JPH0317730B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention]

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a pneumatic conveyor, and particularly to a pneumatic conveyor of the type that conveys articles using pressurized air. [Prior art] A compressed air conveyor is known, for example, as disclosed in the patent application publication published in 1972.
No. 9158 of the year, No. 46389 of the same year, 1971, JP-A No. 1973-
It is already known from US Pat. No. 129181, US Pat. No. 3,105,720, and US Pat. No. 3,210,124. However, since all of these known pneumatic conveyors are intended to convey articles by the conveyor itself, they are likely to be limited in the size and shape of articles that can be transported. For example, the method described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-46389 is of a type in which the inside of a pipe is fed under pressure, so the objects to be transported are naturally limited to objects such as round bottles and round cans having a certain cross-sectional shape. On the other hand, the method described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 48-9158 is of a type in which the object to be transported is transported while being placed on a flat main body, so it is not subject to the former restriction, but instead, it is Objects are limited to light items with flat bottoms, such as empty cardboard boxes. Furthermore, the device described in JP-A No. 52-129181 has air blowing holes for buoyancy components and thrust components arranged in parallel on the bottom of a conveyance path with walls on both sides, and is suitable for conveying irregularly shaped articles such as bottles. However, since the pressurized air for the buoyancy component and the pressurized air for the thrust component are mixed and blown out, turbulence is likely to occur, and since the surface of the conveyance path is open, the supply air pressure and air volume may be affected. There is a lot of waste and therefore the energy requirements and noise are also high. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In order to solve the problems in the above-mentioned known wind conveyance technology, the present invention has a different type from the known pneumatic conveyor, more specifically, it uses pressurized air to move the article instead of directly conveying the article. The article is intended to be conveyed via a conveying element that is caused to move.

[Structure of the invention]

(1) Concept As a result of research, the inventor of the present invention has developed a type different from existing compressed air conveyors, that is, the conveyor main body is composed of a double inner and outer cylindrical body, and the conveyor element is arranged inside the inner cylinder. By separately supplying pressurized air for imparting buoyancy and thrust components through the airtight space between the double cylindrical bodies, leakage of conveying air can be minimized and low-pressure air can be used efficiently. By realizing transportation, reducing the amount of energy required as an incidental effect of the above, and indirectly conveying the target article via the conveying element, the degree of freedom for changes in the shape, weight, etc. of the target article is increased. We have discovered that it is possible to solve these problems all at once. (2) Overview Based on the above findings, the pneumatic conveyor according to the present invention has an inner and outer double cylindrical structure consisting of an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder, each having a rectangular cross section, which are arranged with a gap between them. Each of the opposing walls is cut out along the longitudinal direction in the upper, lower, or one side, and each opposing end edge of the cutout is airtightly connected by a pair of band-shaped connecting members. The main body of the conveyor is provided with air blowing holes on the bottom and side surfaces of the inner cylinder, a rectangular conveying element loosely fitted in the inner cylinder, and a facing gap between the pair of connecting members from the conveying element. The air blowing holes on the bottom surface of the inner cylinder each provide a buoyancy component to the conveying element by air pressure supplied into the gap between the double cylindrical bodies. Further, the air blowing hole on the side surface of the inner cylinder is formed so as to apply a thrust component to the conveying element by the air pressure. Hereinafter, the elements constituting the invention will be explained in sections. (2) Conveyor body The pneumatic conveyor of the present invention includes a conveyor body for causing conveyance elements to move by wind pressure;
The main body includes a transport element that is loosely fitted into the main body and supports a transported object. The former conveyor main body consists of an inner and outer double cylindrical body (an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder), and both cylindrical bodies are arranged on each side facing each other above, below, or on one side of the double cylindrical body. Each of the wall portions is cut out along the longitudinal direction, and opposing end edges of the cutout portions are connected airtightly and spaced apart by a pair of band-shaped connecting members. Therefore, the gap (space) between the outer wall of the inner cylinder and the inner wall of the outer cylinder forms an air passage for supplying buoyancy and thrust components to the rear conveyance element. That is, in any of the embodiments of the present invention, the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder inside the outer cylinder are cut out oppositely at the lower part, upper part, or one side thereof, and the opposing edges of each of the cut parts are cut out. They are connected by a pair of band-shaped connecting members, and one end of the gap between the connecting members, that is, the slot, opens into the outer cylinder wall surface, and the other end opens into the inner cylinder wall surface. The air blowing holes are formed in the bottom wall and side wall of the inner cylinder facing the air passage, respectively.
