JPH0123371B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an article supplying device, and more specifically, the present invention relates to an article supplying device, and more specifically, the present invention relates to an article supplying device that supplies articles such as candy, confectionery, etc. conveyed by a conveyor to a predetermined portion outside the conveyor. The present invention relates to an article supply device equipped with an article dispensing device for dispensing articles to a place.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as this type of article supply device, for example, bucket carts are arranged at predetermined intervals on a conveyor, and when the articles are placed on the bucket carts and are intermittently stopped during intermittent transfer, for example, they are activated. A push-out mechanism having a pushing plate for pushing the article at the tip of a cylinder rod, the pushing plate is reciprocated to feed the article to a predetermined location outside the conveyor;
Alternatively, the conveyor is rotated continuously,
In the process of placing the bucket on the conveyor and conveying it, the bucket is stopped by the dam at the position corresponding to the actuating cylinder, and the next bucket is fixed by the fixing means, and the actuating cylinder is actuated to stop the bucket. There is one that delivers the above items to a predetermined location outside the conveyor.

(Problem to be solved) However, in this conventional configuration, the working cylinder moves reciprocatingly to feed out the items, so the interval between feeding out the items is approximately equivalent to the reciprocating time of the working cylinder. However, after the return movement of the operating cylinder is completed, the next bucket is moved to the product dispensing position, so there is a natural limit to the product dispensing interval, and the dispensing operation time can be shortened. It was difficult. Therefore, for example, there is a problem in that it cannot keep up with the speed increase of the packaging machine on the dispensing side, and in the case of the latter configuration, there are problems in that the buckets must be collected manually.

(Means and effects for solving the problems) The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article feeding device that can shorten the interval between feeding articles. The gist is an article feeding device consisting of a conveyor and a feeding device disposed in a direction perpendicular to the conveyor, the conveyor having openings above and on both sides in the conveying direction so that articles can be placed thereon. a first conveyor for conveying a concave bucket;
It consists of a second conveyor that is installed in parallel with the conveyor and rotates in the opposite direction to convey empty buckets, and on the way of the first conveyor, the items are delivered to the outside of the conveyor at a position corresponding to the feeding device. A concave feeding guide box is provided which is substantially aligned with the conveying bucket that guides the feeding, and a first stopping means for stopping the bucket at the same position as the guide box, and a first stopping means for stopping the bucket at a feeding standby position. A second stopping means for stopping the bucket is disposed, and the feeding device includes an extrusion mechanism and a circulation guide member attached to a mounting member provided in a manner spanning above the conveyor, and The mechanism consists of a linear actuator installed above the side of the second conveyor, and a linear actuator installed above the second conveyor on the tip side of the linear actuator, extending vertically between both conveyors. A substantially hook-shaped extrusion member having an extrusion plate positioned in the shape of a button is provided so as to be tiltable up and down, and a rotor is pivotally attached to one side, and the circulation guide member is connected to the feed guide box from the second conveyor side. A lower rail cam installed horizontally across the exit, an upper rail cam installed horizontally above the lower rail cam, and an upper rail cam that is tiltably connected to one end of the same rail cam and whose other end is always tilted toward the lower rail cam. a switching rail cam that contacts the lower rail cam and tilts upward as the rolling element rolls along the lower rail cam, and returns to a downward tilting state after the rolling element passes; The member moves forward along the lower rail cam from the extrusion start end via the roller as the linear actuator reciprocates, and in this advancement process, the extrusion member moves into the transport bucket,
Next, the article is moved forward in a series of traverse directions within the delivery guide box, and the article is delivered from the open end of the delivery guide box into the hopper while being pushed back. Then, the extrusion member is guided by the upper rail cam along the switching rail cam from the extrusion end, moves backward along the same rail cam, avoids the upper part of the conveyance path, and returns to the extrusion start end, and is then returned to the upper retraction of the extrusion member. In this step, the stop of the bucket tot is released by the first stopping means and the bucket tot is carried out from the feeding position by the first conveyor, and the stop of the bucket tot is released by the second stop position and the same is carried out by the first conveyor. The article supplying apparatus has a structure in which a bucket is conveyed by the first conveyor, and the bucket is stopped at the dispensing position by the first stopping means.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below. The article supplying apparatus A of this example is installed on the conveying section side of a horizontal packaging machine for packaging articles in the form of pillow bags, and the apparatus A is composed of a conveyor B and a feeding apparatus C.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a transport frame of the transport conveyor B, which is formed to be elongated in a direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1) that intersects the main line side of the packaging machine in a plane T-shape.
This frame body 1 has a pair of left and right side plates 1a, 1b.
A guide rail 3 is horizontally installed at the center of a large number of connecting rods 2 horizontally fixed therebetween, and two rows of recesses 4 and 5 are arranged in parallel along the longitudinal direction.

