JPS6116664B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an article conveyance intermediary device that separates heavy objects taken out from the warehouse along with pallets from the pallets in automated warehouses, warehouse warehouses, etc., and transports only the heavy objects to the next process. In more detail, as shown in Fig. 1, heavy objects (for example, molds, etc.) stored in a multi-story warehouse A are taken out by a forklift crane B together with a pallet on which the heavy objects are placed. The heavy objects and pallets taken out by the forklift crane are separated and efficiently placed on the cart C for the next process.
Moreover, the present invention relates to an article conveyance intermediary device that conveys articles safely.

Conventionally, when taking heavy goods stored in racks such as automated warehouses out of the warehouse, the heavy goods are placed on pallets by a forklift crane that traverses traveling rails laid inside the warehouse. It was taken out as is. When a heavy object on a pallet taken out by the forklift crane is delivered to a predetermined use location, the current situation is that the heavy object is transported together with the pallet. For this reason, when using delivered heavy items, it is necessary to pick up each heavy item from the pallet before using it, so the pallet may get in the way while the heavy item is being used, and sometimes the pallet must be removed from the pallet. Therefore, it had the disadvantage of significantly reducing work efficiency. Furthermore, since the heavy objects must always be moved together with the pallets, there is a problem in that the moving work requires a lot of time and effort.

This invention was devised in view of such conventional problems, and is designed to separate pallets and heavy objects between a forklift crane that takes out heavy objects from a warehouse and a trolley that delivers the heavy objects to a predetermined location. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article conveyance intermediary device which is equipped with an intermediary device having functions and is configured to safely and quickly convey only the heavy object to the next step (carriage).

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the intermediary device 1 mainly consists of a bogie frame 7 that is placed on a running rail 3 via running wheels 5 so as to be able to traverse freely, and approximately at the center of this bogie frame 7. A lower swing frame 11 is installed horizontally with the bogie frame 7 through a pivot shaft 9, and a swing frame 11 is installed on the upper part of the lower swing frame 11 via a support link mechanism 13 so that it can be raised and lowered. It is composed of an upper frame 15 for use. This invention is particularly characterized by the internal structure of the rotating upper frame 15 that constitutes the above-mentioned intermediary device 1.

The rotating upper frame 15 includes a casing 17 formed in a hollow shape, and two sets of rectangular lifter frames that are installed approximately in the center of the casing 17 and are telescopically connected via a link mechanism 19. 21a, 21b, and a plurality of guide rollers 25 (heavy object flotation members 25) erected on the upper surface of the upper lifter frame 21a via support frames 23 arranged at predetermined intervals. ing. The casing 17 formed into a hollow rectangular shape has four upper limit stopper bolts 27 installed at the four corners of the lower rotating pedestal 11 and support links interposed between the lower pedestal 11 and the upper pedestal 15. Metering adjustment bolt 29 that comes into contact with mechanism 13
It is supported by The lower lifter frame 2 is attached to the bottom support frame 31 of the casing 17.
1b is integrally mounted, thus the casing 17
When the lifter frame 21b and the lifter frame 2 above it move up and down with respect to the lower frame 11,
1a is also raised and lowered at the same time. Next, the link mechanism 19 connecting the upper and lower lifter frames 21a and 21b consists of four frames 33a, which are vertically opposed to each other, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7.
It is composed of a set of two links 35a, 35b, 35c, and 35d, each of which links 33b, 33c, and 33d are connected to each other. Each of the two links 35a to 35d has its center pin 37a to 37d.
37d, and one end of each link 35a to 35d is rotatably connected to the side wall of the frame 33a to 33d of the lower lifter frame 21b, and the other end is connected to the running roller 39a to 39d. The upper lifter frame 21a is slidably engaged along the frames 33a to 33d of the upper lifter frame 21a via the upper lifter frame 21a. In addition, in FIG. 5, 41 is a connecting bolt for synchronizing the front and rear links 35a, 35c.

Between the upper and lower lifter frames 21a and 21b is a first lifter for raising and lowering the lifter frame 21a relative to the lower lifter frame 21b.
An air bag 43 is interposed, and pressurized air is introduced into the first air bag 43 from an air supply source (not shown) via an air supply/discharge pipe 45. The casing 17
An upper lifter frame 21a is provided on one side of the upper end of the
A stopper bolt 47 that regulates the upper limit position of the stopper bolt 47 is vertically disposed downward.
The lower end of the upper lifter frame 21a is slidably fitted into a through hole 51 of a bracket 49 extending from one side of the upper lifter frame 21a. And stoppa bolt 4
When the upper lifter frame 21 is raised, the nut 53 screwed into the upper lifter frame 2
The upper limit position of the upper lifter frame 21a is regulated by coming into contact with the upper surface of a bracket 49 provided integrally with the upper lifter frame 1a. A support frame 2 is disposed on the upper lifter frame 21a.
The plurality of guide rollers 25 erected via 3 are
As shown in FIG.
At the same time, the heavy object 59 (mold, etc.) placed on the pallet 55 floats from the upper surface of the pallet 55 by retracting from a plurality of long holes 57 formed in the lower part of the pallet 55, which will be described later. It is provided so that the object 59 can be smoothly transported to a predetermined position. Note that 61 is a pallet guide having a triangular cross section provided at the four corners of the upper end surface of the casing 17, and 63 is a limit switch for detecting whether or not the pallet 55 is present on the upper surface of the casing 17.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower swivel mount 11 that supports the upper swivel mount 15 has a swivel rotatably connected and supported on the bogie frame 7 via a swivel shaft 9. table 65 and this turning table 65
A support link mechanism 13 for holding the upper pedestal 15 in a horizontal state and a weight detection device 67 for detecting the weight of a heavy object 59 (such as a mold) placed on the upper pedestal 15 are provided on the top. It is composed of

A plurality of turning wheels 69 are suspended from the bottom of the turning table 65 at predetermined intervals and roll along the upper surface of the bogie frame 7, and the turning shaft 9 includes:
A stopper plate 71 is provided so as to be stretched in the radial direction. A through hole 75 is formed in a part of the stopper plate 71 and is engaged with a stopper rod 73 installed on the turning table 65.
7, it is configured to move up and down via a spring 73a. Next, the support link mechanism 13
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 8, two curved links 13a each having different lengths (total of four),
The base ends of brackets 79a to 13b are installed at the four corners of the turning table 65.
79d, and two links 13a, 13b and 13c, 13d are combined and connected to form a U-shape. The tips of the two short links 13a and 13b are rotatably connected to the tips of the two long links 13c and 13d via bolts 81, and the tips of the links 13c and 13d are connected to a weight detection device to be described later. 67 detection rod 83.

The weight detection device 67 includes a second air bag 85 provided on the lower surface of the rotating table 65 and to which constant air pressure is always supplied, and the detection rod 8 provided at the upper end of the second air bag 85.
The second air bag 85 is placed on a support frame 65a suspended from the lower surface of the rotating table 65.

As mentioned above, a constant amount of pressurized air (for example, pressurized air corresponding to the strength of the racks in warehouse A) is always introduced into the second air bag 85 from a pressurized air supply source (not shown), and this second air bag 85 8
The tips of the links 13c and 13d are always supported at a predetermined pressure via the detection rod 83 by the pressure of the pressurized air introduced into the link 5.

A limit switch 87 is provided on the rotating table 65 to detect the lower limit position of the upper frame 15, and this limit switch 87 detects the position when the upper frame 15 has descended below a certain level. It sends a signal to the overload indicator and overload buzzer. In other words, the limit switch 87 detects when a load (heavy object 59) that exceeds the set load is applied to the upper frame 15, and prevents such a load (heavy object 59) from being stored in the multi-story warehouse A. In other words, it serves as a safety device to prevent the racks in warehouse A from being destroyed.

Next, a stopper mechanism 89 for stopping the intermediary device 1 at a predetermined position on the traveling rail 3 is provided on one side of the truck frame 7, and this stopper mechanism 89
is a flange 91 attached to the wall of the bogie frame 7.
A stopper bolt 93 is provided so as to be movable up and down toward the upper surface of the traveling rail 3. When the intermediary device 1 is to be stopped at a predetermined position on the traveling rail 3, the stopper bolt 93 is lowered and brought into contact with the upper surface of the traveling rail 3, and when the intermediary device 1 is to be moved, the stopper bolt 93 is lowered. It is pulled up along the flange 91 and the stopper bolt 93 is fixed in that position.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 95 is a phototube for positioning the intermediary device 1 at a predetermined position with respect to the forklift crane B, and by aligning it with a light receiver (not shown) provided on the forklift crane B, the heavy object 59 is It is designed to facilitate the transportation work of Further, 97 indicates an air pressure gauge for supplying pressurized air to the first air bag 43 interposed between the upper and lower lifter frames 21a and 21b and the second air bag 85 of the weight detection device 67, and 99 indicates an air supply/exhaust operation. A panel 101 is an electric operation panel for electrically operating the intermediary device 1.

Next, the pallet 55 on which the heavy object 59 is placed
As shown in Figures 9, 10, and 11,
The pallet 55 has a rectangular channel made of light metal (aluminum alloy, etc.), and on the top surface of the pallet 55 there are a plurality of guide rollers 2 erected on the lifter frame 21a via a support frame 23.
5 are inserted in parallel.

Next, the functions of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration are as follows: the function of separating the heavy object 59 and the pallet 55, and the function of separating the heavy object 59 and the pallet 55,
9 will be explained separately from the function of detecting the weight.

(a) Effect of separating the heavy object 59 and the pallet 55.

In FIG. 1, heavy goods 59 are placed on racks in multi-storey warehouse A via pallets 55.
(Molds, etc.) are taken out of the warehouse A by a forklift crane B that runs sideways along a traveling rail D laid in the warehouse A, and transferred onto the intermediary device 1. The intermediary device 1 is placed in advance at a position corresponding to the forklift crane B, that is, at a position where the phototube 95 provided on the lower rotating pedestal 11 of the intermediary device 1 and the light receiver (not shown) provided on the forklift crane B coincide. Let's move it.

When the heavy object 59 is placed on the casing 17 of the intermediary device 1 via the pallet 55 in this state, the limit switch 63 provided on the casing 17 stops the pallet 55 and the heavy object 59 from being placed on the casing 17. It detects that the pallet has been placed at a predetermined position, and sends the signal to a pallet placement display device (not shown).

In such a state, the heavy object 59 and pallet 5
Begin separation work from 5.

The guide roller 25 erected on the upper lifter frame 21a is lowered from the upper surface of the casing 17, that is, the first air bag 43 is contracted, the link mechanism 19 is folded, and the upper lifter frame 21a is lowered to its lowest position. Pressurized air is supplied from an air supply source (not shown) through the air supply/discharge pipe 45 to the first
It is supplied into the air bag 43. When pressurized air is introduced into the first air bag 43, as the first air bag 43 expands, it is transferred to the upper lifter frame 21 via the link mechanism 19.
a and the guide roller 25 rise toward the top of the casing 17. This operation will be explained in further detail based on FIGS. 5 to 7. That is, when the first air bag 43 starts to inflate, the upper lifter frame 21a is pushed up by the upper surface of the first air bag 43, and at the same time, the opposing frames 33 of the upper and lower lifter frames 21a and 21b are pushed up.
Links 35a-3 pivotally connected to a-33d
5d stands up from the lower lifter frame 21b. That is, one end of the links 35a to 35d is rotatably supported on the wall surface of the lower lifter frame 21b via a pin, and the other end is supported along the frames 33a to 33d of the upper lifter frame 21b via running rollers 39a to 39d. Since the upper lifter frame 21a is configured to slide, when the upper lifter frame 21a rises as described above, the running rollers 39a to 39d provided at the other ends of the links 35a to 35d move closer to each other while moving the links 35a to 35d. The whole thing will stand up.

Next, as the upper lifter frame 21a rises, a plurality of guide rollers 25 erected on the upper surface of the upper lifter frame 21a through the support frame 23 are inserted into a plurality of elongated holes 57 provided in the pallet 55, and further the upper lifter frame 21a Due to the rise in
The heavy object 59 is floated from the upper surface of the pallet 55 via the guide roller 25. Note that the position of the nut 53 of the stopper bolt 47 that regulates the upper limit position of the upper lifter frame 21a is such that the heavy object 59 can be removed from above the pallet 55 via the guide roller 25.
It is set in advance so that it can levitate. Although not shown, the lower lifter frame 21b is provided with a limit switch that detects the lower limit position of the upper lifter frame 21a and transmits a signal for allowing use of the intermediary device 1.

When the operation of floating the heavy object 59 from the upper surface of the pallet 55 via the guide roller 25 as described above, that is, the separation operation, is completed, a worker or the like pushes out the heavy object 59 along the guide roller 25.
It is transferred onto cart C for the next process. Note that if the intermediary device 1 and the cart C for the next step are far apart, the intermediary device 1 is moved along the traveling rail 3 so as to approach the cart C. In this case, the stopper mechanism 8 provided on the bogie frame 7
9 is operated as appropriate to stop or move the intermediary device 1 at an appropriate position on the traveling rail 3. In addition, although the above-mentioned separating action has been explained only for separating one heavy object 59, many heavy objects 59 are separated from each other on the pallet 5 on the casing 17.
These pallets 5
5 and the heavy object 59 at the same time, the operation is similar to that described above. In addition, in this case, if only one of the many separated heavy objects 59 is to be transferred to the next process C (cart C), the upper and lower rotating The frames 15 and 11 are rotated by a predetermined angle about the pivot shaft 9 of the truck frame 7. To rotate the upper and lower frames 15 and 11, as shown in FIG. The stopper rod 73 engaged with the stopper rod 75 is pulled up against the elastic force of the spring 73a to release the engaged state. As a result, the upper and lower frames 15 and 11 can rotate about the pivot shaft 9 erected on the truck frame 7 as a fulcrum,
It can be rotated to a desired position, and a predetermined heavy object 59 can be smoothly and quickly transported onto the cart C. In the above embodiment, the first air bag 43, which expands and contracts by introducing pressurized air, is used as a means for raising and lowering the upper lifter frame 21a, but the first air bag 43 is not limited to this. It may be raised or lowered.

(b) Weight detection function of the heavy object 59 This weight detection function of the heavy object 59 is not to detect the weight of the heavy object 59 taken out from the multi-storey warehouse A via the pallet 55, but rather to detect the weight of the new heavy object 59. This function is achieved when the storage unit is stored in the racks of the multi-story warehouse A.
That is, the racks in multi-story warehouse A are designed in advance to be strong enough to support up to a certain amount of weight. Therefore, if a large number of heavy items 59 whose weight exceeds the strength of the racks are stored in the multi-story warehouse A, an extremely dangerous situation will arise. For this reason, knowing the strength of the racks in the multi-storey warehouse A in advance and not storing heavy objects 59 that exceed that strength is an extremely appropriate measure in terms of safety. Therefore, in the present invention, the intermediary device 1 is equipped with a function of checking the heavy objects 59 stored in the multi-storey warehouse A by comparing them with, for example, the strength of racks, that is, a weight detection function. This weight detection function is achieved by, for example, introducing air pressure corresponding to the strength of the rack into the second air bag 85 in advance as described above, and when a weight greater than this air pressure acts, this is detected and shown in the figure. This system sends a signal to the overload indicator and overload indicator buzzer to notify the user of the dangerous condition of the rack.

The operation will be explained in detail below.

For example, when a heavy object 59 that is less than the pressurized air introduced into the second air bag 85 is placed, the weight of the heavy object 59 is supported by the air pressure introduced into the second air bag 85. Therefore, the upper rotating pedestal 15 on which the heavy object 59 is placed does not descend, but maintains that state.

Next, when a heavy object 59 having a weight greater than the air pressure introduced into the second air bag 85 is placed on the casing 17 of the upper swing frame 15, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 8. , links 13a to 13d are combined and connected to each other in a U-shape via brackets 79a to 79d on the revolving table 65, and the casing 1
It is pressed downward by a metering adjustment bolt 29 attached to the bottom support frame 31 of No. 7. That is,
The links 13a to 13d are connected to each other in a U-shape as described above, and the tips of the two long links 13c and 13d are in contact with the detection rod 83 of the second air bag 85, so that measurement is possible. When the links 13a to 13d are pressed downward via the adjuster bolt 29, the second air bag 85 is compressed and lowered, and at the same time, the casing 17 on which the heavy object 59 is placed also lowers along the upper and lower stopper bolts 27. do. When the casing 17 further descends to below a certain set level, the turning table 6
The limit switch 87 provided on the switch 5 contacts the limit switch 87 provided on the switch 5. Limit switch 87 and casing 17
When the bottom surface of
9 indicates an inappropriate display. The reason why the links 13a to 13d are connected to each other in a U-shape is that even when a heavy object 59 is placed on the casing 17, it can be lowered while always maintaining a horizontal state, and also prevents eccentric loads. This is to prevent left and right wobbling. That is, for example, one link 13a
Even if the load of the heavy object 59 acts on only the links 13a to 13d, as shown in FIG. It will go down. Note that the weight detection device 67 in the above embodiment is a second one using pressurized air.
Heavy object 59 placed on casing 17 by air bag 85 and limit switch 87
However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment; for example, the weight may be detected by a cylinder using hydraulic pressure and a detector that detects the pressure oil supplied to the cylinder. good. Further, instead of the second air bag 85, a spring having a certain elastic force may be interposed.

As described above, in this invention, the heavy objects 59 taken out from inside the multi-storey warehouse A are separated from the pallets 55 and transported to the next process, so that the pallets 55 do not get in the way when the heavy objects 59 are used. This can significantly improve work efficiency. Further, since it is not necessary to always transport the heavy object 59 together with the pallet 55, the work of transporting the heavy object 59 can be carried out quickly and safely.

Furthermore, since the structure is relatively simple, it can be manufactured at low cost and maintenance and inspection work can be easily performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the invention, Fig. 3 is a partially vertical side view of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a side view of the invention. The figure is a plan view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 3, FIGS. 6 and 7 are front and side views showing the relationship between the upper and lower lifter frames and the link mechanism, and FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the support link mechanism. , FIGS. 9 to 11 are a front view, a plan view, and a side view of the pallet. (Main symbols in the drawing), A... Warehouse (multi-level warehouse), 55... Pallet, 59... Heavy goods, 1...
... Intermediary device, 7 ... Bogie frame, 17 ... Casing, 21a ... Lifter frame, 57 ... Long hole, 25 ... Heavy object floating member (support frame 23
guide rollers installed in the

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The heavy objects 59 stored in the warehouse A via the pallets 55 are taken out of the warehouse A along with the pallets 55, and the pallets 55 and the heavy objects 59 are removed.
The intermediary device 1 separates the heavy objects 59 into the pallets 55 and conveys only the heavy objects 59 to the next process.
Casing 17 on which heavy objects 59 are placed via
is installed and provided on the bogie frame 7, and the casing 1
A lifter frame 21a that can be raised and lowered along the side wall of the casing 17 is provided in the lifter frame 7, and the heavy object floating member 25 can be inserted into the lifter frame 21a at a position corresponding to the hole 57 provided in the pallet 55. An article conveyance intermediary apparatus characterized in that the apparatus is arranged in an upright manner so that a heavy object 59 placed on the pallet 55 can be pushed up from the upper surface of the pallet 55.