JPH07285613A - Box feed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically house a box in a prescribed height of a shelf by providing respective devices for controlling respective devices for raising and lowering a nipping device nipping the box carried by a carrying-in conveyor from both sides to a necessary shelf height, advancing and retreating it in the shelf direction, and rotating it from the horizontal state to the vertical state, and a control device for controlling the operation of each device. CONSTITUTION:A nipping device 4 is lowered to the height of a carrying-in conveyor 3 by a raising and lowering device 5, and a box 2 carried in by the carrying-in conveyor 3 is nipped by the nipping device 4. The nipping device 4 is raised by the raising and lowering device 5 to lift up the box 2 to a prescribed height. An advancing and retreating device 6 is operated to push the nipping device 4 on a shelf 1 side, the nipping device 4 is rotated substantially in the vertical state by a rotating device 7, and the box 2 is horizontally laid on the stage of a prescribed height of the shelf 2. The box 1 carried in by the carrying conveyor 3 is automatically lifted and supplied onto the stage of the prescribed height by a series of operations of each device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a box body supply device for automatically supplying a box body such as a bottle case to a shelf.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, various drinking water bottles are housed in a box body such as a corrugated cardboard case having an open upper part, and a large number of such box bodies are housed in each stage of a multi-tiered shelf, which is later picked by a picking device. In an automatic picking device that picks various drinking water bottles from a box at a predetermined position by a required number, a box empty by picking is taken out from a shelf, and a new box containing a drinking water bottle is replaced on the same shelf. Work to replenish the position is required.

Conventionally, the method of replenishing a new box body to such a shelf has been performed by a method in which an operator manually lifts the box body carried in by a conveyor and stores it in a predetermined position on the shelf.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional working method, since it is necessary to lift a heavy box containing a solid bottle to a predetermined height of a shelf, a heavy labor is required for an operator. Was to be imposed.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and a box body supply capable of automatically storing a box body carried in by a carry-in conveyor at a predetermined height position of a shelf. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a box body supply device, which comprises a sandwiching device for sandwiching a box body carried in by a carry-in conveyor from both sides, and an elevating and lowering device for raising and lowering the sandwiching device to a required shelf height. Device, advancing / retreating device for advancing / retreating the holding device in the direction of the shelf from the elevating device, rotating device for rotating the holding device from a horizontal state to a vertical state at an angle of approximately 90 °, and raising / lowering of the holding device by the elevating device, holding device The integrated control device controls the respective operations of holding the box body by the device, moving the holding device forward and backward with respect to the shelf, and rotating the holding device by the rotating device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the box feeding apparatus according to the first aspect, the holding device is supported by the arm with respect to the elevating device, and the arm is swung between a vertical state and a position approaching the shelf. A swing device is provided.

[0008]

In the box feeder according to the first aspect of the present invention, by controlling a series of operations of each device by the integrated control device, the lifting device lowers the holding device to the height of the carry-in conveyor and is carried in by the carry-in conveyor. The box body is clamped by this clamping device, and the lifting device raises the clamping device to lift the box body to a predetermined height. Then, by operating the advancing / retreating device, the holding device is pushed out to the shelf side, and by rotating the holding device to a substantially vertical state by the rotating device, the box body is laid sideways on the step of the predetermined height of the shelf, and in this state The box is placed on the shelf by opening the pinching device with. Thereafter, the advancing / retreating device pulls the holding device back to its original position, and the rotating device returns the holding device to its original substantially horizontal state.

In this way, the box body carried in by the carry-in conveyor by a series of operations of each device is automatically lifted up to the step of a predetermined height on the shelf and supplied.

In the box feeder according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the space between the steps of the shelves is narrow, first, only the holding device that holds the boxes is moved to the shelf side by the swing device.
Further, the box is rotated together with the holding device by the rotating device to a state of almost lying down, and in this state, the holding device is pushed out by the advancing / retracting device to push the box together with the holding device to a step of a predetermined height on the shelf, and thereafter. By opening the holding device, the box body is placed on the shelf at a predetermined height.

In this way, even if the space between the upper and lower shelves of the shelf is narrow, the box body is automatically supplied to each of the shelves.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the invention of claim 1. The shelf 1 is configured in multiple stages, and each stage 1A, 1B, ... Rotates in the direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 1, and has a function of sequentially moving the bottle box body 2 thereon to a picking position (not shown). I have it.

