Application apparatus

Abstract

A coating material is uniformly applied on an inner wall surface of a container while preventing leakage of the coating material and an increase in an installation space. An application apparatus (10) that applies a coating material (L) on an inner wall surface of a container (C) includes: a spray gun (20) having a spray nozzle (22); an outgoing pipe (30) and a return pipe (33); a supply controller (50); a rotary driver (60); and a mover (70), wherein the outgoing pipe (30) and the return pipe (33) are each provided with a resilient-shape part (32, 35) capable of extending and contracting resiliently.

Claims

1. An application apparatus that applies a coating material on an inner wall surface of a container, comprising: a spray gun having a spray nozzle and including a coating material ejection passage formed therein; an outgoing pipe and a return pipe attached to said spray gun and forming a coating material circulatory path connecting to said coating material ejection passage; a supply controller that controls supply of the coating material from said coating material circulatory path to said coating material ejection passage; a rotary driver that rotates said spray gun around an axis extending along a longitudinal direction of the gun; and a mover that moves said spray gun along the longitudinal direction of the gun, wherein said spray gun includes, formed therein, said coating material ejection passage connecting to said spray nozzle, and a coating material passage connecting to said coating material ejection passage; said outgoing pipe and said return pipe each have one end attached to an outer circumferential part of said spray gun that is rotatable so as to connect directly with said coating material passage, and form said coating material circulatory path together with said coating material passage; said supply controller includes an open/close valve provided between said coating material passage and said coating material ejection passage and is configured to supply the coating material from said coating material passage to said coating material ejection passage by opening and closing said valve; said outgoing pipe and said return pipe are each provided with a coil-like resilient-shape part capable of extending and contracting resiliently; said coil-like resilient-shape parts of said outgoing pipe and said return pipe are disposed outside said spray gun so as not to surround said spray gun that is rotatable; and said outgoing pipe and said return pipe rotate with said spray gun.

2. The application apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said rotary driver rotates said spray gun through a predetermined angle in forward and reverse directions.

3. The application apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a rotation angle of the spray gun rotated by said rotary driver is set as at least 180.

4. The application apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said spray nozzle has a nozzle shape capable of ejecting the coating material so as to spread symmetrically on both right and left sides.

5. The application apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said spray gun is disposed such that the longitudinal direction of the gun coincides with an up-and-down direction.

6. The application apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said supply controller includes an air ejector that supplies air to said spray gun to allow the coating material to be supplied from said coating material circulatory path to said coating material ejection passage, and said rotary driver and said mover each include a pneumatic actuator.

7. The application apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said rotary driver includes a rotary actuator, and a gear interposed between said rotary actuator and said spray gun.

8. The application apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an aspirator that can be positioned opposite a container opening.

9. The application apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said aspirator includes an airflow augmentation unit, said airflow augmentation unit including an airflow augmenting passage having a gas supply hole, a suction port, and an ejection port, said suction port being disposed opposite the container opening.

10. The application apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said airflow augmentation unit is disposed such that a shaft of said spray gun is positioned inside said airflow augmenting passage.

11. The application apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a second mover that moves said airflow augmentation unit along the longitudinal direction of the gun.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating an application apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the application apparatus.

(3) FIG. 3 is an illustrative diagram showing the flow of coating material.

(4) FIG. 4 is a front view illustrating an application apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

(5) FIG. 5 is a schematic illustrative diagram showing an example of operation of the application apparatus according to the second embodiment.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

(6) 10 Application apparatus 20 Spray gun 21 Shaft 22 Spray nozzle 23 Coating material ejection passage 24 Coating material passage 30 Outgoing pipe 31 Coating material passage 32 Resilient-shape part 33 Return pipe 34 Coating material passage 35 Resilient-shape part 40 Coating material circulatory path 50 Supply controller 51 Valve 52 Air supply pipe (air ejector) 60 Rotary driver 61 Rotary actuator 62 First gear 63 Second gear 64 Rotary actuator air supply pipe 70 Mover 71 Base 72 Linear guide 73 Slider 80 Rotary support 81 Bearing 90 Container holding unit 100 Airflow augmentation unit (aspirator) 101 Airflow augmenting passage 102 Gas supply part 103 Suction port 104 Ejection port 105 Gas supply pipe 110 Second mover 111 Second linear guide 112 Second slider C Container C1 Container opening L Coating material

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(7) Hereinafter, an application apparatus 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(8) The application apparatus 10 applies a coating material L that improves surface slipperiness for the contents of a container on an inner wall surface of the container C, which is for containing a viscous material such as mayonnaise-like food products, by ejecting the coating material L inside the container C from a spray nozzle 22 that is inserted into the container C while the spray gun 20 is rotated, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

(9) The application apparatus 10 includes, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the spray gun 20 having a coating material ejection passage 23, an outgoing pipe 30 and a return pipe 33 attached to the spray gun 20 and forming part of a coating material circulatory path 40, a supply controller 50 that controls supply of the coating material L from the coating material circulatory path 40 to the coating material ejection passage 23, rotary driver 60 that rotates the spray gun 20 around an axis extending along the longitudinal direction of the gun, a mover 70 that move the spray gun 20 along the longitudinal direction of the gun, a rotatable support 80 having a bearing 81 that rotatably supports the spray gun 20, and a container holding unit 90 that holds the container C.

(10) Below, each of the constituent elements of the application apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3.

(11) First, the spray gun 20 for ejecting the coating material L includes a shaft 21 that is thin enough to be inserted into the container C, and the spray nozzle 22 provided at the tip of the shaft 21, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. The spray nozzle 22 may have any shape as long as it sprays the coating material L in a spreading manner, preferably such that the coating material L spreads symmetrically on both right and left sides. In this embodiment, one spray nozzle 22 is provided at the tip of the shaft 21, but any number of spray nozzles 22 can be provided anywhere. The spray nozzle 22 may have an air jet orifice so as to atomize the coating material L ejected from the spray nozzle 22.

(12) Inside the spray gun 20 are formed the coating material ejection passage 23 connecting to the spray nozzle 22, and a coating material passage 24 connecting to this coating material ejection passage 23, as shown in FIG. 3. This coating material passage 24 forms part of the coating material circulatory path 40 for circulating the coating material L, together with a coating material passage 31 inside the outgoing pipe 30 and a coating material passage 34 inside the return pipe 33.

(13) The outgoing pipe 30 and return pipe 33 are disposed outside the spray gun 20 as shown in FIG. 1, and each have one end attached to the spray gun 20 and the other end attached to a tank (not shown) that stores the coating material L. The outgoing pipe 30 and return pipe 33 are made of a hard synthetic resin such as high-density polyethylene so as to be able to withstand the pressure of the coating material L circulating through the coating material passages 31 and 34 formed inside. The outgoing pipe 30 and return pipe 33 are transparent or translucent so that the state of the coating material L (settling, etc.) can be checked from outside. Coil-like resilient-shape parts 32 and 35 are formed to the outgoing pipe 30 and return pipe 33 as shown in FIG. 1. The resilient-shape parts 32 and 35 are not specifically limited to the coil-like shape and they may have any shape as long as they include a plurality of bent or curved parts and can resiliently extend and contract.

(14) The supply controller 50 includes, as can be seen from FIG. 3, an open/close valve 51 provided between the coating material ejection passage 23 and the coating material circulatory path 40, an air supply pipe 52 that forms an air ejector for supplying air to open and close this valve 51, and an air supply source (not shown) connected to the air supply pipe 52. Supplying the air through the air supply pipe 52 to the spray gun 20 opens the valve 51, so that the coating material L is supplied from the coating material circulatory path 40 to the coating material ejection passage 23, with the use of the pressure of the coating material L inside the coating material circulatory path 40. In this way, in this embodiment, the timing and amount of ejecting the coating material L from the spray nozzle 22 are controlled by adjusting the timing and duration of the air supply.

(15) The air supply pipe 52 should preferably have a resilient-shape part similar to the resilient-shape parts 32 and 35 of the outgoing pipe 30 and return pipe 33 described above.

(16) The supply controller 50 may have any other specific forms as long as the supply of the coating material L from the coating material circulatory path 40 to the coating material ejection passage 23 is controlled. The drive source of the supply controller 50 may also be any type other than the one that uses air as described above, such as an electrical drive source.

