JP2003104551A - Container stacking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a container stacking device for stacking containers smoothly aligned in a preset direction without stopping the carried condition of the containers being carried in random directions, thus achieving improved stacking workability, simplified construction and inexpensive formation. SOLUTION: The container stacking device comprises container carrying means 2 for carrying nesting containers 5 in one line, direction detecting means 35 for detecting the direction of the containers 5 being carried in longitudinally random directions by the container carrying means 2, reversing means 3 provided on the side of the container carrying means 2 for giving 180 deg. rotation to the containers while carrying the containers 5 to be supplied from the container carrying means 2, control means 28 for sorting the containers 5 to the reversing means 3 and the container carrying means 2 depending on the directions of the containers 5 detected by the direction detecting means 35 and combining the sorted containers 5 in predetermined sequence, and stacking means 4 for stacking the containers 5 combined by the control means 28 in a predetermined number of stages.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is arranged by stacking (hereinafter referred to as nesting) when not in use.
The present invention relates to a nesting container stacking device capable of maintaining a low-bulk stacked state and stacking (hereinafter referred to as stacking) when containing items to maintain a high-bulk stacked state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for stacking containers capable of nesting and stacking (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-35943, etc.) in a plurality of stages by aligning them in a predetermined direction, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-338352. Is disclosed in. This stacking device is equipped with a reversing device that reverses the containers 180 degrees in a horizontal plane in order to align the direction of the conveyed containers. This reversing device temporarily stops the conveyed containers with a stopper or the like. After that, the container is slightly lifted from the conveying surface by the elevating cylinder, and its direction is set within the horizontal plane by rotating means such as a rotary actuator.
It is arranged so that it is inverted by 0 ° and lowered onto the transport surface.

As another device, a container stacking mode is set to a nesting mode or a stacking mode. Based on this setting mode, the container is lifted from below by three or more support rollers, and at least one of the support rollers is set. There is also known a stacking device provided with a reversing device for reversing a lifted container by 180 degrees in a horizontal plane and lowering it on a conveying surface by rotating one of them by a supporting roller driving device.

[0004]

However, in these stacking devices, when the containers are inverted 180 degrees by the reversing device, the containers are temporarily lifted from the transport surface and rotated in the horizontal plane. Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to temporarily stop the transportation of the containers and perform the reversing operation, the reversing operation is intermittent, smooth flow work is difficult, and there is a limit in stacking work capacity. Further, the reversing device requires a stopper, a rotary plate lifting cylinder, a horizontal rotary cylinder, a control device, or a supporting roller, a supporting roller driving device, etc., which also complicates the configuration and tends to increase the cost. Have

Further, since the container is lifted from the transport surface and the container is rotated at 180 ° in the horizontal plane at this position,
The inertial force due to rotation acts on the container, and depending on the type and size of the container, the container may rotate more than a predetermined angle or become insufficiently rotated, resulting in inferior reliability of reversing operation. There is. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to forcibly restrict the horizontal rotation operation of the container with a stopper or the like. It is not preferable from the viewpoint of durability of the equipment or noise generation at the time of collision with the vehicle.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to smoothly orient the containers conveyed in random directions to a predetermined direction without stopping the container conveyance state. It is an object of the present invention to provide a container stacking device that can be stacked in parallel, can improve the stacking work capability, and can be formed at low cost by simplifying the structure of the device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a container stacking device for stacking containers for nesting in a predetermined number of steps in a predetermined direction. A container transporting means for transporting the containers in a line, a direction detecting means for detecting the orientation of the container in which the front-back direction is randomly transported by the container transporting means, and a side of the container transporting means. A reversing means for rotating the container 180 degrees in a horizontal plane while conveying the container supplied from the container conveying means, and the reversing means and the container conveying means for the container according to the orientation of the container detected by the orientation detecting means. And a stacking unit for stacking the containers joined by the control unit in a predetermined number of stages. And butterflies.

With this configuration, the nesting-capable container which is transported by the container transporting means in a random front-back direction is detected by the orientation detecting means, and based on the detection result. The control means sorts the container into either a reversing means for reversing the orientation of the container or a container transporting means for transporting the container as it is. At this time, the containers sorted and supplied to the reversing means are rotated on the horizontal plane by 180 degrees while being conveyed on the reversing means, and their directions are reversed. Then, the containers conveyed by the container conveying means in the same orientation as the containers reversed by the inverting means are merged by the control means and stacked by the stacking means. As a result, the reversing operation is smoothly performed without stopping the transportation state of the containers, the processing capacity of the stacking work can be improved, and the structure of the reversing device is simplified and formed at low cost.

Then, the control means compares the orientation of the container detected by the orientation detection means with a prestored orientation, so that the orientation associated with the detection is not appropriate. It is preferable to have assortment control means for sorting into the inverting means, and merging control means for merging the container conveyed by the inverting means and the container conveyed by the container conveying means in a predetermined order. With such a configuration, the containers requiring direction reversal are sorted and supplied on the reversing unit by the sorting control unit, and the reversing container and the non-reversing container are merged by the merging control unit. It is possible to reliably supply the required container onto the inverting means, and to reliably join the inverted containers.

Further, it is preferable that the reversing means is a curved conveyer bent by 180 degrees in a plan view as in the third aspect of the invention. With such a configuration, as the inverting means, for example, a curved conveyor having a substantially U-shape or a substantially semi-circular shape in a plan view can be used, and thus the configuration of the inverting means itself can be further simplified and transported. However, the operation is smooth, reliable, and easy because it is reversed.

Further, it is preferable that the container is a container for nesting as in the invention of claim 4. With this configuration, since a container for nesting can be used as a container, for example, the container itself can be prevented from being scratched or damaged during stacking work, and can be suitably used as a container for a field for sorting agricultural products. .

Further, it is preferable that the control means controls the direction so that the containers are stacked in a nesting state, as in the fifth aspect of the invention. With this configuration, the containers are stacked in the nesting state under the control of the control unit, so that the control of the control unit itself can be simplified and the containers can be efficiently stored.

Further, it is preferable that the control means controls the direction of the container so that two containers are stacked at the same time. According to this structure, two containers are stacked at the same time under the control of the control unit, so that the stacking work can be made efficient and the processing capacity can be further improved.

Further, it is preferable that, as in the invention described in claim 7, the control means sorts the containers to be sorted and joins them in that order. By configuring in this way, since the containers ordered by the control means are sorted and merged in that order, for example, the containers can be merged in a predetermined direction according to the order detected by the direction detection means, Stacking work in a nesting state can be performed more reliably.

Further, it is preferable that the direction detecting means detects color information indicating the direction of the container, as in the eighth aspect of the invention. With this configuration, since the orientation detection means detects the color of the container,
For example, even if the container is colored so that its orientation can be grasped at a glance and the nesting state can be easily confirmed, the orientation can be reliably detected.

Further, as in the invention according to claim 9, it is preferable that the sorting control means supplies the container to the reversing means while pressing and tilting the container in a conveyed state. With this configuration, the containers conveyed by the container conveying means are sorted and supplied onto the reversing means by the pressing operation and the tilting operation without being temporarily stopped. Therefore, the containers from the container conveying means to the reversing means are supplied. Can be supplied more smoothly and reliably, and a more reliable reversing operation of the container can be obtained.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 12 show an embodiment of a stacking apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. B
4 to 7 are operation explanatory diagrams, and FIGS. 8 to 12 are explanatory diagrams of the container.

In FIG. 1, the stacking apparatus 1 includes a container transport conveyor 2 as a container transport means in which a supply line 2a and a merging line 2c are formed on the upstream side and the downstream side of a passage line 2b, and the container transport conveyor 2. A reversing conveyor 3 as a reversing means provided in parallel in the passage line 2b and a joining line 2c of the container transporting conveyor 2
It has a stacking device 4 and the like as a stacking means provided in the.

The container carrying conveyor 2 is, for example, a linear conveyor having a pair of carrying bands 20 (see FIG. 2), and the reversing conveyor 3 is, for example, a roller conveyor having a substantially U shape in plan view. Formed, container 5
Is transported in a substantially U-shape so that the container 5 is inverted 180 degrees in the horizontal plane. And
At the sorting station S1, which is the connection between the container transport conveyor 2 and the upstream side of the reversing conveyor 3, the tilting device 2 is installed.
1 and an extrusion device 22 are provided.

This tilting device 21, as shown in FIG.
The container conveyor 2 has a plurality of (five in the figure) tilting rollers 23 arranged between the pair of conveyor belts 20 and outside the conveyor belt 20 on the reverse conveyor 3 side. The tilting frame 24 is rotatably supported by the upper end of a tilting frame 25 to which the piston rod of the tilting cylinder 24 is connected. Further, the tilting frame 25 has one end pivotally supported by the conveyor frame 26 so as to be rotatable about a shaft 27,
The tilting cylinder 24 is a control device 28 as a control means.
(See FIG. 1).

Then, the tilting cylinder 24 is actuated by the control signal of the control device 28 and its piston rod advances, so that the tilting frame 25 tilts about the shaft 27 as a fulcrum to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line, and the five rods. The conveying surface formed by the upper surface of the tilting roller 23 is tilted downward as shown in FIG. The tilting motion of the tilting frame 25 and the tilting roller 23 of the tilting device 21 and the returning operation to the original position are set so as not to affect the carrying operation of the carrying belt 20 of the container carrying conveyor 2.

On the other hand, the push-out device 22 has a rotating rod 30 which is arranged on the conveyor frame 26 so as to be rotatable around a shaft 29, and the tip of the rotating rod 30 is formed in a spherical shape. The extruded rod 31 is arranged so that its length can be adjusted. A piston rod of an extruding cylinder 32 is connected to the base end of the rotating rod 30, and the extruding cylinder 32 is connected to the control device 28. And the control device 2
When the push-out cylinder 32 is actuated by the control signal of No. 8 and the piston rod is retracted, the push-out rod 31 is turned to the position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 2 via the turning rod 30. .

By the rotating operation of the push-out rod 31, a predetermined container 5 is pushed to the side of the container carrying conveyor 2 and supplied onto the reversing conveyor 3 as described later. In addition,
The control device 28 is composed of, for example, a personal computer or a sequencer having a CPU, a storage device, etc.
The sorting control means and the merge control means of the present invention are built therein.

At the sorting station S1 of the container carrying conveyor 2, a color sensor 35 as a direction detecting means is attached to a mounting plate 36 fixed to the conveyor frame 26.
Are placed through. This color sensor 35
The container 5 is capable of nesting and stacking, which will be described later, for detecting a colored color on the inner and outer surfaces of the side wall and the inner surface of the bottom wall. It detects and outputs the detection signal to the control device 28. As a means for detecting the direction of the container 5, the color sensor 35 is most preferably used because this kind of nesting container is color-coded. However, for example, when the direction can be detected by a barcode or various information. Can use an appropriate detection device such as a bar code reader.

A merging station S2, which is a connection point between the container carrying conveyor 2 and the downstream side of the reversing conveyor 3,
As shown in FIG. 1, the conveyors 2 and 3 are provided with stoppers 37 and 38 for merging control. A drive device (not shown) of the stoppers 37 and 38 is connected to the control device 28, and when the stoppers 37 and 38 are lowered by a control signal of the control device 28, the stopped container 5 is sent to the downstream side and raised. As a result, the containers 5 conveyed by the conveyors 2 and 3 are stopped.

As shown in FIG. 3, the stacking device 4 includes an elevating device 40 arranged inside a casing 39 and a holding device 4.
1 and a roller conveyor 42 connected to the container conveyor 2. The lifting device 40 is attached to the piston rod of the lifting cylinder 43 arranged vertically.
For example, a plurality of elevating plates 44 are connected in a horizontal state with a predetermined space, and the elevating plates 44 move up between the rollers of the roller conveyor 42 so that the container 5 on the rollers can be lifted upward. Has been done.

Further, the holding device 41 has a pair of holding cylinders 46 horizontally arranged at a substantially middle position in the height direction of the housing 39 so as to face each other with a mounting frame 45 interposed therebetween.
The holding plates 47 are connected to the piston rods of the holding cylinder 46, respectively. And, this clamping cylinder 4
6 and the lifting cylinder 43 are also connected to the control device 28, and the holding cylinder 47 is operated by the control signal of the control device 28 so that the piston rod of the holding cylinder 46 advances, and the holding plate 47 causes the lifting cylinder 43 to move. The first side wall portion 5a of the container 5 which has been raised to a predetermined position by the operation is clamped and held at this position.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a stopper for constantly feeding two containers 5 into the stacking device 4 on the downstream side of the merging line 2c of the container carrying conveyor 2, that is, immediately upstream of the stacking device 4. A driving device (not shown) of the stopper 48 is connected to the control device 28, and the vertical movement of the stopper 48 is controlled by the control device 28. The stacking device 4 is provided with an elevating device 40 so as to simultaneously raise and hold two (two) containers 5 at the front and rear in the transport direction a.
A pinching device 41 is configured. Note that the configuration of the stacking device 4 is not limited to this example, and a stacking device having another appropriate configuration may be used, for example, a sandwiching device is provided so as to be movable up and down, and this sandwiching device and an elevating device are combined. You can

Here, an example of the container 5 as a nesting container used in the stacking apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that in the figure, the hatched portion has a different color from the non-hatched portion. As shown in FIG. 8, the container 5 used in the present invention has a first side wall portion 5a, a second side wall portion 5b, and a bottom wall portion 5c, which are formed by resin molding, for example. A first side wall portion 5a having a large outer shape is formed in the upper half of the height direction, and an outer shape smaller than the first side wall portion 5a is formed in the lower half.
A second side wall portion 5b that can be fitted into the side wall portion 5a is formed, and two types of engagement grooves 50a and 50b for engagement, for example, are formed on the inner surface of the first side wall portion 5a, and the second side wall portion 5b is formed.
Two kinds of engaging projections 51a and 51b capable of engaging with the engaging grooves 50a and 50b are formed on the outer surface of the.

Further, the engaging grooves 50a and 50b and the engaging protrusion 5
By making the shapes of 1a and 51b different in the longitudinal direction of the container 5, when another container 5 is placed on the container 5, the second side wall portion 5b of the upper container 5 is the first container of the lower container 5. 9 and 1 inserted into the side wall portion 5a.
0, or the second side wall portion 5b of the upper container 5 becomes the first side wall portion 5 of the lower container 5.
It is configured so as to be in the stacking state shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 which is not inserted into a. The first side wall portion 5a, the second side wall portion 5b, and the engagement groove 50 of the container 5 are
The shapes of the a and 50b and the engaging projections 51a and 51b are also examples, and other containers having other shapes capable of nesting and stacking can be used.

Next, the container 5 by this stacking device 1
An example of the stacking method will be described. First, in the storage device (not shown) of the control device 28, the directions of the containers 5 sequentially supplied to the stacking device 4 are preliminarily set so that the stacking device 4 stacks the two containers 5 in a nesting state. Remembered Then, in this state, the container 5 supplied to the supply line 2a of the container conveyor 2 is conveyed in the supply line 2a with the front and rear directions being random, and the color is detected by the color sensor 35 in the sorting station S1. Detected,
The detection data of this color is output to the control device 28.

When the detection data is input from the color sensor 35, the control device 28 determines the orientation of the container 5 based on the detection data, compares the determined orientation with the orientation stored in the storage device, and determines the orientation. If they do not match (match), the pushing device 22 and the tilting device 21 are operated to move the containers 5 from the sorting station S1 to the reversing conveyor 3.
It is turned upside down by 180 ° in the horizontal plane by being supplied to the upper side and being conveyed by the reversing conveyor 3.

At this time, in the pushing device 22, the pushing cylinder 32 is actuated by the control signal of the control device 28, the piston rod thereof is retracted, and the turning rod 30 is turned to turn the pushing rod 31.
The outer surface of the second side wall portion 5b of the container 5 is pushed in the direction of the reversing conveyor 3 at the tip of. At the same time as the operation of the pushing device 22, the tilting cylinder 24 is controlled by a control signal from the control device 28.
Is activated and the piston rod advances,
The tilting frame 25 of the tilting device 21 rotates, and one side (the pushing device 22 side) of the five tilting rollers 23 provided on the frame 25 rises and tilts, and this tilting and the pushing force by the pushing device 22. The container 5 is tilted by the tilting device 21.
It is slid on the tilting roller 23 and is moved to the reverse conveyor 3.

As a result, the containers 5 are sorted and supplied from the container transporting conveyor 2 to the reversing conveyor 3, and the orientation of the container 5 at the time of being supplied onto the reversing conveyor 3 remains the same as the container transporting conveyor 2. Keep and
The container 5 is conveyed by the reversing conveyor 3 having a substantially U-shape in a plan view and stopped at the position of the stopper 38 immediately upstream of the merging station S2, so that the direction thereof is rotated by 180 degrees in the horizontal plane. That is, the container 5 is simply supplied from the container transfer conveyor 2 onto the reversing conveyor 3 having a substantially U shape in a plan view, and the container 5 is transferred at the merging station S2 so that the direction of the container is 180.
It means that it has been reversed.

On the other hand, when the orientation of the container 5 detected by the color sensor 35 coincides with the stored orientation, the container 5 is moved to the container transport conveyor 2 without operating the pushing device 22 or the tilting device 21. From the sorting station S1 of the above, it is sorted and supplied as it is to the passage line 2b of the conveyor 2. The orientation of the container 5 supplied to the passage line 2b is maintained as it is on the supply line 2a, and the container 5 is stopped by the stopper 37 immediately before the joining station S2.

In this way, at the sorting station S1 of the container carrying conveyor 2, the containers 5 sorted into the reversing conveyor 3 and the passage line 2b according to their orientation and stopped by the stoppers 37 and 38 are By the operation of the stoppers 37 and 38 by the control device 28, they are supplied to the merging station S2 to be merged in a predetermined order, and are conveyed downstream in the merging line 2c. As a result, the containers 5 in the orientation stored in advance in the storage device of the control device 28 are transported in the order of the merging line 2c and supplied to the stacking device 4.

An example of the orientation control of the container 5 by the control device 28 will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the orientation of the containers 5 is set to the orientation “A” in the state of FIG. 6A and the orientation “B” in the state of FIG. 6B, and the two containers 5 are in the nesting state shown in FIG. 7A. Shall be stacked.

FIG. 4 shows the orientations of the containers 5 in the supply line 2a (P1), the passage line 2b (P2), the reversing conveyor 3 (P3) and the merging line 2c (P4). The orientation of 5 is shown in FIG.
In order to obtain the nesting state of (a), "AAB
"BAA ...", two of them are set in the same direction.
Note that the numbers such as the head of the supply line 2a in FIG. 4 indicate container numbers, but in actual control, four containers 5 of to are set as one block and this is repeated to facilitate the program. ing. In this description, serial numbers are used for convenience of description.

In FIG. 4, the container is conveyed by the supply line 2a, and the direction of the color sensor 35 is "A".
If it is detected that the direction is “A”,
And merging line 2c direction (memorized direction) "A"
Are compared, and since the directions are the same for the same "A", the extrusion device 22 and the tilting device 21 are not actuated, and the passing line 2b is supplied with the same direction "A". Also,
The container and the container are also supplied to the passage line 2b.

On the other hand, the direction of the container is "A"
On the other hand, since the direction of the merging line 2c is "B" and the directions do not match, the pushing device 22 and the tilting device 21 are operated by the control signal of the control device 28 as described above.
Is supplied to the reversing conveyor 3 and its direction is reversed to "B". Similarly to the container of, the container of 2 is supplied to the reversing conveyor 3 and its direction is reversed to "A".

That is, by the control device 28, the orientation of the containers 5 randomly conveyed in the supply line 2a,
By comparing with the direction (direction of the merging line 2c) stored in advance corresponding to the container 5, it is supplied to the passage line 2b and kept as it is, or supplied to the reversing conveyor 3 and oriented. Will be controlled. Then, the container 5 of the predetermined number stopped by the stopper 37 of the passage line 2b and the container 5 of the predetermined number stopped by the stopper 38 of the reversing conveyor 3 are both stoppers 37, Both stoppers 37, 38 are operated (for example, lowered) in the order of the number of the container 5 stopped at 38, and are supplied to the merging station S2.

That is, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 5, the container 5 of, for example, is supplied to the passage line 2b, and the reversing conveyor 3 is ...
.. Since the container 5 of is supplied, the control device 28
By operating both stoppers 37, 38 in the order of the numbers of the containers 5 by the control signal of, the containers 5 of a predetermined number are joined and conveyed in the order of number from the joining line 2c. Then, the two consecutive containers 5 in this numerical order are supplied to the stacking device 4 by the stopper 48 operating at a predetermined timing in response to a control signal from the control device 28.

Next, a stacking operation by the stacking device 4 will be described. When a double container 5 is supplied into the stacking device 4 by the operation of the stopper 48, the container 5 is raised by the lifting device 40, and the container 5 is held by the holding device 41 at this raised position, and then the lifting device 40 is moved. Is lowered to the original position, and the two containers 5 in the first stage are held. Next, as the lifting device 40 is raised, the next two-stage container 5 supplied on the roller conveyor 42 is raised, and the second-stage container 5 held by the holding device 41 is moved to the second-stage container 5. The nesting state of the holding device 41 is released while nesting the container 5 and the two-stage stacked container 5 is raised to the holding position, and the lower container 5 is held by the holding device 41 at this position.

When the four-stage containers 5 are stacked by repeating this operation four times, the elevating plate 44 is lowered in a state where the holding state of the holding device 41 is released, and the four-stage stacked containers 5A are stacked. It is positioned on the roller conveyor 42 of. Then, the stacked container 5A is discharged to the outside of the stacking device 4 by being pressed by the container 5 to be stacked next, and is supplied to the stacked container storage or the like via a joining device (not shown). . In addition,
The stacking device 4 is also controlled by the control device 28 in association with the stopper 48 and the like.

As described above, in the stacking apparatus 1 of the above-described embodiment, the reverse conveyor 3 having a substantially U-shape in plan view is connected between the sorting station S1 and the merging station S2 of the container transport conveyor 2 and the color sensor In the case of the container 5 which needs to be reversed in the direction detected by 35, since the container 5 is supplied to the reversing conveyor 3 and is reversed, the container 5
Can be supplied to the reversing conveyor 3 in the conveying state, and it is not necessary to temporarily stop the container 5 on the container conveying conveyor 2 during the reversing operation. For example, a conventional container is temporarily stopped to a predetermined height. As compared with the case where the container 5 is lifted and inverted, the flow of the inversion operation of the container 5 can be performed smoothly.

In particular, since the container 5 is reversed by being conveyed and moved on the reversing conveyor 3, a stable reversing operation can be obtained without receiving inertial force or the like when the container 5 itself rotates, and as a result, The processing capacity of the sorting, merging, and stacking operations as a whole can be enhanced, and the stacking apparatus 1 can be suitably used in an agricultural product sorting field or the like in which a large number of containers 5 are used.

Further, since the reversing operation of the container 5 can be performed only by supplying the container 5 onto the reversing conveyor 3 having a substantially U shape in a plan view and conveying it to the downstream side, the reversing conveyor 3 is generally used. Since a conventional curved conveyor can be used, for example, a mechanism for rotating a lifted container as in the past becomes unnecessary, the structure of the device for reversing can be simplified and formed at a low cost, and the cost for improving the processing capacity can be increased. It is possible to reduce the cost of the stacking device 1 and down.

Further, in the sorting station S1 of the container carrying conveyor 2, a tilting device 21 for tilting the carrying surface by the upper surface of the tilting roller 23 by a predetermined angle is arranged.
Since the pushing device 22 that presses the container 5 in the tilting direction is arranged, the container 5 that needs to be turned over will be
The related operations of 1 and 22 can promptly push out onto the reversing conveyor 3 while utilizing the inclination, and the container 5 can be reliably and more smoothly supplied onto the reversing conveyor 3.

Further, the control device 28 operates the stoppers 37 and 38 provided on the passage line 2b immediately upstream of the merging station S2 and the reversing conveyor 3 according to the order of the containers 5 detected by the color sensor 35. The containers 5 can be merged at the merging station S2 in accordance with the order of the directions stored in advance, and the containers 5 can be reliably supplied to the stacking device 4 in a predetermined direction. From these things, it becomes possible to raise the certainty of the stacking operation of the containers 5.

Furthermore, since the containers 5 are stacked by two by the stacking device 4, the stacking work time can be shortened and the stacking work efficiency can be improved. In addition, since the stacking device 4 is configured to stack the containers 5 in a nesting state, for example, in four stages, it is always used in the nesting mode, and the control program of the control device 28 and the operation control of the stacking device 4 are controlled. It can be simplified and the container 5
Since four are stacked, the storage efficiency in a stacked container storage can be improved.

FIG. 13 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1, showing another embodiment of the stacking device according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the same parts as those in the above-described embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals. A feature of the stacking apparatus 1 of this embodiment is that the stacking apparatus 1 stacks two containers 5 one by one, whereas the stacking apparatus 4 stacks one container 5 one by one.

That is, the reversing conveyor 3 includes three linear roller conveyors 3a and two 90-degree curve conveyors 3a.
b, the stopper 49 is provided on the intermediate roller conveyor 3a.
And the roller conveyor 3a is set as the standby position.
Then, the stopper 49 and the stoppers 37 and 38 are operated in association with each other by the control device 28, and the direction of the container 5 supplied to the stacking device 4 is changed to, for example, “ABABAB.
By alternating ".", A series of nesting containers 5A in a nesting state as shown in FIG. 7B is obtained. It is needless to say that this embodiment can also obtain the same effects as the above embodiment.

In the above embodiment, the reversing conveyor 3 is composed of a roller conveyor or the like having a substantially U-shape in a plan view. However, the front and rear directions of the container 5 are horizontally rotated by 180 degrees during conveyance, and are substantially half in a plan view. An arcuate conveyor or other suitable conveyors can be used, and the shape of the container transport conveyor 2 in plan view and its conveyor configuration are also examples, and within the scope of the inventions of the present invention. It can be changed appropriately.

[0054]

As described in detail above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the direction of the nestable container is detected by the direction detecting means, and the control means determines whether the container is the reversing means or the container. The container is sorted into any one of the transporting means, and the container is inverted by the inverting means while being transported.
Since it is performed by rotating it by 80 degrees, it is possible to smoothly perform the reversing operation without stopping the transportation state of the containers, and it is possible to surely align the directions of the respective containers in a predetermined direction, and to stack the containers. It is possible to improve the processing capacity of, and to simplify the configuration of the inverting means to obtain an inexpensive stacking device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, a container that requires direction reversal by the sorting control means is supplied onto the reversing means, and the reversed container is supplied. Since the container that is not inverted and the container that is not inverted are joined by the joining control means, the container that needs to be inverted can be reliably supplied onto the inversion conveyor, and the inverted containers can be reliably joined in a predetermined order.

According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1 or 2, the reversing means can be formed by, for example, a curved conveyor having a substantially U-shape or a substantially semi-arcuate shape in plan view. Therefore, the structure of the reversing means itself can be further simplified, and the container can be reversed while being transported, so that the operation can be performed smoothly, reliably and easily.

According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 3, since the container is formed of a nesting container, for example, the container itself is damaged during stacking work. It is possible to prevent sticking and damage, and it can be suitably used for containers such as agricultural product sorting fields.

According to the invention of claim 5, in addition to the effects of the invention of claims 1 to 4, since the containers are stacked in a nesting state by the control of the control means, the control of the control means itself is simplified. In addition, the container can be efficiently stored.

According to the invention of claim 6, in addition to the effects of the invention of claims 1 to 5, two containers are simultaneously stacked under the control of the control means, so that the stacking work is made efficient. Therefore, the processing capacity of the stacking device can be further improved.

According to the invention described in claim 7, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 6, since the containers ordered by the control means are sorted and merged again in that order, for example, The containers can be merged in a predetermined direction according to the order detected by the detection means, and the stacking work in the nesting state can be performed more reliably.

According to the invention described in claim 8, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 7, since the direction detecting means detects the color of the container, the direction can be grasped at a glance, for example. Even if the container is colored and the nesting state can be easily confirmed, its direction can be reliably detected.

According to the invention described in claim 9, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 2 to 8, the container conveyed by the container conveying means is reversed by the pressing operation and the tilting operation without being temporarily stopped. As it is sorted and supplied on the means,
It is possible to smoothly and surely supply the container from the container conveying means to the reversing means, and to obtain a more reliable reversing operation of the container.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a stacking apparatus according to the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of the stacking device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of another operation.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining still another operation.

[Fig. 7] Explanatory drawing of containers in a stacked state

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the nesting container.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a main part of the container in a nesting state.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a main part of the container in a stacking state.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 13 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1, showing another embodiment of the stacking device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Stacking device 2 ... Container transport conveyor 2a ... Supply line 2b ... ・ Passing line 2c ... Confluence line 3 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Reversing conveyor 3a .... Roller conveyor 3b ... 90 degree curve conveyor 4 ... Stacking device 5 ... Container 5a ... First side wall 5b ... Second side wall 5c .... bottom wall 5A ... Stacking container 21 --- Tilt device 22 ... Extrusion device 23 .... Tilt roller 24 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Tilt cylinder 25 --- Tilt frame 28 ... Control device 30 .... Rotating rod 31 .... Extrusion rod 32 ... Extrusion cylinder 35 ... Color sensor 37, 38 ... Stoppers 40 ........ Elevating device 41 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Holding device 43 .... Lifting cylinder 46 ... ・ Clamping cylinder 48, 49 ... Stoppers S1 ... Sorting station S2 ... Confluence station

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Koji Ueda             3-2-11 Minejima, Nishiyodogawa Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture             No. Daifuku Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akira Nakano             630 Shinokase Town, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture Co., Ltd.             Maki Factory (72) Inventor Yutaka Goto             630 Shinokase Town, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture Co., Ltd.             Maki Factory F term (reference) 3F029 AA09 BA01 CA10 CA52 EA05                 3F081 AA20 BA01 BE04 BE09 CA00                       CC08 CC12 CE10 CE13 CE14                       EA09 EA15 EA16 FA01 FB01

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A container stacking device for stacking nesting containers in a predetermined number of stages in a predetermined direction, the container transporting means for transporting the containers in a line, and the forward and backward directions by the container transporting means. Orientation detecting means for detecting the orientation of the randomly conveyed containers, and a container provided on the side of the container conveying means and rotated by 180 degrees in a horizontal plane while conveying the container supplied from the container conveying means. A reversing means, a control means for sorting the container into the reversing means and the container transporting means according to the orientation of the container detected by the orientation detecting means, and for merging the sorted containers in a predetermined order; A stacking device for containers, comprising: stacking means for stacking the containers joined by the means in a predetermined number of stages. 2. The control means compares the orientation of the container detected by the orientation detection means with a previously stored orientation, and sorts the containers having an improper orientation for detection into the reversing means, 2. The stacking apparatus for containers according to claim 1, further comprising: a merging control unit that merges the container conveyed by the reversing unit and the container conveyed by the container conveying unit in a predetermined order. 3. The container stacking device according to claim 1, wherein the reversing means is a curved conveyor bent by 180 degrees in a plan view. 4. The container stacking device according to claim 1, wherein the container is a nesting container. 5. The container stacking device according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the direction of the containers so that the containers are stacked in a nesting state. 6. The container stacking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the orientation of the containers so that two containers are stacked at the same time. 7. The container stacking device according to claim 1, wherein the control means sets the containers to be sorted in order and merges them in that order. 8. The container stacking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the orientation detecting means detects color information indicating the orientation of the containers. 9. The container stacking device according to claim 2, wherein the sorting control means supplies the container to the reversing means while pressing and tilting the container in a conveyed state. .