The box body supply device of this embodiment functions to lift and store the bottle box body 2 which is carried in by the carry-in conveyor 3 to a predetermined empty position in a predetermined stage. A sandwiching device 4 for sandwiching the box body 2 carried in by the carry-in conveyor 3 from both sides, an elevating device 5 for elevating and lowering the sandwiching device 4 to a required shelf height, and a direction of the sandwiching device 4 from the elevating device 5 to the shelf 1. The advancing / retreating device 6 for advancing / retreating and the clamping device 4 from the horizontal state to the vertical state are almost 90
A rotating device 7 that rotates between angles of ° is provided as a mechanism.

Further, the circuit shown in FIG. 4 is provided to control the operation of each of these devices 4 to 7, and a shelf inventory management section 8 which is a host computer and a supply provided from this shelf inventory management section 8 are provided. Based on the shelf position, a centralized control unit 9 that centrally controls a series of shelving operations of the respective devices 4 to 7, and based on a command from the centralized control unit 9, the holding device 4 by the lifting device 5
An elevating / lowering control unit 10 for performing elevating / lowering control, a nipping control unit 11 for nipping and opening the box by the nipping device 4, and an advancing / retreating control unit 12 for advancing / retreating the shelf 1 of the nipping device 4 by the advancing / retreating device 6. A rotation control unit 13 that controls the rotation of the holding device 4 by the rotation device 7 is provided.

The mechanism of each of the devices 4 to 7 will be described in detail. As shown in detail in FIGS. 1 to 3, the holding device 4 includes right and left (in the drawings) inside the substantially U-shaped outer frame 14. X
Direction), and the sandwiching air cylinders 16 attached to the outer frame 14 cause the sandwiching plates 15 to move toward and away from each other in the X direction to sandwich and lift the box body 2 therebetween. Has become. Guides 17 are also attached to the outer frame 14, and guide pins 18 projecting from the holding plates 15 are passed through the guide pins 18 so that the holding plates 15 can move smoothly.

The elevating device 5 has a structure in which a vertical rod screw 19 is driven to rotate in both forward and reverse directions by an elevating motor 20 to elevate and lower an elevating body 21 screwed to the rod screw 19. .

The advancing / retreating device 6 has a substantially U-shaped advancing / retreating frame 23 disposed below the horizontal support plate 22 integrated with the elevating / lowering body 21 of the elevating device 5, and is rodless mounted on the supporting plate 22. By connecting the advancing / retreating operation frame 23 to the cylinder 24, the advancing / retreating operation is performed on the shelf 1 side (Y-axis direction). In addition, the lower surface side of the support plate 22 and the forward / backward movement frame 23
A direct-acting bearing 25 is provided between the upper and lower sides to allow the advancing / retreating frame 23 to smoothly move in the Y-axis direction with respect to the support plate 22.

The rotating device 7 is a forward / backward movement frame 2 of the forward / backward device 6.
A link 26 and an extension link 27 are respectively passed between the left and right sides of 3 and the left and right sides of the outer frame 14 of the holding device 4, and are connected by connecting pins 28 and 29. The extension link 27 has a structure in which the upper slide link 30 is inserted into the guide link 31 in a freely extendable manner. Also, the slide link 30 of the extension link 27
Side, the piston rod 32 is connected, the air cylinder 33 is attached to the guide link 31 side, and the slide link 30 is extended with respect to the guide link 31 by pushing and driving the piston rod 32 by the air cylinder 33.
Rotate the holding device 4 from a horizontal state to a substantially vertical state,
In addition, a rotational force for reverse rotation is applied.

Next, the operation of the box feeding apparatus having the above structure will be described. The shelf inventory management unit 8 is a host computer, which keeps track of the inventory status of the shelf 1 and, if it becomes necessary to replenish the box housing the bottles of the deficient product type, designates a vacant address of the shelf and performs overall control. A replenishment command is given to the section 9.

In response to this, the general control section 9 starts a series of operation control based on the flowchart of FIG. 5, and first, the box 2 carried in by the carry-in conveyor 3 is replenished to the vacant address of the designated shelf. Therefore, a series of operation control is started.
For that purpose, the elevating control unit 10 drives the elevating device 4, the elevating motor 20 is rotated, and the elevating body 21 is lowered to just above the carry-in conveyor 3 by the bar screw 19.
As a result, the holding device 4 comes to a position directly above the box body 2 into which the lifting device 21 has been loaded (step S1).

