JPH0445411B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a dispensing device for distributing articles conveyed in a single line into a plurality of lines.

"Prior art" As an example of a conventional dispensing device, for example,
As disclosed in Publication No. 38831, articles conveyed in a line are sequentially held by a plurality of holding mechanisms, and the articles held by each holding mechanism are moved horizontally on a wide conveyor. It is known that the articles are cut and moved diagonally, and the release positions of the articles held by each holding mechanism are varied in the width direction on the conveyor, thereby distributing one row of articles into a plurality of rows.

``Problems to be Solved by the Invention'' However, in this type of distribution device, there is naturally a difference in operating speed between low-speed operation immediately after the start of operation and normal high-speed operation after the required time has elapsed. When the operating speed is set to high speed, the speed difference becomes large. Generally, the time from when each holding mechanism starts releasing the article until it actually releases the article is constant, so if the above speed difference increases, the position at which the article is delivered from the holding mechanism to the transport conveyor will change. The holding mechanism began to deviate significantly in the conveying direction, and it was necessary to increase the width of the conveyor in order to absorb this deviation.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a movable cam member for releasing the article held by the holding mechanism, and a driving means for the cam member. By interlocking and displacing this cam member, the article release timing of the holding mechanism can be adjusted.

"Operation" According to this configuration, during low-speed operation, the cam member is positioned at a position suitable for the operating speed to obtain the optimal article release timing, and at the same time, during high-speed operation, the cam member is positioned at a position suitable for the operating speed. By displacing the cam member, it is possible to obtain optimal article release timing even during high-speed operation. Therefore, the delivery position of the article from the holding mechanism to the transport conveyor can be maintained at a substantially constant position both during low-speed operation and during high-speed operation, and as a result, the width of the transport conveyor can be made smaller than in the past. It becomes possible.

"Example" The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated example.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a first conveyor for conveying articles 2 having a rectangular cross section in a continuous line; 3 denotes a timing screw provided on one side of the first conveyor 1; A required gap can be formed between the articles 2 that are conveyed in a continuous state by the conveyor belt 1.

On the other side in front of the first conveyor 1, a second conveyor 4 for conveying the articles 2 in a plurality of rows, five rows in the illustrated embodiment, is installed in parallel.
A delivery conveyor 5 is provided between the conveyor 1 and the second conveyor 4. Then, the article 2 is placed at the connection part of these conveyors 1, 4, 5.
Conveying means 6 that conveys obliquely from the conveyor 1 to the second conveyor 4 via the delivery conveyor 5
has been established.

This conveying means 6 includes a pair of sprockets 7 and 8.
, an endless chain 9 that spans each of the sprockets 7 and 8, a guide member 10 that guides the chain 9 so as to draw a required travel trajectory as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the above-mentioned It is provided with a plurality of rollers 13 that are attached to the chain 9 and rollably placed on rails 12 provided on the machine frame 11. The chain 9 is formed by the sprockets 7, 8 and the guide member 10, as shown in FIG. It is designed so that it travels to a certain part and then circulates back to its original position.

However, the chain 9 is provided with a holding mechanism 20 for holding the article 2 at a required interval, and this holding mechanism 20, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,
A main body 22 rotatably provided on a pin 21 provided between the upper and lower chains 9, an L-shaped holding member 23 provided integrally with this main body 22, and a shaft supported at one end of this L-shaped holding member 23. The holding claw 24 is interlocked with the air cylinder 25 attached to the main body 22, and the air cylinder 25 is
By this operation, the article 2 can be held between the other end of the L-shaped holding member 23 and the holding claw 24.

And a bracket 26 fixed to the main body 22
A cam follower 27 is provided in the machine frame 11, a cam member 28 is fixed to the machine frame 11, and the cam follower 27 is engaged with the cam member 28 by the tensile force of a spring (not shown), thereby causing the main body 22 to follow the cam curve. The holding mechanism 20 is configured to be able to swing around the pin 21, that is, the swing angle position of the holding mechanism 20 with respect to the chain 9 can be regulated.

Further, each of the air cylinders 25 communicates with a switching valve 30 attached to the chain 9 for each holding mechanism 20, and each switching valve 30 is connected to a switching valve 30 attached to the chain 9.
0 communicates with a source of compressed air via a conventionally known rotary joint (not shown). As shown in FIG. 6, each of the switching valves 30 includes an operating member 31 that switches the flow path and is movable up and down.
a pair of operating levers 32a, 32b that are interlocked with;
A roller 33 pivotally supported at the tip of each operating lever 32
It is equipped with

When the actuating member 31 is located at the rising end position or the falling end position, it is able to maintain that state continuously, and when it is located at the rising end position, the air cylinder 25 and the fluid pressure source are connected to each other. so that the holding mechanism 20 can hold the article 2, and when the air cylinder 25 is at the lower end position, the communication between the air cylinder 25 and the fluid pressure source can be cut off to release the article 2 from being held. It's summery.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lower tip of the timing screw 3 engages with the roller 33 of the lower operating lever 32b to rotate the operating lever 32b. A first cam member 34 that forcibly pushes up the actuating member 31 to hold the article 2 is disposed, and an actuating lever 32a located above is disposed in a straight line section that diagonally crosses the top of the second conveyor 4. A second cam member 35 is disposed that engages with the roller 33 to forcibly push up the actuating member 31 and release the article 2 held by the holding mechanism 20.

The first cam member 34 is attached to all the holding mechanisms 20.
Since it is only necessary to hold the article 2 at the tip of the timing screw 3, it is now possible to hold the article 2 by sequentially operating all the holding mechanisms 20 one by one at the same position. There is.

On the other hand, the second cam member 35 has five consecutive
It is necessary to simultaneously release the articles held by the two holding mechanisms 20 at five different positions on the second transport conveyor 4, so as shown in FIGS. Five cam parts 35a to 35e are provided.

The five cam parts 35a to 35e are the holding mechanism 2.
0 along the conveyance direction, and are sequentially shifted in position in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction. Correspondingly, the lower actuating levers 32b of the holding mechanisms 20, in which five groups are arranged, are also arranged. Each cam part 35
The positions are sequentially shifted to correspond to each of a to 35e.

In other words, the holding mechanism 2 has five groups in one group.
Among the lower operating levers 32b of 0, the first operating lever 32b in the group is set to engage only the frontmost cam portion 35e, and the second operating lever 32b from the front is set to engage only the frontmost cam portion 35e. It is set to engage only the second cam portion 35d from the front. Further, similarly, the third actuating lever 32b only connects to the third cam portion 35c, the fourth actuating lever 32b connects only to the fourth cam portion 35d, and the fifth actuating lever 32b connects only to the fifth cam portion 35c. The cam portions 35a are set to engage only with the cam portions 35a.

and the five operating levers 32b in one group.
are adapted to engage with each of the cam portions 35a to 35e substantially simultaneously, thereby making it possible to simultaneously release one group of five articles 2 held by each holding mechanism 20.

The second cam member 35 is provided on the support stand 36 so as to be movable forward and backward along a straight line that diagonally crosses the top of the second transport conveyor 4. An air cylinder 37 is connected thereto. This air cylinder 37
receives a signal from a control device (not shown) and displaces the second cam member 35 between a backward end and a forward end;
At the forward end of the holding mechanism 20 in the forward direction in the conveying direction, the optimal timing for releasing the article 2 is when the operating speed of the conveying means 6 is low, and at the opposite backward end, when the operating speed of the conveying means 6 is high. Settings are made so that the optimal timing for releasing the articles 2 can be obtained.

Note that by using a stepping motor or the like instead of the air cylinder 37 as a driving means for displacing the second cam member 35, the second cam member 35 can be continuously displaced in response to fluctuations in operating speed. is also possible.

In the above configuration, during low speed operation at the beginning of operation, the air cylinder 37 is connected to the second cam member 3.
5 is located at the forward end position, and the articles 2 conveyed by the first conveyor 1 are spaced apart by the timing screw 3 and simultaneously synchronized with the operation of the conveying means 6. On the other hand, the air cylinder 25 of the holding mechanism 20 conveyed from the sprocket 8 to the sprocket 7 is deenergized, the holding claw 24 is located at the release position, and the swing angle position of the holding mechanism 20 with respect to the chain 9 is , the air cylinder 25 is located at a position where its axis is parallel to the chain 9.

