JPS6361242B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention utilizes the stretchability of a conveyor whose conveying surface is stretchable to change the length of the surface that supports articles at a rotating portion. Furthermore, by individually engaging and rotating a pair of equally spaced conveyors with a pair of sprockets of the same diameter fixed to the same rotating shaft, it was possible to turn these conveyors at the same speed. The present invention relates to a stepped conveyor device.

[Prior Art] As a conventional technology, there is a stepped conveyor device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-34291. In this conventional technology, the conveyance surfaces of one conveyor are continuously opposed from the upper side of the other conveyor to the lower side through the turning area, and the articles are sandwiched between the opposing conveyance surfaces of both conveyors. It is conveyed while meandering back and forth.

Another conventional example is a conveyor device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-4567. In this prior art, a pair of conveyors are individually engaged with sprockets and pulleys of different diameters having the same center of rotation, and the article is also conveyed by sandwiching it between the conveying surfaces.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in such conventional technology, since the diameters of the pair of sprockets that have the same rotation center are different from each other, when both sprockets are rotated at the same speed, both conveyors engaged with each sprocket If there is a speed difference between the two conveyors and the product is transported while being sandwiched between the two conveyors, a large amount of slippage will occur between the product and at least one of the conveyors, and depending on the nature of the product, the product may There are problems in that the goods may be damaged or the conveyance pitch of the goods may be distorted. In addition, in order to make the speeds of the two conveyors the same, it is necessary to use different drive systems between the two sprockets that have the same center of rotation, and drive both conveyors by separate drive systems. There is a problem that the process becomes complicated. In particular, when two drive systems are used to drive two members individually in each drive system, driving the two members synchronously means that the power transmission equipment in each drive system is The problem is that synchronization is almost impossible due to play and errors.

The present invention has been made by focusing on the problems of the prior art, and aims to operate two conveyors whose conveying surfaces continuously face each other in a straight section and a turning section at the same speed using a single drive source. The purpose of this is to keep both conveyors facing the same position at all times by driving the conveyors.

[Means for solving problems]

This invention spans a large number of shafts between parallel chains, spans a frame member forming a conveying surface between the front and rear shafts, and a front engagement member that engages with the shaft on the front side of the frame member. and a rear engaging portion that engages with the rear shaft,
A pair of chain-driven conveyors including at least one conveyor are formed so as to be movable back and forth with respect to the shaft, and the distance between the front and rear shafts is variable to make the conveyance surface expandable and retractable.
Both conveyors are arranged so that their conveying surfaces face each other with a predetermined distance between them, and the chains of both conveyors are individually engaged with a pair of sprockets of the same diameter fixed to the same rotating shaft. It is configured to rotate while maintaining the predetermined interval.

[Effect]

In this invention, the speeds of both conveyors can be matched by making the respective sprockets with which the chains of both conveyors engage have the same diameter and by fixing both sprockets to the same rotating shaft.
As a result, there is no deviation in relative position between the conveyance surfaces of both conveyors.

In addition, when the spacing between the shafts spanned between chains changes, such as when the chain reaches the sprocket and is reversed, this spacing change can be compensated for at least between the front engaging portion and the rear engaging portion of the frame member. Either,
The conveyor conveyance surface is expanded and contracted by relative movement between the frame and the shaft to absorb the material.

In particular, when a pair of conveyors face each other at a predetermined interval and turn around the same center of rotation, the conveyor surface of the extendable conveyor can be expanded and contracted at the turning point, so that the conveyor on the outer side of the turn can be The conveyance surface and the conveyance surface of the conveyor on the inner side of the turn are made to face each other from beginning to end, so that the opposing positions of both conveyors are kept the same before and after the turn. Therefore, the article interposed between both conveyors is always conveyed while being sandwiched at the same position of both conveyors, regardless of whether it is a straight section or a turning section.

〔Example〕

1 to 5 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

First, the conveyor of the first embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, two conveyors each having an extendable conveying surface are used. That is, conveyor A
And conveyor B is this.

The conveyor A has a large number of shafts 2 between an endless roller chain 1 on the left side of the traveling direction and an endless roller chain on the right side (not shown), which are parallel to each other.
are constructed at equal intervals, and two shafts 2 are constructed in front and behind each other.
A frame member 3 forming a conveyance surface is spanned between them, and the whole has a net conveyor shape.

