JP7352966B2 - Telescopic chain and chain mechanism equipped with the same - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a telescoping chain and a chain mechanism equipped with the same.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, sheet-like material processing apparatuses have been proposed that shrink (or stretch) a sheet-like material while transporting it. Such a sheet-like object processing device is equipped with a pair of left and right chains each having a large number of clips, and the sheet-like object is moved in a predetermined transport direction by rotating the chain while gripping both side edges of the sheet-like object with the clips. be transferred to. The chain is stretchable and gradually contracts (or expands) while transporting the sheet-like object, thereby contracting (or expanding) the sheet-like object in the transport direction.

For example, the telescopic chain included in the chain mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a plurality of clip parts and a plurality of chain units that connect adjacent clip parts, and each chain unit has a diamond-shaped apex in a plan view. It has a pair of upper and lower links that are interconnected by four pivot shafts located at. Each link includes four link members interconnected by the four pivot axes, and is configured such that the telescopic chain contracts or expands when the link members pivot about the pivot axes.

Further, the telescopic chain meshes with the sprocket and moves around in a predetermined direction as the sprocket rotates. At this time, the upright posture of the clip part is maintained by the driven rollers included in each clip part coming into contact with the guide rail and being guided.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-027404

The chain mechanism disclosed in Cited Document 1 has a structure in which four turning axes are arranged at the vertices of a rhombus, so that the telescopic chain can be stably extended and contracted. On the other hand, the fourth rotation axis of the chain unit is located inward (closer to the sprocket) than the first and second rotation axes, and the teeth of the sprocket enter between the first and second rotation axes, and the teeth of the sprocket enter between the first and second rotation axis. Alternatively, since the sprocket is configured to mesh with the second rotation axis, if a standard sprocket is used, the teeth of the sprocket will interfere with the fourth rotation axis. In order to avoid such interference, it was necessary to make adjustments such as thinning out every other sprocket tooth and making the root circle smaller. As a result, there has also been a problem that the strength of the teeth is reduced.

Furthermore, since the chain unit is located below the guide rail that guides the clip portion, there is a risk that the chain unit will wobble and the telescopic chain will run unstable.

An object of the present invention is to provide a telescoping chain that can mesh with a sprocket without adjusting the teeth of the sprocket, and a chain mechanism equipped with the same.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a chain mechanism that allows a telescopic chain to run more stably.

The telescopic chain and chain mechanism according to the present invention include a plurality of chain units, each chain unit having an upper link having first to fourth link members and a lower link having fifth to eighth link members. , first to third rotation axes connecting the upper link and the lower link, a fourth rotation axis connected to the upper link, and a fifth rotation axis connected to the lower link. The first to fourth pivot axes are arranged at the apexes of a rhombus in a plan view, and the second link member and the fourth link member are rotatably connected to each other via the fourth pivot shaft, The fifth pivot shaft is disposed below the fourth pivot shaft with a gap therebetween, and the sixth link member and the eighth link member are rotatably connected to each other via the fifth pivot shaft. .

According to the telescopic chain and chain mechanism according to the present invention, since the first to fourth rotation axes are arranged at the apexes of the rhombus, the telescopic chain can be stably extended and contracted. In addition, since there is a gap between the fourth and fifth rotation axes, when the sprocket is engaged with the telescopic chain, the teeth of the sprocket can be positioned in the gap, and the teeth of the sprocket and There is no need to thin out the sprocket teeth or modify the sprocket tooth profile to avoid interference with the rotation axis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view of a sheet processing device including a chain mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram showing a telescopic chain in an expanded state included in the chain mechanism shown in FIG. 1, in which (a) is a sectional view taken along line IIa-IIa in FIG. 1, (b) is a side view seen from the direction of arrow IIb in FIG. 1, (c) is a sectional view taken along the line IIc-IIc in FIG. 2(b). 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the telescopic chain shown in FIG. 2 is contracted, in which (a) is a sectional view taken along line IIIa-IIIa in FIG. 1, (b) is a side view seen from the direction of arrow IIIb in FIG. 1, and (c) is a A sectional view taken along the line IIIc-IIIc in FIG. 3(b). FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the engagement between the telescopic chain and the sprocket shown in FIG. 2; A diagram showing the engagement between a conventional telescopic chain and a sprocket.