Reference numerals 6 and 7 indicate first and second conveyors arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction within the conveyance frame 1. In this conveyor, the first side 6 on the right side in FIG. 1 is functionally used for forwarding the full bucket 12 containing goods in the direction P, and the first side 6 on the right side in FIG. The second side 7 is considered as the "return" in the Q direction and is used for returning the empty bucket 12, but in both cases, the rollers at both ends of the transport frame 1 (although not shown, one roller side are connected to each drive unit side of the machine, for example, via a chain train.) An endless flat belt 8, which is hung between,
8 are moved continuously at synchronous speed with each other, and the upper portion 8 of each flat belt 8, 8 is
A is placed in a laid state along each of the recesses 4 and 5. As a result, conveyance paths 9 and 10 are formed within each of the recesses 4 and 5. Note that reference numerals 11 and 11 in FIG. 2 are belt guide plates laid on each connecting rod 2 to form the bottom plate of each recess 4 and 5.

A plurality of buckets 12, 12 are placed on each of the above-mentioned conveyors 6, 7 as containers for articles.
This bucket 12 is for storing and transporting a certain amount of goods weighed by a weighing section (not shown) on the starting end side of the transport section, and is placed on a rectangular synthetic resin seat 12A with an upper surface. A metal storage box 12B having a substantially concave shape with openings on both sides in the direction of movement is secured with screws 13. Another bucket 1 is placed directly on the seat 12A with its opening facing upward.
2, they can be transferred at arbitrary intervals, including adjacent and distant.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a metal feeding guide box having a substantially concave shape that is detachably and replaceably installed on the outside of the right side plate 1b, and is located midway through the conveyor frame 1, and is a metal feed guide box 14 that is placed in the middle of the conveyor frame 1 and is detachably installed on the outside of the right side plate 1b. storage box 12 when the
It is temporarily installed at a position where it can be aligned and communicated with B, and guides and dispenses items from the bucket 12. A hopper 15 is disposed on the exit side of the guide box 14 for delivering the articles to the conveyor 16 on the main line side of the packaging machine. The above-mentioned items are assumed to be a large number of stick-shaped sweets of approximately the same length, and the sweets are stored in each bucket 12 in a disjointed manner lying on their sides intersecting the transport direction.

The feeding device C in this example is
is installed in an article dispensing section set in the middle of the confectionery conveyance line, facing the dispensing guide box 14 and spanning the conveyor B, and is composed of an extrusion mechanism D and a circulation guide member 38. has been done.
To explain based on the figure, 17 is the transport frame 1
It is a support for the extrusion mechanism D that is removably fixed to the upper end of the bracket 18 installed upright on the left side plate 1b, and at the left and right ends thereof, there are two pairs of upper and lower guide rollers 19 in the form of ball bearings. , 19 are pivotally supported by respective support shafts 20, 20 at predetermined opposing intervals.

An air double-acting linear actuator 21 is horizontally supported on this support 17 as a confectionery extrusion unit, and a rail-shaped movable support 2
3 is supported in parallel with the linear actuator 21. This linear actuator 2
Reference numeral 1 is for reciprocating the extrusion member, which will be described later, and is appropriately electrically connected to a detecting device 43, which will be described later, to reciprocate the rod 22 at a predetermined stroke. On the other hand, the movable support rod 23 is used for regulating and guiding the extrusion member, and a portion of the outer periphery of each of the guide rollers 19, 19 is inserted into the rail grooves 24, 24 formed on the upper and lower surfaces in the longitudinal direction. are fitted and supported, and the tip (the right end in FIG. 2) is connected to the tip of the rod 22 of the linear actuator 21 via the connector 25. It is reciprocated in a direction intersecting the conveyors 6 and 7.

A movable frame 26 is connected to the above-mentioned connector 25. This movable frame 26 is connected in a cantilevered manner to a rotating shaft 28 supported between bearings 27, 27 of a coupling device 25, and is always urged downward by a torsion spring 29 on the rotating shaft 28. It is said that it can be tilted up and down. Before the linear actuator 21 is actuated, the movable frame 26 is in the backward end standby position above the second conveyor 7 as shown in FIG. The mover 31 is brought into contact with a part of a guide member 38, which will be described later, and is held still in a horizontal pre-operation state.

A confectionery extrusion plate 32 is connected and suspended by bolts 33 on the front surface (the right end surface in FIG. 2) of the movable frame 26 as described above. This push-out plate 32 is made of a metal plate having a shape that fits the storage box 12B of the bucket 12 and the delivery guide box 14, and has a front lower part made of a metal plate that can slide into contact with the inner surfaces of both the boxes 12B and 14. A scraping piece 32a made of resin is attached with a screw 34 so that it can be attached and detached, and before operation, it is attached to the feed guide box 14 at a position on the guide rail 3 as shown in FIG.
At the same time, the extrusion member is stationary opposite to the linear actuator 21 in the pre-operation state and is connected to the second conveyor 7 as shown in FIG.
It is disposed so as to be able to pass through the empty bucket cart 12 placed on the second conveyor 7 so as to be straddled above. The push-out plate 32 can not only be attached to and removed from the movable frame 25, but also adjustable in its vertical position using the elongated hole 35. This extrusion plate 3
2 and the movable frame 26 are also collectively referred to as an extrusion member.

As the circulating movement guide means for the above-mentioned extrusion member, a circulating guide is provided on a plate-shaped arm 37 that is horizontally fixedly supported between the bracket 18 and the bracket 36 of the right side plate 1b so that the bucket 12 can pass through. Part 3
8 is installed in a direction intersecting with the first conveyor 6. The circulation guide member 38 includes a long lower rail cam 38A and a short upper rail cam 38B parallel to the cam 38A at appropriate intervals.
The movement trajectory of the movable frame 26 relative to the rotor 31 is controlled by the switching rail cam 38C, which is attached to the front end of the cam 38B in a cantilevered state so as to be able to move up and down and tilt, and is always biased downward by a spring 40. This constitutes a series of circulation loci including the width direction and the vertical direction of the first conveyor 6. In addition,
Upper and lower rail cams 38 in the circulation guide member 38
B, 38A are supported by the arm body 37 via spacer support rods 41 and bolts 42 as shown, but may be adjustable in position, for example, in the left-right and up-down directions.

The detection operation section side for detecting and regulating the conveyance of the article with respect to the above-mentioned extrusion mechanism D will be explained. That is, in the middle of the first conveyor 6, a bucket detection device 43 is disposed near the pre-operation stationary position of the extrusion plate 32. Regarding this detection device 43, the upper part 8 of the flat belt 8
The upper emitter 43A and the lower receiver 43 with respect to a
It is based on a general phototube type having B.
One edge of the bucket 12 (the left edge in FIG. 1) is used as a light-shielding object, and the state where the irradiation from the emitter 43A is responding to the receiver 43B is set to OFF before detection, and the irradiation is set to the receiver 43B. When detected, the shielded state is set to ON.