(17) The rotary driver 60 includes, as shown in FIG. 2, a rotary actuator 61, and a first gear 62 and a second gear 63 disposed between the rotary actuator 61 and the spray gun 20. The first gear 62 is fixed to an output shaft of the rotary actuator 61, while the second gear 63 is fixed to the rear end of the spray gun 20, so that the rotary drive force of the rotary actuator 61 is transmitted to the spray gun 20 with a predetermined gear ratio by these first gear 62 and second gear 63. The rotary actuator 61 is a pneumatic rotary actuator 61 that uses air as the drive medium and connected to an air supply source (not shown) by a rotary actuator air supply pipe 64.

(18) The rotary actuator air supply pipe 64 should preferably have a resilient-shape part similar to the resilient-shape parts 32 and 35 of the outgoing pipe 30 and return pipe 33 described above.

(19) The rotary driver 60 may have any specific form as long as the spray gun 20 is rotated around an axis extending along the longitudinal direction of the gun, i.e., in the illustrated example, along the up-and-down direction. The drive source of the rotary driver 60 may also be any type other than the one that uses air as described above, such as an electrical drive source. While the rotary driver 60 in this embodiment is configured to rotate the spray gun 20 360 in forward and reverse directions, the rotation angle of the spray gun 20 rotated by the rotary driver 60 may be set otherwise as long as it is 180 or more.

(20) For example, if the spray gun 20 is rotated 360 in forward and reverse directions, the spray nozzle 22 may be provided with one ejection port, and if the spray gun 20 is rotated 180 in forward and reverse directions, the spray nozzle 22 may be provided with ejection ports at two symmetrical positions.

(21) The mover 70 is configured as a pneumatic rodless cylinder as shown in FIG. 2 and include a base 71 having a linear guide 72, and a slider 73 movable along the up-and-down direction. An air supply source (not shown) is connected to the base 71, while the rotary actuator 61 and rotary support 80 are fixed to the slider 73.

(22) The mover 70 may have any specific form such as a rod cylinder as long as the spray gun 20 is moved along the longitudinal direction of the gun, i.e., in the illustrated example, along the up-and-down direction. The drive source of the mover 70 may also be any type other than the one that uses air as described above, such as an electrical drive source.

(23) The supply controller 50, rotary driver 60, and mover 70 described above share the same air supply source (not shown) as the drive power source. Alternatively, however, separate air supply sources (not shown) may be provided for each of these units.

(24) The container holding unit 90 is arranged to be movable in horizontal directions, configured to hold the container C in a stationary state, and used also in other process steps of the container production line. The container holding unit 90 may have any specific form as long as the container C is held.

(25) Next, one example of an application method of the coating material L using the application apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described below.

(26) First, the container C to which coating material is to be applied is moved to a position below the spray gun 20, and the spray gun 20 is lowered so as to insert the shaft 21 into the container C.

(27) Next, when the spray nozzle 22 reaches a lowermost position, the spray gun 20 is rotated 360, and at the same time the coating material L is ejected from the spray nozzle 22.

(28) Next, as the spray gun 20 is lifted, the spray gun 20 is rotated 360 in the opposite direction from the one when the gun was lowered, and at the same time the coating material L is ejected from the spray nozzle 22. The lifting speed of the spray gun 20 as the spray gun 20 moves up is changed in accordance with the shape of the container C so as to apply the coating material L uniformly on the inner surface of the container C.

(29) The embodiment described above is one example of operation of the application apparatus 10 of the present invention. While the application apparatus 10 is oriented vertically, the application apparatus 10 may also be oriented horizontally, and as long as it is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the gun, the application apparatus 10 may be installed in any style.

(30) The application apparatus 10 may be operated in accordance with the shape, size and the like of the container C, with suitable settings such as the speed of the spray gun 20 as it moves down and up, the rotation speed of the spray gun 20, the rotation timing of the spray gun 20, the ejection timing of the coating material L, the rotation angle of the spray gun 20, and the ejection amount of the coating material L, etc.

(31) While the coating material applied to the container described above is a material that improves surface slipperiness for the contents, and the container described above is a container air-tightly packed with a viscous material such as mayonnaise-like food products, the coating material may be of any kind, and the container may be used for any purposes.

(32) Next, an application apparatus 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. Since the configuration of the second embodiment is completely the same as that of the previously described first embodiment except for some parts, it will not be described again except for the differences.

