JP2003137431A - Multiple stacking device and multiple stacking method for long article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately and speedy conduct a multiple stacking process for vertically stacking long articles sequentially carried from an upstream side through a carrying conveyer for every predetermined number without errors. SOLUTION: The long articles B1 to B5 sequentially carried through a first carrying conveyer A1 in an irregular mutual interval D1 and in a different posture is received by a relay conveyer 10, and intermittently stored on the relay conveyer 10 by an intermittent storage shutter device 20. Thus, the mutual interval of the long articles B1 to B5 is dissolved for a while and the posture is arranged. Next, the long articles B1 to B5 stored for the predetermined number is sequentially transferred to a pitcher conveyer 30 of which drive speed is higher than the relay conveyer 10 so as to newly set equal mutual interval and posture. After that, the long articles B1 to B5 are sequentially charged from the pitcher conveyer 30, and are received by an apron 41 of a receiver device 40 moving to a lower direction at an identical height position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-stage stacking apparatus for automatically packing a plurality of articles conveyed by a conveyer in a physical distribution facility and automatically placing them in a multi-stage stacking manner in boxes. The present invention relates to a method for stacking long articles in multiple stages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a physical distribution facility in which a conveying device such as a conveying conveyor is arranged, a plurality of article stockers for storing a large number of articles are arranged along the conveying conveyor and provided below the article stocker. There is a process in which various articles picked by a picking device are flowed by a conveyor and packed in a box such as a cardboard box. For example, cigarettes, video tapes, books (books), CDs (compact discs, single CDs for music, etc.), household chemicals (for example, boxes containing cold medicines, small bottles for nutritional supplements and nutritional tonics). Items such as those in which the bottle is packed in a paper container and cosmetics (for example, a box containing lipstick) are stacked and stacked on the article stocker, and the articles are conveyed one by one on a conveyor. Etc., pick it up on a conveyor, and let it flow on a conveyor to be packed in a box such as a cardboard box at a predetermined position.

Although some boxes are partially automated, they are usually manually boxed. For example, when cigarettes are individually boxed and transported to a convenience store or a retailer who installs a vending machine, the number of sold cigarettes differs for each store, but they are picked by a picking device and transported on a conveyor. I was manually packing the incoming cigarettes in a box.

[0004]

For this reason, it is desired from the viewpoint of improving the efficiency of the box packing work to automatically pack the articles, such as cigarettes, which sequentially flow on the conveyor, into boxes such as corrugated cardboard boxes. When packing in a box, if a predetermined number of upper and lower multi-tiers are stacked in advance, a predetermined number of boxes can be packed together. In addition, even in the case of manual boxing, if a predetermined number of upper and lower layers are stacked in advance, a predetermined number of boxes can be collectively packaged. However, it is not easy to make a plurality of articles sequentially conveyed from the conveyor so as to be in an aligned state without slowing the conveying speed and to stack the articles in multiple stages without damaging the plurality of articles. For example, FIG.
As shown in (b), a large box of 1 carton of cigarettes or a wrapping paper in which 10 cigarettes are packed in one unit (also called "parcel type"; From the viewpoint, the conventional paper box has been changed to wrapping paper.) There is a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped long article B having a long side and a short side. That is, the packaged cigarette in which this cigarette is packaged in units of 10 is a rectangular parallelepiped elongated article B having a long side Bc and short sides Ba, Bb.
If the wrapped cigarettes are simply dropped one after another from the end of the conveyer conveyor to be stacked in the upper and lower stages, there is a problem that the parcel-type cigarette wrapping paper is damaged. As shown in FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b), parcel type cigarettes are often packed in boxes such as corrugated cardboard boxes in a vertically stacked five-tiered state.

On the other hand, in the case of the long article B as described above, it is a normal carrying method to carry the long side Bc forward and backward by a carrying conveyor in order (the arrow Y1 in FIG. 13 carries it. Conveyor transport direction). The articles picked by the conventional picking device are conveyed in the above-described manner using a conveyor, but the long side Bc and the short sides Ba, Bb of the "parcel type" cigarette or the like are used.
When a rectangular parallelepiped long article B having the following is transported, the rectangular parallelepiped long article is transported in the flow direction of the transport conveyor with its long side Bc facing forward and backward. Therefore, if the packaged cigarettes are dropped in order, the installation space of the conveyor cannot be effectively used and the size of the apparatus becomes large. In particular, when long products are dropped in a multi-tiered manner by dropping the long side Bc toward the front and back, the long side Bc of the long product is
There is a problem in that the front side of the front and back collides strongly with the stopper control unit that drops the box into the box for packing, and the front side is more likely to be damaged, and the jam occurs in the transport direction. Further, in the multi-stage stacking on the premise of such a transfer method, even if it is automated, there is a limit to the speedup (the higher the speed, the greater the degree of damage), and the efficiency of the box packing work is improved. Cannot be planned. In addition,
It is conceivable to flow the long article with its long side Bc in the transport direction, but in the normal flow method, the long article flows with its long side Bc forward and backward, so that direction is changed. It is extremely difficult to always maintain and transport the multi-tiered state.

In order to automate the packing of the boxes, if the boxes are not neatly arranged in a multi-stage stacking state, the opening D5 of the corrugated board box D is automatically pressed during the packing to be stored in the corrugated board box or the like. There is a problem such as a collision with the end of the. Therefore, even in the process of multi-tiered stacking as a premise, it is difficult to automate the packaging unless the articles are stacked while always keeping the mutual interval of the falling articles constant. In particular, it is necessary to set a high transfer speed of the transfer conveyor because high speed is desired for automating the box packing, but it is not possible to perform it without reducing the transfer speed of the transfer conveyor in an aligned multi-stage stacking state. It wasn't easy. There is no point in having to realign even in the case of manual work.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to carry out automatic multi-stage stacking in a state in which they are aligned in a predetermined direction without slowing down the transport speed of the transport conveyor and causing jamming in the transport direction.
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-stage stacking apparatus and a multi-stage stacking method for long articles that do not cause collapse (load collapse), breakage of wrapping paper or the like, or damage of packaged articles.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, a multi-stage stacking apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention receives a conveying conveyor for conveying articles and an article ejected from the conveying conveyor while descending. The receiver device includes a pusher device that appropriately discharges the articles received by the receiver device.The receiver device includes a pair of endless chains that are circularly driven in the vertical direction and a pair of endless chains that are arranged at a predetermined interval. The article has a plurality of pairs of aprons that are installed, and a pair of endless chains that are driven synchronously from top to bottom. It is characterized by putting it in a stacked state.

According to the present invention, the articles sequentially ejected from the conveyor are among a plurality of pairs of aprons in which a pair of endless chains are synchronously driven from top to bottom by a receiver device that receives the articles while descending. Each a pair of aprons are stacked in multiple stages, but because there are multiple pairs of aprons, they are stacked in multiple stages while descending with the pair of aprons closest to the position below the throwing position (discharging position). Therefore, the falling distance of the article is shortened,
It is possible to reduce the inclination of the falling posture and the damage of the articles due to the falling, so that the articles can be stacked. That is, if the intervals between pairs of aprons are kept constant and the drive of the endless chain is kept synchronized, the height of the conveyer conveyor can be set to any height and the damage to the articles due to falling can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to set the pair of endless chains to be long in the up-down direction because it is possible to make a multi-tiered state. Further, even if the conveying speed of the articles by the conveyer conveyor is set to a high speed so that the articles sequentially ejected from the conveyer conveyor for each pair of aprons of the plurality of pairs of aprons are put in a multi-stacked state, a plurality of pairs of aprons can be used. Corresponding to this, it makes a multi-tiered state. Then, since the pusher device appropriately discharges the article group that has been placed in the multi-tiered state by the receiver device, the multi-tiered automation can be achieved.

