GB2128970A

GB2128970A - Article storage unit and charging and/or discharging apparatus therefor

Info

Publication number: GB2128970A
Application number: GB08305892A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hans Rotzinger
Original assignee: Rotzinger AG
Current assignee: Rotzinger AG
Priority date: 1982-10-18
Filing date: 1983-03-03
Publication date: 1984-05-10
Also published as: GB8305892D0; JPH036098B2; DE3247899C2; JPS63147709A; JPH036099B2; CH658233A5; JPS63147724A; JPS5974826A; DE3247899A1; JPS6359927B2; GB2128970B

Abstract

An intermediate store comprises a vertical, circularly cylindrical container (1), in which is housed a freely rotatable column (2) provided with a plurality of carrier plates (4) arranged equidistantly one above the other. The container shell has a slot (1c), which extends over the entire height and through which articles can be charged onto and discharged from the carrier plates (4). For the charging and discharging, the intermediate store is brought into a charging and/or discharging station, which comprises a vertically displaceable support (5) adapted to the base (1b) of the container (1), a drive device (6, 7) for the rotation of the column (2) and a control for the raising and lowering of the support (5). The charging station is equipped with a pivotable inlet guide (17) and the discharging station with a deflecting device (20) for the unloading of the carrier plates. The station can, according to requirements, be equipped only as a charging station or only as a discharging station or as both a charging and discharging station. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Storage unit and charging and/or discharging apparatus therefor The present invention relates to a storage unit, especially for small articles, and charging and/or discharging apparatus for use therewith.

In the case of small articles which must be transferred from one work station to another or into an intermediate store and which cannot be handled as loose bulk goods, such as stamped or turned parts which must be galvanised or heat-treated after manufacture, such articles must be manually loaded into wooden boxes, then brought either directly or after a storage period in an intermediate store to the new work station and from there manually fed for the further processing or treatment. During these handling stages, the individual wooden boxes are, if possible, stacked on palettes so that they can be transported by a forklift truck or other vehicle. At the new location, the boxes are again carried away individually.This method of handling makes a product more expensive, on the one hand because labour is expensive and on the other hand because rational use is not made of operating personnel and, in the case of continuously operating machines, costly and usually unpopular night shifts must be worked.

It would therefore be desirable to eliminate this disadvantage in the handling of small articles, by way of a suitable intermediate store for the reception of the articles and a station for charging and/or discharging. Small articles may be considered to be objects which are not treated as loose bulk goods in quantities practically as large as desired, thus not only pressed parts of sinter material, but also turned, cast and stamped parts of all kind as well as assembled parts, for example ball bearings.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a storage unit for intermediate storage of articles, the unit comprising an upright cylindrical container and a freely rotatable column arranged in the container and carrying a plurality of equidistantly spaced carrier plates arranged one above the other, the container being provided in its wall with a slot extending over the entire height of the wall for the charging of articles onto and discharging of articles from the plates.

In a preferred embodiment, the storage unit comprises a vertical, circularly cylindrical container, in which is housed a freely rotatable carrier column provided with several carrier plates arranged equidistantly one above the other, the container shell having a slot extending over its entire height for the charging and discharging of the carrier plates.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided charging and/or discharging apparatus for the storage unit, the apparatus comprising a support for supporting the container of the storage unit at the container base, drive means to rotate the column of the storage unit when the container is supported by the support, lifting means operable to raise and lower the support in steps corresponding to the spacing between the carrier plates of the storage unit, a pivotable inlet guide to guide articles on the rotating carrier plates towards the column, and/or a deflecting device to guide articles on the rotating carrier plates towards and through the slot, the guide when present-being controlled to be pivoted through the slot in the container wall and into the region above a carrier plate when the column is rotated for charging the plates with articles and to be pivoted out of said region before the support is raised or lowered, and the deflecting device-when present-being displaceable from the slot towards the column on a path intersecting a radius of the container to the centre of the slot and being controlled to be displaced into the region above a carrier plate and up to the column when the column is rotated for discharging of articles from the plates and to be displaced out of said region before the support is raised or lowered.

In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus to charge and/or to discharge the storage unit comprises a vertically displaceable support adapted to the base of the cylindrical container, means to rotate the freely rotatable column when the container stands on the support, and a control for a lifting device to raise or lower the support stepwise in correspondence with the equal spacings of the plates. When the apparatus is equipped for charging, it has a pivotable inlet guide to guide small articles on a rotating carrier plate towards the column, wherein the pivot mechanism of the guide is so controlled that the guide projects through the slot in the container wall into the region above a plate at least when the column rotates for the charging, and the guide is pivoted out of the region above a plate before the support is raised or lowered.When the apparatus is additionally or alternatively equipped for discharging, it has a deflecting device to guide the articles on a rotating carrier plate towards the slot and through this and to be displaceable from the edge of the slot towards the column in such a manner that it then intersects the radius line directed towards the centre of the slot, while the displacing mechanism is so controlled that the deflecting device is drawn out from the region above a plate before the support is raised or lowered, and that the deflecting device is then pushed into the region above a plate as far as the column when this rotates for the discharging.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation of a charging and discharging station, wherein an intermediate store at the station is illustrated by solid lines in a base setting and by chaindotted lines in a raised setting; Figure 2 is a plan view of the charging and discharging station of Fig. 1, wherein the half of the drawing at the bottom of the figure is illustrated without inserted intermediate store and the other half of the drawing with inserted intermediate store; and Figure 3 is a view of the charging and discharging station with completely raised store, partially in elevation and partially in section along the line Ill-Ill of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown, in particular in Fig. 3, an intermediate store comprising a vertical, circularity cylindrical container 1 with a wall or shell la and a base 1 b, in which a carrier column 2 is mounted to be freely rotatable by means of at least one ball bearing 3. The column 2 is provided with several carrier plates 4, which are arranged equidistantly one above the other and connected to the column to be secure against rotation relative thereto. The container wall has a vertical slot 1 c, as can be seen in Fig. 2.The container base 1b has a conical edge 1 d so that it can be placed without difficulty exactly on a carrier device, designated as a whole by 5, of a charging and/or discharging station, the carrier device 5 being provided with a conical receiving edge portion 5a corresponding to the conical edge id. The container base 1 b also has recesses 1e for the forks 11 of a forklift stacker 12.

The carrier device 5 in turn is provided with a rotating mechanism, in this case a motor 6, connected through a gear 7 with a first coupling half 8, which fits a correspondingly constructed second coupling half 9 at the lower end of the column 2 so that the motor can turn the column when the intermediate store is inserted in the station. The carrier device is also equipped with a lifting device which in the illustrated embodiment takes the form of an elevating platform 10.A fixed socket 1 3 of the station is provided with marks 1 4 (Fig. 1), which have the same spacing from each other as the plates 4 and which serve, together with a sensor 1 5 arranged at the carrier device and the control device accommodated in the socket 13, to raise or to lower the lifting device by the spacing between two plates in correspondence with the pulses of a settable timing relay. A drive roller 1 5 of a conveyor belt 1 6 is mounted in the socket 1 3 at the top in such a manner that small articles 21 can pass without difficulty from the conveyor belt 1 6 onto the plate 4 disposed at the same height.

An inlet guide 1 7 is pivotably mounted in the socket 1 3 and can be pushed, by means of a drive (not shown), through the slot 1 c into the region between two carrier plates 4 lying one above the other in order to guide the articles towards the column 2 when the carrier plates 4 are rotating. The corresponding control mechanism is in that case so programmed that it pivots the guide 1 7 into the region above a plate when the column rotates for charging, thus when it rotates in the direction of the arrow 1 8 and the conveyor belt moves in the direction of the arrow 19, and that it pivots the guide 1 7 out of the region above a plate before the carrier device is raised or lowered.It is possible to dispense with a special drive for the inlet guide if it is provided with a restoring spring and if a deflecting device, to be subsequently described, is constructed to additionally serve for pivotation of the inlet guide.

This deflecting device serves to guide the articles on the carrier plate, when rotating against the direction of the arrow 18, towards and through the slot 1 c. The deflecting device comprises an arm 20 displaceable from the edge of the slot 1c towards the column 2, the displacing direction extending in such a manner that it cuts the radius line directed towards the centre of the slot.The control mechanism for the corresponding drive mechanism of this arm is such that the deflecting device is displaced slowly towards the column 2 for the discharging of articles from the intermediate store, thus when the column rotates in the direction against the arrow 1 8 and the conveyor belt 1 6 moves against the direction of the arrow 19, and that it is pushed out of the region above a plate before the carrier device is raised or lowered.

It may in that case be expedient to arrange a conveyor belt (not shown) at the arm 20 to convey towards the slot 1 c those articles that come up against the arm.

