JP3093640B2 - Bottle holding device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a bottle holding device,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a bottle gripping device that grips the neck with a fixed receiving portion and a movable holding portion in order to wash and sterilize a bottle having a neck flange on the neck by turning over the bottle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 4-197483 discloses an apparatus for washing and sterilizing a so-called plastic PET bottle. In this device, the bottle neck is gripped by the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion, the fixed receiving portion has a cylindrical contact surface, and the movable holding portion has a flat contact surface. JP-A-63-281990 discloses a device for changing the attitude of a bottle gripper.
In this device, the bottle neck is gripped by the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion. The fixed receiving portion has a cylindrical contact surface, and the movable holding portion has a flat contact surface. The fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion further have a horizontal recess into which the peripheral portion of the neck flange of the bottle neck fits.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned JP-A-4-14-1
The cylindrical contact surface of the fixed receiving portion and the flat contact surface of the movable holding portion in the device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 97483 do not have groove-shaped recesses, so that these components can be easily cleaned and sterilized. it can. However, when the bottle gripping force is weak and the bottle is to be gripped in a slightly inclined state, the neck flange slides on the cylindrical contact surface of the fixed receiving portion and the flat contact surface of the movable holding portion, and the initial inclination is reduced. There is a possibility that the user may grip the camera with a larger inclination. In contrast, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 281990/1990, since a horizontal recess is provided for fitting the peripheral edge of the neck flange of the bottle neck, the neck flange is provided with the cylindrical contact surface of the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion. There is no danger that the bottle will slip on the flat contact surface and increase the inclination of the bottle. However, when performing cleaning and sterilization while holding the bottle, the neck flange hinders the flow of the cleaning fluid and the sterilizing fluid on the cylindrical contact surface of the fixed receiving portion and the flat contact surface of the movable holding portion, and consequently. There is a problem that cleaning and sterilization of the neck flange or its vicinity cannot be completely performed.

In the device disclosed in JP-A-63-281990, the fixed receiving portion has a cylindrical contact surface, and the movable holding portion has a flat contact surface.
The gripping force concentrates on the position of line contact or point contact by the flat contact surface of the movable presser. As a result, in the case of a synthetic resin, the rigidity of the bottle neck must be increased.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the conventional bottle holding apparatus, and can surely hold a bottle, and can clean and clean a neck flange of a neck or its vicinity. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle holding device capable of performing sterilization efficiently and completely. The present invention further provides a bottle gripping device capable of securely gripping the bottle neck without deformation even if the neck of the bottle has a somewhat low rigidity, that is, even if the bottle neck is formed thin to save material. Aim.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a bottle holding apparatus for holding a bottle neck by a fixed receiving portion and a movable holding portion for cleaning and sterilizing the bottle. Is formed of a flexible material, and a vertically extending vertical processing liquid groove through which the processing liquid flows is provided on a contact surface between at least one of the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion and the bottle neck portion. The present invention is also a bottle gripping device to wash and sterilize a bottle having a neck flange at the neck, in a bottle gripping device that grips the neck with a fixed receiving portion and a movable holding portion, the fixed receiving portion, The movable holding portion is formed of a flexible material, and at least one of the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion is provided with a horizontal circumferential groove for receiving the neck flange,
A bottle gripping device, characterized in that a vertically extending vertical processing liquid groove through which a processing liquid flows is provided on a contact surface between at least one of the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion and the bottle neck. The embodiments of the present invention are as follows. The bottle is made of a synthetic resin. The depth of the vertical processing liquid groove is greater than the depth of the horizontal circumferential groove.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bottle holding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The bottle holding device 1 includes:
After gripping the synthetic resin bottle B at the transport position, the bottle B is turned over so that the mouth of the bottle faces downward.
It is used for a bottle washing / sterilizing apparatus configured to move to a washing / sterilizing station while performing the washing / sterilizing treatment and then return to the original transport position. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the bottle gripping device 1 has a fixed arm member 12 attached to a base 10. A gripping shaft 18 is slidably attached to the protrusion 16 of the base 10. A compression spring 20 is disposed between the holding arm member 12 side of the holding shaft 18, that is, between the end of the holding shaft 18 and the protrusion 16, and the holding shaft 18 is urged toward the fixed arm member 12, and It is pressed against the member 12. The base 10 is formed with a concave portion 30 which is recessed in the sliding direction of the grip shaft 18 adjacent to the protruding portion 16, and a fixing receiving member 32 made of silicone rubber is attached to the concave portion 30. As shown in FIG. 3, the fixing receiving member 32 is a substantially semi-cylindrical shape extending over about 180 ° around the neck of the bottle B, and the neck flange F of the neck of the bottle B is engaged at an intermediate position. A first horizontal groove 34 is formed, and three vertical grooves 36 are formed. The depth of the vertical groove 36 is greater than the depth of the first horizontal groove 34. The lower part of the fixing receiving member 32 is cut into a conical shape, and has a shape corresponding to the shoulder of the bottle B.

