JP2001106323A - Conveying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive and highly-reliable conveying apparatus capable of facilitating the adjustment of a space between two driving belts and the tension thereof in response to various widths of articles to be conveyed by means of a simple mechanism. SOLUTION: This conveying apparatus 100 is formed so that, in maintaining a desired space between a conveyor belt device 130 on a stationary side and a conveyor belt device 140 on a movable side mounted on a base 110, only loosening of one adjusting screw may loosen a conveyor belt 145 on the movable side wound around a driving roller 154 driven by one common motor 151 and a supporting board screwed against the base 110 to facilitate their movement and, after a desired space is obtained, tightening of the adjustment screw may wrap the belt 145 around the driving roller 154 and the supporting board 141 may be screwed against the base 11 to fix it at the position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transport device for transporting a flat article such as a tray containing electronic circuit boards and electronic components.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, a prior art transfer device will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an example of the structure and configuration of a conventional transport device. The prior art transfer apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 8 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 08-301425 “Article Conveyor” and has a pair of conveyor units 5 arranged side by side. 5, a drive unit 8 having a side frame 7, a motor 18 and a drive wheel 20 provided at one of the front and rear ends of the side frame 7, a driven wheel 32 and a tension provided at the other of the front and rear ends of the side frame 7. It comprises a driven unit 9 having an adjusting screw 42 and an endless drive belt 10 stretched over both wheels 20, 32.

[0004] Therefore, in configuring the transport device 1, if a pair of conveyor units 5 having a length corresponding to the installation location, a width corresponding to the width of the article to be transported, and a height are prepared, a short time is required. Can be assembled easily and inexpensively.

The conveyor 1 assembled in this way can drive the drive belt 10 incorporated in each conveyor unit 5 by the motor 18 also incorporated in each conveyor unit 5,
The width of the space between the two drive belts 10 (the width of the space in the direction perpendicular to the drive direction) can be changed, and since the drive units 8 are independent, a simple mechanism can be used. .

However, it is necessary to make the rotational speeds of the two drive belts 10 the same. If the rotation speeds are not the same,
It is difficult to stably transport the articles. For this reason,
Conventionally, it took a considerable amount of labor and time to adjust the rotational speeds of these two drive belts 10 to be the same.

As a method of solving such a problem, there is a method of solving the problem by using a drive mechanism that uses one motor and divides the rotational force of the motor into two drive belts 10 and drives them.

[0008]

However, in the transport device having such a configuration, the rotation speeds of both drive belts 10 can be synchronized, but in order to provide a mechanism for changing the belt-to-belt pitch at the same time, a ball is required. A rotating shaft having splines and a complicated mechanism must be prepared, and there is a problem in that the transfer device becomes expensive.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve these problems, and has been developed in consideration of various widths of articles such as electronic circuit boards and trays, and the distance between the two drive belts and the tension of the drive belts. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an inexpensive and highly reliable transfer device which can easily perform the adjustment with a very simple mechanism.

[0010]

