JPH0117896B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system for transporting a carrier serving as a jig for a workpiece in a nail processing factory or the like.

Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a conventional system, where T is a series of tanks for plating, 1 is a mounting section (work place) where a worker attaches a workpiece W to a carrier A, and 2 is a section for holding a carrier A. 3 is a transfer line for sequentially dipping the work W into the tank T; 3 is a removal part for removing the work W from the carrier A;
4 is an empty carrier A with no workpiece W attached.
This is a forwarding line that forwards the information to the mounting section 1. The lines 2 and 4 are constituted by, for example, a hanger conveyor type conveyor. Further, in the mounting section 1, an operator is configured to mount a workpiece W onto a carrier A discharged from a forwarding line 4. However, with such conventional products, whereas the worker completes the workpiece mounting work in the mounting section 1 in a short period of time (for example, 1 minute), the time interval between when the carrier A is discharged from the forwarding line 4 is relatively long ( For example, for 5 minutes), the worker has to wait in vain between completing one workpiece mounting operation and starting the next one, which may cause mental pain. It is also possible for workers to take advantage of the above waiting time to take a break at a rest area or do other work, but since the above waiting time is short, only a few minutes, workers may go to a rest area or another work area. That's difficult.

In the present invention, a flight conveyor capable of transporting carriers and accumulating them at the conveyor exit is arranged between the exit of the forwarding line and the entrance of the conveyance line, and a worker can temporarily move the carriers to a large number of carriers accumulated at the exit of the flight conveyor. It is designed to allow workpieces to be attached continuously, and is specifically configured as follows.

That is, in the present invention, the delivery conveyor and the receiving conveyor are each configured with a flight conveyor that can transport the carriers and accumulate them on the conveyor exit side, the entrance of the receiving conveyor is connected to the exit of the forwarding line, and the exit of the receiving conveyor is connected to the delivery line. Located above the entrance of the conveyor and connected to the entrance of the delivery conveyor by a carrier transfer machine, the exit of the delivery conveyor is connected to the mounting part, and each of the flight conveyors is connected to the entrance of the delivery conveyor.
An endless belt is provided which moves between an inlet and an outlet thereof, and a number of retaining members for removably retaining the carrier are arranged in the longitudinal direction of said belt, each retaining member being attached to the belt by means of a connecting portion provided thereon. a stopper movable between a closed position and an open position is provided at the exit of each flight conveyor, and in the closed position, the stopper engages with the holding member, thereby The present invention is characterized in that the holding member remains at rest while sliding on the belt at the connecting portion, and the stopper does not engage with the holding member in the open position.

Next, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 2, which is a schematic side view, 5 is a receiving conveyor, and 6 is a discharging conveyor, both of which are comprised of flight conveyors that will be explained in detail later. It can be kept stationary at 10,
Also, during that time, the conveyors 5 and 6 are operating and the inlets 7 and 9 are being operated.
From there, a new carrier A can be transported to exits 8 and 10. Both conveyors 5 and 6 extend horizontally to extend the forwarding line 4 and the conveying line 2, respectively, and the receiving conveyor 5 is located above the dispensing conveyor 6. Receiving conveyor entrance 7
is connected to the outlet of the forwarding line 4. The receiving conveyor outlet 8 and the discharging conveyor inlet 9 are generally arranged vertically, and are connected by an elevating transfer device 11. A delivery conveyor outlet 10 is located within the mounting section 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, which is an enlarged partial view, each conveyor 5, 6 includes a drive pulley 16, a guide pulley 17, and a pulley 16 supported by a base frame 15.
A motor 19 (only one shown) that drives the
The belt 21 includes a guide frame 20 provided along the side edge thereof, and a number of saddles 22 (only some of which are shown) attached to the belt 21.

4 and 5 are a perspective view and a side view of the saddle 22, and FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 3,
As is clear from FIGS. 4 to 6, the saddle 22
is formed of a block body made of synthetic resin, for example, and the V
A groove 23 having a shaped cross section is provided on the upper surface in a posture extending in the width direction of the belt 21 (left-right direction in FIG. 6), and the lower surface is fixed to the base 25. As shown in FIG. 5, the belt 21 passes under the base 25. As indicated by the reference numeral 26 in FIG. 4, the left and right sides of the base 25 extend in the front and back of the saddle 22 (in the longitudinal direction of the belt 21), and protrude downward to sandwich the belt 21 from both the left and right sides. The lower end of is the belt 21
The belt support portion 27 extends downwardly to form a belt support portion 27 . When viewed from the side as shown in FIG. 5, the upper surface of the support portion 27 is a curved surface that projects upward. Fourth
As shown in the figure, there are leaf springs 29 on the front and rear surfaces of the saddle 22.
are fixed with bolts 30. Leaf spring 29
extends between a pair of adjacent extensions 26, 26 in a curved manner and presses the belt 21 against the support 27. As mentioned above, in the illustrated embodiment, the holding member for removably holding the carrier A is formed by the saddle 22, and the coupling portion for connecting the holding member to the belt 21 in frictional engagement. is formed by a support portion 27 and a leaf spring 29. A shaft 31 is provided above the curved lower end of the leaf spring 29 so as to extend in the width direction of the belt 21 .
The shaft 31 is supported by a pair of extensions 26, and the extensions 2
A guide wheel 32 is attached to the end of the shaft 31 protruding from the shaft 6. As shown in FIG. 6, the wheels 32 are designed to run within guide grooves provided in the guide frame 20.

In FIG. 3, a stopper 35 is provided above the receiving conveyor outlet 8 and above the discharging conveyor outlet 10.
36 is supported by a member not shown. In the state shown in Fig. 3, each stopper 35, 36
are in positions where the saddles 22 fed from the inlets 7 and 9 collide, and a stopper drive mechanism (not shown) allows the stoppers 35 and 36 to be moved to positions where the saddles 22 do not collide.

