JPH1029720A - Work separating method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically separate the works piled on a carrying conveyor for preventing them from overlapping each other. SOLUTION: A separation conveyor 12 is installed above a carrying conveyor 11 inclined in such a way that the work carrying direction side becomes lower, and a gap whose work carrying direction side becomes narrow is formed between the separation conveyor 12 and the carrying conveyor 11 for allowing works to pass, and the work discharge port of the gap is set a little larger than the thickness of one work. The separation conveyor 12 is rotated in the direction opposite to the work carrying direction, and speed of the separation conveyor 12 is set to a speed equal to or higher than that of the carrying conveyor 11. In addition, a preliminary separation member 15 is installed upper- stream of the separation conveyor, and piled works is preliminarily levelled off by this preliminary member 15, and then the lower part of the separation conveyor 12 is made pass, preventing works from being overlapped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work separating method and a work separating apparatus for separating works stacked on a conveyor so that the works do not overlap each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, from the viewpoint of global environmental protection, water is increasingly used as a cleaning liquid for various assembled parts (hereinafter, referred to as "work") handled in factories.
However, since water is harder to dry than a volatile chemical cleaning liquid, the work washed with water is often dried using a drying device such as a blower. For example, when a small plate-like work such as a ceramic substrate is washed with water and dried, a method of drying the work with a blower or the like while continuously transporting a large number of works after the water washing by a conveyor is adopted. I have.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional drying method, when a large number of works having been washed with water are dried while being continuously conveyed on a conveyor, the work is dried while being stacked on the conveyor. Then, the overlapping portion of the work becomes undried, or water stains (traces of dry water) are formed on the surface of the work, resulting in a defective product. In order to avoid this, in a conventional drying process, an operator arranges works one by one on a conveyor. However, such manual work by a worker is very time-consuming, requires a lot of labor, not only requires high labor costs, but also has poor work efficiency and is not suitable for mass production.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and therefore has an object to automatically separate workpieces stacked on a conveyor so that the workpieces do not overlap each other. An object of the present invention is to provide a separation method and an apparatus therefor.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a method and an apparatus for separating a work according to the first and fourth aspects of the present invention are arranged such that the separation conveyor is placed above the transfer conveyor so that the side of the work transfer direction is lower. By installing it at an angle,
A gap is formed between both conveyors for the passage of the work, the width of which narrows on the side of the work transfer direction, and the work exit portion of the gap is set slightly larger than the thickness of one work. In this case, since the entrance side of the gap between the two conveyors is largely open, the work stacked in two or more stages also enters the gap between the two conveyors, but the work advances in the gap between the two conveyors. , The gap gradually narrows, so that the stacked second or more work pieces sequentially contact the separation conveyor from the upper work piece.

Here, if the separation conveyor is rotated in the same direction as the work conveyance direction, the upper work in contact with the separation conveyor is also transferred in the same direction as the lower work (frictional force by the separation conveyor). , The upper work tends to proceed in the same direction while being stacked on the lower work. In such a case, the work is sandwiched and locked in a state where the work overlaps with the gap between the two conveyors, and it is impossible to separate and transport the work.

Therefore, in the present invention, the separation conveyor is rotated in the direction opposite to the work transfer direction. As a result, the transfer force (frictional force by the separation conveyor) acting on the upper work in contact with the separation conveyor is in the opposite direction to the transfer direction of the lower work, so that the work is stacked on the work passing through the gap between the two conveyors. The work of the second stage or more is conveyed while being shifted backward by the separation conveyor in order from the upper stage. Since the work outlet of the gap between the two conveyors is set to be slightly larger than the thickness of one work, the work of the first stage (the lowest stage) leaves the work outlet of the gap between the two conveyors as it is. Although the work passes through, the work of the second stage or more always comes into contact with the separation conveyor before reaching the work outlet of the gap, and is shifted backward. As a result, all the works on the conveyor are automatically separated so that the works do not overlap in the process of passing through the gap between the two conveyors.

In the present invention, the upper work is shifted backward by rotating the separation conveyor in a direction opposite to the work transfer direction, so that the lower the speed of the separation conveyor is, the more the upper work is moved. The sliding speed is slow. If the speed is too slow, the upper work may be too late to be shifted, and the work may be pinched and locked in the gap between the two conveyors in an overlapping state.

In order to avoid this, in claim 2, the speed of the separation conveyor is set to be equal to or faster than the speed of the transport conveyor. Accordingly, the work of the upper stage is not shifted off by the separation conveyor, and the work can be reliably separated and transported.

[0010] By the way, since the work separation ability of the separation conveyor is limited, if the stacking height of the works on the transfer conveyor is too high, the work separation ability of the separation conveyor may be exceeded. There is a risk that the work will be pinched and locked in a state in which the work overlaps in the gap of.

In order to avoid this, in claim 3, a preparatory separating member is installed above the transport conveyor and upstream of the separating conveyor, and the preliminarily separating member preliminarily removes the deposit of the work. Then, the workpieces are separated so that they do not overlap by passing below the separation conveyor. In this way, if the pre-separation member preliminarily smooths the sediment of the work, the stacking height of the work passing below the separation conveyor is prevented from exceeding the work separation capability of the separation conveyor, and it is ensured. Work can be separated and transported.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration of the work separating device will be described. The transport conveyor 11 is a belt conveyor that transports a small plate-shaped work such as a ceramic substrate washed with water to a drying device (not shown). This conveyor 11
Above this, a belt-type separation conveyor 12 is installed so as to be inclined so that the work transport direction side is lower. As a result, a gap for the passage of the work is formed between the separation conveyor 12 and the transfer conveyor 11 so that the side in the work transfer direction becomes narrower, and the work outlet of the gap is set to be slightly larger than the thickness of one work. ing. In addition, separation conveyor 1
The tilt angle and the height position of 2 can be adjusted by a cylinder 13 and an elevating mechanism 14 provided before and after it.

In this case, each of the conveyors 11 and 11 is rotated such that the rotation direction of the separation conveyor 12 is opposite to the work transfer direction.
12 is driven by a motor (not shown), and the speed of the separation conveyor 12 is set to be equal to or faster than the speed of the transport conveyor 11.

A preliminary separation member 15 is provided above the conveyor 11 at a position upstream of the separation conveyor 12 (to the right in FIGS. 1 and 2). The deposit of the upper work is preliminarily leveled before the separation conveyor 12. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the preliminary separating member 15 is formed so that the cross-sectional shape is “>”, and the work that abuts on the preliminary separating member 15 is formed on the left and right sides of the preliminary separating member 15. It is distributed to the peripheral portion of the conveyor 11 along the slope. The gap size between the preliminary separation member 15 and the conveyor 11 is
The stacking height of the workpieces passing below the preliminary separating member 15 is set so as not to exceed the workpiece separating ability of the separating conveyor 12.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, both sides of the conveyor 11 upstream of the intermediate part of the separation conveyor 12 are provided with side walls for preventing the work from falling from the conveyor 11. A fence 16 is provided.

When using the work separating apparatus constructed as described above, the conveyor 11 is rotated in the work transfer direction, the separator 12 is rotated in the opposite direction, and the separation conveyor 12 is rotated. Is set equal to or faster than the speed of the conveyor 11. In this state, the undried works that have been washed with water are put into the conveyor 11 in a piled state. At this time, the work input amount may be appropriately set within a range that does not exceed the work separation capability of the separation conveyor 12 described later. still,
The work shown in FIG. 1 is illustrated relatively larger than the actual work for convenience of explanation.

The work put on the conveyor 11 first passes below the preliminary separation member 15. At this time, for the work stacked higher than the lower end position of the preliminary separation member 15, the work of the upper stage abuts against the preliminary separation member 15 and the progress is temporarily interrupted, and only the work of the lower stage is below the preliminary separation member 15. Pass through. As a result, the stacked height of the workpieces is equalized to the gap between the preliminary separation member 15 and the conveyor 11 or less, and the separation conveyor 12
The stacking height of the work that is easy to separate is increased.

In this way, the work that has passed under the preparatory separation member 15 is separated as follows while passing under the separation conveyor 12. In other words, the separation conveyor 12 is installed above the conveyor 11 so as to be inclined so that the work transfer direction side becomes lower, so that a work passage gap in which the work transfer direction side becomes narrower is formed between the two conveyors 11 and 12. The work outlet of the gap is set to be slightly larger than the thickness of one work. In this configuration, as the work advances in the gap between the two conveyors 11 and 12, the gap gradually narrows, so that the stacked second or more works are sequentially separated from the upper conveyor.
Contact

Here, if the separation conveyor 12 is rotated in the same direction as the work transfer direction (the rotation direction of the transfer conveyor 11), the upper work in contact with the separation conveyor 12 will be in the same direction as the lower work. (The frictional force by the separation conveyor 12) acts, and the upper work tends to proceed in the same direction while being stacked on the lower work. When this happens, both conveyors 11, 12
Work is sandwiched in the gap between
Both conveyors 11 and 12 are locked by the work,
Work cannot be separated and transported.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the separation conveyor 1
2 is rotated in the direction opposite to the workpiece transfer direction. As a result, the transfer force (frictional force by the separation conveyor 12) acting on the upper work in contact with the separation conveyor 12 is opposite to the transfer direction of the lower work, so that both the conveyors 11,
The work of the second stage or more stacked on the work passing through the gap between the 12 is conveyed while being shifted backward by the separation conveyor 12 in order from the upper stage. And
Since the work outlet of the gap between the two conveyors 11 and 12 is set slightly larger than the thickness of one work, the work of the first stage (the lowest stage) is the work of the gap between the two conveyors 11 and 12. Although the work passes through the outlet as it is, the work of the second or higher stage always contacts the separation conveyor 12 before reaching the work outlet of the gap, and is shifted backward.
As a result, all the works on the conveyor 11 are automatically separated so that the works do not overlap in the process of passing through the gap between the conveyors 11 and 12.

In the present embodiment, the upper conveyor is shifted backward by rotating the separation conveyor 12 in a direction opposite to the work conveying direction.
The speed at which the upper work is shifted depends on the speed of the separation conveyor 12, and the lower the speed of the separation conveyor 12, the lower the speed at which the upper work is shifted. If the speed is too slow, the work of the upper stage will be too slow to be moved, and the work will be sandwiched in the gap between the two conveyors 11 and 12 in an overlapping state.
There is a possibility that the workpieces 1 and 12 are locked by the work.

In order to avoid this, in this embodiment,
The speed of the separation conveyor 12 is set to be equal to or higher than the speed of the transport conveyor 11. Thus, the separation of the upper work by the separation conveyor 12 is not too late, and the separation and transfer of the work can be reliably performed.

The work separated by the separation conveyor 12 as described above is transferred to a drying device (not shown) by the transfer conveyor 11 and dried. in this case,
Since the workpieces are dried in a separated state so that they do not overlap each other, all the workpieces are dried efficiently and water stains (traces of dry water) cannot be formed on the workpiece surface, which may impair product quality. Absent.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to the step of separating the work after washing with water and transporting the work to a drying apparatus. If there is a separation step, the present invention can be applied to that step.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the separation conveyor is installed above the conveyor so as to be inclined so that the side in the work conveyance direction is lower, and the work outlet in the gap between both conveyors is provided. The part is set slightly larger than the thickness of one work, and the separation conveyor is rotated in the direction opposite to the work transfer direction, so that the stacked work passes through the gap between both conveyors,
The workpieces can be automatically separated so that they do not overlap with each other, so that there is no need to perform this separation work manually, and it is possible to reduce the labor of the operator and improve the production efficiency. ).

Further, since the speed of the separation conveyor is set to be equal to or higher than the speed of the transport conveyor, the work separation ability by the separation conveyor can be improved (claim 2).

[0027] Further, since the sediment of the work is preliminarily leveled by the preliminary separating member and then passed below the separating conveyor, even if the work is piled high on the transporting conveyor, the preliminary separating member and the preparatory separating member can be used. The work can be surely separated by the separation conveyor, and the work can be stably separated without being affected by the state of loading (loading) the work into the transport conveyor (claim 3).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an entire work separating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the work separating apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

11: conveyor, 12: separation conveyor, 13: cylinder, 14: elevating mechanism, 15: preliminary separation member, 16: side fence.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A work separating method for separating works stacked on a transfer conveyor so that the works do not overlap each other in a process of transferring the works by the transfer conveyor, wherein a separation conveyor is provided above the transfer conveyor. Is formed so that the side in the work transfer direction is inclined so that the side in the work transfer direction is lowered, thereby forming a gap for work passage between the two conveyors in which the work transfer direction side becomes narrower. Is set slightly larger, and the separation conveyor is rotated in the direction opposite to the work transfer direction, thereby stacking the work on the work passing through the gap between the two conveyors.
A work separation method, wherein a work at a stage or higher is conveyed while being shifted onto the transfer conveyor by the separation conveyor. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the speed of the separation conveyor is set to be equal to or higher than the speed of the transport conveyor. 3. A pre-separation member is installed above the conveyor and upstream of the separation conveyor, and the pre-separation member preliminarily equalizes the deposits of the work on the conveyor. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein
4. The work separation method according to 1. 4. A transport conveyor that transports a work, and a separation conveyor that is installed above the transport conveyor and inclined so that the work transport direction side is lower, and formed between the separation conveyor and the transport conveyor. A work exit portion of the work passing gap is set to be slightly larger than a thickness of one work, and the separation conveyor is rotated in a direction opposite to a work transfer direction.