation of the stopper head 75 by the air motor 71. Then, the opening head 7 is opened by the air cylinder 65.
When 5 rises to a predetermined height, the chute 89 advances below it, and when the opening head 75 further rises by the air cylinder 66, the upper ends of the levers 79, 79, 79 are pressed by the release bracket 76 and held. The opened large plug is released and dropped on the chute 89 to complete the opening process.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a tool can be securely engaged with a screw stopper such as a drum can and the screw stopper can be removed, and the screw stopper can be transferred to a receiving means. Since it can be sent to a predetermined position, realization of automatic cleaning of the drum can and the like can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the operation of an embodiment of an opening head for a small plug of a drum can according to the present invention.

2 (a) is a plan view and FIG. 2 (b) is a bottom view of the small plug opening head of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of a plug opening head for a large can of a drum according to the present invention.

4A and 4B show the plug opening head for a large plug of FIG. 3, wherein FIG. 4A is a plan view and FIG. 4B is a bottom view.

5A and 5B show a stopper holding portion of the automatic drum opening device according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 5A is a plan view of a portion below a lifting plate 16 and FIG. 5B is a side view of the whole.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the entire automatic drum can opening apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sketch of a cross section supporting each part of the automatic drum opening device shown in FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 Large plug 7 Small plug 8 Drum can 10 Plug holder 11 Substrate 12 Sleeve 13 Sliding shaft 15 Air cylinder 16 Lifting plate 17 Guide 18, 19 Drive plate 20 Sleeve 21 Air cylinder 22 Piston 23, 24 Plug holding plate 25, 26 Notch part for holding 30 Small plug opening part 31 Substrate 32 Guide 33 Elevating plate 35 Long stroke air cylinder 36 Short stroke air cylinder 37, 38 Piston 41 Air motor (rotary motor) 44 Rotating shaft 45 Small plug opening head 46 Release metal fittings 49 Lever 51 Claw 52 Splashing 53 Tool holding hole 54 Tool 55 Splashing 59 Chute (plug receiving means) 60 Large plug opening section 61 Substrate 62 Guide 63 Lifting plate 65 Long stroke air cylinder 66 Short stroke air cylinder 71 Air motor ( Rotary motor) 74 Rotating shaft 75 Opening head for large plug 76 Release metal fittings 79 Lever 81 Claw 82 Spring 83 Tool holding hole 84 Tool 85 Spring

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for opening a screw cap having a flange extending outward on an upper part of a stopper body having a thread and having a groove for engaging a tool on an upper surface, wherein the apparatus is located above the screw stopper. A plug opening head attached to the lower end of a rotating shaft that hangs down from the rotating motor, lifting means for supporting the rotating motor and the rotating shaft and vertically moving them, and a fixed position close to the rotating shaft. A plug releasing means for releasing the screw plug held by the plug opening head, and a receiving means for receiving the released screw plug which is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to a lifting path of the plug opening head, The opening head has a holding member that holds the flange of the screw plug, and a tool that engages with a groove on the upper surface of the screw plug is supported so as to be able to move up and down and to be pressed downward by a spring, The above-mentioned release means is the above An automatic screw stopper opening device having a control surface for releasing the holding member when the head comes in contact with the head. 2. The holding member is a plurality of levers having an intermediate portion fixed to the outer periphery of the plug opening head, each lever having a claw at a lower end for holding a flange of the screw plug, and an upper end having a claw. 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the member is pressed outward by the ridge.
The automatic screw stopper opening device according to the above. 3. The lever according to claim 2, wherein the upper end of the lever is pressed inward by the control surface of the release means, so that the claw at the lower end is opened outward. The automatic screw stopper opening device according to the above. 4. The tool has a rectangular plate shape, an upper portion is held in a hole having a rectangular cross section opened on the lower surface of the opening head, and the tool is located between a ceiling of the hole and an upper end of the tool. 2. A screw stopper automatic opening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a spike for pressing downward is interposed. 5. The lifting means has a long stroke and a short stroke air cylinders connected in tandem, and when the long stroke air cylinder is actuated, the opening head is raised to a position close to the release means. An automatic screw stopper opening apparatus wherein the opening head is adapted to enter the opening means by actuation of a short stroke air cylinder. 6. The stopper receiving means is always in a retracted position,
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the long stroke air cylinder is finished operating and the short stroke air cylinder is started to operate, so that the air cylinder is advanced below the opening head. Automatic screw stopper opening device.