JP7743041B2 - Work transport device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a workpiece transport device equipped with a conveyor belt for transporting workpieces, and in particular to a workpiece transport device such as a so-called lifter device in which the conveyor belt is arranged at an upward gradient.

The lifter device is a type of conveying device that is used for general purposes and is not limited to any particular industry. In the filling and packaging industry, for example, it is used as a work conveying device to supply workpieces such as containers and caps that close the mouths of those containers to work processes such as filling.

Specifically, the conventional lifter device includes a hopper that stores the workpieces to be transported, a conveyor device that circulates a conveyor belt with cross bars to lift up the workpieces stored in the hopper, and a chute that supplies the lifted up workpieces to a subsequent machine (see the description in Patent Document 1, paragraph 0007).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-072540

When transporting workpieces using such a lifter device, the workpiece can become caught between the side wall of the conveyor device, which is installed along the conveyor belt's running direction, and the horizontal rail of the conveyor belt, causing problems with the conveyor's operation and causing the workpiece to be scratched, crushed, or broken. This not only impairs the quality of the appearance and sealing of the product using the workpiece, but also raises the risk that fragments of the broken workpiece may become foreign matter and be mixed into the product during operation by subsequent machines.

The types of caps used as the workpiece vary, but for example, caps with nozzles are prone to getting caught in the nozzle or handle, making them easily shattered. Caps with hinged lids can also be left open when the lid gets caught. Fin-lock caps, which have a tamper-evident band (TE band) detachably connected to the cap body and which remain on the bottle opening when opened, can sometimes have the connection between the cap body and the TE band separated due to the aforementioned bite.

This problem of workpieces getting caught arises from the gap (clearance) between the conveyor's sidewall and the conveyor belt's crossbars, which allows workpieces to get caught. Without this gap, the conveyor belt with crossbars would constantly be in sliding contact with the sidewall, causing severe wear and tear on the conveyor belt and impacting production capacity. Furthermore, there's a risk of dust and other particles generated by the friction becoming contaminated with the workpieces. However, if the gap is set too large, workpieces will be more likely to get caught in the gap. Furthermore, maintaining the conveyor's external dimensions automatically shortens the width of the crossbars, reducing conveyance capacity. Furthermore, because the conveyor belt in a conveyor device moves in a slightly serpentine manner, the gap is not constant. Add in assembly errors in the device, and it becomes difficult to set the gap properly during design. Furthermore, changing the hardware gap settings every time the shape or size of the workpieces being conveyed changes is a time-consuming task.

The problem of workpieces getting caught is not limited to lifter devices, but can also occur in conveying devices in which the conveying surface of the belt conveyor is positioned horizontally.

The present invention was developed in consideration of these problems, and aims to provide a workpiece transport device that solves the problem of workpieces getting caught between the side walls of the conveyor device and the horizontal rails of the conveyor belt during transport, preventing the workpieces from being scratched, crushed, or broken, as well as ensuring stable operation of the conveyor device and preventing workpiece fragments and dust generated by sliding contact between the workpiece and the conveyor device or between the workpiece and the conveyor device components from being mixed into the product in a simple manner.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the work transport device of the present invention is a work transport device comprising: a main body conveyor section having a main body conveyor belt stretched so as to be able to run using at least a pair of pulleys , and having a work loading surface on its upper surface ; and a side wall conveyor section having a pair of side wall conveyor belts each stretched so as to be able to run using at least a pair of pulleys, and arranged on both sides in the width direction of the work loading surface of the main body conveyor belt with their belt surfaces facing each other, wherein the main body conveyor belt has horizontal bars extending in the width direction and formed at equal intervals in the running direction, and the main body conveyor section The upstream side of the work loading surface in the running direction during work transport is arranged at an upward slope so as to form part of the peripheral wall of a hopper having an outer shape of a substantially inverted quadrangular pyramid, and further, the upper end of the work loading surface in the running direction is arranged parallel to the bottom top of the hopper, forming a gap between it and the hopper so that the horizontal bars of the work loading surface can scoop up the caps , and the pair of side wall conveyor belts are arranged with their upstream ends in the running direction positioned near the opening of the hopper and their downstream ends in the running direction positioned at the same level as the downstream end of the main body conveyor belt.

Specifically, the pair of sidewall conveyor belts are configured to run at the same speed as the main conveyor belt in synchronization with its movement.

With the workpiece transport device of the present invention, the sidewall conveyor belt moves in tandem with the main conveyor belt, thereby reducing friction. Even if part of a workpiece being transported gets into the gap between the sidewall of the conveyor device and the horizontal rail of the conveyor belt, no friction occurs, preventing the generation of dust and other particles due to sliding contact and preventing damage to the workpiece.

The pair of sidewall conveyor belts are arranged so that their opposing belt surfaces are perpendicular to the workpiece mounting surface (including the imaginary surface) of the main conveyor belt.

With the workpiece transport device of the present invention, even if a gap is formed between the main conveyor belt and the sidewall conveyor belt, the gap dimension can be made extremely small, making it less likely that workpieces will get caught. It is also possible to arrange the main conveyor belt and the sidewall conveyor belt so that the gap between them is zero, in which case workpieces can be reliably prevented from getting caught.

Furthermore, the drive source for the drive pulley that drives the main conveyor belt in the main conveyor section is shared with the drive pulleys that drive the side wall conveyor belts in the side wall conveyor section.

By sharing the drive source for the drive pulley in this way, the device itself can be made more compact and parts costs can be reduced.

The workpiece transport device of the present invention, configured in this way, can be used as a so-called lifter device, making it possible to reliably send out workpieces scooped up from the hopper by the cross bars toward the subsequent machine without damaging them.

In this way, the workpiece transport device of the present invention can eliminate the problem of workpieces getting caught between the side walls of the conveyor device and the crossbars of the conveyor belt during transport, preventing scratches, crushing, and breakage of the workpieces. It also has the excellent effect of ensuring stable operation of the conveyor device and preventing workpiece fragments and dust generated by sliding contact between the workpiece and the conveyor device or conveyor device components from being mixed into the product.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the overall configuration of an embodiment of a workpiece transport device according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged explanatory diagram of a main part of the workpiece transport device of FIG.

An embodiment of a workpiece transport device 1 according to the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

The workpiece transport device of this embodiment is a workpiece transport device 1, known as a lifter, in which a conveyor belt is arranged at an upward gradient, as shown in Figure 1, and is used to transport caps C as workpieces.

This workpiece transport device 1 is equipped with a hopper 2 that stores caps C, a conveyor unit 4 that is arranged together with the hopper 2 on a frame base 3 and scoops up the caps C from the hopper 2, and a chute 5 that sends the caps C scooped up by the conveyor unit 4 toward the subsequent machine.

In this embodiment, the conveyor section 4 is composed of a main conveyor section 4A having a main conveyor belt 12 that is tensioned and capable of running using at least one pair of pulleys (not shown) and whose upper surface serves as a workpiece mounting surface 11, and a sidewall conveyor section 4B having a pair of sidewall conveyor belts 17 that are tensioned and capable of running using at least one pair of pulleys 15, 15, with their belt surfaces 16 facing each other and arranged on both sides of the width of the main conveyor belt 12 at the workpiece mounting surface 11.

The main conveyor belt 12 has horizontal bars 13 extending widthwise and spaced at equal intervals in the running direction. The main conveyor section 4A is arranged on the frame base 3 at an upward gradient so that the upstream end of the workpiece loading surface 11 in the running direction during workpiece transport is positioned inside the hopper 2 where caps C are stored, and the downstream end is positioned at the top.

The sidewall conveyor belts 17 are flat belts, and in this embodiment, the sidewall conveyor sections 4B are arranged on the frame base 3 on both sides of the main conveyor belt 12 in the width direction, with the upstream end of each sidewall conveyor belt 17 in the running direction during work transport positioned near the outside of an opening 21 formed in the top plate 20 of the hopper 2 (described below), and the downstream end positioned approximately at the same position as the downstream end of the main conveyor belt 12.

Thus, the pulleys of the main conveyor section 4A and the pulleys of the pair of sidewall conveyor sections 4B are arranged with their axial directions perpendicular to each other. In this embodiment, however, the drive pulley (not shown) around which the main conveyor belt 12 of the main conveyor section 4A is wound and the drive pulleys (not shown) around which each of the pair of sidewall conveyor belts 17 of the sidewall conveyor section 4B is wound are driven by a single motor (not shown) via a drive force transmission system, such as a bevel gear or a speed change gear, that converts the rotation of the power in a different axial direction. The pair of sidewall conveyor belts 17 are adjusted to run in synchronization with the main conveyor belt 12. More specifically, the pair of sidewall conveyor belts 17 are adjusted to run at the same speed as the main conveyor belt 12 in synchronization with its running. The running speed of the main conveyor belt 12 can be adjusted by inputting data from a control panel (not shown) or operating switches.

Here, the hopper 2 shown in Figure 1 has an external shape that is approximately an inverted square pyramid, with the main conveyor section 4A located at an upward slope in the center of one of the peripheral walls 25 of the hopper 2 and constituting part of said peripheral wall 25, and the base apex 26 of the approximately inverted square pyramid (the ridge portion of an inverted gable roof) is disposed near the legs of the frame base 3 so that it is parallel to the main conveyor belt 12, forming a gap between it and the main conveyor belt 12 that allows the cross beams 13 of the work loading surface 11 to scoop up caps C. Half of the top plate 19 of the hopper 2 is a top plate section 20 formed with an opening 21 through which the main conveyor belt 12 is positioned, and the other half is a lid section 23 that can be opened and closed by hinges 22 attached to the top plate section 20.

The chute 5 at the downstream end of the main conveyor section 4A slides the caps C transported by the conveyor section 4 down and sends them toward the subsequent machine, and is of a known configuration.

Next, we will explain the operation of the workpiece transport device 1 of this embodiment.

The lid 23 of the hopper 2 is opened and closed, the caps C to be transported are placed in the hopper 2 and stored there, and the motor of the conveyor unit 4 is driven to run the main conveyor belt 12 and the pair of side wall conveyor belts 17 of the conveyor unit 4.

In the conveyor section 4, the running main conveyor belt 12 scoops up caps C that have accumulated at the top of the bottom of the hopper 2 due to their own weight with the cross bars 13 and transports them downstream in the traveling direction.

At that time, the pair of sidewall conveyor belts 17 also travel at the same speed as the main conveyor belt 12, preventing the caps C from falling off to the side of the main conveyor belt 12. In this embodiment of the workpiece transport device 1, the sidewall conveyor belts 17 move in accordance with the movement of the main conveyor belt 12, thereby preventing friction between the transported caps C and other components such as the sidewall belt conveyors 17. Therefore, even if a cap C gets caught between the main conveyor belt 12 and the sidewall conveyor belt 17 during transport, the lack of friction prevents the generation of dust and other particles due to sliding contact, and also prevents damage to the workpiece.

The caps C are then transported to the downstream end by the conveyor section 4, where they slide straight down into the chute 5 and are sent out toward the subsequent machine.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the lower width edge of the sidewall conveyor belt 17 is abutted against the width edge of the upper surface of the main conveyor belt 12, which serves as the workpiece mounting surface 11, to minimize the gap. However, the pair of sidewall conveyor belts 17 may also be arranged so that the opposing belt surfaces 16 are perpendicular to the workpiece mounting surface 11 (including the imaginary surface) of the main conveyor belt 12. For example, if the gap between the main conveyor belt 12 and the sidewall conveyor belt 17 is zero, the cap C will not get caught, and damage to the cap C can be reliably prevented.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

For example, in this embodiment, a single motor is used to run the three conveyor belts arranged in the main conveyor section 4A and the side wall conveyor section 4B, but of course a motor may be provided for each conveyor belt.

The configuration of the conveyor section 4, which is a key part of the present invention, can also be adopted in a workpiece transport device 1 that transports workpieces horizontally, and in that case, it still provides the excellent effect of preventing workpieces from getting caught.

It goes without saying that the workpiece is not limited to the aforementioned cap C.

C Cap 1 Work conveying device 2 Hopper 3 Frame base 4 Conveyor section 4A Main body conveyor section 4B Side wall conveyor section 5 Chute 11 Work loading surface 12 Main body conveyor belt 13 Cross bar 15 Pulley 16 Belt surface 17 Side wall conveyor belt 19 Upper top plate 20 Top plate section 21 Opening 22 Hinge 23 Lid section 25 Peripheral wall 26 Bottom top section

Claims (4)

a main conveyor unit having a main conveyor belt that is stretched so as to be able to run using at least one pair of pulleys and has an upper surface that serves as a workpiece mounting surface;
a side wall conveyor unit having a pair of side wall conveyor belts that are stretched so as to be able to run using at least a pair of pulleys, and that are arranged on both sides in the width direction of the workpiece mounting surface of the main conveyor belt with their belt surfaces facing each other,
The main conveyor belt has horizontal bars extending in the width direction and formed at equal intervals in the running direction,
The upstream side of the workpiece loading surface in the running direction when the main body conveyor transports the workpieces is disposed at an upward gradient so as to form part of the peripheral wall of a hopper having an outer shape of a substantially inverted quadrangular pyramid, and further, the upper end of the workpiece loading surface in the running direction is disposed parallel to the bottom top of the hopper, forming a gap between the top and bottom of the hopper so that the horizontal rails of the workpiece loading surface can scoop up the caps,
The pair of side wall conveyor belts are arranged with their upstream ends in the running direction positioned near the opening of the hopper, and their downstream ends in the running direction positioned at the same level as the downstream end of the main conveyor belt. The workpiece transport device described in claim 1, characterized in that the pair of side wall conveyor belts are configured to run at the same speed as the main conveyor belt in synchronization with its running. The workpiece transport device described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pair of sidewall conveyor belts are arranged so that their opposing belt surfaces are perpendicular to the workpiece loading surface of the main conveyor belt. A workpiece transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a common drive source is used for the drive pulleys that drive the main body conveyor belt in the main body conveyor section and for the drive pulleys that drive the side wall conveyor belts in the side wall conveyor section.