JPH05124629A - Air mixing-in inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automate the inspection by a method wherein a container made of a flexible material, which is picked out from the line at a specified cycle, is placed in an enclosed storage means, and the mixing-in of air in the container is decided by measuring a distance from a specified measuring point to the surface of the container. CONSTITUTION:After a content liquid is filled, a cube shaped container made of a paper is carried on a line 12, and when a specified quantity of the containers have passed an air mixing-in inspection device 10, an inspection objective container 14e is drawn by a suction member 56 by extending a piston 55 of a sampling means, and is placed on a lift plate 23 of an elevation mechanism 22. Then, the elevation mechanism 22 is elevated, and after the container 14e is placed in a vacuum chamber 24, laser rays are cast from a sensor head 40 by a displacement sensor 26, and a distance to the side surface of the container is measured. Then, the inside of the vacuum chamber 24 is evacuated by a vacuum device 36, and the distance to the side surface of the container is measured in the same manner, and the distance is compared with the distance before evacuation. When there is a change in the distance, an alarm is generated by operating a digital meter relay 44, etc.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inspection device for judging the quality of a work of filling a container with liquid. More specifically, for containers made of paper or other flexible material,
The present invention relates to an air mixing inspection device that can automatically detect the inconvenience of air mixing in a container during the operation of filling various beverages such as lactic acid bacteria beverages as a liquid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When air is mixed into a container, the amount of liquid filled therein is reduced by the amount of mixed air. Especially when the liquid is a beverage, such as giving the consumer discomfort when the volume of the filled beverage is below a predetermined value,
There are various inconveniences.

In order to prevent such an inconvenience caused by air mixing, conventionally, a manual push test is carried out in which each container is pushed by hand and the presence or absence of air mixing is judged by its repulsive force, and a depressurization method is used. The inspection by the depressurization method is effective in the air mixing inspection in the container manufactured of a flexible material such as paper. For example, it is carried out by accommodating 30 trays / 1 tray as a unit in a closed system accommodation chamber and depressurizing the inside of the accommodation chamber. That is, when the pressure is reduced, the air mixed in the container expands, and the container, particularly the pull tab portion, expands. Therefore, by observing the presence or absence of the expansion, it can be determined whether the air is mixed in the container. ..
If expansion of the container is not observed even after depressurization, it is determined that the product is a non-defective product that does not contain air, and if expansion of the container is observed, it is determined that the product is a defective product that contains air.

[0004]

However, since the above-mentioned manual inspection is a manual work that is not automated, it is not possible to promptly judge air inclusion in a large amount of containers.
Therefore, it cannot be applied to the air mixing inspection of beverage containers that are handled in large quantities.

On the other hand, according to the above-mentioned depressurization method, all can be automated except for judging whether or not the container is bulging, so it is possible to quickly check whether or not air is mixed in each of a large number of containers filled with beverages. It is possible to judge. However, a flexible material container filled with a beverage or the like is opaque (for example, a paper container). There is a problem that it is difficult to judge whether a part) is swollen, that is, whether it is a defective product.

Further, as described above, in the conventional depressurization method, 30
It is difficult to automatically discharge defective products because decompression and inspection are performed in this unit. Further, since 30 pieces are processed at the same time, the equipment becomes large and the cost inevitably increases.

At the same time, the above-mentioned visual inspection on the line is not an automated work, but depends on the sense (visual sense) of the worker. Therefore, such work is also automated, and further automation and labor saving are promoted. However, there is a demand to achieve a working environment.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned demands and problems of the prior art, and accurately and promptly confirms that air is mixed when a liquid is filled in a container made of a flexible material. The purpose is to provide an air mixing inspection device that can automatically detect.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An air mixing inspection device of the present invention is an air mixing inspection device for detecting the mixing of air when a liquid is filled in a container made of a flexible material. A extracting means for extracting the container at a predetermined cycle from the line on which the extracted container is conveyed, a closed system accommodating means for accommodating the extracted container, and a decompressing means for decompressing the inside of the closed system accommodating means, Measuring means for measuring the distance from the measuring point to the surface of the container.

In practicing the present invention, the flexible material forming the container is preferably paper, for example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the measuring means is preferably a laser type displacement sensor.

Further, the predetermined measuring point is preferably a sensor head of a laser displacement sensor provided outside the closed system accommodating means.

[0012]

According to the air mixing inspection apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the so-called extraction inspection is carried out, in which the container is extracted by the extracting means at every predetermined cycle and the extracted container is inspected. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the decompression unit and the measuring unit, as compared with the conventional inspection method that inspects all 30 lines at once. Moreover, it is easy to discharge defective products (automatic discharge).