Next, the integrated control unit 9 issues a command for a pinching operation to the pinching control unit 11, and in response to this command, the pinching control unit 1
1, the holding air cylinder 16 is driven to push out the holding plate 15 from the left and right to hold the box body 2 from both left and right sides (step S2).

Next, the overall control unit 9 again moves up and down the control unit 10.
A command for ascending operation up to the height of the empty shelf of the shelf 1 is issued to the elevating / lowering control unit 10 and the elevating / lowering controller 10 rotates the motor 20 of the elevating / lowering device 5 in the ascending direction to elevate the elevating / lowering body 21, The holding device 4 is lifted to a predetermined height while holding the box 2 (step S3).

Next, the overall control unit 9 issues a rotation operation command to the rotation control unit 14, and in response to this, the rotation control unit 14 drives the rotation driving air cylinder 33 of the rotation device 7 to move the piston rod 32. Slide link 3 by extrusion
0 is pulled out from the guide link 31, whereby the outer frame 14 of the holding device 4 is rotated with respect to the advancing / retracting movement frame 23 to a position close to the vertical state, and the holding box body 2 is brought into a substantially sideways state (step S4). .

Next, the general control section 9 issues a command for the forward / backward movement to the forward / backward control section 12, and in response to this, the forward / backward control section 1
2 drives the rodless cylinder 24 of the advancing / retreating device 6,
From the state shown in FIG. 3A to the state shown in FIG. 3B, the advancing / retreating frame 23 is horizontally moved to the shelf 1 side (Y-axis direction),
Thereby, the holding device 4 also holds the box 2 and holds the shelf 1
It is moved to above the empty stage (step S5).

Next, the overall control unit 9 issues a command for the lowering operation to the lifting control unit 10, and in response to this, the lifting control unit 10 causes the lifting device 5 to move down, and the lower surface of the box body 2 is the predetermined rack 1. The holding device 4 is moved down to a position where it is almost in contact with the step (step S6).

Next, the general control unit 9 issues an opening operation command to the pinching control unit 11, and in response to this, the pinching control unit 11 drives the pinching air cylinder 16 of the pinching device 4 in the reverse direction to pinch the left and right sides. The plate 15 is retracted to the left and right from the state in which the box 2 is clamped to release the box 2 from the clamp. As a result, the box body 2 is supplied in a sideways manner to a predetermined position of a predetermined empty stage of the shelf 1 (step S7).

Next, the overall control unit 9 issues a backward movement command to the forward / backward control unit 12, and in response to this, the forward / backward control unit 12 drives the rodless cylinder 24 of the forward / backward device 6 in the reverse direction,
The advancing / retreating frame 23 is retracted from the shelf 1 side to the original position, whereby the outer frame 14 of the holding device 4 is also retracted to a position away from the shelf 1 (step S8).

Next, the integrated control section 9 issues a return operation command to the rotation control section 13, and in response to this, the rotation control section 13 drives the rotating air cylinder 33 of the rotating device 7 in the reverse direction to cause the piston rod 32. Is pulled toward the air cylinder 33 side, whereby the slide link 30 is pulled into the guide link 31 to shorten its entire length, and as a result, the holding device 4 is pulled.
To return to the original almost horizontal state (step S
9).

By the series of operations described above, the work of lifting the box 2 carried in by the carry-in conveyor 3 to a predetermined empty stage of the shelf 1 and supplying it in the sideways state is automatically performed.

Hereinafter, the overall control unit 9 controls the operation of sequentially supplying the required number of boxes 2 containing the various bottles carried in by the carry-in conveyor 3 to the designated empty space of the shelf 1. Repeat.

In this way, in the box body supply device of this embodiment, the box bodies containing the various bottles carried in by the carry-in conveyor are automatically lifted to a predetermined vacant address on the shelf to perform a replenishing operation. You can

Next, one embodiment of the invention of claim 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.
It will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the box body supply device of this embodiment is characterized in that a swing device 35 is additionally provided on the advancing / retreating motion frame 23 of the advancing / retreating device 6. Other components are common to those of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and are shown with the same reference numerals in the drawings.

The swing device 35 is rotated by a predetermined angle by a swing drive motor 36, a worm 37 and a worm wheel 38, and a worm wheel 38 for reducing the rotation of the motor 36 by a large ratio to the rotation of a limited angle. An upper end of a link 26, which is composed of a swing support shaft 39 and belongs to the rotating device 7, is coupled to an end of the swing support shaft 39 by a key 40 so as to rotate together.

The structure of the control circuit is as shown in FIG. 8. In addition to the structure shown in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment,
Swing controller 41 for controlling swing device 35
The integrated control unit 9 is configured to give an operation command to the swing control unit 41.

Next, the operation of the box feeding apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the operation explanatory view of FIG. 7 and the flowchart of FIG. The shelf stock management unit 8 specifies a vacant address of the shelf and gives a replenishment command to the general control unit 9 when it is necessary to replenish the boxes that accommodate the bottles of the insufficient varieties.

In response to this, the overall control unit 9 starts a series of operation control based on the flowchart of FIG. 9, and is carried in by the carry-in conveyor 3 by the same control operation as steps S1 to S3 shown in the flowchart of FIG. The box body 2 is clamped by the clamping device 4 and lifted to a predetermined height.

Next, the overall control unit 9 is controlled by the swing control unit 41.
A swing operation command is issued to the swing control unit 41.
Drives the swing drive motor 36 of the swing device 35. As a result, the worm wheel 38 rotates as the worm 37 rotates, and the swing support shaft 39 also rotates. As a result, the link 26 of the rotating device 7, the ends of which are coupled by the swing support shaft 39 and the key 40, is rotationally driven, and along with this, the entire rotating device 7, that is,
Link 26 and link 27 are both parallel links in FIG.
The vertical state shown in (a) is swung by a predetermined angle as shown in (b) of the figure (step S3 ').

Next, the overall control unit 9 issues a rotation operation command to the rotation control unit 14, and in response to this, the rotation control unit 14 drives the rotation driving air cylinder 33 of the rotating device 7 to move the piston rod 32. Slide link 3 by extrusion
0 is pulled out from the guide link 31.
As shown in (c), the holding device 4 with respect to the forward / backward movement frame 23.
The outer frame 14 of the above is rotated up to near the vertical state (step S
4).

Next, the general control section 9 issues a command for the forward / backward movement to the forward / backward control section 12, and in response to this, the forward / backward control section 1
2 drives the rodless cylinder 24 of the advancing / retreating device 6,
The advancing / retreating frame 23 is horizontally moved to the side of the shelf 1 (Y-axis direction) until the state shown in FIG. 7D, whereby the holding device 4 also holds the box body 2 up to above the empty stage of the shelf 1. To (step S5). In this case, since the holding device 4 and the box body 2 are swung, the holding device 4 and the box body 2 are projected to the side of the shelf 1 more than in the case of the first embodiment, and the upper and lower steps 1A and 1B. Even if the space between them is narrow, the step 1A,
The pinching device 4 and the box body 2 can be inserted between 1B.

Next, the general control section 9 issues a command for the lowering operation to the elevating control section 10, and in response to this, the elevating control section 10 causes the elevating device 5 to descend, and as shown in FIG. The holding device 4 is lowered to a position where the lower surface of the body 2 is almost in contact with a predetermined step (step S6).

Next, the overall control unit 9 issues an opening operation command to the pinching control unit 11, and in response to this, the pinching control unit 11 drives the pinching air cylinder 16 of the pinching device 4 in the opposite direction to pinch the left and right sides. The plate 15 is retracted to the left and right from the state in which the box 2 is clamped to release the box 2 from the clamp. As a result, the box body 2 is supplied in a sideways manner to a predetermined position of a predetermined empty stage of the shelf 1 (step S7).

Next, the integrated control unit 9 issues a backward movement command to the forward / backward movement control unit 12 as in the first embodiment, and in response to this, the forward / backward movement control unit 12 receives the rodless cylinder 2 of the forward / backward movement device 6.
4 is driven in the reverse direction to retract the advancing / retreating operation frame 23 from the shelf 1 side to the original position, whereby the outer frame 1 of the holding device 4 is moved.
4 is also retracted to a position away from the shelf 1 (step S
8).

Next, the integrated control unit 9 issues a return operation command to the rotation control unit 13 in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and in response to this, the rotation control unit 13 causes the rotation air cylinder 3 of the rotation device 7 to rotate.
3 is driven in the opposite direction so that the piston rod 32 is pulled in toward the air cylinder 33 side, whereby the slide link 3
0 is pulled into the guide link 31 to shorten its entire length, and as a result, the entire holding device 4 is returned to its original substantially horizontal state (step S9).

Subsequently, the overall control unit 9 issues a return operation command to the swing control unit 41, and in response to this, the swing control unit 41 reversely rotates the swing drive motor 36 to reversely rotate the swing support shaft 39. The link 26 and the link 27, which are connected to this by the key 40, are also returned to the original state shown in FIG. 7A to the vertical state (step S9 ').

By the series of operations described above, the work for carrying the box 2 carried in by the carry-in conveyor 3 to the shelf 1 with a predetermined empty stage and supplying it in the sideways state is automatically performed.

Hereinafter, the integrated control unit 9 controls the operation of sequentially supplying the required number of boxes 2 containing the various bottles carried in by the carry-in conveyor 3 to the designated empty space of the shelf 1. Repeat.

In this way, in the box body feeding apparatus of the second embodiment, the swinging apparatus feeds the holding apparatus to the shelf side to the near horizontal position and inserts it up to a predetermined step on the shelf. Even when the vertical intervals between the respective stages of the shelves are narrow, it is possible to automatically lift the box containing the various bottles carried in by the carry-in conveyor to the vacant address of the predetermined stage of the shelves and perform the replenishing operation.

It should be noted that other linear motion mechanisms can be used in place of the air cylinders in both of the above embodiments.
A belt-driven lifting device can also be used as the lifting device.

[0049]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,
By controlling a series of operations of each device by the integrated control device, the lifting device lowers the holding device to the height of the carry-in conveyor, and the box carried in by the carry-in conveyor is held by the holding device, and further the lifting device. Lift the clamping device to raise the box to a predetermined height, and then operate the advancing / retreating device to push the clamping device to the shelf side, and rotate the clamping device to a substantially vertical state to move the box. Since the boxes are placed on the shelves by placing them sideways on a shelf with a predetermined height and opening the sandwiching device in this state, the boxes are placed on the shelves by a series of operations by each device to be carried in by the carry-in conveyor. It is possible to automatically lift the supplied boxes up to a predetermined level on the shelves and supply them, saving labor in supplying the boxes with heavy bottles to the shelves. It can, it is possible to reduce the labor of the worker.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the space between the shelves of the shelf is narrow, first, only the holding device holding the box body is largely moved to the shelf side by the swing device, and further the holding device is turned by the rotating device. With this, the box body is rotated to a substantially vertical state, and in this state, the clamping device is pushed out by the advancing / retreating device to push the box body together with the clamping device to the step of a predetermined height on the shelf, and then open the clamping device. By doing so, the boxes are placed on the steps of the shelves at a specified height, so even if the space between the upper and lower steps of the shelves is narrow, the boxes can be automatically supplied to each step. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of an embodiment of the invention of claim 1.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the control operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a part of a swing device according to an embodiment of the invention of claim 2;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the above embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the control operation of the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Shelf 1A, 1B, ... Shelf 2 Box 3 Carry-in Conveyor 4 Clamping device 5 Lifting device 6 Advance / retract device 7 Rotating device 8 Shelf inventory management unit 9 General control unit 10 Elevating control unit 11 Clamping control unit 12 Advance control unit 13 Rotation Control unit 35 Swing device 41 Swing control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sandwiching device for sandwiching a box carried in by a carry-in conveyor from both sides, an elevating device for elevating the sandwiching device to a required shelf height, and moving the sandwiching device forward and backward from the elevating device in a shelf direction. An advancing and retracting device, a rotating device that rotates the clamping device from a horizontal state to a vertical state at an angle of approximately 90 °, elevating the clamping device by the elevating device, clamping a box by the clamping device, and using the advancing and retracting device. A box body supply device comprising: an overall control device that controls the respective operations of advancing and retracting the holding device with respect to a shelf and rotating the holding device by the rotating device. 2. The box feeder according to claim 1,
A box body supply device comprising a swing device that supports the holding device by an arm with respect to the lifting device and swings the arm between a vertical state and a position approaching the shelf.