JPH0818691B2 - Article stacking apparatus and article stacking method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article stacking apparatus and an article stacking method used in a box-shaped article packaging industry and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 4, an apparatus for stacking articles or a method for stacking articles, which is used in the packaging industry for articles, has a conveyor 30 and a delivery section 31 having a predetermined height. On the outer side of the terminal end, the pallet 34 having the delivery part 31 and the floor 33 raised and lowered by the lifter 32 is made to correspond to each other, and the delivery part 31 and the pallet 34 surface are aligned with each other on the pallet 34. After the articles 35 continuously fed from the delivery section 31 are stacked one step by hand and by an automatic feeding device (not shown), the pallet 34 surface is lowered by the lifter 32 to match the delivery section 31. The same operation of stacking the articles on the loaded articles 35 was repeated to stack articles in a desired number of steps.

Further, in the case of the device shown in FIG. 5, a robot 38 having a gripping member 37 for the article 35 at the end of the revolving arm 36.
Using the, the articles 35 supplied to the delivery section 40 provided with the conveyor 39 are grasped by the grasping member 37, and are loaded in a predetermined pattern on the pallet 34 which is on standby on the other side of the robot 38. It was

In the former device described above, since the article delivery section must be formed higher than the height of the number of steps to be loaded on the pallet, the article must be delivered once to this article delivery section provided at a high place. In addition to requiring extra equipment for that purpose in the factory, it also requires manpower to load it onto the pallet, and when loading a large amount of goods, it puts a heavy labor burden on the worker and sends it to a high place. There is a risk of occupational accidents due to a load from a department, and in the case of an automatic device, there is a loss when the product falls, and there is a danger when the device is inspected at a high place or repaired.

Further, in the latter device, since the robot can automatically load the articles, the above-mentioned drawbacks can be solved, but one or at most three articles can be grasped by the grasping members of the robot. Since it can carry out only about one piece, its single-hour loading capacity is extremely low, and it cannot be incorporated into a system that performs a series of operations corresponding to a mass-produced processing machine. There were various problems such as.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a single row is formed by a gripping body of an article which is supported by each frame and moves in the front, rear, left, right and up and down directions. By sequentially stacking each of the preceding articles on the next article and stacking them on a predetermined level, the articles can be carried in at a low place in the factory, for example, on the floor,
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an article stacking apparatus and an article stacking method that enable a person to efficiently stack a large number of articles continuously.

[0007]

The means of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is to provide a horizontal frame which is vertically movable on a vertically-arranged column, and laterally moves so as to be orthogonal to the horizontal frame. A lateral frame freely attached, a suspension body attached to the horizontal frame so as to be laterally movable, and a pair of gripping bodies attached to the suspension body so as to be laterally movable so as to be parallel to the horizontal frame. , A numerically controllable driving member which is linked to the horizontal frame, the horizontal frame, the suspension body, and the grip body, respectively, and a base portion of which is rotatably attached to the suspension body, and which is below the article under the article. A holding body that engages with an edge is provided, and the gripping body has a vertical main body having a length capable of stacking a predetermined number of article columns hung from a suspension body, and a vertical main body having a length below which the main body is provided inside the vertical main body. In the configuration of the article stacking device, which comprises a pressing portion for gripping a row of articles on the floor provided. .

Further, a horizontal frame vertically movably mounted on a vertically-arranged support, a horizontal frame horizontally attached to the horizontal frame so as to be orthogonal to the horizontal frame, and a horizontal frame horizontally attached to the horizontal frame. A suspending body, a pair of gripping bodies attached to the suspending body so as to be movable laterally so as to be parallel to the horizontal frame, and the horizontal frame, the horizontal frame, the suspending body, and the gripping body, respectively. In cooperation with each other, a numerically controllable drive member, a base member for rotatably attaching the base portion to the suspension body, which engages with a lower edge of the article at a lower portion thereof, and the article to the loading position of the article An extruding member for feeding in rows is provided, and the grasping body is provided with a vertical main body having a length capable of stacking a predetermined number of vertical columns of articles suspended from a suspending body, and on the floor provided at the inner side of the lower portion of the vertical main body. And an article stacking device including a pressing portion for gripping a side portion of the article row of The side portion of the first article row supplied to the article loading position is clamped by the pressing portion of the gripping body and lifted up to the article height or higher, and the second second member is provided below the first article row by the extruding member. After supplying the article rows, the gripper is lowered and stacked on the second article row while the first article row is gripped by the pressing section, and the side portion of the lowermost second article row is pressed by the gripping section. An article stack for stacking a plurality of predetermined articles by repeating the operation of gripping the first and second article rows by more than the article height and supplying the next third article row to the lower portion by the pushing member. On the way.

[0009]

The article stacking apparatus and article stacking method of the present invention configured as described above have the following actions.

The first article in a horizontal row supplied by the extruding member at the article loading position is lifted above the article height by holding both side portions in the horizontal row by the pressing portion of the gripping body.
After the second article in the next row is supplied to the lower part of the first article row by the extruding member, the gripping body is lowered while holding the first article row, and the first article row is moved to the second row. Stacked on rows of articles to form two tiers.

Further, the gripping body is lowered to grip both side portions of the second row of the lowest stacked second articles by the pressing portions of the gripping bodies, and the first and second article rows are lifted above the article height. In the same manner as described above, after the next third article row is supplied to the lower part of the two stages by the extruding member, the gripping body is lowered while holding the first and second article rows, The second row of articles is stacked on the third row of articles to form three rows, and a plurality of rows of articles can be stacked by repeating these operations.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the article stacking apparatus and article stacking method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show the outline of one embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention, in which a product W such as a P case or a corrugated cardboard containing a large number of bottles such as a soft drink and a fruit drink is predetermined. It is stacked in several stages, for example, three stages or five stages, or other plural stages.

The structure is such that the moving body 5 is vertically movable with respect to the vertical guide 4 of the column 3 standing upright on the floor 2, and the moving body 5 has a predetermined length, for example, the article W. A horizontal frame 6 formed over the length of the row is attached.

On the upper part of the horizontal frame 6, a horizontal frame 9 is attached to a moving body 8 which is laterally movably engaged with a horizontal guide 7 so as to be orthogonal to the horizontal frame 6, and the horizontal frame 9 is attached. The hanging body 11 is engaged with the lateral guide 10 so that it can move laterally, and the lower part of the hanging body 11 moves laterally so as to be relatively along the guide 12 and parallel to the horizontal frame 6. A pair of grippers 1
3 and 13 are attached.

The gripping bodies 13 and 13 are provided with a vertical main body 13a having a length such that a predetermined number of vertical columns of articles suspended from the suspension body 11 are stacked, and on the floor below the vertical main body 13a. There are provided pressing portions 14, 14 which are pressed against both outer sides of the two rows of articles and hold the rows of the articles 2.

Reference numerals 15, 16, 17 and 18 are numerical values of a servo motor or the like which is linked to the horizontal frame 6, the horizontal frame 9, the suspension 11 and the grippers 13 and 13 and is driven at an arbitrary amount of movement. It is a controllable drive member and is appropriately adopted in rack and pinion type, screw shaft type, and the like.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 19 is a horizontal receiver connected to supporting arms 21, 21 rotatably suspended by a support shaft 20 on the upper part of the above-mentioned hanging body 11, and the gripping body 1
When a row of articles W is held by 3, 13, the row is prevented from collapsing due to its own weight, and its cross section is shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. It is formed into a “substantially” shape as shown in No. 3, and when not used,
By the operation member 22 such as a fluid cylinder, the supporting arms 21, 21
Is rotated upward so as not to interfere with the grip of the article W row.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 23 denotes an extruding member for feeding the articles W on the floor 2 to the article loading position 25 when the articles W having a predetermined number of steps are stacked on the pallet 24, and is a fluid cylinder such as an air cylinder. By using the above-mentioned article stacking apparatus 1, it is operated at a predetermined timing.

Next, an example of a method of stacking articles by the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, the articles W are stacked in five stages on the pallet 24 through the steps indicated by the symbols a to h in a plurality of blocks in a row. First, at the article loading position 25 on the floor 2. As shown in FIG. 3A, the supplied first articles W1 in units of, for example, five in a row, are extruded members 23.
Is sent to a predetermined position.

Then, the horizontal frame 6, the horizontal frame 9 and the suspension 11 are moved up and down, left and right or forward and backward by the operation of the drive members 15, 16 and 17, and a pair of gripping bodies 13 attached to the suspension 11 are provided. 13
Is to correspond to the article W1 at the article loading position 25, so that at this time, the pair of gripping bodies 13, 13 that have been opened are closed by the drive member 18 so that both side portions of the article W1 in a horizontal row. 3b, as shown in FIG. 3b, the driving member 15 is operated to raise the horizontal frame 6, and the first article W1 row is lifted above the article height as shown in FIG. 3c. Then, after the second article W2 row of the next row is supplied to the lower portion of the first article W1 row by the pushing member 23, the gripping body 13,
13 while lowering the first article W1 while holding the row,
When the grippers 13 and 13 are opened when 1 and W2 contact each other,
As shown in FIG. 3d, the first article W1 row is stacked on the second article W2 row to form two rows.

Further, when the driving member 15 is operated to lower the horizontal frame 6, the grippers 13, 13 are lowered, and the driving members 18 are attached to both side portions of the second row of the second article W2 at the bottom of the stack. The first and second rows W1 and W2 of the first and second articles are lifted above the height of the article W by operating and grasping by the grasping bodies 13 and 13, and as described above, as shown in FIG. After the next third article W3 row is supplied by the extruding member 23, when the grippers 13, 13 are lowered while holding the first and second article W1, W2 rows, the first and second articles The W1 and W2 rows are stacked on the third article W3 row to form three rows, and if these operations are repeated, a predetermined plurality of rows, that is, five article rows can be stacked as shown in FIG. 3f. Is.

In this state, when the driving members 15, 16 and 17 are operated, the horizontal frame 6, the horizontal frame 9 and the suspension 11 are moved up and down, left and right, or forward and backward, so that the gripping body gripping the five stages of the article W row is held.
Since 13 and 13 correspond to the take-out position 26, at this time, the driving member 15 is operated to lower the horizontal frame 6 and the gripping bodies 13 and 13 are moved.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3h, one horizontal row of the article W rows of five steps is placed on the pallet 24 provided on the floor 2 at the take-out position 26.

In this way, if another row is carried out by the above-mentioned operation, a preset amount of articles W will be loaded on the pallet 24 in a column pattern. In order to prevent the load from collapsing, the well-known banding is applied to the four rows of cases only on the uppermost stage.

Since the vertical main body 13a in the gripping body has a length capable of stacking a predetermined number of vertical columns of articles, it is possible to stack the pallets 24 in a desired step, and the articles W can be efficiently transported and stored. Done.

[0027]

As described above, the article stacking apparatus and the article stacking method according to the present invention allow the articles to be stacked on or near the floor surface in the packaging factory, so that the articles are once sent to a high place. In addition to being able to omit, the movement of the gripping body in the up, down, left, right, and front and back is automatically performed by remote operation, so that workers do not enter the loading work site and heavy goods are not carried,
There will be no occupational accidents due to the collapse of cargo.

Further, since a large number of articles can be gripped by the gripping body at one time, the loading capacity for a single time is greatly improved, and a series of operations can be performed even if the machine is adapted for mass production. Can be done.

In particular, a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns of articles are provided by a grip body composed of a vertical main body having a length capable of stacking a predetermined number of article rows and a pressing portion for holding the article rows on the floor. Since they can be stacked, they are effective for transporting and storing articles such as P cases and cardboard. And so on.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing an example of implementation of an article stacking apparatus and an article stacking method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a main part in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing a stacking work using the apparatus in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a conventional article stacking device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing another example of the conventional article stacking apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Supports 6 Horizontal frame 9 Horizontal frame 11 Suspended body 13 Grasping body 13a Vertical main body 14 Pressing part 15,16 Driving member 17,18 Driving member 23 Extruding member W Article

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A horizontal frame that is vertically movable on a vertically-arranged support, a horizontal frame that is horizontally movable so as to be orthogonal to the horizontal frame, and a horizontal frame that is horizontally movable. A suspending body, a pair of gripping bodies attached to the suspending body so as to be movable laterally so as to be parallel to the horizontal frame, and the horizontal frame, the horizontal frame, the suspending body, and the gripping body, respectively. In cooperation with each other, a numerically controllable drive member and a base body that is rotatably attached to the suspension body and a receiving body that engages with a lower edge of an article at a lower portion thereof are provided. It is characterized by comprising a vertical main body having a length capable of stacking a predetermined number of article vertical lines suspended from a holding body, and a pressing portion which is provided in the lower part of the vertical main body and which holds the horizontal row of articles on the floor. Article stacking device. 2. A horizontal frame vertically movably mounted on a vertically-arranged column, a horizontal frame horizontally movable so as to be orthogonal to the horizontal frame, and a horizontal frame horizontally mounted to the horizontal frame. A suspending body, a pair of gripping bodies attached to the suspending body so as to be movable laterally so as to be parallel to the horizontal frame, and the horizontal frame, the horizontal frame, the suspending body, and the gripping body, respectively. In cooperation with each other, a numerically controllable drive member, a base member for rotatably attaching the base portion to the suspension body, which engages with a lower edge of the article at a lower portion thereof, and the article to the loading position of the article An extruding member for feeding in rows is provided, and the grasping body is provided with a vertical main body having a length capable of stacking a predetermined number of vertical columns of articles suspended from a suspending body, and on the floor provided at the inner side of the lower portion of the vertical main body. An article stacking device comprising a pressing part for gripping a side part of the article row of The side portion of the first article row supplied to the article loading position is clamped by the pressing portion of the gripping body and lifted up to the article height or higher, and the second article below is provided below the first article row by the extruding member. After supplying the rows, the gripper is lowered and stacked on the second article row in a state where the first article row is gripped by the pressing portion, and the side portion of the bottom second article row is pressed by the pressing portion of the gripping body. Characterized in that the first and second rows of articles are lifted above the article height by gripping, and the operation of supplying the next third row of articles to the lower portion by the pushing member is repeated to stack articles of a predetermined plurality of stages. How to stack goods.