JP7575986B2 - Standing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a workpiece erecting device.

Various methods have been proposed for erecting and inverting workpieces transported by a conveyor. For example, a method has been disclosed in which an inverting device is provided between two conveyors arranged upstream and downstream, and the inverting device grips both sides of the workpiece, lifts and inverts it, and transfers it to the downstream conveyor. In addition, a method has been proposed in which part of the workpiece is lifted with a rotating arm or lifting arm, etc., and erected and rotated (Patent Document 1, etc.).

JP 2012-126496 A

However, the method of gripping both sides of the workpiece and lifting, rotating, and flipping it requires large equipment, which poses issues such as the installation space and introduction costs. In addition, the method of lifting part of the workpiece with a rotating arm or lifting arm can stand the workpiece in one direction, but is not suitable for changing the front and back orientation of the workpiece. Furthermore, if the shape of the workpiece is easily distorted, it is difficult to stand the workpiece while stabilizing its shape when lifting it by supporting only part of it.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and aims to provide a standing device that can stably stand a workpiece in a desired orientation.

The present invention is a workpiece erecting device, comprising an erecting section having an upstream conveying section that transports the workpiece and a downstream conveying section adjacent to the downstream side of the upstream conveying section and that transports the workpiece, the upstream conveying section being configured to rotate and erect around an axis that is disposed on the end side adjacent to the downstream conveying section and extends in a first direction perpendicular to the transport direction, the downstream conveying section being configured to rotate and erect around an axis that is disposed on the end side adjacent to the upstream conveying section and extends in the first direction, and the erecting section being configured to rotate the upstream conveying section and the downstream conveying section around the axis that extends in the first direction while maintaining the angle formed by the upstream conveying section and the downstream conveying section.

The erection device may further include a stock transport section for storing the workpiece discharged from the erection section, and the stock transport section may include an upstream stock section and a downstream stock section adjacent to the downstream side of the upstream stock section.

In the above-mentioned erection device, the multiple workpieces transported from the erection unit to the stock transport unit can include a first workpiece and a second workpiece, and when the first workpiece and the second workpiece are transported in this order, the upstream stock unit can be configured to transport the first workpiece to the downstream stock unit, and the downstream stock unit can be configured to hold the first workpiece until the second workpiece is transported to the upstream stock unit.

In the above-mentioned erecting device, the work has a first surface and an opposing second surface, the erecting section erects the work so that either the first surface or the second surface faces downstream in the transport direction, and the workpieces transported in sequence from the erecting section to the stock transport section are configured to be erected by the erecting section so that the first surface and the second surface alternately face downstream in the transport direction, and the first workpiece and the second workpiece are stored in the stock transport section so that the same surfaces of the first surface and the second surface face each other.

When the first workpiece and the second workpiece are transported in this order in the above-mentioned erecting device, the first workpiece and the second workpiece are transported to the erecting section with the first surface facing downward, and the first workpiece and the second workpiece can be stored in the stock transport section with the second surfaces facing each other.

In the above-mentioned erecting device, the workpiece can be a stack of multiple signatures that are stacked and bound together.

The erecting device may further include a second erecting section downstream of the erecting section, which has the same configuration as the erecting section, and the second erecting section may be used to tip over the workpiece erected in the erecting section and to invert the up-down orientation of the workpiece.

The erection device of the present invention allows the workpiece to be stably erected in the desired direction.

1 is a perspective view showing an example of a workpiece to be erected by the erecting device according to the present invention; 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 13A and 13B are side views showing an example of the operation of the standing part. 13A and 13B are side views showing an example of the operation of the standing part. 13A and 13B are side views showing an example of the operation of the standing part. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of the operation of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of the operation of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of the operation of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of the operation of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of the operation of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of the operation of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of the operation of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of the operation of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of the operation of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing an example of workpieces stored in the stock transport section. FIG. FIG. 11 is a side view showing another example of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing another example of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing another example of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing another example of the standing device. FIG. 11 is a side view showing another example of the standing device.

Below, one embodiment of a workpiece transport system including a stand-up device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

＜1. Overview of the Work＞
First, the work 1 to be conveyed by the conveying system of this embodiment will be described. The work 1 is a bundle of multiple rectangular signatures 10 stacked together, and is formed into a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole. For convenience of explanation, the six faces of the work 1 will be referred to as first to sixth faces 101 to 106. The first face 101 is a face on which the bag 11 sides of the signatures 10 are arranged, and the second face 102 is a face opposite to the first face 101. The third face 103 and the fourth face 104 correspond to the respective faces of the signatures 10 and are faces facing each other. The fifth face 105 and the sixth face 106 are the remaining facing faces. In this way, the stacked signatures 10 are bound by multiple bands 12. Each band 12 is wrapped around the work across the first to fourth faces 101 to 104.

2. Overview of the transport system
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the conveying system. As shown in FIG. 2, the conveying system of this embodiment includes a main conveying device 2 that conveys the above-mentioned workpieces 1 in a line, and a standing device 3 that is arranged downstream of the main conveying device 2 and stands and stocks the workpieces. The standing device 3 includes a standing section 4 that stands the workpieces 1, and a stock conveying section 5 that is arranged downstream of the standing section 4 and stocks the workpieces 1. The workpieces 1 stocked in the stock conveying section 5 are held by a robot arm (not shown) and conveyed to a waiting area or the like. Each part will be described in detail below. For convenience of explanation, a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the workpieces 1 and extending horizontally will be referred to as an orthogonal direction (first direction).

<3. Main conveying device>
Fig. 3 is a side view of the main conveying device. As shown in Fig. 3, the main conveying device 2 is a plurality of known roller conveyors 21 arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side. In this main conveying device 2, the workpiece 1 is conveyed with the third surface 103 facing downstream and the fourth surface 104 facing upstream. In addition, the first surface 101 of the workpiece 1 faces downward and contacts the roller conveyor 21, and the second surface 102 is installed facing upward. Therefore, the fifth surface 105 and the sixth surface 106 of the workpiece 1 face in orthogonal directions.

＜4. Standing section＞
4 is a side view of the standing part 4. The standing part 4 includes an upstream conveying part 41, a downstream conveying part 42 adjacent to the downstream side of the upstream conveying part 41, and a rotating member 44 disposed between the upstream conveying part 41 and the downstream conveying part 42. The rotating member 44 extends in the perpendicular direction and is supported by a motor (not shown) so as to be rotatable around an axis, although this is not limited thereto.

The upstream conveying section 41 includes a plurality of rollers 411 arranged in the conveying direction, and a pair of frames 412 arranged to sandwich the plurality of rollers 411. Each roller 411 is configured to be driven by a motor (not shown), and the plurality of rollers 411 are configured to be driven separately for each roller 411. However, the plurality of rollers 411 may be configured to be driven in conjunction with each other (each roller 411 is driven at the same speed), and is not particularly limited. Each end of the axial direction of each roller 411 is fixed to a frame 412. Each frame 412 is connected to a rotating member 44, and when the rotating member 44 rotates, the entire upstream conveying section 41 is configured to rotate around the rotating member 44. In addition, the connection between each frame 412 and the rotating member 44 is configured to be releasable.

With the above configuration, the upstream conveying section 41 can be in a first state in which it extends horizontally, and in a second state in which it rotates from this first state around the rotating member 44 and stands at an angle of approximately 90 degrees.

The downstream conveying section 42 is configured in a similar manner to the upstream conveying section 41, and can assume a first state in which it extends horizontally, and a second state in which it rotates from the first state around the rotating member 44 and stands at an angle of approximately 90 degrees. Specifically, it is as follows.

The downstream conveying section 42 includes a plurality of rollers 421 arranged in the conveying direction and a pair of frames 422 arranged to sandwich the plurality of rollers 421. Each roller 421 is configured to be driven by a motor (not shown), and the plurality of rollers 421 are configured to be driven separately for each roller 421. However, the plurality of rollers 421 may be configured to be driven in conjunction with each other (each roller 421 is driven at the same speed), and is not particularly limited. Each end of the axial direction of each roller 421 is fixed to the frame 422. Each frame 422 is connected to the rotating member 44, and when the rotating member 44 rotates, the entire downstream conveying section 42 is configured to rotate around the rotating member 44. In addition, the connection state between each frame 422 and the rotating member 44 is configured to be releasable. Therefore, when the downstream conveying section 42 rotates, the connection state between the frame 412 of the upstream conveying section 41 and the rotating member 44 is released. Similarly, when the upstream conveying section 41 rotates, the connection between the frame 422 of the downstream conveying section 42 and the rotating member 44 is released. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, when one of the conveying sections 41, 42 is rotating, the connection between the frame of the other conveying section 41, 42 and the rotating member 44 is released.

In addition, when the frames 412, 422 of both conveying sections 41, 42 and the rotating member 44 are in a connected state, both conveying sections 41, 42 rotate when the rotating member 44 rotates. For example, as shown in Fig. 5, when the upstream conveying section 41 is in the second state and the downstream conveying section 42 is in the first state, if the rotating member 44 is rotated counterclockwise, the rotating member 44 rotates together with the upstream conveying section 41 and the downstream conveying section 42 while maintaining this state, as shown in Fig. 6. When the rotation of the rotating member 44 is completed and the upstream conveying section 41 is in a horizontal state (first state), the upstream conveying section 41 is located at the same height as the roller conveyor 21 of the main conveying device 2. Similarly, for example, when the upstream conveying section 41 is in the first state and the downstream conveying section 42 is in the second state, if the rotating member 44 is rotated clockwise, as shown in FIG. 7, when the downstream conveying section 42 is in a horizontal state (first state), the downstream conveying section 42 is positioned at the same height as the roller conveyor of the stock conveying section 5.

<5. Stock transport section>
Fig. 8 is a side view of the stock conveying section. As shown in Fig. 8, the stock conveying section 5 includes an upstream stock section 51 and a downstream stock section 52 adjacent to the downstream side of the upstream stock section 51. The upstream stock section 51 and the downstream stock section 52 are each composed of a known roller conveyor having rollers 511 and 521, and can be driven separately. Therefore, at least one of the upstream stock section 51 and the downstream stock section 52 can be driven to convey the work 1 downstream.

In this way, the upstream stock section 51 and the downstream stock section 52 are driven separately for each stock section, but for example, if the multiple rollers 511 and rollers 521 that make up each stock section 51, 52 are driven separately, each stock section 51, 52 can be configured with a single conveyor, in which case the upstream side of the single conveyor becomes the upstream stock section, and the downstream side becomes the downstream stock section.

6. Operation method of the transport system
Next, the operation method of the conveying system configured as described above will be described. In the following description, the process when two workpieces 1 are conveyed in sequence from the main conveying device 2 to the standing part will be described. However, for the sake of convenience, the workpiece conveyed first will be referred to as the first workpiece 1A, and the workpiece conveyed next will be referred to as the second workpiece 1B.

As shown in FIG. 9A, when the first work 1A is transported to the standing section 4, the rollers 411 and 421 of both transport sections 41 and 42 are stopped when the first work 1A is placed on the downstream transport section 42. Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, the upstream transport section 41 is rotated and raised. As a result, the angle between the upstream transport section 41 and the downstream transport section 42 becomes approximately 90 degrees. At this time, the fourth surface 104 of the first work 1A is in contact with the roller 411 of the upstream transport section 41. Next, as shown in FIG. 9C, the frames 412 and 42 of both transport sections 41 and 42 are connected to the rotating member 44, and the rotating member 44 is rotated. As a result, both transport sections 41 and 42 rotate together with the first work 1A while maintaining the angle of 90 degrees, and the first work 1A is raised so that the third surface 103 faces upward. Following this, as shown in FIG. 9D, the downstream conveying section 42 is rotated and brought into a horizontal state. As a result, the first workpiece 1A stands up with the first surface 101 facing downstream. From this state, as shown in FIG. 9E, the conveying sections 41, 42, the upstream stock section 51, and the downstream stock section 52 are driven to move the first workpiece 1A to the upstream end of the downstream stock section 52. At this time, the second workpiece 1B is being supplied from the main conveying device 2 to the standing section 4.

Next, when the second work 1B is placed on the upstream conveying section 41, the rollers 411 and 421 of both conveying sections 41 and 42 are stopped from being driven. Then, as shown in FIG. 9F, the downstream conveying section 42 is rotated and raised. As a result, the angle between the upstream conveying section 41 and the downstream conveying section 42 becomes approximately 90 degrees. At this time, the third surface 103 of the second work 1B is in contact with the roller 421 of the downstream conveying section 42. Then, as shown in FIG. 9G, the frames 412 and 42 of both conveying sections 41 and 42 are connected to the rotating member 44, and the rotating member 44 is rotated. As a result, both conveying sections 41 and 42 rotate together with the second work 1B while maintaining the angle of 90 degrees, and the second work 1B is raised so that the fourth surface 104 faces upward. Then, as shown in FIG. 9H, the upstream conveying section 41 is rotated to a horizontal state. From this state, as shown in FIG. 9I, the transport units 41 and 42 or the downstream transport unit 42 and the upstream stock unit 51 are driven to move the second workpiece 1B to the downstream end of the upstream stock unit 51.

In this state, the second surface 102 of the first work 1A and the second surface 102 of the second work 1B face each other. Meanwhile, the first surface 101 of each work 1A, 1B faces outward. As described above, the first surface 101 is thicker than the opposite surface because the bag 11 sides of the signatures 10 are lined up. Therefore, in an extreme illustration, as shown in FIG. 10, the first surface 101 is longer in the vertical direction in FIG. 10 than the second surface 102. Therefore, each work 1A, 1B is easily toppled toward the second surface 102. Therefore, when the second surfaces 102 of the two works 1A, 1B are placed opposite each other, the two works 1A, 1B come into contact so as to support each other, and therefore each work 1A, 1B can be prevented from toppling over.

Then, the two opposing workpieces 1A and 1B are clamped by a robot arm or the like and transported to the standby position. By repeating the above steps, the workpiece 1 can be placed at the standby position.

Note that arrangements other than those for preventing each workpiece 1A, 1B from falling over are also possible. That is, the operation method of the above-mentioned conveying system has been described with respect to the operation of making the second surfaces 102 of the workpieces 1A, 1B face each other in each stock conveying section, but the first surfaces 101 of the workpieces 1A, 1B may be made to face each other. In that case, when the first workpiece 1A is conveyed to the standing section 4, it is stopped at the upstream conveying section 41, and the first workpiece 1A is made to stand up as described above and moved to the upstream end of the downstream stock section 52. That is, the operation as shown in Figures 9E to 9H is performed. Next, when the second workpiece 1B is conveyed to the standing section 4, it is stopped at the downstream conveying section 42, and the second workpiece 1B is similarly made to stand up and moved to the downstream end of the upstream stock section 51. That is, the operation as shown in Figures 9A to 9D is performed. In this way, the first surfaces 101 of the workpieces 1A, 1B face each other in the stock conveying section 5. In addition, the first surface 101 and the second surface 102 may be opposed to each other, and which surfaces of the workpiece 1 should be opposed to each other can be determined appropriately according to the shape of the workpiece 1, the state in which it is transported from upstream, and the subsequent process, and is not limited thereto.

<7. Features>
As described above, according to this embodiment, in the standing section 4, the two conveying sections 41, 42 are each configured to be rotatable, and the two conveying sections 41, 42 are configured to rotate while maintaining an angle of 90 degrees. Therefore, while the work 1 is being conveyed, the work 1 can be made to stand so that either the first surface 101 or the second surface 102 faces the downstream side. Therefore, the work 1 can be stocked in the stock conveying section 5 in a desired orientation, and as described above, the two workpieces 1A, 1B can be arranged so that the second surfaces 102 face each other so that they do not fall over.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 9B, etc., the angle between the two conveying sections 41, 42 is approximately 90 degrees. Therefore, when the work 1 is erected, the two orthogonal surfaces 101, 104 of the work 1 are supported by both conveying sections 41, 42, respectively. This allows the work 1 to be erected stably even if it has different thicknesses, such as a stack of multiple signatures.

8. Modifications
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In addition, the following modified examples can be appropriately combined.

<8-1>
In the above embodiment, the main conveying device 2 and the erecting device 3 are arranged in a straight line, but the main conveying device 2 and the erecting device 3 can be arranged in parallel. In this case, the work 1 on the main conveying device 2 can be pushed in the perpendicular direction by a pusher or the like and transferred to the upstream conveying section 41 of the erecting section 4.

<8-2>
The configuration of the standing section 4 is not particularly limited, and it is sufficient that the upstream conveying section 41 is configured to rotate at the end portion on the downstream conveying section 42 side, the downstream conveying section 42 is configured to rotate at the end portion on the upstream conveying section 41 side, and further the both conveying sections 41, 42 can rotate integrally. Therefore, as long as this configuration can be achieved, the rotation of each conveying section 41, 42 and the configuration for rotating both conveying sections 41, 42 integrally can be appropriately changed.

For example, it can be configured as follows. As shown in FIG. 11A, a shaft member 45 is provided on the most downstream roller 411 of the upstream conveying section 41, and the upstream conveying section 41 rotates around this shaft member 45. Also, a shaft member 46 is provided on the most upstream roller 421 of the downstream conveying section 42, and the downstream conveying section 42 rotates around this shaft member 46. Then, with the workpiece 1 placed on the downstream conveying section 42, as shown in FIG. 11B, the upstream conveying section 41 is rotated and erected. As a result, the angle between the upstream conveying section 41 and the downstream conveying section 42 becomes approximately 90 degrees. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 11C, by rotating both the upstream conveying section 41 and the downstream conveying section 42 upstream while maintaining the angle of 90 degrees, the workpiece 1 can be erected.

<8-3>
Although roller conveyors are used in the main conveying device 2, the rising section 4, and the stock conveying section 5, the present invention is not limited to this, and any other conveyor than the roller conveyor may be used as long as it is configured to convey the workpieces, and a belt conveyor, etc. may also be used. Also, as a conveying means instead of a roller conveyor, it is possible to place the workpieces on a conveying surface with high sliding properties and move and convey the workpieces using another actuator such as a pusher.

<8-4>
In the above embodiment, the erecting device 3 is provided with the stock conveying section 5, but the stock conveying section 5 is not essential, and the erecting device 3 can be configured with only the erecting section 4. Therefore, after the work 1 is erected in any orientation in the erecting section 4, it can be conveyed to a waiting area other than the stock conveying section 5, etc.

<8-5>
As shown in FIG. 12A, a second standing part 7 having the same configuration as the standing part 4 can be provided downstream of the standing part 4. With this configuration, the following operation can be performed. For example, as shown in FIG. 12A, the work 1 is stood up in the standing part 4 so that the first surface 101 faces the downstream side, and then the work is transported to the downstream conveying part 72 of the second standing part 7, and the upstream conveying part 71 is made to stand up. Then, as shown in FIG. 12B, when both the upstream conveying part 71 and the downstream conveying part 72 are rotated counterclockwise, the work 1 is disposed on the upstream conveying part 71 so that the first surface faces downward. Therefore, the up-down orientation of the work can be made opposite to the orientation in which the work was transported by the main conveying device 2 as shown in FIG. 3.

<8-6>
The type of the workpiece 1 is not particularly limited, and may be other than those shown in the above embodiment. Therefore, it may be other than a stack of bundled signatures, and may be various objects such as a rectangular parallelepiped container or a lump.

1 Work 3 Standing device 4 Standing section 41 Upstream conveying section 42 Downstream conveying section 5 Stock conveying section 51 Upstream stock section 52 Downstream stock section

Claims (7)

A workpiece erecting device, comprising:
An upright unit having an upstream conveying unit that conveys the workpiece and a downstream conveying unit that is adjacent to the downstream side of the upstream conveying unit and conveys the workpiece ;
A stock conveying section that stocks the workpiece discharged from the standing section;
Equipped with
the upstream conveying section is configured to rotate and stand up about an axis that is disposed on an end side adjacent to the downstream conveying section and that extends in a first direction perpendicular to the conveying direction,
the downstream conveying section is configured to rotate and stand up about an axis that is disposed on an end side adjacent to the upstream conveying section and that extends in the first direction,
the rising portion is configured to rotate the upstream conveying portion and the downstream conveying portion about an axis extending in the first direction while maintaining an angle formed by the upstream conveying portion and the downstream conveying portion ,
The stock conveying unit includes:
An erection device comprising an upstream stock section and a downstream stock section adjacent to the downstream side of the upstream stock section . When the plurality of workpieces transported from the standing section to the stock transport section include a first workpiece and a second workpiece, and the first workpiece and the second workpiece are transported in this order,
The upstream stock unit transports the first workpiece to the downstream stock unit,
The erecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the downstream stock section is configured to hold the first workpiece until the second workpiece is transported to the upstream stock section. The workpiece has a first surface and a second surface opposite thereto, and the standing portion stands the workpiece up so that either the first surface or the second surface faces a downstream side in the conveying direction,
The plurality of workpieces transported in sequence from the standing section to the stock transport section are configured to be stood up by the standing section such that the first surface and the second surface alternately face the downstream side in the transport direction,
The erection device according to claim 2 , wherein the first workpiece and the second workpiece are stocked in the stock transport section such that the same faces of the first surface and the second surface face each other. When the first workpiece and the second workpiece are transported in this order,
The first workpiece and the second workpiece are carried into the standing section with the first surface facing downward,
The erection device according to claim 3 , wherein the first workpiece and the second workpiece are stocked in the stock transport section such that the second surfaces face each other. The erection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the work is a stack of multiple signatures that are bundled together. Further provided downstream of the upright portion is a second upright portion having the same configuration as the upright portion,
The erection device according to claim 1 , wherein the second erection section is configured to tilt the workpiece erected by the erection section and invert the up-down orientation of the workpiece. A workpiece erecting device, comprising:
A rising section having an upstream conveying section that conveys the workpiece and a downstream conveying section that is adjacent to the downstream side of the upstream conveying section and conveys the workpiece,
The upstream transport unit is configured to transport the workpiece placed on the upstream transport unit by being driven in a first state in which the upstream transport unit extends in a horizontal direction,
The downstream transport unit is configured to transport the workpiece placed on the downstream transport unit by being driven in a first state in which the downstream transport unit extends in a horizontal direction,
the upstream conveying section is configured to rotate from the first state and stand up about an axis extending in a first direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, the axis being disposed on an end side adjacent to the downstream conveying section,
the downstream conveying section is configured to rotate from the first state and stand up about an axis extending in the first direction, the axis being disposed on an end side adjacent to the upstream conveying section,
The erection device is configured to rotate the upstream conveying section and the downstream conveying section around an axis extending in the first direction while maintaining the angle formed by the upstream conveying section and the downstream conveying section.