JP4615243B2 - Pallet cleaning device and cleaning method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a pallet cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method for cleaning a lower surface (grounding surface) of a pallet, a tray, a container similar to the pallet, and the like (in the present invention, this is simply called a pallet).

When conveying various articles, a pallet for cargo handling is used as a table on which the articles are mounted. This type of pallet has a rectangular or rectangular bottom surface with a side of 1 to 1.5 m, and the material used to be wooden in the past, but recently it has been changed to synthetic resin or metal.
As a method of cleaning the pallet, a method of spraying a cleaning liquid such as water or a cleaning liquid from a cleaning nozzle as a cleaning means is performed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-236485 A

When goods were loaded on a pallet and brought into a clean room or other clean space (clean environment) from a lower clean space (non-clean environment) such as outdoors, the pallet was washed and adhered to the pallet. It is necessary to remove dust (for example, foreign matters such as dust, dirt, and mud). However, if the lower surface (grounding surface) of the pallet comes into contact with the ground or floor surface after being washed and before being brought into the clean environment, foreign matter will again adhere to the lower surface of the cleaned pallet and become dirty.
Conventional pallet cleaning is for the purpose of cleaning and cleaning the pallet when the surface of the pallet becomes dirty or when the pallet is collected, for the purpose of cleaning the pallet before carrying it into a clean environment. Is not suitable. That is, when water or a cleaning liquid is sprayed from the cleaning nozzle to clean, there is a risk that the side surface of the pallet, the surroundings, or an article loaded on the pallet may get wet.
There may be a method of dropping the article from the pallet before washing the pallet and then loading it again after washing the pallet. In this case, it takes time to replace the article, which is dangerous depending on the weight of the article, and the article dropped from the pallet. It is necessary to secure a place to store. In addition, if the article storage area is not sufficiently clean, the article will become dirty.
When the pallet is transported by lifting the air and the lower surface of the pallet is manually cleaned, there is a problem that it takes time and it is difficult to perform reliable cleaning. Further, there are cases where about 1 ton of articles are loaded on the pallet, and in order to carry such heavy objects in the air, a large-scale conveying device is required, and there is a complaint that installation space and cost are required. .

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, and makes it a subject to provide the pallet washing | cleaning apparatus and washing | cleaning method which can wash | clean the lower surface of a pallet, conveying a pallet etc.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a pallet cleaning device for cleaning the lower surface of a pallet using a cleaning liquid, and wipes the lower surface of the pallet with the cleaning liquid by contacting the lower surface of the pallet 1 than this or a plurality of rinsing rolls and the rinsing roll scraping dropping scraper cleaning liquid adhering to the lower surface of the pallet is on the downstream side, is exposed from the same gap conveyor that can convey the pallet loaded with goods, the washing Below the roll is provided a pan containing a cleaning liquid. When the washing roll is driven to rotate, the cleaning liquid in the pan adheres to the surface of the washing roll, and the surface of the washing roll is the surface of the pallet. The lower surface of the pallet is wiped and cleaned by contacting the lower surface, and the scraper adheres to the lower surface of the pallet. Providing pallet cleaning device, characterized in that is provided at a position scrape a cleaning liquid to the pan.
The conveyor is a roller conveyor in which a plurality of conveyance rollers are arranged side by side in the conveyance direction of the pallet, and the washing roller is disposed in a gap between the conveyance rollers in parallel with the conveyance rollers. preferable.
On the upstream side of the washing roll, which is the entrance side of the conveyor, one or more dry brushes for removing dust on the lower surface of the pallet are disposed in parallel with the conveying rollers in the gap between the conveying rollers, On the downstream side of one or a plurality of water washing rolls and the scraper, one or a plurality of water absorption rolls for wiping off moisture adhering to the lower surface of the pallet are arranged in parallel with the conveyance rollers in the gap between the conveyance rollers. It is preferable to be provided.
It is preferable that the dry brush and the water washing roll are rotationally driven in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the transport roller.
The present invention is also a pallet cleaning method for cleaning the lower surface of the pallet using the pallet cleaning device described above, wherein the washing roll is brought into contact with the lower surface of the pallet while the lower surface of the pallet is conveyed downward. After wiping the lower surface of the pallet with the rinsing roll, the pallet cleaning method is provided by cleaning the scraper by scraping the cleaning liquid adhering to the lower surface of the pallet onto the pan.

