JP4036067B2 - Article conveying device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an article transport apparatus that has an article storage section for storing an article and transports the article in a state in which the article is stored.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in the case where articles in an accumulated state are supplied to a packaging machine, the articles are accumulated using a conveyor having an article storage section such as a bucket conveyor in the preceding process. That is, by pushing each article accommodated in each article accommodating section at a time from a plurality of article accommodating sections stopped in the carry-out section of the conveyor, these articles are unloaded from the conveyor in an aligned state. Then, after driving the conveyor to move the plurality of article storage sections containing the articles to the carry-out section, the articles are carried out in an aligned state, and thereafter the same carry-out operation is repeated so that the accumulated articles are obtained. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-77003 (Columns 8, 9)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When accumulating the articles, there is a demand for a state in which rows adjacent in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction are shifted in the alignment direction (so-called staggered accumulation state). However, as described above, simply repeating the carrying-out operation of carrying out a plurality of articles from the conveyor only provides an accumulation state in which articles are aligned in the carrying-out direction, and a staggered accumulation state cannot be obtained. Therefore, in order to achieve a staggered state, a dedicated device for shifting the articles carried out of the conveyor is required, which increases the equipment cost and requires a large installation space.
[0005]
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art described above, the present invention has been proposed to suitably solve this problem, and it is possible to integrate a staggered pattern without using a dedicated device for shifting articles. An object of the present invention is to provide an article conveying apparatus capable of forming a state.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to overcome the above-described problems and achieve the intended purpose suitably, an article conveying device according to the present invention includes:
A pair of rotating bodies that are rotatably arranged on a moving body that moves substantially horizontally with respect to the machine frame, and that are separated in the moving direction of the moving body, and two linear portions that are wound around both the rotating bodies. A plurality of article storage sections each having a constant pitch and a plurality of article storage sections that store a single article, and the article storage section pivots substantially horizontally by rotating the endless rope bodies. And a carrying-in part and a carrying-out part are set corresponding to each of the linear moving parts of the article containing section, and are carried into the article containing section by the carry-in part. In the article transporting apparatus in which the article is unloaded from the article storage section at the unloading unit,
Each article storage section is moved and stopped so as to correspond to the carry-in section, and each article storage section is moved and stopped so as to correspond to the carry-out section, so that the article storage section is stopped with respect to the carry-in section and the article storage section is carried out. In the carry-out section, the article storage section containing the leading article is alternately stopped at two positions displaced by a half pitch for each article carrying-out operation. It is characterized by comprising a driving means to be operated.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, the article conveying apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by giving a preferred embodiment.
[0008]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a drive unit in an article transporting apparatus 10 according to an embodiment. The article transporting apparatus 10 includes a pre-process device such as a supply conveyor (not shown) and a post-process device such as a packaging machine. Arranged between. The article transporting apparatus 10 includes a horizontally long machine casing 12, and a moving body 14 is disposed on the machine casing 12 so as to be reciprocally movable in a predetermined range along a longitudinal direction thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of shaft bodies 16, 16 are arranged in a vertical posture on the moving body 14 at a predetermined interval in the moving direction. A lower sprocket 20 as a first rotating body is horizontally disposed below each shaft body 16, and an upper sprocket 18 as a second rotating body is horizontally disposed above the shaft body 16. The sprockets 18 and 20 are configured to rotate integrally with the shaft body 16. If the sprockets 18 and 20 disposed on one shaft body 16 rotate integrally, the sprockets 18 and 20 disposed on the other shaft body 16 can freely rotate individually. It may be.
[0009]
The machine frame 12 is provided with two servomotors (motors) SM, SM that are independently controlled for rotation, and a drive sprocket as a drive rotator on the output shafts of both servomotors SM, SM. 24, 24 are attached. Both drive sprockets 24, 24 are separated from each other at a level position corresponding to the lower sprockets 20, 20 in a direction intersecting with the separation direction of the lower sprockets 20, 20, and carried out from the loading section I side described later. It is arranged on the part O side. As shown in FIG. 1, a first endless chain 26 serving as a driving rope is wound between the lower sprockets 20 and 20 and the driving sprockets 24 and 24. Each drive sprocket 24 is driven to rotate independently by the servo motor SM that can rotate forward and backward as a rotational drive source, so that the carrying-in portion I of the article transport body 32 (article accommodation section 36) will be described later. The movement / stop with respect to and the movement / stop of the article transport body 32 (article housing section 36) with respect to the carry-out portion O are performed independently in terms of timing. That is, in the embodiment, the pair of lower sprockets 20 and 20, the pair of drive sprockets 24 and 24, the first endless chain 26, and the pair of servo motors SM and SM constitute drive means. As shown in FIG. 1, tension sprockets 28 and 28 meshing with the first endless chain 26 are rotatably arranged on the machine frame 12 at both side positions sandwiching each drive sprocket 24. The first endless chain 26 is always pressed against the drive sprocket 24. Further, the sprockets 20, 24, 28 and the first endless chain 26, and the upper sprocket 18 and the second endless chain 30 (described later) constituting the driving means can be changed to other means such as a toothed pulley or a toothed belt. It is.
[0010]
As shown in FIG. 2, a second endless chain 30 serving as an endless cord is wound between the upper sprockets 18 and 18 so as to have a substantially oval shape having two straight portions (both ends in the longitudinal direction are semicircular). Is to form a loop. The second endless chain 30 is provided with a plurality of article conveying bodies 32 (30 in the embodiment, but can be set to an arbitrary number) at a constant pitch (arrangement interval) in the rotation direction. By rotating the second endless chain 30 in a predetermined direction by the driving means, the article transport body 32 is configured to turn substantially horizontally on a substantially oval track (see FIG. 4). The article transport body 32 is formed in a bowl shape that is open on both sides orthogonal to the moving direction, and an article storage section that allows the article 34 to be carried in and out at the carry-in section I and the carry-out section O of the article 34. 36 and is configured to convey the article 34 between the carry-in part I and the carry-out part O in a state of being accommodated in the article accommodation section 36. That is, in the article transport apparatus 10, the article 34 can be stored between the carry-in unit I and the carry-out unit O.
[0011]
As shown in FIG. 4, the carrying-in part I into which the article 34 from the previous process apparatus is carried into the article transport body 32 and the carry-out part O from which the article 34 is carried out toward the post-process apparatus from the transport body 32 are shown. In addition, it is set corresponding to each of the linear moving parts in the article transport body 32 (article accommodation section 36). Then, in the state where the article transport body 32 moved by the driving means is stopped by the carry-in section I, the carry-in of the article 34 to the article-accommodating section 36 is performed laterally or upward (illustrated example) by a carry-in mechanism (not shown). In the state where the article transport body 32 is moved to the carry-out section O and stopped, the article 34 is carried out from the article storage section 36 from the side by a carry-out mechanism (not shown). Configured to be.
[0012]
In the embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the carry-in unit I, one article transport body 32 (article accommodation section 36) is stopped, and one article 34 is carried into this. On the other hand, in the carry-out unit O, a corresponding number of N articles (N is a natural number) 34 and (N + 1) articles 34 are alternately carried out for each carry-out operation by the carry-out mechanism. The article transport body 32 (article accommodation section 36) is set to be stopped. For this reason, the drive means is set so that the article transport body 32 (article accommodation section 36) moves toward the carry-out section O by a distance of (N + 1/2) pitch for each carry-out operation. That is, of the articles 34 to be unloaded at the unloading unit O, the two positions L ₁ and L 2 in which the article transport body 32 (the article housing section 36) that houses the leading article 34 is displaced by a half pitch for each article unloading operation. so as to stop alternately _2, the second endless chain 30 is driven and stopped by the driving unit. Specifically, when five ((N + 1)) articles 34 and four (N) articles 34 are carried out alternately, the top (No. 1) of the five articles 34. As shown in FIG. 4A, when the article storage section 36 in which the article 34 is stored is stopped at the first position L ₁ in the carry-out portion O, the four articles 34 to be carried out next are stored. The article storage section 36 in which the top (No. 6) article 34 is stored is an article carrier in the carry-out portion O by a half pitch with respect to the first position L ₁ as shown in FIG. The article transport body 32 is moved by a distance of 4.5 pitches ((N + 1/2) pitch) so that it stops at the second position L ₂ at the rear of the movement direction 32 (left side in FIG. 4). The As a result, the column of articles 34 carried out from the article carrier 32 is shifted by a half pitch in the alignment direction with respect to the column of articles 34 carried out last time, and the group of articles carried out is in a staggered state.
