JPH07187366A - Article sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sort small lot and large quantity goods at high speed in a reduced space by a small number of operators by utilizing three-dimensional setting characteristics of a sorter. CONSTITUTION:Plural sorting chutes 3 are arranged adjacently to each other on the straight line part side of a loop-shaped traveling passage 1. Carrying carriages are made to travel on this traveling passage by linear motors, and the mutually adjacent traveling carriages are made to travel by movably connecting them in large numbers to each other. A cargo receiving place for a sorted article is arranged on the inner peripheral side of the loop-shaped traveling passage 1, and the traveling passage 1 is arranged in a condition where a height difference is given to the traveling passage so that a sorting chute part and a goods carrying-in passage position having the plural sorting chutes 31 to sort goods are put in a high position and an input chute position to input the goods is put in a low position. A corrugated board box carrying conveyor 9 to carry an empty corrugated board box or the other packing box body is arranged in an upper part along the sorting chute part of the traveling passage, and a sorting goods receiving stand 8 and a delivery conveyor 7 are arranged in a lower part, respectively in parallel to each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article sorting apparatus which effectively uses a space to sort articles efficiently in a narrow space.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a sorting apparatus for sorting parcels, letters, and other articles such as destinations, an endless transportation line is provided, and an article supply line and a sorting line are installed at arbitrary points on the transportation line. On the line, a number of carriages are connected to a chain conveyor, and the carriages are run. However, the chain conveyor drive system is noisy and has a complicated structure. For this reason, a reaction plate that constitutes the secondary side of the linear motor is attached to the transport carriage that is connected in a loop on the endless continuous transport line, and the primary side of the linear motor that is separately arranged in the straight part of the transport path is continuous. A linear motor system has been proposed in which thrust is sequentially applied to a bogie by energizing it. This linear motor drive type article sorting apparatus is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-45488.
The feature of this system is that it can be configured three-dimensionally compared with the endless traveling article sorter driven by the chain drive, which can only be arranged in a plane, and has two layers of upper and lower layers for the purpose of saving space. It is possible to have a curved section with slopes at both ends, and to arrange the sorting chute on the both sides of the upper part of the article insertion port (induction) in the middle straight part.

[0003]

However, in this method, the articles falling on the sorting chute are provided with boxes or baskets at the lower end of each chute, and when they reach a predetermined amount, they are replaced with empty boxes.
The filled boxes are transferred to their respective delivery points. Here, replacement and delivery of boxes are generally done by an operator, and it requires a considerable amount of manpower including preparing an appropriate number of empty boxes or the like for replacement near the lower end of the chute. In addition, as for bringing in articles for sorting, only a small area near the induction can be placed, so there are many problems such as being able to carry in only small amounts.

The present invention takes advantage of the three-dimensional setting characteristics of the sorting apparatus, saves space, and allows a small number of personnel to handle various types of equipment.
The purpose is to sort a large number of products at high speed.

[0005]

The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and a plurality of sorting chutes are arranged adjacent to each other on the side of a straight line portion of a loop-shaped traveling path, and on this traveling path,
In an article sorting device in which a transporting vehicle can be driven by a linear motor, and a large number of adjacent traveling vehicles are movably connected to each other so that the vehicles can travel, a sorting article is The sorting chute with multiple sorting chutes for arranging the receiving place and sorting the traveling roads and the product loading passage position are high, and the loading chute position for loading products is low. Along the sorting chute part of the traveling path, a corrugated cardboard box conveyer for transporting an empty cardboard box or other packaging box body is installed on the upper part, and a lower part is installed on the lower part of the traveling path. The gist is that the sorting product receiving stand and the shipping conveyor are arranged in parallel.

[0006]

The present invention makes use of the three-dimensional setting characteristic of the sorting device to appropriately raise and lower the conveying path and circulates within a certain range, and further raises the conveying path near the sorting chute. At the position, an empty box conveyor is installed at the upper part of the transfer path near the sorting chute, and a shipping conveyor is installed at the lower part of the transfer path near the sorting chute. As a result, it is possible to save space and to replenish the sorting article storage box and ship the full box by one worker who is near the sorting chute.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A sorting apparatus for articles according to the present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a loop-shaped running path, and this running path 1 is arranged so as to make effective use of the sorting work chamber. As an example, FIG. 2 shows the inside of the looping range of the loop-shaped running path 1 for sorting articles. The loading place 2 is provided at the receiving place 6 and at an arbitrary position of the loop-shaped running path 1. In this embodiment, the loading unit 2 is one.
The input unit 2 has 3 to 4 input devices. It should be noted that the installation locations and the number of the loading sections 2 and the shape of the traveling path are not limited to this. .

Therefore, by arranging the receiving place 6 of the sorted articles inside the looping range of the loop-shaped running path 1, the receiving place 6
Is safe and can secure a sufficient space, so the storage capacity is large and the work efficiency is good. The loop-shaped running path 1 is provided with a height difference so that the sorting articles can be easily carried in to the receiving place inside the loop-shaped running path 1, that is, the sorting chute section 3 and the product carrying-in path 4. Runs at a high position, and the loading unit 2 is lowered to a low position so that the products can be easily loaded into the sorting machine, thereby facilitating the product transfer operation.

