JP3403769B2 - Gas cylinder transfer device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas cylinder for transporting an empty gas cylinder collected by a truck to an automatic gas filling machine and returning the gas filled gas cylinder to a position where it is loaded again on the truck. Of the transfer device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic gas filling machine opens a valve after inserting a gas supply nozzle into the valve of an empty gas cylinder.
After the required amount of gas has been filled, the valve is closed, and the operation of sending out the gas-filled cylinder from the filling machine to the outside of the machine is fully automated. By the way, a large number of empty cylinders are collected by a truck and brought to a gas filling station where an automatic gas filling machine is installed. However, one empty cylinder was set down by a worker from the truck, and one gas filling cylinder was dropped. It is inefficient for work to load on a book truck, so it is proposed to install a transport device with multiple rows of conveyors on the truck bed, and when collecting empty cylinders from users and loading them on the truck One to several lines are piled up one by one, but at the gas filling station, they are automatically unloaded sequentially from a plurality of rows of conveyors.

As described above, since empty cylinders are automatically and sequentially unloaded from the truck to the gas filling station, a conveyor is required at the gas filling station to transfer them to the automatic gas filling machine. However, it takes time to fill the gas, and it is necessary to control the cylinder intermittently during the filling.

[0004]

However, in the case of the control, if the number of empty cylinders loaded on the truck is always constant, the feed can be controlled to be constant according to the number, but there is no problem. It does not necessarily accumulate a predetermined amount, and therefore the number of trucks that are unloaded at the gas filling station differs from truck to truck. Therefore, control corresponding to this is required, which complicates the operation. Furthermore, even with an empty cylinder, there is residual gas, and the valve may not be securely tightened.During the transfer, there is a risk of explosion if the cylinders collide with each other and sparks occur. Therefore, there is a need for transportation that does not cause such a collision accident.

The present invention was developed in order to solve the above problems, and even if the number of cylinders carried into the gas filling station is different, it can be dealt with and the supply to the automatic gas filling machine can be interrupted. It is possible to transfer sequentially so that it does not occur, and to ensure that the danger of explosion can be saved.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The solution means according to the present invention is to extend a standby section consisting of a group of free rollers continuously from the end of a recovery conveyor on which an empty gas cylinder is mounted,
Connected to the end of the standby part is a feed path that extends across the standby part and leads to the automatic gas filling machine, and is equipped with a supply conveyor that intersects from the feed path and conveys into the automatic gas filling machine. And connecting a return path, crossing the return path and arranging a shipping conveyor, and providing a transfer means at an extension of each of the conveyors that crosses the feed path and the return path. Is characterized by.

Further, it is preferable that the above-mentioned solving means is constituted by the following means. A) Each of the conveyors, the feeding path and the returning path is connected with a rotation driving means composed of an air cylinder and a mechanism for converting its linear motion into a rotary motion, and B) the standby part is leaned from both sides by an air cylinder. Positioning means provided with a regulating plate that moves the gas cylinder to the central part is provided. C) The feeding path and the returning path are arranged at a position lower than the feeding surface of each conveyor, and an air cylinder is used for the feeding path and the returning path. A diverter that moves up and down by a lifter is attached, and D) a transfer means provided in an extension part beyond the feeding path of the standby part has a vacuum pad attached to a gas cylinder by an air venturi pump on a piston rod of an air cylinder. Install.

Further, it is preferable that the recovery conveyor and the shipping conveyor are formed by connecting a plurality of unit conveyors.

[0009]

With the above-described transfer device, the cylinders that are unloaded from the truck and loaded are received by the recovery conveyor regardless of the number of them, and a single transfer path is provided by the transfer means from the standby section provided at the end of the cylinder. It is possible to transfer the cylinders to the feeding path so that the cylinders are sequentially present in the standby section and the drive is turned on and off while keeping the feeding speed. You will be able to.

[0010]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail. A gas filling station 1
As shown in the plan view of FIG. 1, a collection conveyor 3 that extends straight from the receiving port 2 to the inner part, a feeding path 4 that intersects with the collection conveyor 3, and a supply conveyor 5 that intersects with the feeding path 4 are provided. Each is arranged, and an automatic gas filling machine 6 is installed on the side edge of the supply conveyor 5. The above-mentioned drive of the conveyor and the like is driven by compressed air, and the source of generation of the compressed air (not shown) is provided outside the gas filling station 1 separately.

Further, a return path 7 is provided so as to intersect the end of the supply conveyor 5, and a shipping conveyor 8 that intersects the return path 7 and extends linearly toward the shipping port 9.

The recovery conveyor 3 has a plurality of rows depending on the loading capacity of the truck T, for example, 6 for a large truck.
The collection conveyors 3 are arranged in parallel in parallel with each other in a row and a small size, and one row of the collection conveyors 3 is formed by continuously arranging a plurality of unit conveyors 3a in the extension direction thereof. Each is provided with a rotation driving means 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation driving means 10 is the first air cylinder 1 provided along the longitudinal direction of the unit conveyor 3a.
A pinion 1 that connects a rack 13 to a piston rod 12 of No. 1 and meshes with the rack 13 via a one-way clutch.
A drive chain 16 is hung between the No. 4 side and a sprocket 15 provided on one rotation shaft of the unit conveyor 3a to rotate each unit conveyor 3a from the receiving port 2 to the back.

A standby section 17 is provided continuously at the end of the recovery conveyor 3. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the standby unit 17 keeps the same surface as the conveying surface of the recovery conveyor 3 and is freely rotatably installed on the plurality of free rollers 1.
8 is formed.

There are several sizes (outer diameters) of the cylinders, and the cylinders are not always transferred along the central portion of the recovery conveyor 3, so the standby unit 17
Positioning means 19 for bringing the cylinder closer to the central portion is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, the positioning means 19 includes left and right upright walls 20 for supporting the free roller 18,
A pair of guides 21, 21 between the 20 and the free roller 1
It is installed at a position lower than 8 in parallel with the free roller 18, and sliders 22 ... Are fitted to both ends of both guides 21, 21, respectively. On the other hand, a pair of left and right regulating plates 23, 23, which are mounted in a saddle shape over the plurality of free rollers 18, are fixed to the sliders 22 ... The air cylinder 24 is interposed. By driving the second air cylinder 24, both the regulation plates 23, 23 slide in the direction in which they approach each other and in the direction in which they separate from each other. It is used to bring it to the center in the width direction. That is, centering is performed.

The feeding path 4 is provided at the end of the waiting section 17 at right angles. The feeding path 4 is a plurality of chain conveyors and is provided one step lower than the transfer surface of the waiting section 17. ing. Further, the feeding path 4 and the return path 7 are driven by the same means as the rotation driving means 10 of the recovery conveyor 3.

The cylinder centered on the standby portion 17 is transferred onto the feeding path 4 by the transfer means 25. Also, since the feeding path 4 is set low,
A diverter 26 that receives the cylinder held by the transfer means 25 and mounts it on the feeding path 4 is additionally provided.

The transfer means 25 is, as shown in FIG.
A third air cylinder 27 is provided on an extension of the standby portion 17 beyond the feeding path 4, and a vacuum pad 29 is attached to the tip of a piston rod 28 protruding toward the standby portion 17 side of the cylinder 27. The operation of the vacuum pad 29 depends on the Venturi pump 30.

As shown in FIG. 5, the diverter 26 is formed by a plurality of elevating rollers 31 ... Which move up and down between the chain conveyors of the feeding path 4, and a frame for supporting the elevating rollers 31. Is lifted by a lifter 32 using an air cylinder.

The above-mentioned drive and stop commands of each air cylinder are performed by a sensor (not shown) by a fiber type photoelectric switch for detecting the cylinder.

Therefore, if the truck T is attached to the receiving port 2 and the cylinder B of the loading platform is transferred to the recovery conveyor 3 which is rotationally driven, it is sequentially sent and transferred to the standby unit 17, which is then transferred to the standby unit 17. Since the cylinder has no driving force, the cylinder is stopped on the standby part 17, and by driving the second air cylinder 24 of the positioning means 19 there, the left and right regulation plates 23, 23.
Approach each other and bring the cylinder toward the center of the standby unit 17. Transferring means 25 while maintaining the approached state
The third air cylinder 27 is driven forward, the vacuum pad 29 is pressed against the cylinder, and the venturi pump 30
After sucking in the cylinder by driving the cylinder, the restriction plates 23, 23 are retracted, and the third air cylinder 27 is driven backward, so that the cylinder is drawn above the feeding path 4, and at this time, the diverter 26 is moved. By raising the cylinder to a height equivalent to that of the standby unit 17, the cylinder is placed on the lifting roller 31, where the operation of the venturi pump 30 is stopped to release the suction, and the lifting roller 31 is lowered. As a result, the cylinder is placed on the feeding path 4.
After that, the cylinder is transferred toward the automatic gas filling machine 6 by driving the feeding path 4.

The cylinder transferred by the feeding path 4 as described above guides the cylinder into the automatic gas filling machine 6
However, as shown in FIG. 5, the diverter 26 and the transfer means 2 provided on the feeding path 4 are the same as those described above.
However, in this case, the third air cylinder 2 of the transfer means 25 can be slid from the diverter 26 onto the supply conveyor 5 simply by pressing the cylinder.
No vacuum pad 29 is required for the piston rod 28 of No. 7, and an arc-shaped hand (not shown) is attached to the piston rod 28. The supply conveyors 5 are alternately arranged on both sides of the supply path 4, and an automatic gas filling machine 6 is installed in the middle of each supply conveyor 5.

The automatic gas filling machine 6 used by the applicant of the present invention has already been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 172300/1993. The cylinder of the automatic gas filling machine 6 is shown in FIG. (Omitted) to the lower part,
It is to fill the gas while it is stopped at that position,
After the filling, the supply conveyor 5 is driven again to transfer it to the end side.

The filling cylinder is returned from the supply conveyor 5 to the return path 7
The transfer means 25 and the diverter 26 are provided for the transfer to the same as the transfer from the standby section 17 of the recovery conveyor 3 to the feeding path 4.

Also when transferring from the return path 7 to the shipping conveyor 8, the transfer means 25 and the diverter 26 are provided as in the case of transferring from the supply path 4 to the supply conveyor 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, the shipping conveyor 8 has a plurality of unit conveyors 8a arranged in a vertical column to form one row, as shown in FIG. Rows are provided, and in the case of the illustration, 6 rows and 4 rows
They are provided separately in rows. In addition, several rows of stock conveyors 33 for storing only cylinders of a specific size, for example, 20 kg cylinders, are provided in parallel with the shipping conveyor 8. A transfer means 25 having a vacuum pad is provided so that the cylinder can be transferred from the return path 7 to the stock conveyor 33, and conversely when the cylinder is transferred from the stock conveyor 33 to the return path 7.

The above construction is a case of normal transfer in which the cylinder is filled with gas and returned. However, the cylinder has a particularly limited expiration date, and a bar code containing other information together with the information is attached to the cylinder. It is attached. In order to deal with this, the automatic gas filling machine 6 is equipped with a bar code reader (not shown) to detect an expired cylinder as an NG cylinder and, in that case, do not fill the gas. As it is, it is transferred to the end of the supply conveyor 5. It should be noted that the NG cylinder is not limited to the expiration date described above, but may happen when the gas filling amount is incorrect.
Therefore, only normal gas-filled cylinders are transferred to the return path 7.

In order to prevent the above-mentioned NG cylinders from being mixed in the return path 7, the NG conveyor 34 provided in parallel with the return path 7
Is transferred by the transfer means 25.

In addition to the above structure, as shown in FIG. 1, an interrupt conveyor 35 is provided on the recovery conveyor 3 side in parallel with the recovery conveyor 3 and communicates with the feeding path 4. The interrupt conveyor 35 is used as a supply path for the NG cylinders, for example, because the number of the cylinders decreases due to the discharge of the NG cylinders, and is not limited to this. It is also used for cases.

Further, at the shipping port 9 of the shipping conveyor 8,
As shown in FIG. 6, a gate-shaped frame body 36 is provided, and a sensor 37 formed by a fiber type photoelectric switch is provided on the horizontal bar of each of the shipping conveyors 8 in correspondence with each sensor 37.
The shipping status is controlled in various ways.

Further, although the above-mentioned gas filling field 1 is arranged so as to be applied to the case of an L-shape, it is not limited to this, and it may be arranged according to the space of the gas filling field. You can

[0032]

According to the gas cylinder transfer apparatus of the present invention, the cylinder received by the recovery conveyor is transferred to the feeding path via the standby section, transferred from the feeding path to the supply conveyor, and then filled with gas. , It is to return the filled cylinder to the shipping conveyor via the return path, and as described above, the cylinder is transferred from the recovery conveyor to the supply path via the standby section,
Even if a large number or a small number of cylinders are carried into the recovery conveyor of the cylinder, one cylinder is transferred from the standby unit to the feeding path, so that it can be transferred at intervals in the feeding path. It is possible to safely transfer the cylinders without collision with each other due to vibration during transfer.

