This application claims priority to Spanish Patent Application No. P 201631309 filed on Oct. 10, 2016, the disclosure of which, including the specification, the drawings, and the claims is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates, at least in part, to a device for placing threaded lids on containers and, in particular, relates to a device for placing lids on syringes intended for containing intravenous medication in liquid form; however the use of said device is not limited to said application.
Known devices are considerably complex and require components having multiple degrees of freedom such that threaded lids can be dispensed and placed on containers automatically, which causes various kinds of problems. For example, manufacturing devices of this kind is costly and, as a result, the product is expensive on the market. Furthermore, maintenance of the product by the user is costly as well as tricky. Finally, the energy consumption of said complex devices is high.
The present invention aims to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of known devices for placing threaded lids on containers. To that effect, the present invention discloses a device for placing threaded lids on containers, said device comprising:
The present invention allows a threaded lid to be dispensed and then placed on a container by means of a single active lid handler. Moreover, said single handler is able to carry out the lid dispensing and placing operations by means of rotations about the same axis, i.e. by means of a single degree of freedom. In this way, the number of degrees of freedom required for operation of the device is minimal.
Furthermore, the positioner can be the only active component of the device. Its function is to dispense the lids by acting on the lid-retaining mechanism and to place the lids on the containers.
In light of the above, the present invention provides a simpler device that is less costly to manufacture and maintain.
Preferably, said rotation about said first axis that causes the retaining mechanism to change from the predetermined retaining position to the release position is a second rotation different from the first rotation.
Optionally, the retaining mechanism can rotate about a second axis parallel to said first axis, said mechanism changing from the predetermined retaining position to the release position by means of rotations about said second axis.
The retaining mechanism can also comprise, for example, resilient means for returning to the predetermined retaining position, starting from the release position.
In one embodiment of a device according to the present invention, the retaining mechanism comprises a first arm and a second arm for supporting lids to be dispensed, said arms being rotatably interconnected. Said first arm can comprise, for example, a rest on which a first lid to be dispensed rests when the retaining mechanism is in the predetermined retaining position.
Furthermore, said second arm can comprise, for example, a projection which comes into contact with a second lid to be dispensed when the retaining mechanism is in the release position.
Preferably, the positioner comprises a rod that is eccentric with respect to said first axis, such that the rotation of the positioner about said first axis defines a trajectory of said rod.
Advantageously, the first arm of the retaining mechanism intercepts said trajectory of said rod of the positioner such that, when the positioner carries out said second rotation about said first axis, said rod comes into contact with said first arm, causing said retaining mechanism to rotate from the predetermined retaining position to the release position.
In this way, the lids are dispensed in an entirely mechanical manner, without additional power sources being required, and in a passive manner by the lid-retaining mechanism.
Optionally, the positioner comprises a region for receiving a lid.
In one embodiment of the device according to the present invention, the lid holder comprises an entrance for manually supplying lids to the holder. In order to prevent the lids from being placed in an incorrect orientation, said entrance can, for example, be sized so as to match the dimensions of the lid, and can have a raised surface supported by a spring.
To aid understanding, an embodiment of a device for placing threaded lids on containers, to which the present invention relates, is described below with reference to explanatory yet non-limiting drawings of the present invention.
In the embodiment from
The device comprises a holder -1- for lids to be placed, in which threaded lids -10- are stored one on top of the other and introduced through an entrance opening -11- of the holder -1-. A retaining mechanism -2- for the lids -10- in the holder is arranged at the exit -12- of the holder, the function of which retaining mechanism is to retain and dispense the lids -10-. The lids -10- dispensed by the retaining mechanism -2- are placed on the lid positioner -3-.
The holder -1- comprises three columns -13- (see
As shown in
The lids -10- stored in the holder -1- are dispensed by means of the retaining mechanism -2-, shown in the release position in
The retaining mechanism -2- also comprises a second arm -22- which has a projection -24-. In the release position (see
The arms -21, -22- of the retaining mechanism -2- are rotatably interconnected, as shown in
Furthermore (see
At the point when the rod -31- of the positioner -3- comes into contact with the contact region -27- of the first arm -21-, said first arm -21- rotates about the bolt -210- (see
At the point when both arms -21-, -22- have reached the maximum rotation extent permitted by the stops -221′-, 210′- and their corresponding slots -29-, 202-, the retaining mechanism -2- is in the release position (see
The mechanism -2- returns to the predetermined retaining position (
The only active component of the device is the positioner -3-, the function of which is, firstly, to dispense a first lid -10′- to be dispensed. As shown in
When the rod -31- comes into contact with the first arm -21- (see
When the rod -31- of the positioner -3- stops acting on the first arm -21-, the retaining mechanism -2- returns to the predetermined retaining position thereof by virtue of the action of the torsion springs -222-, -211-. At this moment (see
Once a lid -10- has been dispensed, the positioner -3- moves away from the retaining mechanism -2- (see arrows Pin
Although the invention has been set out and described with reference to embodiments thereof, it should be understood that these do not limit the invention, and that it is possible to alter many structural or other details that may prove obvious to persons skilled in the art after interpreting the subject matter disclosed in the present description, claims and drawings. Therefore, the scope of the present invention includes any variant or equivalent that could be considered covered by the broadest scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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ES201631309 | Oct 2016 | ES | national |
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Entry |
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Search report dated Feb. 28, 2017 in corresponding ES Application No. 201631309. |
Extended European Search Report dated Jan. 4, 2018 for Application No. 17382351.9 in 9 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20180099847 A1 | Apr 2018 | US |