When the intermediate store is to be filled, thus when it is disposed in the station equipped to serve for charging, the control is expediently such that the empty intermediate store at the start of the charging is disposed in the uppermost setting, as is illustrated in Fig. 3. When the motor 6 rotates the carrier plates in the direction of the arrow 18 and the articles 21 are guided by means of the conveyor belt 16, the inlet guide 1 7 is pivoted over the carrier plate 4 to be charged and thereby ensures that the articles 21 are displaced towards the column 2 so that the carrier plate can be substantially completely charged. After a settable time, the conveyor belt 1 6 is stopped, the inlet guide 1 7 pivoted back and the carrier device lowered by a plate spacing. Then, the next plate is charged in the same manner. This is repeated until all plates are charged, whereupon all drives are switched off and, if so required, an optical or acoustic signal is provided. The completely filled intermediate store is then brought by means of the forklift truck 1 2 to another location, be it an intermediate store or a discharge station, and a new, empty intermediate store is inserted.

In the discharging station, the discharging process takes place in the reverse manner. At first, the intermediate store is set into rotation against the direction of the arrow 1 8 and the conveyor belt 1 6 is driven against the direction of the arrow 19. The deflecting device 20 is slowly pushed in and has the effect that all articles 21, starting with those disposed at the outer edge, are deflected into the region of the slot 1 c and from there onto the conveyor belt 1 6. When the deflecting device 20 has reached the column 2 and this has rotated a sufficient number of times for all the articles 21 to have been conducted away from the carrier plate, which time can also be predetermined by a timing relay, the deflecting device is withdrawn and the carrier device is raised by the plate spacing. The discharging process is then repeated for the next plate. When the entire intermediate store has been emptied, all drives are turned off and, if so desired, a signal is triggered in order that the empty store can be replaced by a full store.

Claims

1. A storage unit for intermediate storage of articles, the unit comprising an upright cylindrical container and a freely rotatable column arranged in the container and carrying a plurality of equidistantly spaced carrier plates arranged one above the other, the container being provided in its wall with a slot extending over the entire height of the wall for the charging of articles onto and discharging of articles from the plates.

2. Storage device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3. Charging apparatus for the storage unit claimed in claim 1, comprising a support for supporting the container of the storage unit at the container base, drive means to rotate the column of the storage unit when the container is supported by the support, lifting means operable to raise and lower the support in steps corresponding to the spacing between the carrier plates of the storage unit, and a pivotable inlet guide to guide articles on the rotating carrier plates towards the column, the guide being controlled to be pivoted through the slot in the container wall and into the region above a carrier plate when the column is rotated for charging the plates with articles and to be pivoted out of said region before the support is raised or lowered.

4. Discharging apparatus for the storage unit claimed in claim 1, comprising a support for supporting the container of the storage unit at the container base, drive means to rotate the column of the storage unit when the container is supported by the support, lifting means operable to raise and lower the support in steps corresponding to the spacing between the carrier plates of the storage unit, and deflecting device to guide articles on the rotating carrier plates towards and through the slot in the container wall, the deflecting device being displaceable from the slot towards the column on a path intersecting a radius of the container to the centre of the slot and being controlled to be displaced into the region above a carrier plate and up to the column when the column is rotated for discharging of articles from the plates and to be displaced out of said region before the support is raised or lowered.

5. Charging and discharging apparatus for the storage unit claimed in claim 1, comprising a support for supporting the container of the storage unit at the container base, drive means to rotate the column of the storage unit when the container is supported by the support, lifting means operable to raise and lower the support in steps corresponding to the spacing between the carrier plates of the storage unit, a pivotable inlet guide to guide articles on the rotating carrier plates towards the column, the guide being controlled to be pivoted through the slot in the container wall and into the region above a carrier plate when the column is rotated for charging the plates with articles and to be pivoted out of said region before the support is raised or lowered, and a deflecting device to guide articles on the rotating carrier plates towards and through the slot, the deflecting device being displaceable from the slot towards the column on a path intersecting a radius of the container to the centre of the slot and being controlled to be displaced into the region above a carrier plate and up to the column when the column is rotated for discharging of articles from the plates and to be displaced out of said region before the support is raised or lowered.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, comprising a conveyor belt operable to convey articles along a path having one end positionable in the region of the slot.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 6, comprising a settable timing relay to initiate raising or lowering of the lifting means.

8. Charging apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

9. Discharging apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. Charging and discharging apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. A storage system comprising an operative combination of the storage unit as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 and the apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 10, the container of the storage unit being supported by the support of the apparatus.

1 2. A storage system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.