JPH0375413B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an apparatus for bundling, accumulating, and transporting articles, and more particularly, it relates to an apparatus for tying, accumulating, and transferring articles, and more specifically, for example, a packaging sheet that has one side flat and the other side uneven. The present invention relates to a tying, accumulating, and transferring device that sends out a plurality of sets of articles with their uneven surfaces facing each other.

(b) Prior art A conventional device for feeding continuously fed packaging sheets to a device having a stacking function and then sending them out in a stacked state is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1326/1983 by the present applicant. There is a publication titled ``Article Accumulation and Transfer Device''. This device is excellent in that it can reliably supply packaging sheets into each bucket and send out a predetermined number of stacked sheets, but since all the packaging sheets inserted into the bucket are oriented in the same direction, the pockets are The protruding surfaces cannot be stacked face-to-face or cradled as shown in FIG. For this reason, for example, in the middle of the conveyor that sends packaging sheets to the bucket,
A reversing device such as that described in Publication No. 558 must be provided to insert an inverted packaging sheet into every other bucket.

However, conventional inverting and stacking methods, including the method described in the above-mentioned publication, send packaging sheets in parallel feed lines, invert the packaging sheets on one line, and stack them on the packaging sheets on the other line to form a second packaging sheet. Since a set of stacked sheets is formed and a plurality of stacked bodies are stacked as necessary in subsequent steps, there are problems that the structure of the entire inversion stacking device becomes complicated and the processing capacity becomes slow.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The problems to be solved by the present invention are not to install a reversing device in the middle of one of a pair of packaging sheet feeding lines, but to perform the reversing operation separately in advance. In this process, a pair of feeding lines sends inverted packaging sheets and non-inverted packaging sheets in parallel, and multiple packaging sheets are taken out from each line and stacked on top of each other at once to form the entire inverting and accumulating device. The goal is to simplify the structure of the system and speed up its processing capacity.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The article bundling, accumulating and transferring device according to the present invention comprises an endless rail that moves intermittently in at least a part of the area in a circular motion in a fixed direction, and a fixed rail on the rail. having buckets mounted at intervals and adapted to receive articles with their flat sides down; and in an intermittent movement area, carrying a plurality of articles in the buckets at once in the direction of movement of the track. a first storage and transfer device configured to feed in a substantially perpendicular direction; an endless rail that moves intermittently in at least some areas in a circular manner; and a first storage and transfer device that is attached to the rail at regular intervals; a bucket which is adapted to accommodate articles with their uneven surfaces facing downward; and in an intermittent movement area, a plurality of articles in the bucket are carried at a time substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the rails. a second storage and transfer device arranged in parallel with the first storage and transfer device, the second storage and transfer device being adapted to deliver in the direction of
a storage and transfer device; two sets of first receiving plates arranged vertically apart from each other adjacent to a delivery position of the article in each storage and transfer device, each receiving plate receiving the delivered article; and two sets of first receiving plates each receiving the delivered article; It has a pair of pushers that push the article in a direction substantially perpendicular to the feeding direction and in a direction to insert the article between the articles fed out from the adjacent storage and transfer device, and the article is pushed into the second article with the surfaces of the articles facing each other. a collecting mechanism that overlaps one of the first receiving plates while being placed on the first receiving plate; and a second receiving plate that follows the first receiving plate of one of the two sets of first receiving plates and overlaps each other. and a second pusher for pushing the article on the first receiving plate toward the second receiving plate.

(e) Effect In the above configuration, the article is inserted into the bucket of the first storage and transfer device with its flat surface facing down, and the article is inserted with its uneven surface down into the bucket of the second storage and transfer device. It is inserted into the bucket and sent to the delivery position by the movement of the bucket. When the articles are sent to the delivery position, a plurality of articles are delivered at once onto the first receiving plate of the collection mechanism, and on the first receiving plate, the articles are delivered from the adjacent storage transfer device by the first pusher. They are pushed in between with their surfaces facing each other and superimposed on each other while resting on the first receiving plate. The stacked articles are then pushed onto a second receiving plate by a second pusher to form the articles into a bundle.

(f) Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4, a combination, accumulation, and transfer device 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as the device) of this embodiment is shown. This device 1 includes a pair of storage and transfer devices 2 and 2a arranged in parallel, a collection mechanism 4 provided adjacent to the intermittent movement area of the storage and transfer devices 2 and 2a, and a gathering mechanism adjacent to the collection mechanism. It is provided with a feed-out mechanism 6 provided as a storage device, and intake conveyors 8, 8a for supplying articles to the collection and transfer device.

The storage and transfer devices 2, 2a and the intake conveyors 8, 8a have the same structure as that described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-1326, and the first drive sprocket 21 is normally continuous in the direction of the arrow X. An endless track or conveyor chain 2 is rotated and therefore engages the drive sprocket 21.
2 and bucket carts 23 attached at regular intervals to its conveyor chain are continuously fed.
Further, the second drive sprocket 25 is intermittently rotated in the direction of arrow Y by several pitches of buckets (for example, every pitch of five buckets), so that the conveyor chain 22 is rotated at the portion engaged with this drive sprocket 25. is sent intermittently. The fluctuation in the feed of the conveyor chain due to the difference in the feed of the two drive sprockets is caused by the movement of the movable sprockets 28 and 29, which are rotatably supported by a pair of linearly movable sliders 26 and 27, together with the sliders. It will be adjusted accordingly. Also, the amount of conveyor chain feed by the second drive sprocket for a given period of time (eg, 10 minutes) is slightly greater than that by the first drive sprocket.

Under such conditions, the articles, ie, the packaging sheets m, m', are sequentially placed into the bucket 23 attached to the conveyor chain 22 by the intake conveyor 8, and are sequentially sent to a position where a gathering mechanism is provided. On the other hand, when the detection devices 9 and 9a detect that there are no articles on the intake conveyors 8 and 8a (in the position where they are carried by the feed claws), the detection signal causes a clutch (not shown) that is interlocked with the first drive sprocket 21 to ) is released and the rotation of the drive sprocket is temporarily stopped, and in this way the packaging sheet is always fed into the bucket with both ends protruding from the bucket.

Note that the other structures and operations are the same as those described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1326/1983, and are not related to the gist of the present invention, so detailed explanations will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the collection mechanism 4 is
A plurality of first receiving plates 41, 41a are arranged adjacent to the moving path of the buckets of each accumulation and transfer device 2, 2a so as to be aligned with the buckets 23 and vertically spaced apart from each other at the same interval as the interval p between the buckets. are doing. The receiving plates 41 and 41a are arranged so that the buckets of the storage and transfer device 2 and the buckets of 2a are separated by 1/1 of the installation interval of the buckets.
2, that is, 1/2p, and it is also shifted by 1/2p. Each receiving plate 41, 41
A has a Z-shaped planar shape, and stoppers 42 and 42a are respectively attached to prevent the packaging sheets m and m' pushed out from the bucket 23 from falling. Each receiving plate 41, 41a is formed with a slit 43, 43a extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the packaging sheet is delivered from the bucket. Inside the slits 43 and 43a are first holes extending in the vertical direction and moving in the extending direction of the slits using a cylinder or the like (not shown) to transport the packaging sheet m laterally.
Pushers 44, 44a are provided.

In this collection mechanism, the packaging sheets m and m' placed on the receiving plates 41 and 41a are sent in opposite directions by a pair of storage and transfer devices, and are placed vertically facing each other on the receiving plates. They are being gathered together so that they can be lined up.

The feeding mechanism 6 has a second receiving plate 61, 61 that follows one receiving plate (the lower one of the pair of receiving plates 41, 41a, which is 41 in this embodiment).
a, a pair of parallel guide plates 62, 62a provided following the receiving plates 61, 61a and extending along the feeding direction of the packaging sheet, and between the receiving plates 61 and 61a and the guide plate 62. 62a, the second pusher 63 is provided so as to be movable in the feeding direction of the packaging sheet by means of a cylinder or the like (not shown).

