JPS5843288B2 - Item alignment storage device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting relatively soft containers such as paper boxes for storing milk, juice, etc., and collecting and storing a plurality of containers in a storage box.

Conventionally, when storing containers, it has been conventional to carry a plurality of containers in a line and then hold the group of lined containers by holding them from both sides, or to suction or grip the top surface of each lined container one by one. They are held in place, released before storage, and stored in the storage box one by one.

However, if the material of the container is relatively hard and has good shape retention, the container will not deform or lose its holding position even if it is strongly gripped, and the container will be held stably. If the container is soft, strong pressure is required to hold it (4) It is difficult to hold the container securely as it may deform or damage the container (1).

Therefore, it is impossible to increase the number of zero-aligned containers in one group and store them, and no improvement in efficiency can be expected.

In addition, in the case of holding by suction or gripping, even soft containers can be held relatively stably without deforming or breaking, but the mechanism of suction or gripping is complicated, making it difficult to increase the speed. It was not suitable.

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional ones, the present invention improves the container clamping device to clamp the aligned containers under light pressure, thereby preventing even soft containers from being damaged and ensuring stability. To provide an aligning and storing device equipped with an improved container pushing and aligning device that can hold a large number of containers at once and makes it easier to hold one container.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Items used in the actual case (1) A soft container such as a paper box for storing milk, juice, etc.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this device is equipped with a container feeding device a, a pushing device b, an aligning device C, and a clamping device d, which are provided in the process of transporting and storing containers 1.

An outline of the transportation and storage of containers using this device is as follows.

The containers 1 are fed by the supply device a as shown in FIG. ′ and stop.

Then, the pushing device C is operated, and its pushing plate 4 moves forward to push the stacking containers 1 in a row onto the upper front edge of the alignment plate 5 of the alignment device C.

By repeating this process one after another, a predetermined number of containers 1 are aligned in the vertical and horizontal directions by the guides 6 and 6 on both sides of the alignment plate, and then the alignment plate 5 is moved to the storage box 7 with the containers placed thereon, and the containers are stored. The holding device d above the box 7 holds the aligned containers one group at a time in a suspended manner, and then releases them to hold the containers in the storage box 7.
This process is repeated to stack and store the aligned containers in multiple stages.

The pushing device, alignment device, and clamping device, which are the characteristics of the present invention, will be explained in detail below along with their operations.

As shown in Fig. 3, the pushing device has a pushing plate 4 vertically attached to the tip of the rod 9 of the piston mechanism 8. In particular, the pushing plate 4 (1) has a central high portion 4' vertically formed in the center thereof. It is made to protrude to the front.

Pushing plate 4 moves forward by driving the piston through this
For example, as shown in the figure, the middle and high part 4' has a predetermined number of integrated pieces.
It rushes into the center of the lined up individual containers 1.

Accordingly, the stacking containers 1 are expanded into a wide figure eight shape on the alignment plate side with the center of the row as the center, and are then pushed and transferred onto the alignment plate 5 in a horizontal row.

In this way, the containers 1 fed in tandem by the feeding device a are sequentially fed into the aligning device C by a predetermined number of containers by the pushing device.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the alignment device C has an alignment plate 5 (a rectangular plate having a vertical cross section in the width direction of a low chevron shape).

A long partition plate 10 is suspended above the center of the plate in parallel with the alignment plate 5 in the length direction.

The containers 1 transferred onto the alignment plate 5 by the pushing plate 4 are
As shown in FIGS. B and 4, the partition plate 10 is inserted into the row and is divided into two parts at the center of the row, and is placed in an inclined shape that widens at the center of the row by the chevron-shaped upper surface of the plate.

The transfer of the containers 1 to the alignment plate 5 by inserting the partition plate 10 can be easily and smoothly carried out because the containers 1 are pushed into the arranging plate 5 in a figure-eight shape by the middle height part 4' of the pushing plate 4 before being transferred. It will be held on.

Note that the height of the chevron of the alignment plate and the hanging height of the partition plate can be adjusted respectively according to the size and shape of the container.