In addition, in front of the article delivery section of the first conveyor 6,
is equipped with first and second stop means of the gate opening/closing type for the bucket. The first stopping means is for stopping the bucket 12 at the article delivery position, and is for stopping the bucket 12 at the article discharging position.
A double-acting air cylinder 45 is inserted vertically into a gate-shaped support frame 44 installed between a and 1b, and is supported by a lifting rod 47 of the support frame 14 and connected to a rod 46 of the cylinder 45. An angle-shaped stopper 48 can move up and down in and out of the conveyance path 9 on the first side, and its hanging pieces 48a are locked to the front and back of the seat 12A of the bucket bag 12.

On the other hand, the second stopping means is used to stop the subsequent bucket tote that is stopped at the article delivery position, that is, the next bucket to be sent later, at the delivery standby position. An air double-acting type cylinder 50 is mounted on a holder 49 erected on the left side plate 1a of 1 above the second conveyor 7, and the empty bucket 12 by the second conveyor 7 is
An L-shaped stop 55 is disposed at a position where it can pass through the cylinder 50 and is connected to the rod 51 of the cylinder 50 via a nut 52 and pivoted 54 to a branch 53 on the guide rail 3. The locking piece 55a at the lower end of the locking piece 55a, which can be accessed by swinging left and right with respect to the transport path 9 on the first side, is attached to the seat 1 of the bucket
It is designed to be locked to the side edge of 2A (see Figure 3).

Although not shown, the cylinders 45, 50 and the linear actuator 21 are connected to the same air circuit.
and the detection device 43 disposed within the circuit.
Based on the air switching operation of an electromagnetic directional control valve (also simply referred to as a solenoid valve), which is connected to the receiver 43B side of the light receiver 43B via an electrical control unit including a timed relay circuit, each stop is performed. It is reciprocated including the detection device 43, and is in a pre-operation state when the detection device 43 is OFF.

Now, on the conveyance section side of the packaging machine of this example configured as described above, the first and second conveyors 6,
7 is continuously moved at the same speed in each direction as the drive unit is started, and a full bucket 12 containing a fixed number of sweets W weighed by the measuring unit is placed on a flat belt on the first conveyor 6 side. 8, the confectionery W is fed forward along the conveyance path 9.

On the way to the confectionery dispensing line, the apparatus A of this embodiment can dispense the confectionery in the bucket 12 as follows. That is, the bucket 12 in question
When the detector 43 approaches the push-out plate 32 of the push-out mechanism D, the detection device 43 detects that the radiation from the light emitter 43A is blocked by a part of the bucket 12 and the light receiver 43
When it is not injected into B, it instantly turns on and detects the bucket 12.

This detection device 43, along with the bucket detection operation,
The first and second stop means and the extrusion actuating section are instantaneously actuated as set via the control section and the operation of each electromagnetic valve. First, on the first stopping means side, as the rod 46 of the cylinder 45 moves downward, the stopper 48 enters a predetermined position within the conveyance path 9 in a closed manner and is held stationary at the position at a timely manner. As a result, the bucket 12 immediately engages with the stopper 48 and is stopped and held at the confectionery dispensing position at the appropriate time while slipping relative to the flat belt 8. On the other hand, on the second stop means side, the stop tool 55 is raised and tilted in accordance with the reciprocation and retreat of the rod 51 of the cylinder 50 at a timing that does not interfere with the movement of the bucket belt 12 described above, and the locking piece 55a is moved. It is held stationary in a state in which it enters a predetermined position within the conveyance path 9. As a result, the next bucket 1 behind the previous bucket 12
2 is stopped by the locking piece 55a of the stopper 55 during its forward movement, and collides with the previous bucket 12.
It is stopped and held at a timely position without interference. Then, on the extrusion mechanism D side, in synchronization with these, the extrusion member is guided and regulated by the movable support frame 23 and moves first along the circulation guide member 38 as the rod 22 of the linear actuator 21 reciprocates. The confectionery W in the preceding bucket 12 is delivered by moving along a series of instantaneous trajectories on the conveyance path 9 on the side of the conveyor 6.

