JP3859392B2 - Integrated supply equipment for goods - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for collecting and supplying articles for collecting a predetermined number of articles and supplying the accumulated articles to a tray all at once.
[0002]
[Related background]
In general, a stacking conveyor having a plurality of pocket groups is used for stacking articles. Each pocket group has a plurality of pockets corresponding to the number of articles to be accumulated, and after sequentially receiving the articles in the respective pockets, the pockets are transferred toward the discharge position. Then, at the discharge position, the articles in each pocket in the pocket group are discharged together, that is, cut out and supplied to the tray by a pusher or the like.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the collective supply of articles described above, the pusher or the like is in direct contact with the article when the article is cut out at the discharge position, so that it cannot be applied to an article that is easily damaged.
Further, since the cutout of articles is performed by a pusher or the like, the cutout is intermittent, and it is impossible to speed up the accumulation and supply. Further, a drive source for the pusher is required, and the cutting mechanism is complicated.
[0004]
Furthermore, when changing the number of stacked articles, each stacking pocket group of the stacking conveyor has to be exchanged, resulting in poor versatility.
The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and the purpose thereof is mechanically simple, excellent in speeding up and versatility, and can be applied to articles that are easily damaged. It is to provide a supply device.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The above-described object is achieved by the present invention, and the article supply and supply apparatus according to the present invention (Claim 1) conveys articles at a predetermined interval, and an end thereof can be expanded and contracted in the conveying direction of the article, A drop guide is provided at the end of the conveyor and guides the drop of the articles sent from the end of the telescopic conveyor, and is provided separately on the lower side of the telescopic conveyor so as to be aligned in the transport direction and receive the articles. A plurality of receiving holders having a plurality of pockets, and opening and closing means for opening and closing all pockets independently for each receiving holder, dropping items in the pockets, and extending below the lowest receiving holder, A tray conveyor for conveying and positioning a tray for articles under the lowermost receiving holder.
[0006]
According to the above-described integrated supply apparatus, when the articles on the stretchable conveyor reach the end of the stretchable conveyor as they are conveyed, the articles are guided by the drop guide from the end of the articles and dropped, and in the upper receiving holder located immediately below I.e. received in that one pocket.
Here, the end of the stretchable conveyor is sequentially positioned at a position corresponding to each pocket of the upper receiving holder by the expansion and contraction, so that articles sequentially conveyed on the stretchable conveyor are distributed to each pocket of the receiving holder directly below. Are collected in the receiving holder.
[0007]
When the collection of the articles in the upper receiving holder is completed, all the pockets of the receiving holder are opened at once, and the articles in each pocket are in the lower receiving holder located on the lower side thereof, that is, the corresponding ones. Each drop is received in the pocket. Thereafter, all the pockets of the upper receiving holder are immediately closed, and the accumulation of articles in the receiving holder is repeated.
[0008]
Now, when the lower receiving holder is the lowest one, and when the tray on the tray conveyor is positioned below the lower receiving holder, all the pockets of the lower receiving holder are opened together. The articles in each pocket fall and are supplied to the tray in a lump. After that, all the pockets of the lower receiving holder are immediately closed, and the apparatus waits in preparation for the fall of the article from the upper receiving holder.
[0009]
Preferably, each receiving holder comprises a pair of holder halves, and these holder halves are respectively arranged on both sides of a dividing line along the article conveying direction. In this case, the opening / closing means includes contact / separation means for contacting / separating the pair of holder halves with respect to each receiving holder about the dividing line. Specifically, the contact / separation means can be realized by a rotation mechanism that rotates the pair of holder halves in directions opposite to each other around an axis parallel to the separation line.
[0010]
Further, when the fall distance of the article is long between the lowermost receiving holder and the tray on the tray conveyor, the supply of the dropped article is guided between the lowermost receiving holder and the tray conveyor. It is also possible to provide a supply guide.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, the article supply apparatus includes a horizontal stretchable conveyor 2. The telescopic conveyor 2 receives a substantially circular article at its starting end from an article supply machine (not shown), and conveys the received article P in the direction of arrow A in the figure with a certain interval. As will be described later, the telescopic conveyor 2 includes a rear end 4 that can be expanded and contracted in the conveyance direction A of the article P. In FIG. 1, the expansion / contraction direction of the stretchable conveyor 2 is indicated by a white arrow B.
