JP2009091119A - Sheet material alignment device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet material alignment device capable of easily aligning even sheet materials having trapezoidal shapes or the like, securing rigidity against an impact in pushing, and hardly causing damage to the sheet material. <P>SOLUTION: This sheet material alignment device is used for aligning at least the upper-end sheet materials among a plurality of the sheet materials stacked on one another at a predetermined position by horizontally pressing them. The sheet material alignment device 10 is constituted in such a manner that a pair of guide rails 28 are arranged in parallel to each other in front of and behind the sheet materials; travel blocks 22 and 24 are arranged along the guide rails so as to be travelable, and traveled and driven by separate motors M1 and M2 independently; the rear end of a travel frame 21 is arranged rotatably around a vertical axis with respect to the rear-side travel block 24; the front end thereof is arranged rotatably around the vertical axis with respect to the front-side travel block 22 and slidably in the longitudinal direction; and an alignment plate 36 is arranged inside the travel frame 21 through a pressing mechanism 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet material aligning apparatus that aligns sheet materials stacked one by one on a pallet or the like, or the remaining sheet materials disturbed when the sheet materials are taken out from a stack one by one.

JP-A-8-252640 JP 56-61241 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-157843

  In the case of a destack feeder that lifts the stacked sheet materials by gripping them one by one from the upper end with a vacuum cup or the like, the sheet material below the two sheets that have been lifted may fall and be disturbed. Various positioning devices and alignment devices have been proposed in order to correct such disturbance of the stack material (see Patent Documents 1 to 3).

  Patent Document 1 discloses a workpiece positioning device that guides one side of a rectangular workpiece and an opposite corner portion in a destack feeder in which a lifter and a vacuum feeder are combined. In order to correspond to the size of the workpiece, this can be locked by moving the guide member back and forth and left and right. Further, the positioning member for guiding the corner portion can be turned around the horizontal axis so that workpieces having the same width but different lengths can be stacked and used. This can be aligned by dropping the sheet material into the guide when the second of the two sheet materials dropped.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a blank feeder that performs centering by pressing a side surface of a stack of sheet materials raised by a lifter with a hydraulic cylinder. Patent Document 3 discloses a plate material separation table device that guides two adjacent sides of a rectangular sheet material stacked on a table and pushes the other two sides with two vertical and horizontal power cylinders for positioning. . However, it does not have the function of aligning disordered sheet materials.

  On the other hand, in the case of a pile device or stacking device in which sheet materials such as blank materials are stacked one by one on the pallet, it is desirable that the sheet materials are stacked and stacked, but they are stacked at a lower rate. Deviate from the stack. In order to eliminate such a shift, it is conceivable to provide an alignment device using a cylinder such as in Patent Documents 2 and 3. Further, when an alignment device such as Patent Document 2 is used for sheet materials having significantly different sizes, it is conceivable to provide a position adjusting mechanism as in Patent Document 1. In such a case, the sheet material can be aligned when the sheet material is a quadrilateral shape, but a sheet material having an inclined end surface of the sheet material, for example, a trapezoidal sheet material cannot be aligned.

  Therefore, an apparatus shown in FIG. 11 is conceivable as an arrangement capable of aligning a trapezoidal sheet material having an angle on the side. This is a combination of a screw shaft 101 rotated by a motor and a base 102 having an internal thread that moves in the axial direction (horizontal direction) according to the rotation of the screw shaft 101, and an alignment plate 103 attached to the base 102. It is attached so as to be able to turn through a turning shaft 104. In this aligning device, the base 102 is moved to the vicinity of the sheet material 105 by rotating the screw shaft 101, the alignment plate 103 is set at a predetermined angle, and then pressed against the side edge of the sheet material 105. The sheet material 105 can be aligned.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, two screw shafts 101 and 101 are arranged side by side, and base members 102 and 102 are attached to these screw shafts, respectively, and are arranged to abut against the edge of the sheet material 105. It is also conceivable to provide 106 and 106.

