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EP-4741325-A2 - CONTROL CAM FOR A CLAMPING DEVICE AND CLAMPING DEVICE FOR HOLDING A CONTAINER

EP4741325A2EP 4741325 A2EP4741325 A2EP 4741325A2EP-4741325-A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control cam (20) for controlling the position of mutually pivotable clamp arms (10) each having a holding section (11) in a clamping device (1), comprising a shaft section (26) for pivoting the control cam (20) about a control cam pivot axis (21) in a hub section (5) of a carrier plate (2) of the clamping device (1), and at least one coupling element for coupling the control cam (20) to a clamp arm (10) of the clamping device (1), wherein the control cam (20) comprises a preloading element configured to interact with a stop element of the clamping device (1), such that the control cam (20) is preloaded into the open preload position when the control cam (20) is in the open preload position, and/or is preloaded into the closed preload position when the control cam (20) is in the closed preload position, wherein the preloading element is configured as a magnetic preloading element.

Inventors

  • Spandl, Stefan
  • LANDLER, BRUNO

Assignees

  • Krones AG

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20221125

Claims (15)

  1. Control cam (20) for controlling the position of mutually pivotable clamping arms (10) of a clamping device (1), comprising a shaft section (26) for pivoting the control cam (20) about a control cam pivot axis (21) in a hub section (5) of a carrier plate (2) of the clamping device (1), wherein the control cam (20) is pivotable between an open preset position and a closed preset position about the control cam pivot axis (21), characterized by the fact that the control cam (20) comprises a preload element configured to interact with a stop element of the clamping device (1) such that the control cam (20) is preloaded into the open preload position when the control cam (20) is in the open preload position, and/or is preloaded into the closed preload position when the control cam (20) is in the closed preload position, wherein the preload element is configured as a magnetic preload element.
  2. Control cam (20) according to claim 1, characterized by at least one first coupling surface (36) extending in the direction of the control cam pivot axis (21) and designed and configured to transmit a first switching force (16) to one of the clamp arms (10).
  3. Control cam (20) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by a second coupling surface (36') different from the first coupling surface (36), extending in the direction of the control cam pivot axis (21), designed and configured to transmit a second switching force (16') opposite to the first switching force (16).
  4. Control cam (20) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the coupling surfaces (36, 36') of a coupling element are arranged opposite each other on the coupling element with respect to the coupling element, in particular to its contour or cross-sectional contour perpendicular to the control cam pivot axis (21).
  5. Control cam (20) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the at least one coupling element is in the form of an elongated slot (31), preferably for receiving a control bolt (32) arranged on a clamping arm (10), or in the form of a control bolt (32), preferably for penetrating into an elongated slot (31) arranged on a clamping arm (10).
  6. Control cam (20) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the at least one control cam (32) extends in the direction of the control cam pivot axis (21) with a predetermined height from an end face (27) of the shaft section (26), or the at least one slot groove (31) extends in the direction of the control cam pivot axis (21) with a predetermined depth from an end face (27) of the shaft section (26) into the control cam (21).
  7. Control cam (20) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that two coupling elements are provided, wherein one coupling element is designed for coupling the control cam (20) with each clamping arm (10, 10') of the clamping device (1), wherein preferably a first coupling element, preferably a first control bolt (32), has a first distance (320) to the control cam pivot axis (21) and a second coupling element, preferably a second control bolt (32'), has a second distance (320') to the control cam pivot axis (21), wherein the magnitude of the second distance (320') is preferably greater than that of the first distance (320), and/or that the at least one coupling element, preferably at least one control bolt (32), is arranged eccentrically to the control cam pivot axis (21).
  8. Control cam (20) according to one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the at least one control bolt (32) comprises a curved section, preferably an arc-shaped section (321), with respect to a longitudinal central axis (325) of the control bolt (32) preferably oriented parallel to the control cam pivot axis (21), and/or at least one control bolt (32) has a cam section (322) extending in a plane oriented perpendicular to the control cam pivot axis (21), and/or, if two control bolts (32) are provided, the control bolts (32) are connected by a connecting wall (324), wherein preferably at least one coupling surface (36, 36') is arranged in the curved section and/or in the cam section (322).
  9. Control cam (20) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control cam (20) has a radial retaining groove (327) for receiving a The clamping device (1) comprises a fixing element, preferably a key or a locking plate, to axially fix the control cam (20) with respect to the control cam pivot axis (21), and/or the at least one control bolt (32) has, viewed in the direction of the control cam pivot axis (21), at its end face free end opposite an end face (27) of the shaft section (26), a locking rib (323) for axially securing the control cam (20) to the clamping device (1), wherein the locking rib (323) is preferably designed in the form of a preferably circular flange arranged concentrically or eccentrically to the longitudinal center axis (325) of the control bolt (32), the outer diameter of which is preferably larger than a radius of a circular arc-shaped section (321) of the control bolt (32) and/or is preferably larger than a width of the elongated slot (31) provided on the clamping arm (10) of the clamping device (1) transverse to its longitudinal extent. (310).
  10. Control cam (20) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control cam (20) has an interaction part (22) extending radially outwards with respect to the control cam pivot axis (21) for interacting with an interaction bolt of a container treatment device, wherein the interaction part (22) is configured to limit a range of movement of the control cam (20) about the control cam pivot axis (21), wherein the interaction part (22) is preferably configured to interact with a stop (3) of the clamping device (1), wherein the control cam (20) preferably has two arms (24) extending radially outwards with respect to the control cam pivot axis (21).
  11. Control cam (20) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the preload element comprises an elastic spring element (41), wherein the spring element (41) has a curvature with respect to the control cam pivot axis (21) which is greater than a curvature of a geometric pitch circle (45) concentric to the control cam pivot axis (21) at the level of the spring element (41).
  12. Control cam (20) according to claim 11, characterized in that the preload element comprises a web (46) extending radially outwards towards a geometric pitch circle (45) concentric to the control cam pivot axis (21), and a spring element (41) extending transversely in the radial direction from the web (46) with respect to the control cam pivot axis (21), wherein preferably a spring element 41 extends on each side of the web (46), wherein preferably a distance exists between a free end (411) of the spring element (41) and an arm (24) opposite the end (411). is present, so that a receptacle (49) is provided for the positive locking reception of a roller (42) of the clamping device (1) in the circumferential direction with respect to the control cam pivot axis 21.
  13. Control cam (20) according to one of claims 11 to 12, characterized in that the at least one spring element (41) is designed as a curved leaf spring, in the form of a bolt (47) which is radially resiliently mounted with respect to the control cam pivot axis (21), or in the form of a bending beam with a free end (411).
  14. Control cam (20) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the preload element is designed in the form of a magnetic preload element, wherein the magnetic preload element comprises at least one magnetic element (51) provided on an arm (24), wherein the magnetic preload element preferably comprises two magnetic elements (51) which are arranged in each arm (24), wherein the at least one magnetic element (51) is designed and arranged such that, in a state of the control cam (20) installed in the clamping device (1), it interacts with a magnet (50) of the clamping device (1) such that a magnetic attraction force exists between the magnet (50) and the magnetic element (51), at least when the control cam (20) is in the closed position and/or when the control cam (20) is in the open position.
  15. Clamping device (1) for holding a container in a container handling device, preferably for holding a beverage container in a neck section, comprising two clamping arms (10) with a holding section (11) for holding the container to be held, characterized by the fact that the clamping arms (10) are coupled to a control cam (20) according to one of the preceding claims.

Description

Technical field The present invention relates to a control cam for controlling the position of mutually pivotable clamp arms of a clamping device, and a clamping device for holding a container in a container handling device, for example for holding a beverage container in a neck section in order to fill or close it within a beverage filling plant. State of the art It is known that in beverage bottling plants, containers to be filled or already filled containers are transported through the individual treatment stations of the container handling device using clamping devices. Various clamping devices are known, which hold the respective containers to be treated in different ways. For example, passive clamping devices are known which are elastically pre-tensioned simply by inserting the respective container into the clamping device and then hold the container. From the DE 10 2015 218 204 A1 A clamp of this type for gripping containers is known. The clamp has a fixed position. To grip a container, it must be pressed into the clamp. This causes the rigid gripping arms to spread outwards, so that the container must be moved against the closing force of the gripping arms generated by the spreading clamp. This results in the container being subjected to a high force during insertion, making such holding devices unsuitable for gripping or holding fragile and/or easily deformable and thin-walled containers. At the very least, there is a tendency to scratch the surfaces of the containers, thus reducing their quality. Active clamping devices are also known, in which the opening and closing of the respective holding sections of the clamping device is actively carried out by an actuator. Such active clamping devices serve, in particular, to enable the safe and gentle transfer of containers from a preceding clamping device or to ensure an equally safe and container-friendly transfer of containers to a subsequent clamping device. Specifically, the active opening and closing of the respective clamping device can prevent increased friction on the container, which could, for example, lead to scratching of the container. Furthermore, a predetermined holding force or clamping force can be set, which can be maintained within a specified tolerance range of the container dimensions. Such active clamping devices consist of numerous individual parts, such as clamping arms, bushings, spring elements, preload elements, and corresponding connecting elements for securely joining the aforementioned parts. Clamping devices constructed in this way are therefore complex to clean and require a correspondingly high manufacturing effort. From the EP 0 939 044 A1 A bottle gripper is known in which a gripping device is provided which has two gripping arms that can be moved into a holding position or a release position by means of a control cam. The control cam interacts with a contact surface formed on each gripping arm, and the contact surface is designed as part of an elastic cushion which is arranged on the respective gripping arm. From the EP 2 143 674 A2 An active clamping device for holding containers is known, in which two gripping arms or clamping arms are held in an open position by separate magnetic arrangements. The clamping arms have rearward-oriented closing levers which interact with an intermediately arranged closing cam to move the clamping arms from the open position to a closed position. The DE 10 2005 014 838 A1 Figure 1 shows an active clamping device for holding containers, featuring two clamping arms that are movable relative to each other for opening and closing. To ensure secure container holding, one clamping arm is rigid, while the other is elastic. Magnets attached to the arms pre-tension them into an open position, and a control cam pivots them into the closed position. Conventional, single-sided pre-tensioned clamping devices have in common that the control cam has exactly one contact surface for each clamp arm, through which it makes contact with the clamp arm. When the control cam pivots, its contact surface slides over this single contact surface, both when opening and closing the clamp arms. The control cam exerts a force on the clamp arms that opposes the pre-tension provided by the pre-tensioning device. The force applied to the clamp arms by the control cam always points in the same direction. For example, in an active clamping device pre-tensioned in the closed position, the control cam must apply a force opposite to the pre-tension to open the clamp arms. The control cam is usually designed such that its contact surface has an increasing radius or distance in the circumferential direction with respect to the pivot axis of the control cam, thus exhibiting a cam shape, as shown, for example, in the following diagram: DE 10 2005 014 838 A1 The control cam slides along the clamping arm with its contact surface. Due to the increasing radius or distance at the contact point with the clamping arm, the clamping arm