[0012]
A tray conveyor 6 is disposed below the stretchable conveyor 2, and the tray conveyor 6 extends horizontally in a direction orthogonal to the stretchable conveyor 2 on the terminal end 4 side of the stretchable conveyor 2. A tray feeder 8 is disposed at the beginning of the tray conveyor 6, and the tray feeder 8 can feed the trays T one by one onto the tray conveyor 6, and the tray T on the tray conveyor 6 is shown in FIG. 1 is intermittently conveyed in the arrow direction C.
[0013]
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of left and right tray receivers 10 are arranged between the tray conveyor 6 and the tray feeder 8, and these tray receivers 10 are outlined in FIG. Each can move forward and backward in the arrow direction D. Now, when the pair of tray receivers 10 are in the position of the solid line, these tray receivers 10 can receive and hold the tray T paid out from the tray feeder 8. From this state, when the pair of tray receivers 10 are separated from each other as indicated by a two-dot chain line, the tray T falls as indicated by a white arrow E and is supplied onto the tray conveyor 6. Specifically, the tray conveyor 6 is a so-called bucket conveyor.
[0014]
FIG. 3 shows an example of the tray T. In the case of this embodiment, the inside of the tray T is partitioned into a number of compartments S, and these compartments S are arranged in a matrix of two rows in the transport direction C of the tray T and seven in each row. ing.
A discharge conveyor 12 extends from the end of the tray conveyor 6 in a direction orthogonal to the tray conveyor 6. The discharge conveyor 12 receives the tray T on the tray conveyor 6, and conveys the received tray T in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 1 and supplies it toward the horizontal pillow packaging machine.
[0015]
Referring to FIG. 4, a mechanism for transferring the tray T between the tray conveyor 6 and the discharge conveyor 12 is schematically shown. This delivery mechanism is composed of, for example, a discharge pusher 14 disposed immediately above the end portion of the tray conveyor 6 and a pair of left and right guide rails 16 disposed immediately above the start end portion of the discharge conveyor 12. When the tray T on the tray conveyor 6 reaches its terminal end, the discharge pusher 14 advances from the retracted position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 4 to the discharge position indicated by the two-dot chain line, and moves the tray T between the pair of guide rails 16. Push it out. With this extrusion, a part of the tray T is transferred onto the discharge conveyor 12, thereby being conveyed on the discharge conveyor 12.
[0016]
FIG. 5 schematically shows the above-described stretchable conveyor 2. However, the stretchable conveyor 2 in FIG. 5 is merely an example, and the stretchable conveyor of the present invention is limited to the configuration shown in FIG. is not.
First, the telescopic conveyor 2 of FIG. The fixed frame 18 is supported by a frame base (not shown) and extends horizontally toward the tray conveyor 6. A linear guide 20 is horizontally provided on one inner surface of the fixed frame 18, and a movable frame 22 is slidably supported on the linear guide 20. A part of the movable frame 22 projects from the fixed frame 18 toward the tray conveyor 6, and can be expanded and contracted while being guided by the linear guide 20 so as to project and retract relative to the fixed frame 18.
[0017]
Belt rollers 24 and 26 are rotatably attached to the base end of the fixed frame 18 and the tip of the movable frame 22 at the same height level. A reversing roller 28 is rotatably attached to the movable frame 22, while a driving drum 36 positioned between the guide rollers 32, 34 is provided on the fixed frame 18 in addition to the plurality of guide rollers 30, 32, 34. It is attached so that it can rotate freely. As shown in the figure, a conveyor belt 38 is wound around the rollers 24 to 34 and the drive drum 36 described above. The belt roller 26 defines the end 4 of the telescopic conveyor 2 described above.
[0018]
Further, the fixed frame 18 is provided with a servo motor 40 in the vicinity of the drive drum 36, and the drum shaft of the drive drum 36 and the output shaft of the servo motor 40 are connected to each other via gear pulleys 42 and 44 and a timing belt 46. Yes. When the servo motor 40 is driven, the drive drum 36 rotates, and the conveyor belt 38 travels in the transport direction A along with this rotation.
[0019]
A further servo motor 48 is attached to the base end portion of the fixed frame 18 via an attachment member 50, and a feed screw 52 is connected to the output shaft of the servo motor 48 via a coupling. The feed screw 52 extends horizontally toward the movable frame 22, and a distal end portion of the feed screw 52 penetrates into a female screw member 54 fixed to the outer surface of the proximal end of the movable frame 22. Therefore, when the feed screw 52 is rotated in the forward and reverse directions under the drive of the servo motor 48, the movable frame 22 slides while being guided by the linear guide 20 along with the rotation. That is, the end 4 of the telescopic conveyor 2 expands and contracts.
[0020]
A drop guide 56 is provided at the end 4 of the telescopic conveyor 2, that is, immediately before the belt roller 26. The drop guide 56 has an arc shape and is connected to the movable frame 22 via an attachment member 58. A predetermined interval allowing passage of the article P is secured between the drop guide 56 and the belt roller 26, and the article P on the stretchable conveyor 2 reaches its end 4 and is sent out from the end 4. Then, the front end of the article P as viewed in the conveying direction is guided by the drop guide 56 and is dropped with the front end facing downward. In other words, when the article P passes through the drop guide 56, its conveying posture is changed from a horizontal posture on the telescopic conveyor 2 to a vertical posture.
[0021]
An accumulation unit 60 is disposed between the movable frame 22 of the telescopic conveyor 2 and the tray conveyor 6. The stacking unit 60 includes upper and lower receiving holders 62 and 64. Since these receiving holders 62 and 64 have the same configuration, only the upper receiving holder 62 positioned immediately below the movable frame 22 will be described.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 6, the receiving holder 62 has a pair of holder halves 66 that are symmetrical with respect to the center line (division line). These holder halves 66 have a long box shape, and the surfaces facing each other open, while the bottom wall is inclined downward toward the opening surface. The inside of each holder half 66 is partitioned into seven cavities arranged in the transport direction A of the telescopic conveyor 2 by a plurality of partitions 70. When the receiving holder 62 is in the state shown in the drawing, the cavity of one holder half 66 is paired with the corresponding cavity of the other holder half 66 to form a pocket 72 that can receive the article P. Accordingly, the receiving holder 62 has seven pockets 72 arranged in the transport direction A of the telescopic conveyor 2.
[0023]
Rotating shafts 74 project horizontally from the base ends of the holder halves 66. The rotating shafts 74 are rotatably supported by a support plate 76 as shown in FIG. It penetrates. The support plate 76 is erected from the base 78.
Gears 80 are attached to the respective rotation shafts 74, and these gears 80 mesh with each other as shown in FIG. In addition, a rotating arm 82 is attached to the protruding end of one rotating shaft 74, and the rotating arm 82 is connected to the piston rod of the air cylinder 84. Note that the base of the air cylinder 84 is pivotally attached to the support plate 76.
[0024]
The air cylinder 84 expands and contracts to rotate the rotating arm 82, that is, one rotating shaft 74 in the forward and reverse directions, and this rotation simultaneously reverses the other rotating shaft 74 through the meshing of the gear 80. Turn to. Accordingly, the holder halves 66 of the receiving holder 62 can be rotated around the rotation shaft 74 in the direction of contacting and separating from each other. When the holder halves 66 are rotated downward from the state shown in FIG. 6, the holder halves 66 are separated from each other, and the bottoms of the pockets 72 are opened.
[0025]
The pair of holder halves 66 can also be rotated by a similar opening / closing mechanism with respect to the lower receiving holder 64 positioned below the receiving holder 62.
A supply guide 86 is disposed between the lower receiving holder 64 and the tray conveyor 6 as necessary. The supply guide 86 includes a plurality of plate members 88 arranged in the longitudinal direction of the receiving holder 64, that is, in the arrangement direction of the pockets 72, and these plate members 88 are fixed to the base 78 side via attachment members 90. Referring to FIG. 8, the path between the plate members 88 defines passages that allow the article P to pass therethrough, and these passages are aligned vertically with respect to the pockets 72 of the receiving holders 62 and 64.
[0026]
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a passage detection sensor 92 composed of a transmissive photoelectric switch is disposed between the telescopic conveyor 2 and the upper receiving holder 62, and the passage detection sensor 92 is the stretchable conveyor 2. The article P that falls from the end 4 of is detected.