[0013]
The carry-out mechanism includes a pushing member that moves in the direction from the inside to the outside of the track of the article transport body 32 and unloads the article 34 from the article transport body 32. As the push member, the article transport body A shape formed by pushing the protruding portion of the article 34 protruding from the upper end of 32 or a shape capable of passing through the inside of the article transport body 32 is used. In addition, when there are a plurality of articles 34 to be carried out, the pushing member is formed so that the articles 34 carried out from the plurality of article transport bodies 32 are carried out in an aligned state. The unloading mechanism may be a mechanism that simply reciprocates the pushing member linearly, or after the article 34 is unloaded from the article transport body 32, while being retracted upward, it returns to the inside of the track of the article transport body 32 and continues. That perform an operation (box motion) that does not interfere with the article 34 or the article carrier 32 of the article. However, as described above, the size and the number of the pushing members are changed so that the number of articles 34 carried out at one time in the carry-out unit O changes to N pieces and (N + 1) pieces for each carry-out operation. Constitute. In view of this point, N articles 34 and (N + 1) articles 34 that are alternately carried out on a rope, such as an endless chain or a toothed belt, arranged and rotated above the article transport body 32. A carry-out mechanism in which every other two types of pushing members corresponding to the above are provided at regular intervals is suitable.
[0014]
The article transporting apparatus 10 is provided with an entry-side detector that detects the entry of an article into the article-accommodating section 36 and an exit-side detector (none of which is shown) that detects the removal of the article from the article-accommodating section 36. The servomotors SM and SM are controlled to rotate by the detection signals of both detectors. That is, when the entry-side detector detects the entry of the article into the article-accommodating section 36, one of the servo motors SM, SM (the carry-in section I side) is rotated by a predetermined amount in the forward rotation direction, and the moving body 14 is The article transport body 32 moves to the front side (left side in FIG. 4) of the article transport body 32 in the carry-in section I, and the article transport body 32 is moved by one pitch, and an empty article transport body 32 corresponding to the carry-in section I. Is stopped. On the condition that the delivery detector detects the delivery of the article from the article storage section 36, the other of the servomotors SM, SM (the delivery section O side) is rotated by a predetermined amount in the forward rotation direction, and the movement The body 14 moves to the front side (right side in FIG. 4) of the article transport body 32 in the unloading section O, and the article transport body 32 multiplies the average value of the two numbers of unloaded articles for each unloading operation by the pitch. Accordingly, two different numbers of article transport bodies 32 are stopped alternately with respect to the carry-out portion O. Note that a photo sensor that directly detects the article 34 carried into the article transport body 32 is used as the entry side detector, and a photo sensor that detects a cam that is linked with the pushing member of the carry-out mechanism is used as the exit side detector. However, with regard to the arrangement location and detection format, other locations and things can be appropriately employed.
[0015]
The moving body 14, that is, the second endless chain 30, is set to be movable between a MIN position and a MAX position. And when the mobile body 14 faces the MIN position, the path from the carry-in part I to the carry-out part O along the normal rotation direction of the second endless chain 30 (article transport body 32) becomes the shortest. When the number of article transport bodies 32 (articles 34) existing is minimized and the mobile body 14 (second endless chain 30) faces the MAX position, the same path is the longest, and the article transport existing on the longest path is present. It is comprised so that the number of the bodies 32 (article 34) may become the largest. 4 and 5 show the MIN position and the MAX position of one upper sprocket 18 (left side in the figure) disposed in place of the moving body 14 (second endless chain 30).
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 1, the article transporting apparatus 10 includes a cam 38 that rotates in conjunction with the servo motor SM on the carry-in part I side, and a photo that is disposed on the machine frame 12 and detects a notch 38 a of the cam 38. The sensor 40 is provided, and when the article conveying apparatus 10 is activated, the article conveying body 32 is set to stop at the carry-in unit I by these detecting means. Further, the movement of the article transport body 32 is controlled based on a signal from an encoder E disposed in each servo motor SM.
[0017]
[Effect of the embodiment]
Next, the operation of the article transport device according to the above-described embodiment will be described. An example in which one article 34 is carried in the carry-in part I and five articles 34 and four articles 34 are carried out alternately in the carry-out part O will be described.
[0018]
In the article conveying apparatus 10, the movable body 14 is positioned in a state where the one upper sprocket 18 (located on the left side in FIGS. 4 and 5) faces the MIN position, and the carrying-in section is as described above. The article transport body 32 is stopped at I, and the article 34 fed from the previous process apparatus is carried into the article storage section 36 of the article transport body 32 from the side. When article entry into the article storage section 36 is detected by the entry detector, the servomotors SM, SM are controlled to rotate in the forward direction by the same amount, and the second endless when the movable body 14 is stopped. The chain 30 rotates in the forward direction, the article transport body 32 is moved by one pitch, and the empty article transport body 32 is stopped in the carry-in portion I.
