JPH0662212B2 - Alignment device for short columns - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a device for staggering short columnar articles, such as juice cans, on a pallet, for example during retort sterilization thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art As an apparatus of this type, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. JP-A-2004-115, the conveying means for receiving the bottoms of a plurality of articles in an upright posture and conveying them from back to front and the article passages through which the articles on the conveying means can be arranged side by side in a row are arranged in parallel. The distribution means is formed, and the aligning means for sequentially picking up and aligning the articles one by one from the front end of each article passage is provided, and the aligning means includes a star wheel having a plurality of pockets, It is known that every other magnet is attached, and the articles are arranged in a zigzag manner by changing the article take-out position depending on whether the articles to be taken out are attracted by the magnet or not.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above device, although there is an advantage that the articles can be efficiently arranged with a simple mechanism, since a magnet is used, there is a problem when aligning metal articles that can be attracted by the magnet. No, but it cannot be used when aligning paper or plastic articles.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device for aligning short columnar articles, which is capable of aligning articles in a zigzag pattern regardless of the material of the articles.

Means for Solving the Problems A short columnar article aligning device according to the present invention comprises a transporting means for receiving the bottoms of a plurality of articles in an upright posture and transporting them from back to front.
Distributing means in which a plurality of article passages are formed in parallel so that the articles on the conveying means can pass side by side in a line, and take-out means for taking out the articles one by one from the front end of each article passage, and two adjoining two A distribution guide which is attached to a vertical support shaft arranged between the front extension lines at the front end of the article passage so as to be swingable in the left-right direction at the rear portion, and has a swing radius capable of moving the front portion forward and backward with respect to the front extension line, Each time an article is taken out from the article passage, it comprises swing means for alternately swinging the sorting guide in the left-right direction so that the front portion of the sorting guide enters one side of the front extension line and leaves the other side. It is a thing.

In the device for aligning short columnar articles according to the present invention, the sorting guide is attached to the vertical support shaft disposed between the front extension lines of the front ends of the two adjacent article passages so that the sorting guide can swing in the left and right directions, and the sorting is performed. The guide has a swinging radius capable of moving the front portion forward and backward with respect to the extension line of the front side, and the front portion of the sorting guide is moved forward by the swinging means each time an article is taken out from the article passage. Enter one of the extension lines,
Since the sorting guide is swung so as to move away from the other side, the articles conveyed on the front extension line where the front portion of the sorting guide has entered contact the sorting guide and are guided to the side of the sorting guide to extend the same forward. Transported on a line deviating from the line,
The articles conveyed on the front extension line where the front portion of the sorting guide is retreated are directly passed on the front extension line without passing through the side of the sorting guide.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In this specification, the front and rear sides are referred to as the front side on which the article is fed and the rear side is the opposite side, and the left and right sides are referred to as the left and right sides toward the rear.

The apparatus for aligning short columnar articles includes a conveying means 11 that receives the bottoms of a plurality of articles W in an upright posture and conveys them from the rear to the front, and the conveying means 11.
Article passage 12 through which the above articles W can be arranged side by side in a row
Means 13 formed in parallel with each other and each article passage 12
Take-out means 14 for taking out the articles W one by one from the front end of the
And a distribution guide 16 which is swingably attached at the rear portion to a vertical support shaft 15 arranged outside the extension line so that the front portion can advance and retreat with respect to the front extension line of each article extraction position by the extraction means 14. And consists of.

The conveying means 11 is a belt conveyor, and is provided with left and right side frames 21 and endless belts 22 that circulate between the side frames 21 and extend in the front-rear direction.

The number of article passages 12 of the distribution means 13 is four, and four passages are provided.
12 is placed and fixed slightly above the upper side of the belt 22 6
It is formed by two parallel vertical guide plates 23. Of the four article passages 12, two left and right article passages 12 are adjacent to each other, but a gap is formed between the two inner article passages 12, and a triangular block shape is formed at the rear end of the gap. A distribution member 24 is provided. Although not shown, the articles W are carried on the belt 22 in a scattered state up to the distribution means 13, and are distributed and arranged in four rows by the distribution means 13.

The take-out means 14 includes four star wheels 25 arranged one by one in front of the front end portion of the article passage 12 and an introduction guide 26 for guiding the article W discharged from the front end of the article passage 12 to the star wheel 25. ing. The star wheel 25 has three pockets 27. The number of pockets 27 can be three or more.

The distribution guides 16 are vertical plate-shaped, and the number thereof is three, which is one less than the number of star wheels 25. On both side surfaces of the sorting guide 16, a taper portion 28 having a taper is provided.

A pair of vertical support plates 31 are provided opposite to each other on both left and right sides of a portion from the take-out means 14 to the sorting guide 16, and a horizontal support plate 32 is suspended near the upper ends of both vertical support plates 31. On the other hand, on the right side of the right vertical support plate 31, a motor supported by means not shown and connected by a belt 33.
34 and a clutch 35 with a brake are arranged. A drive gear 36 is attached to the output shaft of the brake clutch 35. Bearings 37 are provided on the upper ends of both vertical support plates 31, and a drive shaft 38 is passed over and supported by these bearings 36. A driven gear 39 meshed with the drive gear 36 is attached to the right end of the drive shaft 38. Two drive bevel gears 41 are attached in the middle of the length of the drive shaft 38. On the horizontal support plate 32, four vertical rotation shafts 42, to which the star wheels 25 are fixed at their lower ends, are suspended via bearings 43. Spur gears 44 are attached to the upper ends of the four vertical rotation shafts 42, and the spur gears 44 attached to the left and right rotation shafts 42 of the four vertical rotation shafts 42 are meshed with each other. . Further, a driven bevel gear 45 engaged with the drive bevel gear 41 is attached to one of the two rotating shafts 42 having the spur gears 44 engaged with each other.

Both vertical support plates 31 across the upper part of the front end of the sorting guide 16.
A horizontal slide bar 46 has been passed to. On the other hand, on the upper surface of the sorting guide 16, a groove 47 extending in the lengthwise direction thereof is formed, and a downward protruding vertical pin 48 fitted into this is provided on the slide bar 46. A swing end of a cam follower 51, which is swingably attached to the left vertical support plate 31 in the left-right direction, is connected to the left end of the slide bar 46. A connecting pin 52 is provided in the middle of the length of the cam follower 51, and the connecting pin 52 is fitted in an eccentric annular groove 54 provided in the cam plate 53. The cam plate 53 is attached to the output shaft of the gear box 55. A driven pulley 56 is attached to the input shaft of the gear box 55.
Is installed. A drive pulley 57 is attached to the left end of the drive shaft 38, and a belt 58 is hung on both pulleys 56 and 57.

A U-shaped accumulator 61 in a plan view is arranged on the belt 22 at a predetermined distance in front of the sorting guide 16.
A large number of articles W are arranged in a staggered manner and stored inside this.

Driven by motor 34 and clutch 35 and driven gear 3
The drive shaft 38 is intermittently driven via 6 and 39. Drive shaft 3
The driving force of 8 is 2 on the left and right by the driving and driven bevel gears 41 and 45.
The rotational force transmitted to one of the rotating shafts 42, and the rotational force transmitted to the one rotating shaft 42 are transmitted to the other rotating shaft 42 by the spur gears 44 meshed with each other. As a result, the left and right star wheels 25 are intermittently rotated in opposite directions. Further, the driving force of the driving shaft 38 is transmitted to the cam plate 53 via the driving and driven pulleys 56 and 57, the belt 58 and the gear box 55, the cam follower 51 swings, and the slide bar 46 slides in the length direction. To do. As a result, the sorting guide 16 is swung about the support shaft 15.

Next, the alignment operation will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The star wheel 25 is rotated by 120 degrees intermittently in one cycle, and each time the article W comes from the article passage 12 one by one.
It is taken out one by one. In FIG. 5 (a), the sorting guide 16
Is facing diagonally to the left front and is one of the four articles W taken out by the previous cycle of the star wheel 25 from the left.
The second and third articles W are trying to pass through the side of the sorting guide 16 without interfering with the sorting guide 16, but the second and fourth articles W from the left are moved to the left by the sorting guide 16. As shown in FIG. 5 (b), the sorting guide 16 is directed almost straight forward when the next article W is taken out, and subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the sorting guide 16 16 turns diagonally to the front right, this time,
The second and fourth articles W from the left try to pass by sideways of the sorting guide 16, and the first and third articles W from the left are moved left and right by the sorting guide 16. By repeating the above operation, the plurality of articles W are arranged in a zigzag pattern on the belt 22 in the state of being adjacent to each other in the front, rear, left, and right directions, and finally, in the accumulator 61. The matching ones are arranged in a staggered manner with the same touching.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the article conveyed on the front extension line in which the front portion of the sorting guide is inserted contacts the sorting guide,
Articles guided to the side and conveyed on a line deviating from the front extension line, and conveyed on the front extension line with the front part of the sorting guide retreated, pass directly on the side of the sorting guide and remain on the front extension line. The articles can be arranged in a zigzag pattern regardless of the material of the articles.

Further, since the articles taken out from the two article passages can be aligned by the one sorting guide, for example, the articles taken out from the two article passages can be sorted into two article passages, one for each of the two article passages. The structure of the device is simplified as compared with the case of aligning by the guide.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view and FIG.
The drawing is a plan view, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3, and FIG. 11 ... Conveying means, 12 ... Article passage, 13 ... Distributing means, 14 ... Taking out means, 15 ... Support shaft, 16 ... Sorting guide, W ... Article.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Conveying means 11 for receiving the bottoms of a plurality of articles W in an upright position and conveying the articles W from the rear to the front, and a plurality of article passages 12 through which the articles W on the conveying means 11 can be arranged side by side in a row. Distribution means 13 shaped like a circle
And a take-out means 14 for taking out the articles W one by one from the front end of each article passage 12, and a vertical support shaft 15 disposed between the front extension lines of the front ends of two adjoining article passages 12. A distribution guide 16 which is movably mounted and has a swinging radius capable of advancing and retracting the front part with respect to the front extension line, and a distribution guide each time an article W is taken out from the article passage 12.
An apparatus for arranging short columnar articles, comprising swinging means for alternately swinging the sorting guide 16 in the left-right direction so that the front part of the 16 enters into one of the extension lines of the front and moves away from the other.