JP2000136004A - Automatic picking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To separate surely without installing a special connection cut device by separating and taking out the top article one by one while pushing up the article stored in a storage in order by a push up device. SOLUTION: An article stroring shelf 11 for storing lots of articles 6 is arranged while slanting on an upslope and also the article 6 is pushed up while lining up by operating a push up device 12 and push-pressing the article 6 stored along the slant of the storage 20 from downside. The top article 6 is separated so as to be taken out one by one by a pick up device 13. Therefore, the articles 6 after the second article are retreated naturally by their own weight and the top article 6 can be separated surely from the second article 6 without installing a special connection cut device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic picking apparatus, and more particularly to a picking device for arranging and storing a large number of articles in an inclined manner on an uphill slope and pushing up the stored articles from below. When the uppermost articles are separated and taken out one by one by the pickup device while being moved, the second and subsequent articles are naturally retreated by their own weight to facilitate edging, and thereby the edging mechanism for the second and subsequent articles. And make it difficult to handle soft and difficult-to-handle articles such as clothes stored in bags or fixed-size articles stored in thin boxes with a small and simple mechanism. The present invention relates to an epoch-making automatic picking device capable of automatically separating desired articles that can be taken out separately.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a mail order company handles sales of various kinds of products such as books, clothes, and cosmetics.
In addition, it is required to reliably select and take out, and conventionally, the sorting operation is performed manually or by an automatic picking device.

In manual picking, not only the problem of processing speed but also erroneous selection of about 1% is inevitable, and in order to solve the problem, automatic picking devices have recently been adopted.

In a conventional automatic picking device, a large number of storage shelves having the same shape and having horizontally provided storage portions are arranged side by side, and each storage shelf stores a large number of products of the same type. Items ordered from customers are automatically selected and taken out of the storage shelves by a take-out device controlled by a computer.

[0005] However, the storage shelves are provided horizontally,
In addition, since each product often has a different shape and packing form, when one product is separated and taken out from a large number of products stored in the storage shelf, the product supplied subsequently and the product to be taken out must be separated. There is a drawback that the automatic picking device is not only complicated and large, but also requires a high manufacturing cost, because it is necessary to reliably separate the automatic picking device and it is essential to provide an edge cutting device.

Further, in order to process a large number of orders, it is required that one product can be separated and taken out from a large number of products at high speed and continuously for a long period of time. The provision of equipment was eagerly desired.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to move an article storage shelf for storing a large number of articles uphill. At the same time, the articles are stored in an inclined manner, and the push-up device is actuated to press the stored articles from below along the slope of the storage section from below to push up the articles while keeping the articles aligned. By separating and taking out one by one, the second and subsequent articles are naturally retracted by their own weight, and the uppermost article and the second article can be reliably separated without installing a special edging device. It is to be.

Another object of the present invention is to arrange a storage section of an article storage shelf inclining uphill, and to intermittently move a pressing plate along the inclination of the storage section to remove a large number of articles stored in the storage section. Pressing upward from below, intermittently pushing up and moving the article by a predetermined distance while keeping the article aligned, and then sucking and removing the topmost article with a suction cup, regardless of the shape of the article An object of the present invention is to enable articles stored in the same apparatus to be quickly and reliably separated and taken out one by one.

[0009] Still another object is to provide a pickup device in which a storage unit is disposed inclining uphill, and articles stored in the storage unit are pushed up while being aligned from below by a push-up device. Along with circulating a belt conveyor, a number of automatic picking devices configured to separate and take out the uppermost articles one by one are arranged, and
By controlling a large number of automatic picking devices by a control device, it is possible to easily and surely take out necessary articles from an extremely wide variety of articles in accordance with a customer's request.

[0010]

In summary, the present invention (claim 1) provides an article storage shelf in which a storage section is arranged to be inclined uphill and stores a plurality of articles arranged in the storage section. A push-up device that moves along the inclination of the storage section and pushes up the plurality of stored articles by pressing them from below while keeping them aligned, and a push-up device disposed at an upper end of the article storage shelf and stored in the storage section. A pickup device that separates and removes the topmost articles one by one, and sequentially pushes up the articles stored in the storage unit by the push-up device and removes one topmost article by the pickup device. It is characterized by being configured to be separated and taken out one by one.

