JP2002019943A - Chain conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible for a worker to smoothly enter between left and right conveyor units at the time of maintenance. SOLUTION: A pair of the left and right conveyor units 3 is arranged with a space 2 between them enough for a person to enter and walk.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a chain conveyor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The following are known as conventional chain conveyors. It has a pair of left and right conveyor units arranged at a predetermined interval, and an upper connection bar and a lower connection bar of a required book that connects these conveyor units, and the upper connection bar is straddled by a human. Those located at a height position where it is not possible are known.

[0003]

Disadvantages of the prior art The conventional chain conveyor has the following disadvantages. Because the upper connecting bar connecting the left and right conveyor units was located at a height where humans could not straddle, that is, the upper connecting bar was like a barricade, so work between the left and right conveyor units There is a drawback that it is difficult for staff members to get in and maintenance work cannot be performed smoothly.

[0004]

The present invention employs the following means to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks. The invention of claim 1 has a pair of left and right conveyor units arranged with a space where humans can enter and walk,
The conveyor unit includes a side frame, at least two support legs provided at a lower portion of the side frame, a driving unit provided at one of front and rear ends of the side frame, and a driven unit provided at the other side, It has an endless chain bridged over the drive wheel of the unit and the driven wheel of the driven unit. According to a second aspect of the present invention, the one conveyor unit is provided with a control box and an article sensor.
It is described. The invention according to claim 3 is such that at least two support legs of the left conveyor unit and at least two support legs of the right conveyor unit face each other,
The left and right ends of the connecting bar are pivotally connected and connected to the lower part of the left and right pair of supporting legs by connecting pins with the axis centered vertically, and the connecting bar is located at a height where people can straddle it 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

[0005]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained by the above configuration. According to the first aspect of the present invention, a pair of left and right conveyor units allow a person to enter and walk (the term "enter and walk" means that a person can enter and walk without grasping something). Since they are arranged apart, during maintenance, workers can smoothly enter between the left and right conveyor units, and maintenance work can be performed quickly. According to the invention of claim 2, since the control box and the article sensor are provided in one of the conveyor units,
The work of wiring the signal lines and the like can be facilitated, and the length of the signal lines and the like can be reduced as much as possible. According to the invention of claim 3, at the time of factory shipment, the left and right conveyor units are brought close to each other,
The left and right conveyor units can be transported without being bulky. Then, at the installation site, the left and right conveyor units can be set to the set left and right distances by simply separating the left and right conveyor units without the trouble of adjusting the left and right conveyor units.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In this specification, the front means the right side of FIG.
The rear means the left side in the figure, the left means the back side of FIG. 1, and the right means the front side.

The chain conveyor 1 has a pair of left and right conveyor units 3 facing each other with a space 2 in which a person can enter and walk. The conveyor unit 3 includes:
A side frame 4 having a longitudinal direction oriented in the front-rear direction, a support leg 5 provided at a lower front and rear portion of the side frame 4, a drive unit 6 provided at a rear end of the side frame 4, A driven unit 7 provided at the front end, an endless chain 8 wrapped around a drive wheel 13 and a driven wheel 17 described below,
A rail-shaped guide bar 10 is attached to the side frame 4 via an attachment piece 9.

The side frame 4 is made of a metal extrusion material such as aluminum, and has a plurality of T-shaped grooves 11 which are long in the front-rear direction.

The drive unit 6 includes a casing 12
And a drive wheel 13 rotatably provided on the casing 12 such that the axis thereof is oriented in the left-right direction, and a motor 14 provided on the casing 12 for rotating the drive wheel 13.

The driven unit 7 includes a casing 16
And a driven wheel 17 rotatably provided on the casing 16 such that the axis thereof is oriented in the left-right direction.

The support legs 5 of the left and right conveyor units 3
A bracket 19 is attached to the lower part of the bracket, and these left and right brackets 19 are opposed to each other.
The bracket 19 and the bracket 19 are pivotally connected to each other by a connecting pin 20 whose axis is directed vertically. The connection bar 21
Is located at a height where a person can straddle it.

With the above configuration, the left and right conveyor units 3 and the front and rear connecting bars 21 constitute a parallel link mechanism when viewed from a plane. With such a configuration, at the time of factory shipment, the connecting bar 21 is swung as indicated by an arrow A in FIG.
Can be brought close to each other and transported without bulk. Then, at the installation site, the connecting bar 21 is
The left and right conveyor units 3 are set to the left and right intervals as set without the need to adjust the left and right conveyor units 3 by just swinging them so that the left and right conveyor units 3 do not shift in the front and rear direction. You can do it.

A bracket 23 is attached to the front outer surface of the right side frame 4 using a T-shaped groove 11 and a bolt / nut 24. The bracket 23 is attached to a mounting portion 25 abutting on the side frame 4 and a rear end of the mounting portion 25.
A positioning protrusion 26 fitted into the T-shaped groove 11; an overhang portion 27 connected to the front end of the mounting portion 25 so as to protrude outward; and a protection plate connected to the upper edge of the free end of the overhang portion 27 28 (has the function of preventing dust from adhering to the reflective article sensor 31 described later). The overhang 2
The free end 7 is located inside (on the side of the side frame 4) the outer surface of the mounting piece 9 of the guide bar 10.

At the free end of the overhang 27, a protective plate 28
, A reflection-type article sensor 31 that transmits and receives signals such as light, radio waves, and sound waves is attached. The focal point of the reflective article sensor 31 (referred to as a point at which articles can be detected more reliably in the reflective article sensor 31) is located near the upper part of the transport section 8a of the endless chain 8. . As is apparent from the drawing, the reflective article sensor 31 is located inside the outer side of the mounting piece 9. In a conventional transmissive article sensor including a transmitter and a receiver, it is impossible to mount the sensor in the above-described state.

The reflection-type article sensor 31 detects that the article is located at the focal point 32 when the reflection-type article sensor 31 receives signals such as light, radio waves, and sound waves from the article and receives the reflection signal. On the other hand, the reflection type article sensor 31 detects no article at the position of the focal point 32 by not receiving a reflection signal. Then, upon detecting an article, the reflective article sensor 31 issues a predetermined signal to a device / apparatus that is driven (or stopped) when the conveyed article reaches that position.

The side frame 4 of the right conveyor unit 3
A control box 34 for controlling the motor 14 and the reflective article sensor 31 is provided on the lower surface of the side frame 4 of the conveyor unit 3 on the side where the reflective article sensor 31 is provided.
Is provided.

[0017]

[Modifications and the like] Modifications and the like will be described below. (1) At least two support legs 5 are required for each conveyor unit 3. (2) In this embodiment, the reflection-type article sensor 31 is used as the article sensor, but may be a limit switch or the like. (3) The connecting bar 21 located at a height position where a person can straddle the left and right conveyor units 3 may be stopped and fixed (fixed). Alternatively, the left and right conveyor units 3 may be fixed to the installation floor surface so that the left and right conveyor units 3 are not connected at all by the connection bar. (4) The drive unit 6 may be provided at the front end of the side frame 4 and the driven unit 7 may be provided at the rear end of the side frame 4.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a partially crushed embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Chain conveyor 2 Space 3 Conveyor unit 4 Side frame 5 Support leg 6 Drive unit 7 Follower unit 8 Endless chain 8a Carrier 13 Drive wheel 17 Follower wheel

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle comprising a pair of left and right conveyor units arranged with a space allowing humans to enter and walk, said conveyor unit comprising a side frame and at least two support members provided at a lower portion of the side frame. It has a leg, a drive unit provided on one of the front and rear ends of the side frame, a driven unit provided on the other side, and an endless chain bridged between the drive wheel of the drive unit and the driven wheel of the driven unit. Chain conveyor. 2. The chain conveyor according to claim 1, wherein a control box and an article sensor are provided in said one conveyor unit. 3. At least two support legs of the left conveyor unit and at least two support legs of the right conveyor unit are opposed to each other, and are provided below the pair of left and right support legs. The left and right ends of the connecting bar are pivotally connected and connected by connecting pins whose axes are oriented vertically, and the connecting bar is positioned at a height where a person can straddle. The described chain conveyor.