The perforations are formed in shapes and densities suitable for applying forward thrust components to the conveying element in the conveying direction. When using a suspended conveyor element, which is the most common type of the present invention, the slot communicates the bottom wall surface of the inner cylinder with the bottom wall surface of the opposing outer cylinder, and the slot provides air blowing holes for imparting a buoyancy component. is opened on the bottom wall surface of the inner cylinder, and the air blowing holes for applying thrust components are opened on both side walls of the inner cylinder. The hanger for conveying the article passes from the bottom of the conveying element inside the inner cylinder through the slot and extends below the outer cylinder. Next, when using a hanging type conveying element which is another form of the invention, the slot communicates the upper wall surface of the inner cylinder with the upper wall surface of the opposing outer cylinder, and the air blowing hole for imparting a buoyant component is inserted into the inner cylinder. The air blowing holes for applying a thrust component are opened in the bottom wall surface of the cylinder, and in both side walls of the inner cylinder. The handle of the article conveying table extends from the upper part of the conveying element inside the inner cylinder, through the slot, and above the outer cylinder. The suspended conveying element can also be configured to protrude from the side surface of the conveyor body, in which case it can be arranged horizontally between one side wall of the inner tube and one side wall of the opposing outer tube. The slots communicate.
Even in this case, the air outlet for providing buoyancy component is
The inner cylinder blow-off holes for applying a thrust component are opened on the bottom wall surface of the inner cylinder, and on both side walls of the inner cylinder. The handle of the hanger for transporting articles extends from the side surface of the transport element inside the inner cylinder, passes through the slot, and extends to the side of the outer cylinder. Incidentally, in this type, the moment due to the load acts to tilt the conveying element with respect to the plane parallel to the axis of the main body, so in order to eliminate this moment,
For example, a pair of book-type conveyor bodies may be symmetrically arranged side by side, and a hanging hanger may be attached to a handle that horizontally connects each conveying element in both conveyor bodies. (3) Air Blow-off Hole The conveyor of the present invention has dual air blow-off holes, that is, a buoyancy component blow-off hole and a thrust component blow-off hole. In both of the above types of blow-off holes, the hole for providing the buoyancy component may be simply a normal small hole. On the other hand, the blowout holes that provide the thrust component are usually opened in the form of narrow slits in the width direction on both sides of the inner cylinder, and the downstream edges of the slits extend in the form of a hood toward the air passage. A shape that covers the main slit is adopted. (4) Conveyance element The conveyance element, which is another element of the present invention, is usually formed in a plate shape or a box shape, but may be given a ship-shaped cross section, for example, in order to minimize air resistance. In addition, it is preferable that this device be as light as possible while still being able to withstand the load, and materials such as plastics, wood, and lightweight metals are suitable as its constituent materials. Note that the size of this element is usually designed to match the size of the article to be transported. If the length of this element is shorter than that of the articles to be conveyed, there is a risk that the articles will collide with each other when there is a traffic jam, but even in this case,
By alternating the length of the hanger,
Even relatively large items can be transported without fear of collision. As the pressure source in the present invention, a fan type, especially a Sirotskov fan type, is used as in the conventional conveyor of this type. It is normal that there is always some variation depending on the state of the conveying element.
Moreover, the load to which each transport element is subjected is not necessarily constant. If the pressure deviates significantly from the standard state,
There is a risk that the conveyance element will rub against the inner wall of the main body and come to a stop. For this reason, this transport element is coated with a low-friction resin as necessary in order to minimize the friction with the inner surface of the body when the air pressure, which is a buoyancy component, becomes too high or low compared to the standard state. Friction reducing means such as sleds or rollers can be added, or similar friction reducing means can be added to the inner surface of the body. Note that, as necessary, protrusions, folds, wings, slots, etc. may be added to the side surface of the transport element that receives the thrust component to effectively receive wind pressure and/or improve the attitude stability of the element. Can be done. [Function] The air pressure supplied to the air passage between the outer cylinder and inner cylinder is
On the one hand, air is blown out from the air outlet in the bottom wall of the inner cylinder to impart a buoyancy component to the conveyance element inside the inner cylinder, and on the other hand, it is blown out through the air outlet in the side wall of the inner cylinder to impart a thrust component to the conveyance element. At this time, since both air streams are blown out from locations apart from each other, they are less likely to collide with each other and create turbulence or vortices. In addition, since the air passage is virtually sealed, efficient conveyance can be achieved even with low pressure and a small amount of air. [Examples] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to Examples, but the examples are merely for illustration purposes and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the invention. Example 1 FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a suspended conveyor main body which is a typical embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A in FIG. 1.
3 is a sectional view along the line B-B in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the conveying element,
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a conveyance line using the apparatus shown in the previous four figures. The main body 1 is a double tubular body consisting of an outer cylinder 2 and an inner cylinder 3, each having a rectangular cross section. a pair of narrow band-shaped connecting members 4,
4 and a closed air passage 5 between both cylinders.
form. The inner walls (inner cylinder bottom wall) 3c, 3c of the downwardly extending portion T of the inner cylinder interior (hollow chamber) 9 are provided with air blowing holes 6, 6, . 4 forms a slot 7 connecting the inner cylinder 3 and the outside of the main body 1. The slits 8, 8... are on both side walls 3b, 3 of the inner cylinder 3.
It opens at the center of b. As is clear from FIGS. 2 and 3, this slit 8 opens along the width direction of both side walls 3b, 3b of the inner cylinder 3, and its downstream side edge is located on the opposing side wall 2b of the outer cylinder 2. side and extends upstream of the air passage 5 to form hoods 8', 8'. The conveyance element 10 is inserted into the interior (groove) 9 of the inner tube 3 of the main body 1, and both end surfaces of the conveyance element 10 are closed or connected to each other. As understood from FIG. 4, this element is a rectangular box-shaped body, and a hanger 11 hangs down from the center thereof in the vertical direction. A large number of the above-mentioned conveying elements 10 are inserted into the groove 9 as shown in FIG.
When the blower F is operated to send pressurized air into the air passage 5, the air flows through the small holes 6, 6, in the direction of the arrow (dotted line).
and blows out from the slits 8, 8, . . . and conveys the article in the direction of the arrow (solid line). With this device, the conveying direction can be bent in any direction, and the air blowing efficiency is close to that of a sealed state, so it is possible to smoothly convey articles even with low-pressure air. In addition, it is quiet during operation, does not have a negative impact on occupational health, and can be started, stopped, merged or branched at any position by using sensors and actuators. This provides a conveying device that has an extremely wide range of applications, such as being able to attach and detach articles to and from hangers. Note that by changing the length of the hanger for every other element, it is possible to avoid contact between the objects to be transported to some extent even when using small transport elements relative to the size of the objects. Embodiment 2 FIG. 6 shows an example in which the main body 1 of FIG. 1 is rotated by 180 degrees and the entire body is formed into an upward concave shape. In this example as well, the blow-off holes 6, 6, . Rollers 12', 12'; 1 are provided on the cylinder upper wall 3a, respectively.
2 and 12 are installed so that the lower surface of the mounting table 13 provided above the transport element 10 and the upper surface of this element do not directly rub against the overhanging portion T. Embodiment 3 FIG. 7 shows an example in which the main body 1 has a horizontally concave shape. In the main body of this example, a pair of connecting members 4, 4
is the outer cylinder 2 facing from one side wall 3b of the inner cylinder 3.
The air blow-off holes 6, 6, .
are perforated. The transport element 10 is inserted into the hollow chamber 9 and suspends the article via a hanger 11 from a bracket 14 attached to a stem 16 extending laterally from the side wall of the element. Incidentally, as understood from FIG. 8, the present bracket has a plano-convex lens-like cross-sectional shape, and its convex curved surface portion 14a extends along the path (indicated by the arrow) of the present conveyance element. A large number of guide rollers 1 arranged so as to circumscribe the main surface
5, 15, . . . are configured to prevent escape from the conveyor main body 1. Also in this example, a pair of rollers 12, 12 are attached to the upper wall 9 of the inner cylinder 3 of the main body 1 to prevent the element 10 from sliding against the side wall 3b of the inner cylinder due to excessive air pressure. As mentioned above, including the previous example,
The surfaces of the rollers are preferably coated with a low-friction material such as fluororesin.

[Effect for invention]

In the conveyor of the present invention, since the entire main body has a substantially closed double-tube shape, the supplied wind pressure changes into a buoyancy component and a thrust component with almost no waste. In addition, since the buoyant force component and the thrust component are separately supplied to the conveying element from separate positions, there is little possibility that turbulence will occur due to collision between the two components. Therefore, as a result of these combined effects, articles can be transported smoothly with relatively small air energy, that is, relatively low pressure air and a small amount of air volume, and with low noise. Loss can be significantly reduced. In addition,
Since the wind pressure (line pressure) is small, it is possible to forcibly stop the item being transported at will, so it is possible to take out the transported object in the middle of the transport route, or conversely, add the transported object. There is a large degree of freedom such as In addition, since the shape of the transport element and transport members (hangers, etc.) can be freely designed, not only are they less likely to be restricted by the shape and weight of the transported object, but additional features such as the ability to change the transport path vertically and horizontally be effective. In summary, the pneumatic conveyor of the present invention is an innovation over the prior art and brings great benefits to industry.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a suspended type (downward concave) conveyor, which is a typical embodiment of the present invention, taken along a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal direction, and FIG.
A sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG.
4 is a perspective view showing an example of a conveyance element, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a conveyance line using the conveyor shown in the previous four figures, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of a folded conveyor (upwards concave shape) which is another embodiment of the invention; FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a suspended type (horizontally concave) conveyor taken along a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal direction, taken along line C-- in FIG. 7.
FIG. The meanings of the main symbols in each figure are as follows: 1...
...Conveyor body, outer cylinder of 2:1; ......2a:2
Upper wall of 2b: Side wall of 2, 7: Opposing gap (slot) between a pair of band-shaped connecting members 4, 4;...3:1
Inner cylinder; 3a: top wall of 3, 3b: side wall of 3,
3c: 3 bottom wall; 4: 1 pair of band-shaped connecting members;
5: Space between inner cylinder/outer cylinder (air passage), 9: Inside of inner cylinder 3 (groove); 6, 3 air blowing holes; 8: 3 air blowing slit; 8', hood covering 8; 12:
A roller 12' attached to the inner cylinder 3 of 1:
Roller attached to outer cylinder 2 of 1, 10:9
Transport element within; 11:10 hanger member, 1
3: Item mounting table on 10; hanging bracket at 14:10; 14a: convex curved surface section at 14, 15...
a guide roller for preventing escape of the conveyance element 10;
A: Article to be transported, F: Air blower, T: Overhanging part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An inner/outer double cylindrical structure consisting of an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder each having a rectangular cross section and arranged with a gap between them, above, below, or on one side thereof, Each of the opposing wall portions is cut out along the longitudinal direction, and each opposing end edge of the cutout portion is airtightly connected by a pair of band-shaped connecting members, and the bottom and side surfaces of the inner cylinder are a conveyor main body having air blowing holes at each side, a rectangular conveying element loosely fitted in the inner cylinder, and a conveying means extending from the conveying element to the outside of the outer cylinder through the opposing gap between the pair of connecting members. The air blowing holes on the bottom surface of the inner cylinder provide a buoyancy component to the conveying element by the air pressure supplied into the gap between the double cylindrical bodies, and the air blowing holes on the side surface of the inner cylinder give a buoyancy component to the conveying element. 1. A pneumatic conveyor, characterized in that the pneumatic conveyor is bored so that a thrust component is applied to the conveying element by the air pressure. 2. The opposing gap between the pair of band-shaped connecting members forms a passage below the double cylindrical body from the inside of the inner cylinder to the outside of the outer cylinder, and a suspension member serving as a conveying means moves the inside of the passage from the conveying element. 2. The conveyor of claim 1, wherein the conveyor extends downwardly through and out of the barrel. 3 The opposing gap between the pair of band-shaped connecting members forms a passage above the double cylindrical body that reaches from the inside of the inner cylinder to the outside of the outer cylinder, and a lifting member serving as a conveying means passes through the passage from the conveying element. 2. The conveyor of claim 1, wherein the conveyor extends upwardly out of the outer cylinder. 4 The opposing gap between the pair of band-shaped connecting members forms a passage from the inside of the inner cylinder to the outside of the outer cylinder on one side of the double cylindrical body, and the suspension member serving as a conveying means 2. The conveyor of claim 1, wherein the conveyor extends laterally out of the barrel through the passageway.