JP2001206534A - Article supplying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a period of time required to discharge a set number of articles (W1), (W2)... to an article recipient part 13 from a supply conveyor 11 under an article supplying method to discharge the articles (W1), (W2)... continuously traveling from the supply conveyor 11 to the article recipient part 13 in a set number unit. SOLUTION: A set number of articles (W1), (W2)... discharged to an article recipient part 13 from a supply conveyor 11 are dammed from the head article (W1) to the article (Wi) in an optional order, and thereafter, this damming is released.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article supply method for processing articles sequentially supplied from an upstream side in a set number of units, and is applicable to a case where the articles are stacked in the set number of units. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a schematic structural view of an article stacking apparatus showing an example of a conventional article supply apparatus. On the downstream side of the continuously running supply conveyor (11), the intermittently running input conveyor (12)
And an article mounting table (13) that can be raised and lowered are arranged in this order, and articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Are provided at the upstream end and the downstream end of the transfer surface of the input conveyor (12).・ The upstream sensor (1
4) and the downstream sensor (15) are provided separately. In addition, in the vicinity of the article mounting table (13), articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) stacked on the article mounting table (13). A pusher to be described later for pushing in the direction is provided.

Next, the operation of the article stacking apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 8, the supply conveyor (11) conveys articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Arranged at regular intervals while continuously traveling at a constant speed.
(W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) ... The intermittent running operation of temporarily stopping and moving only when the article placing table (13) is put into the article placing table (13) is repeated. Each time ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Is input, the operation of lowering the vertical dimension of each article is repeated, and finally, the article returns to the initial position and rises.

When an article (W ₁ ) is supplied from a continuously running supply conveyor (11) onto a stopped charging conveyor (12), a signal from an upstream sensor (14) for detecting this is detected. The input conveyor (12) runs at high speed, thereby
The article (W ₁ ) is put on the article mounting table (13), and the state shown in FIG. Then, the completion of the input of the article (W ₁ ) to the article mounting table (13) is confirmed by a signal from the downstream sensor (15), and the article mounting table (13) is lowered by one step (corresponding to the thickness of the article). . Similarly, when the article (W ₂ ) is loaded from the loading conveyor (12) to the article mounting table (13), the state shown in (b) of FIG. 9 is obtained, whereby the article (W ₁ ) article (W ₂ ) will be in a two-tiered state. When this operation is repeated, finally, FIG.
(E), the articles (W ₁ ) to (W ₅ ) are stacked in five stages, and the pusher (21), which is a discharging device indicated by an imaginary line in (E) of FIG. stage stacked articles _{(W 1) ~ (W 5} )
Is simultaneously extruded to the rear of the paper of FIG. 3 and supplied to a box packing device (not shown). Thereafter, before the new article (W ₁ ) is supplied from the supply conveyor (11) to the input conveyor (12), the article mounting table (13) is raised to the initial position, and the state shown in FIG. Return to.

[0005]

However, in the above conventional apparatus, since the supply conveyor (11) runs at a constant speed, each article (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ). The time interval of the input to) is constant. Therefore, the final article (W ₁ ) of a set of articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )
₅ ) during the short time from the introduction of the new article (W ₁ ) to the article placing table (13) after the article (W ₁ ) is thrown into the article placing table (13), W ₁₎ to perform - the operations of increasing the pusher (operation and article placing table extruding 21) (13) from the lowered position of (e) in FIG. 9 to the initial position of (f) (W ₅₎ at high speed There is a need. Therefore, when the articles (W ₁ ) to (W ₅ ) are pushed out of the article mounting table (13) at a high speed in a stacked state, there is a concern that they may collapse.

In the above, the supply conveyor (11)
The problems in the case of stacking articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Supplied from the above are exemplified, but they are packed in a set unit (for example, in units of 5) without stacking. even if the push on the downstream side of the box packed goods with the pusher (21), the article (W ₁₎ (W ₂₎
There is a concern that the smoothing of the operation of closing the packaging box after the boxes are packed and the operation of pushing out the boxed products are hindered.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
`` From the continuously running supply conveyor (11) to the goods (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )
・ The article supply method in which the set number of articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Is discharged from the supply conveyor (11) to the article receiving section in The time required for the subsequent article (W ₁ ) to be discharged to the article receiving section from the time when the discharge is completed. It is an object of the present invention to enable post-processing such as extruding and packing of articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... In an article receiving section in a low-speed and stable state.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems [1] The technical means of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is as follows.
From (11), the set number of articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) ... to be discharged to the article receiving section from the _first article (W ₁ ) to an article of any order (W _i ), After that, the dam is released. " Here, "dam" refers to an article (W ₁ )
(W ₂ ) · · · when the movement is completely stopped, and when the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) · · · are reduced to a speed lower than the transport speed of the supply conveyor (11) ( (Substantially blocking state). According to the above technical means, since the _first article (W ₁ ) conveyed by the supply conveyor (11) can be blocked from the _first article (W ₁ ) to an arbitrary order (W _i ), a new article can be obtained only during the blocking time. (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )
The timing of discharging from 1) to the goods receiving section is delayed. Therefore, it is possible to allocate a long time for post-processing in which the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ). it can. Thereby, the post-processing can be executed in a low-speed and stable state.

[2] The method according to the above [1], wherein a timing conveyor (31) whose speed can be adjusted is disposed between a downstream end of the supply conveyor (11) and the article receiving portion, and the timing conveyor (31) is provided. articles discharged from (W ₁₎ (W ₂₎ · · · is to be supplied to the article receiving unit, the damming is or the timing conveyor stopping the timing conveyor (31) (31) Is performed by traveling at a lower speed than the traveling speed of the supply conveyor (11), and the damming is released by changing the timing conveyor (31) to the traveling speed of the supply conveyor (11) or the traveling speed of the timing conveyor (11). In this case, when the timing conveyor (31) is stopped or reduced in speed, the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )
..The interval between them becomes smaller on the timing conveyor (31), whereby the articles (W ₁ ) and the like supplied from the supply conveyor (11) to the article receiving section are substantially blocked by the timing conveyor (31). State. Also, when the timing conveyor (31) is run at a higher speed than the supply conveyor (11), the substantial dam is released, whereby the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) Discharge to the goods receiving side.

[Item 3] In the above item 2, "the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Discharged from the timing conveyor (31) are the same as the timing conveyor (31) and the supply conveyor (11). )
It is configured to be loaded into the article receiving section via a loading conveyor (12) that runs at a higher speed, and the article receiving section is loaded with each of the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ). The article (W ₁ ) while moving in the vertical direction by the vertical height of the article
(W ₂ ) ... are repeatedly stacked and received, and after the set number of articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) Set number of articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )
Discharges the article receiving portion from the article receiving portion with a discharging device, and after the discharging, returns the article receiving portion to an initial height for receiving the first article (W ₁ ) to be stacked next. ” The articles (W ₁ ), (W ₂ ),... Substantially blocked by the conveyor (31) are introduced into the article receiving section one by one at a high speed by the introduction conveyor (12). Each time the article (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Is input, the article receiving portion moves vertically by the vertical dimension of the article (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ). ) ... are sequentially stacked and received.

After the set number of articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Are discharged from the supply conveyor (11) to the article receiving portion side, they are newly conveyed by the supply conveyor (11). Subsequent goods to come (W ₁ )
Are interrupted for a while as described in the above-mentioned item 1. Therefore, the time from the completion of the operation of receiving the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... In the article receiving section in the stacked state to the start of the next stacking operation can be lengthened. Thereby, the operation of discharging the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Stacked in the article receiving portion to the downstream side by the discharging device can be performed at a low speed, and the stacked articles (W ₁₎ ) (W ₂ ) ... is less likely to collapse.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a long time is allotted for post-processing in which articles (W ₁ ), (W ₂ ). As a result, the post-processing can be executed in a low-speed and stable state.

[0013]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an article stacking apparatus showing an example of an apparatus for performing the article supply method of the present invention.

A supply conveyor (11) which runs continuously at a constant speed.
A timing conveyor (31) whose speed can be adjusted is connected to a downstream end of the timing conveyor. On the downstream side of the timing conveyor (31), an input conveyor (12) intermittently running and an article mounting table (13) as an article receiving section which can be raised and lowered are arranged in this order, and a supply conveyor (11) is provided. ), Timing conveyor (3
1), first to third sensors for detecting articles (W ₁ ), (W ₂ ),... At respective boundaries between the input conveyor (12) and the article mounting table (13).
(33), (34), and (35) are provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the first sensor (33) is composed of a light emitting device (33a) and a light receiving device (33b) for receiving light of the light emitting device (33a). ) And the third sensor (35) are composed of light emitters (34a) (35a) and light receivers (34b) (35b). Also, the article mounting table (13) is a guide plate (36) that is erected in a parallel posture.
It is possible to go up and down between (37).

As shown in FIG. 3, the pusher (21) which appears in the elevating area of the article mounting table (13) is connected to the guide plate (36).
(37), and an article mounting table is provided in front of the pusher (21) in the advance direction.
(13) A carry-out conveyor (41) for receiving the articles (W ₁ ), (W ₂ ),.

Next, the operation of the article stacking apparatus will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the supply conveyor (11) continuously runs at a constant speed while the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )...
The timing conveyor (31) travels while periodically changing between a high speed state (A) and a low speed state (B). Also, the loading conveyor (12) repeats an intermittent running operation of temporarily running and stopping only when loading the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ )... Into the article mounting table (13). mounting table (13) the article (W ₁₎ (W ₂₎ ·
Each time the... Is inserted, the operation of descending by the vertical height of each article is repeated, and finally, the article returns to the initial position and rises.

Now, as shown in FIG.
Slower speed from feed conveyor (11) (even if stopped)
Timing conveyor running at low speed (B)
The goods (W₁) Is supplied, the article (W₁) Is the first
Formed between the emitter (33a) for the sensor (33) and the receiver (33b).
The cut-off signal is not shown because the cut-off light is cut off.
Counted by the counter, and similarly, the goods (W_Two) (W_Three) Is the first
The above counter counts each time it passes through the sensor (33)
Then, the count value is increased by one. And the goods (W
_Three) Passes through the disposition portion of the first sensor (33) and
When the count value of the item becomes “3”, as shown in FIG.
₁) (W_Two) (W_Three) Are densely arranged on the timing conveyor (31).
State, i.e., the articles supplied from the supply conveyor (11) (W₁) (W
_Two) (W_Three) Is the timing conveyor (31) in the low speed state (B).
It is conveyed at a low speed and becomes substantially blocked.

When the count value of the counter is
When it reaches "3", the timing conveyor (31)
Start running in a high-speed state (A) faster than (11). Then
Goods (W ₁) From the timing conveyor (31) to the input conveyor (1
2) When supplied (goods (W₁) Rear end with light emitter (34a)
When passing through the space between the receivers (34b)), the second sensor (3
4) The signal coming out of 4) raises the input conveyor (12) temporarily.
High-speed running, which allows the conveyor (12)
Place the product on the loading table (13) set at the same height.
The goods (W₁) (See FIG. 1).
As a result, the state shown in FIG. Then the goods
Goods (W₁) Is completed with the third sensor (35)
These signals confirm that the article mounting table (13) is₁)
Of the vertical direction). Similarly, goods
(W_Two) From the timing conveyor (31) to the input conveyor (12)
The supply was confirmed by the signal from the second sensor (34).
Then, the input conveyor (12) temporarily runs again at high speed,
6 (b), the product (W₁) (W_Two)But
It will be in a two-tiered state. Similarly, the goods (W_Three) Is an article (W
_Two6) and the state shown in (c) of FIG. 6 is obtained.
The article mounting table (13) descends by the height of the article. Afterwards
Goods (W_Four) Is in the high speed state (A) from the supply conveyor (11).
Feeding to the input conveyor (12) via the mining conveyor (31)
Is confirmed by the signal from the second sensor (34),
The input conveyor (12) temporarily runs at high speed,
From the input conveyor (12) to the article table (13) side.
_Four) Is charged and the article (W_Four) Is an article (W_Three)
The state shown in FIG. Then, the goods (W_Five) Is the same
And goods (W_Four) And stacked in the state shown in (e)
Then, the pusher (21) moves forward as shown in FIG.
And the articles (W₁) (W_Two) ・
Is pushed out to the discharge conveyor (41) side and discharged.
In the present embodiment, the light passes through the second sensor (34).
Goods (W₁) (W_TwoAn auxiliary counter (not shown)
Counting, and the count value of the auxiliary counter becomes “5”.
When the product (W_Five) Is the timing conveyor (31)
Again when it is supplied to the input conveyor (12).
The mining conveyor (31) switches to the low speed state (B) (Fig. 5
reference). Thereby, the article (W₁) ~ (W_Five) Followed by supply
New supply from the conveyor (11) to the timing conveyor (31)
Goods (W₁) (W_Two) (W_Three) Spacing on the feed conveyor (11)
The article (W₁) (W_Two) (W_Three) Virtually weir
Keep it in a locked state. This allows new products (W₁) (W_Two)
... is an article receiver from the supply conveyor (11) as an article receiver
The timing of discharging on the platform (13) is delayed. Therefore,
Due to the timing delay, the first stage on the table (13)
Stacked goods (W₁) (W_Two) ・ ・ ・ Downstream with pusher (21)
Take a long time to extrude the side conveyor (41).
You can guess. Therefore, the stacked articles (W₁) (W
_Two) ... is pushed out from the article table (13) with the pusher (21).
Operation can be performed at low speed.
Collapse can be reliably prevented.