The movement of the extrusion member and the confectionery dispensing state will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, in the reciprocating process illustrated in FIG. Since the push-out plate 32 is moved to this position, the push-out plate 32 is moved to the storage box 12B of the bucket 12, and then to the delivery guide box 1, while always in a hanging state.
The confectionery W can be fed into the hopper 15 from the outlet end of the guide box 14 while moving forward in the hopper 4 in a series and scraping the confectionery W in a backward state with the scraping piece 32a. Note that while the pushing member is moving forward, the switching rail cam 38C is pushed by the roller 31 and the spring 40
However, after the trochanter 31 has passed, the spring 40 quickly returns it to its original tilted state.

Then, in the return movement process shown in FIG.
The movable frame 26 has its rolling element 31 on a different course from the above-mentioned past, that is, climbs from the lower rail cam 38A to the switching rail cam 38C to the upper rail cam 38B.
Since it rolls on the top and falls back to the lower rail cam 38A from the end of the cam 38B, it retreats while being tilted upward with respect to the connector 25 as shown in the figure. Following this, the push-out plate 32 begins to tilt from above the center of the delivery guide box 14, and remains in the tilted state in which it is largely retracted upwards from the first conveyor 6 side, causing no collision or interference. After that, the robot moves back as if straddling the robot, and then returns to the original standby position as shown in the figure and stands still, at which point the dispensing operation for one bucket of metered confectionery is completed.

In connection with the above-described feeding operation of the extrusion mechanism D, in the first stop means, during the backward movement process of the extrusion member, the air switching operation for the cylinder 45 causes the stopper 48 to stop on the conveying path as the rod 46 moves up in the backward movement. 9, the empty bucket 12 is conveyed by the conveyor 6 along the conveyance path 9, and then conveyed by the second conveyor 7 and transferred again to the first conveyor 6 side. Ru. On the other hand, in the second stopping means, the stopper 55 is tilted open with respect to the conveyance path 9 to release the next bucket 12 as the rod 51 of the cylinder 60 moves forward in a similar manner before and after the return of the pushing member is completed. As a result, the bucket 12 is forwarded by the conveyor 6 to the above-mentioned confectionery dispensing position.

