JPS6044204B2 - Telescopic article loading device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention stores articles on a plurality of shelves respectively, and when a take-out command is given, desired articles are placed and stored in a desired quantity.
The present invention relates to an article taking-in device suitable for use in a device that automatically takes out articles to a predetermined position.

In conventional devices of this type, containers containing a large number of items are placed one by one on a shelf, and the entire container is taken out when a removal command is issued, so generally the containers are removed only once. Only one container can be removed during the removal operation.

Therefore, even if different types of articles are stored in each container, it is not possible to take out a plurality of types of articles at the same time. Therefore, when there is such a request, the removal operation is performed several times. However, in this method, the user has to take out the desired number of items from the container by hand, which is cumbersome, and the container must be returned to the shelf after the desired items are taken out. Therefore, a problem arises in that the working efficiency of the device decreases. Recently, therefore, devices have been developed that directly take in articles one by one and transport them all at once to a predetermined position after the desired type and number of articles have been taken in. ) is being developed. In other words, in this device under development, a plurality of articles are placed side by side in the front-rear direction on each of a large number of shelves each having an article locking portion and a groove at the front end, and these articles are placed on the front end side of the shelf. A mounting member movable toward and away from the shelf is provided on a platform which is biased and carried along the front of the shelf, and upon which the item is removed from the shelf and transported to a predetermined position. A pickup member and a guide member that supports and guides the movement of the article sent by the pickup member on the side of the pickup member are arranged in parallel, and the tip of the pickup member is slightly protruded by a certain length from the guide member, When taking in an article, it is conceivable to move the attachment member toward the shelf so that the tip of the pick-up member enters the lower part of the shelf, and then to pick up the article by moving it upward through the cut groove of the shelf. ing.

However, in such a configuration, when the tip of the pickup member enters below the shelf, the guide member also moves in a direction closer to the shelf, which causes a problem when the thickness of the article varies depending on the type of article.

In other words, if the protruding length of the pickup member relative to the guide member is made relatively short, if the amount of penetration of the pickup member is increased, the guide member will hit the front end of the shelf, making it impossible to take in thick articles. On the other hand, if the protruding length of the pick-up member is made relatively long, the guide member will be far away from the front end of the shelf when taking in a thin article, so there is a risk that the article will fall through the gap. Furthermore, since the entire mounting member on which the pickup member and guide member are mounted must be moved,
A motor with a large output was required, which also made the whole system, including the platform, heavier. Mau.

It has also been proposed to make only the pickup member movable in the direction of moving toward or away from the shelf.

Thereby, the gap between the guide member and the shelf can always be kept narrow regardless of the thickness of the article. However, if the pick-up member itself is moved so that its tip enters the lower part of the shelf, it is generally undesirable to create a void at the opposite end of the pick-up member and articles may fall there. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to
An object of the present invention is to provide an article taking-in device for an article storage/individual carrying-out device that can reliably take in articles from a shelf even when the articles are thick. Another object of the present invention is to provide an article take-in device for an article storage/unloading device which has a conveyor function and whose length can be easily changed.

According to the present invention, the conveyor belt is stretched loosely between the rear conveyor belt drive wheel attached to the drive shaft and the front conveyor belt roller supported by a rack movable back and forth, and the conveyor belt is The lower part of the belt is applied to a movable, spring-biased tension roller to apply tension, and further includes a pinion meshed with the rack, a conveyor expansion/contraction motor that rotates the pinion, and both sides of the conveyor belt. a guide belt which is located at each of the rear guide belt drive wheels attached to the drive shaft and a guide belt roller which is fixed in position at the front, and a belt feed motor that rotates the drive shaft. A telescopic article taking-in device is obtained, which is characterized in that it is provided.

According to the article taking-in device of the present invention, the above-mentioned object can be achieved.

Furthermore, since the conveyor belt drive wheel and the guide belt drive wheel are attached to the same drive shaft, the conveyor belt and the guide belt can be driven by a common belt feed motor. Therefore, the structure can be simplified and implemented at low cost, and synchronized running of the conveyor belt and the guide belt can be easily obtained. The present invention will be described below using examples with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic view of the main parts of an article storage and individual unloading device using an embodiment of the article take-in device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, there are many shelves 2 in the area where articles 1 are stored.
is arranged in a matrix shape vertically and horizontally. Each of these shelves 2 is provided with a cut groove 2-1 and a locking portion 2-2 at the front end. A plurality of articles 1 are placed on these shelves 2 in parallel in the front-back direction and are urged toward the front end.
The frontmost article is stopped by engaging with the locking portion 2-2. In the part where the articles 1 are taken in, an article delivery conveyor belt 4 and a conveyor belt 4 from the shelves 2 are placed on a platform 3 which is disposed on the side opposite to the front surface of a large number of shelves 2 and is conveyed vertically and horizontally along the front surface of the shelves 2. It includes a pickup conveyor belt 5 that takes out the article 1 and sends it to the delivery conveyor belt 4, and a pair of guide belts 6 that support and guide the article 1 on both sides of the pickup conveyor belt 5.

The pickup conveyor belt 5 and the guide belt 6 are fed by respective drive wheels provided on the same drive shaft 7, and can be moved slightly up and down with the drive shaft 7 as a fulcrum, as shown by the chain line in FIG. 1a. It's becoming like that. Now, the pickup conveyor belt 5 is hung on a tension roller 8 that is movable in the vertical direction, so that the entire length of the pickup conveyor can be expanded and contracted.

That is, when the tension roller 8 is in the lower position, the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 is retracted as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, and the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 is retracted as shown by the chain line in the same figure. When the tension roller 8 protrudes to the upper position, the tension roller 8 is in the upper position. The relationship between the expansion and contraction of the overall length of the pickup conveyor and the position of the tension roller 8 will be more clearly understood with reference to FIG. 2, which shows the structure on the platform 3. In FIG. 2, the tension roller 8 is movably guided in the vertical direction by a guide rod 9, and is biased downward by a compression spring 10 provided on the guide rod 9.

By urging the tension roller 8 downward in this manner, tension is applied to the pickup conveyor belt 5. The tip roller 11 defines the tip position of the pickup conveyor belt 5. The tip roller 11 is supported by a horizontally movable rack 12, and is moved by rotating a pinion 13 meshed with the rack 12 by a pickup conveyor expansion/contraction motor 15 via a chain 14. With this structure, the pickup conveyor belt 5 can be advanced into and taken out from below the shelf 2, as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the second
In the figure, the drive shaft 7 with drive wheels 71 and 72 for the pickup conveyor belt 5 and the guide belt 6 is connected to a belt feed motor 17 via a V-belt 16.
This causes the pickup conveyor belt 5 and the guide belt to run synchronously.

This belt feed motor 17 also runs the delivery conveyor belt 4 via a chain 18. As clearly shown in FIG. 1, the work of taking in the article 1 from the shelf is as follows:
This is done by moving the drive shaft 7 upward through the kerf 2-1 using the drive shaft 7 as a fulcrum.

That is, when this operation is performed, the article 1 placed on the part having the kerf 2-1 is lifted by the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5, and carried out from the shelf 2 by the running of the pickup conveyor belt 5. . Such vertical movement of the pickup conveyor belt 5 is performed using a cam means, and in this embodiment, a suitable cam means is driven by the pickup conveyor vertical movement motor 35 shown in FIG.

The article 1 taken out from the shelf 2 onto the pickup conveyor belt 5 is further supported at both ends by the guide belt 6, and is then transferred onto the delivery conveyor belt 4.

On the delivery conveyor belt 4, the article 1 is further conveyed in a direction away from the shelf 2. A gate 19 is provided at the end of the delivery conveyor belt 4 in the feeding direction, so that the article 1 to which the delivery force is applied by the delivery conveyor belt 4 is pressed against the gate 19 and substantially stops. This gate 19 is rotatable about a shaft 20 as shown in FIG. 2, and is driven to open and close by a suitable gate driving means 36 such as a motor or an electromagnetic solenoid. That is, the state shown in FIG. 2 shows the closed state, and when the gate 19 rotates about the shaft 20 and faces downward, it becomes the open state. The article taking-in device having the above-mentioned structure selects a shelf on which a desired article is placed by moving the platform 3 vertically and horizontally while keeping the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 retracted. is caused to protrude below the selection shelf by a length determined according to the thickness of the article, and the pickup conveyor belt 5 and guide belt 6 are moved upward with the drive shaft 7 as a fulcrum to receive the frontmost article. By running the conveyor belt 4, the articles are sent to the delivery conveyor belt 4 and temporarily stored while being pressed against the gate 19. By repeating the vertical movement of the pick-up conveyor belt 5 and the guide belt 6, the articles are It is also possible to take in articles, or to take in one or more articles from a plurality of shelves by repeating the series of operations described above.

The articles temporarily stored on the delivery conveyor belt 4 in this manner are discharged all at once by opening the gate 19. In reality, the articles discharged from the delivery conveyor belt 4 are placed on a delivery conveyor (not shown) and transported to a predetermined take-out position. Furthermore, since the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 is movable in a direction that intersects the front surface of the shelf 2, it is possible to lift the articles even when the thickness of the articles differs depending on the articles placed on different shelves 2. Not only that, but the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 can be moved below the shelf 2 while keeping the position of the guide belt 6 on the platform 3 stationary. The distance G between the front surface of the shelf 2 and the guide belt 6 (first
(see figure) can be designed so that it is always narrower.

Therefore, even if the article is thin, it can be prevented from falling through the gap G between the shelf 2 and the guide belt 6 during the loading operation from the shelf 2. Now, in the article taking-in device described above, the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 is made movable, and the amount of entry of this tip below the shelf 2 can be increased or decreased in accordance with the thickness of the article. As shown in the figure, a front detector 21 is attached to the tip of the pickup conveyor, and the front detector 21 detects the front or front end of the article 1 or the shelf 2, and the detection signal at that time is used to pick it up. By controlling the amount of advance of the conveyor belt 5, the articles 1 can be carried out more reliably.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a control circuit used in that case.

In FIG. 3, the clock pulse from the clock pulse generator 22 is now applied to the first and second gate circuits 23, 2.
4 is entered. The first gate circuit 23 connects to the operation panel (not shown) of the product storage and individual unloading device. It remains closed and does not allow clock pulses from the clock pulse generator 22 to pass through until a start signal is input to the start signal input terminal 25 by operation or the like. The second gate circuit 24 remains closed until a backward signal is inputted to the backward signal input terminal 26 based on the completion of the work of taking out the article 1 from the shelf 2 onto the pick-up conveyor belt 5, etc. No clock pulses from generator 22 are passed through. Now, start signal input terminal 25
When a start signal is input to the first gate circuit 23
is opened and a normal rotation signal is input to the motor control circuit 27, thereby causing the pickup conveyor expansion/contraction motor 15, which is a stepping motor, to rotate in the normal direction, causing the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 to protrude. A front detector 21 attached to the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 detects the article 1 when the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 protrudes.
or corresponding to the shelf 2, upon detection of its front or front side, the third gate circuit 28 is opened to allow the clock pulses from the clock pulse generator 22 to pass. The clock pulse at this time is input to the subtraction counter 29. This subtraction counter 29 has a number corresponding to the article thickness inputted in advance from the article thickness setting input terminal 30, and is used to subtract the number of clock pulses from the set number every moment. When the subtraction counter 29 becomes zero, this is detected by the zero detection circuit 31, and the first gate circuit 23'' is immediately closed along the path shown by the line 32.When the first gate circuit 23 is closed, the first gate circuit 23'' is closed. The motor 15 is stopped.Furthermore, when the reverse signal is input to the reverse signal input terminal 26, the second gate circuit 24 is opened and a reverse rotation signal is input to the motor control circuit 27, whereby the motor 15 is reversed. Pick up conveyor belt 5
The tip of the retracts.

When the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5 is retracted to a predetermined position, this is detected by the initial position detector 33,
Immediately the second gate circuit 24 follows the path indicated by line 34.
, and the motor 15 is stopped. In this way, when the motor 15 is controlled using the control circuit shown in FIG. After detecting the front or front end of the article 1 or the shelf 2, a subtraction counter 29 is set in advance according to the article thickness.
Since it is determined by the set number of Conveyor belt 5 shelf 2
The downward approach length of is in accordance with the set value with high precision.

Therefore, even when articles of various thicknesses are placed on each shelf and taken out, the articles can be taken out reliably and errors in taking out can be prevented. Although the present invention has been described above using a specific embodiment, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and also includes those with various design changes.

It goes without saying that various modifications can be made to the circuit for controlling the movement of the tip of the pickup conveyor belt 5.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 schematically shows the main parts of an article storage/individual unloading device using an embodiment of the article take-in device according to the present invention, in which a is a side view and b is a plan view. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of an embodiment of the article taking-in device. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a circuit that controls the movement of the leading end of the pickup conveyor belt 5. As shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is an article, 2 is a shelf, 2-1 is a kerf, 2-2 is a locking part, 3 is a platform, 4 is a delivery conveyor belt, 5 is a pickup conveyor belt, 6 is a guide belt, and 8 is a Movable tension roller, 12 is a rack, 13 is a pinion, 15 is a pickup conveyor expansion/contraction motor, 17 is a belt feed motor, 19 is a gate,
21 is a front detector, 22 is a clock pulse generator, 23
, 24, 28 are gate circuits, 25 is a start signal input terminal, 26 is a reverse signal input terminal, 27 is a motor control circuit, 29
30 is a subtraction counter, 30 is an article thickness setting input terminal, 31 is a zero detector, and 33 is an initial position detector.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Suspend the conveyor belt loosely between the rear conveyor belt drive wheel attached to the drive shaft and the front conveyor belt roller supported by a front and rearward movable rack.
and applying tension to the lower portion of the conveyor belt by applying tension to a movable, spring-loaded tension roller;
Furthermore, a pinion meshed with the rack, a conveyor telescoping motor that rotates the pinion, a rear guide belt drive wheel located on both sides of the conveyor belt and attached to the drive shaft, and a front part fixed in position. 1. A telescoping article taking-in device, characterized in that it is provided with a guide belt that is stretched around a guide belt roller, and a belt feed motor that rotates the drive shaft.