The present invention (Claim 2) provides an article storage shelf in which a storage section is arranged to be inclined uphill and stores a plurality of articles in alignment with the storage section, and And a driving device connected to the pressing plate and configured to move the pressing plate intermittently from the lower end to the upper end of the storage portion by a predetermined distance. A push-up device that intermittently pushes up the articles stored in the article storage shelf with the pressing plate while keeping the articles aligned, and a push-up device disposed at the upper end of the article storage shelf and stored in the article storage shelf A pickup device comprising: a suction cup that adsorbs the uppermost article; a moving device that reciprocates between a suction position that opposes the uppermost article in which the suction cups are aligned and a take-out position that takes out the adsorbed article; To The article stored in the storage section by the lifting device is intermittently moved upward by the predetermined distance, the uppermost article is sucked by the suction cup, and then conveyed to a take-out position to transfer the article to the upper position. It is characterized in that it is configured to be separated and taken out one by one.

Further, the present invention (claim 3) provides a belt conveyor for loading and conveying articles on an endless belt circulating and running, an article storage shelf in which a storage section is disposed inclining uphill, and the storage section. A push-up device that moves along the inclination of the section and presses the plurality of articles stored in the storage section from below, and an uppermost section that is disposed at an upper end of the article storage shelf and stored in the storage section. Each of the article storage shelves comprises a plurality of articles of the same type, which are different from each other, are arranged and stored in the respective article storage shelves, and are arranged along the belt conveyor. A plurality of automatic picking devices, a conveying device intersecting at a downstream end of the belt conveyor and conveying a packing box for storing the articles conveyed by the belt conveyor; The automatic picking apparatus in which the articles are stored is operated to separate the uppermost articles stored in the storage section one by one, thereby taking out the desired articles from a large number of the automatic picking apparatuses and removing the belt. And a control device for controlling the transport so that the articles are loaded together on a conveyor, stored in the packaging box, and then transported together with the packaging box.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. 1 and 2, an automatic sorting device 1 according to the present invention includes a belt conveyor 2 and a transport device 3
And an automatic picking device 4 and a control device 5.

The belt conveyor 2 is for loading and transporting the articles 6 selected and taken out of the article storage shelves 11 by a number of automatic picking devices 4, and in FIG. 1 and FIG. The endless belt 9 is made of a metal such as rubber or a wire mesh that circulates, and the articles 6 are loaded on the endless belt 9 and transported.

The transport device 3 is another conveyor device arranged to intersect at the downstream end of the belt conveyor 2, and is configured to load and transport the packing boxes 10;
The packing boxes 10 are successively positioned at the downstream end of the belt conveyor 2, and the articles 6 conveyed by the belt conveyor 2 are automatically stored in the packing boxes 10 and then conveyed.

The automatic picking device 4 is used to surely separate and take out the stored articles 6 from the article storage shelves 11 one by one, and to load them on the belt conveyor 2, as shown in FIGS. , Comprises an article storage shelf 11, a push-up device 12, and a pickup device 13.

The article storage shelves 11 are for storing a large number of articles 6, and the base 14 has left and right side walls 15, 16 made of a metal plate having a thickness of 2 mm, for example, having a length of 250 m.
m, and a bottom plate 19 also made of a metal plate is connected near the vertical center of the side wall plates 15 and 16 to connect the side wall plates 15 and 16 with an uphill slope of 30 °. And fixed by welding to the side walls 15 and 16
The bottom plate 19 forms a U-shaped storage portion 20. By stacking the articles 6 on the bottom plate 19, the articles 6 can be stored in a state where the articles 6 are inclined by an angle of 30 °. . The bottom plate 19 is provided with a slit 19a having a width of 5 mm for allowing a pressure plate 22 to be described later to pass therethrough, in parallel with the inclined direction.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the article storage shelves 11 having the above-mentioned shape are arranged adjacent to each other along the belt conveyor 2 with the upper end of the slope facing the belt conveyor 2.

