JP2002541022A - Reverse power type and free storage system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Conveyor The conveyor system of the present invention provides a continuous storage path for receiving articles in multiple storage lanes. Selected articles traveling along the conveyor line are directed to the shuttle station and loaded on the shuttle for traveling along the storage path. Next, the article is moved along the storage passage to be placed in one of the multiple storage lanes. The article is removed from the storage lane and re-installed on a conveyor system for ejection.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a conveyor system, and more particularly, to a conveyor system capable of storing and removing articles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Conveyor systems for moving articles along a path are known. It is often desirable to store the items in such a way that they can be selected to re-enter the conveyor path. Conventional systems that take this demand require the use of a very large number of drive chains and the like, resulting in a complex and expensive system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, conventional conveyor systems, known as "inverted power and free" systems, are modified and improved by providing storage and removal mechanisms. However, the concepts of the present invention can be applied to other types of conveyor systems. Further, the present invention is particularly relevant to the automotive industry where it is desired to house frequently entering differently colored vehicle bodies in such a way that a particular vehicle body can be removed and provided on an outgoing conveyor truck. But it is also useful for other industries.

[0004] The conveyor system of the present invention makes use of the known conveyor system in a known manner, for example by moving a carrier having a car body thereon along a fixed track. According to the invention, one or more shuttle stations are provided along the conveyor path for storing and unloading articles. Each shuttle station includes a separate movable track, which is initially aligned with a fixed track. The movable track is mounted on a mobile carrier, and the mobile carrier is mounted on one or more floor tracks that in turn extend in a direction transverse to the fixed track direction. Storage lanes are located on one or both sides of the passage defined by the floor track, each lane being defined by one of the continuous, parallel conveyor track sections.

[0005] Such an arrangement provides an overall system including an input conveyor line using known conveyor components, one or more storage passages defined by a plurality of storage lanes, and a shuttle station coupled to each storage passage. A conveyor system having a diagram is provided.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a conveyor system according to the present invention configured to transport, store, and remove an automobile body includes an input station 2, a plurality of storage passages 4, including. Input stations that include one or more fixed conveyor lines 6 are known in the art. In a preferred embodiment, this fixed line is a "free" of an inverted "power-and free" conveyor system.
It is a railroad section. The power chain for this system is located below the fixed line but is not shown.

The goods to be transported, shown as the car body 8, are fixed to the carrier in a known manner. The line 6 is connected to the input line 10 by a series switch 12 as is known in the art, and the vehicle body 8 is directed to move along the input line 10. The input line 10 connects to one or more shuttle stations 14. As is known in the art, a bypass line 16 is provided to direct the selected vehicle body to any particular shuttle station with a switch operation. FIG. 1 illustrates the operation of the bypass in the first passage.

FIG. 1 also shows the operation of the storage mechanism of the present invention in the second passage. FIG.
With reference to FIGS. 5 to 5, it is shown that the car 8 'moves along the path toward one of the storage lanes 17 after it has been mounted on the movable conveyor track, as described below. Have been.

FIG. 1 further illustrates the operation of the removal mechanism of the present invention in the first passage. The car body 8 "is shown at the second shuttle station 18, where the car is taken out of the storage lane and passed to an output conveyor track 20.
A bypass line 22 having the same function as the bypass line 16 may be included.

In operation, the conveyor system of the present invention stores the vehicle body arriving at the input station 2 in a selected one of the storage lanes 17, removes the vehicle body from the selected one lane, and outputs an output line. 22.

The operation of the shuttle station will be described with reference to FIGS.

Each shuttle station 14 is provided with a movable conveyor track 26 mounted on a mobile carrier 28. The mobile carriage 28 is mounted on a floor track 30, shown as a parallel track, but may be a single track or other structure. The above-floor track extends across the input track line 10 to define a storage lane 4.

The operation of the storage mechanism is started when the carrier 32 on the input line 10 moves on the movable line 26, at which point the movable line is aligned with the input line 10. When the carrier is positioned on the movable track 26, the carrier can move along the floor track, so that the carrier and the vehicle attached thereto move along the storage passage. The carriage may be moved in any known manner, but may be the electric motor drive 34 shown here. Once the movable track is aligned with the selected storage lane 17, the carrier moves on the lane in the same manner as described in FIGS. 2-4, and the carriage and the movable track are separated to continue this operation. Move to position.

[0014] The removal of the carrier from the lane and onto the movable track is essentially the reverse of the description of loading a carrier on a movable track.

A preferred method of moving a carrier with respect to a movable line will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5A illustrates a state when the carrier moves on the movable track 26. The carrier is moved by the operation of the two auxiliary pushers 36 and 38.
Move up or off the track. These are located on the opposite side of the line 26 and project at the end of the line to engage the pusher member with the carrier trolley 40 when the carrier is on the fixed line 10 or the lane line 17.

As shown in the figure, the carrier is parked on the movable line 26 and the fixed line 1
0 or aligned with the storage lane 17. As shown in FIG. 5B, the pusher member of pusher 38 engages the intermediate trolley and moves the carrier to the left and onto track 10 or 17. FIG. 5C shows a deceleration state of the pusher member,
FIG. 5D shows a state where the pusher member has been removed from the intermediate trolley. FIG. 5E shows a state in which the rear trolley is collected by the pusher member, and FIG. 5F shows a state in which the carrier has completely moved onto the line 10 or 17.

FIG. 5G shows that to obtain the clearance required for pushers 36 and 38 to protrude,
It shows how the movable line 26 rotates. This rotation is achieved in the preferred embodiment by providing a rotatable connection between the track 26 and the carriage 28. In the rotational position shown in FIG. 5G, the movable line is moved along the path to the desired position and, as shown in FIG.
It can be rotated to be in line with 0.

FIG. 5I illustrates removal of the carrier, wherein the pusher member is engaged with the rear trolley to withdraw the carrier from the storage lane 17. Then, as shown in FIG. 5J, the pusher member is engaged with the intermediate trolley to complete the transfer of the carrier onto the movable track 26. At that time, the carrier, as shown in FIG. 5K,
Parked on a movable track.

FIG. 5L illustrates the rotation of a movable track with a vehicle body thereon for movement to a stowed position or along a path to a second shuttle station for ejection.

The operation of the second shuttle station is essentially similar to shuttle station 14. Also, the shuttle station 22 and the output line 22 can be omitted, and their functions are assigned to the line 10. That is, the shuttle station 14 may be used as both an input / output station.

Further, the structure in which the carrier moves on or out of the movable track 26 is not limited to the pushers 36 and 38. Other arrangements are possible, such as a rack and pinion type structure, hydraulic pushers, screw arrangements, and the like. In other arrangements that do not require protrusions, the need to rotate the transport line along the storage passage is eliminated.

[0022] Other modifications within the scope of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conveyor system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a shuttle station.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the shuttle station of FIG. 2 illustrating a carrier with a vehicle mounted thereon.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the shuttle station shown in FIG.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5C is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5D is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5E is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5F is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5G is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5H is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5I is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5J is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5K is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

FIG. 5L is a schematic diagram of a shuttle operation.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A conveyor system having a conveyor line including a free track, a power track, and a plurality of carriers, the carrier being driven along the free track by driving the power track, comprising: a. A) a plurality of storage passages; and b) a movable shuttle station connecting the conveyor line to at least one of the storage passages, the shuttle station comprising: i) a free track of the conveyor line and a respective storage passage. , And ii) mounted on the movable shuttle station, wherein one of the storage passages comprises:
Between the conveyor line and the truck of the shuttle station, and the shuttle station for storing a load on a carrier or removing one of the stored loads on the carrier into one of the storage passages; A pusher / puller member configured to move a carrier between said truck and one of said storage passages. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said movable shuttle station is mounted on a track, said track extending along said storage passage. 3. The carrier includes a plurality of trolleys for moving between the conveyor line and the truck of the shuttle station and between the truck of the shuttle station and one of the storage passages. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the pusher / puller member is engaged with at least one trolley. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said movable shuttle station is mounted on a track, said track extending along said storage path, said storage path being located on either side of said track. 2. The system according to 1. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein said conveyor line includes a switch for directing a carrier to a shuttle station. 6. The conveyor of claim 1, wherein the conveyor line has at least one input line and at least one output line, and the storage passage is located between the input line and the output line. System. 7. Each of the storage lines has a track in line with the track of the movable shuttle station, and the carrier uses the pusher / puller member to track the track of the shuttle station and the storage passage. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is movable between and. 8. A method of transporting a carrier driven on a free track on the conveyor line on the conveyor line by a driving means on a power track of the conveyor line, the method comprising: Reciprocating one or more carriers between the truck of the movable shuttle station and b) moving between the truck of the movable shuttle station and one of a plurality of storage passages for storing or removing the carrier; A method for transporting carriers on a conveyor line, comprising reciprocating one or more carriers. 9. The carrier is pushed from the truck of the movable shuttle station to an empty storage passage for storage, or is withdrawn from the storage passage to an empty truck of the shuttle station for removal. The method according to claim 8. 10. The method of claim 8, including driving said movable shuttle station on a track along said storage passage. 11. The method of claim 8 wherein said carrier is reciprocated from said conveyor line at one location for storage and reciprocated to said conveyor line at another location for removal. 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the carrier is reciprocated at a location from and to the conveyor line for storage and unloading.