Guide slots 64, 64a are formed in opposing surfaces of the guide plates 62, 62a to receive and guide both ends of the packaging sheet. The guide slots are wide and spaced apart on the inlet side (receiving plate side), but are narrow and spaced apart on the exit side.

This delivery mechanism uses a second pusher 63 to push the packaging sheets m and m' gathered together by the gathering mechanism with their convex portions facing each other.
are stacked together on the receiving plates 61, 61a,
Further, the sheets are fed along the guide slot by a pusher 63, and delivered to the conveyance jig 10 in a stacked manner.

In the device 1 of the above mechanism, the bucket 23 of one storage and transfer device 2 is placed with the surface, that is, the convex portion of the pocket, facing upward at the supply position from the intake conveyor 8, and the bucket 23 of the other storage and transfer device 2a is placed in the bucket 23 of the other storage and transfer device 2a.
When a packaging sheet is fed into the packaging sheet 3 with the convex portion facing downward, the direction is reversed at the gathering mechanism position, as shown in FIG. 3. When the push rod 37 is moved to the right in FIG. 1 when the conveyor chain is intermittently stopped, a push-out member 38 attached to the tip of the push rod 37 is moved to the right in FIG.
(Fig. 3) shows a plurality of packaging sheets m,
Push out m′ at the same time. Thereafter, the pushers 44, 44a of the collection mechanism 4 operate to remove the receiving plates 41, 4.
The packaging sheets m and m' are gathered together so as to be aligned vertically with facing each other on 1a, and then stacked in a tangled manner by the pusher 63 of the delivery mechanism 6, and placed on a conveyance jig (not shown). Sent.

Thereafter, a predetermined number of packaging sheets are stacked and sent in the same way.

(G) Effects According to the present invention, it is possible to perform the tying operation using a simpler device than the conventional tying, accumulation, and transfer device that uses a reversing device. Furthermore, when using a reversing device, the items are sent one by one on a conveyor and then reversed by the reversing device, which takes time to combine, but with the present invention, multiple items are sent out at once from the storage and transfer device and combined, so the reversing process is easy. It is possible to carry out the tying work at a high speed compared to a tying, accumulating, and transferring device that uses the device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the conjugation, accumulation, and transfer device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line - in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the collection mechanism and delivery mechanism. Figure 4 is a top view of the mechanism in Figure 3,
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing packaging sheets stacked together, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a receiving plate and a stopper. 1: Binding accumulation transfer device, 2: Storage transfer device,
22: Endless rail, 23: Bucket, 4: Gathering mechanism, 6: Sending mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An endless rail that moves intermittently in at least some areas in a fixed direction, and an endless rail that is attached to the rail at fixed intervals and that carries articles with their flat surfaces facing down. a first storage having a bucket adapted to store the articles in the bucket in an intermittent movement zone, the articles in the bucket being delivered at a time in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the track; a transfer device; an endless rail that moves intermittently in at least a part of the area in a fixed direction; and a state in which the article is attached to the rail at fixed intervals and the article is placed with its uneven surface facing down; a bucket which is adapted to accommodate a plurality of articles at a time in an intermittent movement area in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the rail;
a second storage and transfer device arranged in parallel with the storage and transfer device; and two sets of storage and transfer devices arranged vertically apart from each other adjacent to the article delivery position in each storage and transfer device, each receiving the delivered article. and a pair of pushers for pushing the delivered article in a direction substantially perpendicular to the delivery direction and inserted between the articles delivered from adjacent storage and transfer devices. a gathering mechanism for stacking the articles on the first receiving plate with their surfaces facing each other; and a first receiving plate of one of the two sets of first receiving plates; a second receiving plate which is a subsequent receiving plate and which guides the articles stacked on top of each other; and a second pusher which pushes the articles on the first receiving plate toward the second receiving plate. A combination accumulation and transfer device comprising a delivery mechanism.