A multistage stacking apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is
A conveyor that conveys articles, a relay conveyor that aligns the articles that are sequentially conveyed from the conveyor into a group of articles in a multi-tiered unit, and a conveyor that is connected to the relay conveyor and receives the articles from the conveyor to a predetermined height. And a receiver device for receiving the articles thrown from the pitcher conveyor while descending, and articles sequentially conveyed to the relay conveyor without stopping the relay conveyor. The relay conveyor is provided with a shutter device for intermittent storage that intermittently forcibly stops and stores a plurality of articles and then opens, and the drive speed of the conveyor belt of the pitcher conveyor is higher than that of the conveyor belt of the relay conveyor. It is characterized in that it is set to be relatively large.

According to the present invention, since the relay conveyor aligns the articles sequentially conveyed from the conveyance conveyor into the article group of the multi-stage stacking unit, the pitcher conveyor throws out the articles for each multi-tiered article group. Then, the receiver device receives the article for each article group. Further, since the drive speed of the conveyor belt of the pitcher conveyor is set to be relatively high with respect to the drive speed of the conveyor belt of the relay conveyor, the articles do not remain on the relay conveyor and the flow of conveyance is not delayed. Further, among the group of articles passing through the intermittent storage shutter device, there is a predetermined mutual interval between the article already transferred to the pitcher conveyor and the article still remaining on the relay conveyor side. However, the mutual distances between the articles are equal because they are based on the speed difference between the conveyor belts of the relay conveyor and the pitcher conveyor, and even if the distances between the articles sequentially conveyed from the conveyance conveyor are not equal, the mutual distances are equal. It will be ejected from the pitcher conveyor at intervals. Then, it is received by the receiver device at the same intervals while descending. This allows the drive speed of the receiver device to be kept constant.
It should be noted that the time required for arranging a plurality of articles as a group of articles in the relay conveyor is set so that the driving speed of the pitcher conveyor belt is set relatively large with respect to the driving speed of the conveyor belt of the relay conveyor. Be recovered by.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-stage stacking device,
The article is a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped long article having a long side and a short side, and the long side of the long article is aligned and conveyed in the width direction of the conveyer conveyor belt by the conveyer from the conveyer. It is characterized in that it is caused to be thrown out by the receiver device or is caused to be thrown out at the receiver device from the pitcher conveyor.

According to the present invention, since the long side of the rectangular parallelepiped-shaped article having the long side and the short side is aligned and conveyed by the conveyer, the direction (posture) of the long article on the conveyer conveyor. If not specified, and especially when the long side of a long product is aligned in the transport direction and transported, the interval between the products can be narrowed, and by transporting in this state Inside, the installation space of the conveyor can be effectively utilized. Then, when the receiving device receives the article to be thrown while descending, it is possible to reduce the degree to which the posture of the long article inclines during the fall, so that the impact when receiving with the receiver apparatus concentrates on a narrow portion. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the situation that the article is damaged. In addition, the distance from the throwing position to the falling point (apron) can be shortened.

A multistage stacking apparatus according to claim 4 of the present invention comprises:
The intermittent storage shutter device of the relay conveyor is provided at an end of the relay conveyor on the pitcher conveyor side, and temporarily stops the progress of articles conveyed without stopping the relay conveyor, and is also temporarily blocked. It is characterized by having a shutter plate that opens a plurality of stored articles in a traveling direction.

According to the present invention, when the articles to be conveyed are prevented from advancing by the shutter plate, a predetermined number of articles to be conveyed next are brought into close contact with each other (connected state) as a group of articles on the pitcher conveyor side. Will be stored at the end of. Here, the maximum number of the predetermined number that the intermittent storage shutter device can store in the state where the articles are in close contact with each other on the relay conveyor depends on the size of the articles and from the position of the shutter plate to the upstream end of the relay conveyor. Determined by distance. Therefore, the required length from the upstream end to the downstream end of the relay conveyor is minimized by providing the position of the shutter plate so that the first article to be stored is the end (downstream end) on the pitcher conveyor side of the relay conveyor. The entire relay conveyor can be miniaturized.

In the multi-stage stacking apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention, the pitcher conveyor is in contact with only the vicinity of both ends on the long side of a rectangular parallelepiped long article having the long side and the short side. It is characterized by having a pair of conveyor belts that are synchronously driven.

According to the present invention, the pitcher conveyor is
Since it has a pair of conveyor belts that synchronously drive by contacting only with the vicinity of both ends on the long side of a long article, compared to the case of a full drive belt (conveyor belt supporting the entire lower surface of the article) It will be conveyed with inclination less likely to occur. In other words, the article simply rests on the conveyor belt without any restraint other than frictional force with the conveyor belt, so that the corrugation of the conveyor belt due to guide rollers in the middle of the conveyor belt, mechanical vibration, etc. This may cause the positional deviation of the article, but it is possible to make the positional deviation of the article less likely to occur by reducing the area where the long article and the conveyor belt come into contact with each other. Therefore, since the long articles are thrown out with their long sides aligned, it is possible to prevent the long articles from being damaged.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the pitcher conveyor is characterized in that the pitcher conveyor is adjustable in angle by swinging the receiver apparatus side with the relay conveyor side as a fulcrum. .

According to the present invention, by adjusting the angle of the pitcher conveyor, it is possible to control the ejection direction of the article when ejected from the pitcher conveyor. This makes it possible to deal with articles of various sizes and weights, and also to deal with articles that are easily damaged in multiple stages.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the multi-stage stacking device, the receiver device has a stopper plate which collides with successively ejected articles and drops the articles into the plurality of pairs of aprons. The shutter device for intermittent storage is arranged in parallel with the shutter plate.

According to the present invention, the article group stored by the shutter plate of the intermittent storage shutter device is stored in the same posture along the shutter plate. Then, while keeping this attitude, it is thrown out from the pitcher conveyor and collides with the stopper plate, but by making the shutter plate and the stopper plate parallel to each other, the impact of the article can be dispersed without concentrating on a narrow portion, Minimize damage to ejected items.

In the multi-stage stacking apparatus according to claim 8 of the present invention, the pusher device allows the ejection operation of the articles by elastic deformation on both sides of the article and prevents collapse of the articles ejected by elastic recovery. It is characterized by comprising a pair of directional sliding contact members.

According to the present invention, since the sliding contact member can elastically restrain the articles stacked on the articles pushed and pushed by the pusher device while slidingly contacting the articles from both sides thereof, the articles are ejected. While allowing the movement, the collapse of the article due to the forward tilt is prevented, and after the pusher device returns,
Since the sliding contact member elastically recovered supports the back side of the stacked articles instead of the pusher device, the collapse of the articles due to the rearward tilting is prevented. Further, since it elastically comes into sliding contact from both sides, it also has a role of correcting the positional deviation of the article, that is, a role of bringing it closer to the center.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the multi-tiered stacking method of long articles, a rectangular parallelepiped long article having long sides and short sides is conveyed with its long side orthogonal to the conveying direction. A step, and a step of intermittently and forcibly stopping only the long articles that are sequentially conveyed to align these long sides to form an article group of multi-tiered units, and then eject the articles at predetermined intervals; After colliding the long side of the ejected long article with a stopper plate, a plurality of pairs are provided at a predetermined interval in a pair of endless chains that are cyclically driven in the vertical direction and are synchronously driven from top to bottom. A pair of aprons among the above aprons are provided in a multistage stacked state.

