JPS5917689B2 - Feeder for sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for transferring cargo to a sorting device that automatically sorts cargo according to destination at DeHart collection and distribution centers, truck terminals, post offices, railroads, airport cargo terminals, etc. This is related to a feeder that feeds the cargo in series, and it is possible to feed the cargo to the sorting device at high speed by suppressing excessive gaps between the cargo, especially when the dimensions (lengths) of the cargo are different5. This is related to a feeder that has been developed.

When feeding large and small cargo that is continuously transported in large quantities to an automatic sorting device, a conventional feeding device has a first feeder 2. ．．
2 and the second feeders 3 and 3 are arranged one after another, and then a merging feeder 4 is provided at the rear end, and then a high-speed sorting device 5 is connected to this feeder 4.

In order to sort the cargo by destination without any trouble, a certain gap (minimum separation that allows for sorting) should be provided between each cargo.
First feeder 2. The second feeder 3 and the merging feeder 4 are sequentially operated at high speed.

A predetermined gap is provided between each cargo by utilizing the speed difference between each feeder.

That is, each cargo is fed into the first feeder 2, and an operator 6 waiting beside the feeder presses keys on the sorting device control panel according to the order of sorting of each cargo, and the sorting device distributes these cargoes by destination code. (If the command is given, then these cargoes are sequentially transferred to the second feeder 3 and the merging feeder 4 whose transport speed is faster.

In this way, each time the cargo is transferred, the gap between each cargo increases, and each cargo is fed so that the largest gap is secured on the sorting device 5.

However, when cargo is supplied using this type of method, there is a drawback that, as described below, the distance between the articles becomes excessive depending on the size (length) of the cargo.

That is, the distance between each cargo on the sorting device is determined by the speed ratio of each feeder and the dimensions (length) of the cargo.

To further explain this point, as shown in Figure 13A, the speed
The cargo (the length of which is L) is placed on the feeder 7 at the interval between the center points of the articles G, , G2... at a speed of 2v.
When the cargo is transferred to the feeder 8, the distance between the center points of the articles on the feeder 8 is 2L, and the gap between the cargoes is L.

When an article moves through a junction point between feeders having different speeds, the speed of the article is largely controlled by the speed of the conveyor on the side on which the center of gravity of the article is placed.

However, when a large cargo G3 is transferred from the feeder 7 to the feeder 8 as illustrated in FIG. 13B, the gap between it and the preceding cargo G becomes wider than in the above case.

Therefore, if the above-mentioned minimum sortable interval is secured based on the smallest cargo, an excessive gap will be created when large cargo as mentioned above is supplied, resulting in a disadvantage that the operating rate of the sorting equipment will be significantly reduced. was there.

Furthermore, in the conventional apparatus as shown in FIG. 12, in order to merge double rows of cargo into one place, left and right feeders 2, 2, 3, .
3 was used to alternately suddenly stop and start suddenly to merge, so it was easy to shock the cargo (therefore, it could not be applied to cargo that easily rolled or slippery, and there were also restrictions when increasing the speed of the device) was there.

The present invention has been developed in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional devices.

Cargo of various sizes that are continuously transported in large quantities.

The object is to provide a high-speed feeder that can continuously feed articles to a sorting device with a predetermined gap, regardless of their size.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings. Fig. 1 is a plan view of a skeleton showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the same as above.

In the figure, reference numeral 11.11 is a constant speed conveyor, 12°12 is an accumulation conveyor connected to the terminal end of the conveyor, 1. The conveyor speed is 3 as a line.
0m/ra! It is L.

As an example, the above-mentioned conveyors 11.11 and 12.12 are two conveyors installed in parallel.
Umbrellas of mixed sizes are conveyed continuously in close contact with each other.

Variable speed command feeders 13.13 are connected to the terminal ends of the accumulation conveyors 12.12, and on the sides of each feeder 13.13, the cargo sent onto the feeders is sorted as described below. Operators P, , and P2 will be placed to give commands to the control panel of the sorting device.

The command feeder 13.13 is constituted by a belt conveyor whose speed can be automatically changed as shown in FIG.

That is, in the figure, 14 and 15 are belt wheels, and 16 is a belt suspended between the belt wheels.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a variable speed motor with a reduction gear, which changes the driving speed of the belt to an appropriate speed.

Note that this belt speed is always determined by operator P1. P
2 identifies the cargo and sorts the cargo at a steady speed 1, for example 30 m/am, at which the sorting device can be controlled by pressing a key on an electric control panel or by voice commands.