[0013] Here, the air mixing occurs due to the insufficient filling amount when filling the contents (beverage, other liquid), and it is mainly understood as a functional problem of the filling machine. .. Therefore, once air mixing occurs, defective products continue to be generated until the filling machine is repaired. Therefore, it is not necessary to inspect all the containers, and practically sufficient inspection accuracy can be obtained by the sampling inspection. Then, when a defective product is detected, it is highly likely that all the containers following it are defective products, and the line is immediately stopped to adjust or repair the filling machine.

The extracted container is housed in the closed system housing means, and the inside of the housing means is detected by the depressurizing means. As a result, as in the case of the conventional decompression method described above, the air mixed in the container expands and the container expands.
Therefore, if expansion of the container is not observed even after depressurization, it is determined as a good product in which air is not mixed, and if expansion of the container is observed, it is determined as a defective product in which air is mixed.

According to the present invention, whether or not the container has expanded is determined by measuring the distance from a specific measuring point to the surface of the container by the measuring means. That is, in the case of defective products containing air, the container expands after depressurization and the surface changes from a flat surface to a convex surface, so the distance from a specific measurement point to the surface of the container also changes from the distance before depressurization. ing. Therefore, if the distance from the fixed point in the closed system containing means to the surface of the container changes before and after depressurization, it can be determined that the container is defective. on the other hand,
If the product is a non-defective product that does not contain air, the container does not expand even after depressurization, and its surface is in the same flat state as before depressurization. Therefore, unlike the case of a defective product, the distance from a specific measurement point to the surface of the container does not change.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

It should be noted that, in the drawings, corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description is omitted.

In FIG. 3, for example, containers 14 made of paper (flexible material) filled with a lactic acid beverage are conveyed on the line 12. And the air mixing inspection device 10 of the present invention
Is provided. In FIG. 3, the left side is the upstream side and the right side is the downstream side.

The air-mixing inspection device 10 is used to detect the containers 14 ...
A stopper 18 for stopping 4 ... Is provided upstream of the air mixing inspection device 10. This stopper 18
Is composed of a piston-cylinder mechanism, and is arranged to stop the container 14 when the piston 20 projects.

In FIGS. 1 and 3, the container subjected to the sampling inspection is indicated by reference numeral 14e. The container 14e is lifted from the line 12 by the elevating mechanism 22 and is housed in the decompression chamber 24 above the line 12. In FIG. 1, a suction pad 56 is provided at the tip of a piston 55 of an air cylinder 54 provided near the lift plate 23 of the lifting mechanism 22. Then, the piston 55 extends, and the suction pad 56 is attached to the container 14 on the line 12.
By sucking e and contracting the piston 55, the container 14e moves onto the lift plate 23. Then, by raising the lift plate 23, the container 1
4e is housed in the decompression chamber 24.

The decompression chamber 24 corresponds to the above-mentioned closed system accommodating means. The decompression device 36 serves as decompression means for decompressing the inside of the closed system accommodation means (decompression chamber 24).
(FIG. 1) is provided. Further, in front of the decompression chamber 24, there is provided a displacement sensor 26 which is a measuring means for measuring the distance from a predetermined measuring point to the surface of the container.

Next, referring mainly to FIG. 2 which is a plan view of the decompression chamber 24 and the displacement sensor 26, it is detected by the displacement sensor 26 whether or not the container 14e which is the subject of the sampling inspection has expanded. Aspects will be described.

The decompression chamber 24 communicates with a decompression device 36 (decompression means) via a passage 34 and faces the displacement sensor 26 (left side surface in FIG. 1: upper surface in FIG. 2: upper surface in FIG. 3).
Is covered with a plate 25 made of a material having a property of transmitting a laser beam such as glass, and the other surface 27 is made of, for example, aluminum. And the lifting mechanism 2
The container 14e lifted from the line 12 by 2 and accommodated in the decompression chamber 24 is positioned by contacting the side surface 14s thereof with the inner wall surface 38 of the decompression chamber 24.

The displacement sensor 26 includes a sensor head 40 for projecting the laser beam L onto the container 14e to measure the distance to the container 14e, a sensor controller 42 for controlling the operation of the displacement sensor 26, and a container 14e. It includes a sensor digital meter relay 44 for displaying changes in distance before and after decompression. More specifically, the laser beam L is applied to the side surface 14 of the container 14e.
It is projected on the side surface 14m opposite to s, and the sensor head 40
To the side surface 14m of the container 14e is detected.

As described above, if air is not mixed in the container 14e, the side surface 14m expands even when the inside 24I of the decompression chamber 24 is decompressed by the decompression device 36, as shown by the solid line in FIG. Without this, the distance from the sensor head 40 to the side surface 14m of the container 14e does not change before and after depressurization. And the sensor digital meter relay 44
Is displayed as "0000" to indicate that the container 14e has not expanded. On the other hand, if air is mixed in the container 14e, the container 1 will be
4e expands so that the side surface 14 as shown by the dotted line in FIG.
e is deformed. As a result, from the sensor head 40 to the side surface 1
The distance up to 4 m also changes, and the amount of change is displayed on the sensor digital meter relay 44. For example, when the amount of change is 2.3 mm, "0023" is displayed on the sensor digital meter relay 44.

If attention is paid to the display of the sensor digital meter relay 44, it is immediately understood that the container 14e has expanded, that is, that air is mixed in the container 14e. Alarm indicator light 50 (FIG. 3) can be activated. As described above, air mixing is a functional problem of the filling machine because the filling amount is insufficient when filling the contents (lactic acid beverage in the illustrated embodiment). Therefore, if the air mixing into the containers 14 and 14e is detected, it is highly possible that all the subsequent containers are defective products. Therefore, at that point,
Immediately the line is stopped and the filling machine 16 is repaired.

The above operation will be described again with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S1, it is determined whether a predetermined cycle has passed, that is, a predetermined number (for example, 5).
It is determined whether the individual containers 14 ... Have been transported through the air mixing inspection device 10. Then, when a predetermined number of containers have passed (YES in step S1), the container to be inspected (the container indicated by reference numeral 14e in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3) is sucked at the tip of the piston 55 (FIG. 1). Pat 5
6 (FIG. 1), and the piston is contracted so that the piston is stopped until it is introduced into the elevating mechanism 22 (step S2).

Next, the elevating mechanism 22 is raised to house the inspection target container 14e in the decompression chamber 24 (step S3). Then, the displacement sensor 26 projects a laser beam from the sensor head 40 to measure the distance to the container side surface 14 m (distance before decompression) (step S4), and the decompression device 36 decompresses the interior of the decompression chamber 24I (step S5). ), The distance to the container side surface 14m is measured again by the displacement sensor 26 (measurement of distance after depressurization: step S6).

After measuring the distance before and after depressurization, it is determined in step S7 whether or not the measured value has changed.

When it is determined that the distance has not changed before and after depressurization and the container has not expanded (NO in step S7), the container 14e to be inspected is operated by the reverse operation of steps S2 and S3. Return to line 12 (step S
8), the transport of the subsequent containers 14 ... Is restarted (step S).
9).

On the other hand, when it is determined that the container has expanded due to the change in the distance before and after the depressurization (step S7 is YE
S), the fact is displayed on the sensor digital meter relay 44 or the like, and an alarm is issued by an alarm display lamp or other means (step S10). And, if necessary, the line 12 is stopped, or a stopper (not shown) provided separately
Then, the processing for interrupting the transportation of the subsequent container is performed, and the filling machine, which is considered to be the main cause of the air-mixed accident, is inspected or repaired (step S11).

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the sampling inspection is carried out, it is possible to reduce the size of the pressure reducing means and the measuring means as compared with the conventional inspection method. Moreover, it is easy to discharge defective products (automatic discharge). In addition, practically sufficient inspection accuracy can be obtained even in the sampling inspection.

Further, since it is possible to determine the presence or absence of air inclusion by detecting the change in the distance before and after the depressurization, it is possible to make an accurate and quick determination, and to automate the entire detection process. As a result, labor can be saved and labor costs can be reduced. Furthermore, since automation is possible, unattended operation can be taken when the work environment is poor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an operating principle and a main part of the present invention.

3 is an overall perspective view of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation flowchart of the embodiment shown in FIGS.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Air mixing inspection device 12 ... Line 14, 14e ... Container 16 ... Filling machine 18 ... Stopper 20 ... Piston 22 ... Lifting mechanism 24 ... Decompression chamber 24I・ ・ Decompression chamber 26 ・ ・ ・ Displacement sensor 36 ・ ・ ・ Decompression device 40 ・ ・ ・ Sensor head 42 ・ ・ ・ Sensor controller 44 ・ ・ ・ Sensor digital meter relay 50 ・ ・ ・ Alarm indicator lamp L ・ ・ ・ Laser beam L

Front page continued (72) Inventor Minoru Shishido 1-1-19 Higashishimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an air mixing inspection device for detecting the mixing of air when a liquid is filled in a container made of a flexible material, a predetermined cycle is carried out from a line in which the container filled with the liquid is conveyed. For each time, the extraction means for extracting the container, the closed system accommodation means for accommodating the extracted container, the decompression means for decompressing the inside of the closed system accommodation means, and the distance from the predetermined measurement point to the surface of the container are measured. An air mixture inspecting device comprising: a measuring unit.