JP2001002221A - Conveying device for article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To convey articles kept stably supported by means of conveying devices for moving articles vertically and horizontally. SOLUTION: A support bed 10 supports thereon a horizontally movable carriage 20 via first straight line motion. The carriage 20 supports a vertically movable support bracket 30 via second straight line motion. An endless chain mechanism including a sprocket 43 and a chain 50 is disposed on the support bed 10 and in parallel to the first straight line motion. To the endless chain mechanism is connected, via a coupler 80, a support portion 63 of a crank member 60, whose shaft portion 61 is supported, in rotatable relation, on the carriage 20 and arm portion 62 is directed parallel to the movement direction of the first and second straight line motion. The arm portion 62 of the crank member 60 supports, in rotatable relation, one end of a coupling link 70 the other of which is supported, in rotatable relation, on the support bracket 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting articles, and more particularly, to an apparatus for transporting articles between predetermined positions by moving the articles vertically and horizontally.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Although not shown in the drawings, a conveying device for moving an article vertically and horizontally to convey it between predetermined positions is usually provided by combining a linear motion mechanism and a link mechanism. Is configured to perform an elliptical motion at the tip of a bracket supporting the bracket. That is, in general, the article is configured to be conveyed along an elliptical motion trajectory.

[0003] Also, in connection with an article conveying apparatus, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-48322 discloses that a pallet is moved only in the vertical direction, and that the pallet is moved during the vertical movement. A parallel moving device has been proposed which aims at miniaturizing the entire device and reducing failures by maintaining the pallet in a horizontal state. The device is provided with two sets of endless chain mechanisms that move at the same speed and draw the same trajectory, and shift the movement trajectories of both endless chain mechanisms by the same distance, and at the corresponding positions of both endless chain mechanisms,
The cradle is to be pivoted.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional conveying apparatus, since the articles are conveyed along an elliptical motion trajectory, the articles are liable to drop when the articles are stored or transferred. There's a problem. And in general,
The structure requires a long link in the vertical direction, and it cannot be installed in a low place due to restrictions in the height direction. Also,
In the parallel moving device described in the above-mentioned publication, the moving direction of the pallet is limited to the vertical direction only, and it is not possible to secure the motion trajectory intended by the present application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveying apparatus for moving an article in a vertical and horizontal direction and capable of conveying the article in a stable supporting state.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article conveying apparatus, comprising: a support base; and a first linear motion mechanism on the support base. And a support bracket for supporting the movable table in a vertical direction via a second linear motion mechanism, and the first straight line on the support table. An endless chain mechanism arranged in parallel with the movement mechanism; an end connected to the endless chain mechanism so as to be interlocked with the movement mechanism; an intermediate portion rotatably supported on the movable table; A first link extending in a direction parallel to the direction of movement of the second linear motion mechanism, and one end rotatably supported at the other end of the first link, and the other end attached to the support bracket. And a second link rotatably supported. .

[0007] As an article conveying apparatus of the present invention, for example, as set forth in claim 2, a support base, a horizontal guide rail horizontally disposed on the support base, and slidable with respect to the horizontal guide rail. A movable guide supporting the movable guide, a vertical guide rail having one end supported by the movable base and the other end extending upward in the vertical direction, a support bracket slidably supported by the vertical guide rail, and the horizontal guide. On a surface parallel to the rail and perpendicular to the support table, a pair of a pair of coils are arranged side by side at a predetermined distance along an axis parallel to the horizontal guide rail and extend in a direction perpendicular to the surface perpendicular to the support table. A pair of sprockets having a rotating shaft and rotatably supporting each of the pair of rotating shafts, a chain connecting a plurality of chain links and mounted between the pair of sprockets, and the pair of sprockets At least A driving device for driving the chain by rotating one side, a shaft portion rotatably supported by the movable base around an axis orthogonal to the horizontal guide rail on a plane parallel to the support base, and A crank member having an arm portion extending radially from a shaft portion, and a chain link that forms the chain and a shaft portion of the crank member are connected, and the chain link connects the shaft of the sprocket when the chain is driven. A coupling tool for coupling the crank member to rotate about a shaft when rotating about the center,
A connection link may be provided that has one end rotatably supported by the arm portion of the crank member and the other end rotatably supported by the support bracket.

Therefore, in the transfer device according to the second aspect, the horizontal guide rail horizontally disposed on the support table together with the sliding portion of the movable table that is slidably supported with respect to the support table. A vertical guide rail which constitutes one of the linear motion mechanisms and has one end supported on the movable base and the other end extending upward in the vertical direction, together with a sliding portion of a support bracket slidably supported by the vertical guide rail. Item 2 constitutes the second linear motion mechanism. Further, the pair of sprockets and the chain mounted between them constitute the endless chain mechanism in the first aspect. The crank member and the connecting member of claim 2 constitute a first link in claim 1, and the connecting link of claim 2 constitutes a second link in claim 1.