A gripping arm member 40 is attached to an end of the gripping shaft 18 on the side opposite to the fixed arm member 12, and a movable holding member 42 made of silicone rubber is attached to the tip of the gripping arm member 40.
Is installed. As shown in FIG. 5, the movable holding member 42 has a cylindrical end surface and a second horizontal groove 44 in which the neck flange F of the neck of the bottle B is engaged at an intermediate position.
Are formed. If desired, a vertical groove 45 may be formed in addition to the second horizontal groove 44. The depth of this vertical groove is
The depth is made larger than the depth of the second horizontal groove 44. Fixed arm member 12
A first bearing member 50 is attached to the end of the base B, and enables the base 10 to rotate in a horizontal plane to convey the gripped bottle B circumferentially. A second bearing member 60 is attached to the grip arm member 40 on the side opposite to the movable holding member 42, and enables the base body 10 to rotate in a vertical plane to invert (fall) the gripped bottle B. The operation of the bottle holding device 1 having the above-described configuration is as follows. The holding shaft 18 is fixed to the fixed arm member 1 against the urging force of the compression spring 20.
2 so that the neck of the bottle B is positioned between the fixed receiving member 32 and the movable pressing member 42. Next, the grip shaft 18 is released, and the neck of the bottle B is gripped between the fixed receiving member 32 and the movable pressing member 42 by the urging force of the compression spring 20. At this time, the neck flange F at the neck of the bottle B is engaged with the first horizontal groove 34 and the second horizontal groove 44. Further, since the distal end surface of the movable holding member 42 is cylindrical, even if the rigidity of the neck portion of the bottle B is small to some extent, it can be gripped without deforming the neck portion. In this state, the base 10 and the like are rotated and moved in a horizontal plane using the first bearing member 50, and the base 10 and the like are further rotated and moved in the vertical plane using the second bearing member 60 to invert the bottle B ( The bottle B is overturned, and a cleaning / sterilization treatment is performed by spraying a cleaning / sterilizing liquid such as hot water on the inner wall surface and the outer wall surface of the bottle B at a cleaning / sterilizing station (not shown).

When the bottle B is washed at a washing / sterilizing station (not shown), the sterilizing solution flowing down the outer wall surface flows through the vertical groove 36 of the fixed receiving member 32 and the vertical groove 45 of the movable holding member 42. Thus, the neck portion including the neck flange F of the bottle B can be efficiently and completely cleaned and sterilized. The bottle B that has been subjected to the cleaning / sterilization treatment is again moved to a predetermined position using the first bearing member 50 and the second bearing member 60, and urges the gripping shaft 18 to remove the bottle B from the bottle gripping device 1. Open.

[0010]

According to the bottle gripping device of the present invention, it is possible to reliably grip the bottle, and to efficiently and completely clean and sterilize the neck flange at or near the neck. be able to. Further, according to the present invention, even if the rigidity of the neck portion of the bottle is low to some extent, that is, even if the neck portion of the bottle is formed thin to save material, the bottle neck portion can be securely gripped without being deformed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a bottle holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the bottle holding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bottle holding device of the embodiment of the present invention in a bottle holding state.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a fixing receiving member of the bottle holding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a movable holding member of the bottle holding device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 B Bottle F Neck flange 1 Bottle holding device 10 Base 12 Fixed arm member 16 Projecting portion 18 Holding shaft 20 Compression spring 30 Depression 32 Fixed receiving member 34 First horizontal groove 36 Vertical groove 40 Holding arm member 42 Movable holding member 44 Second horizontal Groove 45 Vertical groove 50 First bearing member 60 Second bearing member

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akinori Ono 1-5-7 Mitsuki Sakaecho, Higashiosaka-shi, Osaka House Foods Co., Ltd. No. 7 House Foods Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-4-31226 (JP, A) JP-A-63-180599 (JP, U) JP-A-5-16700 (JP, U) (58) Investigation Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B67C 3/24 B25J 15/08 B08B 9/24-9/44

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bottle gripping device for gripping the bottle neck with a fixed receiving portion and a movable holding portion for cleaning and sterilizing the bottle, wherein the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion are formed of a flexible material. A bottle processing apparatus characterized in that a vertically extending vertical processing liquid groove through which a processing liquid flows is provided on a contact surface between at least one of the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion and the bottle neck. 2. The bottle holding device according to claim 1, wherein the bottle is made of a synthetic resin. 3. A bottle gripping device for gripping the neck with a fixed receiving portion and a movable holding portion in order to wash and sterilize a bottle having a neck flange on the neck, wherein the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion are flexible. Formed of a conductive material, at least one of the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion,
A horizontal circumferential groove for receiving the neck flange is provided, and a vertically extending vertical processing liquid groove through which the processing liquid flows is provided on a contact surface between at least one of the fixed receiving portion and the movable holding portion and the bottle neck portion. A bottle gripping device. 4. The bottle holding device according to claim 3, wherein the bottle is made of a synthetic resin. 5. The bottle holding device according to claim 4, wherein the depth of the vertical processing liquid groove is greater than the depth of the horizontal circumferential groove.