As described above, the article supplying apparatus A of the present embodiment is composed of a conveyor B and a feeding apparatus C which is operated in a direction orthogonal to the conveyor B, and the conveyor B carries the confectionery W. A first conveyor 6 conveys a concave bucket bag 12 with openings at the top and both sides in the conveying direction, and a second conveyor 6 which is installed in parallel with the first conveyor 6 and rotates in the opposite direction to convey the empty bucket bag 12. In addition, on the way of the first conveyor 6, there is a concave-shaped feeding guide that almost aligns with the conveying bucket 12 that feeds and guides the confectionery W out of the conveyor at a position corresponding to the feeding device C. A box 14 is provided, and a first stopping means for stopping the bucket 12 at the same position as the guide box 14 and a second stopping means for stopping the subsequent bucket at the delivery standby position are provided, and The feeding device C consists of an extrusion mechanism D and a circulation guide member 38, which are attached to an arm 37 (also referred to as an attachment member) provided in a manner spanning above the conveyor A.
The extrusion mechanism D includes a linear actuator 21 disposed above the side of the second conveyor 7, and a linear actuator 21 disposed above the second conveyor 7 on the tip side of the linear actuator 21 so as to straddle both sides. A substantially hook-shaped extrusion member having an extrusion plate 32 located vertically between the conveyors 6 and 7 is provided so as to be tiltable up and down, and a roller 31 is pivotally mounted on one side, and a circulation guide member 38 The lower rail cam 38A is installed horizontally from the second conveyor 7 side to the outlet of the feed guide box 114, and this lower rail cam 38A
Upper rail cam 38B installed horizontally above the
The rail cam 38A is tiltably connected to one end of the rail cam 38A, and the other end always contacts the lower rail cam 38A in an inclined manner, and is tilted upward by the push-through of the roller 31 rolling along the lower rail cam 38A. , rolling element 31
After passing, the switching rail cam 38 returns to a downwardly inclined position.
The extrusion member of the extrusion mechanism D advances from the extrusion start end along the lower rail cam 38A via the roller 31 as the linear actuator 21 reciprocates, and from the extrusion end. Upper rail cam 3 along switching rail cam 38C
8B, while retreating along the same rail cam 38B, avoiding the upper part of the conveyance path 9, and returning upward to the extrusion start end.Furthermore, while the extrusion member is being retracted and returned upward, the first stopping means causes the bucket 12 to 12.
is conveyed from the delivery position by the first conveyor 6, the stop of the bucket 12 is released from the second stop position, the bucket 12 is conveyed by the first conveyor 6, and the bucket 12 is conveyed by the first stopping means. It is configured to be stopped at the feeding position. Therefore, the transport conveyor B has a first conveyor 6 serving as a supply side for articles and a second conveyor 7 serving as a return side for empty buckets 12, which are arranged side by side, and a supply device C is provided in a straddling manner. Therefore, the empty bucket 12 can pass through without interfering with the return of the empty bucket 12. In addition, in the feeding device C, the detection device 43 detects the full bucket 12 transported by the continuous movement of the first conveyor 6. The detection operation, the accompanying opening/closing movements of the first and second stop means, and the reciprocating movement of the extrusion mechanism D are regarded as one operation cycle, and thereafter the confectionery W is moved to the hopper 15 side by similarly operating to stop and hold each bucket 12. Since the feeding operation of the extrusion mechanism D is performed when the second stop means is in the closed operation state, each bucket 1
2 are continuously conveyed in close proximity to each other, the confectionery W can be quickly dispensed while the bucket 12 at the dispensing position is kept stationary in a stable state without any interference with the next bucket 12. In particular, since the feeding device C is a device in which a pushing member provided at the tip of the linear actuator 21 is connected to the linear actuator 21 so that it can be tilted and guided via the circulation guide member 38, the pushing mechanism D is When activated, the pushing member moves forward along the lower rail cam 38A of the circulation guide member 38 to push the article out from the delivery path to a predetermined location, and then rises from the extrusion end along the switching rail cam 38C to the upper rail cam 38B. While retreating along the conveyance path, it quickly returns to the extrusion starting end by retracting above the conveyance path and returning to the extrusion start end. It is possible to shorten the delivery interval of goods by an amount of time,
Furthermore, since the operating speed of the extrusion member can be increased independently without any restrictions from the conveyor (goods) side, the time required for delivering the goods and returning them can be shortened as much as possible. The entire dispensing operation can be performed more quickly and smoothly, and operability and performance can be improved, so that it can follow the increase in speed of packaging machines. Moreover, the reciprocating movement of the extrusion member is made into a linear movement form by one linear actuator 21, and the circulation guide member 38 is moved downward, switched, and each of the upper rail cams 38A, 38B, 3
Since it is composed of 8C, it is economical because the structure can be extremely simple without requiring any other special drive device. can be accurately guided.