The partition plate may have approximately the same length as the alignment plate and be suspended so that it moves with the alignment plate, or the partition plate may have a length that penetrates to the clamping device d and be fixedly attached as shown in Figure 1. .

Also, this partition board is not limited to just one container, and the container may be a dog,
Also, when the number of rows is large, the number of installations will be increased,
Provide partitions between rows of containers at appropriate intervals.

In this way, a large number of containers 1, which are collected one by one and sent onto the alignment plate 5 one after another, are guided by the guides 6.6 on both sides, divided into two by the partition plate 10, and placed vertically on the alignment plate 5. Align horizontally.

A detector 11 indicates that a predetermined number of containers 1 have been introduced in a line.

When the detector 11 is turned on, the clamps 12 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are activated to clamp the containers at the front and rear of the group.

That is, the clamp 12 is, for example, a rotatable lever as shown in the drawing, and a plurality of notches 13 are formed on the front and rear edges of the alignment plate 5.
are provided, and each clamp 12 is made to correspond to the notch 13, respectively.

When introducing the container, the clamp 12 should be positioned so that the tip of the lever is below the alignment plate 5 so that it does not get in the way.
When the containers 1 are aligned and accepted, the detector 11 rotates and fits into the notch 13, and as shown by the chain line in FIG. to hold.

A large number of containers (1) are held in place by the front and rear clamps 12°12 and aligned by the guides 6.6 on both the left and right sides of the partition plate 1.
It is stable around 0.

The alignment plate 5 is connected to a movable rod 15 of the cylinder 14 as shown in FIG.

When the detector 11 is turned on, the clamps 12, 12 clamp the group of sorted containers from the front and back, and the rod 15 moves forward, and as a result, the sorting plate 5, with the sorted containers 1 placed thereon, moves as one body to the position of the clamping device d. It moves and comes to rest right above the storage box 7 on the liftable pedestal 16 provided right below the clamping device d.

In this case, when moving the alignment plate 5, the partition plate moves together with the alignment plate while being held between the alignment containers, or if the partition plate 10 is suspended and fixed as shown in the figure, the alignment container 1 moves with the partition plate 10. It moves together with the alignment plate 10 in a bisected state.

Even if the containers 1 are toppled over, the center of the row is divided into two by the partition plate 10, as shown in FIGS. Clamp 1
2 and 12 and the guidance E of the guides 6.degree. 6 on both sides, the sheets are fed into the gripping device d without disturbing the aligned state.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5 to 7, the clamping device d includes main clamping plates 17 on both left and right sides that press and clamp the four side surfaces of the sorted containers 1 on the sorted plate 5 from all sides. 17 and front and rear sub-holding plates 18, 18.

These clamping plates 17, 17 and 18.degree. 18 move forward and backward toward the sorting containers 1 by driving pistons, etc., and when moving forward, they radially suppress and clamp the sorting containers.

The clamping force of these clamping plates can be adjusted, and an elastic plate 19 made of rubber or the like is pasted on the inner surface of the clamping plate, that is, the surface that presses Q against the alignment container, as shown in the figure, to serve as a pressure buffer. .

In addition, when the sub-holding plate is 18°18 (the number of containers per container is small), this is omitted.

The alignment containers are held in the following manner.

When the alignment containers 1 are introduced into the clamping device d, the main clamping plates 17, 17 and the sub-clamping plates 18, 18 are retracted to appropriate positions so as not to obstruct the entry of the alignment plate 5. When it comes to rest directly above the storage box 7, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5 A and B, and stand still facing each other.

Next, the main clamping plates 17, 17 and the sub-clamping plates 18°18 are simultaneously advanced, and the clamping plates 17, 18 respectively move as shown in FIGS. 6A and B.
As shown in the figure, the alignment container 1 is held from the front, back, left and right sides.

Just before or at the same time as this clamping, the clamps 12 that were clamping the alignment containers 1 at the front and lower portions are released.

The holding of the main holding plates 17, 17 (from which the containers are aligned)
6th Large A As shown, the inclined state of the horizontal rows, which had formed an inverted eight-shape with the partition plate 10 in between, becomes a horizontal state due to the chevron-shaped mounting surface of the alignment plate 5.

As a result, the alignment container 1 is lifted up from the chevron-shaped mounting surface of the alignment plate 5 as shown in the figure and is held therebetween.

As a result, the sandwiched alignment container 1 and the alignment plate 5 can be moved relative to each other, so that when the sandwiching is finished, the alignment plate 5 is moved and returned to its original position.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the alignment container 1 forms a rectangular body with a partition plate 10 in between, and is held horizontally just above the storage box 7.

In this case, the sandwiching of the partition plates 10 (containers 1) J rows is divided into two, or in the case of multiple partition plates, they are divided into multiple pieces and held, so they can be held stably with a relatively weak clamping force. The container is held well, and there is almost no occurrence of deformation or damage to the container.

With the sorting containers 1 being held between the main and sub-holding plates 17 and 1B and the partition plate 10, the sorting containers 11 and the storage box 7 are separated by an appropriate distance, and the sorting plates 5 are moved back and returned. Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the pedestal 16 is raised, and the upper opening 7' of the storage box 7 is fitted into the lower opening of the alignment container 1.

Then, the clamping device d is released from clamping the container.

Since the storage box 7 (J alignment container 1 is slightly fitted), the released alignment container 1 falls along the side wall of the box without disturbing its alignment form and is stored.

In this way, a large number of containers are repeatedly conveyed in alignment, clamped, and released, and are sequentially stacked and stored in a storage box in an evenly arranged manner.

As explained above, according to the present invention, zero-level stacking and storage of sorted containers in a storage box is achieved by first stacking them using the pushing plate provided with the middle part of the pushing device and the sorting plate of the sorting device having a chevron-shaped container placement surface. By opening the horizontal rows of containers in a figure-of-eight pattern, containers can be easily and smoothly aligned vertically and horizontally on the alignment plate by sandwiching the partition plate, and the next holding device can hold the aligned containers horizontally by opening the partition plate. This allows for a much larger number of containers than conventional ones to be carried out stably with a relatively weak clamping force, and there is almost no deformation or damage to the containers, and the aligned containers are stored in a storage box in an orderly manner.

Furthermore, the present invention uses the chevron-shaped alignment plate of the alignment device, so that when the containers are clamped, the horizontal rows of containers are in an inverted eight-shape (1). The mechanism is simplified through the container feeding device, pushing device, aligning device, and clamping device, and the retraction is performed smoothly.
The successive action of each device is accurate and extremely effective for arranging and storing items, especially soft containers.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an actual case of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of the whole, Fig. 2 is a side view thereof, and Fig. 3 (J-pushing device is shown, Fig. A is a side view, and Fig. B is a plan view). Figure 4 shows a front view of the sorting device, Figure 5 shows the clamping device, Figure A is a side view, Figure B is a front view, and Figure 6 shows how the clamping device clamps the sorted containers. Figure A is a front view of the sorted containers in a state where they are held in horizontal rows, Figure B is a front view of the sorted containers in a state where they are held in the front, rear, left and right sides, and Figure 7 shows how the containers are stored. Figure B is a front view. 1... Container (article) (aligned container), 4...
・・Pushing board, 4′・・・・Middle and high part, 5・・・・
・Alignment plate, 7... Storage box, 10... Partition plate, a... Container feeding device, b... Pushing device, C... ... alignment device, d... clamping device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pushing board with a centrally located central part is movable forward and backward, and a pushing device is provided at the front with the centrally raised part in the vertical direction, and a plurality of articles are sequentially pushed in rows by the pushing board. A chevron-shaped alignment plate for receiving and placing a large number of articles on the plate in a vertical and horizontal direction; A sorting device is equipped with a partition plate that divides and sandwich the items in horizontal rows, and the sorted items that have been moved onto the storage box with the partition plates in between are grouped, and the items are held in a horizontal state and stacked and stored in the storage box. An article alignment/storage device comprising a clamping device.