US 4,543,702 AGranted

Fully automatic method and apparatus for assembling stick-type cosmetics

AssigneesSatoh Seiki Co., Ltd., Elsol Product Corp.

InventorKatsuhiko Wada

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Assembly of stick-type cosmetics such as lipsticks is fully automatized by highly coordinated operation of a pair of robots each accompanied with sequential operational units arranged within the ambit of its operational terminal so that sticks and bottles are transferred upside down from unit to unit for application of sequential operations and combined with each other and further with caps to form complete stick-type cosmetics. Simple adjustment in numerical control of the robots and their operational terminals will span a wide variety of quality demands in the market, and will make the system well suited for small scale production with high lot number in which shifting of lots is highly frequent. There is no manual touching of the sticks during assemblage which enables high level of sanitization of the whole system.

Claims6

Dependent claims

Fully automatic method for assembling stick-type cosmetics using first and second robots comprising the steps of

placing a mould in position at first operational station with its stick holes open upwards,
taking out said mould from said first operational station by operation of said first robot for transfer to a second operational station,
charging material paste in said stick holes of said mould at said second operation station,
taking out a charged mould from said second operational station by operation of said first robot for transfer to a third operational station whereat said charged mould is cooled,
taking out a cooled mould from said third operational station by operation of said first robot for transfer to a fourth operational station,
exposing tails of sticks out of the top face of said mould at said fourth operational station,
placing, concurrently with the above-described operations of the first robot, a group of bottles upside down in position at a fifth operational station, the number of said bottles in said group being equal to that of said stick holes in said mould,
taking out said group of bottles from said fifth operational station by operation of said second robot for transfer to a sixth operational station while keeping upside down position of said bottles,
causing relative rotation between the main case and the rotary body of each said bottle for projection of the stick holder at said sixth operational station,
taking out said group bottles upside down from said sixth operational station by operation of said second robot for transfer to said fourth operational station,
combining said bottles with said tails of said sticks by operation of said second robot at said fourth operational station,
separating stick-bottle combinations from said mould by operation of said second robot at said fourth operational station,
taking out said mould separated from said stick-bottle combinations from said fourth operational station by operation of said first robot for transfer to said second operational station,
taking out a charged mould from said second operational station by said first robot for transfer to said third operational station,
taking out, concurrently with the above-described operations of the first robot, said stick-bottle combinations from said fourth operational station by operation of said second robot for transfer to a seventh operational station,
causing relative rotation between the main case and the rotary body of said bottle in each said stick-bottle combination for withdrawl of the stick at said seventh operational station,
taking out said stick-bottle combinations from said seventh operational station by operation of said second robot for transfer to an eighth operational station, and
combining said stick-bottle combinations with caps placed upside down in positions at said eighth operational station by operation of said second robot.

15 more elements

Fully automatic apparatus for assembling stick-type cosmetics comprising

a first robot provided with a main body rotatable in a horizontal direction, an extensible arm projecting forwards from said main body, a head secured to the tip of said arm, and at least one pair of fingers which are vertically movably coupled to said head and adapted for clamping a mould for shaping sticks,
a mould supply unit arranged within the operational ambit of said first robot,
a material charge unit arranged within said operational ambit of said first robot and provided with at least one material paste nozzle,
a cooling unit arranged within said operational ambit of said first robot,
a second robot provided with a main body rotatable in a horizontal direction, an extensible arm projecting forwards from said main body, a head main body coupled to the tip of said arm in a horizontally rotatable arrangement, a pair of finger plates which are vertically movablly coupled to said head main body and adapted for clamping prescribed number of bottles, and holding nozzles vertically movably coupled to said head main body in communication with a pneumatic suction source and adapted for holding same number of bottles,
a bottle supply unit arranged within the operational ambit of said second robot,
a bottle draw-out unit arranged within said operational ambit of said second robot and provided with means for causing relative rotation between the main case and the rotary body of each said bottle,
a stick draw-in unit arranged within said operational ambit of said second robot and provided with means for causing relative rotation between the main case and the rotary body of each said bottle, and
a docking unit arranged within said operational ambits of said first and second robots and provided with means for exposing tails of sticks out of said mould.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 06/609,724Filed 14 May 1984
Granted: 1 Oct 1985
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification20 codes

B23Q 7/04
Arrangements for handling work specially combined with or arranged in, or specially adapted for use in connection with, machine tools, e.g. for…:…
A45D 40/16
Casings or accessories specially adapted for storing or handling solid or pasty toiletry or cosmetic substances, e.g. shaving soaps or lipsticks:…
B23P 21/00
Machines for assembling a multiplicity of different parts to compose units, with
B25J 9/0084
Program-controlled manipulators: comprising a plurality of manipulators