In the transfer device according to the present invention,
The connecting tool is, as described in claim 3, a rod slidably supported in a direction perpendicular to the shaft of the crank member, and one end fixed to the chain link and the other end is connected to one end of the rod. It can be constituted by a holding member to be fixed.

In the article transport apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, for example, the article is supported at the upper end of the support bracket, and the initial position is set so that the support bracket is located at the lower end on one end side of the horizontal guide rail. Set it,
When the drive device is driven, the support bracket first rises vertically from below, and after the article is placed on the upper end thereof,
It moves horizontally to the other end of the horizontal guide rail. And
At the other end of the horizontal guide rail, the support bracket descends vertically from above, and after the article is detached from the upper end of the support bracket, it moves horizontally toward one end of the horizontal guide rail and returns to the initial position. Thus, the article can be moved vertically and horizontally only by the linear motion, and can be transported between predetermined positions in a stable supporting state.

[0011]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 1 to 5 relate to an embodiment of an article conveying apparatus according to the present invention, in which a horizontal guide rail 11 is horizontally disposed on a support base 10, and a movable base 20 is connected to the horizontal guide rail 11 via a slider 23. Slidably supported. As shown in FIG. 1, a support column 21 is fixed to the upper surface of the movable base 20, and a vertical guide rail 22 is fixed to the support column 21 and extends in the vertical direction. The support bracket 30 is slidably supported on the vertical guide rail 22 via a slider 31, which will be described later.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a wall 10a parallel to the horizontal guide rail 11 and perpendicular to the support 10 is provided.
A pair of rotating shafts 41 and 42 are arranged side by side at a predetermined distance along an axis parallel to the horizontal guide rail 11. The rotating shafts 41 and 42 extend perpendicularly to the wall 10a, that is, parallel to the support base 10, and a pair of sprockets 43 and 44 are supported rotatably around them. A chain 50 is mounted between the sprockets 43 and 44. In the present embodiment, one sprocket 43 is a driving sprocket connected to the motor 40, which is a driving device of the present invention, and the other sprocket 44 is a driven sprocket. Therefore, the motor 40
When the sprocket 43 is driven to rotate in one direction, the chain 50 is driven.

The chain 50 is a well-known chain in which a plurality of chain links are connected as shown in FIG. 3. As the chain link, there are a pin link and a roller link (reference numerals are omitted), and these are alternately arranged. , And are rotatably connected to each other by pins. In the present embodiment, a connecting tool 80 described later is connected to one of the chain links 51.

On the other hand, a crank member 60 is supported on the moving table 20 as shown in FIG. Crank member 60
Consists of a shaft portion 61 orthogonal to the horizontal guide rail 11 on a plane parallel to the support base 10 and an arm portion 62 extending radially from the shaft portion 61, and the shaft portion 61 is And is rotatably supported by the moving table 20. One end of a connection link 70 is rotatably supported via a pin 71 at the distal end of the arm 62 of the crank member 60, and the other end of the connection link 70 is connected to a lower end of the support bracket 30 by a pin 7.
2 so as to be rotatable.

Further, a support portion 63 having a hollow portion parallel to the arm portion 62 is provided at one end of the shaft portion 61 of the crank member 60 and on the side opposite to the arm portion 62. An 80 rod 81 is slidably supported. still,
The support portion 63 and the shaft portion 61 may be formed integrally or separately. One end of the rod 81 is fixed to the holding member 82,
The holding member 82 is fixed to the chain link 51.
Therefore, when the chain 50 moves, the holding member 82 to which the rod 81 is fixed moves together with the chain link 51. That is, while the chain link 51 is moving along an axis parallel to the support 10, the holding member 82 also moves therewith, and the crank member 6 connected via the rod 81 is moved.
0 moves horizontally. Chain link 51 is chain 50
, The tip of the crank member 60 and one end of the connection link 70 are also driven to rotate along the outer periphery of the sprockets 43 and 44 as the sprockets 43 and 44 rotate. Accordingly, the connecting link 70 rotates about the pin 72 and inclines as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 with this rotation, but the bracket 30 is slidable on the vertical guide rail 22 via the slider 31. So that it moves upward or downward along it.

The rod 81 is provided on the support portion 6 of the crank member 60.
3 is slidably supported in the hollow portion, and a compression spring 83 is interposed between the two. Therefore, the relative position between the support portion 63 of the crank member 60 and the rod 81 due to the movement of the chain link 51. The fluctuation is absorbed by the compression spring 83, and the sliding operation between the two is performed smoothly. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a plurality of chain guides (represented by 45) are attached to the wall 10a.
A chain 50 is interposed between them. Since the lines in the figure are congested, the chain guide 45 in FIGS.
Are omitted, and the sprocket 44 is omitted in FIG.

The operation of the transport device of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. First, the sprocket 43 is driven to rotate about the rotating shaft 41 by the motor 40, and the chain 5 is driven.
When 0 is driven, the crank member 60 moves as the chain link 51 moves. In this case, when the chain link 51 reaches one end of the chain 50 and the tip of the crank member 60 and one end of the connection link 70 rotate along the outer circumference of the sprockets 43 and 44, the connection link 7
Numeral 0 rotates about the pin 72, and moves in the vertical direction after being inclined as shown in FIG. Thereby, the bracket 30
Moves upward (or downward) along the vertical guide rails 22 and reaches the upper end, the state shown in FIG. And
When the chain link 51 moves along an axis parallel to the support 10, the holding member 82 also moves with the chain link 51, and the crank member 60 and the connecting link 70 also move horizontally.

As shown in FIG. 6, when a long bar-shaped article WK (shown in cross section in FIG. 6) is at a position shown by a solid line, for example, the sprocket 43 moves counterclockwise in FIG. When driven to rotate, the support bracket 30 horizontally moves to the right from the position shown by the solid line, and then rises in the vertical direction to lift the article WK from below. When the article WK reaches the upper end, the support bracket 30 horizontally moves leftward in FIG.
After moving to the left end, descend vertically. 1 and 2 show a state where the support bracket 30 is located at the lower end, and FIG. 4 shows a state where the support bracket 30 is located at the upper end. In this manner, the upper end surface of the support bracket 30 moves vertically and horizontally along the locus indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6, and the article WK is transported from the predetermined position on the right side of FIG. 6 to the predetermined position on the left side.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the article WK is raised in a linear motion by only one motor 40,
It can be lowered and moved horizontally. In this embodiment, the sprockets 43 and 44 and the chain 5
Since the chain mechanism composed of zeros is used, the article WK can be transported in a stable state even when the moving distance in the horizontal direction is lengthened. Further, since the distance in the vertical direction can be made short, it can be installed in a low place, which is impossible with the conventional apparatus. Of course, the motor 40 can rotate not only in the normal direction but also in the reverse direction, so that the transport direction of the article WK can be easily changed.

Although the chain mechanism is used as the endless chain mechanism in the above embodiment, a belt mechanism including a pulley and a belt may be used. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the sprocket 43 is directly driven by a motor. However, the sprocket 43 may be driven via a chain or a belt, or a gear train may be used.

[0021]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained. That is, if the article conveying device is configured as described in claims 1 and 2, the article can be moved vertically and horizontally by linear motion,
It can be transported in a stable support state. In addition, since the height of the entire apparatus can be reduced, the apparatus can be installed in a low place.

Further, if the connecting member is configured as described in claim 3, the operation of the crank member linked to the chain operation can be performed smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view of a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a transport device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional plan view of the transfer device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a state in which a support bracket of the transport device according to the embodiment of the present invention is positioned at an upper end.

5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the conveyance device according to the embodiment of the present invention, which is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a transportation locus of an article in one embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 10 support base, 11 horizontal guide rail, 20 moving base, 22 vertical guide rail, 30 support bracket, 40 motor, 41, 42 rotating shaft, 43, 4
4 sprockets, 50 chains, 60 crank members, 70 connecting links, 80 connecting tools

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A support table, and a movable table supported on the support table so as to be movable in a horizontal direction via a first linear motion mechanism,
A support bracket that movably supports the movable table in a vertical direction via a second linear motion mechanism, an endless chain mechanism that is disposed on the support table in parallel with the first linear motion mechanism,
One end is connected to the endless chain mechanism so as to be interlockable, the intermediate part is rotatably supported on the movable table, and the other end is connected to the movement direction of the first linear movement mechanism and the second linear movement mechanism. A first link extending in a parallel direction, and a second link rotatably supporting one end at the other end of the first link and rotatably supporting the other end at the support bracket. An article conveying device, comprising: 2. A support base, a horizontal guide rail horizontally disposed on the support base, a movable base slidably supported on the horizontal guide rail, and one end supported by the movable base and the other end supported. A vertical guide rail extending upward in the vertical direction, a support bracket slidably supported on the vertical guide rail, and the horizontal guide rail on a surface parallel to the horizontal guide rail and perpendicular to the support base. A pair of rotating shafts that are arranged side by side at a predetermined distance along an axis parallel to and that extend in a direction perpendicular to a plane perpendicular to the support table, and rotate around each of the pair of rotating shafts. A pair of sprockets to support as possible,
A chain that connects a plurality of chain links and is mounted between the pair of sprockets, a driving device that drives the chain by rotating at least one of the pair of sprockets, and a plane parallel to the support base. A crank member having a shaft portion rotatably supported on the movable table around an axis orthogonal to the horizontal guide rail and an arm portion extending radially from the shaft portion; A connecting tool for connecting a chain link and a shaft portion of the crank member, and connecting the crank member to rotate about the shaft portion when the chain link rotates about the shaft of the sprocket during the driving of the chain; A connection link for rotatably supporting one end of the crank member at one end thereof and rotatably supporting the other end of the support bracket. Conveying apparatus an article to be. 3. A rod for supporting the connecting member slidably in a direction perpendicular to a shaft of the crank member, and a holding member for fixing one end to the chain link and fixing the other end to one end of the rod. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein
An apparatus for transporting articles as described in the above.