JP4784472B2 - Sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorting facility for sorting a large number of articles to be sorted, for example, books for each store.

  Conventionally, the following configurations have been proposed as this type of sorting equipment. That is, this sorting facility is a device in which a plurality of sorting conveyors are provided on an endless drive body to form an endless transport path, and in the middle of this transport path, a plurality of articles to be sorted from the sorting conveyor, for example, books are received. The receiving part is provided. The sorting conveyor has a pair of front and rear wheels, an endless belt wound around these wheels and rotatable along the direction of the transport path, and the end of the transport path on the endless drive body side. Is attached so as to be tiltable around a transverse axis perpendicular to the axis. Furthermore, a pair of front and rear horizontal rails for positioning when the book is placed are disposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the endless belt body of the sorting conveyor, and the receiving unit is a passive unit connected to the ring body. The book was dropped by being rotated half a turn by a turning force applying means for rotating the ring body with its own moving force (see Patent Document 1).

  By the way, when the endless belt body is rotated halfway, the rotation is only performed by pressing from above, so that it is not possible to accurately rotate the half-circumference, that is, when the position of the cross rail is shifted, the book is moved back and forth. It will not be possible to place it in a normal posture between the piers.

Therefore, in the sorting equipment, the material of the endless belt body is changed in the middle, that is, the folded portion of the ring body at the normal position where the position of the crosspiece is not shifted is formed by forming a large number of holes to be elastic. By weakening the force (rigidity), if the position of the cross rail shifts and another part with strong elastic force comes to the folded part, it will be natural to try to straighten itself by strong elastic force, that is, strong repulsive force. It was supposed to return to the correct position.
JP 2002-240934 A

  However, according to the structure of the endless belt body of the sorting conveyor described above, the folded portions on both sides are weakened, but when the portion with large elastic force is located at the contact portion with the ring body, the original state is naturally restored. Therefore, there was a problem that books would fall and missorted.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sorting facility that can return to the correct position even when the position of the horizontal rail is large.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the sorting equipment according to the present invention has an endless drive body provided with a plurality of sorting conveyors to form an endless transport path, and an article to be sorted is placed on the sort conveyor in the middle of the transport path. An endless belt provided with a supply unit for supplying and a receiving unit for receiving an object to be sorted on the sorting conveyor, and the sorting conveyor being wound around the ring bodies at both ends so as to be rotatable in the direction of the conveying path And a cross rail disposed on the lower side of each of the upper and lower surfaces of the endless belt body and forming a guide space on the upper side and lower surface of the endless belt body on the upper side of the rotational direction. And a sorting facility provided with a turning force applying means capable of rotating the endless belt body by rotating the ring body in the receiving portion,
A conveyor detecting means for detecting a conveyor by detecting a detected member provided on the sorting conveyor side is provided at a position higher than the supply position of the sorted article in the transport path, and a predetermined distance from the conveyor detecting means. A horizontal beam detecting means arranged on the lower side to detect a horizontal beam on the lower surface of the sorting conveyor;
A detection operation instruction unit that inputs a detection signal from the conveyor detection unit and outputs a detection operation signal to the cross beam detection unit;
When an output signal from the cross beam detecting means is input to determine whether or not the position of the cross beam is displaced, and when it is determined that the cross beam is displaced, an operation signal is sent to the turning force applying means. And a correction instructing section for rotating the endless belt body so as to eliminate the positional deviation of the cross rail,
In addition, the other sorting equipment of the present invention uses a portion corresponding to the guide space portion of the endless belt body as a low-flexibility belt portion, and is wound around the ring body when the rotation is stopped, so that an article to be sorted is not placed. The part corresponding to the non-guide space part is a highly flexible belt part,
Further, a proximity sensor is used as the conveyor detection means, and a laser beam type is used as the cross beam detection means.

  According to the configuration of the sorting equipment described above, even when the horizontal beam is largely displaced, if the position error is detected by the horizontal beam detecting means, the endless belt body is rotated by the rotating power applying means, and the original normal position is detected. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the sorting object from being dropped or missorted during sorting.

[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, sorting equipment according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The sorting facility according to the present embodiment is for sorting, for example, many kinds of books (books) for each store.

  In the present embodiment, first, a portion related to the original function of sorting books in the sorting equipment will be described, and thereafter, the positional deviation of the endless belt of the sorting conveyor is eliminated, that is, the guide space for guiding the books is returned to the normal position. To be more precise, a configuration for returning the lateral rail position shift will be described.