Conventionally, when an article is loaded on a pallet and brought into a clean environment, even if the article or pallet is sufficiently washed to prevent the introduction of dust, the lower surface of the pallet is difficult to wash, and the pallet is not touched at the time of carry-in. It was difficult to keep the ground clean. On the other hand, the pallet washing device of the present invention also serves as a pallet carrying device (cleaning and carrying device), and even when a heavy object is loaded on the pallet, the pallet washing device can be stably carried by a conveyor. And while conveying the pallet horizontally, the lower surface of the pallet can be cleaned by a cleaning member exposed in the gap of the conveyor (for example, a cleaning roll comprising a dry brush, a water-washing roll, a water-absorbing roll) It is not necessary to reload the load, and man-hours can be reduced. Moreover, since the pallet can be carried into the clean environment after the pallet contact surface is cleaned, the invasion of dust into the clean environment can be significantly reduced.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings based on the best mode.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the pallet washing apparatus according to this embodiment, a conveyor 13 for carrying the pallet 1 is attached to a machine frame 12 supported by a support leg 11. Further, cleaning members 20, 21, and 22 for wiping and cleaning the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 are supported on the machine frame 12, and these cleaning members 20, 21, and 22 are inserted from the gaps 19 of the conveyor 13. The pallet 1 is exposed so as to be in contact with the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1.

Here, the pallet 1 is a pallet used for conveying articles, a tray or a container similar to the pallet, and the like (in the present invention, this is simply called a pallet).
Any pallet that can be applied to the pallet washing apparatus according to the present embodiment may be any as long as it has a bottom surface that can be conveyed to the conveyor 13. For example, when the conveyor 13 is a roll conveyor, it can be used except for a pallet having a structure such as a leg or wheel at the bottom and entering between the conveying rolls. The upper structure of the pallet is not particularly limited, and various configurations can be adopted.
Examples of the pallet format include a flat pallet, a box pallet, a sheet pallet, a platen pallet, a skid, a silo pallet, and a tank pallet.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conveyer 13 is a roller conveyer in which a plurality of conveying rollers 14 are arranged in parallel apart from each other in the conveying direction (illustrated by an arrow R) for conveying the pallet 1. The width of the conveyor 13 is wider than the width of the pallet 1. The roller conveyor 13 horizontally conveys the pallet 1 from the left inlet 15 in FIGS. 1 and 2 to the right outlet 16. The entrance 15 of the conveyor 13 is located on the side of a less clean space (non-clean environment) such as outdoors, and the exit 16 of the conveyor 13 is a space (clean environment) with a higher cleanliness such as a clean room. Located on the side.
The conveyor 13 includes a cleaning conveyance unit 13A on the inlet 15 side where the cleaning rolls 20, 21, and 22 are installed, and an unloading unit 13B on the outlet 16 side that does not include the cleaning roll.
In the following description, in the transport direction, the side close to the inlet 15 of the conveyor 13 may be referred to as the upstream side, and the side close to the outlet 16 of the conveyor 13 may be referred to as the downstream side.

A conveyor driving motor 18 that drives each conveying roller 14 of the roller conveyor 13 via an endless chain 17 is installed on one end side of the roller conveyor 13 (here, on the outlet 16 side).
The conveying speed of the pallet 1 by the conveyor 13 may be constant, but when the conveying speed of the conveyor 13 is made variable and the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 is washed, it is more than when the pallet 1 is carried out to the next process. However, it is preferable to reduce the conveying speed. By slowing down the conveying speed during cleaning, the pallet can be cleaned carefully.

The cleaning rolls 20, 21, and 22 are disposed in the gap 19 between the conveyance rollers 14 of the conveyor 13 in parallel with the conveyance rollers 14 (so as to extend in the width direction of the conveyor 13). That is, since the conveyor which conveys a pallet contacts the lower surface of a pallet in the case of conveyance, the washing | cleaning member which wash | cleans the lower surface of a pallet was installed in the clearance gap of the conveyor.
Here, the cleaning roll includes a dry brush 20 that removes dust on the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1, a rinsing roll 21 that wipes the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1, and a water absorbing roll 22 that wipes moisture adhering to the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1. It consists of. The cleaning rolls are arranged in the order of the dry brush 20, the water-washing roll 21, and the water-absorbing roll 22 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the cleaning and conveying unit 13 </ b> A of the conveyor 13.

  In the present embodiment, two dry brushes 20, washing rolls 21, and water absorption rolls 22 are provided in parallel along the conveying direction of the conveyor 13. In the present invention, the type and number of cleaning rolls are matters that can be appropriately designed according to the application and purpose, and are not particularly limited.

The cleaning roll may be fixed at one position so as to contact the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1, but it is preferable that the position in the vertical direction can be adjusted. For example, a driving force such as a motor or a hydraulic cylinder (not shown) can be used to change the vertical position of the cleaning roll. The contact interval between the cleaning rolls 20 to 22 and the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 is preferably adjusted so that a contact pressure suitable for cleaning is obtained by adjusting the vertical position of the cleaning roll.
In addition, it is possible to carry the pallet or article from the clean environment side to the non-clean environment side by reversing the conveying direction of the conveyor 13, but in this case, it is not necessary to clean the lower surface of the pallet. The roll is preferably retracted downward so as not to contact the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1.

The dry brush 20 is disposed on the most upstream side of the cleaning rolls 20, 21, and 22. The dry brush 20 is rotationally driven by the driving force of the driving motor 26 transmitted through the endless belt 23. The dry brush 20 rubs the bottom surface 2 of the pallet 1 to remove dust and the like for cleaning.
The dry brush 20 is rotated in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the transport roller 14. Thereby, the relative speed difference between the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 and the outer surface of the dry brush 20 is increased, and the effect of removing dust from the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 is enhanced.
As the dry brush 20, for example, a brush roll in which brush hair made of natural hair such as horse hair or pig hair or plastic such as nylon is implanted on the outer peripheral surface of the roll can be used. In order to prevent generation of static electricity, natural hair such as horse hair (for example, horse hair having a diameter of 0.2 to 0.8 mm) is preferable.

A water washing roll 21 for wiping the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 with water is disposed on the downstream side of the dry brush 20. The water washing roll 21 is rotationally driven by the driving force of the drive motor 27 transmitted through the endless belt 24. As the rinsing roll 21, for example, a roll covered with a sponge or a cleaning roll in which fibers made of plastic such as polypropylene (PP) are implanted on the outer peripheral surface of the roll can be used.
As shown in FIG. 3, a pan 30 in which a cleaning liquid 31 is placed is provided below the rinsing roll 21, and the lower part of the rinsing roll 21 is immersed below the liquid surface of the cleaning liquid 31. The cleaning liquid 31 is, for example, clean water. When the rinsing roll 21 is driven to rotate, the cleaning liquid 31 adheres to the surface of the rinsing roll 21, and the surface of the rinsing roll 21 comes into contact with the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 so that the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 is cleaned with water. Is done.
It is preferable that the cleaning liquid 31 is always supplied to the pan 30 and the extra cleaning liquid 31 is discharged to replace the cleaning liquid 31 because the cleaning liquid 31 in the pan 30 can be always kept clean.
The water washing roll 21 is rotated in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the transport roller 14. Thereby, the relative speed difference between the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 and the outer surface of the rinsing roll 21 is increased, and the effect of dropping dust from the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 is enhanced.
A scraper 32 is disposed on the downstream side (right side in FIG. 3) of the water washing roll 21 so that the tip is in contact with the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1. The scraper 32 is made of, for example, a plate member made of metal or synthetic resin, and has an action of scraping off an excessive cleaning liquid 31 adhering to the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 after cleaning by the water-washing roll 21.

Further, a water absorbing roll 22 for wiping off water adhering to the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 is disposed downstream of the water washing roll 21 and the scraper 32 . The water absorption roll 22 is rotationally driven by the driving force of the drive motor 28 transmitted through the endless belt 25. As the water absorbing roll 22, for example, a roll (cloth brush or the like) coated with a water absorbing material such as a water absorbing cloth can be used.
In this way, when removing excess water by wiping with the water absorption roll 22, there is no scattering of water droplets and the cost of equipment and operation such as air source and piping is reduced compared to drying by blowing air (hot air). can do.
The water absorption roll 22 is configured to be driven and rotated in the same direction as the rotation direction of the transport roller 14 or to be driven and rotated without being driven. Thereby, the relative speed difference between the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 and the outer surface of the water absorbing roll 22 is small or eliminated, and the water absorbing roll 22 is in close contact with the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 and easily absorbs water. Further, wear of the water absorbing roll 22 can be suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a squeezing roller 33 that squeezes moisture from the water absorbing roll 22 is provided below the water absorbing roll 22. The water-absorbing roll 22 is pressed against the water-absorbing roll 22 by an urging force such as a spring (not shown), and the water-absorbing material coated on the surface of the water-absorbing roll 22 can be pressed to squeeze out water. Thereby, the moisture content of the water absorption roll 22 is always kept low, and the moisture adhering to the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 can be wiped off effectively.

Drive motors 26, 27, and 28 that rotationally drive the cleaning rolls 20, 21, and 22 are installed on a horizontal plate 34 (such as a punching plate) that is provided between the support legs 11 below the machine frame 12. These drive motors 26, 27, and 28 are covered with a motor cover 29 so that dust, moisture, and the like falling from the cleaning rolls 20, 21, and 22 are not applied.
Below the horizontal plate 34, a water receiving pan 35 that receives dust, moisture, etc. falling from the cleaning rolls 20, 21, 22 side so as not to fall on the floor surface F is installed. The water receiving pan 35 is supported by the support legs 11 so as to be separated from the floor surface F. A cover 36 (peripheral wall plate) is provided on the peripheral edge surrounding the water receiving pan 35 so as to protrude upward (on the conveyor 13 side). Discharge pipes 37 are provided at the corners of the water receiving pan 35 for discharging drainage accumulated on the water receiving pan 35.

  When the pallet cleaning apparatus 10 places the pallet 1 on the inlet 15 side of the conveyor 13, the pallet 1 is conveyed to the outlet 16 by the conveyor 13. At this time, the cleaning rolls exposed in the gaps 19 of the conveyor 13 (in this embodiment, the dry brush 20, the water washing roll 21, and the water absorption roll 22) are sequentially brought into contact with the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1 to carry in. The bottom surface 2 of the pallet 1 can be cleaned in the process.

As described above, the pallet cleaning device of this embodiment also serves as a pallet transport device (cleaning transport device), and can be stably transported by the conveyor even when heavy objects are loaded on the pallet. And since the lower surface of a pallet can be wash | cleaned by the member for washing | cleaning exposed to the clearance gap between conveyors, conveying a pallet horizontally, the reshipment of a load becomes unnecessary at the time of washing | cleaning, and a man-hour can be reduced.
Since the water-absorbing roll can wipe off and dry the water after washing the pallet, it is not necessary to prepare a device such as hot air drying separately.
Since the pallet can be carried into the clean environment after the pallet contact surface is cleaned, the entry of dust into the clean environment can be significantly reduced. Thus, by incorporating the cleaning device into the transport device, the space required for installing the device can be reduced.

Since the conveyor is composed of a cleaning and conveying section where cleaning rollers are arranged and an unloading section that does not have a cleaning roll on the downstream side of the conveyor, it is transported by the unloading section after cleaning even if the transport speed is slowed during cleaning. The speed is increased, and smooth conveyance to the subsequent process becomes possible. In addition, since the cleaning and conveying unit is away from the outlet of the conveyor, it is difficult for dust to diffuse and the clean environment on the outlet side is hardly contaminated.
When the conveyor is a roller conveyor, the positions along the conveyance direction of the respective conveyance rollers are fixed and separated from each other, so that contamination is not easily diffused between the conveyance rollers. Further, the cleaning roller can be installed in the gap between the transport rollers.

Since the cleaning roll comes into contact with the lower surface of the pallet to perform cleaning, it is not necessary to spray water, and scattering of water droplets can be suppressed. Therefore, there is no possibility that the side or the periphery of the pallet or an article loaded on the pallet gets wet. A pallet having a gap penetrating from the lower surface of the pallet to the load side can also be used.
By keeping the pallet bottom surface (ground surface) clean, even when multiple pallets are stacked, the transfer of dirt from the bottom surface of the upper pallet to the top surface (loading surface) of the lower pallet is prevented. be able to.

As mentioned above, although this invention has been demonstrated based on suitable embodiment, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned example, Various modifications are possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.
The cleaning member is not limited to a cleaning roll that performs cleaning by rotation. As long as it cleans or cleans the bottom surface of the pallet, various types such as reciprocating blades, brushes, etc., a brush provided in a fixed or followable state, an adhesive roll coated with an adhesive on the outer surface of the roll, etc. A configuration can be adopted.
As shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the cleaning member (cleaning roll) 38 for cleaning the lower surface 2 of the pallet 1, a cleaning member (cleaning roll) 39 for cleaning the side surface 3 of the pallet 1 is provided. It may be provided.
In addition, various conveyors such as a belt conveyor and a chain conveyor can be used as the conveyor for conveying the pallet. When using a belt conveyor, a chain conveyor, etc., for example, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of unit conveyors 13C, 13C,... Are installed in series along the conveying direction (indicated by an arrow R in FIG. 6). The cleaning member 38 can be provided in the gap 19 between the unit conveyors 13C and 13C.
In the present invention, an air shower or the like can be added to clean the upper surface of the pallet and the load. Further, in order to prevent dust from scattering, a suction device for sucking dust can be added.

  According to the present invention, the lower surface of the pallet or the like can be washed while being transported and carried into a clean environment such as a clean room. In addition to the pallet, when installing various devices and devices, the installation surface of these devices can be cleaned immediately before bringing them into a clean environment.

It is a front view which shows an example of the pallet washing | cleaning apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows the pallet washing | cleaning apparatus of FIG. It is a partial enlarged front view which shows the washing roll vicinity of the pallet washing apparatus of FIG. It is a partial enlarged front view which shows the water absorption roll vicinity of the pallet washing | cleaning apparatus of FIG. It is a fragmentary perspective view explaining the modification of the pallet washing | cleaning apparatus of this invention. It is a partial front view explaining the other modified example of the pallet washing apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

R: transport direction, 1 ... pallet, 2 ... bottom surface of pallet, 10 ... pallet washing device, 13 ... conveyor (roller conveyor), 14 ... transport roller, 15 ... conveyor entrance, 19 ... gap, 20 ... dry brush (cleaning) Member, cleaning roll), 21 ... water washing roll (cleaning member, cleaning roll), 22 ... water absorbing roll (cleaning member, cleaning roll), 38 ... cleaning member (cleaning roll).

Claims (5)

A pallet cleaning device for cleaning the lower surface of the pallet with a cleaning liquid,
A scraper that scrapes off the cleaning liquid adhering to the lower surface of the pallet on the downstream side of the one or more rinsing rolls that wipes the lower surface of the pallet with the cleaning liquid by contacting the lower surface of the pallet. is exposed from the same gap conveyor that can convey the pallet loaded with article wherein below the washing roll is provided with a pan washing liquid is placed, said washing roll, when rotated, The cleaning liquid in the pan adheres to the surface of the washing roll, and the surface of the washing roll comes into contact with the lower surface of the pallet, whereby the lower surface of the pallet is wiped and cleaned. A pallet cleaning apparatus, which is provided at a position where the cleaning liquid adhering to the lower surface is scraped off to the pan.   The conveyor is a roller conveyor in which a plurality of conveyance rollers are arranged apart from each other in the conveyance direction of the pallet, and the water washing roll is disposed in a gap between the conveyance rollers in parallel with the conveyance rollers. The pallet washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein   On the upstream side of the washing roll, which is the entrance side of the conveyor, one or more dry brushes for removing dust on the lower surface of the pallet are disposed in parallel with the conveying rollers in the gap between the conveying rollers, One or more water-absorbing rolls and one or more water-absorbing rolls for wiping off moisture adhering to the lower surface of the pallet are arranged in parallel to the conveying rollers in the gap between the conveying rollers, on the downstream side of the one or plural washing rolls and the scraper. The pallet washing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the pallet washing apparatus is provided.   The pallet washing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the dry brush and the water washing roll are rotationally driven in a direction opposite to a rotation direction of the transport roller. A pallet cleaning method for cleaning the lower surface of a pallet using the pallet cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
While transporting the lower surface of the pallet downward, the water washing roll is brought into contact with the lower surface of the pallet and the lower surface of the pallet is wiped with the water washing roll, and then the cleaning liquid adhering to the lower surface of the pallet is removed by the scraper. A pallet washing method characterized by scraping and cleaning the bread.

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