Container treatment machine and method of treating containers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9463591-B2
Application number	US-201213446017-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 13, 2012
Priority date	Apr 13, 2011
Publication date	Oct 11, 2016
Grant date	Oct 11, 2016

Abstract

A container treatment machine with at least one gripper, which can be compulsorily transported along a predetermined transport section for handling a preform or container during transport and/or acceptance and/or delivery, and including, at a holder retaining at least two gripper claws, at least one controllable electric or magnetic drive for the gripper claws, where the gripper claws can be moved relative to each other in opening and closing directions and at least between defined gripping and release positions, and where each gripper claw can be individually separately actuated by the drive in the opening and/or closing direction relative to another gripper claw of the gripper. Alternately, both gripper claws can be actuated together in the same direction.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A container treatment machine, comprising at least one gripper arranged on a holder for compulsory transport along a predetermined transport section for handling a preform or container during at least one of transport, an accepting process, a delivering process, and a combination thereof, the gripper comprising at least one activatable electric or magnetic drive for moving at least two gripper claws provided on swivel axes of a holder, wherein the gripper claws can swivel relative to the holder and relative to each other at least between defined gripping and release positions in a gripper opening direction or a gripper closing direction, and wherein both gripper claws can be actuated separately by the at least one activatable electric or magnetic drive to swivel at asymmetric swivel angles in the gripper opening or gripper closing directions.

2. The container treatment machine according to claim 1 , wherein either one common drive or separate drives are provided for the gripper claws.

3. The container treatment machine according to claim 1 , wherein the swivel axes are spaced apart on the holder such that the gripper claws are essentially parallel with each other in the gripping position.

4. The container treatment machine according to claim 2 , wherein a respective separate magnetic drive of a gripper claw comprises inversely polarized permanent magnets connected with the gripper claw, and at least one magnet coil connected to the control.

5. The container treatment machine according to claim 2 , wherein the one common drive or each of the separate drives is electric and comprises an electric servomotor connected to a control.

6. The container treatment machine according to claim 3 , further comprising a common servomotor arranged at the holder and coupled with the gripper claws by one of a toothed or cam gear.

7. The container treatment machine according to claim 1 , wherein one of selectively retrievable different holding force profiles, temperature control element contact pressure profiles, differently wide defined gripping positions of the gripper claws, and combinations thereof, for different or differently dimensioned types of preforms or containers, are stored in a control.

8. The container treatment machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a detection sensor to provide a sensor signal indicating a demand to the activatable electric or magnetic drive, or a control to provide a control routine to the activatable electric or magnetic drive.

9. The container treatment machine according to claim 1 , wherein gripper claws of a first gripper are arranged in a first running level, the first running level offset vertically from a second running level in which gripper claws of gripper of another transport section are arranged.

10. The container treatment machine according to claim 1 , wherein, in a transfer region from one transport section to another one, the gripper claws of grippers provided at both transport sections are arranged in a common running level.

11. The container treatment machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a transfer region from a transport section, a transfer starwheel equipped with grippers, and an air transport device approximately tangential to the transfer starwheel, wherein a gripper claw of a gripper involved in a transfer in the transfer region lagging in the direction of transport can be actuated in the transfer independently of an advancing gripper claw into an acceleration position in which the gripper claw of the lagging gripper grips a transferred container in the air transport device at least approximately perpendicular to the direction of transport in the air transport device during curved motion of the holder with the transfer starwheel.

12. The container treatment machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a station of a container treatment machine embodied as a sterilizer or rinser and at least one sterilizing or rinsing agent inlet nozzle for one of sterilizing and rinsing a preform or container comprising a mouth with an opening rim, and wherein the gripper can be actuated, while aligning the mouth with the inlet nozzle and maintaining the gripping position, such that the position of the opening rim of the mouth is changed relative to the inlet nozzle.

13. The container treatment machine according to claim 5 , wherein the electric servomotor comprises one of a force-controlled, path-controlled, and position-controlled servomotor.

14. The container treatment machine according to claim 13 , wherein the servomotor is placed as a direct drive at the swivel axis or a shaft of the gripper claw in the holder or the servomotor is coupled to one of the swivel axis or the shaft via a toothed gearing.

15. A container treatment machine, comprising at least one gripper arranged on a holder for compulsory transport along a predetermined transport section for handling a preform or container during at least one of transport, an accepting process, a delivering process, and a combination thereof, the gripper comprising at least one activatable electric or magnetic drive for moving at least two gripper claws provided on swivel axes of a holder, wherein the two gripper claws can swivel about the swivel axis relative to the holder and relative to each other at least between defined gripping and release positions in a gripper opening direction or a gripper closing direction, wherein at least one gripper claw can be actuated to swivel relative to the holder and relative to the other gripper claw in one of the gripper opening or gripper closing directions or both gripper claws can be actuated swivel together or separately in the same one of the gripper opening or gripper closing directions, and wherein at least one of the gripper claws is adjustable telescopically in its longitudinal direction and comprises one of an electric or magnetic accessory telescoping drive.

16. The container treatment machine according to claim 15 , wherein the gripper is a preform supply and delivery gripper in a starwheel of a blow molding station of a container treatment machine embodied as a stretch-blow molding machine comprising split blow molds, and a control of the common or of each separate drive of the gripper claws is connected with at least one sensor array by means of which a relative position between a preform ready to be transferred in the gripper and one of a center of, mold halves of, and a combination thereof of the blow mold, a stretching rod that remained in the blow mold due to a failure, and a combination thereof can be measured and evaluated for activating the drive to one of reposition the preform to the center of the blow mold, or to release the preform from the gripper.

17. The container treatment machine according to claim 16 , wherein the at least one sensor array comprises one of a camera and a proximity initiator.

18. A container treatment machine, comprising at least one gripper arranged on a holder for compulsory transport along a predetermined transport section for handling a preform or container during at least one of transport, an accepting process, a delivering process, and a combination thereof, the gripper comprising at least one activatable electric or magnetic drive for moving at least two gripper claws provided on swivel axes of a holder, wherein the two gripper claws can swivel about the swivel axis relative to the holder and relative to each other at least between defined gripping and release positions in a gripper opening direction or a gripper closing direction, wherein at least one gripper claw c

Assignees

• Winzinger Frank
• Krones Ag

Inventors

• Winzinger Frank

Classifications

• B29C49/42073

  Grippers · CPC title

• B29C49/42075

  with pivoting clamps · CPC title

• B29C49/78

  Measuring, controlling or regulating · CPC title

• B29C49/4236

  Drive means · CPC title

• B29C49/42069 Primary

  Means explicitly adapted for transporting blown article · CPC title