The shaft 2 is attached to the chain 1 by fixing the end of the shaft 2 to a bracket 1b that is individually integrally molded to the roller link 1a and pin link 1c of the chain 1. The same applies to the chain on the right side (not shown). Thus, a large number of shafts 2 are arranged at the same intervals in the longitudinal direction.

The frame member 3 is made of a flat spiral wire that embraces the front shaft 2 and the rear shaft 2,
a front engagement portion 3a that engages with the front shaft 2;
At least one of the rear engaging portions 3b that engages with the rear shaft 2 is movable back and forth with respect to the shaft 2, and the rear shaft 2
It is designed to allow changes in the interval between. Further, the spiral frame member 3 extends in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 2, and its length corresponds to the width dimension of the conveying surface. Framing material 3
Although not shown, the end of the wire rod is formed in an annular shape to prevent the end of the wire from protruding. Note that the shape of the shaft 2 is not linear, but
For example, the part where the frame member 3 engages becomes concave, etc.
Of course, it may be modified as appropriate.

Thus, between the chain 1 on the left side and the chain on the right side, the frame members 3 are continuous in a band shape in the continuous direction of the chains 1, and the conveyor A is constructed as a whole.

Similar to the conveyor A, the conveyor B is provided between an endless roller chain 4 on the left side and an endless roller chain on the right side (not shown) that are parallel to each other.
A construction material 3 in which a large number of shafts 2 are constructed at equal intervals and a conveying surface is formed between two shafts 2 in front and behind.
The whole structure resembles a net conveyor. Chains 1 and 4 have the same pitch and are installed at the same height position.

Conveyor B is different from conveyor A in that the length of shaft 2 of conveyor B is longer than that of conveyor A, that chain 1 is located outside chain 4, and that the height of shaft 2 is longer than conveyor A. The difference is that the position is different. That is, the shaft 2 is attached to the chain 4 in the conveyor B by fixing the end of the shaft 2 to a bracket 4b that is individually molded integrally with the roller link 4a and pin link 4c of the chain 4. , the bracket 4b is in an opposite position to the bracket 1b in the vertical direction. The same applies to the chain on the right side (not shown). The relationship between the shaft 2 and the frame member 3 and the shape of the frame member 3 are the same as those of the conveyor A. Therefore, parts of conveyor B that are the same as those of conveyor A are labeled with the same symbols as those of conveyor A.

Both conveyors A and B are arranged one above the other, with the chains 1 and 4 at the same height, and with a predetermined gap between them to interpose the articles, with the conveying surfaces formed by the frame members 3 facing each other. Also, both conveyors A and B
The chains 1 and 4 are individually engaged with sprockets 5 and 6 of the same diameter fixed to the same rotating shaft 7,
Both conveyors A and B are configured to rotate while maintaining the predetermined interval.

A notch 6a is formed in the sprocket 6 with which the inner chain 4 engages to avoid interference with the shaft 2 of the conveyor A.

In this way, these conveyors A and B have a straight portion and a turning portion repeatedly in the direction of travel,
It is configured to convey items in a meandering manner.

Next, the operation of this first embodiment will be explained. When the sprockets 5 and 6 rotate together with the rotating shaft 7, the chains 1 and 4 that engage with the sprockets are driven, and the conveyors A and B move forward. Sprocket 5, 6
Since conveyors A and B are fixed to the same rotation shaft and have the same diameter, the forward speeds of conveyors A and B are the same. Furthermore, in the straight-travel portion of conveyors A and B before reaching sprockets 5 and 6, both A and B
A predetermined interval is maintained between the transport surfaces of the frame members 3, and the transport surfaces of the frame members 3 move forward at the same speed. Therefore, the items caught between the conveyor surfaces move together with conveyors A and B,
This leads to the turning area by sprockets 5 and 6. The relationship between the frame member 3 and the shaft 2 here is such that in both conveyors A and B, the front end of the front engaging portion 3a of the frame member 3 is located in front of the shaft 2, and the front and rear ends of the frame member 3 are The distance between the outer sides of the front and rear shafts 2 is smaller than the distance between the front and rear shafts 2, and the lengths of the conveying surfaces of the conveyors A and B are set to be medium. In addition, in this straight-moving part, the chains 1 and 4 have their rollers 1d,
4d is guided by the upper surface of a rail (not shown).

