Article processing system

• US 20090188773A1
• Filed: 01/06/2009
• Published: 07/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shibuya Kogyo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Shibuya Kogyo Company Limited
• Inventors: Shimomura, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 8,978,873 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 198/464.100
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 43/10 Sequence control of conveyors operating in combination
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/846 Star-shaped wheels or wheels equipped with article-engaging elements
• CPC Class Codes: B67C 7/0013 Synchronising
• CPC Class Codes: B67C 7/004 the containers travelling along a circular path

Abstract

A filling system 1 is composed of a supply conveyor 2, an infeed screw 3, a supply star wheel for a rinser 4, a rinser 5, a discharge star wheel for a rinser 6, an intermediate star wheel 7, a supply star wheel for a filler 8, a filler 9, a delivery star wheel for a filler/capper 10, a capper 11, a discharge star wheel for a capper 12, and a discharge conveyor 13, each having a revolving body such as a star wheel. For example, in case an abnormality occurs in the filler 9, a control unit 14 activates a third brake B3, which stops the star wheel of the filler 9 forcibly, while controlling first, second, fourth and fifth servomotors M1, M2, M4 and M5, thereby stopping the star wheel or the like of a unit where the abnormality has not occurred at stopping time of the star wheel of the filler. Even in the event of the abnormality in any unit, each unit is stopped nearly simultaneously, so that the filling system can prevent damage and the like to the unit.

Claims

1. An article processing system, comprising:

a plurality of units, each unit having a revolving body driven by a servomotor; and

control means for controlling the servomotor of each unit to synchronize the units;

wherein each of the units comprises a brake for stopping the revolving body, and the control means stores stopping time for stopping the revolving body of each unit by the brake; and

wherein in the event of an abnormality in any unit, the control means stops, by the brake, the revolving body of the unit where the abnormality has occurred, and simultaneously controls the servomotors of the other units where the abnormality has not occurred, stopping the revolving body of each unit at the stopping time of the unit where the abnormality has occurred.

2. The article processing system according to claim 1, wherein the control means stores a relation between a change in processing speed of an article in each unit and a change in the stopping time of the revolving body caused by the brake depending on a rotational speed of the revolving body at the time, and wherein in the event of the abnormality in any unit, the control means stops the unit at the stopping time corresponding to the processing speed of the unit at the time.

3. The article processing system according to claim 1, wherein each unit comprises a star wheel as the revolving body driven by the servomotor, and article retaining means provided in the star wheel and for gripping an article;

wherein in a position where the star wheel of each unit is adjacent to the star wheel of another unit, an article is delivered from the article retaining means of one star wheel to the article retaining means of another star wheel; and

wherein when the revolving body of the unit where the abnormality has occurred is stopped by the brake, the control means controls the servomotors of the units where the abnormality has not occurred, stopping the star wheels of the units where the abnormality has not occurred while rotating the units where the abnormality has not occurred so as to be synchronized with the unit where the abnormality has occurred, as well as during which the article retaining means delivers an article.