First, the structure of the part regarding the original function of the sorting equipment will be described.
2 and 3, a roller chain (an example of an endless drive body) 11 is rotatably provided on the machine frame 1 that can be installed on the floor side. That is, the machine frame 1 has a long frame shape, and the longitudinal axes 13 and 16 are rotatably provided at both end portions in the length direction via the bearing devices 12 and 15, respectively. Sprocket wheels 14 and 17 are respectively attached to the upper portions of the vertical axes 13 and 16, and the roller chain 11 is wound between the sprocket wheels 14 and 17.

  One sprocket wheel 14 is on the drive side and is linked to a motor 21 provided in the machine casing 1. That is, the drive sprocket 23 provided on the drive shaft 22 on the motor 21 side and the passive sprocket 24 provided on the longitudinal axis 13 are linked and connected via the transmission chain 25. The passive sprocket wheel 17 is configured to be movable with respect to one sprocket wheel 14 by tension adjusting means (not shown) provided between the machine casing 1 and the bearing device 15.

On the roller chain 11 side, sorting conveyors 31 are provided at predetermined pitches, and thus a plurality of sorting conveyors 31 form endless transport paths 30. Here, the sorting conveyor 31 group is attached to the roller chain 11 in a cantilever manner.
That is, in FIGS. 2 to 4, 7, 9, and 10, the frame bodies 3 are arranged between the sprocket wheels 14 and 17 and below the pair of left and right linear paths by the roller chain 11. These frame bodies 3 are attached to the machine casing 1. Here, the frame body 3 is shaped like a rail, and on its upper side, a downward receiving guide surface 4 is formed at an inner position, a left and right guide surface 5 is formed at an intermediate position, and an upward support guide at an outer position. Surface 6 is formed. Further, a regulation guide surface 7 (an example of a constituent member of the guide means described later) 7 is formed at the outer position on the lower side.

  The sorting conveyor 31 is provided with a moving member 32 positioned at the frame body 3, and this moving member 32 is provided on the lower surface side of the roller chain 11 by using the link pin 11 a as a connector. It is connected. A pair of front and rear guide rollers 33 are provided below the moving member 32 to be guided by being fitted to the left and right guide surfaces 5.

  A support shaft 34 in the left-right direction is passed through the moving member 32, and a receiving roller 35 is provided at the inner end of the support shaft 34 so as to be freely rotatable. The receiving roller 35 is disposed below the receiving guide surface 4. It is contacted from. Further, outside the moving member 32, a supported roller 36 is provided on the support shaft 34 so as to freely rotate, and the supported roller 36 is in contact with the support guide surface 6 from above.

  The support shaft 34 is elongated to the outside, and a conveyor frame 37 is provided therethrough via a bearing 38, so that the conveyor frame 37 is orthogonal to the direction of the transport path 30 on the roller chain 11 side. Are attached so as to be tiltable around a horizontal axis of the shaft, that is, the support axis 34A. At this time, the position of the support shaft 34 is closer to the front in the direction of the transport path 30, so that the conveyor frame 37 is placed around the support shaft axis 34 </ b> A so that the rear portion is in the lower position due to its own weight. It will be tilted automatically.

  A pair of front and rear roller bodies (an example of a ring body) 40 and 42 are provided on the conveyor frame 37 so as to be freely rotatable via left and right ring body shafts 41 and 43, respectively. An endless belt body 44 is wound between the roller bodies 40 and 42, so that the endless belt body 44 is configured to be rotatable in the direction of the conveyance path 30.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, horizontal rails 45 are respectively provided at the rear position (lower side in the rotational direction) of the upper surface of the endless belt body 44 and the front position (lower side in the rotational direction) of the lower surface. A guide space portion (also referred to as a placement portion) S in which a book can be placed is formed on the upper side in the rotational direction of each roller body 40, 42 from each horizontal rail 45. The horizontal rail 45 is formed, for example, by laminating a plurality of strip-like members 45a, the lower end portions of the strip-like members 45a on both surfaces in the thickness direction project downward, and the projecting portion 45b is endless. By being fixed to the outer surface of the belt body 44, the belt body 44 is provided upright at two locations. Hereinafter, the belt-like member 45a is also referred to as a vertical portion.

  Here, the position of the horizontal beam 45 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 12, when the endless belt body 44 is in a normal stop state (normal position), the upper horizontal beam 45 is positioned on the rear roller body 42. It is arranged inside the center line (near the roller body 40 on the opposite side), and the horizontal rail 45 on the lower surface is arranged inside the center line of the roller body 40 on the front side (near the roller body 42 on the opposite side). The distance H on the upper side in each rotation direction is set to the guide space portion (more precisely, the portion on the upper side of the vertical portion of the cross rail) S, and other than the guide space portion S. A portion, that is, a portion wound around the outer periphery of each of the roller bodies 40 and 42 is a non-guide space portion N. Therefore, at the normal position of the endless belt body 44, the upper and lower horizontal rails 45 are point-symmetric in the vertical direction. In addition, a groove 45c is formed in the horizontal rail 45 at predetermined intervals to form a rectangular pulse (this groove is only shown in FIG. 11).

  Further, the endless belt body 44 is made of a resin-impregnated canvas and has two highly flexible belt portions 44A wound around the roller bodies 40 and 42 (corresponding to the non-guide space N) when the rotation is stopped. The remaining two low-flexible belt portions 44B (corresponding to the guide space portion S) are formed.

  Specifically describing these belt portions 44A and 44B, the two low-flexible belt portions 44B on the upper and lower surfaces (the length is the distance between the centers of both roller bodies 40 and 42) are two layers. The two highly flexible belt portions 44A are formed of one layer. In other words, the endless belt body 44 is formed by stacking one layer of canvas on a layer corresponding to the low flexibility belt portion 44B. It should be noted that there are optical axes (for example, photo detection) for detecting books at the left and right front and rear positions (eight positions in total) of the low flexibility belt portion 44B of the endless belt body 44. A long hole 44b for allowing the sensor light) to pass through the upper and lower surfaces is formed (this long hole is also shown only in FIG. 11).

  A bracket 46 is connected to the rear side of the conveyor frame 37 at the frame body 3 side, and a guided roller 47 fitted to the regulation guide surface 7 is provided at the free end of the bracket 46. Is provided. A friction ring body 48 which is a passive ring body interlocked with the roller body 40 is provided at an end of the front ring body shaft 41 on the frame body 3 side. A friction layer 48a is laminated.

  The conveyor frame 37 is provided with a side guide body 49 that is distributed to the left and right. The moving member 32 is provided with guide rollers 39 that are positioned before and after the receiving roller 35. Further, a detected portion 50 is provided near one side (inside) of the moving member 32. The free end of the bracket 46 is provided with a block portion 46A that abuts against the regulating guide surface 7 when the guided roller 47 is detached and prevents unintentional tilting of the sorting conveyor 31. An example of the sorting conveyor 31 is configured by the above 32 to 50 and the like.

  The conveyance path 30 has an oval endless shape, and a pair of left and right linear path portions are formed. A supply means 51 for supplying the book A is provided on the sorting conveyor 31 so as to be opposed to the starting end portion of the one linear path portion. Further, a receiving portion 71 group for receiving the book A from the sorting conveyor 31 is provided so as to face the end portion.

  The sorting conveyor 31 is largely inclined with the endless belt body 44 in a horizontal state to receive the book A from the supply means 51 and the supply side (supply side with respect to the receiving portion 71) on which the cross rail 45 is positioned as a lower position. After that, the tilt restricting guide means for guiding the guided rollers 47 provided on the sorting conveyor 31 side so as to return to a small inclination and reach the receiving section 71 group is provided along the conveyance path 30. Is provided.

  A part of the guide means is constituted by the restriction guide surface 7 described above, and when the guided roller 47 is guided by the restriction guide surface 7, the endless belt body 44 of the sorting conveyor 31 has a small inclination (inclination angle). Is set to be about 20 °. Then, between the upper part of the supply means 51 and the slightly upper part of the receiving portion 71, the forming member of the restriction guide surface 7 in the frame body 3 is removed, and the guide body 8 is formed in the removed part. Is provided.

  The guide body 8 includes a start end raising portion 8a that lifts the guided roller 47 from the restriction guide surface 7, and an upper horizontal portion 8b that is connected to the start end raising portion 8a and is positioned above the restriction guide surface 7. A descending portion 8c continuous with the upper horizontal portion 8b, a lower horizontal portion 8d continuous with the descending portion 8c and positioned below the regulation guide surface 7, and a regulation guide continuous with the lower horizontal portion 8d. It is comprised by the terminal raising part 8e which guides the to-be-guided roller 47 to the surface 7. FIG.

  Here, when the guided roller 47 is guided by the upper horizontal portion 8b, the endless belt body 44 of the sorting conveyor 31 becomes horizontal, and when the guided roller 47 is guided by the lower horizontal portion 8d. The endless belt body 44 of the sorting conveyor 31 is set to have a large inclination (the inclination angle is about 45 °). The guide body 8 is attached to the frame body 3 side.

  The supply means 51 includes a plurality of belt conveyors, that is, a receiving-side conveyor 52, an intermediate conveyor 53, an input-side conveyor 54, and the like. Then, a receiving portion 55 is formed by the start end portion of the receiving side conveyor 52, and the book A is handed over to the receiving side conveyor 52 artificially or mechanically in the receiving portion 55. In addition, the input side conveyor 54 is disposed in a slanted manner with the end at the lower end, and an input part (also a supply part) 56 to the sorting conveyor 31 is formed outside the end. A bar code reader 57 is provided in the supply means 51. An IC tag or the like may be used instead of the barcode reader 57.

  The sorting conveyor 31 is of a type to which turning power is applied from the outside. That is, the receiving section 71 group is disposed below the transport path 30, and a rotational power applying means 61 for rotating the endless belt body 44 of the target sorting conveyor 31 is provided in each receiving section 71. It has been. Here, the rotational force imparting means 61 is freely movable toward and away from the friction ring 48 and is engaged with the friction ring 48 by the movement of the friction ring 48 so that the friction wheel is moved by the moving force along the conveying path 30 of the sorting conveyor 31. The body 48 is configured to rotate.

  That is, the rotational force imparting means 61 has a cylinder device 63 with a guide attached to the frame body 3 via a bracket 62, and an upper lift body 65 is provided on the downward piston rod 64. A lower elevating body 67 is provided below the upper elevating body 65 so as to be able to move up and down relatively via a 4-link mechanism 66. At this time, the lower swing limit of the 4-link mechanism 66 is the upper elevating body. It is regulated by the contact of the link with the stopper portion 68 on the 65 side.

  A friction rail body 69 that can be brought into contact with and separated from the friction ring body 48 from above is provided below the lower elevating body 67, and a friction layer 69a is laid on the lower surface side of the friction rail body 69. Yes. A coil spring 70 is provided between the link of the four-link mechanism 66 and the upper elevating body 65 as an urging member for urging the four-link mechanism 66 to the lower swing limit. The friction body 69 a of the friction rail body 69 is configured to come into contact with the ring body 48 through the elastic force of the coil spring 70.

  Therefore, in a state where the friction layer 69a of the friction rail body 69 is lowered together with the lower elevating body 67, the friction ring body 48 is brought into contact with the friction layer 69a from below so that the friction by the moving force of the sorting conveyor 31 occurs. The endless belt body 44 can be rotated by rotating the ring body 48 to drive and rotate the roller body 40.

  At this time, the frictional length of the friction rail body 69 is such that the horizontal rail 45 positioned above the both roller bodies 40 and 42 is positioned below the both roller bodies 40 and 42, and both the roller bodies 40 and 42. Is set so that the horizontal crosspiece 45 located below the upper side of the roller bodies 40 and 42 is located. An example of the rotational force applying means 61 is configured by the above-described 62 to 70 and the like.

  The receiving unit 71 group is configured by, for example, a storage box 72 having an open top provided below the transport path 30. Corresponding to each receiving part 71, a detecting means 73 for detecting the detected part 50 in the sorting conveyor 31 is provided.

  By the way, as described above, even if the endless belt body 44 is slightly misaligned, due to the difference in flexibility that is its own structure, that is, the difference in elastic force (rigidity) (also referred to as elastic restoring force), Although the book is returned to the normal position where the book can be correctly guided into the guide space S, a mechanism capable of correcting the positional deviation is provided in order to cope with the case where the positional deviation is large.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1, a position shift of the crosspiece 45 is detected and positioned on the upper side than the supply means 51 of the transport path 30 (at least on the front side where books are put on the sorting conveyor 31). A misalignment correcting device 101 is provided which can operate the turning force applying means 61 when a misalignment is detected. In FIG. 1, the misalignment correcting device 101 is illustrated as a correct position arranged on the linear path portion on the upper side of the supply unit 51, but in FIGS. 2 and 3, the relationship created by enlarging the drawings. For the sake of convenience, the feeding means 51 is shown on the upper side of the input side conveyor 54.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 and FIG. 13, this misalignment correcting apparatus 101 is a plate to be detected which is erected on the upper surface of the moving member 32 of the sorting conveyor 31 on the other side (outside) and at a predetermined position. (An example of a detected member) 102 and a detection sensor (an example of a conveyor detection means, such as a proximity switch) that is arranged along the conveyance path 30 and can detect the detected plate body 102 in a non-contact manner. 103, a contact type can also be used), and a cross beam detecting means which is arranged below the conveying path 30 and can detect the front cross beam 45 (45A) on the lower surface of the sorting conveyor 31. 104. The detected plate body 102 is composed of a mounting portion 102a having an L-shaped side view provided on the moving member 32 side, and a detected plate 102b mounted on the upper end of the mounting portion 102a. The detection plate 102b is formed of a material that can be sensed by the detection sensor 103 such as a proximity sensor, such as an iron plate.

  In addition, the cross beam detecting means 104 is, for example, a detection operation instruction for inputting a detection signal from the laser emitter 111, the laser sensor unit 112, and the detection sensor 103 and outputting a detection operation signal to the laser emitter 111. When the horizontal beam 45 is detected by inputting the output signal (reflected laser light detection signal) from the unit 113 and the laser sensor unit 112 and the horizontal beam 45 is not detected, the uppermost rotation is performed. The power applying means 61 is slightly changed [for example, converted into a time and a distance corresponding to about 1/4 of the time of sorting the books, in other words, about 1/4 of the total length of the endless belt body 44. For example, when a large positional shift occurs in the endless belt body 44, the highly flexible belt portion 44A can be moved to the outer half circumference portion of the roller bodies 40 and 42 (that is, the highly flexible belt portion 44). There and a winding obtained) is such a Length positional deviation to correct the positional deviation of the rungs 45 actuates the correction instruction section 114. the roller body 40.

  The laser sensor unit 112 includes a reflection unit 112a that reflects the laser beam emitted from the laser emitter 111 toward the tip of the horizontal beam 45 when the laser beam is in a normal position, and the reflected laser beam reflected by the horizontal beam 45 and reflected. The light receiving unit 112b receives light. In addition, when the reflected laser beam from the horizontal beam 45 is received, a short pulse signal (detection signal) is output from the light receiving unit 112b. The positional deviation correction instruction unit 114 includes the positional deviation correction instruction unit. A signal extender (not shown) for extending the pulse signal is provided so that it can be detected even at a relatively long detection timing at 114.

Here, the mounting position and length of the detection plate 102b will be described.
As shown in FIG. 13, when the detection plate 102b is detected by the detection sensor 103, the mounting position of the detection plate 102b is determined by the laser sensor unit 112 when the horizontal beam 45 (45A) is in the normal position. The position is such that the horizontal bar 45 (45A) can be detected (in this sense, the relative distance between the detected plate body 102 and the laser sensor unit 112 is determined), and the detected plate The length L1 of 102b is such a length that it can be determined that the horizontal rail 45 (45A) that should be below the front roller body 40 has shifted to the rear roller body 42 side, that is, the roller body 40. Is long enough to detect the absence of the cross beam 45 over a certain distance L2 behind (in other words, L1 and L2 are equal). The length (distance) L2 is, for example, the length of the highly flexible belt portion 44A (the dimension when the horizontal beam is out of the normal position and closest to the roller body 40, and the horizontal beam is detected within this range. If you can't, you're sure to be out of place.)

  Hereinafter, the operation of the sorting equipment will be described. As in the case of the description of the apparatus, after the sorting operation that is an essential function of the sorting equipment is described, the positional deviation of the endless belt body 44, that is, the position of the crosspiece 45 The shift correcting operation will be described.

First, the sorting operation, which is an essential function of the sorting equipment, will be described.
When sorting the books A, an empty storage box 72 is arranged in each receiving unit 71. Here, the storage box 72 is, for example, for each store, and a signal for each store is input to the control device.

  Moreover, the sorting conveyor 31 group is moving in an endless train shape on the transport path 30. This is because the drive shaft 22 is rotated by driving the motor 21, and the rotational force is transmitted to the sprocket wheel 14 via the drive sprocket 23, the transmission chain 25, the passive sprocket 24, and the vertical axis 13 to rotate the roller chain 11. By moving it, it is performed via a moving member 32 that is connected to the roller chain 11 and supported and guided to the frame body 3 side.

  At this time, the lateral deflection and displacement of the moving member 32 can be regulated by guiding the pair of front and rear guide rollers 33 by the left and right guide surfaces 5, and the lifting is received and guided by the receiving roller 35 and the guide roller 39. It can be prevented by receiving and guiding by the surface 4, and lowering can be prevented by supporting and guiding the supported roller 36 by the support guide surface 6.

  Therefore, the sorting conveyor 31 group can be moved to the roller chain 11 in a cantilevered manner, that is, the driving and supporting structure is provided only on one side and the maintenance is easy. It can always be done stably. Of course, the endless belt body 44 in the moving sorting conveyor 31 is in a normal position, that is, in a position where the book A can be normally guided to the guide space S.

  In such a state, the book A to be sorted is placed on the receiving side conveyor 52 of the supply means 51 from the receiving unit 55. During conveyance from the receiving conveyor 52 to the intermediate conveyor 53, the barcode of the book A is read by the barcode reader 57, and a reading signal is input to the control device. This book A is input from the input side conveyor 54 to the sorting conveyor 31 located below the input unit 56.

  At this time, in the sorting conveyor 31, as shown in FIGS. 4, 7 and 10A, the guided roller 47 is guided by the upper horizontal portion 8b, so that the endless belt body 44 is horizontal. It has become. Accordingly, the book A can be reliably loaded onto the low-flexibility belt portion 44B on the upper side of the horizontal rail 45 in the horizontal endless belt body 44.

  As described above, the sorting conveyor 31 supporting the book A on the low-flexibility belt portion 44B of the endless belt body 44 can move from the input unit 56 to the receiving unit 71 group. In this movement, as shown in FIG. 10B, the guided roller 47 is guided from the upper horizontal portion 8b to the descending portion 8c, so that the sorting conveyor 31, that is, the endless belt body 44 is provided. Is tilted (rotated) around the support shaft axis 34A so that the supply side at the rear end is lower.

  Then, by guiding the guided roller 47 from the descending portion 8c to the lower horizontal portion 8d, the endless belt body 44 is greatly inclined (inclination angle) as shown in FIG. 5, FIG. Can be around 45 °). Due to this inclination, the book A slides on the low-flexible belt portion 44B of the endless belt body 44 and comes into contact with the horizontal rail 45 located on the supply side at the rear end. As a result, the supporting posture of the book A that has been thrown in an uneven orientation on the low-flexibility belt portion 44B can be automatically aligned.

  After aligning the support posture of the book A in this way, as shown in FIG. 10C, the guided roller 47 is guided from the lower horizontal portion 8d to the terminal rising portion 8e. The endless belt body 44 is inclined (rotated) around the support shaft axis 34A so as to raise the supply side at the rear end thereof. Then, by guiding the guided roller 47 from the terminal rising portion 8e to the restricting guide surface 7, the endless belt body 44 is slightly inclined (the inclination angle is as shown in FIGS. 6, 8, and 10 (d)). 20 degrees).

  In this way, the sorting conveyor 31 group having the endless belt body 44 having a small inclination is moved above the receiving unit 71 group. Then, before the sorting conveyor 31 reaches the intended receiving portion 71, the detecting means 73 detects the detected portion 50 on the sorting conveyor 31 side. Based on the detection signal, the receiving portion 71 The corresponding turning force applying means 61 is operated.

  That is, the upper lifting body 65 is lowered by the extension movement of the cylinder device 63 and the lower lifting body 67 is lowered via the four-link mechanism 66, so that the friction rail body 69 is positioned lower. Then, the friction ring body 48 of the sorting conveyor 31 that has moved enters under the friction rail body 69, and the friction layer 48 a moves on the friction layer 69 a of the friction rail body 69.

  Thereby, the friction ring 48 can be reliably rotated by a large frictional resistance, and the roller body 40 can be forcibly rotated via the ring body shaft 41 to which the friction ring 48 is attached. By the forced rotation of the roller body 40, the endless belt body 44 can be rotated in the direction along the conveyance path 30 so that the upper part of the endless belt body 44 is inclined downward while the roller body 42 is idle. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 10D, the book A supported by the low-flexibility belt portion 44B is sent out and directly put into the storage portion of the target storage box 72.

  At that time, as described above, the book A on the low-flexibility belt portion 44B can be sent out with the orientation of the book A being uniform, and the book from the low-flexibility belt portion 44B. Since the belt separation of A can be made uniform from the beginning to the end, it can be suitably sorted into the storage box 72.

  The above-described entry of the friction ring body 48 under the friction rail body 69 is performed while slightly raising the friction rail body 69 against the coil spring 70, so that the friction layer 48a becomes the friction layer 69a. On the other hand, the friction ring body 48 is elastically pressed and can be reliably rotated according to the amount of movement.

  As a result, the endless belt body 44 is rotated by placing the horizontal rail 45 located above the roller body 42 below the roller body 40 and moving the horizontal rail 45 located below the roller body 40 to the roller. A half rotation can be performed so as to be positioned above the body 42.

  As described above, when the delivery operation of the book A by the rotation of the endless belt body 44 is completed, the turning power applying means 61 is reversely operated, and thereby the friction rail body 69 and the like are moved up to the non-operation position. Let In addition, when the book A that has been subsequently conveyed is sent out to the same storage box 72, the friction rail body 69 and the like may be put on standby in the lowered operating position without being moved up to the non-operating position.

  As described above, the rotation of the endless belt body 44 is performed half a turn, for example, the horizontal rail 45 positioned above the roller body 42 is positioned below the roller body 40. The crosspieces 45 may be displaced due to slip of the friction layer 48a with respect to the friction layer 69a, wear of the friction layer 48a, slip of the endless belt body 44 with respect to the roller bodies 40 and 42, and the like.

  That is, when the half rotation is not sufficiently performed and the desired half rotation is stopped with the horizontal rail 45 slightly deviated from the center of the roller bodies 40 and 42, for example, as shown in FIG. Supply of the next book A by means 51 will not be performed suitably. In this case, the rotating rear end portion 44a of the low-flexible belt portion (portion having a large elastic force) 44B is wound around a part of the circumferential portion of the roller bodies 40 and 42 and deformed into an arc shape against elasticity. Has been. That is, since the portion having a large elastic force is bent in an arc shape, an elastic restoring force (a force that makes the bent portion straight) acts on this portion, and the endless belt body 44 is naturally normal. Will rotate to the position.

  As described above, if the horizontal beam 45 is slightly displaced, the endless belt body 44 returns to the original normal position due to the elastic restoring force, but if the horizontal beam 45 is largely displaced, the endless belt body is restored. Only the elastic restoring force of 44 cannot be restored. For example, this is a case where the low-flexible belt portion (portion having a large elastic force) 44B is wound around the roller bodies 40 and 42 over a ½ circumference or more and stopped.

Hereinafter, an operation in the case where a large positional deviation occurs will be described.
That is, as shown in FIG. 15, when the horizontal rail 45 (45 </ b> A) that should originally be positioned below the center of the front roller body 40 is shifted to the rear side more than a half circumference of the roller body 40, this sorting conveyor 31. , The detected plate 102b provided on the sorting conveyor 31 is first detected by the detection sensor 103, and the detection signal is input to the detection operation instruction unit 113. The detection operation instruction unit 113 outputs a detection operation instruction, that is, a laser emission instruction, to the laser emitter 111. The laser light emitted from the laser emitter 111 is reflected by the reflecting portion 112a and is irradiated to the front side of the endless belt body 44. However, since there is no lateral beam 45 (45A) that should be originally present, the laser beam The light hits the endless belt body 44 itself and is not detected by the light receiving unit 112b (because it is detected by the light receiving unit 112b only when the laser beam is reflected by the cross beam 45). The detection operation using the laser light is repeatedly performed while the detection plate 102b is detected (that is, only the length of the detection plate).

  That is, while the detected plate 102b is being detected, a pulse signal as a detection signal is not input to the misalignment correction instruction unit 114. Therefore, in the misalignment correction instruction unit 114, the horizontal beam 45 is in the normal position (normal Is not an abnormal position, that is, it is determined that the position is greatly shifted. From here, the endless belt body 44 is slightly attached to the rotational force applying means 61 of the uppermost receiving portion 71, for example, in a normal state. An operation signal for rotating about 1/4 is output.

  Therefore, the friction rail body 69 of the rotational force applying means 61 is pressed against the friction ring body 48 of the sorting conveyor 31 to rotate the friction ring body 48, and the highly flexible belt portion 44 </ b> A that has been detached from the roller body 40 is replaced with the roller. In other words, the low flexibility belt portion 44B wound around the roller body 40 is removed from the roller body 40 leaving at least a part thereof. Thereafter, as described above, the endless belt body 44 is rotated by the elastic restoring force of the belt itself, and the crosspiece 45 returns to the normal position.

  When it is detected that the crosspiece 45 is greatly displaced, the misalignment correction instruction unit 114 sends the misalignment from the loading conveyor 54 of the book supply means 51 to the sorting conveyor 31 where the misalignment occurs. An instruction not to insert the book is output.

  As described above, even when the endless belt body 44 that can return to the original normal position by the elastic restoring force of the belt itself when there is a slight positional deviation, even when the endless belt body 44 is largely displaced, the cross beam detecting means 104 detects it. When the misalignment is detected, the endless belt body 44 is rotated by the rotational force applying means 61 arranged on the uppermost side and returned to the normal position of the cross rail 45 (or the position where it is returned by the elastic restoring force). Therefore, it is possible to prevent a book from being dropped or missorted in the insertion unit 56.

  Further, since the misalignment correcting device 101 can identify the sorting conveyor 31 that has caused the misalignment of the endless belt body 44 (for example, since a certain sorting conveyor is identified as the leading conveyor, the leading conveyor) Based on the above, it is possible to specify all sorting conveyors), and it is possible to concentrate maintenance and inspection on conveyors that are likely to be displaced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the length of the detection plate 102b of the detection plate 102 is set to the predetermined length L1 for determining the detection length L2 by the laser beam. For example, the detection plate 102b Can also be used as a trigger to start detection. In this case, after the detected plate 102b is detected, detection by the laser beam is continued for a time corresponding to the detection length L2 by the laser beam.

Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the thing using a laser beam as a cross beam detection means was demonstrated, it is not limited to this, For example, you may use an ultrasonic wave.
In the above-described embodiment, the cross rails 45 provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the endless belt body 44 are arranged one by one on the lower side in the rotational direction, that is, above the rear roller body 42 and below the front roller body 40. However, in addition to these, they may also be arranged on the upper side in the rotational direction as indicated by the phantom lines in FIG. Specifically, the cross rail 45 may be disposed above and below the roller bodies 40 and 42 (in a normal stop state of the endless belt body 44). In this case, a space between the pair of front and rear horizontal bars 45 and 45 is a guide space S on which a book can be placed.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, as the horizontal rail 45, the belt-shaped member (vertical portion) 45a formed with the groove 45c has been described, but there is no groove, that is, the belt-shaped member (vertical portion) 45a has a full length. It may have a predetermined height.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the sorting facility for sorting books has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to sorting facilities other than books.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the sorting equipment which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of the sorting equipment. It is a top view of the same sorting equipment. It is a side view in the horizontal part of the sorting conveyor in the sorting equipment. It is a vertical side view in the part which the sorting conveyor inclined greatly. It is a vertical side view in the part which the sorting conveyor inclined small. The sorting conveyor is a longitudinal front view in a horizontal part. It is a longitudinal front view in the part which the same sort conveyor inclined slightly. It is a partially notched top view in the part which the sorting conveyor inclined slightly. It is a schematic side view explaining the inclination state of the sorting conveyor. It is a perspective view of the sorting conveyor. It is sectional drawing which shows the normal position of the endless belt body in the same sorting conveyor. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the position shift correction apparatus of the sorting conveyor. It is sectional drawing which shows the position shift of the endless belt body in the same sorting conveyor. It is sectional drawing which shows the position shift of the endless belt body in the same sorting conveyor.

Explanation of symbols

A Book 1 Machine frame 3 Frame body 7 Restriction guide surface 8 Guide body 11 Roller chain 14 Sprocket wheel 17 Sprocket wheel 21 Motor 30 Transport path 31 Sorting conveyor 32 Moving member 34A Support shaft axis 37 Conveyor frame 40 Roller body 42 Roller body 44 Endless belt body 44A Highly flexible belt portion 44B Low flexible belt portion 45 Cross rail 46 Bracket 47 Guided roller 48 Friction wheel 51 Supply means 61 Turning power applying means 69 Friction rail body 71 Receiving part 72 Storage box 75 Hole 101 Position Deviation correction device 102 Detected plate body 102b Detected plate 103 Detection sensor 104 Horizontal beam detection means 111 Laser emitter 112 Laser sensor unit 113 Detection operation instruction unit 114 Position shift correction instruction unit

Claims (4)

An endless drive body is provided with a plurality of sorting conveyors to form an endless transport path, and in the middle of the transport path, a supply unit for feeding the sorted articles onto the sorting conveyor and an acceptance for receiving the sorted articles on the sorting conveyor And the sorting conveyor is wound around the loops at both ends so as to be rotatable in the direction of the transport path, and the rotational directions of the upper and lower surfaces of the endless belt. A horizontal beam which is arranged on the lower side and forms a guide space on the upper and lower surfaces on the upper side in the rotational direction, and is endless by rotating the ring body in the receiving portion. Sorting equipment provided with a turning force applying means capable of rotating the belt body,
A conveyor detecting means for detecting a conveyor by detecting a detected member provided on the sorting conveyor side is provided at a position higher than the supply position of the sorted article in the transport path, and a predetermined distance from the conveyor detecting means. A horizontal beam detecting means arranged on the lower side to detect a horizontal beam on the lower surface of the sorting conveyor;
A detection operation instruction unit that inputs a detection signal from the conveyor detection unit and outputs a detection operation signal to the cross beam detection unit;
When an output signal from the cross beam detecting means is input to determine whether or not the position of the cross beam is displaced, and when it is determined that the cross beam is displaced, an operation signal is sent to the turning force applying means. And a correction instructing section for rotating the endless belt body so as to eliminate the positional deviation of the cross rails.   The portion corresponding to the guide space portion of the endless belt body is a low-flexibility belt portion, and the portion corresponding to the non-guide space portion where the object to be sorted is not placed is wound around the ring when the rotation is stopped. The sorting equipment according to claim 1, wherein the sorting equipment is a belt.   3. The sorting equipment according to claim 1, wherein a proximity sensor is used as the conveyor detection means.   The sorting equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a laser beam type is used as the cross beam detecting means.

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