The lifting device 12 intermittently moves the articles 6 stored in the storage section 20 from the lower end to the upper end by a predetermined distance along the inclination of the storage section 20.
It is composed of a driving device 21 and a pressing plate 22.

The driving device 21 is shown in FIGS.
A mounting plate 23 is fixed to the side wall plate 15 along the inclination of the bottom plate 19.
A motor 24 is fixed at a right angle to the shaft, and a toothed pulley 26 is fixed to the rotating shaft 25.

At the lower end of the mounting plate 23, a toothed pulley 2
6, a toothed pulley 29 is rotatably disposed on a shaft 30 provided on the mounting plate 23. A toothed belt 31 is wound between the toothed pulleys 26 and 29, and a motor 24 is provided. It runs along with the rotation of.

A guide roller 33 is fixed to the support plate 22a of the pressing plate 22, and the guide roller 33 engages with a guide rail 32 fixed to the mounting plate 23 in parallel with the running direction of the toothed belt 31. Thus, the support plate 22a is guided along the guide rail 32.

The toothed belt 31 is fixed between the stay 34 fixed to the light emitting plate 22a and the fixing member 35 having the tooth shape of the toothed belt 31 and fixed with screws 36. The support plate 22a is moved along the guide rail 32 in the arrow C or D direction, for example, about 570 mm by rotating the motor 24 in the arrow A or B direction. Is configured.

A rectangular push plate 22b, for example, having a thickness of 3 mm, a width of 90 mm, and a height of 170 mm is welded to the support plate 22a at a right angle, and is movably disposed in the storage section 20. Push plate 2 by moving
2b can be moved along the inclination of the bottom plate 19 in the storage section 20. An air escape hole 22d is formed in the push plate 22b at a position facing a suction cup 53 described later.

Since the support plate 22a is assembled by projecting from the 5 mm wide slit 19a formed in the bottom plate 19 into the storage section 20, the bottom plate 19 does not hinder the running of the support plate 22a.

A sensor dog 22c is provided on the support plate 22a so as to protrude downward, and sensors 39 and 40 are provided at both ends of the mounting plate 23. When the support plate 22a moves and is positioned at the upper end, the sensor dog 22c is provided. 39 detects the sensor dog 22c.
0 is configured to detect the sensor dog 22c, transmit a detection signal, and stop the rotation of the motor 24.

The pickup device 13 is for reliably separating and taking out the uppermost articles 6 one by one from a large number of articles 6 stored in the storage section 20, and includes a moving device 41 and a sucker mechanism 42. It is composed of

The moving device 41 reciprocates the suction mechanism 42 between a suction position T facing the article 6 stored at the uppermost part of the article storage shelf 11 and a take-out position R for taking out the sucked article 6. 4 to 6, the rotation shaft 4 of the motor 43 fixed to the mounting plate 23
4, a relay block 45 and a sensor plate 47 are fixed and rotate together with the rotating shaft 44 in the direction of arrow E or F.

A support plate 46 to which a shaft 48 is screwed is fixed to the relay block 45.
9, the direction of the suction cup mechanism 42 is adjusted to the direction most suitable for sucking the articles 6 stored in the article storage shelf 11, and then the screws 51 are adjusted.
Screwed by. In addition, an auxiliary plate 52 for stably holding the sucked article 6 is attached to a lower portion of the suction cup mechanism 42 on the support plate 46.

The mounting plate 23 has a semicircular sensor plate 47.
A sensor 38 is disposed opposite to the sensor plate 4 and the sensor plate 4
By detecting the presence or absence of 7, the rotation and stop of the motor 43 are controlled, and the suction cup mechanism 42 is reciprocated between the suction position T and the take-out position R.