In a carrying method in which rectangular parallelepiped long articles having a long side and a short side are sequentially carried by a carrying conveyor without intentionally aligning their positions, the long articles are dropped in order to be stacked in multiple stages. As a result, the falling posture cannot be maintained due to rotation and tilt. According to the present invention, by sequentially and intermittently forcibly stopping the long articles that are sequentially conveyed, the long sides thereof are aligned to form an article group in a multi-stacking unit, and the ejection of long articles to be ejected is performed. Since the long sides of the long articles are aligned one by one such as colliding with the stopper plate on the long sides in the direction, the long sides of the long articles are always aligned in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction and stacked in multiple stages. . And
A pair of aprons of a plurality of pairs of aprons that are driven synchronously from the top to the bottom are stacked in a multi-stage state, but since there are a plurality of pairs of aprons, they are located below Since a pair of aprons closest to each other at the position makes the multi-tiered state while descending, the distance that the articles fall can be shortened and the multi-tiered state can be achieved by reducing the inclination of the falling posture and the damage of the articles due to the fall. it can.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-tiered stacking method for long articles, wherein the long articles are intermittently and forcibly stopped temporarily to form a long article group in a multi-tiered unit with their long sides. In the step of ejecting at a predetermined interval after being aligned, there are a relay conveyor that aligns the articles in a multi-tiered unit group and a pitcher conveyor that receives the long article group and ejects the articles at a predetermined height. An intermittent storage shutter device is provided for intermittently forcibly stopping the articles sequentially conveyed to the relay conveyor and then opening the articles, and driving the conveyor belt of the pitcher conveyor with respect to the driving speed of the conveyor belt of the relay conveyor. It is characterized in that the speed is set to be relatively high.

According to the present invention, the intermittent storage shutter device for intermittently forcibly stopping and subsequently opening the articles sequentially conveyed to the relay conveyor is provided, and the pitcher with respect to the drive speed of the conveyor belt of the relay conveyor. By setting the driving speed of the conveyor belt of the conveyor to be relatively high, the articles do not remain on the relay conveyor and the transport flow is not delayed. In addition, among the group of articles passing through the intermittent storage shutter device, there is a predetermined mutual spacing between the articles already transferred to the pitcher conveyor and the articles still remaining on the relay conveyor side. Are equal because they are based on the speed difference between the conveyor belts of the relay conveyor and the pitcher conveyor. For this reason, even if the mutual intervals between the articles sequentially conveyed from the conveyor are not uniform, long articles are stacked in multiple stages for each pair of aprons that are ejected from the pitcher conveyor with an equal mutual interval.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the multi-tiered stacking method of a long product, a pair of endless members is circulated and driven in a vertical direction after a long side of the ejected long product is collided with a stopper plate. Drive a pair of aprons from the top to the bottom in the process of stacking each pair of aprons in a pair of aprons that are arranged at a predetermined interval and are driven synchronously from the top to the bottom In this case, the pair of guide plates aligns both side surfaces on the short side of the plurality of long articles.

According to the present invention, when descending a multi-layered pair of aprons among a plurality of pairs of aprons,
Since the interval is gradually narrowed by a pair of guide plates arranged facing both sides of the short side of the multi-tiered long article, both sides of the short side of the multi-tiered long article are aligned. .

[0030]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The multi-stage stacking apparatus 100 of this embodiment is incorporated in a transfer system in an automatic packing line for automatically packing a large number of articles conveyed by a conveyor in a physical distribution facility while conveying the articles. . That is, the first conveyor A1 for conveying the articles and the second conveyor A for conveying the articles in the multi-stacked state.
1 (FIG. 1) installed between the pitcher conveyor 30, the intermittent storage shutter device 20, the relay conveyor 10, etc., and the long article B thrown from the pitcher conveyor 30. The second device 102 includes the receiver device 40 and the like.

(Items to be stacked in multiple stages or group of products) Items B to be stacked in multiple stages by the multistage stacking apparatus 100 of the present embodiment.
Is a long article B, which is also referred to as a “parcel type”, in which 10 cigarettes are packed into one. In the state of FIG. 12 (a), this long-sized article B is a multi-tiered state in which the upper and lower parts are stacked in five stages.
Box a total of 50 on the bottom side and the entrance side. However, for 36 cigarettes of the same brand, for example, 25 boxes of 5 × 5 are stored on the bottom side of the cardboard box D and 11 boxes are stored on the entrance side (FIG. 12B). Also,
For example, even if the same tobacco made in Japan is CASTER (trademark name) and CABIN (trademark name), the size is
However, if there are mixed items of different sizes, the boxes are packed as a unit in the multi-tiered stacking of the upper and lower five stages. In FIG. 13, CASTER (trade name), CABIN (trade name) that is one size larger and longer on the long side Bc, and the same CABIN, 100 mm size (also referred to as 100s) that is one size larger.
CABIN of each is shown. Further, the upper surface on the short side of these long articles B is denoted by reference numeral Ba, and the lower surface on the short side is denoted by reference numeral Bb.
And the long side is denoted by reference numeral Bc. In addition, the reference numerals B1, B1 in the order in which they are transported by the first transport conveyor A1.
B2, B3, B4 and B5. The parcel type packaged cigarettes B1 ... B5 are stacked side by side on the first conveyor A1 in a direction transverse to the conveyor belt, and are sequentially supplied at a predetermined driving speed V1 with a predetermined mutual distance D1 maintained ( The arrow Y2 in FIG. 13 indicates the carrying direction of the carrying conveyor).

(Structure of Multistage Stacking Device) Multistage Stacking Device 10
0 is a first conveyer conveyor A1 that raises the long articles B sequentially conveyed to a predetermined height, a relay conveyor 10 that sequentially receives the long articles B1 ... B5 from the first conveyer A1, and a relay. Long article B flowing on the conveyor 10
Shutter device 20 for intermittent storage for intermittently forcibly stopping 1 ... B5, pitcher conveyor 30 connected to relay conveyor 10, and receiver device for multi-tier stacking to receive long articles B1 ... B5 thrown out from pitcher conveyor 30. 40 and the long article B1 received by the receiver device 40
The pusher device 50 for pushing B5 toward the second conveyor A2 is combined. The chucking device 1 is arranged along the second transport conveyor A2.
The chucking device 1 clamps the long articles B in a multi-stacked state and transfers them to a position where boxes such as a corrugated cardboard box D are arranged and packed, and a first article arranged along the conveyor A2. The rail R1, the base plate 7 that moves along the first rail R1, and the first drive means M1 that reciprocates the base plate 7 to a predetermined position via the first rail R1.
A second rail R2 arranged on the base plate 7 in a direction orthogonal to the transport conveyor A2, and a second rail R2.
A pair of holding plates 6A, 6B for holding the article B moving along the conveyance conveyor A2 and being conveyed on the conveying conveyor A2, and a pair of holding plates 6A, 6B for reciprocating movement via the second rail R2 And a driving means M2 (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

Relay conveyor 10 or pusher device 50
Is assembled by using frames 1F, 2F, 3F, 4F having a frame structure composed of a combination of a column member f1 and a horizontal member f2. Each of these frames 1F ... Has T-grooves on all sides, and has a rectangular rod-shaped aluminum alloy drawing member as a main member, and a dedicated member is assembled at a key portion. The frame 1F and the frame 2F are assembled as one body, and serve as a member for horizontally supporting the relay conveyor 10 at a fixed height position and for mounting the intermittent storage shutter device 20 and the pitcher conveyor 30. On the other hand, the frame 3F and the tower-shaped frame 4F are assembled as an integral body and serve as an assembly member for the pusher device 50, the receiver device 40, and the stopper control unit 60. The frames 1F and 2F and the frames 3F and 4F have a structure in which assembled parts which are independent of each other are separably integrated via a connecting member. Therefore, the distance between the pitcher conveyor 30 and the receiver device 40 can be adjusted depending on the size of the long product B to be handled. A box 18 accommodating the drive unit of the relay conveyor 10 is accommodated in the frame 2F, and a drive motor MT3 and the like constituting a common drive unit of the receiver device 40 and the pusher device 50 are accommodated in the frame 3F. ing.

