JP2002037438A - Automatic conveying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic conveying apparatus capable of conveying a material to be conveyed by a fixed form pallet through a roller conveyer in one transport line, realizing the conveyance using the fixed form pallet and a cargo truck in a space equal to that of the conventional roller conveyer transport line, and reducing the equipment running cost so that the work of this type for conveying the mixed weighty goods is automated and the efficient and low-cost automatic conveyance for the weighty goods can be realized. SOLUTION: In this automatic conveying apparatus, the roller conveyers are arranged side by side corresponding to the width of the fixed form pallet along both sides in the flow direction of the conveyed material of the transport line and a slat conveyer capable of placing the bottom of a cargo truck to be conveyed is disposed between the roller conveyers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic transfer device capable of automatically selecting and transferring a fixed pallet and a cargo truck.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, as a device for transporting heavy goods in a multi-story building, there have conventionally been used a luggage elevator, a vertical conveyor, a vertical automatic transfer machine, and the like.
Various ones are known. And in these various vertical automatic conveyance devices, an automatic conveyor for carrying in and out of a cage that moves up and down is arranged, and this conveyor is conventionally configured with a roller conveyor having a size corresponding to the shape of the load to be conveyed. Are common. In this conventional vertical automatic transfer device, a conveyed object is loaded on the roller conveyor via a forklift, and the roller conveyor and the elevator are operatively linked by designating a target transfer destination on an operation control panel. As a result, the apparatus is configured to automatically transport the transported article to the destination.

[0003] However, in the above-mentioned conventional automatic transfer apparatus for heavy articles, only those having a shape that can be loaded on a fixed pallet placed on a roller conveyor can be transported. Since only a conveyed object having a weight within a certain range can be conveyed and a forklift is used for loading or unloading, the height of the roller conveyor is also restricted by a mechanism. Therefore, the objects that cannot be loaded on the fixed pallets are, for example, transported by a cargo truck. Conventionally, the transporting of the goods by the cargo truck is performed exclusively by hand or an automatic transport line dedicated to the cargo truck. Alternatively, there is no other way than to separately create a luggage elevator.If an automatic transport line dedicated to cargo trucks is installed side by side, the space of the transport line is expanded and the roller conveyor line and the cargo truck transport line are separately driven and controlled. However, there is a problem that such work is extremely complicated and complicated, and the facility running cost is increased.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned situation, and it is an object of the present invention that a single transport line that can be transported by a fixed pallet can be transported via a roller conveyor. When a cargo truck is sent to a transport line, the conventional roller conveyor is configured by automatically detecting this and transporting the cargo truck on a slat conveyor disposed between the roller conveyors. In the space of the type transport line, it is possible to automatically select and realize the transfer by the fixed pallet and the cargo cart, so that the equipment running cost can be reduced and the heavy load transfer work of this kind mixed is automated. To provide an automatic conveyance device with a simple configuration that can realize space-saving, efficient, and low-cost automatic conveyance of heavy objects It is those intoxicated to.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in an automatic conveying apparatus according to the present invention, a roller conveyor is provided along both sides of a transport line in a flow direction of a conveyed object so as to correspond to a fixed pallet width. And a slat conveyor capable of placing and transporting the bottom of the cargo truck between these roller conveyors.

In this case, it is important that the width between the roller conveyors is formed larger than the width of the cargo truck so that the cargo truck can be smoothly conveyed without colliding with the roller conveyor. It is.

In the present invention, the height of the upper surface of the slat conveyor is from the ground point of the free caster of the cargo truck to the bottom of the cargo truck near the loading port and the unloading port. Greater than the height distance,
As described above, it becomes smaller around the loading port and near the unloading port, for example, by setting it to be gradually inclined toward the approximate center of the slat conveyor, loading and transporting the cargo cart with casters to the slat conveyor and The unloading operation can be performed automatically and smoothly.

In the present invention, the driving device for driving the roller conveyor and the driving device for driving the slat conveyor automatically control the driving / stopping of the slat conveyor via the package appearance detecting means provided on the transport line. By configuring so as to control the sorting, the transport by the fixed pallet and the transport by the cargo cart are automatically performed without any manual operation,
And it can be performed efficiently.

According to the present invention, a forklift stopper is provided in front of the loading port of the transport line, thereby preventing damage to the transport line due to the forklift and simplifying the cargo handling operation by the forklift. Can be

Further, according to the present invention, the transport line is arranged on each floor of the multi-story building, and the unloading port and the loading port of the transport line on each floor are automatically transferred by the vertical lifting device. By connecting so as to be conveyed, the automatic conveyance of the conveyed goods in the multi-story building can be efficiently performed in a small space.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, an automatic transport apparatus 1 according to this embodiment includes two lines arranged in parallel along both sides of a transport line indicated by reference numeral a in FIG. Roller conveyor rows 2 and 2; and a slat conveyor 3 disposed between these roller conveyor rows 2 and 2.
A forklift stopper 4 disposed in front of the loading port of the transport line, a roller conveyor driving device 5 for driving the roller conveyor rows 2 and 2, respectively, and a slat conveyor driving device 6 for driving and controlling the slat conveyor 3
And a sensor 7 for controlling the driving of each of the driving devices 5 and 6 by determining the package.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each roller constituting the roller conveyor rows 2 and 2 has a required number of shafts 8 arranged in parallel and a rotatable shaft 8 rotatable around each of the shafts. The drive pulley 10 includes a roller body 9 and a drive pulley 10 which is coaxially mounted on the shaft 8 on the roller body 9. A chain belt (not shown) is suspended on the drive pulley 10. The belt is configured such that the driving force from the motor of the roller conveyor driving device 5 is transmitted via a speed reduction mechanism and is driven endlessly, so that each roller body 9 is synchronously rotated at a predetermined speed.

The width dimension D1 between the roller conveyor rows 2 and 2 configured as described above is arranged side by side (D2 ≦ D1) corresponding to the fixed pallet width D2, and the width dimension D1 between the roller conveyor rows 2 and 2 is determined. Is larger than the width D4 of the cargo cart 11 (D4 ≦ D3). In the drawing, reference numeral SW1 denotes a conveyed product overrun detection switch, and SW2 denotes a carry-in stop switch.

On the other hand, the slat conveyor 3 conveys the cargo cart 11 with the bottom thereof lifted. As shown in FIG. 1, the pulleys 12, 12 are rotatably supported on the front side and the depth side. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the two chain conveyors 13, which are suspended endlessly, have a shaft 14 of the depth-side pulley 12 and a motor driving force of the slat conveyor driving device 6 serving as a reduction mechanism. Through the two chain conveyors 13, 13
Are configured to rotate in synchronization.

The chain conveyors 13, 13
As shown in FIG. 4, when the height dimension H1 of the upper surface is near the loading port A and near the unloading port B, the cargo cart 11
Is larger than the height distance H2 from the contact point of the caster 15 to the bottom of the cargo cart 11, and in portions other than the vicinity of the above described loading port A and the vicinity of the unloading port B, for example, gradually toward the substantially central portion of the slat conveyor 3 And the casters 15 are set (H3 <H1 <H2) so as to have a height H3 lifted from the ground contact surface.

Therefore, since the caster 15 is brought into contact with the loading port A and the unloading port B in the ground state at the loading port A and the unloading port B, the cargo truck 11 is carried forward and pushed forward.
Are placed on the chain conveyors 13, 13, and thereafter, the cargo truck 11 is gradually lifted by the rotation operation of the chain conveyors 13, 13, passes through the central portion, and then gradually descends. The caster 15 is grounded again. The cargo truck 11 stopped at this unloading port B
Is pushed by the cargo truck 11 to be transported next, and is sequentially sent into, for example, a cage of an elevator.

The driving device 5 for driving the roller bodies 9 and the driving device 6 for driving the slat conveyor 3 of the automatic transport device 1 having the above-described structure detect a package form disposed on the transport line. The drive / stop is automatically selected and controlled via the sensor 7.

Various known sensors can be used for the package detection sensor 7 as long as it can detect the size, shape or weight of the package.
The present invention is not limited to this. For example, a switch such as a limit switch is provided at a position on the conveyance path of the slat conveyor 3 where the transfer of the fixed pallet is not obstructed. Operates the roller conveyor rows 2 and 2, when the cargo cart 11 is conveyed to the slat conveyor 3, for example, abuts the casters 15 of the cargo cart 11 with a limit switch to operate the roller conveyor rows 2 and 2. Is stopped, the slat conveyor 3 is operated, and when the cargo cart 11 reaches the unloading port B, the operation of the slat conveyor 3 is stopped and the operation of the roller conveyor rows 2 and 2 is started again. Good. Of course, the same operation and effect can be obtained by using an optical switch or an ultrasonic switch that is turned on / off by passing through the caster 15.

The automatic transport device 1 configured as described above is
Although not particularly shown, for example, the articles are automatically arranged by connecting the unloading port B and the loading port A of the automatic transport device 1 on each floor to the vertical lifting / lowering device, respectively. It can be configured and used to be transported to each level. Of course, the arrangement example is not limited to this, and can be appropriately arranged and used according to needs.

[0021]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the automatic conveyor is provided on the roller conveyor along both sides of the transport line in the flow direction of the conveyed object so as to correspond to the fixed pallet width. Are arranged side by side, and a slat conveyor capable of carrying and carrying the bottom of the cargo cart is arranged between each of these roller conveyors. It can be transported via a conveyor, and in the space of the conventional roller conveyor type transport line, transport by a fixed pallet and a cargo cart can be realized, and equipment running costs can be reduced. It is possible to automate the operation of transporting heavy objects in which species are mixed, and to realize efficient and low-cost automatic transportation of heavy objects.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the width between the roller conveyors is formed larger than the width of the cargo truck, the cargo truck can be smoothly transported without colliding with the roller conveyor. it can.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the height of the slat conveyer is set near the loading port and the unloading port in the vicinity of the loading port and the unloading port. It is configured so that it is larger than the height distance to and smaller than near the above-mentioned loading port and near the unloading port, so that loading and transporting of cargo trucks with casters to the slat conveyor and unloading work are automatically performed. And can be performed smoothly.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the driving device for driving the roller conveyor and the driving device for driving the slat conveyor are connected to each other via the packing state detecting means provided on the transport line. Since the drive and the stop are configured to be automatically selected and controlled, the transfer by the fixed pallet and the transfer by the cargo cart can be performed automatically and efficiently without any manual operation.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the forklift stopper is disposed in front of the loading port of the transport line, damage to the transport line due to the forklift is prevented, and the forklift is used. The cargo handling work can be simplified.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the transportation line is disposed on each floor of the multi-story building, and the unloading port and the loading port of the transportation line on each floor are automatically connected via the vertical lifting device. Because it is configured to be connected so that it is transported
Automatic conveyance of goods in a multi-story building can be efficiently performed in a small space.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of an automatic transport apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of the automatic transport device.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of an arrangement configuration of a roller conveyor row of the automatic transport device.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a slat conveyor of the automatic transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic conveyance apparatus 2 Roller conveyor (row) 3 Slat conveyor 4 Stopper for forklift 5 Roller conveyor drive 6 Slat conveyor drive 7 Sensor (package detection means) 8 Axis 9 Roller main body 10 Drive pulley 11 Cargo truck 12 Pulley 13 Chain Conveyor 14 Axis 15 Casters A Loading port B Unloading port D1 Width between roller conveyor rows D2 Standard pallet width D3 Gap between roller conveyor rows D4 Width of cargo cart H1 Height of chain conveyor top surface H2 Cargo cart caster Height distance from the ground point to the bottom of the cargo truck H3 Approximately the center of the slat conveyor

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuo Saito 2-13-40 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo Toyo Suisan Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3F033 BB05 BB19 BC02 BC08 BC10 3F034 AA04 AC07 CA02 CC01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Roller conveyors are arranged along both sides of a transport line in the flow direction of an object to be conveyed, corresponding to a fixed pallet width, and the bottom of a cargo cart is placed and conveyed between the roller conveyors. An automatic transfer device, wherein a possible slat conveyor is provided. 2. The automatic conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein a width dimension between the roller conveyors is formed larger than a width dimension of the cargo cart. 3. The height dimension of the upper surface of the slat conveyor near the loading port and the unloading port is larger than the height distance from the ground point of the free caster of the cargo truck to the bottom of the cargo truck. 3. The automatic transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distance is set to be small except in the vicinity of the loading port and the unloading port. 4. A drive device for driving the roller conveyor and a drive device for driving the slat conveyor automatically select and control the driving / stopping of the slat conveyor via a packing state detecting means provided on the transport line. The automatic transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic transfer device performs the operation. 5. The automatic transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a forklift stopper is provided in front of the loading port of the transport line. 6. The transportation line is provided on each floor of a multi-story building, and the unloading port and the loading port of the transportation line on each floor are configured so that a conveyed object is automatically transported via a vertical lifting device. The automatic transport device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic transport device is connected to the automatic transfer device.