Then, when conveyors A and B reach the turning point,
Chain 1 of conveyor A is meshed with sprocket 5, and chain 4 of conveyor B is meshed with sprocket 6.
It engages with and rotates. During this rotation, the distance between the shafts 2 of the conveyor A widens, and the distance between the shafts 2 of the conveyor B becomes narrow. That is, since the chains 1 and 4 are at the same height when viewed from the horizontal direction and mesh with the sprockets 5 and 6 of the same diameter, the chains 1 and 4 rotate with the same curvature. On the other hand, since the bracket 1b that attaches the shaft 2 to the chain 1 is located inside the main body of the chain 1 during turning, and the bracket 4b that attaches the shaft 2 to the chain 4 is located outside of the main body of the chain 4 during the turning, the conveyor B The radius of the locus that the shaft 2 of conveyor A moves is larger than the radius of the locus of movement of the chains 1 and 4 bodies, and the radius of the locus that the shaft 2 of conveyor A moves is larger than the radius of the locus of movement of the chains 1 and 4 bodies. It is also small. Therefore,
At the turning site, the distance between the shafts 2 of the conveyor A becomes narrower, and the distance between the shafts 2 of the conveyor B becomes wider.

Then, at the turning site, as shown in FIG. 4, the front engaging portion 3a of the frame member 3 of the conveyor B
The shafts 2 are located at the front end and the rear end of the rear engaging portion 3b, and the spacing between the shafts 2 increases to the fullest extent of the length of the frame member 3, and as a result, the length of the conveying surface of the conveyor B increases. . Also, conveyor A frame material 3
In this case, the shaft 2 engages with the rear end of the rear engaging portion 3b and the rear end of the front engaging portion 3a, respectively, and the lateral overlap of the front and rear members 3 increases, resulting in The length of the conveying surface of conveyor A is shortened and becomes small.

Furthermore, since the chains 1 and 4 of the opposing shafts 2 of the conveyors A and B at this time are engaged with the sprockets 5 and 6 of the same diameter, they are always on the same radius. , the turning angles of conveyors A and B within a unit time are the same. Therefore, both the frame members 3 of the opposing conveyors A and B rotate while keeping their relative positions always the same. Then, when the conveyors A and B pass through the turning part and reach the straight part again, the lengths of the conveying surfaces of the conveyors A and B return to the intermediate length, as in the straight part before the turn. In Figures 1 and 3, the upper half of the turning area, that is, the process of moving from the straight moving area to the turning area, is illustrated, but the lower half appears in the opposite direction to the upper half, so the movement from the turning area to the straight moving area is illustrated. The process leading to this can be easily understood from the figure.

Thus, when conveyors A and B pass through the turning area,
The distance between the conveyor surfaces of conveyors A and B is always maintained the same, and the opposing frames 3 are always facing each other, so that an item sandwiched between the conveyor surfaces is not sandwiched between the same frames 3. It is conveyed as it is and reaches the next straight section. Then, in the next straight-moving section that follows this, the articles are conveyed in the same manner as in the above-mentioned straight-moving section, so in the end, in this stepped conveyor device, the articles are sandwiched at the same position on both conveyors A and B from beginning to end. The goods are conveyed while being conveyed, and no misalignment occurs between the goods and the conveyance surface.

In this way, the conveyors A and B repeat the straight portion and the turning portion in the direction of travel, and the articles are conveyed along a meandering trajectory. This meandering may be a form in which the meandering occurs sequentially from the top to the bottom, a form in which the meandering occurs sequentially from the bottom to the top, or a form in which the straight sections are oriented in the vertical direction. Of course, this is a good thing.

In this first embodiment, the shaft 2 is relatively moved within the front engaging portion 3a of the frame member 3 at the straight-moving portion of the conveyors A and B and at the turning portion of the conveyor A. The relative movement between the frame member 3 and the shaft 2 may be performed by either the front engaging portion 3a or the rear engaging portion 3b, or by both.