The relay conveyor 10 is a device for aligning the long articles B sequentially conveyed from the first conveyor A1 into a long article group B1 ... The upper surface is configured as a horizontal plane,
The long articles B1 ... B5 transported from the first transport conveyor A1 are moved to a horizontal posture. Relay conveyor 10
Is a special conveyor having a conveyor belt 11 made of a film material having high smoothness and low friction, unlike a conveyor having a conveyor belt made of a general high friction material (FIG. 4). On the upstream end side (transport conveyor A1 side) 10B and the downstream end side (pitcher conveyor 30 side) 10F of the conveyor frame 16, the small-diameter conveyor roll 1 is provided.
2 and 12 are provided side by side, and a drive motor MT1 to which a drive roll 15 is attached is arranged in a box 18 below the conveyor frame 16. A pair of tensioners 13, 13 including a tension roll 13R are arranged diagonally above the drive roll 15.

Conveyor belt 11 of relay conveyor 10
Is wound so as to form a loop through the front and rear conveyor rolls 12 and 12 to the drive roll 15,
The pair of tensioners 13, 13 are tension rolls 13
Drive roll 15 and conveyor belt 1 via R and 13R
In order to increase the contact area of No. 1, the conveyor belt 11 is squeezed from both sides at the position closest to the drive roll 15. As a result, the drive motor MT1 prevents the low-friction conveyor belt 11 from slipping through the drive roll 15.

The relay conveyor 10 includes a conveyor belt 1
A pair of guide bars 17, 17 are provided along both sides of 1 (FIGS. 1 and 5). Each of the guide bars 17 is made of an aluminum alloy pipe member whose surface is finely textured to improve the sliding property, and is lifted from the conveyor belt 11 by supporting metal fittings 17b, 17b arranged at a constant interval on the conveyor frame 16. It is fixed in the closed state (Fig. 5). The pair of guide bars 17, 17 are bent so as to narrow the distance from the upstream end side 10B of the relay conveyor 10 toward the downstream end side 10F, and the tip ends thereof extend on both sides of the pitcher conveyor 30. Although not shown, the pair of guide bars 17, 17 are also provided on both sides of the first transport conveyor A1 for raising the long article B to a predetermined height.

The intermittent storage shutter device 20 is used to intermittently forcibly stop the long articles B that are sequentially conveyed and then open. The shutter device 20 is provided with a shutter plate 21 having an L-shaped cross section, and is downstream of the relay conveyor 10. It is arranged on the end side 10F (FIG. 1,
4 and 5). Downstream end side 10F conveyor frame 1
6, 16 are a pair of brackets 22 provided with bearings,
22 is erected, and a shaft 22b having a pair of slot blocks 22c, 22c mounted between the brackets 22, 22.
Is installed horizontally. The shutter plate 21 is screwed to the slot blocks 22c and 22c. An arm 23 is attached to one end of the shaft 22b, and a bracket 25b serving as a scaffold is projected from the side surface of the column member f1 of the frame 1F (FIG. 4). The shutter plate 21 is
The air cylinder 25 can be moved up and down (rotated), and the air cylinder 25 is interposed between the arm 23 and the bracket 25b. Air cylinder 25
Is a double-acting cylinder, which can be forcibly driven in both directions of the rod. The shutter plate 21 is bent to have an L-shaped cross section to impart structural strength, blocks the long article B downward, and rotates in the conveying direction from downward (counterclockwise rotation in FIG. 1). To do.

Such an intermittent storage shutter device 20 may be provided at the end of the conveyor A1 in the carrying direction, which is raised to a predetermined height. Further, the number of the air cylinder 25 of this embodiment is one on one side, but it is also possible to arrange two air cylinders on both sides for synchronous driving.

The pitcher conveyor 30 is the relay conveyor 1
A long article B is received from 0 and the article is thrown out at a predetermined height. The article is provided with a pair of conveyor belts 31 and 31 that keep a space in the width direction of the conveyor belt 11 of the relay conveyor 10. Downstream end side (receiver device side)
The long articles B1 ... B5 are arranged such that they can be transferred so as to be connected to 10F (Figs. 4 and 5). Contrary to the relay conveyor 10, the conveyor belts 31, 31 of the pitcher conveyor 30 are made of a rubber-based material and have a large friction coefficient.

A pair of bearings 36, 36 are arranged on the column members f1, f1 of the frame 1F located on the left and right sides of the downstream end 10F of the relay conveyor 10, and the pair of bearings 36, 36 is provided.
A drive shaft 37 is laterally provided along the conveyor roll 12 on the downstream end side 10F of the relay conveyor 10 between 36, and a motor bracket f3 is provided obliquely below the drive shaft 37.
The drive motor MT2 is arranged via the. Drive shaft 3
7, a timing pulley is attached to each of the output shaft 38 of the drive motor MT2 and the drive motor MT2, and a timing belt VT is wound between the two timing pulleys.

The pitcher conveyor 30 includes the connecting frame 3
A pair of conveyor frames 35, 3 integrated by 3
5 (FIGS. 4 and 5), and a pair of conveyor rolls 32, 32 are attached to both ends of each conveyor frame 35. The pair of left and right conveyor belts 31, 31 are
The pair of left and right conveyor frames 35, 35 are respectively hung between the pair of front and rear conveyor rolls 32, 32, and the conveyor rolls 32, 32 on the upstream end side 30B of the pair of conveyor frames 35, 35 are fixed to the drive shaft 37. There is.
Therefore, by driving the drive shaft 37 by the drive motor MT2, the pair of conveyor belts 31 and 31 are synchronously driven, and when the article is the long article B, both left and right sides of the long side Bc (the long side of the long article). (Both ends of) and drive synchronously.

An arcuate support arm 35a having an arcuate elongated hole 35c is formed in the middle of each conveyor frame 35.
(FIG. 4), and the lower end side of the support arm 35a is fixed by a fixing bolt b1 which penetrates the elongated hole 35c and is screwed to the fixing member of the frame 1F. That is, each conveyor frame 35 is configured to maintain a constant posture by supporting the intermediate portion from below by the support arm 35a. Therefore, the pitcher conveyor 30 swings the downstream end side (receiver device side) 30F around the upstream end side (relay conveyor side) 30B within the range of the long hole 35c, and thereby the pitching position of a predetermined height. The angle can be adjusted to 30s. Further, a shaft 35b that supports the conveyor roll 32 on the downstream end side 30F of each conveyor frame 35 is attached so that the position can be adjusted in the long side direction of the conveyor frame 35, and the conveyor on the downstream end side 30F can be mounted via the shaft 35b. By moving the roll 32, the tension of each conveyor belt 31 is adjusted.

The receiver device 40 is incorporated in a tower-shaped frame 4F and is provided on the downstream end side 3 of the pitcher conveyor 30.
It is positioned in front of 0F. The drive unit of the receiver device 40 is incorporated in the frame 3F and is arranged below the pitcher conveyor 30 (FIGS. 1 and 5).

The frame 4F has a structure in which eight support members f1, f1 ... Are erected on a base plate f5, and a top plate is attached to the upper ends of the support members f1, f1, ... (FIGS. 6 and 7). It has a bilaterally symmetrical structure when viewed from the side of the conveyor 30 (FIG. 6). A large number of connecting bars (not shown) are horizontally provided between the pillar members f1, f1, ... And horizontal members f2, f2 are arranged at important points.

The receiver device 40 vertically circulates and drives a pair of left and right endless chains 42, 42 symmetrically arranged in the width direction of the conveyor belt 11 of the relay conveyor 10 with a predetermined interval. , A device for supporting both ends of long articles B1 ... B5 while descending by a pair of left and right aprons 41, 41 at the same horizontal position of a pair of endless chains 42, 42 (FIGS. 6 and 7). Each of the left and right endless chains 42, 42 has five
It has aprons 41, 41 ... and is attached at a position facing each other. Each apron 41 forms a base end side 41b and a front end side 41a having an L-shaped cross section, and a front end side 41a.
Has a shape in which the wings are spread horizontally (FIG. 8), and the long article B is placed on the front end side 41a where the wings are spread horizontally.

Two pairs of upper and lower pillow bearings 43, 4 are provided on the two pairs of pillar members f1, f1 ... Located inside the frame 4F.
3 are attached, and between the pair of pillow bearings 43, 43 corresponding to the horizontal direction, the rotary shafts 43b, 43b ... With the sprocket S1 for the double chain attached are horizontally provided. Each pair of sprocket S corresponding to the top and bottom
An endless chain 42, 42 composed of a double chain is wound between 1 and S1. Each apron 41 is fixed to each endless chain 42 in an upright posture via a link plate for attachment. The five aprons 41, 41 ... Of each endless chain 42 are distributed and arranged with the same even number of frames (all are arranged at about 380 mm intervals). The aprons 41, 41 at the corresponding positions are
They are located at the same horizontal position. The pillow bearing 43 supporting the upper rotation shaft 43b of each endless chain 42 is fixed to the column member f1 via the adjuster 43j (FIG. 6), and the tension of the endless chain 42 is adjusted by operating the adjuster 43j. It is supposed to do.

In the pair of endless chains 42, 42, the drive motor MT3 causes the aprons 41, 41 to move upward, and the sprockets S1 and S1 reverse the shafts to lower the aprons 41, 41 in synchronization with each other at a rotational speed ratio of 1: 1. Driven. Each apron 41 is attached in a direction in which the apron 41 moves upward in a downward posture and descends in a front posture.

That is, the endless chain 4 is attached to the pair of rotating shafts 43b, 43b arranged in the lower portion of the frame 4F.
In addition to the sprocket S1 for two, drive sprockets S2 and S4 are attached respectively, and the frame 4F
A pair of drive shafts 45, 45 provided with gears G1, G1 meshing with each other are arranged in parallel at the central position of the lower part of the (FIGS. 6, 7). One drive shaft 45 has one rotary shaft 43
The sprocket S3 corresponding to the sprocket S2 of b is attached, and the other drive shaft 45 has the other rotary shaft 43.
A sprocket S5 corresponding to the sprocket S4 of b is attached. Between corresponding sprocket S2 and sprocket S3, and sprocket S4 and sprocket S5
Chains T1 and T1 for power transmission are wound around the space. The drive motor MT3 has one drive shaft 4
5 is arranged in the thrust direction, and the output shaft of the drive motor MT3 is connected to the drive shaft 45 via the coupling 46 (FIG. 7). Therefore, by activating the drive motor MT3, the pair of endless chains 42, 42
Will be driven synchronously. In addition, the drive motor MT3
The rotating shaft 45 connected to the
A sprocket S6 for driving the vehicle is also attached.

The stopper control section 60 has a stopper plate 61 mounted in an upright posture so as to block the front of the pitcher conveyor 30 between the pillar members f1 and f1 inside the frame 4F, and the long article B which falls down in the center. The left and right side surfaces of the stopper plate 61 are formed so that the frame 4
The guide plates 62 and 62 are provided so as to narrow the mutual distance downward of F (FIGS. 1 and 6). The stopper plate 61 is made of a thin metal plate processed by sheet metal processing. The distance between the left and right guide plates 62, 62 of the present embodiment is 350 mm in the upper part where the interval is large and is smaller in the lower part where the interval is narrow.
It is set to 310 mm. Left and right guide plates 62, 6
2 is formed with a vertical slit 62c through which the base end side 41b of the aprons 41, 41 attached to the endless chains 42, 42 pass (FIGS. 7 and 8).
The stopper plate 61 does not reach the position facing the pusher device 50, and the portion facing the pusher device 50 is the discharge opening H1 (FIG. 6). Stopper plate 6
Reference numeral 1 denotes a shutter plate 2 of the intermittent storage shutter device 20.
1. The long article B is positioned so that it is correctly parallel to 1
The long side Bc of the side to which is ejected is aligned and dropped. The front plate 63 (see FIG. 11) facing the stopper plate 61 is used.
In (b), a guide plate may be provided to align the long side Bd on the side opposite to the conveying direction of the long articles B1 ... B5, and the positional deviation when descending can be corrected. .

Below the discharge opening H1, a horizontal horizontal mounting plate 65 is attached using the horizontal member f2 of the frame 4F (FIGS. 6 and 8). The horizontal mounting plate 65 is
Made of a metal plate with a polished surface, apron 4
In order to allow passage of 1, 41, ..., It is provided only in an intermediate portion that does not interfere with each apron 41. That is, the horizontal placement plate 65 has a convex shape when viewed from the upper surface, and the aprons 41, 41 pass through the left and right voids, respectively. The tip portion of the convex horizontal mounting plate 65 has a second transport conveyor A2.
And partially overlaps (FIGS. 1 and 6). Second
An opening / closing gate G that temporarily opens the flow of the multi-tiered articles sequentially conveyed on the second conveyor conveyor A2 to the article mounting position side E1 of the second conveyor conveyor A2 and then opens it.
1, G2 are provided with an opening / closing mechanism (FIG. 2).
The opening / closing mechanism of the opening / closing gates G1 and G2 includes a gear 33 rotated by a drive unit, and an upper rack 34A and a lower rack that mesh with the gear 33 above and below the gear 33 to move the conveyors A2 left and right in the width direction. 34B and a stationary plate 35 hung on the upper rack 34A and the lower rack 34B, respectively.
And temporarily stack the multi-tiered article group B in the stationary plate 35.
After opening and closing the opening and closing gates G1, G2,
It is transported along the flow of the second transport conveyor A2 and moves to the holding position by the chucking device 1.

The pusher device 50 transfers the long articles B1 ... B5 transferred to the horizontal mounting plate 65 to the second transfer conveyor A2.
The pusher plate 51 for waiting in an upright posture is provided on the pitcher conveyor 30 side of the pusher device discharge opening H1, that is, on the pitcher conveyor 30 side (FIGS. 1 and 8). To drive the pusher device 50, the receiver device 40
The output of the drive motor MT3 that drives the pair of endless chains 42, 42 is branched and used.
Therefore, the pair of endless chains 42, 42 and the pusher device 50 are synchronously driven so that so-called drive slip (slip state) does not occur.

Behind the pusher plate 51 is a frame 3F.
A sub-frame f6 is provided to be fixed to the sub-frame f6, and a column member f1 is provided upright behind the sub-frame f6 at a position substantially corresponding to the center of the discharge opening H1 (FIGS. 8 and 9). Between the sub-frame f6 and the pillar member f1, two upper and lower slide shafts R2 and R2 that fix the sub-frame f6 and the pillar member f1 at both ends are laterally provided. A slidable slider 52 is attached to the slide shafts R2, R2, and two upper and lower push rods R1, R1 are attached to the slider 52 in parallel with the slide shafts R2, R2. The tip end portions of the two push rods R1 and R1 pass through a pair of slide bearings provided on the sub-frame f6 and come out to the pusher plate 51 side, and are fixed to the pusher plate 51 via a bracket 51a for dispersing stress. ing. The pusher plate 5 is attached to one slide shaft R2.
The compression spring 52s for pushing back the slider 52 slid to the 1 side is fitted.

The base plate f5 of the frame 3F is provided with a swing arm 53 which is erected so as to swing the upper end 53c with the base end 53a as a fulcrum. Swing arm 53
The base end portion 53a of the swing arm 53 is supported by a shaft bracket 53b fixed to the base plate f5, and the upper end portion 53c of the swing arm 53 is connected to the slider 52 via a knuckle joint 52j. A cam roller 53r is attached to the side surface of the swing arm 53 below the central portion of the length thereof, and a tension spring 53s is interposed between the swing arm 53 and the column member f1 (FIG. 9).