When the operator's keystroke interval, voice command interval, etc. is equal to or greater than a preset time interval, the conveyor is controlled to operate at a steady speed, and the occurrence interval, etc. is set for a preset time. If it is shorter than the interval, the variable speed motor 17 is controlled to 5 so that the driving speed of the belt 16 can be made low immediately.

In this case, for example, if the operator's keystroke interval is set to 1
times/second, and if it is shorter than that, the maximum speed is 30m/m to the minimum speed 15m/m depending on the degree.
between.

The structure is such that the speed can gradually decrease.

The command feeders 13, 13 are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
As shown in the figure, two dispensing feeders 18 are installed in parallel.
．． 18 are connected respectively.

This delivery feeder 18.18 is constructed by a chain-driven roller conveyor as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

That is, the roller 20 is pivotally supported on the machine frames 19, 19.

21 is a roller shaft, and 22 is a bearing.

Free wheels 23 and 24 having a first-order configuration are fixed to both ends of the roller shaft 21.

That is, the freewheels 23 and 24 use a sprocket wheel that has a built-in ratchet (not shown), which enables transmission only in the direction in which the cargo is traveling, and allows it to rotate idly in the opposite direction.

A chain 25 is then hooked onto the inner freewheel 23 of the freewheels 23 and 24.

Further, a rack bar 26 with a pin rack is engaged with the outer freewheel 24.

The rack bar 26 is driven by a drive device (not shown) to alternately and intermittently advance and retreat at high speed in the direction of the arrow, and to drive the freewheel 24 at high speed as it moves forward.

Incidentally, 27 is a guide for the rack bar.

During normal times, the rollers 20 are used as a constant-speed drive roller conveyor via a chain 25, and carry out the cargo carried in from the command feeder 13 at high speed to the first-stage merging feeder 28.

Incidentally, in this embodiment, two delivery feeders 18 are installed in parallel as shown in FIGS. .18, the cargo is then merged by a merge feeder 28, and rearranged into a single line.

That is, the two payout feeders 18.18 are individually operated at high speed by rack bars 26.26, and the timing is adjusted by moving the rack bars 26.26 alternately forward and backward.

A predetermined range of cargo is alternately delivered from each delivery feeder onto the merging feeder.

Further, the payout feeder 18.18 in this embodiment is configured such that all rollers except a portion on the input side can be driven at high speed by a rack bar 26.26 that can slide by a stroke t.

Therefore, when the rack bar is driven, only the rollers located within the projection range of the rack bar are driven at high speed.

The other rollers are driven by chain 25 at a constant speed.

Note that, after the rack bar 26 moves forward by a predetermined stroke, it immediately retreats and returns to its original position.

Incidentally, the steady speed of this delivery feeder 18 is, for example, 30 m/t.

High-speed drive speed is 65m/Tni! Let it be t.

As shown in FIG. 1, the merging feeder 28 is constituted by a belt conveyor having a wide width sufficiently commensurate with the width of the two discharging feeders 18, 18 arranged in parallel.

On this conveyor, two skirts 29, 29 are provided facing each other and the distance between them gradually narrows in the direction of travel.

The inner surface of the scarf 29.29 is designed to be smooth so that the cargo that is individually conveyed from the delivery feeder 18. .

Note that the driving speed of this merging feeder 28 is the same speed as the high-speed dispensing speed of the dispensing feeder 18, and is operated steadily.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the interval feeder 30 is a so-called stripe conveyor in which a plurality of tape-shaped belts 31 are lined up in parallel and driven at the same speed. It is a belt pulley attached to both ends.

This belt pulley is driven at a constant speed by a drive device (not shown).

It is driven at a higher speed than the combined feeder 28.

35 is a belt pulley for applying tension to the belt 31, and 36 is a floor plate provided on the lower surface of the belt 31.

In addition, at the dispensing end 9 of the interval feeder 30.

A stopper 37 that can freely appear and retract from below the belt 31 is formed in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the belt.

This stopper 37 is composed of a pipe-shaped rotating shaft 38 that is suspended horizontally below the belt 31 and rotates at a predetermined speed, and a brake 39 that projects from the pipe-shaped rotating shaft 38 onto the circumferential surface of the rotating shaft 38 when necessary.