Further, since the standby portion is provided with positioning means, the extension portion beyond the feeding path of the waiting portion is provided with the transfer means, and the feeding path is further provided with a diverter, the recovery conveyor is provided on the collecting conveyor. Even if the position of the mounted cylinder is biased to one side of the conveyor, it is corrected by the positioning means, so that it can be reliably transferred to the feeding path by the transfer means, and the cylinder is mounted on the recovery conveyor. At times, there is no need to stick to the position where each item is placed, and the loading operation can be performed easily and quickly.

In addition, air is used as a drive source for raising and lowering each conveyor, feeding path, returning path, positioning means, transfer means, and diverter, and a vacuum pad operated by an air venturi pump in the air cylinder of the transfer means. With the provision of, the explosion-proof measures against the handling of dangerous materials are ensured.

Further, the recovery conveyor and the shipping conveyor are provided by arranging a plurality of unit conveyors in a row and driven individually, so even if they are initially placed on these conveyors, It can be sent out in a continuous state on the way, and even if it is placed continuously from the beginning,
It is possible to stop in the middle of the process and wait for the next process, and even if the number of cylinders to be conveyed is large, it is easy to control and it is possible to process efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a gas cylinder transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a rotation driving means of a recovery conveyor.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an intersection of a recovery conveyor and a feeding path.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a positioning unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a transfer device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a sensor.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 gas filling station 3 recovery conveyor 3a Recovery conveyor unit conveyor 4 feeding routes 5 supply conveyor 6 Automatic gas filling machine 7 Return route 8 shipping conveyor 8a Unit conveyor of shipping conveyor 10 rotation drive means 11 First Air Cylinder 17 Standby 19 Positioning means 23 Regulation plate 24 Second Air Cylinder 25 Transferring means 26 diverter 27 Third Air Cylinder 29 Vacuum Pad 30 Venturi pump 32 lifters

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A 5-172300 (JP, A) JP-A 60-209428 (JP, A) JP-A 61-140402 (JP, A) JP-A 62- 205917 (JP, A) JP 55-144948 (JP, A) JP 5-221520 (JP, A) Actually opened 60-160945 (JP, U) Actually opened 59-179849 (JP, U) Japanese Patent Publication 47-20134 (JP, B1) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 47/00-47/92 B65G 23/00-23/44

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A standby part (17) consisting of a group of free rollers is extendedly provided continuously from the end of a recovery conveyor (3) on which an empty gas cylinder is mounted, and a standby part (at the end side of the standby part (17) ( 17) Automatically crossing and extending the gas filling machine (6)
A supply conveyor (5) that connects to a supply path (4) leading to and is crossed from the supply path (4) and conveys into the automatic gas filling machine (6) is provided, and intersects at the end of the supply conveyor (5). Then, the return path (7) is connected, the shipping conveyor (8) is arranged so as to intersect the return path (7), and the conveyors (3, 5, 8) and the supply path (4 ) And a transfer means (25) provided in an extension beyond the return path (7). 2. A standby section (17) consisting of a group of free rollers is continuously provided at the end of a recovery conveyor (3) on which an empty gas cylinder is placed, and the standby section (17) is provided at the terminal side of the standby section (17). 17) Automatically crossing and extending the gas filling machine (6)
A supply conveyor (5) that connects to a supply path (4) leading to and is crossed from the supply path (4) and conveys into the automatic gas filling machine (6) is provided, and intersects at the end of the supply conveyor (5). Then, the return path (7) is connected, the shipping conveyor (8) is arranged so as to intersect the return path (7), and the conveyors (3, 5, 8) and the supply path (4 ) And a transfer means (25) in the extension beyond the return path (7), and A) each of the conveyors (3, 5, 8), the supply path (4) and the return path (7). The first air cylinder (11) is connected to a rotary drive means (10) including a mechanism for converting its linear motion into rotary motion, and B) the second air cylinder (2) is connected to the standby part (17).
4) is provided with positioning means (19) provided with regulating plates (23, 23) that move toward the center of the gas cylinder by leaning from each other on both sides, and C) the feeding path (4) and the returning path (7) are It is arranged at a position lower than the feeding surface of the conveyors (3, 5, 8), and a diverter (26) that moves up and down by a lifter (32) by an air cylinder is attached to the feeding path (4) and the returning path (7). D) The transfer means (25) provided in the extension of the standby part (17) beyond the feeding path (4) is connected to the piston rod (28) of the third air cylinder (27) by the air venturi pump. A gas cylinder transfer device, characterized in that a vacuum pad (29) for adsorbing to the gas cylinder by (30) is attached. 3. The gas cylinder according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recovery conveyor (3) and the shipping conveyor (8) are formed by connecting a plurality of unit conveyors (3a, 8a). Transfer device.