JP7708087B2 - Conveyor - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a transport device that suspends and transports a workpiece.

A hanging transport device that suspends and transports a workpiece is known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a hanging transport device that includes a trolley device guided by a trolley guide rail and a trolley drive device guided by a trolley drive device rail disposed above the trolley guide rail.

Patent Document 2 also describes an electrodeposition coating device that transports a workpiece while holding it in a suspended state, immerses the workpiece as an object to be coated in an electrodeposition paint stored in an electrodeposition tank, and performs electrodeposition coating on the workpiece.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-169330 JP 2019-173124 A

In the case of a hanging conveying device as described in the prior art, if intermittent conveying is performed in which conveying and stopping are repeated during conveying of a workpiece, the workpiece may oscillate, and collisions may occur between the front and rear workpieces. Collisions between workpieces are undesirable from the standpoint of maintaining the quality of the workpieces and safety within the factory.

One aspect of the present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and its purpose is to realize a transport device that can suppress collisions between front and rear workpieces even when performing intermittent transport in a suspended transport device.

In order to solve the above problems, a conveying device according to one aspect of the present invention is a conveying device that suspends and conveys a workpiece, and includes a plurality of conveying bodies that perform intermittent conveying by repeatedly conveying and stopping, a hanging mechanism that is attached to the conveying bodies and includes a rod-shaped member that suspends the workpiece, and a guide rail that is arranged to contact the rod-shaped member along the conveying direction of the conveying body, the rod-shaped member is attached to the conveying body so as to be able to swing freely and is capable of suspending the workpiece from one end, and the side of the guide rail that contacts the rod-shaped member during conveying has a wave shape with repeated peaks and valleys along the conveying direction.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the rod-shaped member from swinging and causing the workpieces to come into contact with each other or collide with each other.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a conveying device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conveying state of the conveying device. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a guide rail included in the conveying device. FIG. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the relationship between a guide rail and a rod-shaped member. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing modified examples of the guide rail. 13A and 13B are six-view diagrams of a guide rail in a modified example. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the guide rail taken along lines AA and BB in FIG. 7. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating a relationship between a guide rail and a rod-shaped member in a modified example. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing further modified examples of the guide rails. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating modified examples of the hanging mechanism. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing modified examples of the guide rail.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below. The conveying device 1 according to this embodiment is a hanging conveying device that suspends and conveys the workpiece 100 on a fixed route on the ceiling side. Figure 1 shows the main configuration of the conveying device 1. In Figure 1, the conveying direction of the conveying device 1 is from the back to the front of the drawing. In this embodiment, the conveying direction of the conveying device 1 is the y direction, the hanging direction of the workpiece 100, i.e., the opposite direction to the vertical direction, is the z direction, and the direction perpendicular to the y direction and z direction is the x direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the conveying device 1 includes a drive chain 10, a chain rail 20, a trolley 30, a trolley rail 40, a suspension mechanism 50, and a guide rail 60.

The drive chain 10 is supported and guided by the chain rail 20 and is the driving body for moving the trolley 30.

The trolley 30 is a transport body that transports the workpiece 100 by moving while being supported and guided by the trolley rails 40. The trolley 30 and the drive chain 10 are configured to be freely connectable, and when the trolley 30 is connected to the drive chain 10, it moves in conjunction with the drive of the drive chain 10. On the other hand, when it is not connected to the drive chain 10, it stops. This is the so-called power-and-free system. This allows the trolley 30 to repeatedly move (transport) and stop. This repeated transport and stoppage is called intermittent transport.

The trolley 30 may be configured to disconnect from the drive chain 10 and stop when the distance to the previous trolley 30 becomes within a predetermined distance during transport. Furthermore, multiple trolleys 30 may be connectable, and multiple trolleys 30 may move together.

The hanging mechanism 50 is connected to the trolley 30 and includes a rod-shaped member 51. The rod-shaped member 51 is attached to the trolley 30 within the hanging mechanism 50 so that it can swing freely relative to the trolley 30. By hanging the workpiece 100 from one end of the rod-shaped member 51, the conveying device 1 can suspend and convey the workpiece 100. The rod-shaped member 51 is a cylinder with a circular cross section perpendicular to its axis.

The guide rail 60 is a guide that is provided along the conveying direction of the conveying device 1 so as to come into contact with the rod-shaped member 51 of the hanging mechanism 50 during conveying of the workpiece 100. Details of the guide rail 60 will be described later.

The guide rails 60 do not need to be provided along the entire conveying path of the conveying device 1, but may be provided along only part of the conveying path.

Figure 2 is a view of the conveying device 1 as seen from the +x direction. As shown in Figure 2, the conveying device 1 includes multiple trolleys 30, and the workpieces 100 are suspended and conveyed by the hanging mechanisms 50 connected to each trolley 30. Therefore, when the trolleys 30 perform intermittent conveying in which conveying and stopping are repeated, the workpieces 100 suspended from the trolleys 30 may swing and come into contact with adjacent workpieces 100. Therefore, in the conveying device 1 according to this embodiment, a guide rail 60 is provided at a position that comes into contact with the rod-shaped member 51 that suspends the workpieces 100. Details of the guide rail 60 are described below.

[Guide rail]
Next, the guide rail 60 will be described in detail with reference to Figures 3 and 4. Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the guide rail 60.

As shown in FIG. 3, the guide rail 60 is formed by stacking two plates (60A, 60B) whose sides that come into contact with the rod-shaped member 51 during transport are wavy in shape with repeated peaks 611 and valleys 612 along the transport direction. The two plates (60A, 60B) are stacked together with the wave-shaped peaks 611 and valleys 612 misaligned. When the two plates (60A, 60B) are stacked together, the peaks 611 remain peaks, but the valleys 612 overlap with the peaks 611 of the other plate and are no longer valleys. Therefore, in this case, the portions that form valleys when the two plates (60A, 60B) are stacked together are called valleys 613.

By forming the guide rail 60 by overlapping two plates, it can be easily processed even if the number of peaks and valleys that form the wave shape increases.

The peak portion 611 of the guide rail 60 may also be formed as an arc.

The guide rail 60 may be formed of only one plate, for example, plate 60A or plate 60B. Therefore, each of plates 60A and 60B can also be called a guide rail. The guide rail 60 is preferably formed of metal. By forming the guide rail 60 from metal, it is possible to prevent the rod-shaped member 51 from coming into contact and becoming worn, and the frequency of repairs and replacement of the guide rail 60 can be reduced.

Figure 4 shows six views of the guide rail 60. In Figure 4, 401 is a front view of the guide rail 60, 402 is a plan view, 403 is a bottom view, 404 is a left side view, 405 is a right side view, and 406 is a rear view.

Figure 5 shows the relationship between the guide rail 60 and the rod-shaped member 51. As shown in Figure 5, when the workpiece 100 is transported, the rod-shaped member 51 moves forward while contacting the wavy edges of the guide rail 60. As a result, the rod-shaped member 51 moves forward while contacting the peaks 611 and valleys 613 of the guide rail 60.

The inventors of the present application have discovered that by positioning the guide rail 60 with this wavy edge at a position where it comes into contact with the rod-shaped member 51, the oscillation of the rod-shaped member 511 becomes irregular, resulting in a smaller amplitude of oscillation of the workpiece 100 in the transport direction, and thus preventing contact between the workpieces 100.

The guide rails 60 may be provided in a pair, facing each other so as to sandwich the rod-shaped member 51. An example in which a pair of guide rails 60 are provided facing each other is shown in Figs. 6 to 8. Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a pair of guide rails 60 provided facing each other. As shown in Fig. 6, when a pair of guide rails 60 are provided facing each other, the peaks 611 and valleys 612 are arranged to face each other.

Figure 7 is a six-view diagram of a pair of guide rails 60 arranged opposite each other. In Figure 7, 701 is a front view of the guide rails 60, 702 is a plan view, 703 is a bottom view, 704 is a left side view, 705 is a right side view, and 706 is a rear view.

In addition, 801 in FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the guide rail 60 cut at A-A shown in 701 in FIG. 7, and 802 is a cross-sectional view of the guide rail 60 cut at B-B shown in 701 in FIG. 7.

Figure 9 shows the relationship between the guide rails 60 and the rod-shaped member 51 when a pair of guide rails 60 are provided facing each other. As shown in Figure 9, when the workpiece 100 is transported, the rod-shaped member 51 moves between the guide rails 60 while contacting the corrugated edges of each of the guide rails 60. As a result, the rod-shaped member 51 moves while contacting the peaks 611 and valleys 613 of the guide rails 60.

When a pair of guide rails 60 are provided facing each other, even if the rod-shaped member 51 swings away from one of the guide rails 60, it will come into contact with the other guide rail 60. Therefore, compared to the case where the above-mentioned guide rail 60 is arranged on only one side, the swinging of the rod-shaped member 51 can be suppressed more effectively.

In addition, for example, if the rod-shaped member 51 can swing left and right in the transport direction, depending on the hanging state of the workpiece 100, transport may be performed with the rod-shaped member 51 tilted to the left or right. Even in such a case, if a pair of guide rails 60 are provided facing each other, the rod-shaped member 51 will come into contact with one of the pair of guide rails 60, and the above-mentioned effect can be achieved.

The distance between the opposing guide rails 60 may be, for example, 1.2 to 1.5 times the diameter of the rod-shaped member 51. This allows the rod-shaped member 51 to move smoothly between the guide rails 60, while the corrugated shape of the guide rails 60 suppresses rocking.

As described above, the conveying device 1 according to this embodiment is a conveying device that suspends and conveys the workpiece 100, and includes a plurality of trolleys 30 that perform intermittent conveying by repeatedly conveying and stopping, a hanging mechanism 50 that is attached to the trolleys 30 and includes a rod-shaped member 51 that suspends the workpiece 100, and a guide rail 60 that is provided so as to come into contact with the rod-shaped member 51 along the conveying direction of the trolley 30. The rod-shaped member 51 is attached to the trolley 30 so as to be able to swing freely, and is capable of suspending the workpiece 100 from one end. In addition, the side of the guide rail 60 that comes into contact with the rod-shaped member 51 during conveying has a wave shape in which peaks and valleys are repeated along the conveying direction.

[Modification 1]
The entrance side of the rod-shaped member 51 between a pair of opposing guide rails 60 may be open. That is, a notch 61 may be provided on the entrance side of the guide rail 60 to the rod-shaped member 51 such that the distance to the other guide rail 60 becomes longer toward the entrance side of the rod-shaped member 51.

Figure 10 shows a guide rail 60X with a notch 61. By providing the notch 61, the rod-shaped member 51 can be easily inserted between the opposing guide rails 60.

[Modification 2]
A modified example of the hanging mechanism 50 will be described with reference to Fig. 11. In this modified example, when the hanging mechanism 50 is configured to swing in the transport direction, a swing prevention plate 70 is provided to suppress the swing. In detail, as shown in Fig. 11, the swing prevention plate 70 is provided so as to restrict the swing of the hanging mechanism 50 forward and backward in the transport direction of the transport device 1. By providing the swing prevention plate 70, even if the hanging mechanism 50 swings forward and backward in the transport direction, the swing prevention plate 70 abuts against the bottom 52 of the hanging mechanism 50, so that the hanging mechanism 50 cannot swing any further.

In the above, an example was given in which the peaks 611 of the guide rail 60 are formed as arcs, but the peaks 611 are not limited to arcs. For example, as shown in 1201 of FIG. 12, the peaks 611A may be formed as straight lines instead of arcs. Furthermore, as shown in 1202 of FIG. 12, the slopes of the straight lines sandwiching the apex of the peaks 611B may be different. In other words, the peaks may be sawtooth, with one straight line being gentle and the other straight line being steep, like the blade of a saw. Furthermore, the gently formed side of the sawtooth shape may be arranged in front of the conveying direction.

〔summary〕
A conveying device according to aspect 1 of the present invention is a conveying device that transports a workpiece by suspending it, and is equipped with a plurality of conveying bodies that perform intermittent transport by repeatedly conveying and stopping, a hanging mechanism that is attached to the conveying bodies and includes a rod-shaped member that suspends the workpiece, and a guide rail that is arranged to contact the rod-shaped member along the conveying direction of the conveying body, wherein the rod-shaped member is attached so as to be freely swingable relative to the conveying body and is capable of suspending the workpiece from one end, and the side of the guide rail that contacts the rod-shaped member during conveying has a wave-shaped configuration in which peaks and valleys are repeated along the conveying direction.

The inventors of the present application have discovered that by providing a guide rail in which the edge that comes into contact with the rod-shaped member during transport has a wave-like shape with repeated peaks and valleys along the transport direction, the oscillation of the rod-shaped member becomes irregular, resulting in a smaller amplitude of oscillation of the workpiece in the transport direction, and thus preventing the workpieces from coming into contact with or colliding with each other. Thus, with the above configuration, it is possible to prevent the rod-shaped member from oscillating and causing the workpieces to come into contact with or collide with each other.

In the conveying device according to aspect 2 of the present invention, in the above-mentioned aspect 1, the guide rail is formed of two plates that are overlapped with the position of the peaks and valleys of the corrugated shape being misaligned.

With this configuration, the ridges of the guide rail can be formed in a state where they are offset in the axial direction of the rod-shaped member, which further prevents the rod-shaped member from swinging.

The conveying device according to aspect 3 of the present invention is the same as that according to aspect 1 or 2, in which the mountain portion of the guide rail is formed as an arc.

The above configuration allows the rod-shaped member to move smoothly in the conveying direction.

The conveying device according to aspect 4 of the present invention is the same as that according to aspect 1 or 2, except that the side on which the peaks and valleys are repeated is formed in a straight line.

The conveying device according to aspect 5 of the present invention is the same as that of aspect 4, except that the side on which the peaks and valleys are repeated is formed in a sawtooth shape.

The conveying device according to aspect 6 of the present invention is the same as in aspect 5, except that one side of the sawtooth shape is more gently sloping than the other side with respect to the apex, and the more gently sloping side is positioned in front of the conveying direction.

The conveying device according to aspect 7 of the present invention is any one of aspects 1 to 6, in which the guide rails are provided in a pair facing each other so as to sandwich the rod-shaped member.

With this configuration, even if the rod-shaped member separates from one guide rail, it will come into contact with the other guide rail, so the rocking of the rod-shaped member can be further suppressed.

The conveying device according to aspect 8 of the present invention is any one of aspects 1 to 7, in which the cross section of the rod-shaped member is circular.

With the above configuration, the rod-shaped member is cylindrical, so it can move smoothly in the conveying direction while in contact with the guide rail.

The conveying device according to aspect 9 of the present invention is any one of aspects 1 to 8, in which the guide rail is made of metal.

With the above configuration, the guide rail is made of metal, so even if the rod-shaped member comes into contact with it multiple times, the degree of wear is small, and the frequency of repairs and replacements can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. The technical scope of the present invention also includes embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments.

1 Transport device 10 Drive chain 20 Chain rail 30 Trolley (transport body)
40 Trolley rail 50 Suspension mechanism 51 Rod-shaped member 52 Bottom 60, 60A, 60B, 60X Guide rail (plate)
61 Cutting depth 100 Work

Claims (9)

A conveying device that suspends and conveys a workpiece,
A plurality of conveyance bodies that perform intermittent conveyance by repeating conveyance and stopping;
A hanging mechanism that is attached to the transport body and includes a rod-shaped member that hangs the workpiece;
a guide rail provided in contact with the rod-shaped member along a conveying direction of the conveyor;
The rod-shaped member is attached to the transport body so as to be able to swing freely, and the workpiece can be hung from one end of the rod-shaped member.
A conveying device, wherein the guide rail has a side that comes into contact with the rod-shaped member during conveyance, the side having a wave shape in which peaks and valleys are repeated along the conveying direction. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the guide rail is formed of two plates that are stacked together with the crests and valleys of the corrugated shape misaligned. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the mountain portion of the guide rail is formed as an arc. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the side on which the peaks and valleys are repeated is formed in a straight line. The conveying device according to claim 4, wherein the side on which the peaks and valleys are repeated is formed in a sawtooth shape. The conveying device according to claim 5, wherein one side of the sawtooth shape is more gently sloping than the other side with respect to the apex, and the gently sloping side is disposed in front of the conveying direction. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the guide rails are provided in a pair facing each other so as to sandwich the rod-shaped member. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the cross section of the rod-shaped member is circular. The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the guide rail is made of metal.