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EP-4353638-B1 - MECHANICAL GRIPPER

EP4353638B1EP 4353638 B1EP4353638 B1EP 4353638B1EP-4353638-B1

Inventors

  • WASHI, Naoya

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20231010

Claims (1)

  1. A mechanical gripper (18), comprising: a pair of gripper parts (18A, 18B) pivotally arranged about the same axis (26); a biasing member (36) that biases the gripper parts (18A, 18B) to approach each other; a first cam follower (34A) connected to one of the gripper parts (18A); a second cam follower (34B) connected to the other of the gripper parts (18B); a first cam (38) that engages with the first cam follower (34A) for displacing the first cam follower (34A); and a second cam (42) that engages with the second cam follower (34B) for displacing the second cam follower (34B); characterised in that the first cam follower (34A) is configured to engage with the first cam (38) and the second cam follower (34B) is configured to engage with the second cam (42) such that the first cam follower (34A) and the second cam follower (34B) are both displaced when opening/closing the pair of gripper parts (18A, 18B); and either one of the first cam follower (34A) or the second cam follower (34B) is configured to be engaged with the first cam (38) or the second cam (42) accordingly in order to be displaced when swinging the pair of gripper parts (18A, 18B).

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanical gripper that grips and transports a container. 2. Description of the Related Art A container processing system is known that performs processes such as filling and capping while transporting a container by alternately gripping the upper and lower sides of the flange of the container with grippers provided on different rotating wheels. As for a gripper on a rotating wheel that grips the upper part of the flange, an open/close type gripper uses an open/close mechanism such as a device comprising a cam and a cam follower. On the other hand, a gripper on a rotating wheel that grips the lower part of the flange uses a flat spring type gripper in which the gripper is regularly biased in the closing direction by the spring. In some of these container processing systems, there has also been proposed a flat spring type gripper that is made swingable for changing the pitch of containers being transported, see JP 4026861 B2 or JP 6306409 B2. In such system, a mechanism such as a cam or gear is used to swing the flat spring type gripper. JP H06 115660 A concerns a rotary type bottle inspection machine which can be operated at high speed without applying excessive force on the parts, thereby anticipating the preamble of claim 1. FR 3 121 134 A1 concerns an article conveying unit comprising extendable arm transfer devices. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, the swingable grippers in Japanese Patent Nos. 4026861 and 6306409 are limited to the flat spring type grippers, so it is not possible to swing a gripper on the rotating wheel equipped with the mechanical grippers, i.e., the open/close type grippers. Consequently, the conventional system requires the arrangement of the rotating wheel with the flat spring type grippers to be downstream of the rotating wheel with the mechanical grippers so that the flat spring type grippers are swung instead of the mechanical grippers. Namely, the rotating wheels that can be adapted to swing the grippers in the system are limited to restrict the degrees of freedom in the system design. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a mechanical gripper that can swing back and forth in the gripper conveyance direction in a simple configuration. From one aspect of the present invention, as defined in claim 1, a mechanical gripper comprises a pair of gripper parts pivotally arranged about the same axis; a biasing member that biases the gripper parts to approach each other; a first cam follower connected to one of the gripper parts; a second cam follower connected to the other gripper part; a first cam that engages with the first cam follower for displacing the first cam follower; and a second cam that engages with the second cam follower for displacing the second cam follower. The first cam follower is configured to engage with the first cam and the second cam follower is configured to engage with the second cam such that the first cam follower and the second cam follower are both displaced when opening/closing the pair of gripper parts; and either one of the first cam follower or the second cam follower is configured to be engaged with the first cam or the second cam accordingly in order to be displaced when swinging the pair of gripper parts. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objects and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the following description with references to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an arrangement of a container processing system using a mechanical gripper of an embodiment of the present invention;FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a container in the conveyance direction, wherein the container is gripped by the mechanical gripper in the outer surface sterilization area;FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the container in the conveyance direction, wherein the container is gripped by the mechanical gripper in the inner surface sterilization area;FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of the mechanical gripper of the sterilization wheel that grips the container;FIG. 5 is an elevational sectional view of the mechanical gripper that grips the container;FIG. 6 illustrates the configuration of the mechanical gripper opened in the delivery position;FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating the configuration of the gripper shown in FIG. 6 separated into left and right sides for convenience; andFIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating the posture of the mechanical gripper at five positions as it moves along the first cam. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is described below with references to the embodiments shown in the drawings. Fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating the arrangement of a container processing system using a mechanical gripper of an embodiment of the present invention. The container processing system 10 of the present embodiment is a system that performs liquid-fi