On the base plate f5 of the frame 3F, a transfer gear G3 for changing the power transmission direction by 90 degrees is installed at an obliquely upper position of the drive motor MT3 (FIG. 8). A sprocket S7 corresponding to the sprocket S6 attached to the drive motor MT3 is attached to the input shaft of the transfer gear G3.
A chain T2 is wound between them (FIG. 8).
On the other hand, on the output shaft side of the transfer gear G3, the plate cam 5
The cam shaft 55 to which 4 is attached is a pair of bearings 55b, 55
The output shaft of the transfer gear G3 and the cam shaft 55 are connected via a coupling 56. The plate cam 54 is combined with the cam roller 53r of the swing arm 53 (FIGS. 8 and 9). Therefore, when the plate cam 54 is rotationally driven, the swing arm 53
The upper end portion 53c of the slider drives the slider 52,
Push rods R1 and R1 of the pusher plate 51 push out the pusher plate 51 in the horizontal direction, and move the pusher plate 51 to the second transport conveyor A2.
The position of the cam roller 53r on the swing arm 53 is set so that a stroke three times the eccentric amount of the plate cam 54 appears on the pusher plate 51.

However, the plate cam 54 is an electromagnetic clutch 54.
It is attached to the cam shaft 55 via j, and when the electromagnetic clutch 54j is off, the plate cam 54 does not rotate even if the cam shaft 55 is driven. The plate cam 54 has a counter 5 including a light-transmitting sensor and a perforated disk for detecting the rotation speed of the cam shaft 55.
5s are juxtaposed (FIGS. 8 and 9). The electromagnetic clutch 54j of the plate cam 54 counts the number of frames of the endless chain 42 sandwiched between the aprons 41, 41 ... Of the receiver device 40 via the counter 55s, from the number of rotations of the cam shaft 55 in reverse. Depending on the apron 41, 41 ...
ON / OFF control is performed in synchronization with the mutual interval of.

The pusher device 50 includes a pair of sliding contact members 5
7,57 are provided. The sliding contact member 57 is attached to the pillar members f1 and f1 located on the left and right of the discharge opening H1 via spacers for adjusting the gap. The pair of sliding contact members 57, 57 of the present embodiment are long nylon brushes having a width that extends up and down the discharge opening H1, and the direction of the tips of the pair of sliding contact members 57, 57 The tilted posture is set so as to close toward the king device 1.
Further, the gap between the pair of sliding contact members 57, 57 may push the left and right sliding contact members 57, 57 and pass through the discharge opening H1 while the long article B pushed out by the pusher device 50 receives an appropriate repulsive force. Adjusted to the extent.

Here, the first device including the pitcher conveyor 30, the intermittent storage shutter device 20, the relay conveyor 10 and the like.
The device 101 and the second device 102 including the receiver device 40 and the like are mechanically configured as different devices and are not synchronously driven. However, depending on the size of the long article B to be handled, the pitcher conveyor 30 and the receiver device 4
In addition to adjusting the distance from 0 (FIG. 1), the receiver device 4 with the relay conveyor 10 side as a fulcrum via the long hole 35c.
Since the angle can be freely adjusted by swinging the 0 side, the falling states of the pair of endless chains 42, 42 to the aprons 41, 41 arranged at a predetermined interval are maintained. It is possible to set and arrange so as to be synchronized.

(Operation of Multi-Stage Stacking Apparatus and Multi-Stage Stacking Method) Next, the operation of the multi-stage stacking apparatus and the multi-stage stacking method according to the present embodiment will be described (FIGS. 10 and 11). Here, an example in which the long articles B1 ... B5 are stacked in five stages will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the driving speed V2 of the conveyor belt 11 is set to be smaller than the driving speed V1 of the conveyor belt of the first transfer conveyor A1, and the conveyor belt 3 of the pitcher conveyor 30 is set.
The drive speed V3 of 1, 31 is set relatively higher than the drive speed V2 of the relay conveyor 10 (V1> V2).
<V3).

The long articles B1 ... B5 are lifted to the height of the relay conveyor 10 by the first transport conveyor A1 and are sequentially supplied from the first transport conveyor A1 to the upstream end side 10B of the relay conveyor 10, and the relay conveyor B1. 10 (FIG. 10 (a)). Here, the driving speed V1 of the first transport conveyor A1 and the mutual distance D1 of the long articles B1 ... B5 on the first transport conveyor A1 are different for each type of the long articles B1 ... B5 (see FIG. 13). ) This is an interval given when picked up from the article stockers stacked and stored by the picking apparatus and conveyed to the conveyance conveyor A1, and is determined by the picking apparatus. Therefore, if the processing capacity of the picking device is increased, it is possible to increase the driving speed V1 of the first transfer conveyor A1 and increase the efficiency of the entire multi-stage stacking device 100. Further, the driving speed V2 of the conveyor belt 11 of the relay conveyor 10 is the driving speed V1 of the first transfer conveyor A1.
It is a little smaller than the default setting. However, the relationship of drive speed V1> V2 is not a necessary condition of the present invention but merely a preferable setting. Then, the long side Bc of the long article B is aligned and transported in the transport direction by the first transport conveyor A1, but due to the tilt angle to be raised and the gap 10s between the transport conveyor A2 and the relay conveyor 10 at the time of taking over, Misalignment may occur in the conveyance in which the long side Bc of the long article B is aligned in the conveyance direction. However, the long sides Bc of the long articles B are aligned as follows.

At the time of shifting to the relay conveyor 10, the driving speed V1 of the first transfer conveyor A1 and the relay conveyor 1
Due to the speed difference from the driving speed V2 of 0, the long articles B1 ... B
The mutual distance D2 of 5 is narrower than the mutual distance D1 on the first transport conveyor A1 (FIG. 10 (b)). When the long article B1 at the leading position is detected by a sensor (not shown), the air cylinder 25 of the intermittent storage shutter device 20 operates, and the shutter plate 21 closes so as to block the path of the long article B. When the leading long article B1 is forcibly stopped by the shutter plate 21, the following long articles B2 ... B5 collide with the stopped long articles B1 in sequence and lose the mutual interval D2. , Are sequentially stored from the downstream end side 10F of the relay conveyor 10. At this time, the long article B1
The impact due to the collision between B5s becomes smaller as the drive speed V2 of the relay conveyor 10 becomes smaller. Also, the long article B
1 ... The required driving force of the conveyor belt 11 increases as the number of stored B5 increases, but by using a low friction material for the material of the conveyor belt 11, it is possible to suppress the increase of the required driving force and store it. It is possible to prevent defects such as scratches from occurring in the long articles B1 ... B5 present.

At the same time that the fifth long article B5 in the preceding order, which has been sequentially stopped, collides with the fourth long article B4, that is, at the moment when the storage of the five long articles B1 ... B5 is completed. At a timing, the air cylinder 25 of the intermittent storage shutter device 20 operates, and the shutter plate 21 opens counterclockwise (FIG. 10C). When the opening operation is performed, the stored five long articles B1 ... B5 are in contact with each other based on the precondition that the drive speed V3 of the pitcher conveyor 30 is set to be relatively large with respect to the drive speed V2 of the relay conveyor 10. In the state, it moves to the pitcher conveyor 30 side, and at the moment when it moves to the pitcher conveyor 30, a new mutual interval D3 is given between the long articles B1 ... B5. That is, the mutual distance D3 is evenly generated by the speed difference between the relay conveyor 10 and the pitcher conveyor 30. Therefore, although the mutual distance D1 loses the mutual distance D1 due to the rise of the transport conveyor A1 and the like, the mutual distance D3 is given again and the ejection operation and the control by the stopper control member 60 become accurate. . The drive speed V3 of the pitcher conveyor 30 can be optimally adjusted according to the property of the long product B to be handled by providing the independent drive motor MT2.

The long articles B1 ... B5 newly provided with a constant mutual distance D3 are ejected from the downstream end side 30F of the pitcher conveyor 30 at a driving speed V3, and stopper control is provided in front of the pitcher conveyor 30. It collides with the stopper plate 61 of the portion 60. On the other hand, the pair of endless chains 42, 42 of the receiver device 40 are
A plurality of pairs of aprons 4 and a pair of left and right aprons 4 arranged below the ejected long articles B at a predetermined interval.
1 and 41 are driven to descend (Fig. 1
0). The apron 41 and the lower surface of the projected long article B
The vertical gap d1 between and is set to the minimum that can ensure a predetermined degree of safety (FIG. 10 (c)). Here, the driving speed V3 of the conveyor belts 31, 31 of the pitcher conveyor 30
Is set to be relatively higher than the drive speed V2 of the relay conveyor 10, the long article B jumps out vigorously and collides with the stopper plate 61 of the stopper control unit 60 without changing its posture. That is, when the pop-out speed of the pitcher conveyor 30 is low, there is a high possibility that the long article B to be thrown out will rotate or incline, but such a thing does not occur, and even if it occurs, the pitcher conveyor 30 will The pair of conveyor belts 31, 31 are
Since the angle can be adjusted, the attitude of jumping out can be controlled. Since the protruding side of the long side Bc of the long article B collides with the stopper plate 61, the impact at the time of collision can be dispersed over the entire long article B, and the article is less damaged. Further, the shutter plate 21 of the intermittent storage shutter device 20 returns to the closing operation when the transfer of the fifth long article B5 to the pitcher conveyor 30 is completed, and the storage operation is newly started on the relay conveyor 10. .

The ejected multi-tiered article group (five long articles B) is a pair of aprons 4 moving downward.
1, 41 (FIG. 11 (a)). The endless chains 42, 42 of the receiver device 40 lose their mutual spacing between the first long article B1 received and the second long article B2 thrown out of the pitcher conveyor 30 next, The vertical gap d2 between the first long article B1 and the next long article B2 received is continuously operated at the minimum speed at which a predetermined degree of safety can be secured. Therefore, the succeeding long articles B1 ...
The stack is stacked in such a manner that it jumps immediately above and collides with the stopper plate 61 and drops onto the preceding long article B1.
That is, the long articles B1 ... B5 that have been sequentially ejected are always received at the same height position regardless of the front or back. The pair of endless chains 42, 42 has five pairs of aprons 41, 41 arranged at a predetermined interval and driven from top to bottom. Stacked individually. At this time, since the long articles B1 ... B5 are provided with a constant mutual distance D3, the long articles B are provided between each pair of aprons 41, 41 and the upper and lower aprons 41.
No clogging (box clogging) of 1 ... B5 occurs.

The receiver device 40 includes five long articles B1.
... The pair of aprons 41, 41 equipped with B5 are moved down to the discharge opening H1, and the pusher device 50 moves the apron 4
The pusher plates 51 are operated to be projected at the same timing when 1 and 41 reach the level of the horizontal mounting plate 65 of the discharge opening H1 (FIG. 11B). Apron 4
The positions of 1 and 41 are detected by a counter 55s attached to the cam shaft 55 of the pusher device 50, and the counter 55s drives the pusher plate 51 to move the plate cam 54.
This is because the pusher device 50 and the receiver device 40 are synchronized by turning on and off the electromagnetic clutch 54j. When a pair of aprons 41, 41 of a plurality of aprons 41, 41 are stacked, the distance between the guide plates 62, 62 is gradually narrowed. Top side B on the short side of
Both a and the lower surface Bb are vertically aligned, reach the level of the horizontal mounting plate 65, and are transferred to the horizontal mounting plate 65. That is, the pair of aprons 41, 41 on the transfer side pass through the left and right void portions of the convex horizontal mounting plate 65, respectively, and at the same time, are transferred to the horizontal mounting plate 65, and the pair of transferred aprons 4 are transferred.
Nos. 1 and 41 become empty, turn over at the position of the sprocket S1, and then rise. In this way, the step of transporting the long articles B with the long side Bc as the transport direction, and the long articles B that are sequentially transported are intermittently temporarily stopped to form a group of articles in a multi-tiered stack with these lengths. A step of aligning the side sides and then ejecting at a predetermined interval, and a plurality of pairs of the ejected multi-tiered long article group B arranged at a predetermined interval in a pair of endless chains 42, 42. Of the aprons 41, 41 ... of each of the aprons 41, 41 ... The fall distance is shortened, and it is possible to reduce the inclination of the fall posture and the damage to the article due to the fall.

Since the pusher plate 51 is synchronized with a predetermined frame feed, the pusher plate 51 pushes the back of the five-stage multi-tiered long articles B1 ... B5 transferred to the horizontal placement plate 65. While sliding on the horizontal mounting plate 65 and pushed out onto the second conveyor A2, the opening / closing gate G was on standby.
1 supported from the front side. Although not shown, a proximity sensor for confirming a predetermined multi-stage stacking is provided in front of the opening / closing gate G1.

Here, until the discharged long articles B1 ... B5 reach the opening / closing gate G1, the long articles B1.
Although there is no member that supports the front side of B5, the long articles B1 ... B5 are sandwiched by the pair of sliding contact members 57, 57 provided on the left and right of the discharge opening H1 during this period, and therefore, they may tilt forward. Further, when the long articles B1 ... B5 reach the opening / closing gate G1 and the pusher plate 51 returns, the pair of sliding contact members 57, 57 are located behind the long articles B1. Around the long article B1 ...
Prevent B5 from falling behind. In addition, the pair of sliding contact members 5
7, 57 press the upper surface Ba and the lower surface Bb on the short side from both sides of the long article B to align them in the center (correct the positional deviation). The multi-stage stacking apparatus 100 continues the stacking operation at an extremely high speed by repeating such operations. In the transfer conveyor A2, a pair of sandwiching plates 6A and 6B of the chucking device 1 sandwiches the long articles B1 ... B5 in a multi-tiered state by aligning them in a predetermined row and transports them to a boxing position at once (FIGS. 2 and 3). ).

In the present embodiment, the receiver device 4
0 and the pusher device 50 are indirectly synchronized by counting the number of rotations of the cam shaft 55 by the counter 55s. For example, the horizontal mounting plate 6 of the discharge opening H1 is
A proximity sensor for detecting the apron 41 may be provided in the vicinity of 5, and the proximity sensor may directly detect the apron 41 to control the on / off of the electromagnetic clutch 54j of the plate cam 54. Alternatively, the plate cam 54 may be directly connected to the cam 55 shaft without interposing the electromagnetic clutch 54j, and the receiver device 40 and the pusher device 50 may be mechanically synchronized by adjusting the gear ratio of the transfer gear G3 and the like. In this case, the counter 55s can be omitted.

As described above, in the multi-stage stacking apparatus of this embodiment,
The long article B thrown out from the relay conveyor 10 having the pitcher conveyor 30 and the like is received by the upper part of the receiver device 40, and a pair of endless chains 42, 42 from the middle part in the vertical direction of the receiver device 40. It can be received via the pair of aprons 41, 41. If the interval between the plurality of pairs of aprons 41, 41 is kept constant, regardless of the height position of the relay conveyor 10,
Multi-tiered stacking is possible with less damage to the items due to dropping. In addition, although the parcel-type cigarette is described as an example of the article in the multi-tier stacking apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and various articles having a predetermined shape can be conveyed.

[0070]

According to the multi-stage stacking apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the articles that are successively conveyed are raised to a predetermined height by using the conveyor, and the articles that are ejected from the conveyor are received. Since a plurality of pairs of aprons that are circulatingly driven in the vertical direction via a pair of endless chains of the device receive the descending motions at a close distance, the receiver devices are sequentially stacked without stopping. At the same time, the article group in the multi-tiered state can be sequentially discharged from the receiver apparatus by the pusher device for each article group, which causes a collapse of articles due to a large drop (collapse of articles) and damage to wrapping paper and the like. It is possible to automatically stack multiple stages without having to.

According to the multi-stage stacking apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, next to the transport conveyor, a relay conveyor for further aligning articles sequentially transported from the transport conveyor into a multi-stage stacking unit group of articles, A pitcher conveyor that is connected to the relay conveyor and receives the article from the relay conveyor and ejects the article at a predetermined height, and furthermore, with respect to the driving speed of the conveyor belt of the relay conveyor, Since the drive speed is set to be relatively high, the article group is made to correspond to a plurality of pairs of aprons of the receiver device while recovering the time required to set up the article group by speeding up the pitcher conveyor. In addition to continuous operation, it is also possible to prevent clogging when receiving a group of articles by the receiver device.

Further, according to the multi-stage stacking method for long articles according to claim 9 of the present invention, the long articles that are sequentially conveyed are intermittently and forcibly stopped, and the long articles are grouped in a multi-tiered unit group. The long sides are aligned one after another from the pitcher conveyor, and the long sides in the ejection direction of the long articles are collided with stoppers. It is possible to perform multi-tiered stacking in which the long sides of the lengthy articles are always aligned in the transport direction.

[0073]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an overall configuration of a multi-stage stacking device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a transfer system connected to the multi-stacking system.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a chucking device of the transfer system.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a relay conveyor, a pitcher conveyor, and an intermittent storage shutter device of the multi-stage stacking device of the one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of FIG.

6 is a view taken in the direction of arrow K1 in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a receiver device and a pusher device according to the one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a receiver device and a pusher device according to the one embodiment.

9 is a view taken in the direction of arrow K2 in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram in the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of operations in the above embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a plurality of long articles are packed in a box.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating types of parcel-type cigarettes and a packaging state.

[Explanation of Codes] A1 first conveyor, A2 second conveyor, B article, article group, long article (parcel type cigarette), Ba short side upper surface, Bb lower surface, Bc
Long side, D1, D2, D3 mutual distance between articles, 10 relay conveyor, 10F downstream end side (conveyor conveyor side), 11 conveyor belt, 20 intermittent storage shutter device, 21 shutter plate, 30 pitcher conveyor, 30B upstream end Side (relay conveyor side), 30F downstream end side (receiver device side), 30s throwing position, 31 conveyor belt, 35c elongated hole, 40 receiver device, 41 apron, 42 endless chain, 50 pusher device, 57 sliding contact member , 60 stopper control member, 61 stopper plate, 62 left and right guide plates, 100 multi-stage stacking device, V1 first conveyor conveyor drive speed, V2 relay conveyor drive speed, V3 pitcher conveyor drive speed,

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yuio Kato             Shiramine Ro-159, Shiramine-mura, Ishikawa-gun, Ishikawa Prefecture (72) Inventor Tomohisa Fujioka             87 Hachibushiwa, Unoki Town, Hebei District, Ishikawa Prefecture F term (reference) 3F017 EA01 FA02 FA06 FB01                 3F025 AC03                 3F029 AA04 BA01 CA22 DA04                 3F081 AA01 BA02 BD11 BD16 BD20                       BF06 CC08 CE13 CE14

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A receiver comprising: a conveyor for conveying an article; a receiver device for receiving an article ejected from the conveyor while descending; and a pusher device for appropriately ejecting an article received by the receiver. , A pair of endless chains that are circulated in the vertical direction and a plurality of pairs of aprons that are arranged at predetermined intervals in the pair of endless chains, and synchronize the pair of endless chains from top to bottom A multi-stage stacking device, characterized in that articles sequentially ejected from a conveyor are put into a multi-stage stacking state for each pair of aprons to be driven. 2. A transport conveyor for transporting articles, a relay conveyor for aligning articles sequentially transported from the transport conveyor into a group of articles in a multi-stage stacking unit, and an article connected to the relay conveyor and provided from the relay conveyor. A pitcher conveyor for receiving and delivering the article at a predetermined height and delivering the article, and a receiver device for receiving the article delivered from the pitcher conveyor while descending, and providing a relay conveyor without stopping the relay conveyor. The relay conveyor is provided with an intermittent storage shutter device that intermittently and forcibly stops the sequentially conveyed articles to store a plurality of articles, and then opens the relay conveyor, and the pitcher conveyor conveyor with respect to the drive speed of the relay conveyor conveyor belt. Multi-stage stacking characterized in that the driving speed of the belt is set to be relatively high Place 3. The article is a rectangular parallelepiped elongated article having a long side and a short side, and the conveyor conveys the long side of the elongated article in the width direction of a conveyor belt. 3. The multi-stage stacking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the multi-stage stacking device is caused to be discharged from the transport conveyor to the receiver device or is discharged from the pitcher conveyor to the receiver device. 4. The intermittent storage shutter device of the relay conveyor is provided at an end of the relay conveyor on the pitcher conveyor side, and temporarily stops the progress of articles conveyed without stopping the relay conveyor, and The multi-stage stacking apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a shutter plate that opens the plurality of articles stored by being blocked in a traveling direction. 5. The pitcher conveyor has a pair of conveyor belts that are synchronously driven by contacting only with the vicinity of both ends of the long side of a rectangular parallelepiped long article having the long side and the short side. The multi-stage stacking device according to claim 3. 6. The multi-stage stacking device according to claim 4, wherein the pitcher conveyor is configured so that the angle can be adjusted by swinging the receiver device side with the relay conveyor side as a fulcrum. 7. The receiver device includes a stopper plate for sequentially dropping articles to collide and drop onto the aprons of the plurality of pairs, the stopper plate being parallel to the shutter plate of the intermittent storage shutter device. The multistage stacking device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the multistage stacking device is arranged in 8. The pusher device includes a pair of unidirectional sliding contact members that allow the ejection operation of the article by elastic deformation on both sides of the article and prevent collapse of the ejected article by elastic recovery. The multistage stacking device according to claim 1, which is characterized in that: 9. A step of transporting a rectangular parallelepiped long article having a long side and a short side with its long side orthogonal to the transport direction, and only the long articles sequentially transported intermittently and A step of aligning the long sides of the articles by forcibly stopping them to form a group of articles in a multi-tiered unit and then ejecting the articles at a predetermined interval, and using the long sides of the ejected long articles as stopper plates. After the collision, a pair of endless chains that are cyclically driven in the vertical direction are arranged at a predetermined interval and are driven in a synchronized manner from top to bottom. A multi-tiered stacking method for long articles, comprising steps. 10. The step of intermittently and forcibly stopping the long articles to align the long sides of the long articles in a multi-tiered stack unit and then ejecting the articles at predetermined intervals. Equipped with a relay conveyor that aligns items in a stack unit and a pitcher conveyor that receives long items and raises them to a predetermined height, and intermittently forcibly conveys items that are sequentially conveyed to the relay conveyor. A shutter device for intermittent storage that is opened after being stopped is provided, and the driving speed of the conveyor belt of the pitcher conveyor is set to be relatively high with respect to the driving speed of the conveyor belt of the relay conveyor. The multi-tiered stacking method of long articles according to claim 9. 11. After colliding the long side of the thrown-out long article with a stopper plate, a pair of endless chains that are cyclically driven in the up-and-down direction are arranged at a predetermined interval from top to bottom. In the process of stacking a pair of aprons out of a plurality of pairs of aprons that are synchronously driven, each pair of aprons is driven from top to bottom by a pair of guide plates to shorten the length of a plurality of long articles. 10. The multi-stage stacking method for long articles according to claim 9, wherein both side surfaces on the side are aligned.