Device for transporting a hollow body, installation provided with such devices, and method for conveying a hollow body attached to such a device
AssigneeSidel Participations
InventorPatrick Mie
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The preform conveying installation (2) comprises gripping members (6) and heads (7) for feeding them into the heating oven, and includes a detection system that selects preforms likely to cause incidents in said heating oven, and means for detaching each selected preform from its gripping head (7), which means apply pressure to the interior of the selected preform (2), on its base, and these consist of a nozzle (15) capable of directing a jet of pressurized fluid at said base. The gripping member (6) and the gripping head (7) comprise an orifice in the form of a bore (9) that enables the jet of pressurized fluid to be applied directly into the selected preform.
Claims9
An installation for conveying preforms to a processing unit such as a heating oven in which they are taken to an appropriate temperature in order subsequently to be formed by stretch-blow molding, which installation comprises:
- gripping members which are carried by an endless conveyor chain and which are each furnished with a gripping head in order to carry said preforms and in order to transfer them into said heating oven,
- at least one detection system placed on the path of said preforms upstream of said heating oven, which detection system, such as a shape-recognition camera, selects the preforms that are likely to cause incidents in said heating oven, such as, for example, preforms the alignment of which does not correspond with that of the main axis of their gripping head,
- means for detaching each selected preform from its gripping head,
- an apparatus, such as a programmable controller, to command the ejection of the selected preform according to the information originating from said detection system,
- means for retrieving the ejected preforms, wherein it comprises means for applying a pressure to the inside of the selected preform, on its bottom, and in particular a sufficient pressure to overcome the forces of adhesion between said selected preform and its gripping head, in order to detach them.
A method for releasing a preform or preforms while they are conveyed to the heating oven, in order to eliminate each preform capable of creating an incident during its passage in said heating oven, said method consisting:
- in monitoring the preforms which pass by, before they enter said heating oven, in order to detect, in said preforms, a flaw capable of causing incidents in said heating oven,
- in detaching each preform that is qualified as undesirable from its gripping head, upstream of said heating oven,
- in collecting the rejected preform in an appropriate container, wherein it consists in applying an appropriate force to the inside of said undesirable preform, on its bottom, and in particular a sufficient force to overcome the forces of pressure and of friction that are applied between said undesirable preform and its gripping head.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.