  In the aligning apparatus shown in FIG. 11, the force required to hold the aligning plate 103 in the rotational direction increases due to dropping of the sheet material 105, impact at the time of clamping, etc., and there is a concern about insufficient rigidity. Further, in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, in order to adapt to materials having various angles, it is necessary to take measures such as making the shape of the alignment plate cylindrical. That is, the alignment members 106 and 106 need to be cylindrical or columnar in order to make point contact on the plan view when the contact portion is projected from directly above, and are provided on the base 102, respectively. However, in this apparatus, the sheet material 105 may be deformed or dented due to the dropping of the sheet material 105 or an impact at the time of clamping. In addition, the apparatus becomes complicated when a mechanism for moving the two stations in the front-rear direction is added in order to cope with various sheet materials 105.

  The present invention has been provided in view of the above-described problems, and can facilitate alignment even with a sheet material having an angle, and can ensure rigidity against an impact when dropping or clamping (pushing) the sheet material. The present invention provides a material alignment method and a material alignment apparatus that can reduce damage to a sheet material.

  The sheet material alignment method of the present invention is a sheet material alignment method in which at least the upper end sheet material is pressed in a horizontal direction among a plurality of stacked sheet materials and aligned at a predetermined position. A traveling frame is arranged in the vicinity of the side edge, a gap is formed between the side edge of the sheet material via a pressing mechanism in the traveling frame, and an alignment plate is disposed substantially parallel to the side edge, and one sheet material is provided. Alternatively, each time several sheets are stacked, the pressing mechanism is operated to move the alignment plate forward and backward, thereby pressing and aligning the one to several sheets.

  In such an alignment method, it is preferable that the traveling frame and the alignment plate are prepared as a pair on the left and right sides, and the left and right alignment is performed substantially simultaneously with the left and right side edges of the sheet material.

  The sheet material aligning device of the present invention is a sheet material aligning device that presses at least the upper end sheet material in a horizontal direction and aligns it at a predetermined position among a plurality of stacked sheet materials, and is arranged before and after the sheet material. A pair of travel guides provided in parallel with each other, front and rear travel blocks provided so as to be able to travel along these travel guides and independently driven by separate drive mechanisms, and either one of the front and rear A traveling frame provided so as to be able to turn around a vertical axis with respect to one traveling block, and to be able to turn around the vertical axis with respect to the other traveling block and to be slidable in the longitudinal direction; An alignment plate provided on the traveling frame via a pressing mechanism is provided.

  In such a sheet material alignment apparatus, it is preferable that the pressing mechanism is provided so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction with respect to the traveling frame. Further, it is preferable that the traveling block, the traveling frame, and the alignment plate are provided as a pair so as to face each other.

  Further, a pair of second traveling guides arranged in a direction perpendicular to the traveling guide and parallel to each other, and a pair of front and rear that are driven and traveled at both ends by these second traveling guides. It is preferable to include second traveling frames and front and rear second alignment plates that are provided to the second traveling frames via a second pressing mechanism. The drive mechanism preferably includes a screw shaft that extends along the travel guide and is driven to rotate about its own axis, and a female screw member that is provided on the travel block and is screwed with the screw shaft.

  In the sheet material alignment method of the present invention, a traveling frame is arranged in the vicinity of the sheet material, a clearance is formed between the traveling frame and a side edge of the sheet material via a pressing mechanism, and the traveling frame is aligned substantially parallel to the side edge. Since the plates are arranged, one sheet material that falls is received on the upper surface of the stack of sheet materials with almost no obstruction by the alignment plate. Since the pressing mechanism is actuated each time one or several sheets are received, the side edges of the disturbed sheet material can be aligned with the side surfaces of the stack. Further, since the alignment plate and the side edge of the sheet material are substantially parallel, not only the rectangular sheet material but also the sheet material having the inclined side edge can be pressed against the entire edge of the sheet material by the alignment plate. Therefore, the sheet material can be aligned so as not to cause dents or deformation.

  In such an alignment method, when the traveling frame and the alignment plate are prepared as a pair on the left and right sides and the left and right side alignment of the sheet material is performed substantially simultaneously, the left and right sides of the sheet material are used. Since the edges are aligned substantially simultaneously, even a sheet material that is disturbed to the left and right can be efficiently aligned at the center position.

  In the sheet material aligning apparatus of the present invention, one end of the traveling frame is provided so as to be pivotable about the vertical axis with respect to either the front or rear traveling block, and the other end is pivotable about the vertical axis with respect to the other traveling block. In addition, since it is slidable in the longitudinal direction, the front and rear traveling blocks can be independently driven, thereby arranging the traveling frame according to the size of the sheet material and the angle of the side edge. can do. And since the alignment plate can be moved back and forth from that position and the entire edge of the sheet material can be pressed by the alignment plate, it is possible to align the sheet material without causing dents or deformation.

  In such a sheet material aligning apparatus, in the case where the pressing mechanism is provided so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction with respect to the traveling frame, the position of the alignment plate can be set to the front and rear of the sheet material even when the angle of the traveling frame is large. It can be accurately placed in the center.

  Further, a pair of second traveling guides arranged in a direction perpendicular to the traveling guide and parallel to each other, and a pair of front and rear that are driven and traveled at both ends by these second traveling guides. The second traveling frame and the front and rear second alignment plates provided to the second traveling frame via the second pressing mechanism simultaneously perform the front-rear alignment in addition to the left-right alignment. be able to.

  When the drive mechanism is constituted by a screw shaft that extends along the travel guide and is driven to rotate about its own axis, and a female screw member that is provided on the travel block and is screwed with the screw shaft, The moving range can be lengthened and the range of position adjustment of the alignment plate can be widened. In addition, the inclination angle of the traveling frame can be adjusted in a wide range. Furthermore, the self-locking function of the screw shaft works, so that the rigidity of the alignment plate can be ensured.

  Next, embodiments of the material alignment method and material alignment apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a sheet material aligning apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as an aligning apparatus) according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an upper structure of the aligning apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the main part of the alignment apparatus in FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 1, FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the main part of the alignment apparatus in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 9 and 10 are explanatory views showing the operation state of the alignment apparatus in FIG.

  An alignment apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is incorporated in a piling apparatus that stacks sheet materials (blank materials) that have been removed by a press machine one by one, and is roughly divided to align left and right sheet materials. 10A (refer to FIG. 2) and a front / rear alignment mechanism 10B (refer to FIG. 3) that aligns front and rear. The front-rear alignment mechanism 10B is disposed below the left-right alignment mechanism 10A. The alignment device 10 includes four front and rear left and right suspension posts 11 suspended from the frame of the entire piling apparatus, an intermediate support 12 disposed between the left and right suspension posts, and three front and rear support posts 11. 12 includes a pair of front and rear left and right beams 13 that connect the inner upper portions of the frame 12 and a pair of left and right front and rear beams 14 that connect the lower ends of the left suspension column 11 and the lower ends of the right suspension column 11. . The struts 11 and 12 and the beams 13 and 14 are each composed of a square pipe or the like.

  Next, the left and right alignment mechanism 10A will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the vicinity of both ends of a traveling frame 21 that travels in the left-right direction is suspended between the front and rear left and right beams 13. The traveling frame 21 includes two pairs of a left traveling frame that positions and aligns the left edge of the sheet material, and a right traveling frame that positions and aligns the right edge. A front traveling block 22 is movably held on the lower surface of the front left and right beams 13. The travel block 22 is travel-driven by a screw shaft 23 that is disposed along the front left and right beams 13 and is rotatably supported. The rear traveling block 24 is also supported by the rear left and right beams 13 so as to be able to travel, and is driven to travel by the screw shaft 23. A nut member 23 a that is screwed with the screw shaft 23 is fixed to each of the travel blocks 22 and 24.

  Motors M1 and M2 for rotating and driving the front and rear screw shafts 23 are disposed in the vicinity of the ends of the front and rear left and right beams 13, and the output shafts of the motors M1 and M2 are provided on the screw shaft 23, respectively. It is connected with the end. Normally, a reduction gear is connected to the output side of the motors M1 and M2, and the end of the screw shaft 23 is connected to the output shaft of the reduction gear. The screw shaft 23 is divided into a right side and a left side, and is rotatably supported by support plates 25 that protrude from the ends and intermediate portions of the left and right beams 13, respectively. The support plate on the end side can be omitted. In addition, when using only for a left-right symmetric sheet | seat material, the screw shaft 23 is not divided | segmented into right and left, and a right-handed screw and a left-handed screw can also be provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a slide groove 26 having a substantially T-shaped cross section is fixed to the front traveling block 22 with the opening portion facing downward, and the slide member is arranged in the slide groove 26 in the front-rear direction. Is slidably received in the housing. The slide member is connected to the end of the traveling frame 21 via a rotary joint 27 so as to be rotatable about a vertical line. On the other hand, the rear traveling block 24 simply supports the rear portion of the traveling frame 21 via the rotary joint 27 so as to be rotatable about a vertical line (see FIG. 4). As a result, the traveling frame 21 can travel in the left-right direction, and can be rotated and tilted in a horizontal plane by varying the amount of movement of the front and rear traveling blocks 22, 24.

  In this embodiment, as shown in detail in FIG. 5, a guide rail 28 is fixed to the lower surface of the left and right beams 13 in parallel with the screw shaft 23, and linear balls fixed to the travel blocks 22 and 24 on the guide rail 28. The bearing 29 is movably engaged. The weight of the traveling frame 21 is suspended and supported by the engagement of the linear ball bearing 29 and the guide rail 28. As the guide rail 28 and the linear ball bearing 29, known ones such as an LM guide sold by THK Corporation are used.

  Furthermore, in this alignment apparatus 10, motors M1 and M2 for driving the front and rear screw shafts 23 are individually controlled. As described above, the traveling frame 21 is suspended by the rear traveling block 24 that allows rotation around the vertical line, and the front traveling block 22 that allows sliding in the longitudinal direction of the traveling frame 21 and rotation around the vertical line. Since the front and rear motors M1 and M2 are simultaneously driven in the same direction, the traveling frame 21 can be moved in parallel, and the front and rear traveling can be performed by changing the amount of rotation of the front and rear motors M1 and M2. The movement amounts of the blocks 22 and 24 can be made different so that the traveling frame 21 can be inclined (see FIGS. 9 and 10). The same applies to the right traveling frame 21.

  If the traveling frame 21 is lightweight, the weight of the traveling frame 21 can be supported only by the screw shaft 23 without providing the guide rail 28 and the linear ball bearing 29. However, an appropriate guide structure such as a guide rail 28 is usually provided so that a bending load is not applied between the screw shafts 23.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the travel frame 21 traveling left and right is provided with a pressing mechanism 30 so as to travel in the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 6, the pressing mechanism 30 includes guide rails 31 provided on the left and right side surfaces of the traveling frame 21 (front and rear surfaces in the direction in which the traveling frame moves), and the guide rails 31. The travel bracket 33 is provided with a linear ball bearing 32 that moves, a screw shaft 35 that is screwed with a nut member 34 attached to the travel bracket 33, and a motor M3 that rotationally drives the screw shaft 35.

  In the left traveling frame 21, the screw shaft 35 is provided on the left side (inside the frame) of the traveling frame 21. An alignment plate 36 is installed on the inner surface side of the travel bracket 33 via an air cylinder 37 and a guide rod 38. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the left and right alignment plates 36 are provided below the traveling frame 21, and are aligned with the front and rear alignment plates (reference numeral 46 in FIG. 4) (see FIG. 1). . The air cylinder 37 can be aligned by advancing / retracting the alignment plate 36 and impactively pressing the side edges of the sheet material. The guide rod 38 functions to prevent the alignment plate 36 from rotating. The alignment plate 36 may be provided at the tip of the air cylinder 37 so as to be swingable, and a separate air cylinder for swinging driving may be provided.

  As described above, when the travel distances of the travel blocks 22 and 24 before and after the travel frame 21 are different, the travel frame 21 rotates around the rear side having only the rotation function. The center moves from the center of the sheet material to the rear side. In that case, by driving the pressing mechanism 30 to the front side, it is possible to match the center of the sheet material in the front-rear direction. Moreover, although it may be preferable to pressurize the front side or the back side depending on the shape of the sheet material, the pressing mechanism 30 can be moved back and forth to be arranged at an appropriate position.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the alignment plate 36 has a flat plate shape and is bent backward on both sides. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper part of the alignment plate 36 is inclined so that the upper side is retracted so that the sheet material can be easily received. That is, the alignment plate 36 also functions as a guide for receiving the falling sheet material.

  Next, the front-rear alignment mechanism 10B will be described with reference to FIG. 3, FIG. 5, FIG. 7, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, a guide rail 40 is fixed to the inner surface side of the pair of left and right front and rear beams 14, and a traveling frame 41 that travels forward and backward is installed between the left and right guide rails 40. The traveling frame 41 traveling forward and backward is composed of a pair of a traveling frame on the front side that positions and aligns the front side of the sheet material and a traveling frame on the rear side that positions and aligns the rear side. Further, a front and rear drive screw shaft 42 is rotatably provided in parallel with the guide rails 40. As shown in FIG. 8, a linear ball bearing 43 guided by a guide rail 40 is provided outside the traveling frame 41, and a nut member 44 that is screwed with the screw shaft 42 is provided outside thereof. (See FIGS. 7 and 8).

  Motors M4 are respectively provided outside the front end portions of the left and right front and rear beams, and are connected to the end portions of the screw shaft 42 provided inside by sprockets 45 and 45 and a chain 45a, respectively. The left and right motors M4 are driven synchronously, and thereby the traveling frame 41 moves forward and backward by the rotation of the left and right motors M4.

  As shown in FIG. 8, a pressing mechanism 47 that supports the alignment plate 46 and presses it back and forth is provided at the center of the front traveling frame 41 in the left-right direction. In addition, in FIG. 8, the traveling frame 41 is shown in a state of being close to the center side of the apparatus. The pressing mechanism 47 includes an air cylinder 48 provided on the back side of the traveling frame 41 and a connecting bar 49 fixed to the cylinder rod of the air cylinder 48 (see FIG. 5). The alignment plate 46 is detachably attached to the connecting bar 49. Fixed to the rear side of the left and right ends of the connecting bar 49 are fixed ends of a pair of left and right guide pipes (guide rods) 51 that are slidably guided by guide bushes 50 provided on the travel frame 41. The guide bush 50 and the guide pipe 51 may be only one. The rear traveling frame 41 is the same as the front traveling frame 41.

  Next, the operating state of the alignment device 10 and the method for aligning sheet materials will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, a blank material having a predetermined contour obtained by blanking processing by a press machine, and a sheet material 53 such as a shirring or a thin steel plate is provided above the piling device including the alignment device 10. A magnetic conveyor 54 for conveying is disposed. The magnet conveyor 54 adsorbs the sheet material 53 to the lower surface of a plurality of magnet belts and conveys the sheet material 53 to a substantially central portion of the aligning device 10, and peels the sheet material 53 from the magnet belt at that position. Turn off the electricity of the part and let it fall.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the sheet material 53 drops onto a pallet 56 placed on the upper surface of a lifter 55 that can be raised and lowered, and a plurality of sheet materials 53 are stacked on the pallet. At that time, it is dropped while being guided by the upper inclined surfaces of the alignment plate 36 in the left-right direction and the alignment plate 46 in the front-rear direction, and is aligned to some extent. However, when the front and rear and left and right widths of the alignment plates are approximately the same as the sheet material 53, the sheet material 53 may ride on the upper end of the alignment plate even if the upper end of the alignment plate is inclined in the backward direction. . Therefore, the left and right intervals and the front and back intervals between the alignment plates are set slightly larger than the width of the sheet material 53. Therefore, the dropped sheet material 53 is somewhat displaced. Thereafter, the alignment plates 36 and 46 are pressed toward the center, and the shifted sheet material 53 is accurately aligned at a predetermined position.

  Next, a control operation when aligning a plurality of stacked sheet materials 53 using the alignment apparatus 10 described above will be described. The size and shape of the sheet material 53 conveyed to the aligning device 10 are known in advance. In the microcomputer provided in the aligning device 10 or the host computer connected via the communication line, the left and right traveling frames The movement and inclination of 21 and the movement amount of the front and rear traveling frames 41 are determined, and the rotation amounts of the motors M1, M2, and M3 are controlled based on the determination.

  FIG. 9 shows a case where the sheet material 53 is a quadrangle. In such a case, the motor M3 is controlled so that the alignment plate 46 in the front-rear direction is positioned at a distance from the front and rear end faces of the sheet material 53. To do. Further, the front and rear motors M1 and M2 are synchronously controlled so that the left and right alignment plates 36 are positioned at a distance from the left and right end surfaces of the sheet material 53, and the left and right traveling frames 21 are moved in parallel. Let At this time, there is a gap between each end surface of the sheet material 53 and the front, rear, left and right alignment plates 36 and 46. Thereby, the sheet material 53 falls on the pallet or the already loaded sheet material without being caught on the upper end of the alignment plate.

  Each time two to three sheets 53 are dropped and stacked, the air cylinders 37 and 48 of the pressing mechanisms 30 and 47 are driven back and forth to push the four alignment plates 36 and 46 to the center side. The sheet material 53 is accurately aligned in the front-rear and left-right directions. The push operation is usually performed a plurality of times. The pushing by the alignment plates 36 and 46 can be performed each time one sheet material 53 is dropped, but usually, about 2 to 3 sheets may be pushed each time they are stacked. This is because it is difficult to align one sheet at a time, and it is difficult to align a large number of sheets at once because of the weight. In addition, the push of the alignment plate 46 in the front-rear direction and the push of the alignment plate 36 in the left-right direction are usually performed at the same time, but it is possible to push one first and then push the other, or alternately several times.

  The push operation of the alignment plate 46 in the front-rear direction and the alignment plate 36 in the left-right direction may be determined in advance by a computer, or the position of the sheet material 53 is monitored by a photoelectric sensor or the like. The push operation may be stopped when the positioning (alignment) of 53 is completed.

  As the sheet material 53 is stacked, the lifter 55 is lowered, and when a predetermined number of sheet materials 53 are stacked, the stack of the sheet material 53 is moved to the packing process or the next press machine. To the sheet material supply apparatus.

  FIG. 10 shows a case where the sheet material 53 has a trapezoidal shape. In this case, since the left and right sides of the sheet material 53 are inclined, the rotation amounts of the motors M1 and M2 before and after the traveling frame 21 are controlled so as to correspond to the inclination angle. The traveling frame 21 has the same inclination angle. The rotation amounts of the motors M1 and M2 are detected by a sensor such as an encoder that detects the rotation amount of the screw shaft 23, for example, and are controlled to meet the target value. The target value data is stored in advance in the storage device in accordance with the shape of the conveyed sheet material 53, and the target value is changed by inputting the type of the sheet material when switching the press work. Can do.

  Further, in the case of a sheet material having a protruding portion in the middle of the left and right side edges, the position of the pressing mechanism on the traveling frame is shifted forward or backward so as to push away from the protruding portion. When the sheet material is a parallelogram, the left and right traveling frames 21 are inclined according to the side edges of the sheet material, arranged parallel to each other, and pushed. In the case of a sheet material with a special shape, such as a sheet material with curved front and rear or left and right side edges, an alignment plate suitable for that shape should be prepared in advance and replaced when the press work is switched. .

  When the sheet material is pushed by the pressing mechanisms 30 and 47, the reaction force of the push is received by the screw shafts 23 and 42 of the aligning device 10. However, the self-locking function by screwing of the screw shaft works to secure the rigidity in the left-right direction and the front-rear direction.

  Further, in the aligning device 10, the surface of the left and right alignment plates 36 that strikes the sheet material is formed into a flat surface. Therefore, the flat surface of the alignment plate is adjusted to the sheet material 53 by adjusting the angle of the left and right traveling frames 21. It can be made to oppose the end surface or side surface. Thereby, the contact surface of the alignment plate 36 against the sheet material 53 is increased, and damage to the sheet material 53 can be reduced. In particular, it is possible to improve the ability to cope with a thin plate in which deformation or dent of the sheet material 53 is a concern.

  In the above-described embodiment, the alignment apparatus incorporated in the piling apparatus has been described. However, the sheet material alignment apparatus of the present invention can also be incorporated in a sheet material supply apparatus that takes out sheet materials one by one from the upper end and supplies them to a press machine or the like. . In that case, the stack of sheet materials stacked without being aligned in the previous step can be positioned at an appropriate position, and the sheet material can be supplied while being aligned. In the above embodiment, only the traveling frame for positioning in the left-right direction is inclined and the traveling frame for positioning in the front and rear simply moves in parallel, but the traveling frame for positioning in the front and rear is also tilted. Also good.

  In the above embodiment, only the front end portions of the left and right traveling frames 21 are supported so as to be rotatable and movable in the longitudinal direction of the traveling frame, but both the front and rear end portions are rotated. It may be supported so as to be movable and movable in the longitudinal direction. In addition, a slide groove 26 is provided in the travel block 22, a slide member is slidably provided in the slide groove 26, and the slide member is connected to the end of the travel frame 21 by a rotary joint 27. A guide member having a slide groove may be rotatably connected to the block, and the end of the traveling frame 21 may be slidably supported by the slide groove of the guide member.

It is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a sheet material alignment device of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the upper part structure (left-right alignment mechanism) of the alignment apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the lower part structure (front-rear alignment mechanism) of the alignment apparatus of FIG. It is the IV-IV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. It is a principal part bottom view of the alignment apparatus of FIG. It is the VII-VII sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a principal part bottom view of the alignment apparatus of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the action state of the alignment apparatus of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the action state of the alignment apparatus of FIG. It is a principal part top view which shows the problem of the reference example of an alignment apparatus. It is a principal part top view which shows the problem of the other reference example of the alignment apparatus. It is a principal part front view of the alignment apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Alignment apparatus 11 Suspension support | pillar 12 Intermediate support | pillar 13 Left and right beam 14 Front and rear beam 21 Traveling frame 22 Traveling block (front side)
23 Screw shaft 24 Traveling block (rear side)
25 Support plate M1 Motor (front side)
M2 motor (rear side)
26 Slide groove 27 Rotating joint 28 Guide rail 29 Linear ball bearing 30 Press mechanism 31 Guide rail 32 Linear ball bearing 33 Traveling bracket 34 Nut member 35 Screw shaft M3 Motor 36 Alignment plate (left-right direction)
37 Air cylinder 38 Guide rod 40 Guide rail (front / rear drive)
41 Traveling frame 42 Screw shaft 43 Linear ball bearing 44 Nut member M4 Motor (front-rear drive)
45 Sprocket 45a Chain 46 Alignment plate (front / rear direction)
47 Pressing mechanism 48 Air cylinder 49 Connecting bar 50 Guide bush 51 Guide pipe 53 Sheet material 54 Magnet conveyor 55 Lifter 56 Pallet

Claims (7)

Among the plurality of stacked sheet materials, at least the upper end sheet material is pressed in the horizontal direction to align the sheet material in a predetermined position,
A traveling frame is arranged near the side edge of the sheet material,
A gap is formed between the side edge of the sheet material via the pressing mechanism in the traveling frame, and the alignment plate is arranged substantially parallel to the side edge,
Each time one to several sheets of material are finished and stacked, the pressing mechanism is operated to move the alignment plate forward and backward, thereby pressing and aligning the one to several sheets of material,
Sheet material alignment method. Prepare a pair of left and right travel frame, pressing mechanism and alignment plate,
2. The sheet material alignment method according to claim 1, wherein the left and right pressing mechanisms are operated substantially simultaneously with respect to the left and right side edges of the sheet material. A sheet material aligning device that presses at least the upper end sheet material in a horizontal direction and aligns it in a predetermined position among a plurality of stacked sheet materials,
A pair of travel guides provided parallel to each other before and after the sheet material;
Front and rear traveling blocks that are provided so as to be able to travel along those traveling guides and that are independently driven by separate drive mechanisms;
One end is provided so as to be able to turn around the vertical axis with respect to one of the front and rear traveling blocks, and the other end is provided so as to be able to turn around the vertical axis with respect to the other running block and slidable in the longitudinal direction. Traveling frame,
A sheet material alignment apparatus comprising: an alignment plate provided to the traveling frame via a pressing mechanism.   The sheet material alignment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pressing mechanism is provided so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction with respect to the traveling frame.   The sheet material alignment apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the traveling block, the traveling frame, and the alignment plate are provided as a pair so as to face each other. A pair of second travel guides arranged in a direction perpendicular to the travel guides and parallel to each other;
A pair of front and rear second travel frames that are supported by the second travel guides at both ends so as to travel freely, and are driven to travel.
The sheet material alignment apparatus according to claim 3, 4 or 5, further comprising front and rear second alignment plates provided to the second traveling frames via a second pressing mechanism.   The sheet material according to claim 3, wherein the drive mechanism includes a screw shaft that extends along the travel guide and is driven to rotate about its own axis, and a female screw member that is provided on the travel block and is screwed with the screw shaft. Alignment device.

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