JP2003072926A - Spiral conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a spiral conveyor capable of upwardly or downwardly moving articles and accumulating the articles on the midway of a spiral conveyor. SOLUTION: In the spiral conveyor 10, for supports 11 stand and an inner frame body 12 is formed in spiral around these four supports 11. An outer frame body 13 is formed in spiral on an outer side of the inner frame body 12 and a plurality of rollers 15 (driving roller 15A and interlocking roller 15B) are arranged in spiral between these inner frame body 12 and outer frame body 13. Thereby, a spiral conveying passage is formed by these rollers 15. In addition, in the spiral conveyor 10, the spiral conveying passage is sectioned to a plurality of zones each individual roller driving source (driving roller 15A) is provided in every zone.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spiral conveyor, and more particularly to a spiral conveyor capable of moving articles upward or downward.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Among conveyors for conveying articles, there is a spiral conveyor in which a conveying path is formed in a spiral shape for moving the articles from above to below. As this spiral conveyor, for example, JP-A-48-100879 is used.
Japanese Patent Publication No. (vertical bag sorter) is known.

In the spiral conveyor of this publication, a plurality of roller conveyors are arranged in a spiral shape, and an article is placed on the uppermost roller conveyor, so that the weight of the article causes the article to slide downward on the roller conveyor. .
However, since the spiral conveyor slides on the roller conveyor by its own weight, it can move from the upper side to the lower side, but cannot move the article from the lower side to the upper side.

On the other hand, as a spiral conveyor capable of moving articles from above to below and from below to above, for example, Japanese Patent No.
No. 23599 (Spiral conveyor) is known. This spiral conveyor is provided with slats movably along a spiral transportation path, and is also provided with a chain and a motor for driving the slats.

According to this spiral conveyor, the chain is driven by the motor to move the slats along the spiral transport path, whereby the articles placed on the slats are swung along the spiral transport path. While moving from above to below, or from below to above.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Since the spiral conveyor disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 923599 moves a plurality of slats as a whole by driving a motor, it is necessary to stop the entire spiral conveyor should the downstream side of the spiral conveyor become full. . On the other hand, when starting the spiral conveyor that has been stopped, it is necessary to start the entire spiral conveyor.

Therefore, the frequency of starting and stopping the entire spiral conveyor becomes extremely high. Therefore, when the entire spiral conveyor is started or stopped, a large impact is applied to the spiral conveyor, which shortens the life of the power transmission mechanism of the spiral conveyor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to move an article from above to below and at the same time to move an article from below to above, and An object of the present invention is to provide a spiral conveyor capable of accumulating articles on the spiral conveyor, that is, having an accumulation function.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, as described in claim 1, a plurality of rollers are arranged in a spiral shape so that these rollers form a spiral shape. In the spiral conveyor in which the conveyance path is formed, the spiral conveyance path is divided into a plurality of zones, and an independent roller drive source is provided for each zone.

In the thus constructed spiral conveyor, the spiral conveying path is divided into a plurality of zones, and each zone is provided with an independent roller drive source. Therefore, by driving all the roller driving sources, the article on the transport path can be moved from the upper side to the lower side or from the lower side to the upper side.

Further, for example, articles can be stored on the spiral conveyor by sequentially stopping the roller drive source in the zone of the spiral conveyor from the upstream side. Therefore, in the unlikely event that the downstream conveyor of the spiral conveyor becomes full, the spiral conveyor has a so-called accumulation function that can store the articles on the spiral conveyor without stopping the entire conveyor. Since it suffices to stop a part of the spiral conveyor, the impact at the time of stopping or starting can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, as described in claim 2, the roller drive source is a brushless DC motor, and the motor is provided integrally with the roller.

Since the roller drive source is a brushless DC motor, the motor is provided integrally with the roller. Therefore, the structure of the spiral conveyor can be simplified and the equipment cost can be suppressed.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that each of the plurality of zones is provided with an article detection sensor for detecting an article in each zone.

By providing an article detection sensor in each zone, it is possible to detect whether or not an article is present in each zone. By obtaining this detection information, each zone can be driven independently. As a result, for example, it becomes possible to retain articles in the middle of the spiral conveyor.