Note that it is also possible to modify a part of the present example dispensing device as follows. For example, if the width of the conveyor needs to be changed due to a change in the length or size of the article, the rail cam 38A of the circulation guide member 38,
To make 38B and 38C adjustable in length. The detection device 43 is made into a switch type in which a part of the flat belt 8 or the bucket 12 is used as a dog. First,
The stops 48 and 55 of the second stop means are both horizontally movable, or are actuated by a rack and pinion type mechanism relative to an actuating part such as a motor. Concerning the operating timing of these stopping means, contrary to the setting conditions for the detection means in the above-mentioned embodiments, when the irradiation from the emitter side is incident on the receiver side or when the switch is OFF, the operation timing is lowered, and when the irradiation is in the OFF state, The setting may be such that the operation is switched to raise when the light is in a closed state or when the switch is in the ON state.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention is an article supply device comprising a conveyor and a feeding device disposed in a direction orthogonal to the conveyor, and the conveyor is arranged so that articles can be placed thereon. and a first conveyor that conveys a concave bucket bag with openings on both sides in the conveying direction, and a second conveyor that is installed in parallel with the first conveyor and rotates in the opposite direction to convey the empty bucket bag, and In the middle of the first conveyor, there is provided a concave-shaped feed guide box that is substantially aligned with the conveyance bucket that guides the goods out of the conveyor at a position corresponding to the feed device, and is located at the same position as the guide box. A first stopping means for stopping the bucket cart at a feeding position and a second stopping means for stopping the following bucket cart at a feeding standby position are disposed, and the feeding device straddles above the conveyor. It consists of an extrusion mechanism attached to a mounting member provided in a frame shape and a circulation guide member, and the extrusion mechanism is attached to a second
A linear actuator is disposed above the side of the conveyor, and a linear actuator is disposed on the tip side of the linear actuator in a straddling manner above the second conveyor, and is positioned vertically between the two conveyors. A substantially hook-shaped extrusion member having an extrusion plate is provided so as to be tiltable up and down, and a rotor is pivotally mounted on one side, and the circulation guide member extends horizontally from the second conveyor side to the outlet of the delivery guide box. a lower rail cam installed horizontally above the lower rail cam, an upper rail cam that is tiltably connected to one end of the upper rail cam, and the other end always contacts the lower rail cam in an inclined manner, The switching rail cam is comprised of a switching rail cam that is tilted upward by the pushing of the rotor rolling along the lower rail cam, and returns to a downward tilted state after the rotor has passed, and the pushing member of the pushing mechanism is As the linear actuator reciprocates through the mover, it moves forward from the extrusion start end along the lower rail cam, is guided from the extrusion end along the switching rail cam to the upper rail cam, and retreats along the same upper rail cam. while avoiding the upper part of the conveyance path and returning the extrusion member upwardly to the extrusion start end.
Release the stop of the bucket by the stop means,
The bucket tot is carried out from the delivery position by the first conveyor, the stop of the bucket tot is released from the second stop position, and the bucket tot is conveyed by the first conveyor, and the bucket tot is transported to the first stop by the first conveyor. By configuring the conveyor to be stopped at the feeding position by the means, the first conveyor serving as the feeding side for articles and the second conveyor serving as the returning side for empty buckets are arranged in parallel, and the feeding device is Since it is provided in a straddling manner, it is possible to easily return the empty bucket, and since the feeding operation of the pushing mechanism of the feeding device is performed when the second stop means is in the closed operating state, each Even if the buckets are continuously conveyed in close proximity to each other, the confectionery W can be quickly dispensed while the bucket at the dispensing position is kept stationary in a stable state without any interference with the next bucket. In particular, since the feeding device is a device in which a pushing member provided at the tip of the linear actuator is connected so as to be tiltable and guided via a circulation guide member, the pushing member is moved by the operation of the pushing mechanism. In the process of moving forward along the lower rail cam of the circulation guide member, the article is pushed out from the delivery path to a predetermined location, and then ascends from the end of the extrusion along