(33) In the application apparatus 10 described in the foregoing, when the coating material L is applied in the container C, the coating material L ejected from the spray nozzle 22 is atomized inside the container C. This atomized coating material L may adhere to the upper end edge of the container opening C1 and adversely affect the bonding of a sealing member to the upper end edge of the container opening C1, or, the coating material may adhere to the spray nozzle 22 and adversely affect ejection of the coating material L from the spray nozzle 22. Moreover, whirling jets of atomized coating material L from the container C may contaminate the outer environment, and increased internal pressure may induce deformation of the container, which will make it difficult to achieve a good balance between the application speed of the coating material L and the uniformity of application on the inner wall surface of the container. Therefore, in the application apparatus 10 of the second embodiment, to prevent such circumstances, an airflow augmentation unit 100 is provided as a aspirator that can be positioned opposite the container opening C1 in the longitudinal direction, in the illustrated example, above the container opening C1. Although not shown, a suction duct or the like is provided above or in the vicinity of the airflow augmentation unit 100 as a countermeasure against contamination of the outer environment.

(34) The airflow augmentation unit 100 is formed substantially cylindrical, and includes a gas supply part 102 connected to an air supply source (not shown) via a gas supply pipe 105, and an airflow augmenting passage 101 having a lower suction port 103 and an upper ejection port 104, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, and provides the function of the flow increasing mechanism such as those shown in Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open Nos. H4-184000 and 2006-291941.

(35) More specifically, the airflow augmentation unit 100 has the airflow augmenting passage 101 extending along the longitudinal direction of the gun, in the illustrated example, up-and-down direction, and is disposed such that the shaft 21 of the spray gun 20 is positioned inside the airflow augmenting passage 101. A gas such as air supplied to the gas supply part 102 is ejected along the inner circumference of the airflow augmenting passage 101 toward the ejection port 104 at high speed. By this ejection of gas, the gas containing the coating material L that has been atomized inside the container C is sucked from the suction port 103 positioned above and opposite the container opening C1 and ejected from the ejection port 104 at high speed and high pressure.

(36) The aspirator may have other specific forms that use other principles than the one described above as long as the gas can be sucked from the container opening C1. The gas supplied to the gas supply part 102 may be any gas. Air is more preferable, since the aspirator can then share the same air supply source with other constituent elements (such as the supply controller 50, rotary driver 60, mover 70, second mover 110, etc.).

(37) The airflow augmentation unit 100 is configured to be movable in the up-and-down direction by the second mover 110 as shown in FIG. 4 independently of the movement of the spray gun 20 along the longitudinal direction of the gun, in the illustrated example, up-and-down direction. The second mover 110 is configured as a pneumatic rodless cylinder, and made up of a second linear guide 111 formed on the base 71 in a lower part of the linear guide 72, and a second slider 112 that is configured to be movable along the up-and-down direction and supports the airflow augmentation unit 100. Alternatively, the second mover 110 may not be provided, and the airflow augmentation unit 100 may be disposed fixedly so that it does not move up and down.

(38) Next, an operation example of the application apparatus 10 in the second embodiment will be described. Since the method of applying the coating material L with the use of the spray gun 20 and others is the same as that of the first embodiment, it will not be described in detail.

(39) First, the container C to which the coating material is to be applied is moved to a position below the spray gun 20, after which the shaft 21 of the spray gun 20 is inserted into the container C. At the same time, the airflow augmentation unit 100 is moved down, and stopped at a position where the suction port 103 of the airflow augmenting passage 101 is slightly spaced from the container opening C1.

(40) The distance between the suction port 103 and the container opening C1 should be as small as possible within a range in which the negative pressure created by the suction of the gas from the container C by the airflow augmentation unit 100 does not cause the container C to deform or stick to the suction port 103.

(41) Next, a gas is supplied to the gas supply part 102 so that the gas inside the container C is sucked by the airflow augmentation unit 100, while the coating material L is ejected from the spray nozzle 22 and applied on the inner wall surface of the container C.

(42) The embodiment described above is one example of operation of the application apparatus 10 of the present invention. The timing of moving the airflow augmentation unit 100 to the proximity of the container opening C1, and the timing of sucking the gas from the container C, etc., may be determined suitably.

(43) While the airflow augmentation unit 100 is disposed such that the shaft 21 of the spray gun 20 movable along the up-and-down direction is positioned inside the airflow augmenting passage 101 in the embodiment described above, the spray gun 20 may be moved in the horizontal direction, with its shaft 21 being positioned inside the airflow augmenting passage 101, and the airflow augmentation unit 100 may be installed in any style as long as it is disposed along the longitudinal direction.