That is, through holes 40 and 40 are formed in the upper and lower surfaces of the pipe in the diametrical direction of the pipe-shaped rotating shaft 38, and a brake member 39 having a cross-shaped cross section is inserted into this through hole as shown in FIG. The brake is fixed in the rotary shaft 38 by a fixing block 41 that protrudes from the center of the brake.

The rotating shaft 38 is connected via a clutch brake to the rotating shaft of a motor which always rotates at a constant speed.

This driving means intermittently rotates the rotating shaft 38 by 180 degrees.

Immediately below the rotating shaft 38, there is provided a button 42 which is repeatedly raised and lowered at required time intervals by an electromagnetic device or other driving means, as shown in FIG.

A receiving plate 43 having an arcuate cross section is fixed to the upper end of this bushing 42, and this receiving plate supports the eighth brake element 39.
The brake 39 can be pushed up as shown in the figure, and the brake 39
can slide on the arcuate receiving plate 43 when the rotating shaft 38 rotates.

Incidentally, the stopper 37 configured in this way.

The rotation interval and the timing of pushing up the brake element 39 by the button 42 are appropriately controlled, and the time for which the stopper 37 appears and disappears on the belt 31 is adjusted to make the rotational speed of the one-rotation shaft 38 slower than the speed of the belt 31. This acts to dampen the movement of the cargo passing over the stopper and widen it to a predetermined gap.

Note that the reference numeral 45 in FIG. 1 and FIG.

This is a joint conveyor disposed between the delivery end of the interval feeder 30 and the high-speed sorting device 46.

This conveyor transfers the cargo fed from the interval feeder 30 to the sorting device.

Next, a process of transporting cargo of different sizes onto a sorting device using the feeder of the present invention will be explained.

When a mixture of large and small cargoes is almost continuously fed to the command feeder 13 via the transfer conveyor 11 and the storage conveyor 12, an operator P7. P2 identifies the destination of sorting for each cargo, and inputs a control signal for each cargo to the control panel of the sorting device by appropriate means such as key-in or voice command.

This signal input interval is a preset interval 1, for example, 1 per second.
When the number of times exceeds the signal input interval, the variable speed motor 11 is automatically lowered from the steady speed by a control device (not shown), thereby reducing the driving speed of the command feeder 13 in accordance with the signal input interval.

command feeder 13 until a predetermined signal input interval is obtained.
Adjust the speed.

As a result, the cargo on the command feeder reaches the delivery feeder 18 at approximately constant intervals (pitch) regardless of its size (length).

In other words, the constant spacing means that the gap between large pieces of cargo is small, and the gap between small pieces of cargo is wide.

Therefore the above cargo. The high-speed interval feeder 3 passes through the unloading feeder 18 and the merging feeder 28 whose conveyance speed is increased sequentially.
When leading to 0, even if the gap between cargoes is widened due to the speed difference, there is a risk that the gap between cargoes with large dimensions (lengths) will be much wider than the gap between cargoes with small dimensions, as in conventional feeders. There isn't.

In actual operation, if the steady speed and lower limit speed of command figure 13 are set appropriately, taking into consideration the size of the cargo to be handled, the maximum value of the signal input speed for operator sorting, etc., the final stage interval feeder 30, each cargo is kept with a certain gap.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the cargo is alternately delivered from the left and right two rows of delivery feeders 18 and merged into one merging feeder 28, and even if there is cargo in between, the cargo is delivered from the command feeder 13 onto each delivery feeder 18. Freight is delayed (flowing in).

That is, in FIG. 4, the feeder 18 on the left side in the direction of movement
Before the rack bar 26 is filled with cargo, the rack bar 26 slides downstream at high speed, and only the cargo within its projection range is delivered at high speed and transferred onto the first convergence feeder 28.

In this case, the cargo within the projection range of the rack bar all moves at the same speed, so the gap between the cargo does not change, and moreover, the cargo moves at the same speed as the merging feeder 28 (even when transferring from the 1st merging feeder) The gap between them remains unchanged.

On the other hand, the subsequent cargo transferred from the command feeder 13 onto the delivery feeder 18 is placed on the rollers 20 of the delivery feeder, which escapes from the influence of the rack bar 26 that has slid at high speed and returns to a steady speed.

Note that until this delivery feeder 18 is filled with cargo again, the delivery feeder 18 on the right side in the direction of movement is driven at high speed to send out the cargo on the feeder 18 to the merging feeder 28.

In this way, there is a system that alternately supplies cargo from two rows of left and right delivery feeders to a merging feeder.

(The cargo transferred onto the merging feeder 28 is sent in a single line to the interval feeder 30, but this interval feeder operates at a higher speed than the merging feeder, and uses the speed difference to separate each cargo. desired gap between cargoes.

Give me some time.

A retractable and rotatable stopper 37 provided in the interval feeder 30 performs high-speed intermittent rotation in the direction of cargo movement at a desired speed.

That is, the stopper is rapidly pushed up by the bushing 42 when the cargo passes over the stopper (see FIG. 8).

As soon as the bushing reaches the upper limit, the rotating shaft 38 begins to rotate, and when the rotation angle reaches 90 degrees, it sinks below the belt surface, and stops rotating at the rotation angle of 180 degrees.

At this time, the button 42 is also returned to its original position.

Then, only when there is a following cargo that moves while maintaining a gap narrower than the predetermined gap, the moving speed of that cargo is suppressed by the stopper.

Since the speed difference between the rotational speed of the stopper and the running speed of the belt is constant, and the time during which the belt is braked by the stopper is constant, the narrow gap also widens to a predetermined width.

Incidentally, since the stopper rotates at a predetermined speed, even if the cargo collides with the stopper, there is little overturning of the cargo or damage to the cargo.

As is clear from the above description, according to the feeder of the present invention, even when the dimensions (lengths) of the cargoes differ, the gap between the cargoes does not become excessive.

There is no reduction in the operating rate of the sorting equipment.

Further, according to the present invention, the speed of the feeder and the timing of the stopper can be adjusted according to the size of the cargo, so it is possible to optimally maintain the gaps between the cargoes and the cargo supply capacity.

Other advantages of the present invention are listed below.

[F] There are no sudden speed changes such as starting or stopping throughout all feeders, so the cargo does not roll or slip.

■ Therefore, the specified gap between cargoes can be maintained and there is less damage to cargoes.

■ It has great capacity because it can be done at high speed.

■ There is no need to stop at the operator's position and the machine passes at low speed, reducing fatigue and preventing mistakes.

■ There is little variation in gaps depending on the size of the cargo.

■ Wide tolerance for mixed sizes of cargo.

■ When the amount of supplies is small, it works by using only one line.

■ Can be connected in series with the sorting device at the same speed, reducing speed differences and
There are no changes in direction or head, and the load can be fed accurately and without damage.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the same as above, Fig. 3 is a side view of the command feeder, Fig. 4 is a plan view of the delivery feeder, and Fig. 5 is a cross section taken along line A-A. Figure, 6th
The figure is a plan view of the interval feeder, Fig. 7 is its side view, and Fig. 8 is a plan view of the interval feeder.
The figure is a side view of the stopper. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the brake that constitutes the stopper, Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the rotating shaft, Fig. 11 is the same (a perspective view of the pusher, Fig. 12 is a plan view of the conventional feeder, Fig. 13 is A and B are plan views showing the process of supplying cargo by a conventional feeder. 11: Transfer conveyor, 12 Niaccumulation conveyor, 13: Command feeder, 14 Knee<#) car, 15: Belt car, 16: Belt, 17: Variable speed motor, 18 Two-discharge feeder, 19: Machine frame, 20: Roller, 21: Roller shaft, 22: Bearing. 23: Freewheel, 24: Freewheel. 25: Chain, 26: Rack bar, 27: Guide, 2
8: Confluence feeder, 29 Niskirt, 30: Interval feeder, 31: Belt, 32: Wagon group. 33: Belt wheel, 34: Belt wheel, 35: Belt wheel, 3
6 two floor plates, 37: stopper, 38: rotating shaft. 39: Brake element, 40: Through hole, 41: Fixed block, 4
2: Pusha, 43: Arc-shaped receiving plate, 44 Ni guide, 45:
Splicing conveyor, 46: Sorting device. Pl, P2: Operator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A continuous conveyance path leading cargo to a sorting device is formed by a plurality of conveyors, and the conveyor located at the most upstream side of the conveyance path receives one destination command signal when the generation interval is equal to or longer than a preset time interval. incorporating a transmission device that controls the conveyor to operate at a steady speed, and controls the conveyor speed to a low speed in accordance with the occurrence interval when the occurrence interval is smaller than a preset time interval; A stopper that rotates in the flow direction of the cargo and can be moved in and out of the conveyor conveyance surface at appropriate times is installed under the conveyor located at the most downstream position, and the speed of the conveyor on the downstream side is made relatively faster than the speed of the conveyor on the upstream side. A feeder for sorting equipment featuring: