JP2001287819A - Roller conveyor unit and roller conveyor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a roller conveyor unit and roller conveyor device free of the risk of deterioration even in the course of long time use, damaging a transported work at the time of acceleration or deceleration, or generating static electricity. SOLUTION: A control circuit means 21 is equipped with an arithmetic control part 23, an acceleration/deceleration and speed setting switch 24, and a quartz oscillator 25, wherein the acceleration/deceleration and speed setting switch 24 can set the transport time and acceleration/deceleration time generated by the rotation of a motor 18 provided in the roller conveyor unit, while the arithmetic control part 23 is fed with a sensing signal for a transported work given by a work sensor belonging to the applicable roller conveyor unit and a signal given by a control circuit means of an adjacently installed roller conveyor unit, acknowledges the setting of the switch 24, emits a rotation command to the motor 18, and gives the quartz oscillator 25 a signal for generating pulses as per the set speed so that the motor 18 is operated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a roller conveyor unit and a roller conveyor device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, US Pat. No. 5,904,239 is a suitable roller conveyor device in a clean room for a delicate transfer work such as a silicon wafer or a magnetic disk. This structure will be described with reference to FIG.

[0003] As shown in FIG.
0 and 71 are provided. A plurality of idle rollers 72 are arranged in a row inside one holding plate 70, and the idle roller shaft 73 of each idle roller 72 is supported by the holding plate 70. Inside the other holding plate 71, a drive roller 7 is provided so as to face the idle roller 72.
4 and idle rollers 75 are alternately arranged, and each drive roller shaft 76 and each idle roller shaft 77
It is supported by Each drive roller 74 is driven by a motor 78 fixed to the holding plate 71 corresponding to the drive roller 74.

The holding plate 71 has a work detection sensor 79 for detecting the work being carried and carried on the idle roller 72, the drive roller 74 and the idle roller 75 and outputting a detection signal to the two drive rollers. 74 are provided for each. Control circuit means (not shown) is provided corresponding to the two motors 78 and the one work detection sensor 79, and the control circuit means includes a detection signal from the work detection sensor 79 and an adjacent control circuit means. The motor 78 is controlled in response to a signal from the motor 78.

The following structure is adopted so that when the motor stops and starts to rotate, the motor gradually stops and starts to rotate. A drive roller is rotatably supported on a drive shaft of the motor via a bearing, one end of a spring is fixed to an inner wall of the drive roller, and the other end of the spring is fixed to the drive shaft.

[0006]

In the above prior art, since the driving roller is driven via a spring, the spring is deteriorated by long-term use, and static electricity is generated between the driving roller and the driving shaft.

The material of the drive roller is made of flexible polyethylene rubber. However, with such materials,
It is not possible to sufficiently prevent static electricity.

Further, since the roller conveyor device is arranged in a plane, a large installation space is required.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a roller conveyor unit which does not cause deterioration even when used for a long period of time, does not damage a work to be transferred during acceleration and deceleration, and does not generate static electricity. Is to do.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a roller conveyor unit capable of sufficiently preventing static electricity and preventing electrostatic discharge.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a roller conveyor device capable of three-dimensionally and effectively disposing a linear roller conveyor.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an idle roller is provided in one row and at least a plurality of drive rollers are provided in a row. A motor that drives the drive roller, a work detection sensor that detects the work to be conveyed, and outputs a detection signal in response thereto, and a detection signal from the work detection sensor of the roller conveyor unit and a signal from the adjacent control circuit unit. A roller conveyor unit having control circuit means for controlling the motor in accordance with a signal, wherein the control circuit means has an arithmetic control unit, an acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch, and a crystal oscillator, and includes an acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch. Can set the transport speed and acceleration / deceleration time by the rotation of the motor of the roller conveyor unit. A signal from the control circuit means of the roller conveyor unit which is detected signals and adjacent arrangement of the case where the workpiece detection sensor knit detects the transport work,
The motor is driven by recognizing the setting of the acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch, outputting a rotation command to the motor, and simultaneously outputting a signal for generating a pulse according to the speed setting to the crystal unit.

[0013] In order to solve the above first and second problems,
A second means of the present invention is the first means, wherein
The material of the idle roller and drive roller has a surface resistivity
10 ⁷ -10¹⁴Ω / □.

According to a third aspect of the present invention for solving the first and second problems, in the second aspect, the idle roller and the driving roller are made of conductive polyurethane. And

[0015] A fourth means of the present invention for solving the first and third problems is to provide a linear roller con- verter in which a plurality of roller con- verter units having the structure of the first means are connected in series. An elevator is provided above and below the set, and is equipped with at least one roller conveyor unit, and an elevator that is driven up and down so that the roller conveyor unit is positioned on a conveyance path of the two sets of linear roller conveyors. A lifting plate vertically driven, a motor for vertically driving the lifting plate, and a motor fixed to the lifting plate.
Control circuit means for controlling the motor of the roller conveyor unit having the configuration described above, the control circuit means,
Controlling the motor by transmitting and receiving a detection signal when a work detection sensor of a roller conveyor unit fixed to the elevating plate detects a work to be conveyed, and a control circuit unit of the linear roller conveyor. Features.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. When forming a transport path, FIG.
The required number of roller conveyor units 1 are connected in series and disposed. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the holding plates 2 and 3 arranged opposite to each other are connected by a connecting rod 4. Inside the holding plate 2, five idle rollers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E are arranged in a row, and the idle rollers 5A to 5E are respectively provided with idle roller shafts 6 fixed to the holding plate 2. It is supported rotatably.

Inside the other holding plate 3, five driving rollers 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D and 7E are arranged in a row in opposition to the idle rollers 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E. Each drive roller shaft 8 of the rollers 7A to 7E is rotatably supported by the holding plate 3 via a bearing 9. Each drive roller shaft 8 has a drive pulley 10A,
0B, 10C, 10D, and 10E are fixed. A belt 11 is hung on the drive pulleys 10A and 10E.

The belt 1 is attached to the drive pulleys 10B and 10C.
1 so that the drive pulleys 10B and 10C
A tension pulley 15 is disposed between them, and the tension pulley 15 is rotatably supported by a tension pulley shaft 16 fixed to the holding plate 3. Drive pulley 10
A motor pulley 17 is disposed between the drive pulleys 10C and 10D so as to press the belt 11 against C and 10D, and the motor pulley 17 is fixed to an output shaft of a motor 18 fixed to the holding plate 3.

Therefore, both drive pulleys 10A and 10A
The belt 11 hanged on 0E is a tension pulley 15
And a drive pulley 10A, 1
It is also pressed against drive pulleys 10B, 10C and 10D other than 0E. Then, when the motor 18 is driven to rotate the motor pulley 17, all the drive pulleys 10A to 10E rotate in the same direction via the belt 11, and
A to 7E also rotate in the same direction. Thereby, the transported work placed on the idle rollers 5A to 5E and the drive rollers 7A to 7E is transported.

The holding plate 3 has drive pulleys 10A, 1
The work detection sensor 20 disposed above the OE is fixed, and a detection window (not shown) is provided in a portion of the holding plate 3 corresponding to the work detection sensor 20.

A control circuit means 21 is fixed to the holding plate 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the control circuit means 21 has a control board 22 fixed to the holding plate 3. The control board 22 includes an arithmetic control unit 23 composed of a semiconductor device, an acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch 24, A crystal oscillator 25 and a motor driver 26 are mounted.

The acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch 24 is a dip switch having five switches. 3, NO. 4, NO. 5 is the setting of the transport speed, switch number NO. 1, NO. 2 is an acceleration / deceleration time setting. Switch No. 3, NO. 4, N
O. By the combination of OFF and ON of 5, eight kinds of rotations of the motor 18 shown in [Table 1], that is, eight kinds of transport speeds can be obtained. In the idle rollers 5A to 5E and the driving rollers 7A to 7E shown in the present embodiment, the small-diameter roller portion and the large-diameter roller portion are integrally formed.
In the case of mmφ, the transport speed shown in [Table 1] is obtained.

Switch number NO. 1, NO. 2 OF
By the combination of F and ON, the acceleration / deceleration time shown in [Table 2] can be obtained for the above eight kinds of transport speeds. That is, the switch number NO. 1, NO. By setting the acceleration / deceleration time shown in [Table 2], the motor 18
Is accelerated at the start and decelerated at the stop.

The arithmetic and control unit 23 detects a detection signal when the work detection sensor 20 of the roller conveyor unit 1 detects a conveyed work and a signal 30 from the control circuit means 21 of the adjacent roller conveyor unit 1. Then, the setting of the acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch 24 is recognized, and the rotation command 31 is output to the motor driver 26. At the same time, it outputs a signal 33 for causing the crystal oscillator 25 to generate a pulse 32 at the set speed. Motor driver 26
Is a rotation command 31 from the arithmetic and control unit 23 and the crystal unit 2
The number of pulses 32 from 5 is recognized and output to the motor 18.

[0025]

[Table 1]

[0026]

[Table 2]

For example, when the transport speed in [Table 1] is set to "3", the switch No. 3 is OFF, switch number NO. 4 is ON, switch number N
O. 5 is OFF, so the small-diameter roller is 3.6
At 2 m / min (60.3 mm / sec), the speed of the large-diameter roller is 4.52 m / min (75.4 mm / sec). The acceleration time to reach this speed and the deceleration time from that speed are determined by the switch number NO. 1 is ON, switch number NO. When 2 is OFF, the time is 0.3 sec.

As described above, the acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch 2
By setting 4, the transport speed and the acceleration / deceleration time can be changed immediately. Further, the optimum value can be easily selected according to the use conditions, for example, the weight and size of the transported work. Also, unlike the conventional example, the driving roller is not driven via the spring, so that there is no deterioration even during long-term use, and there is no damage to the transfer work during acceleration and deceleration, and static electricity is generated. Absent.

In the above embodiment, the case where the control circuit means 21 shown in FIG. 3 is applied to the roller conveyor unit 1 provided with only a plurality of drive rollers 7A to 7E on the other side as shown in FIG. However, the same effect can be obtained by using the control circuit means 21 shown in FIG. 3 in a roller conveyor unit having an idle roller 77 in addition to the driving roller 74 as shown in FIG.

However, a plurality of driving rollers 7
When only A to 7E are rotatably supported and these drive rollers 7A to 7E are driven by one motor 18, an inexpensive roller conveyor unit 1 can be obtained. In addition, a short transfer work can be stably transferred.

The material of the idle rollers 5A to 5E and the drive rollers 7A to 7E has a surface resistivity of 10 ⁷ to 10 ^14.
It is made of Ω / □ conductive polyurethane. In general,
As a material called antistatic, a material containing carbon or carbon fiber is used, and most of them have a surface resistivity of 10 ³ to 10 ⁶ Ω / □. However, grounding with such a low-resistance material can be said to be a countermeasure against static electricity, but there is a possibility that an object already charged with static electricity may be discharged (sparked). Then, it is not possible to prevent electromagnetic interference as in the case of grounding with a metal material. The material of the idle rollers 5A to 5E and the driving rollers 7A to 7E is made of conductive polyurethane having a surface resistivity of 10 ⁷ to 10 ¹⁴ Ω / □. The discharged charge is released gradually, not instantaneously, to prevent electrostatic discharge.

The idle rollers 72 and 75 and the drive roller 74 shown in FIG. 5 are made of a material having a surface resistivity of 10 ⁷ to 10.
Needless to say, the same effect can be obtained by using a conductive polyurethane of ¹⁴ Ω / □.

In the above embodiment, the case where the number of the idle rollers 5A to 5E and the number of the drive rollers 7A to 7E are five has been described. However, the number of idle rollers 5A to 5E and the number of drive rollers 7A to 7E may be other than five. For example, 3
In this case, the idle rollers are only 5C, 5D and 5E, and the drive rollers are only 7C, 7D and 7E. In this case, of course, there is no tension pulley 15 and the belt 1
Needless to say, 1 is applied to the driving rollers 7C and 7E. Needless to say, the holding plates 2 and 3 are also large enough to hold the idle rollers 5C to 5E and the driving rollers 7C to 7E. In the case of four rollers, the idle roller 5A and the drive roller 7A may be omitted, and the belt 11 may be hung on the drive rollers 7B and 7E.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. Two sets of linear roller conveyors 40 each having a plurality of roller conveyor units 1 having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 or 5 connected thereto,
41 are arranged vertically. FIG. 4 shows the linear roller conveyors 40 and 41 in a short and simplified manner. The upper linear roller conveyor 40 is fixed to a support plate 43 fixed to a ceiling 42 and the lower linear roller conveyor 4
1 is fixed to the support base 44. Between the linear roller conveyors 40 and 41, there is provided an erater 50 for transporting the transfer work 45 from the linear roller conveyor 40 to the linear roller conveyor 41 or from the linear roller conveyor 41 to the linear roller conveyor 40.

Next, the structure of the eraser 50 will be described. Four pillars 52 are erected on the bottom plate 51, and the pillars 52 are provided.
Is fixed to a top plate 53, and the bottom plate 51, the support posts 52, and the top plate 53 form a frame. A support plate 54 is fixed to the rear side of the side surface of the frame. The support plate 54 includes
Pulley shaft 5 is positioned above linear roller conveyor 40.
5 is rotatably supported, and a pulley shaft 56 is rotatably supported at a position below the linear roller conveyor 41. A pulley 57 is fixed to the pulley shaft 55, two pulleys 58 and 59 are fixed to the pulley shaft 56, and a timing belt 60 is hung on the pulleys 57 and 58. A motor 61 is fixed to the support plate 54 at a position lower than the pulley shaft 56, and a pulley 62 fixed to the output shaft of the motor 61 and the pulley 59 are covered by a timing belt 63.

A lifting plate 65 is fixed to a front portion of the timing belt 60, and the roller conveyor unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 or 5 is fixed to the lifting plate 65. Here, when the roller conveyor unit 1 fixed to the elevating plate 65 is positioned above indicated by a solid line, it coincides with the transport path of the linear roller conveyor 40, and the roller conveyor unit 1 is positioned below indicated by a two-dot chain line. When located
It matches the transport path of the linear roller conveyor 41. In the rear part of the timing belt 60,
In order to balance the weight of the lifting plate 65 and the roller conveyor unit 1, a weight 66 is fixed to a portion symmetrical to the lifting plate 65.

A control circuit means 67 for controlling the motor 61 is fixed to the support plate 54. The control circuit means 67 includes a detection signal when the work detection sensor 20 of the roller conveyor unit 1 detects the transfer work 45,
The motor 61 is controlled by transmitting and receiving signals to and from the control circuit means 21 (see FIG. 3) of the linear roller conveyors 40 and 41 on the side of the eraser 50.

Now, a description will be given of a case where the transfer work 45 transferred from the linear roller conveyor 40 is transferred to the linear roller conveyor 41. In this case, the lifting plate 65
Is located at the position indicated by the solid line above. Elebeta 5 of the linear roller conveyor 40
When a transfer signal of the transfer work 45 is output from the control circuit 21 on the 0 side to the control circuit 67, the control circuit 67
The motor 18 of the roller conveyor unit 1 is
(See FIG. 1), the drive rollers 7A to 7E rotate, and the transported work 45 is transported in the direction of arrow B and transferred to the roller conveyor unit 1.

When the work detection sensor 20 detects that the transported work 45 has been transferred onto the roller conveyor unit 1, the motor 18 stops and the motor 61 rotates by the signal of the control circuit means 67. By the rotation of the motor 61, the timing belt 60 moves in the direction of arrow C via the pulley 62, the timing belt 63, the pulley 59, the pulley shaft 56, and the pulley 58. As a result, the roller conveyor unit 1 supporting the transfer work 45 moves down together with the elevating plate 65, and the roller conveyor unit 1
The motor 61 moves to the position indicated by the dashed line, and the motor 61 stops.

Next, a transfer signal is output from the control circuit means 67 to the control circuit means 21 of the linear roller conveyor 41 on the side of the erater 50, and the roller conveyor unit 1
Motor 18 rotates. In addition, linear roller conveyor 4
A signal is output to the first control circuit means 21, and the motor 18 of the linear roller conveyor 41 rotates. Thereby, the transfer work 45 is driven by the driving roller 7 of the roller conveyor unit 1.
A to 7E, the rollers are conveyed toward the linear roller conveyor 41 and drive rollers 7A to 7
It is transported in the direction of arrow D by E.

When the control circuit means 67 confirms that the transfer work 45 has been transferred from the roller conveyor unit 1 to the linear roller conveyor 41, the control circuit means 67 rotates the motor 61 in the opposite direction. As a result, the timing belt 60 moves in the opposite direction, the roller conveyor unit 1 moves from the position indicated by the two-dot chain line to the position indicated by the solid line, and enters a state of receiving the next transported work 45.

When the transfer work 45 is transferred from the linear roller conveyor 41 to the linear roller conveyor 40, the operation is the reverse of the above-mentioned operation, and a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the linear roller conveyors 40 and 41 in which a plurality of roller conveyor units 1 are connected in series are provided.
Are arranged vertically, and at least one roller conveyor unit 1 is mounted thereon, and the roller conveyor unit 1 is driven up and down so as to be positioned on the transport path of the two linear roller conveyors 40 and 41. Since the elevator 50 is provided, the linear roller conveyors 40 and 41 can be disposed three-dimensionally and effectively.

[0044]

According to the first means of the present invention, deterioration does not occur even after long-term use, and there is no damage to the transfer work during acceleration / deceleration, and no static electricity is generated.

According to the second and third means of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first means, static electricity can be sufficiently prevented, and electrostatic discharge can be prevented.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first means, a linear roller conveyor can be disposed three-dimensionally and effectively.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B show an embodiment of a roller conveyor unit of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view showing a partial cross section, and FIG. 1B is a front view.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of control circuit means.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the roller conveyor device of the present invention, wherein (a) is a front view and (b) is a side view.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conventional roller conveyor unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 roller conveyor unit 2, 3 holding plate 5A-5E idle roller 6 idle roller shaft 7A-7E drive roller 8 drive roller shaft 10A-10E drive pulley 11 belt 15 tension pulley 17 motor pulley 18 motor 20 work detection sensor 21 control circuit means 22 Control board 23 Arithmetic control unit 24 Acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch 25 Quartz oscillator 26 Motor driver 30 Signal 31 Rotation command 32 Pulse 33 Signal 40, 41 Linear roller conveyor 45 Conveyance work 50 Elebeta 57, 58, 59 Pulley 60 Timing belt 61 motor 62 pulley 63 timing belt 65 elevating plate 67 control circuit means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F027 AA03 CA01 DA01 DA12 DA14 FA12 3F033 BB02 BB19 BC02 BC07 BC09 FA08

Claims (4)

[Claims] An idle roller is provided in one row, and at least a plurality of drive rollers are provided in a row on the other side. A motor for driving the drive roller and a transported work are detected, and a detection signal is generated accordingly. A roller detection unit that outputs a work detection sensor and a control circuit that controls the motor in accordance with a detection signal from a work detection sensor of the roller conveyor unit and a signal from an adjacent control circuit. The means includes an arithmetic control unit, an acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch, and a crystal oscillator. The acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch can set a transport speed and an acceleration / deceleration time by rotation of a motor of the roller conveyor unit. Section is a detection signal when the work detection sensor of the roller conveyor unit detects a work to be conveyed, and a detection signal when the work is detected. Recognizes the signal from the control circuit means of the roller conveyor unit placed in contact and the setting of the acceleration / deceleration / speed setting switch, outputs a rotation command to the motor, and simultaneously generates a pulse according to the speed setting to the crystal unit. A roller conveyor unit, which outputs a signal for causing the motor to drive the motor. 2. The material of the idle roller and the drive roller.
The quality is 10 ⁷ -10¹⁴Ω / □
The roller conveyor unit according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The roller conveyor unit according to claim 2, wherein the idle roller and the drive roller are made of conductive polyurethane. 4. A roller conveyor comprising a plurality of linear roller conveyors comprising a plurality of roller conveyor units having the configuration according to claim 1 connected in series and having at least one roller conveyor unit mounted thereon. An elevator driven up and down so that the unit is positioned on the conveyance path of the two linear roller conveyors; an elevator driven up and down; a motor driven up and down the elevator; And control circuit means for controlling a motor of the roller conveyor unit having a configuration according to claim 1 fixed to a plate, wherein the control circuit means includes a work detection sensor of the roller conveyor unit fixed to the elevating plate. Controlling the motor by transmitting and receiving a detection signal when a transfer work is detected and a control circuit means of the linear roller conveyor A roller conveyor device.