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EP-4741318-A1 - CONTAINER GUIDING DEVICE AND CONTAINER HANDLING MACHINE WITH A CORRESPONDING CONTAINER GUIDING DEVICE

EP4741318A1EP 4741318 A1EP4741318 A1EP 4741318A1EP-4741318-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a container guidance device (100) with a railing (110) and at least one guide element (111) extending in the transport direction (RT) of a container transport device (200), wherein the guide element (111) is adjustable along an adjustment direction (RV) transverse to the transport direction (RT) by means of an adjustment device (120), wherein the adjustment device (120) comprises: an adjustment element (121) connected or connectable to the guide element (111), a driven, in particular linearly movable along the adjustment direction (RV), and at least one drive element (123) configured to couple the adjustment element (121) with the drive element (122) for transmitting a movement along the adjustment direction (RV), wherein the drive element (123) engages when a maximum counterforce opposing movement of the adjustment element (121) in the adjustment direction is exceeded. (RV) acts, is designed to decouple a movement of the traversing element (122) from a movement of the adjusting element (121) in the adjusting direction (RV). Furthermore, the invention relates to a container treatment machine with a corresponding container guiding device (100).

Inventors

  • STENNER, HOLGER
  • STJEPIC, ANTO

Assignees

  • KHS GmbH

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251007

Claims (14)

  1. Container guidance device (100) with a railing (110) with at least one guide element (111) extending in the transport direction (RT) of a container transport device (200), wherein the guide element (111) is adjustable by means of an adjustment device (120) along an adjustment direction (RV) transverse to the transport direction (RT), wherein the adjusting device (120) comprises the following: an adjusting element (121) connected or connectable to the guide element (111), a driven, in particular linearly movable along the adjustment direction (RV) movable element (122), at least one drive element (123) designed to couple the adjusting element (121) with the traversing element (122) for transmitting a movement along the adjustment direction (RV), characterized by the fact that The drive element (123) is designed to decouple a movement of the traversing element (122) from a movement of the adjusting element (121) in the adjustment direction (RV) when a maximum counterforce acting against a movement of the adjusting element (121) is exceeded.
  2. Container guidance device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the traversing element (122) is movable in the decoupled state along an actuation path (B) limited by contact with the adjusting element (121), wherein the contact is made upon contact with at least one contact surface (126) of the traversing element (122) with at least one contact surface (125) of the adjusting element (121) is made.
  3. Container guidance device (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that the actuation path (B) is less than 10 mm, in particular less than 5 mm, in particular less than 3 mm.
  4. Container guidance device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjusting device (120) has a contact sensor unit (124) which is designed to detect contact between the adjusting element (121) and the traversing element (122).
  5. Container guidance device (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that the contact sensor unit (124) is arranged on at least one, preferably both, end sides of the traversing element (122) as seen in the adjustment direction (RV).
  6. Container guidance device (100) according to one of claims 4 and 5, characterized in that the container guidance device (100) is connected or connectable to a control device (130), wherein the control device (130) is configured to stop a drive device (140) driving the traversing element (122) and/or to reverse its control direction when a contact is detected by means of the contact sensor unit (124).
  7. Container guidance device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the traversing element (122) is arranged in the adjusting element (121).
  8. Container guidance device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a plurality of drive elements (123) are formed on the traversing element (122) or on the adjusting element (121).
  9. Container guiding device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one drive element (123) is designed as a pressure piece (123a), in particular a ball pressure piece, which is pre-tensioned in a direction perpendicular to the adjustment direction (RV).
  10. Container guidance device (100) according to claim 9, characterized in that the pre-tensioned pressure piece (123a) is designed to effect a detent engagement between the traversing element (122) and the adjusting element (121) in the coupled state of the traversing element (122), wherein the detent engagement is released in the decoupled state.
  11. Container guidance device (100) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the at least one drive element (123) is designed as an elastic element (123b), in particular an O-ring, which is compressible in the adjustment direction (RV).
  12. Container guidance device (100) according to claim 11, characterized in that the elastic element (123b) is arranged axially between a shoulder (127) of the adjusting element (121) and a shoulder (128) of the traversing element (122).
  13. Container guidance device (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjusting device (120) has an adjustable locking unit (129) which is designed to lock and release a movement of the adjusting element (121) in the adjusting direction (RV) relative to the traversing element (121).
  14. Container treatment machine for treating containers with at least one of the container guidance devices (100) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the adjustment device (120) of the at least one container guidance device (100), in particular when changing formats to other container sizes or other packaging sizes, is designed to perform an adjustment of the guide elements (111) or the railings (110).

Description

Technical field The invention relates to a container guidance device with a railing, with at least one guide element extending in the transport direction of a container transport device. Furthermore, the invention relates to a container treatment machine with a corresponding container guiding device. State of the art In container handling plants, for example in filling plants for filling a liquid medium into containers such as bottles, cans or the like, the containers are typically transported over long transport routes by means of a transport device with a container guiding device. The individual containers and/or containers grouped into bundles are guided through the container treatment system or its individual container treatment machines by means of a railing system of the container guiding device. As a rule, the railing system has railing elements on both sides of the container transport device, the spacing of which is adjustable depending on the width of the containers or bundles to be guided between the railing elements. Various adjustment devices for adjusting railing elements are known in the prior art. For example, it is known from the DE 10 2020 104 091 A1 A container guidance device is known, comprising a railing with two guide elements arranged at a distance from each other and extending in the transport direction of a container transport device, for guiding containers or packages. At least one guide element is adjustable relative to the other guide element transversely to the transport direction by means of an adjustment device. The adjusting device comprises a drive body rotatable about an axis of rotation and a coupling element connected to at least one guide element. The coupling element is connected to the drive body in such a way that rotation of the drive body causes the coupling element to be adjusted transversely to the direction of transport. Description of the invention The invention is based on the objective of providing an improved container guiding device that offers advantages over the prior art mentioned above. Furthermore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an advantageous container treatment machine with a corresponding container guiding device. These problems are solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Further possible embodiments of the invention are specified in particular in the dependent claims. The solution according to the invention consists in particular of providing a container guidance device with a railing having at least one guide element extending in the transport direction of a container transport device. The guide element is adjustable along an adjustment direction, in particular transversely to the The direction of travel is adjustable. The adjusting device has an adjusting element that is connected or connectable to the guide element. Furthermore, the adjusting device has a driven traversing element, in particular one that is linearly movable along the adjustment direction. The adjusting device also has a drive element. The drive element is designed to couple the adjusting element to the traversing element for transmitting movement along the adjustment direction, in particular rigidly. According to the invention, when a maximum counterforce is exceeded, the drive element is designed to decouple the movement of the traversing element from the movement of the adjusting element in the adjustment direction, at least temporarily. The counterforce acts against the movement of the guide element in the adjustment direction. Thus, the counterforce acts against the direction of adjustment. The container guidance device is, in general, a device designed to guide containers moving along a transport route in the direction of transport. For the purposes of this invention, the term "container" refers to bodies formed in one piece or from several parts firmly connected to one another. Preferably, each container has an internal cavity and is designed to separate this cavity from its surroundings. The containers may, for example, be containers for storing foodstuffs and/or liquid, viscous, or pasty substances. Particularly preferably, the containers are beverage containers, specifically bottles, cans, or beverage cartons. The container guidance system serves to stabilize and align the containers during transport. For this purpose, the container guidance system includes a railing. The railing is designed as structural, especially lateral, boundary of the transport route is formed and holds the containers on the transport route, especially by means of contact. The railing includes at least one guide element as the component that comes into direct contact with, or is located near, the containers to be transported in order to ensure the containers are guided. This guide element extends at least substantially along the direction of transport. Container transport device, i.e., in the direction in which the containers are moved. Preferably, the ra