Method and guide system for the transport of containers or container components in industrial systems for container production and/or product filling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10040645-B2
Application number	US-201615320304-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2016
Priority date	Apr 2, 2015
Publication date	Aug 7, 2018
Grant date	Aug 7, 2018

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and guide system for the transport of containers or container components, in particular, preforms and/or closure caps, in industrial systems for container production and/or product filling, wherein the containers/container components are transported along at least one guide element. By generating an air cushion between the guide element and the containers/container components by flowing through a microporous layer formed on the guide element, even container components which are lightweight and/or do not slide well can be reliably slidingly transported along the guide elements, and containers can be reliably supplied to dividing worms or similar using dynamic pressure.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for transporting containers or container components in industrial plants for producing containers and/or filling products, where said containers or container components are transported along at least one guide element, where an air cushion is created between said guide element and said containers or container components by a stream passed through a microporous layer formed on said guide element and where said guide element is provided on at least one pair of adjacent sorting rollers for sorting said container components.

2. The method according to claim 1 , where said air cushion for transporting said containers or container components is created along a transport lane having a bend, in such a manner that the containers or container components slide along the microporous layer.

3. The method according to claim 1 , where said air cushion is for a sliding transportation of said container components created along a transport lane having an inclination in such a manner that the containers or container components slide along the microporous layer.

4. The method according to claim 1 , where said air cushion is created for single-lane transportation of said container components in such a manner that the containers or container components slide along the microporous layer.

5. The method according to claim 1 , where said container components are preforms and/or closure caps.

6. The method according to claim 1 , where said air cushion is created on at least one lateral guide element having a microporous guide surface in order to guide the containers with reduced sliding friction when feeding said containers under back pressure into a treatment machine.

7. A guide system for transporting containers or container components in industrial plants for producing containers and/or filling products, comprising:
a transport lane; and
at least one guide element which is formed in particular in a stationary manner along said transport lane, where said at least one guide element comprises at least one inflow duct and a microporous layer connected thereto and facing said transport lane and where said guide element is provided on at least one pair of adjacent sorting rollers and said transport lane runs in a longitudinal direction of said pair of adjacent sorting rollers.

8. The guide system according to claim 7 , where said transport lane has an inclination.

9. The guide system according to claim 7 , wherein the guide system is configured for transporting preforms and/or closure caps.

10. The guide system according to claim 7 , where said microporous layer has a thickness of 10 to 200 μm.

11. The guide system according claim 7 , where pores having a width of 10 to 100 nm are formed in said microporous layer.

12. The guide system according to claim 7 , where said guide element comprises a base body made of metal, and said microporous layer is made of material galvanized or sintered thereon.

13. The guide system according to claim 7 , where said microporous layer has a degree of hardness of 30 to 70 HRC.

14. The guide system according to claim 7 , further comprising a compressed air supply connected to said inflow duct.

15. The guide system according to claim 7 , where a microporous layer is formed selectively at at least one surface section of said guide element which is designed for slidably guiding container components or containers.

16. The method according to claim 6 , wherein said containers are fed under back pressure into an in-feed worm adjoining the treatment machine.

17. The guide system according to claim 12 , wherein the metal of the base body is stainless steel.

Assignees

• Krones Ag

Inventors

• Brinster Paul
• Eichhammer Tobias

Classifications

• B65G51/03 Primary

  over a flat surface or in troughs · CPC title

• B65G39/07

  Other adaptations of sleeves · CPC title

• B65G2207/06

  Air cushion support of articles · CPC title

• B65G47/24

  orientating the articles · CPC title

• B65G51/035

  for suspended articles, e.g. bottles · CPC title