Next, the operation of the integrated supply apparatus described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0027]
Assuming that the upper and lower receiving holders 62 and 64 are both empty, the telescopic conveyor 2 is extended to the initial position, and its end 4 is positioned at an upper position corresponding to the leading pocket 72 in the receiving holder 62.
In this state, when the article P transported on the stretchable conveyor 2 reaches its end 4, the article P is guided from the end 4 to the drop guide 56 (see FIG. 5) and falls, and the upper stage It is received in the front pocket 72 of the receiving holder 62. Here, the drop of the article P from the telescopic conveyor 2 is detected by the passage detection sensor 92. Upon receiving this detection, the telescopic conveyor 2 has an end 4 between the pockets 72 in the receiving holder 62, that is, one pitch thereof. Shrink by minutes. In this state, when the next article P is dropped from the telescopic conveyor 2, the article P is received in the next pocket 72 in the receiving holder 62 as shown in FIG.
[0028]
Accordingly, the stretchable conveyor 2 repeats the above-described contraction operation, so that the articles P to be conveyed are sequentially sorted and dropped into the respective pockets 72 of the upper receiving holder 62, and a predetermined number of articles P can be accumulated in the receiving holder 62. .
As shown in FIG. 10, with respect to the upper receiving holder 62, when the articles P are received in all the pockets 72, the pair of holder halves 66 of the receiving holder 62 are rotated in directions away from each other as described above. The As a result, all the pockets 72 are opened in a lump, and the collected articles P are simultaneously dropped from the receiving holder 62 toward the lower receiving holder 64, and the correspondence in the receiving holder 64 is shown in FIG. The pockets 72 to be received are respectively received. Thereafter, the holder halves 66 of the receiving holder 62 are rotated in the opposite directions to approach each other, and the upper receiving holder 62 is closed again. On the other hand, at the same time when the upper receiving holder 62 is opened, the telescopic conveyor 2 is extended, and its end 4 is returned to the initial position described above.
[0029]
When an empty tray T on the tray conveyor 6 is sent directly below the lower receiving holder 64 and the front row of the partition chamber S in the tray T is positioned, this is detected by an arrival sensor (not shown) on the tray conveyor 6 side. Is done. Upon receiving the detection by the arrival sensor, the receiving holder 64 is opened, and the articles P in the accumulated state are dropped toward the tray T. At this time, the individual articles P falling are guided by the individual plate members 88 of the supply guide 86 described above, and are reliably supplied to the corresponding partition chambers S of the tray T as shown in FIG.
[0030]
Even when the articles P are supplied to the tray T in this manner, as shown in FIG. 12, the telescopic conveyor 2 sequentially drops the articles P into the respective pockets 72 of the upper receiving holder 62, and the receiving holder At 62, the accumulation of articles P is resumed.
Further, when the stacked articles P are received, the tray T is advanced on the tray conveyor 6 by a distance corresponding to the interval between the front and rear rows of the partition chamber S, and then the rear row of the partition chambers S in the tray T receives the tray T. It is positioned directly below the holder 64.
[0031]
That is, as will be clearer with reference to FIG. 13, the articles P that sequentially fall from the end 4 of the telescopic conveyor 2 are first accumulated in the upper receiving holder 62, and then the lower receiving is performed by opening the receiving holder 62. It is temporarily held in the holder 64 and supplied from the receiving holder 64 to the tray T.
When the above operation is repeated and the lower receiving holders 64 receive the articles P in the pockets 72 in the same manner, the receiving holders 64 are opened, and the remaining empty compartments S of the tray T are also opened. Is supplied.
[0032]
Thereafter, the tray conveyor 6 conveys and positions the next empty tray T directly below the lower receiving holder 64, and the supply of the articles P to the empty tray T is repeated in the same manner.
According to the above stacking and supplying apparatus, since the articles P are sorted and dropped from the terminal end 4 of the stretchable conveyor 2 to the respective pockets 72 of the upper receiving holder 62, the stacking of the articles P in the receiving holder 62 is a simple mechanism. Can be realized.
[0033]
Further, since the article P is used for the transfer of the article P from the upper receiving holder 62 to the lower receiving holder 64 and the supply of the article P from the lower receiving holder 64 to the tray T, it is integrated. A step of directly pressing the article P with a pusher or the like, that is, a so-called integrated article cutting step is not necessary. Therefore, not only can the speed of supply of the articles P to the tray T be increased, but also the damage of the articles P can be prevented.
[0034]
Further, since the stacking unit 60 includes the upper and lower receiving holders 62 and 64, the stacking of the articles P and the supply of the articles P to the tray T can be executed in parallel, and the stacking and feeding speed of the articles P Can be further speeded up.
Even if there is a change in the number of articles P to be stacked, in this case, the upper and lower receiving holders 62 and 64 can be simply replaced, and it can be easily dealt with by simply changing the number of contraction operations of the telescopic conveyor 2. Excellent versatility.
[0035]
On the other hand, even if trouble occurs in a process subsequent to the integrated supply device and the driving of the article supply machine and the extendable conveyor 2 is stopped, the articles P on the extendable conveyor 2 are received in the receiving holders 62 and 64. After being collected, the driving of the telescopic conveyor 2 can be stopped, and the article P is not left on the telescopic conveyor 2. This facilitates resumption of operation of the integrated supply device.
[0036]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, the integrated unit 60 is not limited to the upper and lower two-stage receiving holders 62 and 64, and may be composed of three or more receiving holders.
Further, in the case where each partition chamber S of the tray T is inclined obliquely, the supply of the article P to the tray T can be performed only by inclining each plate member 88 of the supply guide 86 in accordance with the inclination. It can be done reliably. In this case, it is desirable that the inclination angle of each plate member 88 of the supply guide 86 can be changed in a lump.
[0037]
Note that the supply guide 86 is not indispensable, and the supply guide 86 is not necessary when the drop distance between the lowermost receiving holder and the tray T is short.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the article supply and supply apparatus (Claim 1) of the present invention, the combination of the extendable conveyor and the upper and lower receiving holders allows the collection and supply of the articles to the tray with a simple mechanism. The speed can be increased, and even if the number of stacked articles changes, it can be easily dealt with by simply replacing the receiving holder. Furthermore, since a pusher or the like is not used to cut out the accumulated article, the article is not damaged.
[0039]
If each receiving holder is a split type comprising a pair of holder halves (Claim 2), the pockets can be opened and closed with a simple mechanism that allows the holder halves to be brought into contact with and separated from each other.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an integrated supply apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining supply of trays from a tray supply machine to a tray conveyor.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a tray.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining delivery of a tray between a terminal end of a tray conveyor and a discharge conveyor.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an extendable conveyor and an accumulation unit.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a receiving holder.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a receiving holder opening / closing mechanism.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged schematic view showing an integrated unit.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an article accumulation process in the upper receiving holder.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state where the collection of articles is completed in the upper receiving holder.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which an article is dropped from an upper receiving holder to a lower receiving holder.
FIG. 12 is a view showing a state in which the stacked articles in the lower receiving holder are supplied to the tray.
FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a series of flows of articles supplied from the telescopic conveyor to the tray via the upper and lower receiving holders.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Telescopic conveyor 6 Tray conveyor 8 Tray feeder 12 Discharge conveyor 56 Drop guide 60 Stack unit 62 Upper receiving holder 64 Lower receiving holder 66 Holder half 70 Partition 72 Pocket 74 Rotating shaft 80 Gear 82 Rotating arm 84 Air cylinder 88 Supply Guide T Tray

Claims (2)

An telescopic conveyor that conveys articles at a predetermined interval and whose end can be expanded and contracted in the conveying direction of the article;
A drop guide that is provided at the end of the telescopic conveyor and guides the drop of articles delivered from the end;
A plurality of receiving holders that are provided separately on the lower side of the telescopic conveyor, are arranged in the transport direction and have a plurality of pockets capable of receiving the article;
Opening and closing means for opening and closing all the pockets independently for each receiving holder and dropping the articles in the pockets;
An apparatus for stacking and supplying articles, comprising: a tray conveyor that extends below a lowermost receiving holder and conveys and positions a tray of articles under the lowermost receiving holder. Each of the receiving holders includes a pair of holder halves respectively disposed on both sides of a dividing line along the transport direction;
2. The article supply and supply device according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing means includes contact / separation means for contacting and separating the pair of holder halves from each other around the dividing line for each receiving holder.

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