In this state, when the holding mechanism 20 is rotated around the sprocket 7 and moved diagonally toward the timing screw 3 by the guide member 10, the article conveyed by the timing screw 3 is synchronized with the operation. 2 is inserted between the released holding claw 24 and the holding member 23. When the article 2 is inserted between the holding claw 24 and the holding member 23 and the holding mechanism 20 is conveyed in parallel with the timing screw 3, the first cam member 34 engages the actuating lever 32b. As the rollers 33 are engaged, the holding mechanism 20 holds the article 2 as described above.
hold.

Next, when the holding mechanism 20 holding the article 2 is conveyed to a straight line section that diagonally crosses the top of the second conveyor 4, as shown in FIG.
The article 2 held on the second conveyor 4 is conveyed obliquely to the conveyance direction of the second conveyor 4, but at this time, it is held via the cam follower 27 and the bracket 26 according to the cam curve of the cam member 28. Since the mechanism 20 is swung relative to the chain 9,
The held articles 2 can be directed in the transport direction of the second transport conveyor 4.

In this state, when the leading holding mechanism 20 of the five holding mechanisms 20 in one continuous group is conveyed to the right end of the second conveyor 4, each operating lever 32 of the five holding mechanisms 20
a represents each cam portion 35a to 35e of the second cam member 35;
Since the air cylinders 25 are simultaneously activated by the
As a result, the articles 2 released from the five consecutive holding mechanisms 20 are conveyed by the second conveyor 4 in five rows.

Thereafter, each holding mechanism 20 is returned to its original swing angle position parallel to the chain 9 by the cam curve of the cam member 28, and the same operation is repeated thereafter.

The operating speed of the entire device gradually increases from the low-speed operation at the start of operation described above, and when the operating speed exceeds a predetermined value, the air cylinder 37 moves the second cam member 35 by a signal from a control device (not shown). The holding mechanism 20 is displaced to the rear side in the conveyance direction, and the timing of releasing the article 2 from the holding mechanism 20 is brought forward. Therefore, even during this high-speed operation, the article 2 can be delivered to the second conveyor 4 at substantially the same position as during low-speed operation.

In the above embodiment, each of the holding mechanisms 20 is provided with a switching valve 30, but among the holding mechanisms 20 of one group, only one holding mechanism is provided with a switching valve 30, and that one switching valve 30 is provided with a switching valve 30. In addition, the one switching valve 30 may be communicated with all the air cylinders 25 of one group. In this case, it is clear that the second cam member 35 only needs to have one cam portion.

Further, in the above embodiment, the holding mechanism 20 is composed of the holding member 23, the holding claw 24, the air cylinder 25, etc.;
Of course, an appropriate structure can be adopted, such as changing the holding claw 24 to a solenoid, or opening and closing the holding claw 24 using a cam member and a spring.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to keep the delivery position of the article from the holding mechanism to the conveyor at a substantially constant position even if the operating speed fluctuates. The effect is that the width of the conveyor can be made smaller than in the past.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of main parts showing an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the entire structure, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the holding mechanism 20, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 4, and FIG. is a view taken in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 4; 1...First conveyor, 2...Goods, 4...
Second conveyor, 6...Transporting means, 9...Chain, 20...Holding mechanism, 22...Main body, 23...
Holding member, 24... Holding claw, 25... Air cylinder, 30... Switching valve, 34... First cam member, 35... Second cam member, 37... Air cylinder.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first conveyor that conveys the articles in a single line, a second conveyor that conveys the articles in multiple lines, a plurality of holding mechanisms capable of holding the articles, and a first conveyor that conveys the articles in a row. A conveying means for conveying from the conveyor across the second conveyor, and a cam member for activating a holding mechanism conveyed by the conveying means to release the held article on the second conveyor. , the plurality of holding mechanisms sequentially hold the articles conveyed by the first conveyor, and the held articles are released at different positions on the second conveyor by the cam member to form a line of articles. In a dispensing device for distributing to a plurality of rows, the cam member is movably provided, and a driving means for moving and displacing the cam member is interlocked to displace the cam member to adjust the article release timing of the holding mechanism. A dispensing device characterized by the following: