JPS6330183B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a type of conveyor that transports objects in a suspended state.

Hanging conveyors are generally used in meat warehouses,
It is used for various purposes such as paint drying lines and factory production lines. Conventionally, this type of conveyor involves suspending a large number of wheeled movable members (trolleys) arranged at regular intervals from a track built in a high place such as a factory or warehouse, and interconnecting these trolleys with a chain. By attaching hanging fittings to this trolley or chain and suspending the objects to be transported, a plurality of objects to be transported can be transported while always maintaining constant intervals. By the way, on a conveyor line, if you want to leave the conveyed items still for a certain period of time in the middle of the line, or if it takes time to process a particular process on the production line,
Alternatively, there may be cases where there is a need to keep the transported items at a certain point on the line for a certain period of time, such as when storing the transported items until they are transferred to another line or shipped. be.
However, according to the conventional conveyor mentioned above, it is not possible to stop the conveyed objects only at a specific point on the line, and if the entire conveyor line is stopped, the conveyed objects at other than the specific point will also stop and the flow work will be interrupted. In addition, it is not possible to concentrate the transported objects in a specific location on the line. Further, there is a problem in that the work and equipment involved are complicated when the conveyed objects are transferred from the conveyor to a fixed hanging location.

In view of these circumstances, the present invention provides a conveyor of this type that allows objects to be conveyed to reach a specific point on the line to be stopped and retained in a concentrated manner, or to change the interval between objects to be conveyed at will. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a conveyor that can be arranged compactly without increasing the size of the structure and taking up extra space, and its configuration is as follows.

The present invention provides an elevated fixed track constructed substantially horizontally,
A rail body is formed by connecting a large number of plate pieces to each other in a flexible manner, and wheels are freely rotatable via horizontal shafts at each of the front and rear sides of a plurality of locations spaced at regular intervals in the length direction of the rail body. The movable track is mounted on the fixed track, and a plurality of unconnected workpiece holding members each having a workpiece holding section at a lower part and a rotatable roller at an upper end are provided. The track is mounted so that it can move along the fixed track by bringing each wheel of the movable track into contact with the upper surface of the fixed track, and the movable track is interlocked and connected to a drive device, and the movable track is By placing the rollers of the above-mentioned object holding members on the rail body so that they can roll and with appropriate rolling friction resistance, each object holding member can be stirred and moved relative to the movable track. This conveyor is characterized by being able to be suspended.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to illustrative embodiments.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, 1 is an elevated fixed track constructed at an appropriate height in a factory or meat warehouse, etc.; 2 is a movable track placed on the fixed track 1;
3... are a plurality of object holding members suspended from the movable track 2.

The fixed track 1 is formed of channel steel, has wheel mounting surfaces 11 and 12 on both front and rear sides of its upper surface, and has a guide roller engagement opening 13 therebetween. The conveyor belt is installed substantially horizontally in a loop shape over an appropriate range so as to configure a conveyor path depending on the purpose of use.

The above-mentioned movable track 2 includes a rail body 21 formed by bendably connecting a large number of plate pieces 22 to each other by a plate link type chain 25, and a rail body 21 having a rail body 21 arranged at regular intervals in the length direction of the rail body 21. Wheels 24..., 24'... are rotatably attached via horizontal shafts 23... on both front and rear sides at a plurality of locations. Furthermore, the rail body 2
1, a large number of guide rollers 27 are arranged between a pair of upper and lower chains 25 and 26 of a plate link type. That is, the rail main body 21
An upper chain 2 is attached to the lower end of each plate piece 22 constituting the
The plate links 25a of the upper chain 25 are welded together, and guide rollers 27 are installed between the overlapping ends of the plate links 25a of the upper chain 25 and the overlapping ends of the plate links 26a of the lower chain 26.
... are interposed, the vertical shaft 28 ... connects the plate links of the upper chain 25 and the lower chain 2.
The six plate links are rotatably connected together, and at the same time, the guide rollers 27 are pivotally supported. In this way, the plate pieces 22 are connected and the guide rollers 27 are attached. Each plate piece 22... is
The side portions are formed close to each other and the upper ends are aligned at the same height. Also, horizontal shafts 23 project from the center of every other plate piece 22 of the rail body 21 on both front and rear sides, and wheels 24, 24' are attached to the front and rear ends of the horizontal shafts 23, respectively. There is.

This movable track 2 has wheels 24..., 24'... on the wheel mounting surfaces 11, 12 with respect to the fixed track 1.
The guide rollers 27 are placed so as to be movable along the fixed track 1 by engaging the guide rollers 27 with the openings 13. And, it is configured to be rotated by a driving device (not shown) that is interlocked with the chains 25 and 26.

Further, each of the conveyed object holding members 3 is formed separately without being connected to each other, and each has a roller mounting frame 32 connected to the upper end of a vertically long plate-shaped main portion 31. A roller 33 in the form of a V-pulley or the like is rotatably installed, and the main portion 3
A conveyed object holding section 34 is provided at the lower end of the conveyor belt 1. In the illustrated example, the holding portion 34 is formed into an annular shape so as to be able to hold the transported object 35 in a suspended manner, but the shape of the holding portion 34 can be arbitrarily selected depending on the transported object. . Each of these conveyed object holding members 3...
The rollers 33 are mounted on the rail body 21 so as to be able to roll and have an appropriate rolling friction resistance, so that the rollers 33 are suspended with respect to the movable track 2 so that they can be stirred and moved relative to each other. In addition, in order to prevent the rollers 33 of each holding member 3 from coming into contact with each other during transportation or when the holding member stops, which will be described later, the roller mounting frame 32 is made wider than the diameter of the roller 33, or protrusions are provided on both sides of the mounting frame. It is desirable to have a In addition, if necessary, each holding member 3
In order to prevent the holding members 3 from falling off the movable track 2, an appropriate guide frame (not shown) may be provided for the holding members 3.

FIG. 5 shows a planar view of the moving path of the object holding frame by the fixed and movable tracks 1 and 2, and movement regulating means are provided at predetermined locations on this path for stopping the object holding member 3 when necessary. 5 and its actuating device. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, for example, the movement restricting means 5 includes a rotating piece 52 rotatably attached to a fixed frame 50 via a pin 51.
and a movement blocking piece 54 whose proximal end is pivotally attached to one end on the distal side of the rotating piece 52 via a pin 53, and an intermediate portion between the fixed frame 50 and the movement blocking piece 54. By pivotally connecting the links 55 with pins 56 and 57 to form a parallel link mechanism, the movement blocking piece 54 moves approximately linearly forward and backward in response to the rotation of the rotation member 52. The movement blocking piece 54 is arranged so as to protrude to a position in front of the conveyed object holding member 3 when moving forward, and to retreat from this position when moving backward. The rotating piece 52 is connected to an actuating device such as a cylinder 58. Further, as means for automatically operating this actuating device when necessary, a limit switch (not shown) is provided to detect when the holding member 3 approaches a predetermined position, and the cylinder 58 is actuated by a detection signal from the limit switch. The movement blocking piece 54 is made to protrude, and this state is maintained for a certain period of time using a timer or the like.

If necessary, the intervals between the holding members 3 may be adjusted appropriately during the movement route to prevent the holding members 3 from colliding with each other at corner portions of the movement route, etc. A spacing adjustment means 6 and its actuating device may also be provided.
As shown in FIG. 8, for example, the distance adjusting means 6 is operated by a cylinder 68 or the like with a mechanism similar to that of the movement restricting means 5, but the distance adjusting means 6 is operated by a cylinder 68 or the like with a mechanism similar to that of the movement restricting means 5. is pin 61,
It is pivotally connected to the fixed frame 60 via a pin 66, and two movement prevention pieces 64, 64' are attached to the pins 63, 64' at both ends thereof.
67 and 63', 67' are attached in a parallel link shape, so that the movement blocking pieces 64, 64' alternately appear and disappear in response to the reciprocating rotation of the rotating piece 62. . Then, the cylinder 68 responds to the detection signal from the limit switch.
This allows the rotating piece 62 to be rotated back and forth at a constant cycle.

Next, the operation of this conveyor will be explained.

A plurality of the holding members 3 are suspended from the movable track 2 at appropriate intervals as described above, and each holding member 3 is made to hold an object 35 to be transported, and in this state it is movable. When the drive device for the track 2 is activated, the wheels 24..., 24'... roll on the upper surface of the fixed track 1, and the movable track 2 moves around the fixed track 1. And each of the above-mentioned holding members 3...
The movable track 2 moves along with the movable track 2 due to rolling friction resistance between the rollers 3 and the rail body 21 of the movable track 2 unless an external force that prevents the movement is applied. As a result, the objects 35 to be conveyed are conveyed along the conveyor path.

When attempting to stop the transported object 35 at a predetermined location for curing or the like while moving around the movable track 2, move the holding member 3 in front of the holding member 3 at that location to obstruct the movement of the holding member 3. bring something into view. In this case, if the movement restricting means 5 and its actuating device are provided as shown in the embodiment, the movement preventing piece 54 will automatically protrude when the holding member 3 reaches near the position. As a result, the holding member 3 that has reached the relevant point comes into contact with the movement blocking piece 54 and is prevented from moving, and the rollers 33 of the holding member 3 roll ( The holding member 3 stops at this position while rotating). Furthermore, the subsequent holding members 3 that are successively sent follow the first holding member 3 and stop while closing the intervals. Thus,
The objects to be conveyed accumulate in a concentrated manner at a designated location.
The conveying action of the conveyed object is continued at locations other than the predetermined locations. After the required retention period has elapsed, the timer operates and moves the movement blocking piece 54 backward, thereby canceling the movement blocking state. Furthermore, when there is no need for retention, the operation switch of the movement restricting means actuating device may be turned off. However, even if such automatic movement restriction measures are not necessarily used,
When an operator holds out his hand or other object in front of the holding member 3 at a predetermined position, the object to be transported can be stopped and retained at the predetermined position.

Furthermore, if the interval adjusting means 6 is provided at an appropriate location on the conveyor path as described above, the forward movement blocking piece 64 will first protrude at this location due to the reciprocating movement of the rotating member 62 and move to this position. When the conveyed object holding member 3 is stopped and then this movement blocking piece 64 is moved back to allow the holding member 3 to move forward, the movement blocking piece 64' on the rear side stops the next holding member 3.
The operation of once stopping the holding members 3 and then releasing the stopping action after a certain period of time is repeated, thereby adjusting the intervals between the holding members 3 .

As explained above, the conveyor of the present invention has a movable track equipped with wheels placed on a fixed track,
The movable track is moved along the fixed track by a drive device, and a plurality of object holding members are mounted on the movable track, and a roller provided at the upper end of the holding member is moved onto the rail body of the movable track. By placing the holding member movably and with appropriate rolling friction resistance, it is suspended so that it can be moved along and relative to the holding member, so if an external force that prevents movement is applied to the holding member at a desired location, the holding member can be moved. It is possible to collectively and intensively hold the conveyed objects that have reached the point without interfering with the conveying action at the point, making it extremely convenient for various operations on the conveyor line and for curing products. Moreover, since the movable track is movably placed directly on the fixed track, the track arrangement space can be reduced compared to, for example, a case where the movable track is mounted in a hanging manner, and the entire conveyor can be This provides excellent effects such as being able to be arranged compactly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partial front view showing one embodiment of the conveyor of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a vertical side view, Fig. 3 is a partial front view of the movable track, Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 5 is the conveyor. A partially cutaway schematic plan view showing the overall arrangement of the
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the holding member movement regulating means and its actuating device, FIG. 7 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 8 is a plan view of the holding member interval adjusting means and its actuating device. 1...Fixed track, 2...Movable track, 21...Rail body, 22...Plate piece, 23...Horizontal shaft, 24,2
4'...Wheel, 3...Holding member, 33...Roller,
34...Conveyed object holding section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A rail body is formed by connecting an elevated fixed track installed substantially horizontally and a number of plate pieces to each other so as to be flexible, and the rail body is formed at regular intervals in the length direction of the rail body. A movable track with wheels rotatably attached to each of the front and back sides at multiple locations via horizontal shafts, and a plurality of unconnected tracks with a conveyed object holding section at the bottom and rotatable rollers at the upper end. the movable track is placed on the fixed track so as to be movable along the fixed track by bringing each wheel of the movable track into contact with the upper surface of the fixed track; The movable track is interlocked and connected to a drive device, and the rollers of each of the conveyed object holding members are placed on the rail body of the movable track so that they can roll and have appropriate rolling friction resistance, thereby making the movable track possible. A conveyor characterized in that each conveyed object holding member is suspended so as to be able to stir and move relative to the track. 2. A holding member movement blocking piece that can be repositioned in the vicinity of a predetermined location of the conveyed object holding member transfer path by the movable track between a state of protruding to a forward position in the moving direction of the holding member and a state of retracting from the same position. The conveyor according to claim 1, further comprising a movement regulating means and an actuating device for operating the movement regulating means.