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the transfer device is provided with a support base and a predetermined length rotatably supported by a support member attached to the support base. A plurality of transport belt devices, each including a transport belt, at least one of which is movably arranged with respect to the other, a common rotary drive device that drives the plurality of transport belts, and a transport belt that is movable. When moving according to the width of the article to be moved, at the same time as the attachment of the movable drive belt device to the support base is relaxed, the transport belt is relaxed with respect to the rotary drive device, and is moved in the width direction. When the interval between the conveyor belts is within a predetermined interval, the conveyor belt is wound around the rotary driving device and fastened at the same time as the movable conveyor belt device is moved forward. And composed of a belt spacing adjustment device can be fixed to the support base, solves the problems.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the transport device is
A fixed-side transport belt device fixedly attached to the support base, the fixed-side transport belt device including a support base, a transport belt of a predetermined length rotatably supported by a support member attached to the support base, and the support A movable-side transport belt device that includes a transport belt of a predetermined length rotatably supported by a support member movably attached to the base, and is movably disposed in parallel with the fixed-side transport belt device, One motor for driving the two transport belts, one rotary drive roller rotationally driven by the motor, and winding means for winding the transport belt of the fixed-side transport belt device around one end of the rotary drive roller; A winding means comprising at least one movable roller for winding the transport belt of the movable transport belt device from an intermediate portion to the other end portion of the rotary drive roller. When the interval between the two conveyor belts is within the width of the article to be conveyed, the movable side conveyor belt device is fixed at the interval and the movable roller is moved. When the transport belt wound around the rotary drive roller is tightened so as to be in close contact with each other and is set at an interval of the width of another article, the movable roller is moved in a direction different from the movable direction, and A belt spacing adjusting device configured to relax the transport belt wound around a rotary drive roller and to move the movable transport belt device to a spacing position between the other articles, thereby solving the problem. are doing. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the belt spacing adjusting device of the transport device according to the first and second aspects is configured around one adjusting screw, and the movable member is adjusted by adjusting the adjusting screw. The problem is solved by simultaneously tightening and relaxing the side drive belt device with respect to the support base and tightening and relaxing the transfer belt of the movable side drive belt device with respect to the rotary drive device.

Therefore, according to the conveying apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the distance between the two drive belts and the tension can be adjusted by one means in accordance with the width of the articles of various sizes, and the desired position can be obtained. It can be easily positioned.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-described operation, the transfer apparatus can be configured with a very simple structure.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above operation, by adjusting one adjusting screw, the transport belt of the movable transport belt device is tightened to the rotary drive roller. At the same time, the movable transfer belt device can be fixed to the support base, or the transfer belt can be relaxed from the rotary drive roller, and at the same time, the movable transfer belt device fixed to the support base can be released.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a top view showing a part of the transporting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention in a cut-away manner. FIG. 2 is a side view of the transporting apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the movable transfer belt device as viewed from the line XX of the transfer device illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the belt interval adjustment device in a state where the drive belt of the transfer device illustrated in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the belt gap adjusting device shown in FIG. 4 along the line YY in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a belt gap adjusting chart in a state where the driving belt of the conveying device shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a side view of the apparatus, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the belt gap adjusting apparatus shown in FIG. 6 taken along the line YY of FIG.

First, the configuration of a transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 indicates a transport device of the present invention. The transport device 100 includes a guide device 120, a fixed-side transport belt device 130, a movable-side transport belt device 140, a belt driving device 150, a belt interval adjusting device 160, and the like, which are assembled on a base 110.

The base 110 is a substantially rectangular metal plate having short sides and long sides of predetermined dimensions.

The guide device 120 includes a pair of guide rails 121 and 122, and is disposed on the base 110 in parallel with each other at predetermined intervals in the width direction of the short side and in the length direction of the long side. And is fixed by fixing means such as screws.

The fixed-side conveyor belt device 130 has a
As shown, a support plate 131 having a predetermined length, a roller 132 rotatably mounted above one end of the support plate 131, and a support plate 131 above the other end of the support plate 131 A roller 133 rotatably attached to the outer end of the attached tension bar 134, and an endless transport belt 135 (hereinafter simply referred to as a "belt") wound around the rollers 132 and 133. It is configured.

The tension bar 134 has an elongated hole 134A substantially at the center thereof.
Screw 134B so that its length in the longitudinal direction can be adjusted.
Through the support plate 131.

Accordingly, the tension of the belt 135 stretched between the rollers 132 and 133 can be adjusted by changing the position of the tension bar 134. Further, the belt 135 is wound around the rollers 132 and 133, and a part of the belt 135 is a belt winding roller 15 constituting a part of a belt driving device 150 described later.
It is wound in close contact with the same portion of the drive roller 154 via the rollers 5 and 156, and is assembled so that the rotation of the motor 151 is transmitted without slippage. The belt 135 of this embodiment is of a flat belt type, and the portion of the drive roller 154 on which the belt 135 is hung is formed in a cylindrical shape.