As shown in the figure, the input section 2 of the loop-shaped traveling path 1 is provided with 3 to 4 input devices, that is, input chutes 5.
A product is supplied from each input chute 5 to a traveling carriage on a traveling path, and a supply conveyor is sequentially connected to each input chute 5 for sequentially supplying the sorted articles carried into the receiving place 6.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sorting chute section 3 is provided with a large number of sorting chutes 31, 31 at predetermined intervals with a predetermined inclination angle, and runs along the loop-shaped running path 1. The goods transferred from the loading conveyor to the traveling carriage that circulates and is circulated are sorted by the destination or the like and delivered to the sorting chute 31 at a predetermined position for sorting, and a large number of sorting chutes 31, 31 are provided. Along the sorting chute section 3, a corrugated box transport conveyor 9 for transporting an empty corrugated box or other packaging boxes is arranged in the upper part, and a sorting commodity receiving stand 8 and a shipping conveyor 7 are arranged in parallel in the lower part. Set up.

The corrugated cardboard box conveyer 9 is located at a position that does not hinder the products transferred along the traveling path 1 and the sorting chute 31 and is parallel to the traveling path, for example, at the same height as the traveling path as shown in the figure. Are arranged in parallel, and an empty cardboard box or other packaging box body is supplied from one end of the cardboard box transport conveyor 9. Then, the worker picks up an empty cardboard box from the corrugated cardboard box conveyor 9 near the sorting chute and places it on the sorting product cradle 8 at the lower end of the sorting chute, and the products are sorted according to a predetermined direction or product use. Is automatically stored by sliding down in the sorting chute.

The corrugated board box conveyors 9 arranged along the traveling path 1 are arranged either inside or outside the traveling path 1, or both inside and outside as shown in the figure. It is something.

The shipping conveyor 7 arranged in parallel with the sorting product cradle 8 is arranged such that one end thereof is at the shipping position, and at least at a portion along the sorting chute section 3 is at substantially the same height as the sorting product cradle 8. As a result, assortment product cradle 8
When a certain amount of products is reached in the upper cardboard box, the clerk pushes the products from the sorting product receiving tray 8 onto the shipping conveyor 7 for shipping.

The shipping conveyor 7 comprises a roller conveyor and is installed in the space below the sorting chute of the sorting machine.
The article storage box, that is, the corrugated cardboard box, which has been pushed in and transferred from the sorted product receiving tray 8, is conveyed to the shipping port. After the shipped box, an empty box that is being conveyed by the corrugated board box conveyor 9 installed on the upper side and is on standby is placed on the chute end.

The cardboard box conveyor is also a roller conveyor, and empty boxes are sequentially fed to store the boxes in the entire length of the conveyor. When the tip of the box reaches the pressure sensor at the tip of the conveyor and a certain pressure or more is reached, the operation of the conveyor is stopped. When the empty box is pulled out at some chute part and the pressure in the box row decreases, the conveyor starts and closes the gap, the pressure increases and it stops, thus the empty cardboard box is always on the conveyor. It is arranged and supplied.

[0016]

The article sorting apparatus of the present invention has a sorting chute provided with a plurality of sorting chutes for arranging goods receiving areas for sorting articles on the inner peripheral side of the loop-shaped running path and for sorting the running paths. Section and product loading path are located at a high position, and the loading chute position for loading products is placed at a low position on the travel path, and at the top along the sorting chute section of the travel path. Is a cardboard box conveyor that conveys empty cardboard boxes or other packaging boxes, and at the bottom a sorting commodity receiving stand and a shipping conveyor are arranged in parallel. -It has the advantage of being able to sort a large number of products at high speed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a sorting apparatus for articles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing an outline of the entire article sorting apparatus provided with a loop-shaped running path.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a known example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Traveling path 2 Input section 3 Sorting chute section 31 Sorting chute 4 Commodity loading path 5 Input chute 6 Receipt area 7 Shipping conveyor 8 Sorting product receiving stand 9 Cardboard box conveyor

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location B65G 63/00 Z

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of sorting chutes are arranged adjacent to each other on a side of a straight line portion of a loop-shaped traveling path, on which a transport carriage can be driven by a linear motor, and between adjacent traveling carriages can be moved. In a sorting device for articles that can be connected and run in multiple ways, a plurality of sorting chutes for arranging goods on the inner circumference side of the loop-shaped running path and sorting the running paths The sorting chute part and the product loading path are located at a high position, and the loading chute position for loading the products is arranged at a different height in the running path, and the sorting chute part of the running path is arranged. Along the above, a corrugated box transport conveyor for transporting an empty corrugated box or other packaging box body is arranged on the upper side, and a sorting commodity receiving stand and a shipping conveyor are arranged in parallel on the lower side. Finishing of goods Apparatus.