Therefore, in the unlikely event that the downstream conveyor of the spiral conveyor becomes full, it is possible to store the articles on the spiral conveyor without stopping the entire spiral conveyor (accumulation). You just have to stop part of the spiral conveyor,
The impact when stopping or starting can be reduced.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In each embodiment described below, the members already described with reference to FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals or corresponding reference numerals in the drawing to simplify or omit the description.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the spiral conveyor 10 according to the present invention, four columns 11 are erected, and an inner frame 12 is formed in a spiral shape around these four columns 11. In addition, the outer frame body 13 is formed in a spiral shape on the outer side of the inner frame body 12, and a plurality of rollers 15 (driving roller 15A and interlocking roller By arranging the rollers 15B) in a spiral shape, a spiral conveying path is formed by these rollers 15.

In addition, the spiral conveyor 10 is divided into a plurality of zones Z in a spiral path, and each zone Z is provided with an independent roller drive source (driving roller 15A). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the (n + 1) zone Z of the spiral conveyor 10 is provided with a driving roller 15A and an interlocking roller 15B.
The driving roller 15A and the interlocking roller 15B are formed such that their outer diameters gradually increase from the inner side to the outer side, and the support shaft 16 at the inner end is rotatably supported by the inner frame body 12. In addition, the support shaft 17 at the outer end is rotatably supported by the outer frame body 13.

As described above, the driving roller 15A and the interlocking roller 15B are formed such that the outer diameters of the driving roller 15A and the interlocking roller 15B gradually increase from the inner side to the outer side. It is possible to form a sheet-shaped conveying path.

Two driving rollers 15A are radially provided in the zone at a predetermined interval, and a brushless DC motor as a roller driving source is integrally provided therein. By using a brushless DC motor as the roller drive source, it is possible to have a high starting torque even if this motor is provided integrally with the roller 15A for driving, and also to endure the high start / stop frequency required for the accumulation conveyor. You can Therefore, the structure of the spiral conveyor can be simplified.

A plurality of interlocking rollers 15B are radially provided on both sides of the driving roller 15A. A pair of belts 20 and 21 are hung on the inner end of the driving roller 15A, one belt 20 is hung on the interlocking roller 15B on one side, and the other belt 21 is interlocking on the other side. It is hung on roller 15B. Further, the adjacent interlocking rollers 15B are connected by a belt 21.

Thus, by rotating the brushless DC motor of each of the two driving rollers 15A in the forward direction, the driving roller 15A is rotated clockwise as indicated by the arrow A, and the driving roller 15A is rotated. Can be transmitted to the interlocking roller 15B via the belts 20 and 21. Therefore, the interlocking roller 15B can also be rotated in the clockwise direction like the driving roller 15A.

On the other hand, the driving roller 15A can be rotated in the counterclockwise direction as indicated by arrow B by reversing the brushless DC motor of each of the two driving rollers 15A. Therefore, the interlocking roller 15B can be rotated in the counterclockwise direction similarly to the driving roller 15A.

According to the spiral conveyor 10, the spiral conveying path is divided into a plurality of zones Z, and each zone Z is provided with an independent roller driving source (driving roller 15A). For this reason, all drive rollers 15A
By driving, the article 25 on the transport path can be moved upward (in the direction of the arrow) as shown in FIG. 1, or can be moved downward.

An article detection sensor 2 for detecting the article 25 is provided between the driving roller 15A and the interlocking roller 15B.
8 are provided. Here, as the article detection sensor 28, a photoelectric sensor 28A is attached to the outer frame body 13, and a mirror 28A is attached to the inner frame body 12.

According to the article detection sensor 28, when the article 25 is not present on the zone conveyance path, the photoelectric sensor 28 is used.
The light emitted from A is reflected by the mirror 28B and reflected by the photoelectric sensor 28.
By returning to A and receiving the returned light by the photoelectric sensor 28A, it is confirmed that the article 25 does not exist on the transport path of the zone.

On the other hand, when the article 25 is present on the transport path of the zone, the light projected from the photoelectric sensor 28A is used as the article 25.
It is blocked by and does not return to the photoelectric sensor 28A, which confirms that the article 25 exists on the transport path of the zone. The other zones Z are also formed in the same manner as the (n + 1) zone Z, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 4, this article detection sensor
The photoelectric sensor 28A of 28 is connected to the accumulation logic controller 30. The photoelectric sensor 28A of the article detection sensor 28 is configured to transmit a light reception signal to the accumulation logic controller 30 when light is received, and not transmit a light reception signal when light is not received.

Accumulation logic controller
When the light receiving signal is received from the photoelectric sensor 28A, 30 determines that the article 25 is not present in the n zone Z, and when the light receiving signal is not received from the photoelectric sensor 28A, the article 30 is in the n zone Z.
It is determined that 25 exists, and a drive signal or a stop signal is transmitted to the motor controller 32 based on the information on whether the article 25 exists in the n zone Z.

The motor controller 32 transmits a drive signal to the motor of the drive roller 15A based on the signal from the accumulation logic controller 30 to drive the motor and rotate the drive roller 15A. Further, the motor controller 32 transmits a stop signal to the motor of the driving roller 15A based on the signal from the accumulation logic controller 30 to stop the motor and stop the driving roller 15A.

According to this structure, by providing the article detection sensor 28 in each zone Z, the article 2 is provided in each zone Z.
It is possible to detect whether 5 is present or not. By obtaining this detection information, the driving and interlocking rollers 15A and 15B in each zone Z can be independently driven. As a result, for example, it becomes possible to accumulate (accumulate) the article 25 on the spiral conveyor 10 shown in FIG.

Spiral conveyor 10 configured as described above
According to this, for example, the articles 25 can be stored on the spiral conveyor 10 shown in FIG. 1 by stopping the driving and interlocking rollers 15A and 15B in the middle zone of the spiral conveyor 10. Therefore, in the event that the downstream conveyor of the spiral conveyor 10 becomes full, the articles 25 can be stored on the spiral conveyor without stopping the entire spiral conveyor 10. Since it suffices to stop part of the spiral conveyor 10, it is possible to reduce the impact when stopping or starting.

Next, the operation of the spiral conveyor 10 is shown in FIG.
And it demonstrates based on FIG. The spiral conveyor 10 will be described as a linear conveyor for easy understanding.

First, an example in which the articles 25 are retained on the spiral conveyor 10 by the action of accumulation will be described with reference to FIG. When the downstream side of the spiral conveyor 10 becomes full and the article 25 enters the n zone Z and the article detection sensor 28 of the n zone Z detects the article 25, the n zone Z is detected.
The accumulation logic controller 30 confirms that the article 25 exists in the n zone Z, and (n + 1)
Zone Z Accumulation Logic Controller 30
Start a downstream stop signal.

With the downstream stop signal transmitted from the accumulation logic controller 30 of the n-zone Z to the motor controller 32 of the (n + 1) -zone Z, the next article 25 is transferred from the (n + 2) -zone Z side as shown in FIG. When conveyed, the article detection device in the (n + 1) zone Z detects the arrived article, stops the driving roller in this zone Z, and retains the article. As a result, in the (n + 2) zone Z, (n + 3) zone Z ...
The articles 25 are sequentially retained in each of them.

Since the accumulation can be performed, when the downstream side of the spiral conveyor 10 is full, a part of the spiral conveyor 10 can be stopped, and thus the impact at the time of stopping can be reduced. Therefore, the life of the spiral conveyor 10 can be extended.

Next, based on FIG. 6, the spiral conveyor
A case where the articles 25 staying on the top 10 are sequentially dispensed will be described. When the article 25 in the n zone Z is dispensed, the article detection sensor 28 in the n zone Z no longer detects the article 25. As a result, the accumulation logic controller 30 of the n-zone Z confirms that the article 25 has been carried out from the n-zone Z and issues a drive signal to the accumulation logic controller 30 of the (n + 1) -zone Z.

By transmitting a drive signal from the accumulation logic controller 30 of the (n + 1) zone Z to the motor controller 32 of the (n + 1) zone Z, (n
+1) Drive the motor in zone Z to drive roller 15A
To stop. As a result, the roller 15 in the (n + 1) zone Z is driven.

(N + 1) article 25 in zone Z is
Be shipped from. The above steps are sequentially repeated below,
The articles 25 in the (n + 2) zone Z, the (n + 3) zone Z, ... Are successively carried out from the respective zones Z. As a result, the respective articles 25 can be conveyed at a constant interval. According to the dispensing method shown in FIG. 6, since it is sufficient to sequentially start a part of the spiral conveyor 10, it is possible to reduce the impact at the time of starting. Therefore, the life of the spiral conveyor 10 can be extended.

Next, based on FIG. 7, a spiral conveyor
A case where the articles 25 staying on the top 10 are simultaneously dispensed will be described. When the article 25 in the n zone Z is dispensed, the article detection sensor 28 in the n zone Z no longer detects the article 25. As a result, the accumulation logic controller 30 of the n-zone Z confirms that the article 25 has been carried out from the n-zone Z, and confirms that the article 25 is in the (n + 1) zone Z, (n + 2) zone Z,
(N + 3) Initiates a drive signal to each accumulation logic controller 30 in the zone Z ...
Therefore, in (n + 1) zone Z, (n + 2) zone Z,
(N + 3) The articles 25 in the zone Z ... Are simultaneously carried out from the respective zones Z.

In the above embodiment, the photoelectric sensor 28A is used as the article detection sensor 28, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other sensors such as a magnetic sensor can be used.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned respective embodiments, and appropriate modifications and improvements can be made. The inner frame body, the outer frame body and the drive illustrated in each of the above-mentioned embodiments can be applied. The material, shape, size, form, number, location, thickness, and the like of the roller for use in and the roller for interlocking are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, as described in claim 1, the spiral conveying path is divided into a plurality of zones, and an independent roller drive source is provided for each zone. Equipped with. Therefore, the articles on the conveyance path can be moved upward or downward by driving all the roller driving sources.

Further, by stopping the roller drive source in the middle zone, for example, articles can be stored in the spiral conveyor itself. Therefore, in the unlikely event that the downstream conveyor of the spiral conveyor becomes full, it is possible to store the articles flowing on the spiral from the downstream without stopping the entire spiral conveyor.
Since it suffices to stop a part of the spiral conveyor, the impact at the time of stopping or starting can be reduced. Therefore, the life of the spiral conveyor can be extended.

According to the present invention, as described in claim 2, the roller drive source is a brushless DC motor, so that the motor is provided integrally with the roller.
Therefore, the structure of the spiral conveyor can be simplified and the equipment cost can be suppressed.

Further, according to the present invention, by providing the article detection sensor in each zone, it is possible to detect whether or not an article is present in each zone. By obtaining this detection information, each zone can be driven independently. This also allows the articles to be retained on the spiral conveyor as an example.

Therefore, in the event that the downstream side of the spiral conveyor becomes full, articles can be stored without stopping the entire spiral conveyor.
Since it suffices to stop a part of the spiral conveyor, the impact at the time of stopping or starting can be reduced. Therefore, the life of the spiral conveyor can be extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a spiral conveyor according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a spiral conveyor according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of the spiral conveyor according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a control configuration of a spiral conveyor according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the action (accumulation) of the spiral conveyor according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation (sequential payout) of the spiral conveyor according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the action (simultaneous payout) of the spiral conveyor according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 spiral conveyor 15 roller 15A drive roller 15B interlocking roller 25 articles 28 Article detection sensor 28A photoelectric sensor Z zone

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 3F027 AA03 CA01 DA04 DA12 DA14                       DA21 EA01 FA12                 3F033 BA03 BB01 BB19 BC03 BC07                       BC08 GA06 GB08 GD03 GE07                 3F081 AA01 BD11 BD15 BF01 BF16                       BF22 CC12 DA02 EA10 FA03                       FB03

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A spiral conveyor in which a plurality of rollers are arranged in a spiral shape to form a spiral conveying path by these rollers, the spiral conveying path is divided into a plurality of zones, and A spiral conveyor characterized in that an independent roller drive source is provided for each zone. 2. An article detection sensor for detecting an article is provided in each of the plurality of zones, and at least one motor roller incorporating a brushless DC motor as the roller driving source is provided, and an accumulation function is provided. The spiral conveyor according to claim 1, further comprising: