JP3606489B2 - Passage securing conveyor - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a work transfer facility in a production factory or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
There is a conveyor as an example of a workpiece transfer facility in a production factory. When the conveyor is installed in the factory, it is necessary to secure a passage for crossing the conveyor for the convenience. As an example, the apparatus shown in FIGS. In these drawings, 61 is a conventional conveyor, and 62 to 64 are a carry-in conveyor, a passage formation conveyor, and a carry-out conveyor, respectively. Between this carry-in conveyor 62 and the passage formation conveyor 63, and the passage formation conveyor 63. And elevators 65 and 66 for conveying workpieces up and down between the conveyor 64 and the carry-out conveyor 64, respectively.
[0003]
These conveyors 61 operate as follows. In other words, the work fed from the carry-in conveyor 62 to the elevator 65 is lifted up to the position of the passage forming conveyor 63 by the elevator 65 and is conveyed to the elevator 66 on the downstream side by the passage forming conveyor 63, and then again delivered by the elevator 66. It is lowered to a height of 64 and sent downstream.
[0004]
In other words, since the workpiece is conveyed in a convex shape when viewed from the side by these conveyors 61, by making the position of the path forming conveyor 63 sufficiently high, a person can pass under the path forming conveyor 63. can do. Or, conversely, the height of the passage forming conveyor 63 is made sufficiently low so that a person can pass over the conveyor. In addition, the conveyor 62, 63 and the conveyor 63, 64 are also transported up and down by a lifter. In addition, the arrow A in a figure is a conveyance direction of a workpiece | work, and the arrow B is the reverse direction.
[0005]
FIG. 9 shows a configuration of another conveyor 61 ′ that secures a passage. In this figure, a swivel conveyor 63 ′ formed so as to be capable of swiveling is provided between the carry-in conveyor 62 and the carry-out conveyor 64. . With this configuration, the swivel conveyor 63 ′ is positioned on a straight line between the carry-in conveyor 62 and the carry-out conveyor 64, so that the swivel conveyor 63 ′ can transfer the work loaded from the carry-in conveyor 62 to the downstream side. It can be sent to the conveyor 64 (see FIG. 1). Further, by turning this turning conveyor 63 ′, it is possible to secure a passage where a person crosses the conveyor between the carry-in conveyor 62 and the carry-out conveyor 64.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when the passage forming conveyor 63 is provided at a high position in order to form a passage in the above-described configuration, a large elevator or lifter is attached to the passage forming conveyor 63 in order to convey the workpiece in the vertical direction. Not only did it need to be used, but it required a very expensive device, and since the size of the device became large, the outlook in the factory deteriorated and the aesthetics of the device were lost. In addition, when the passage forming conveyor 63 is provided at a low position, there is a problem that not only is inconvenient to pass, but also a cart or the like cannot be passed.
[0007]
Furthermore, in the case of a configuration in which the swivel conveyor 63 ′ is rotated, an operation range 67 for rotating the swivel conveyor 63 ′ is required, and a lot of space must be taken in the factory.
[0008]
In addition to the above-mentioned inconvenience, the conventional conveyor has two connected conveyors arranged in a straight line, and therefore there is a place 68 (work transfer position) where the conveyor is always disconnected at the connection place between the conveyors. When these conveyors are installed, it is extremely difficult to adjust the installation position, and this installation adjustment takes time.
[0009]
In particular, when a workpiece is conveyed in the vertical direction by an elevator, a lifter, or the like, there are a large number of workpiece transfer points 68 between the elevators and lifters 65, 66 and the conveyors 62 to 64. There is a high possibility that the workpiece will be stopped due to the workpiece being stuck or the like. Further, even when the swivel conveyor 63 'is used, in order to install the swivel conveyor 63' so that it can swivel, a gap is inevitably generated between the conveyors 62 to 64, and adjustment during installation of the conveyor is more difficult. It was.
[0010]
When the workpiece transfer stops at the workpiece transfer location 68, it is necessary for the operator to listen to an alarm buzzer that informs that an abnormality has occurred in the workpiece flow, and to perform an operation to eliminate the workpiece clogging. The work efficiency was reduced.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in consideration of such a situation, and secures a passage through which a person can pass between machines in a work transfer facility in a production factory and enables transfer of work between machines. It aims to provide a compact conveyor.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
That is, the passage securing conveyor according to the present invention is arranged in parallel to the conveyors in the direction perpendicular to the work conveying direction of the carry-in conveyor and the carry-out conveyor spaced apart from each other, and between the two conveyors. consists of a moving conveyor to allow the bridge, by the moving conveyor is moved in a horizontal direction parallel to the workpiece transfer direction, and adjacent to the downstream portion and an upstream portion of the output conveyor of the input conveyor, the input conveyor A work transfer state in which the work to be carried in is moved horizontally without changing its height position and carried to the carry-out conveyor, and the moving conveyor moves in the horizontal direction to form a passage between the carry-in conveyor and the carry-out conveyor. It is possible to switch to the passage formation state, and in the workpiece transfer state, the moving conveyor and the carry-in conveyor are in parallel. A work guide for sending the work from the carry-in conveyor to the moving conveyor is formed in the part arranged in the position, and the work is sent from the moving conveyor to the carry-out conveyor in the part where the moving conveyor and the carry-out conveyor are arranged in parallel. A work guide is formed.
[0013]
With the above configuration, the workpiece can always be moved in the horizontal direction and the conveyance in the vertical direction can be eliminated, eliminating the need for large-scale devices such as elevators and lifters, and reducing the size and cost of the passage securing conveyor. It can be realized and can improve and simplify the outlook in the factory. Moreover, since the height position does not change when the workpieces are transferred between the conveyors, the impact applied to the workpieces can be minimized, and the occurrence of troubles such as a conveyance stop associated with this can be suppressed.
[0014]
Further, in the case where the drive pulley and the driven pulley bearings linked to the motor for driving the moving conveyor are cantilevered, a gap between the moving conveyor and the conveying and carrying-in conveyors adjacent thereto is as much as possible. Therefore, even a small work can be prevented from being sandwiched between adjacent conveyors.
[0015]
Furthermore, when the workpiece conveying speed of the moving conveyor is higher than the workpiece conveying speed of the other conveyors, the time that the workpiece is on the moving conveyor is shortened, and the moving conveyor is horizontally moved by that amount. It is possible to lengthen the time for forming the passage.
[0016]
In addition, when a limit switch for detecting the position of the moving conveyor in the workpiece transfer state is provided, and when the limit switch is in the OFF state, the transfer of the moving conveyor is stopped. Since the workpiece does not flow when it is not in the conveying state, the occurrence of an accident can be prevented in advance.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
1-5 has shown an example of embodiment of the passage securing conveyor of this invention. In these drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a passage securing conveyor, and this passage securing conveyor 1 has at least a carry-in conveyor 2, a moving conveyor 3, and a carry-out conveyor 4. The movable conveyor 3 is movable in the horizontal direction parallel to the workpiece conveyance direction, and is switched between the workpiece conveyance state and the passage formation state shown in FIG. The perspective view of FIG. 3 shows the moving state of the moving conveyor 3.
[0018]
In the workpiece conveyance state shown in FIG. 1, the upstream portion 3 a of the moving conveyor 3 is adjacent to the downstream portion 2 a of the carry-in conveyor 2, and the downstream portion 3 b of the moving conveyor 3 is adjacent to the upstream portion 4 a of the carry-out conveyor 4. And the workpiece | work W carried in from the carrying-in conveyor 2 can be moved to a carrying-out conveyor 4 by moving to the horizontal direction, without changing the height position.
[0019]
The conveyor chain 5, 7 and the conveyor belt 6 of the carry-in conveyor 2, the carry-out conveyor 4, and the moving conveyor 3 respectively convey workpieces W in directions parallel to each other (direction of arrow A shown in the figure). Work guides 8, 9, and 10 are provided on the tops of 3 and 4, respectively. Therefore, the work W conveyed by the chain 5 of the carry-in conveyor 2 is guided in an oblique direction with respect to the moving direction of the chain 5 by the work guides 8 and 9 as shown by an arrow C in FIG. Jumped onto the belt 6. Similarly, the work W conveyed by the moving conveyor 3 jumps out to the carry-out conveyor 4 while being guided in an oblique direction with respect to the moving direction of the belt 6 by the work guides 9 and 10 as shown by an arrow D in FIG. Thereafter, it is conveyed by the carry-out conveyor 4.
[0020]
As described above, the workpiece W is transferred in the conveying direction of the conveyors 2 and 3 at the workpiece transfer points between the carry-in conveyor 2 and the movable conveyor 3 adjacent to each other in parallel and between the movable conveyor 3 and the carry-out conveyor 4. By using the work guides 9 and 10 to move diagonally, the work W can be moved between the conveyors 2, 3 and 4 in the horizontal direction. That is, in order to transfer the workpiece W between the conveyors 2, 3, and 4, it is necessary to provide a device that performs a complicated shift operation for extruding the workpiece W from the lateral direction with respect to the conveying direction of the conveyors 2 and 3. In addition to this, the flow of the workpiece W will not stop, and the occurrence of trouble at the workpiece transfer location can be effectively prevented.
[0021]
Furthermore, there is no place where the conveyor is interrupted at the connection point between the conveyors 2, 3, 4 that convey the workpiece W, and the workpiece W is always supported by any one of the conveyors 2, 3, 4. Excellent transport reliability and stability at the connecting point between the four. Further, since it is not necessary to use an elevator or lifter for transporting the workpiece W in the vertical direction, the passage securing conveyor 1 can be formed in a smaller size, the view in the factory is improved, and the safety can be further improved.
[0022]
Next, the structure of each part of each conveyor 2-4 is demonstrated, referring FIGS. First, the configuration of the carry-in conveyor 2 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 5, the carry-in conveyor 2 includes a basic frame 21 fixed on the mounting table 20 and a basic frame in a downstream portion 2 a of the carry-in conveyor 2. 21, a drive pulley 22 supported in a cantilever manner by 21, a drive motor (not shown) for driving the drive pulley 22, the endless conveyor chain 5 hung on the drive pulley 22, and the tension of the chain 5 is adjusted. However, a driven pulley (not shown) on which the chain 5 is hung in the upstream portion of the carry-in conveyor 2 and a jumping work guide 8a and a side work guide 8b (see FIG. 1 and 3) (In the above description, these work guides 8a and 8b are collectively referred to as the work guide 8.) And it has a door.
[0023]
Similarly, the structure of the carry-out conveyor 4 is also clearly shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, and the carry-out conveyor 4 is fixed on the mounting table 40 and the basic frame 41 in the downstream portion 4 b of the carry-out conveyor 4. A drive pulley 42 (shown in FIG. 4) and a motor 43 that are cantilevered to each other and a driven pulley 44 (see FIGS. 1 and 3) that adjusts the tension of the conveyor chain 7 in pairs with the drive pulley 42. And a jumping work guide 10a and a side work guide 10b that are disposed on the upper side of the chain 7 and fixed to the basic frame 41 (in the above description, these work guides 10a and 10b are collectively referred to as a work guide 10). As described above).
[0024]
Next, the most important configuration of the moving conveyor 3 in the present invention will be described with reference mainly to FIG. That is, the moving conveyor 3 includes a basic frame 30, a sliding guide rail 31 attached in the longitudinal direction of the basic frame 30, and a sliding movement by the sliding guide rail 31 that is fixed to the mounting table. A pair of rail holding members 32 for guiding while being limited to a horizontal direction parallel to the drive pulley 33, a drive pulley 33 and a motor 34 that are cantilevered by the basic frame 30 of the downstream portion 2a, and the drive pulley 33 being hung on the drive pulley 33 A driving force is transmitted to the conveyor belt 6, a driven pulley 35 on which the belt 6 can be stretched so that the tension of the conveyor belt 6 can be tensioned, the work guide 9 that guides the work W on the belt 6, and the motor 34. In order to do this, the cable bearer 36 is configured to be foldable, and the movable conveyor 3 is slid by being locked to the basic frame 30. And a handle 37. In addition, 47 shown by FIG. 4 is the tray attached to the mounting base 40 in order to hold | maintain the said cable bear 36. FIG.
[0025]
The moving conveyor 3 having the above-described configuration can slide very easily in the direction of arrow AB in the figure. By sliding in the direction of arrow B, the conveyor 1 can be brought into a workpiece transfer state, and conversely the arrow By sliding in the A direction, a passage R through which people and carts pass can be secured between the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 4.
[0026]
The pulleys 33 and 35 of the moving conveyor 3 are both held in a cantilever manner on the basic frame 30. These pulleys 33 and 35 are connected to the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 4 as shown in FIG. The pulleys 44 and 22 are arranged so as to face each other. Therefore, the distance between the conveyors 2 and 3 and the distance between the conveyors 3 and 4 can be made as close as possible. The gap d between the chain 5 and the belt 6 and the gap between the belt 6 and the chain 7 Can be made as small as possible. For this reason, the workpiece W is not caught in the gap d, and the occurrence of troubles such as stopping the workpiece W is extremely reduced.
[0027]
Furthermore, the transfer speed of the moving conveyor 3 is about twice that of the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 4. Therefore, the time during which the workpiece W is on the moving conveyor 3 is shorter than that of the other conveyors 2 and 4, and the time required for the operator to move the moving conveyor 3 horizontally to form the passage R between the conveyors 2 and 4. Can be lengthened.
[0028]
A positioning roller 38 is formed at the lower end of the upstream portion 2 a of the moving conveyor 3, and the positioning roller 38 is engaged with the mounting table 20 to set the height of the moving conveyor 3 to the height position of the carry-in conveyor 2. A plate 23 for positioning is formed. Therefore, when the moving conveyor 3 is in the workpiece transfer state, the height of the moving conveyor 3 is the same as the height of the carry-in conveyor 2, and therefore when the workpiece W is jumped from the conveyor chain 5 to the conveyor belt 6, the workpiece W Since the height position does not change, unnecessary force is not applied to the workpiece W, and the occurrence of trouble can be remarkably suppressed. Further, since about half of the load of the moving conveyor 3 is applied to the mounting table via the positioning roller 38, an excessive force is not applied to the rail holding member 32.
[0029]
In addition, a limit switch 24 is attached to the mounting table 20 so as to protrude upward, and at the lower end of the moving conveyor 3, the limit switch 24 is turned on when it is in a workpiece transfer state. In addition, a protrusion 39 is formed. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the moving conveyor 3 is in the workpiece conveying state based on the state of the limit switch 24. When the moving conveyor 3 is not in the workpiece conveying state, the conveyance of the workpiece W by the conveyors 2, 3, and 4 is stopped. By doing so, the work W does not jump out of the carry-in conveyor 2 in a state where the operator opens the movable conveyor 3, and the safety of the conveyor 1 can be ensured.
[0030]
In addition, a plate 45 for engaging the positioning roller 38 in the passage formation state is formed at the upper end on the upstream side of the mounting table 40. Therefore, when the operator operates the handle 37 to slide the moving conveyor 3 in the direction of arrow A, the moving conveyor 3 is prevented from sliding when the position of the moving conveyor 3 is in the path forming state. In addition, since the position is lightly held in the fully opened state, the moving conveyor 3 does not slide against the operator's intention.
[0031]
More specifically, the work guide 9 is arranged on the upper side of the belt 6 of the moving conveyor 3 to the left and right to guide the work W, and the lower surface of the work guide 9a in the upstream portion 3a of the moving conveyor 3. Is connected to the lower surface of the work guide 9a in the downstream portion 3b of the moving conveyor 3 and the work guide 9 that catches the work W jumped out from the carry-in conveyor 2 and jumps out the work W to the carry-out conveyor 4 9d. The work guides 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d and the work guides 8, 10 are all made of a material that does not break even when the work W collides and does not damage the work W. In the present embodiment, for example, since the workpiece W is an engine part, the workpiece guides 8, 9, and 10 are formed of, for example, an iron plate. In addition, this invention is not restricted to this, For example, you may form the work guide 9 with a synthetic resin.
[0032]
Moreover, in this embodiment, since all the movement of the moving conveyor 3 is performed manually, after an operator confirms the flow of the workpiece | work W, an operator opens and closes the moving conveyor 3, and moves. The conveyor 3 does not move unintentionally by the operator, and work safety can be ensured.
[0033]
The present invention is not limited to manually opening and closing the moving conveyor 3. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, an infrared sensor 50 is installed in the portion of the path R between the carry-in conveyor 2 and the carry-out conveyor 4, and driving for electrically opening and closing the movable conveyor 3 by a motor. A mechanism 51 may be provided. Then, when the worker is standing in the path R and the workpiece W is not being conveyed by the conveyor 1, the moving conveyor 3 may be automatically opened.
[0034]
In this case, even if the operator is in a situation where the moving conveyor 3 cannot be opened and closed, the sensor 50 automatically detects the passerby and automatically passes the path R between the conveyors 2 and 3. It can be formed, and an operator can easily pass through this passage R. Thereafter, when the sensor 50 no longer detects the presence of the worker in the path R, the moving conveyor 3 may be closed. It goes without saying that the moving conveyor 3 may be opened and closed by using a switch or the like instead of the sensor 50.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the workpiece is always moved in the horizontal direction and the workpiece is not conveyed in the vertical direction, the need for a large-scale device such as an elevator or a lifter is eliminated, and the passage securing conveyor can be reduced in size and reduced. The price can be realized, the prospect in the factory can be improved and simplified, and the height position does not change when the workpiece moves between conveyors, so the impact on the workpiece can be minimized. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of troubles such as the conveyance stop.
[0036]
Further, the bearings of the drive pulley and the driven pulley interlocked with the motor for driving the moving conveyor are cantilevered, and the gap between the moving conveyor and the adjacent conveyance and carry-in conveyors is made as small as possible. Therefore, even a small work does not fit between adjacent conveyors.
[0037]
Furthermore, when the workpiece conveying speed of the moving conveyor is higher than the workpiece conveying speed of the other conveyors, the time that the workpiece is on the moving conveyor is shortened, and the moving conveyor is horizontally moved by that amount. It is possible to lengthen the time for forming the passage.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an entire configuration example of a passage securing conveyor according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a main part of the conveyor.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the conveyor.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration on the downstream side of the conveyor.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration on the upstream side of the conveyor.
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an overall view of a modified example of the passage securing conveyor of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a side view showing a configuration of a conventional conveyor capable of forming a passage.
FIG. 8 is a plan view of the conveyor.
FIG. 9 is a plan view showing another example of a conventional conveyor capable of forming a passage.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Passage securing conveyor, 2 ... Loading conveyor, 3 ... Moving conveyor, 4 ... Unloading conveyor, 8, 9, 10 ... Work guide, 24 ... Limit switch, 33 ... Drive pulley, 34 ... Motor, 35 ... Driven pulley, 51 ... motor, d ... gap, R ... passage, W ... workpiece.

Claims (4)

A carry-in conveyor and a carry-out conveyor that are spaced apart from each other, and a moving conveyor that is arranged in parallel to the two conveyors in a direction perpendicular to the workpiece conveying direction of both the conveyors and that enables bridging between the two conveyors. will, by the moving conveyor is moved in a horizontal direction parallel to the workpiece transfer direction, and adjacent to the upstream portion of the downstream portion and output conveyor of input conveyor, changing its height position the workpiece to be carried in from input conveyor It is possible to switch between a workpiece conveyance state that is moved in the horizontal direction without being transferred to the carry-out conveyor and a passage formation state in which the moving conveyor moves in the horizontal direction to form a passage between the carry-in conveyor and the carry-out conveyor, In the workpiece transfer state, the workpiece is loaded into the part where the moving conveyor and the loading conveyor are arranged in parallel. A work guide that feeds the workpiece from the conveyor to the carry-out conveyor is formed, and a work guide that feeds the workpiece from the move conveyor to the carry-out conveyor is formed in the part where the move conveyor and the carry-out conveyor are arranged in parallel. Conveyor. The drive pulley and the driven pulley that are linked to the motor for driving the moving conveyor are cantilevered, and the gap between the moving conveyor and the adjacent conveying and carrying-in conveyor is made as small as possible. The passage securing conveyor as described. The passage securing conveyor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a workpiece conveying speed of the moving conveyor is higher than a workpiece conveying speed of another conveyor. The passage according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a limit switch is provided for detecting a position of the moving conveyor in the workpiece conveyance state, and the workpiece conveyance of the moving conveyor is stopped when the limit switch is in an OFF state. Secure conveyor.

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