the switching rail cam, and retreats along the upper rail cam, moving the article through the conveyance path. The extrusion member is retracted upward and quickly returns to the extrusion starting end.The reason why the extrusion member is retracted upward and returned is that the bucket can be moved at the time of return, so the product feeding interval is reduced by this return time. Moreover, since the operating speed of the extrusion member can be independently increased without being restricted by the conveyor (product) side, the time required for product delivery and return can be reduced. The entire dispensing operation can be performed more quickly and smoothly by further reducing the time required, and operability and performance can be improved, so that it is possible to keep pace with the increase in the speed of packaging machines. Moreover, the reciprocating movement of the extrusion member is made into a linear movement form by a single linear actuator, and the circulation guide member is configured with lower, switching, and upper rail cams, so a special drive device is not required. It is economical in that the structure can be extremely simple without the need for such a structure, and the extrusion member can be accurately guided regardless of the length of the product delivery stroke.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention in a state before operation, and FIGS. Sectional views taken along lines -, -, and - in the drawings, and Figures 5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams abbreviated to show the movement of the extrusion member and the delivery state of the article. 6,7...Conveyor, 12...Bucket, 1
4...Payment information box, 19...Guidance trochanter, 21...
Linear actuator, 22...rod, 2
5... Connector, 26... Movable frame, 28... Rotating shaft, 31... Roller, 32... Extrusion plate, 37...
...Arm body (attachment member), 38...Circulation guide member, 4
5... Cylinder, 46... Rod, 47... Lifting rod, 48... Stop, 50... Cylinder, 5
1...Rod, 55...Stopper, 38A...Lower rail cam, 38B...Upper rail cam, 38C...
Switching rail cam, A...article supply device, B...conveyor, C...feeding device, D...extrusion mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An article feeding device consisting of a conveyor and a feeding device disposed in a direction orthogonal to the conveyor, the conveyor having a concave opening at the top and on both sides in the conveying direction so that articles can be placed thereon. It consists of a first conveyor that conveys shaped bucket bags, and a second conveyor that is installed in parallel with the first conveyor and rotates in the opposite direction to convey empty bucket bags,
Furthermore, a recessed delivery guide box that is substantially aligned with the transport bucket that guides the delivery of items out of the conveyor is provided at a position corresponding to the delivery device in the middle of the first conveyor, and the guide box A first stopping means for stopping the bucket tote at the same level as the delivery position, and a second stopping means for stopping the following bucket tot at the delivery standby position, and the feeding device is located above the conveyor. It consists of an extrusion mechanism and a circulation guide member attached to a mounting member provided in a manner spanning the second conveyor, and the extrusion mechanism includes a linear actuator disposed above the side of the second conveyor There is a second
A substantially hook-shaped extrusion member having an extrusion plate that is provided in a straddling manner above the conveyor and positioned vertically between both conveyors is provided so as to be tiltable up and down;
In addition, a rolling element is pivotally mounted on one side, and the circulation guide member includes a lower rail cam installed horizontally from the second conveyor side to the outlet of the delivery guide box, and a lower rail cam installed horizontally above the lower rail cam. The upper rail cam is tiltably connected to one end of the upper rail cam, and the other end always contacts the lower rail cam side in an inclined manner, and the upper rail cam is tilted upward by pushing through the rolling element that rolls along the lower rail cam. and a switching rail cam that returns to a downwardly inclined shape after the rolling element has passed,
The extrusion member of the extrusion mechanism moves forward along the lower rail cam from the extrusion start end via the rolling element as the linear actuator reciprocates, and advances from the extrusion end along the switching rail cam to the upper rail cam. The bucket is guided and retreats along the same rail cam, avoids the upper part of the conveyance path, and returns upwardly to the extrusion start end.Furthermore, while the extrusion member is retreating upwardly and returning, the first stopping means stops the bucket. The bucket cart is released from the delivery position by the first conveyor, the bucket cart is released from the second stop position, and the bucket cart is conveyed by the first conveyor, and the bucket cart is conveyed by the first conveyor. The article supply device is configured to be stopped at the feeding position by the first stopping means.