The suction mechanism 42 is for adsorbing the article 6, and a rubber suction cup 53 is disposed at the tip of a metal pipe 54 fixed to a suction cup support plate 49. The metal pipe 54 is a pipe tube. The vacuum pump 59 is connected to a vacuum pump 59 provided on the base 14 via a pipe formed in the relay block 45 by 56, and the vacuum pump 59 is operated to evacuate the pipe. After the suction, the motor 43 is rotated in the direction of the arrow F to rotate the suctioned article 6 in the direction of the arrow H, so that the chute 6 is inclined downward toward the endless belt 9.
0 and can be taken out of the article storage shelf 11 one by one.

In FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, a separating plate 61 is fixed above the article storage shelf 11 with a shaft 6 fixed to the base 14.
2, the tip of the separation plate 61 is brought into contact with the article 6 by applying its own weight or spring force to the separation plate 61 to urge the separation plate 61 in the direction of the arrow J, and more reliably. The articles 6 may be separated one by one.

The control device 5 controls all the devices such as the driving device such as the motor mounted on the belt conveyor 2, the conveying device 3 and the automatic picking device 4 and the sensors and the like so as to operate in an optimum state. In FIG. 1, it is a dedicated control device including a so-called computer device, receives detection signals from various sensors, and operates a drive device such as a motor in accordance with a predetermined procedure. It is configured.

The control device 5 includes a system management device 62
And a signal code 63. By connecting one system management device 62 to a plurality of control devices 5, it manages a plurality of control devices 5 and configures a very large-scale automatic sorting device 1. You can do it.

The present invention is configured as described above,
Hereinafter, the operation will be described. In FIGS. 3, 4 and 7, first, a large number of articles 6 are sorted by type and stored in a plurality of article storage shelves 11 of the automatic picking device 4 arranged in a large number along the belt conveyor 2. Perform preparatory work.

In FIG. 3, the articles 6 that can be stored in the article storage shelves 11 are, for example, lingerie 6A and socks 6B in a bag made of vinyl or cellophane, or a soft packaged product such as a CD, 6C, or a box. Pharmaceutical 6D stored
Alternatively, any article may be used as long as it is a hard package article such as a book 6 </ b> E and the size of the article 6 can be stored in the article storage shelf 11.

After the above-mentioned preparation work is completed, when the automatic sorting device 1 is operated, based on a command from the control device 5, the automatic sorting device 1 is selected from a number of automatic picking devices 4 arranged along the belt conveyor 2. The automatic picking device 4 in which the articles 6 to be sorted are stored in the article storage shelf 11 starts operating.

That is, in FIG. 4, the motor 24 of the automatic picking device 4 which has received the operation command starts rotating, the toothed pulley 26 rotates in the direction of arrow A, and the toothed belt 31 is rotated.
In the direction of arrow C.

The movement of the toothed belt 31 in the direction of arrow C is as follows.
The support plate 22a is transmitted to the support plate 22a via a stay 34 and a fixing bracket 35 fixed to the toothed belt 31,
a is moved along the inclination of the bottom plate 19 while being guided by the guide rail 32.

The moving distance of the support plate 22a depends on the article storage shelf 1
The thickness is determined for each of the automatic picking devices 4 according to the thickness of the articles 6 stored in the storage unit 1, and is controlled by the control device 5 so as to intermittently move by a distance corresponding to the thickness of the articles 6.

Push plate 22 fixed to support plate 22a
When b moves along the inclination of the bottom plate 19 in the storage section 20, the articles 6 aligned and stored in the storage section 20 are pushed up from the lower end to the upper end by a predetermined distance while being aligned. , The top article 6 reaches the suction position T,
When the separation plate 61 is provided, the tip of the separation plate 61 comes into contact with the upper portion of the article 6 by its own weight or spring force, and stably holds the article 6.

4, 7 and 8, the motor 43 rotates in the direction of arrow E to move the suction cup 53 in the direction of arrow G together with the relay block 45, the support plate 46, the direction adjustment block 50 and the suction cup support plate 49. By rotating the suction cup 53, the suction cup 53 is moved from the take-out position R indicated by the broken line to the suction position T indicated by the solid line, and the suction cup 53 is stopped facing the uppermost article 6.