In the fixed-side conveyor belt device 130 having such a configuration and structure, the support plate 131 is fixed perpendicular to the base 110 along one long side of the base 110 by fixing means such as a screw. ing.

The movable side conveyor belt device 140 is also provided in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the height of the support plate 141 is slightly lower, but is substantially the same shape as the support plate 131. The support plate 141 has a predetermined length, and is rotatably mounted above one end of the support plate 141. Roller 142, a roller 143 rotatably attached to the outer end of a tension bar 144 attached above the other end of the support plate 141, and an endless endless belt stretched over the rollers 142, 143. And a conveyor belt (hereinafter simply referred to as “belt”) 145.

Like the tension bar 134, although not shown, the tension bar 144 has an elongated hole substantially at the center thereof, which is the same as the elongated hole 134A. It is fixed to the support plate 141 through a screw 144B so that the height can be adjusted. Further, a pair of sliding guides 146 are fixed to both lower end portions of the support plate 141.

The tension of the belt 145 is
As described above, a pair of rollers 14 disposed at both ends are provided.
2 and 143, and the tension bar 144
Is adjusted by adjusting the position of. and again,
As shown in FIG. 3, the belt 145 is a support plate 141 which is one of the components of the belt driving device 150 described later.
A part of the driving roller 154 described later on the movable side conveyance belt device 140 side slides via the belt winding roller 157 fixed to the belt and a movable belt winding roller 164 supported by a vertically movable structure. Not wrapped around.

The movable-side conveyor belt device 140 having such a configuration and structure has the support plate 141 perpendicular to the base 110 and the fixed-side conveyor belt device 130 along one long side of the base 110. The pair of sliding guides 146 are disposed in parallel on the pair of guide rails 121 and 122, and the distance between the pair of sliding guides 146 and the fixed side conveyor belt device 130 is variable (movable range W shown in FIG. 1).
Mounted and assembled so that it can be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the belt driving device 150 includes a motor 151, gears 152 and 153, a driving roller 154, and a support plate 1 on the fixed side conveying belt device 130 side.
A pair of belt winding rollers 155 and 156 rotatably attached to the belt 41 and a pair of fixed belt winding rollers 157 on the side of the movable conveyor belt device 140 and a belt gap adjusting device configured to be vertically movable. 160 is a part of the movable belt winding roller 16
4, the bearings 158, 159 and the like.

The motor 151 is mounted inside the support plate 131 of the fixed-side conveyor belt device 130 and perpendicular to the support plate 131. A drive-side gear 152 is mounted on a rotating shaft protruding outside the support plate 131. Fixed. The drive roller 154 is a round bar composed of a portion having a small diameter and a large portion in order to reduce the weight. The small diameter portion is on the fixed side conveyance belt device 130 side, and the large diameter portion is on the movable side conveyance belt device 130. The motor 151 moves toward the belt device 140 side.
In parallel with the above, it is rotatably mounted between the fixed-side transport belt device 130 and the movable-side transport belt device 140.
The drive roller 154 on the fixed-side transport belt device 130 is supported by a bearing 158, and the drive roller 154 on the movable-side transport belt device 140 is supported by a bearing 159.

The belt driving device 150 includes a motor 15
1 operates and rotates, the rotational force is transmitted to the drive roller 154 via both connected gears 152 and 153. When the drive roller 154 rotates, the drive roller is driven by a pair of belt winding rollers 155 and 156. 1
The belt 135 wound around 54 is driven, and the belt 145 wound around the drive roller 154 is driven by the belt winding roller 157 and the movable belt winding roller 164 on the opposite side in synchronization with the belt 135. .