Furthermore, at the turning point, the conveyance surface of conveyor A is contracted and the conveyance surface of conveyor B is expanded, but it is also possible to have a format in which one of conveyors A and B can expand and contract, while the other does not. . The telescoping conveyor in this case constitutes the conveyor of the present invention, and the non-stretching conveyor is directly connected to the pin of the chain and spanned by a shaft having the same locus as the chain, just like a conventional conveyor. Equipped with net. A telescopic conveyor is disposed on the outside or inside of the conveyor that does not extend or contract at the turning site.

6 and 7 show the second embodiment,
The frame member 3 has a perfectly circular rear engagement portion 32 that fits externally onto the shaft 2, and the front engagement portion 3a is an oval shape. It is made to be movable. A single wire rod is provided between the engaging portions 3a and 3b, and this wire constitutes the conveyance surface of the conveyors A and B. Thus, in this embodiment, although the length of the wire rods constituting the frame members 3 is short, the number of frame members 3 spanned between the two shafts 2 forming the front and rear is large enough to extend across the width direction of the conveyors A and B. Many are required. Other configurations and operations are the same as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a third embodiment, in which the front engaging portion 3a and the rear engaging portion 3b of the frame member 3 are oval, which allows the frame member 3 to move relative to the shaft 2. It's like this. And both engaging parts 3a,
3b is composed of a single wire, and this constitutes the conveyance surface of conveyors A and B, as in the second embodiment. Other configurations and operations are the same as in the first embodiment.

In addition, instead of the frame material 3 in each embodiment, the frame material 3 may be constituted by an oval ring-shaped wire rod, or it is also possible to use materials such as plates or bars instead of wire rods. Furthermore, if the frame member 3 of each of the above embodiments is made to have the same curvature as the locus of the frame member 3 at the turning site between the front engaging portion 3a and the rear engaging portion 3b, the curve at the turning site is conveyor A,
The conveying surface of B can also be configured to form an arc centered on the rotating shaft 7.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the stepped conveyor device of the present invention, when a pair of conveyors face each other with a predetermined interval and turn around the same center of rotation, the conveying surface is expanded and contracted at the turning site. By doing so, the conveyance surface of the conveyor on the outside of the turn and the conveyance surface of the conveyor on the inside of the turn are faced from beginning to end, and the facing positions of both conveyors are made to be the same throughout before and after the turn, thereby interposing the conveyor between the two conveyors. Items can be conveyed by being sandwiched at the same position on both conveyors at all times.

Furthermore, by making the sprockets that both conveyors engage with the same diameter and fixing both sprockets to the same rotating shaft, the chains of both conveyors move at the same speed. There is no deviation in the relative positions of the conveying surfaces of both parts and the straight-travel part. Therefore, even when items are continuously conveyed on the outbound and return trips, there is no misalignment between the items and both conveyors through the series of conveyance paths, so even if the items are fragile, they can be easily transported. This has the effect of preventing damage.

Moreover, according to the present invention, both sprockets are fixed to the same rotating shaft by making both sprockets the same diameter and by making the conveyor equipped with a chain that engages with the sprockets extendable and retractable. As a result, both conveyors can be driven by one drive system.
This also has the effect that synchronized driving of both sprockets, both chains, and both conveyors can be easily and reliably realized.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of the first embodiment, Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line - - of Figs. A front view showing the shaft and the frame material, FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of FIG. 4,
FIG. 6 is a front view showing the shaft and frame material of the second embodiment, FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a front view showing the shaft and frame material of the third embodiment. be. A, B... Conveyor, 1, 4... Chain, 2...
...shaft, 3... frame member, 3a... front engagement part,
3b... Rear engaging part, 5, 6... Sprocket,
6a... Notch, 7... Rotating shaft.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A large number of shafts are spanned between parallel chains, a frame member forming a conveyance surface is spanned between the front and rear shafts, and a front engaging portion of the frame member engages with the shaft on the front side; At least one of the rear engaging parts that engages with the rear shaft is formed so as to be movable back and forth with respect to the shaft, and the interval between the front and rear shafts is variable, so that the conveyor surface can be expanded and contracted. A pair of chain-driven conveyors including at least one of these conveyors are arranged with their conveying surfaces facing each other with a predetermined gap between them, and the chains of both conveyors are fixed to the same rotating shaft. 1. A stepped conveyor device, characterized in that the conveyors are configured to rotate while maintaining the predetermined distance by individually engaging a pair of sprockets having the same diameter.