Here, the vacuum pump 59 is operated to suck air in the suction cup 53 through the pipe tube 56 in the direction of arrow L, so that the uppermost article 6 is adsorbed by the suction cup 53, and then the motor 43 is driven by the arrow. The article 6 that has been swiveled in the direction F is moved in the direction of the arrow H.

At the same time, the motor 24 is slightly rotated in the direction of the arrow B to slightly retreat the push plate 22b in the direction of the arrow D, so that
The second and subsequent articles 6 are slightly retracted in the direction of arrow D,
The second and subsequent articles 6 and the articles 6 adsorbed and selected by the suction cup 53 are more reliably separated.

The direction of the suction cup 53 is set so that the direction of the direction adjusting block 50 fitted to the shaft 48 is adjusted to be the optimal direction for the suction of the article 6, so that the article 6 is surely sucked. In addition, the article 6 that has been sucked by the suction cup 53 and is moving in the direction of the arrow H from the suction position T to the removal position R is the auxiliary plate 52.
, It can be moved stably.

In FIG. 7, when the article 6 sucked by the suction cup 53 moves to a position where the article 6 becomes substantially horizontal, the operation of the vacuum pump 59 is stopped, air is introduced into the suction cup 53, and the suction of the article 6 is released. Further, the suction cup 53 rotates in the direction of arrow H to pass through the notch
, Only the article 6 is left on the chute 60, falls in the direction of arrow K according to the inclination of the chute 60, and is stacked on the endless belt 9.

Since the article 6 is taken out by suction of the suction cup 53, the article 6 can be taken out without being influenced by the shape of the article 6, and the article 6 is not damaged.

The articles 6 stored in the article storage shelves 11 in this manner are supplied separately from each other. The operation of the automatic picking apparatus 4 for taking out the articles 6 is controlled by the control apparatus 5. The automatic picking devices 4 are simultaneously instructed, and the necessary articles 6 are sorted at an extremely high speed of about 60 pieces per minute and loaded on the endless belt 9 respectively.

In FIG. 1, the sorted articles 6 loaded on the endless belt 9 are conveyed by the endless belt 9 and automatically stored in a packing box 10 on the conveying device 3. Is operated, and the entire packaging box 10 is transported to, for example, a shipping station.

When all of the articles 6 stored in the article storage rack 11 are not sorted out, the suction cup 53 directly sucks the push plate 22b. The push plate 22b is provided with an air escape hole 22d. Therefore, the suction cup 53 is pressed by the pressing plate 22b.
When the articles 6 stored in the article storage shelves 11 are no longer supplied, the sensor 39 detects the sensor dog 22c and sends a detection signal to the control device 5, and the motor 24 The pressing plate 2 rotates in the direction of arrow B until the sensor 40 detects the sensor dog 22c.
2 is retracted to prepare for the supply of the article 6 to the article storage shelf 11.

[0051]

According to the present invention, the article storage shelves for accommodating a large number of articles are arranged inclining uphill as described above.
The push-up device is operated to press the stored articles from below along the inclination of the storage section from below, and to push up the articles while keeping the articles aligned, so that the uppermost articles are separated and taken out one by one by the pickup device. Therefore, there is an effect that the second and subsequent articles are naturally retracted by their own weight, and the uppermost article and the second article can be surely separated without installing a special trimming device.

Further, the storage section of the article storage shelf is disposed to be inclined uphill, the pressing plate is intermittently moved along the inclination of the storage section, and many articles stored in the storage section are directed upward from below. After pushing up and moving the article intermittently by a predetermined distance while keeping the article aligned, the uppermost article is sucked and taken out with a suction cup, so that the same device is used regardless of the shape of the article. Quickly and securely stored items
The effect of being able to separate and take out one by one is obtained.

Further, the storage section is disposed to be inclined uphill, and after the articles stored in the storage section are pushed up while being aligned from below by the push-up device, the pickup device is operated to operate the uppermost portion. A large number of automatic picking devices configured to separate and take out the articles one by one are arranged along a circulating belt conveyor, and a large number of automatic picking devices are controlled by a control device. There is an effect that necessary articles can be easily and reliably taken out from various kinds of articles in accordance with the request of the customer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1 to 8 relate to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic sorting apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an automatic picking device that is disposed adjacent to a plurality of belts along a belt conveyor.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing examples of various articles that can be handled by the automatic picking device.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the automatic picking device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a main part of a partial longitudinal section showing the configuration of the pickup device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing details and operations of a lifting device and a pickup device.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state where an uppermost article is separated from a number of articles stored in an article storage shelf and is conveyed to a belt conveyor.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a suction cup that adsorbs a packaged article such as a soft packaged article.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic sorting apparatus 2 Belt conveyor 3 Conveying apparatus 4 Automatic picking apparatus 5 Control apparatus 6 Articles 9 Endless belt 10 Packing box 11 Article storage shelf 12 Push-up apparatus 13 Pickup apparatus 20 Storage section 21 Drive unit 22 Pressing plate 41 Moving apparatus 53 Suction cup T Suction position R Unloading position

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F022 CC02 EE05 FF15 JJ15 JJ18 KK10 LL32 MM01 MM03 MM36 QQ01 3F030 AA04 BC01 CA02 CB04 DA03 DB04 3F072 AA06 GA01 GD03 JA05 KA01 KC02 KC07

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An article storage shelf in which a storage section is arranged to be inclined uphill and stores a plurality of articles in alignment with the storage section, and a plurality of articles which are moved and stored along the inclination of the storage section. A push-up device that pushes up the articles while keeping them aligned while pressing the articles from below, and the topmost article stored at the upper end of the article storage shelf and stored in the storage section.
A pickup device that separates and removes the articles one by one, and sequentially lifts the articles stored in the storage unit by the push-up device, and separates and removes the topmost articles one by one with the pickup device. An automatic picking device, characterized in that: 2. An article storage shelf, wherein a storage section is disposed inclined on an uphill, and a plurality of articles are arranged in the storage section and stored therein, and the storage section is configured to be movable along the inclination of the storage section. A press plate and a driving device connected to the press plate for intermittently moving the press plate by a predetermined distance from a lower end to an upper end of the storage section, the article storage shelf by moving the press plate upward; A push-up device for intermittently pushing up the articles stored in the article storage shelf with the pressing plate, and adsorbing the topmost article arranged at the upper end of the article storage shelf and stored in the article storage shelf. A pick-up device comprising a sucker and a moving device for reciprocating between a suction position facing the uppermost article in which the suction cups are aligned and a take-out position for taking out the sucked article; Yo The articles stored in the storage section are intermittently moved upward by the predetermined distance, and the uppermost articles are sucked by the suction cups and then conveyed to a takeout position to separate and take out the articles one by one. An automatic picking device characterized by having a configuration as described above. 3. A belt conveyor that loads and conveys articles on an endless belt that circulates and travels, and an article storage shelf in which a storage section is disposed inclining uphill and moves along the inclination of the storage section. A push-up device that presses the plurality of articles stored in the storage section from below and an uppermost article stored in the storage section that is disposed at an upper end of the article storage shelf and separated from each other one by one. Each of the article storage shelves comprises a pickup device for taking out a plurality of articles of the same type, which are different from each other for each of the article storage shelves, are arranged and stored, and a plurality of automatic picking are arranged along the belt conveyor. An apparatus, a transport device that transports a packing box that stores the articles conveyed by the belt conveyor and intersects at the downstream end of the belt conveyor, and the apparatus that stores the articles to be taken out. By activating the automatic picking device and separating the uppermost articles stored in the storage section one by one, the desired articles are taken out from a number of the automatic picking apparatuses, loaded on the belt conveyor, and transported. And a control device for controlling the article to be transported together with the packing box after being stored in the packing box.