The belt spacing adjusting device 160 includes a guide hole 161 formed in the base 110 and the guide hole 1.
61, an inverted L-shaped tension angle 163 fixed above the sliding block 162, and the movable belt winding roller 1 attached to the tip of the tension angle 163.
64 and the L-shaped bracket 1 fixed to the support plate 141
65, disposed outside the support plate 141 and the L-shaped bracket 165, and penetrates through the screw holes of the L-shaped bracket 165;
And an adjusting screw 166 screwed (screwed) into the sliding block 162.

The guide 167 is provided between the pair of guide rails 121 and 122 and the drive roller 1.
On the side opposite to the motor 151 side with respect to the motor 54, the length is formed to be parallel to the base 110 and to sufficiently cover the length of the movable range W in the width direction thereof.

The sliding block 162 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 7, the guide hole 161 is smoothly slidably fitted into the guide hole 161 and abuts against the lower surface 110A of the base 110, and has a width larger than the width of the guide hole 161.
It is a block material with 2A.

The tension angle 163 is placed above the sliding block 162 and is in a shallow U-shape so that it can slide up and down in contact with the inner surface of the support plate 141 of the movable conveyor belt device 140. Is an inverted L-shaped member guided by a guide 167. The guide 167 is fixed to the side surface of the support plate 141 with screws or the like. A movable belt winding roller 164 is attached to the tip of the tension angle 163.

The L-shaped bracket 165 is connected to the support plate 141.
The base 110 comes into contact with the base 110 from below and
The screw 10 is fixed to the support plate 141 with a width that closes the guide hole 161 formed in the support plate 10. A through hole (not shown) having a size through which the screw 166A of the adjusting screw 166 can be inserted is formed substantially at the center thereof.

The adjusting screw 166 is provided outside the support plate 141 and the L-shaped bracket 165, penetrates through the through hole of the L-shaped bracket 165, and is connected to the sliding block 162 with a screw 166A. (FIG. 5) is screwed together (screwed).

When the distance between the belts 135 and 145 of the fixed-side transport belt device 130 and the movable-side transport belt device 140 is changed in accordance with the width of an article to be transported, for example, an electronic circuit board. In principle, the belt 145 of the movable conveyor belt device 140 is
It is sufficient that the belt 145 is tensioned by the tension bar 144 as described above, but the belt 145 is in tension with the belt 145 in the tensioned state. The belt 145 can hardly be moved because the friction with the driving roller 154 is too strong.

The transfer apparatus 100 according to the present invention also solves this problem.
The transfer device 1 of the present invention configured as described above using
00 will be described.

When the width of the article to be conveyed is determined, first, the adjusting screw 166 of the belt interval adjusting device 160 is loosened. By loosening the adjusting screw 166, the
As shown in FIG. 7, the sliding block 162 is lowered, the flange 162A is separated from the lower surface 110A of the base 110, and at the same time, the sliding block 162 is lowered and the tension angle fixed on the sliding block 162. 163 also goes down. Therefore, the movable belt winding roller 164 placed on the tip of the tension angle 163 also goes down, and the belt 145 wound around the driving roller 154 is loosened and separated from the peripheral surface of the driving roller 154. By loosening the adjusting screw 166 in this way, the sliding block 162 and the belt 145 are loosened, and therefore, the position of the fixed-side conveying belt device 130 is changed according to the width of the article to be conveyed. It can be easily moved from that position by a predetermined distance with respect to the reference and positioned.

When the adjusting screw 166 is tightened in this state, the sliding block 162 slightly rises from the state shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 to the height position shown in FIGS. The upper surface of the flange 162A of the moving block 162 is in close contact with the lower surface of the base 110, and the lower surface of the L-shaped bracket 165 is fixed in close contact with the upper surface of the sliding block 162. At the same time, the tension angle 163 also rises, and accordingly, the movable belt winding roller 1 attached to the tip end thereof.
64 lifts belt 145 and winds and tightens belt 145 around drive roller 154.

By performing the above-described operations, the movable conveyor belt device 1 can be adjusted according to the width of the article to be conveyed.
The new position of the 40 belts 145 can be easily determined and fixed.

When the movable conveyor belt device 140 is fixed at a new position, as described above, the belt 145 is closely wound around the drive roller 154, and is driven by the rotation of the motor 151. The rotation of 154 is not slippery, and is therefore transmitted to the belt 145 with high accuracy. Accordingly, the belt 1 of the fixed-side transport belt device 130
35 and the belt 145 of the movable belt winding roller 164
Can be driven at the same rotational speed.

[0044]

Therefore, according to the transfer device of the present invention, the interval between the transfer belts can be adjusted only by loosening one adjusting screw, and the transfer device can be changed in accordance with the change of the article to be transferred. The time can be greatly reduced, and the configuration can be made with a very simple mechanism, so that the reliability is improved and the device can be manufactured at a low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway top view of a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the transfer device shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from a fixed transfer belt device.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the transfer device shown in FIG. 1 when the movable transfer belt device is viewed from line XX.

4 is a side view of the belt interval adjusting device in a state where a driving belt of the transport device shown in FIG. 1 is tightened.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the belt gap adjusting device shown in FIG. 4 on a line YY in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the belt interval adjusting device in a state where the driving belt of the transport device shown in FIG. 1 is loosened.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the belt gap adjusting device shown in FIG. 6, taken on line YY of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an example of the structure and configuration of a conventional transport device.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 100: a transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention, 110: base, 120: guide device, 130: fixed-side transport belt device, 131: support plate, 135: belt, 140: movable-side transport belt device, 141: support plate, 145: belt, 1
50: belt drive, 151: motor, 152, 15
3 gears, 154 drive rollers, 160 belt spacing adjusters, 161 guide holes, 162 sliding blocks, 1
63: tension angle, 164: movable belt winding roller, 165: L-shaped bracket, 166: adjusting screw

Claims (3)

[Claims] A plurality of support belts each having a predetermined length rotatably supported by a support member attached to the support base, wherein at least one of the plurality of conveyor belts is movable relative to the other; A conveyor belt device, a common rotary driving device for driving the plurality of conveyor belts, and when the movable conveyor belt is moved according to the width of an article to be conveyed, the movable side drive relative to the support base. At the same time as the attachment of the belt device is relaxed, the transport belt is relaxed with respect to the rotation drive device,
In order to facilitate the movement in the width direction, when the interval between the conveyor belts falls within a predetermined interval, the conveyor belt is wound around the rotation driving device and tightened, and at the same time, the movable conveyor belt device is attached to the support base. A transport device comprising a belt interval adjusting device that can be fixed. 2. A fixed-side transport belt fixedly attached to the support base, comprising: a support base; and a transport belt of a predetermined length rotatably supported by a support member attached to the support base. A movable belt which is rotatably supported by a support member movably attached to the support base and has a predetermined length, the movable belt being movably arranged with respect to the fixed-side transport belt device. Side conveyor belt device; one motor for driving the two conveyor belts; one rotary drive roller rotationally driven by the motor; and one end of the rotary drive roller for transporting the fixed side conveyor belt device. A winding means for winding a belt; and at least one movable roller for winding a transport belt of the movable transport belt device from an intermediate portion to the other end portion of the rotary drive roller. A rotation driving device comprising a winding means, and when the interval between the two transport belts is within the interval of the width of the article to be transported, the movable side transport belt device is fixed at the interval position and the movable belt is fixed. When moving the roller, tightening the transport belt wound around the rotary drive roller so as to be in close contact therewith, and setting the width of the other article at an interval of the width of the movable roller in a direction different from the movable direction. A belt interval adjusting device that is movable to relax the transport belt wound around the rotary drive roller and that can move the movable transport belt device to the interval position of the other article. A transfer device characterized by the above-mentioned. 3. The belt gap adjusting device includes one adjusting screw, and the adjusting screw adjusts the tightening and loosening of the movable drive belt device with respect to the support base and the transport belt of the movable drive belt device. 3. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein tightening and loosening of the rotary drive device are simultaneously performed.