Next, a modification of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
I do. . In the above embodiment, the article mounting table (1
3) Parts in the goods (W₁) (W_Two) ...
Contrary to this, the preceding article is
May be stacked on top of each other. That is, the above article
Place the upper surface of the mounting table (13) at the same height as the transfer surface of the loading conveyor (12)
And the article (W₁) (W_Two) ... stacked
Place the holding tool, which is to be held in the horizontal direction, on the article table (13).
And placed on the table (13)
The article is held by the above-mentioned holding tool and lifted by the height of the article.
The lifted article is supplied on the article mounting table (13).
On the next article to be stacked, and repeat this stacking operation.
By setting the number of articles (W₁) (W_Two) ...
To make sure that Then, the set number of articles (W ₁)
(W_Two) ・ ・ ・ The above-mentioned jaws that have finished stacking all
When it is raised to the position, the stacked articles (W₁) (W_Two)
... is discharged from the holding device to the downstream side.
Place the jaws at the initial height (the first item (W₁)
May be lowered to the height at which the sheet is clamped.

[0020] A box packing device is provided in place of the article mounting table (13), and articles (W ₁ ) discharged from the input conveyor (12)
(W ₂ )... May be packed without post-processing. In this case, the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) discharged from the supply conveyor (11) are substantially blocked by the timing conveyor (31) running in the low-speed state (B) and the downstream side Since the discharge timing to the container is delayed, the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) that have been supplied to the above boxing device earlier
.. Can be allocated a long time, and the box packing operation (post-processing operation) can be performed with sufficient time. Therefore, packaging failure and the like are less likely to occur.

[0021] In the above embodiment, in the low speed state (B)
Three by running the timing conveyor (31)
Goods (W₁) (W_Two) (W_Three), The distance between
The article (W₁) (W_Two) (W_Three) On the timing conveyor (31).
Although it was qualitatively blocked, the number of articles to be blocked
Is not limited to three. That is, one article (W
₁) May be temporarily blocked.
Make the mining conveyor (31) longer than that of the above-described embodiment.
5 items (W₁) ~ (W_Five) Is temporarily blocked.
Is also good.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an article stacking apparatus embodying the present invention, showing a state where an article mounting table (13) is at a highest position as an initial position.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an article stacking apparatus implemented by the present invention, showing a state where an article mounting table (13) is at a lowest position as a final position.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an article stacking apparatus implemented by the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of an article stacking device implemented by the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the operation of the article stacking device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the article stacking device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

(11) ・ ・ ・ Supply conveyor (12) ・ ・ ・ Input conveyor (13) ・ ・ ・ Article mounting table (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) (W ₃ ) (W ₄ ) (W ₅ ) ・ ・ ・ Article ( 31) ・ ・ ・ Timing conveyor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3E054 AA04 CA08 DB03 DB06 EA02 FA04 FA07 FB02 FE03 GA01 GB02 GC02 3F081 AA00 BA06 BD11 BD15 CC08 CE10 CE14 EA09 EA10 EA13 FA01 FA02 FB02

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An article from a continuously running supply conveyor (11)
(W₁) (W_Two) Is discharged to the goods receiving section in the set number of units
In the article supply method, the article is discharged from the supply conveyor (11) to the article receiving section.
The set number of articles (W ₁) (W_Two) ...₁)
From any order of goods (W_i), And then
An article supply method that releases the dam. 2. The article supply method according to claim 1, further comprising a timing conveyor (31) having a speed adjustable between a downstream end of the supply conveyor (11) and the article receiving portion. Goods discharged from (31) (W ₁ ) (W
₂ ) is supplied to the article receiving portion, and the damming stops the timing conveyor (31) or sets the timing conveyor (31) at a traveling speed of the supply conveyor (11). Is also performed by running at a low speed, and the blocking is released by the timing conveyor.
(31) is carried out by running at a running speed of the supply conveyor (11) or higher. 3. The article supply method according to claim 2, wherein the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₁ ) discharged from the timing conveyor (31).
₂ ) is configured to be fed into the article receiving portion via the feeding conveyor (12) running at a higher speed than the timing conveyor (31) and the supply conveyor (11), and the article receiving portion is Each time the articles (W ₁ ), (W ₂ )... Are input, the articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ). The operation of receiving in the stacked state is repeated, and after the set number of articles (W ₁ ) (W ₂ ) is received by the article receiving portion, the set number of articles (W ₁ ) ( W ₂ ) is ejected from the article receiving section by the ejection device, and after the ejection, the article receiving section is returned to the initial height for receiving the first article (W ₁ ) to be stacked next, Article supply method.