[0019]
As described above, each time one article 34 is carried into the article storage section 36 of the article transport body 32, the operation of moving the second endless chain 30 by one pitch is repeated, so that the article transport apparatus 10 can be operated. As shown in FIG. 4A, nine (No. 1 to No. 9) articles 34 are stored in the path from the carry-in section I to the carry-out section O along the forward rotation direction of the article transport body 32. When the article transport body 32 containing the articles 34 from the top (No. 1) to the fifth (No. 5) of them arrives at the carry-out section O, the article transport apparatus 10 transfers to the subsequent process apparatus. Goods can be carried out. Then, the carry-out mechanism is activated, and five articles 34 are carried out from the article transport apparatus 10 to the post-process apparatus in an aligned state by the pushing member at a time (see FIG. 4B). When the entry detector detects the carry-in of the article 34 during the carry-out operation of the article 34, the servo motor SM on the carry-in part I side is independently controlled to rotate in the normal rotation direction, and the movable body 14 is brought into the carry-in part I. The article transport body 32 moves to the front in the moving direction (left side in FIG. 4), and the empty article transport body 32 is stopped in the carry-in portion I, so that the article 34 is continuously carried in.
[0020]
As described above, corresponding to the article 34 arriving at the carry-in section I, only the servomotor SM on the carry-in section I side is independently rotationally controlled, so that from the carry-in section I to the carry-out section O in the article transport body 32. When the route is lengthened and the article 34 is stored during this period, and the number of articles reaches the number that allows the next article to be carried out (9 from No. 6 to No. 14) (see FIG. 4C), On condition that the delivery detector detects the delivery of the article, the servo motor SM on the carry-out portion O side is controlled to rotate independently in the normal rotation direction, and the movable body 14 is the article at the carry-out portion O. The transport body 32 moves to the front side in the moving direction (right side in FIG. 4). At this time, the article transport body 32 is moved a distance corresponding to 4.5 pitches, so that the top (No. 6) article 34 to be carried out next is accommodated as shown in FIG. The first article storage section 36 in which the first (No. 1) article 34 out of the five articles 34 previously carried out was stopped at the carry-out portion O is the first article storage section 36. It stops at the second position L ₂ that is rearward in the movement direction (left side in FIG. 4) by a half pitch with respect to the position L ₁ . In this state, the four article storage sections 36 accommodating the four articles No. 6 to No. 9 face the unloading portion O, and the four articles 34 in the aligned state are unloaded by the unloading mechanism. As shown in FIG. 4 (e), the five articles 34 that have been previously carried out are unloaded and accumulated in a state shifted by a half pitch in the alignment direction.
[0021]
Next, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the number of articles 34 (No. 10 to No. 18 of 9) that enables the next article to be carried out again from the carry-in section I to the carry-out section O is stored. Then, as described above, the servo motor SM on the carry-out portion O side is independently controlled in the forward rotation direction, and the article transport body 32 is moved by a distance corresponding to 4.5 pitches. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the article storage section 36 in which the top (No. 10) article 34 to be carried out is accommodated is one of the four articles 34 carried out first. The article storage section 36 in which the top (No. 6) article 34 was accommodated is moved forward by half a pitch with respect to the second position L ₂ where the article storage section 36 stopped at the carry-out portion O (the right side in FIG. 4). Stop at position ₁ L1. In this state, five article storage sections 36 accommodating five articles 34 of No. 10 to No. 14 face the unloading section O, and the five aligned articles 34 unloaded by the unloading mechanism are as follows. The four articles 34 in the aligned state that have been previously transferred are transferred and accumulated in a state shifted by a half pitch in the alignment direction.
[0022]
By repeating the above-described carrying-out operation, the row of five articles 34 and the row of four articles 34 are alternately carried out from the article conveying apparatus 10 while being shifted by a half pitch in the alignment direction. At the same time, the articles 34 and 34 at both ends in the alignment direction of the four article rows are carried out so as to be located inside the articles 34 and 34 at both ends in the alignment direction of the five article rows. It is formed. In other words, a staggered accumulation state can be formed only by the operation of carrying out the article 34 from the article transporting apparatus 10, so there is no need to provide a dedicated device for shifting the row of the articles 34, and the equipment cost can be kept low. In addition, the installation space does not increase.
[0023]
[Example of change]
The present application is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and other configurations can be appropriately employed.
1. In addition to being defined by the bowl-shaped article transport body 32, the article storage section 36 may be formed by providing partition members at predetermined intervals in the chain and forming them between adjacent partition members. In this case, a table that slides with the chain and sprocket is preferably provided to receive the article 34. Further, the article transport body 32 is formed in a bowl shape that opens only on the outside (outside of the track) when the pushing member of the carry-out mechanism pushes the protruding portion of the article 34 as described above. Also good.
2. The number of articles 34 carried in at one time may be other than one, and a plurality of articles 34 conveyed in parallel are simultaneously carried into a plurality of corresponding article storage compartments 36 (article conveyance bodies 32). May be adopted.
3. The number of articles 34 carried out at one time is not limited to four and five, but may be other numbers as long as N and (N + 1) pieces are alternately carried out. Furthermore, the number of articles 34 carried out at one time may be always the same, and the stop position of the article storage section 36 may be shifted by a half pitch for each carrying-out operation.
4. In the embodiment, the case where the staggered accumulation state is formed before and after the carrying-out direction from the carrying-out part (on the horizontal plane) is described. However, an elevator platform such as an elevator is provided on the outer side of the carrying-out part. Each time the article row to be carried out is placed on the lifting platform, the lifting platform is lowered to form a stacking state in which the group of articles stacked in the vertical direction (on the vertical plane) is staggered.
5. When moving the article storage section 36 (article carrier 32) by a distance of (N + 1/2) pitch (4.5 pitches in the embodiment) for each carry-out operation, this distance is moved at a time, It may be moved in multiple times.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the article transporting apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention, the stop position of the article storage section that stores the article to be carried out is displaced by a half pitch for each carrying-out operation of the article. Since it comprised so, the accumulation | aggregation | stacking state of a zigzag can be formed by shifting the row | line | column of the articles | goods carried out from an article conveyance apparatus in the alignment direction. That is, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated device for shifting the row of articles, and the equipment cost can be kept low, and space can be saved.
[0025]
According to the article transporting apparatus according to claim 2, the number of articles to be carried out for each carry-out operation is set to be alternated by two numbers, and the article storage section is set to (N + 1/2) pitch for each carry-out operation. By moving the part, the articles at both ends in the alignment direction of the N article rows can form a staggered accumulation state in which the articles are located inside the articles at both ends in the alignment direction of the (N + 1) article rows.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a drive unit of an article conveying apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic front view illustrating the article transport device according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a schematic side view illustrating a drive unit of the article transport device according to the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating article carry-in / carry-out and storage operations by the article carrying device according to the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an article carry-in / carry-out operation by the article carrying device according to the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
12 Machine frame 14 Moving body 18 Upper sprocket (rotating body)
20 Lower sprocket (drive means)
SM Servo motor (drive means)
24 Drive sprocket (drive means)
26 First endless chain (drive means)
30 Second endless chain (endless cord)
34 article 36 article accommodation section I carry-in part O carry-out part L ₁ first position L ₂ second position

Claims (2)

A pair of rotating bodies (18, 18) that are rotatably arranged on a moving body (14) that moves substantially horizontally with respect to the machine frame (12), and that are separated in the moving direction of the moving body (14); An endless structure in which a loop having two straight portions is formed by being wound around both the rotating bodies (18, 18), and a plurality of article storage sections (36) for storing one article (34) are formed at a constant pitch. The article storage section (36) is configured to convey the article (34) accommodated by turning the article endlessly (30) by turning substantially horizontally. In addition, a carry-in part (I) and a carry-out part (O) are set corresponding to each of the linear moving parts of the article storage section (36), and the goods storage section (36) is set in the carry-in part (I). In the article transport apparatus in which the article (34) that is carried in is carried out from the article storage section (36) in the unloading section (O),
Each article storage section (36) is moved and stopped so as to correspond to the carry-in section (I), and each article storage section (36) is moved and stopped so as to correspond to the carry-out section (O). Articles (34) to be carried out independently at the carry-out section (O) and to stop the carry-out section (O) of the compartment (36) with respect to the carry-out section (O). Drive means (20, SM) that alternately stops the article containing section (36) containing the leading article (34) at two positions (L ₁ , L ₂ ) displaced by a half pitch for each article carrying-out operation , 24, 26). In the unloading section (O), N articles (34) and (N + 1) articles (34) are set to be unloaded alternately for each unloading operation, and the driving means (20, SM, 24 26) move the article accommodating section (36) with respect to the carry-out section (O) by a distance of (N + 1/2) pitch for each carry-out operation. Article conveying device.

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