The carrier A shown in FIG. 2 is a member that holds, for example, a plate-shaped workpiece W in a vertical position, and is provided with a horizontal carrier bar 37 shown in FIG. 3 on its upper edge. 23 (4th
3), the upper conveyor mechanism 5 and the lower conveyor mechanism 6 in FIG. One pair each (only one of each is shown) is provided.

Next, the operation will be explained. When the stopper 35 is in the closed position shown in FIG. 3, the saddle 22 fed by the belt 21 from the inlet 7 collides with the stopper 35 and stops at the outlet 8. In that case, the belt 21 does not stop but slides against the support part 27 and leaf spring 29 shown in FIG.
It is sent to the side, collides with the front saddle base 25 at the exit 8, and comes to rest. Therefore, a large number of saddles 22 and carrier bars 37 are integrated on the exit 8 side. Regarding the delivery conveyor 6, when the stopper 36 is placed in the closed position shown in FIG. 3, a large number of saddles 22 and carrier bars 37 are similarly accumulated on the exit 10 side.

Next, a specific example of the work will be explained with reference to FIG. The saddles 22 of the receiving conveyor 5 sequentially receive the carriers A sent from the forwarding line 4 at regular time intervals, move toward the exit 8 side, and are accumulated on the exit 8 side by the stopper 35. The transfer machine 11 receives only the carriers A from the saddle 22 at the outlet 8 and sequentially transfers them to the inlet 9 of the delivery conveyor 6. The stopper 35 is temporarily moved to the open position when the carrier A is removed from the saddle 22 at the outlet 8, and the empty saddle 22 moves with the belt 21 back to the inlet 7. The saddle 22 of the delivery conveyor 6 sequentially receives the carriers A from the transfer machine 11, moves toward the exit 10, and is stopped by a stopper 36. When a large number of carriers A are accumulated at the outlet 10 of the delivery conveyor in this manner, a worker attaches works W to the large number of carriers A. Next, the carrier A is transported to the tank T by the transport line 2 at regular time intervals. Stopper 36 is carrier A
When the saddle is removed, it opens temporarily to send the empty saddle to the entrance 9 side. Thereafter, similar operations are repeated, and the next workpiece mounting operation by the worker is performed after a large number of carriers A have been accumulated at the outlet 10. Note that the above-mentioned conveyance work is automatically controlled by a device not shown. Also receiving conveyor 5
The operation in which empty saddles 22 are sent to the entrance 7 and the carrier discharge operation in the forwarding line 4 are synchronized, and the carrier discharge operation in the transfer machine 11 and the operation in which empty saddles 22 are sent to the delivery conveyor entrance 9 are synchronized. are also in sync.

As explained above, according to the present invention, a stock conveyor capable of accumulating carriers A is disposed between the outlet of the forwarding line 4 and the workpiece mounting section 1 at the entrance of the transfer line, so that an operator can accumulate a large number of carriers A. It is possible to intensively perform the work mounting work while waiting for the work to be done, and the mental pain of the worker can be eliminated. In addition, while the carriers A are being accumulated, that is, before starting the next workpiece mounting operation, the worker can leave the mounting section 1 for a long time, so the worker can take advantage of this time to take a sufficient break. Can engage in other work.

Regarding the space occupied, since a work supply machine (not shown) has traditionally been installed next to the take-out conveyor 6, providing the take-out conveyor 6 itself increases the space occupied by the entire system. Must not be. Furthermore, since the forwarding line 4 has conventionally been installed upward, the area where the receiving conveyor 5 is installed in the present invention has traditionally been a dead space, and therefore, providing the receiving conveyor 5 also increases the space occupied by the entire system. It doesn't matter. That is, although the system according to the present invention is equipped with conveyors 5, 6, etc., it can be installed in approximately the same space as the conventional system.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the conventional example, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial view of FIG.
Figures 4 and 5 are a perspective view and a side view of the saddle, and Figure 6 is a perspective view and a side view of the saddle.
The drawing is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 3. 1... Mounting section, 2... Conveyance line, 4... Forwarding line, 5
...Accepting conveyor, 6... Dispatch conveyor, 7,9
...Entrance, 8,10...Exit, 11...Transfer machine,
21... Belt, 22... Saddle (holding member),
27... Support part (connection part), 29... Leaf spring (connection part), 35... Stopper, A... Carrier, W
……work.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a carrier conveyance system equipped with a mounting section for connecting a workpiece to a carrier, a conveyance line for conveying the carrier from the mounting section, and a forwarding line for forwarding empty carriers above the conveyance line, a delivery conveyor and a receiving conveyor are used. The conveyors each include a flight conveyor capable of transporting carriers and accumulating them on the conveyor exit side, the inlet of the receiving conveyor is connected to the outlet of the forwarding line, and the outlet of the receiving conveyor is located above the inlet of the discharging conveyor. The carrier is connected to the entrance of the delivery conveyor by a carrier transfer device, the exit of the delivery conveyor is connected to the mounting part, and each of the flight conveyors is provided with an endless belt that moves between the entrance and the exit, so that the carrier can be removed. A large number of holding members for holding the belt are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the belt, and each holding member is connected to the belt in a frictional engagement state by a connecting portion provided thereon, and a closed position and an open position are provided at the exit of each flight conveyor. A stopper is provided which is movable between positions, and in the closed position, the stopper engages with the holding member, so that the holding member comes to rest while sliding on the belt at the connecting portion, and in the open position, A carrier conveyance system characterized in that a stopper is configured so as not to engage with a holding member.