Hereinafter, a chain mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The chain mechanism according to this embodiment is used, for example, in a sheet-like object processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1.

The sheet-like object processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. Both edges of the sheet-like material S in the width direction D1 are held and transported in a predetermined transport direction D2.

Each transfer device 2 includes a telescopic chain 3 that is a circular endless chain, a circulating means (transfer means) 4 for circulating the telescopic chain 3, and a guide rail 5 for guiding the telescopic chain 3, The telescopic chain 3, the circulating means 4, and the guide rail 5 constitute a chain mechanism. The orbiting means 4 includes a pair of sprockets 41, 41 arranged along the transfer direction D2, and a pair of electric motors 42, 42 that rotationally drive each sprocket 41, 41, and the telescopic chain 3 is connected to the sprocket 41. It is meshed and spanned between a pair of sprockets 41, 41.

Referring also to FIG. 2, the guide rail 5 includes a first guide rail 51 and a second guide rail 52. By rotationally driving the sprockets 41, 41 in a predetermined direction by the drive motors 42, 42, the telescopic chain 3 moves (circularly moves) along the guide rail 5 in a predetermined circumferential direction D3.

In the following description, "inside" means the side where the telescopic chain 3 faces the sprocket 41 (i.e., the inside of the loop of the telescopic chain 3), and "outside" means the opposite side (i.e., the side where the telescopic chain 3 faces the sprocket 41). (outside the loop of 3).

The telescopic chain 3 is selectively retractable in the length direction and includes a plurality of clip portions 6 and a plurality of chain units 7. Each chain unit 7 connects a pair of adjacent clip portions 6 to each other.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, each clip portion 6 is rotatably supported by a clip means 61 that holds the sheet-like object S, a support body 62 that supports the clip means 61 from below, and a support body 62 that supports the clip means 61 from below. and driven rollers 63 to 66.

The support body 62 has a side wall portion 62a, an upper wall portion 62b extending inward from the upper end of the side wall portion 62a, and a lower wall portion 62c extending inward from the lower end of the side wall portion 62a. The upper wall portion 62b has a crank shape and includes an inner portion 62b1 and an outer portion 62b2 located outside and above the inner portion 62b1.

The driven rollers 63 and 64 are located below the upper wall portion 62b, contact the first guide rail 51 from the outside and the inside, respectively, and are rotatable about the rotation shaft extending in the vertical direction. ) is supported. The driven roller 65 is located above the lower wall portion 62c, contacts the first guide rail 51 from the outside, and is supported by the lower wall portion 62c so as to be rotatable about a rotation shaft extending in the vertical direction. The driven roller 66 contacts the first guide rail 51 from above and is rotatably supported by the upper wall portion 62b.

Each chain unit 7 includes a pair of upper and lower links 71 and 72 arranged at intervals in the vertical direction, and five pivot shafts S1 to S5. The rotation axes S1 to S4 are arranged at the vertices of a rhombus in plan view, and the rotation axis S1 and the rotation axis S2 are arranged opposite to each other in the circumferential direction D3. The rotation axis S5 is located below the rotation axis S4, and the rotation axis S5 and the rotation axis S4 are arranged opposite to the rotation axis S3 in a direction perpendicular to the circumferential direction D3 (width direction/internal/internal direction of the telescopic chain 3). ing.

The upper link 71 includes first to fourth link members 71a to 71d that are rotatably connected to each other by pivot axes S1 to S4, and the lower link 72 is rotatably connected to each other by pivot axes S1 to S3 and S5. It includes fifth to eighth link members 72a to 72d that are freely connected.

That is, the rotation axes S1 to S3 interconnect the pair of upper and lower links 71 and 72, while the rotation axes S4 and S5 are shorter than the rotation axes S1 to S3, and there is no space between the rotation axes S4 and S5. A space G (FIG. 2(a)) is provided.

The first link member 71a and the second link member 71b extend parallel to each other, and the third link member 71c and the fourth link member 71d extend parallel to each other. One ends of the first and fourth link members 71a and 71d are pivotable about a pivot axis S1, and one ends of the second and third link members 71b and 71c are pivotable about a pivot axis S2. There is. Further, the other end portions of the first and third link members 71a and 71c are pivotable around a pivot axis S3, and the other end portions of the second and fourth link members 71b and 71d are pivotable around a pivot axis S4. It is said to be free. As a result, the link 71 as a whole has a substantially rhombic shape in plan view.

Similarly, the fifth link member 72a and the sixth link member 72b extend parallel to each other, and the seventh link member 72c and the eighth link member 72d extend parallel to each other. One ends of the fifth and eighth link members 72a and 72d are pivotable around the pivot axis S1, and one ends of the sixth and seventh link members 72b and 72c are pivotable around the pivot axis S2. There is. Further, the other end portions of the fifth and seventh link members 72a and 72c are pivotable around the pivot axis S3, and the other end portions of the sixth and eighth link members 72b and 72d are pivotable around the pivot axis S5. It is said to be free. As a result, the link 72 as a whole also has a substantially rhombic shape in plan view.

In this configuration, the chain unit 7 forms the planar shape of the links 71 and 72 as shown in FIG. Between a stretched state in which the long axis direction of the rhombus is in the circumferential direction D3 and a contracted state in which the short axis direction of the rhombic shape forming the planar shape of the links 71 and 72 is in the circumferential direction D3, as shown in FIG. 3(c). It can be expanded and contracted.

Further, the upper and lower ends of the first pivot shaft S1 of each chain unit 7 are rotatably connected to the upper wall part 62b (more specifically, the inner part 62b1) and the lower wall part 62c of the clip part 6 adjacent to the upstream side. The upper end and lower end of the second pivot shaft S2 are rotatably connected to the upper wall part 62b and the lower wall part 62c of the clip part 6 adjacent to the downstream side, respectively. In this way, the chain unit 7 is interposed between a pair of adjacent clip portions 6 to connect them.

Each chain unit 7 further includes a pair of driven rollers 73 and 74 that come into contact with the second guide rail 52. The driven rollers 73, 74 are located below the link 72, the rotation axis of the driven roller 73 is coaxial with the rotation axis S3, and the rotation axis of the driven roller 73 is coaxial with the rotation axis S4, S5. Therefore, when the driven rollers 73, 74 are guided in a direction away from each other by the second guide rail 52 and the distance between the driven rollers 73, 74 increases, the chain unit 7 changes from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the state shown in FIG. 3. When the driven rollers 73 and 74 are guided toward each other by the second guide rail 52 and the distance between the driven rollers 73 and 74 narrows, the chain unit changes from the state shown in FIG. 3 to the state shown in FIG. Expand to.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide rail 5 includes the first guide rail 51 for guiding the clip part 6 and the second guide rail 52 for guiding the chain unit 7, as described above. have The first guide rail 51 and the second guide rail 52 are annular rails arranged along the circumferential path of the telescopic chain 3, and the clip portion 6 is formed by the driven rollers 63 to 65 coming into contact with the first guide rail 51. It moves in the circumferential direction D3 while being guided by the first guide rail 51.

Note that the first guide rail 51 is provided with a through hole (not shown) at a position facing the sprocket 41, and the sprocket 41 is configured to mesh with the telescopic chain 3 through the through hole.

In this configuration, as shown in FIG. 4, the teeth 41a of each sprocket 41 mesh with the first pivot shaft S1 and the second pivot shaft S2 of the chain link 7, and when the sprocket 41 rotates in a predetermined direction, the telescopic chain 3 rotates in the rotation direction D3.

Here, FIG. 5 shows the engagement between the telescopic chain 103 and the sprocket 141 disclosed in Cited Document 1. As shown in FIG. 5, in Cited Document 1, the upper link and lower link of the telescopic chain 103 are connected by four pivot shafts S1, S2, S3, and S104 arranged at the vertices of a rhombus. Therefore, the teeth 141a of the sprocket 141 cannot mesh with the rotating shaft S2 because the rotating shaft S104 gets in the way, and in order to achieve meshing with the rotating shaft S1, every other tooth of the standard sprocket is At the same time, the tooth root circle is enlarged to increase the height of the tooth. For this reason, it took time and effort to process the sprocket, and the strength of the teeth was also reduced.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, since the gap G is provided, the teeth 41a of the sprocket 41 enter the gap G provided between the fourth rotation axis S4 and the fifth rotation axis S5, and the teeth 41a of the sprocket 41 enter the gap G provided between the fourth rotation axis S4 and the fifth rotation axis S5. Therefore, even if a standard sprocket is used as the sprocket 41, there is no need to thin out the teeth 41a. Further, there is no need to enlarge the root circle to increase the height of the tooth 41a, and the strength of the tooth 41a can be maintained.

Furthermore, since the engagement position between the sprocket 41 and the telescopic chain 3 is located between the driven rollers 63, 64 and the driven roller 65 guided by the first guide rail 51 in the vertical direction, the engagement position between the sprocket 41 and the telescopic chain 3 is Compared to the conventional configuration in which the position is below the driven roller, the looseness of the chain unit 7 is reduced, and the running of the telescopic chain 3 can be stabilized. Furthermore, in addition to the driven roller 64 that abuts the first guide rail 51 from the inside, a driven roller 63 that abuts the first guide rail 51 from the outside at the same height as the driven roller 64 is provided, so that the running of the clip portion 6 is prevented. It can be further stabilized.

Although the chain mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the attached drawings, the present invention is not limited to such embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is.

1 Sheet material processing device 2 Sheet material transfer device 3 Telescopic chain 5 Guide rail 6 Clip portion (connection portion)
7 Chain unit 51 First guide rail 52 Second guide rail 63 Driven roller (first driven roller)
64 Driven roller (3rd driven roller)
65 Driven roller (second driven roller)
66 Driven rollers 71, 72 Link 71a First link member 71b Second link member 71c Third link member 71d Fourth link member 72a Fifth link member 72b Sixth link member 72c Seventh link member 72d Eighth link member 73, 74 Driven roller D1 Width direction D2 Transfer direction D3 Circumferential direction S1 Rotating axis (first rotating axis)
S2 pivot axis (second pivot axis)
S3 Rotating axis (3rd rotating axis)
S4 Rotating axis (4th rotating axis)
S5 Rotating axis (5th rotating axis)
S Sheet-like material G Gap

Claims (5)

Equipped with multiple chain units,
Each chain unit includes an upper link having first to fourth link members, a lower link having fifth to eighth link members, and first to third turns connecting the upper link and the lower link. a fourth pivot shaft connected to the upper link, and a fifth pivot shaft connected to the lower link,
The first to fourth rotation axes are arranged at the vertices of a rhombus in a plan view,
The second link member and the fourth link member are rotatably connected to each other via the fourth pivot shaft,
The fifth rotation axis is arranged below the fourth rotation axis with a gap,
The sixth link member and the eighth link member are rotatably connected to each other via the fifth pivot shaft. The telescopic chain according to claim 1;
a sprocket that is engaged with the telescopic chain and driven to rotate,
The sprocket is a chain mechanism that meshes with the first pivot shaft and the second pivot shaft. The telescopic chain according to claim 1;
guide rail and
a sprocket that meshes with the telescopic chain;
The telescopic chain further includes a connecting member that connects a pair of adjacent chain units,
The connecting member has a first driven roller and a second driven roller that come into contact with the guide rail, and the second driven roller is located below the first driven roller,
In the chain mechanism, the engagement position of the sprocket and the telescopic chain is located between the first driven roller and the second driven roller in the vertical direction. The connecting member further includes a third driven roller that comes into contact with the guide rail,
4. The chain mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the third driven roller is disposed to face the first driven roller with the guide rail in between. The telescopic chain according to claim 1;
Equipped with a guide rail,
Each chain unit further includes a pair of driven rollers that come into contact with the guide rail,
When the pair of driven rollers are guided in a direction away from each other by the guide rail and the distance between the pair of driven rollers increases, the chain unit contracts;
When the pair of driven rollers are guided toward each other by the guide rail and the distance between the pair of driven rollers narrows, the chain unit expands.

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