JP2004002040A - Multi-row distributing method for article - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-row distributing method for articles, continuously distributing articles without stopping distributed articles inside a device at the time of row switchover when articles in a row form are distributed into rows with a predetermined number of rows. <P>SOLUTION: A distribution device 10 comprises a movable guide member 50 that moves forward and backward in a traveling direction of a conveyer C with holding the articles in a row state. After a predetermined number of articles B1 in one row of a distribution section C2 is sent out onto the conveyer C, the movable guide member in the position of moving backward is laterally moved to the next row position and moved forward at approximately the same speed as a speed of moving forward of the conveyer toward the distribution section. After completion of moving to the next row position of the distribution section, the movable guide member in the position of moving forward is moved backward from the distribution section with sending out a predetermined number of articles B2 in the next row position onto the conveyer C. Similarly, the above operations are repeated in the predetermined order of rows. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

The present invention relates to a multi-row sorting method for sorting articles such as containers moving on a conveyor into a predetermined number of rows.

For example, containers such as packaging bottles or PET bottles are packaged in a predetermined number of rows in a predetermined number for transfer and storage after the containers are manufactured. At the time of this alignment, the containers are sorted into a predetermined number of rows of articles by a sorting device that moves laterally in the width direction of the conveyor.

種 As a conventional sorting means of this type, for example, a sorting device 90 as shown in FIG. 6 is used. The sorting device 90 sorts the articles B arranged in a row (usually one row) at the loading section C1 of the conveyor C into a predetermined number of rows (here, four rows of 10) in the arranging section C2. And a traverser 92 that laterally moves in a predetermined order along a machine base 91 provided in the width direction of the conveyor C. The traverser 92 includes a guide member 93 for the articles B to be sorted, and a rear portion 94 of the guide member 93 is pivotally supported at a connection position with the carry-in portion C1 so as to be always connected to the carry-in portion C1. I have. A stopper 96 which can be opened and closed is provided at a front end portion 95 on the front side of the guide member 93. The stopper 96 sends out the articles B onto the conveyor C in an open state, and closes after sending out a predetermined number of articles B. The traverser 92 moves laterally with the stopper 96 closed.

According to the sorting device 90, the stopper 96 of the guide member 93 is opened at the position of the traverser 92 in FIG. 6 (6A), and the article B1 for the article row L1 is sent out onto the conveyor C. When the delivery of a predetermined number (10) of articles B1 in the row is completed by a counter (not shown), the stopper 96 of the guide member 93 is closed, and the traverser 92 is moved to the next row L2 as shown in FIG. Move to position. During this time, the articles B1 sent out as the row L1 are sent to the array C2 by the conveyor C and held in a row as shown in FIG. 6 (6C).

When the traverser 92 moves to the position of the next row L2, the article B2 of the next row is held by the guide member 93 and moves as shown in FIGS. Then, when the traverser 92 completes the movement to the position of the next row L2, as shown in FIG. 6 (6D), the stopper 96 is opened to feed out a predetermined number of articles B2 on the conveyor C for the next row L2. After the predetermined number of articles B2 constituting the row L2 has been sent out, the stopper 96 of the guide member 93 is closed, and the same operation as described above is repeated for successive rows.

As described above, in the conventional sorting device 90, while the traverser 92 moves laterally from one row L1 to the next row L2, as shown in (6B) and (6C) in FIG. The stopper 96 of the member 93 is closed, and the next row of articles B2 is stopped in the guide member 93. Therefore, the loading of the articles from the loading section C1 of the conveyor C is also stopped. That is, in the conventional device 90, the carrying-in operation of the article B is stopped during the column switching (moving), so that there is a problem that the time required for the sorting operation becomes long and efficient work cannot be performed. In order to improve the time loss during such line switching, measures such as increasing the conveyor speed have been taken.However, when the conveyor speed is increased, the rate of occurrence of problems such as collisions between articles and falling down is increased. Get higher.

The present invention has been proposed in view of such a problem, when sorting a row of articles into a predetermined number of rows of articles, without stopping the articles to be sorted in the apparatus at the time of row switching, It is an object of the present invention to provide a method in which a sorting operation is performed continuously and an efficient sorting operation can be performed.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the articles moving in a row on the conveyor are formed at a position separated from the sorting apparatus on the conveyor by the sorting apparatus which laterally moves in a predetermined order in the width direction of the conveyor. A method for sorting a predetermined number of rows arranged in a row, wherein the sorting device is provided with a movable guide member that moves back and forth in the traveling direction of the conveyor while holding the articles in a row state, After sending out a predetermined number of articles on the conveyor at one row position of the array section, the movable guide member at the retreat position is laterally moved to the next row position of the array section and the conveyor is moved toward the array section. Advance at substantially the same speed as the advance speed, and after completing the movement of the array portion to the next row position, at the next row position, a predetermined number of articles are sent out onto the conveyor while being at the advance position. The dynamic guide member is retracted from the arrangement unit, likewise, according to the multi-column sorting method of articles and repeating said operation a predetermined column order below.

According to the multi-row sorting method of the present invention, articles are conveyed even while the apparatus moves laterally between rows, so that the articles to be sorted are continuously stopped without stopping in the apparatus. A sorting operation can be performed, and articles can be quickly sorted into a predetermined row. In addition, since the sorting of the articles is performed while being held by the fixed guide member and the movable guide member via the introduction guide member, the work can be efficiently performed with few collisions of the articles on the conveyor. Further, according to the present invention, since an appropriate conveyor speed can be maintained, it is possible to perform an efficient operation to greatly suppress problems such as falling or collision of articles on the conveyor.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sorting device showing an example of a sorting method of the present invention in a stepwise manner, FIG. 2 is an overall side view of the sorting device, FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of the sorting device, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view in which the movements of the traverser body and the movable guide member are shown by arrows in order in the width direction of the conveyor of the sorting device.

First, the multi-row sorting method for articles according to the present invention will be described. In this method, articles moving in a row on a conveyor are arranged in a predetermined number of rows by a sorting apparatus which laterally moves in a predetermined order in a width direction of the conveyor. The present invention relates to a method of sorting articles into rows. In the following description, a case will be described in which articles in a single row are sorted into multiple rows, but articles in a plurality of rows (for example, articles in two rows) can be sorted into multiple rows. (For example, if articles in a two-row state are sorted into four rows, eight rows can be aligned as a whole.)

In the present invention, the sorting device is provided with a movable guide member that moves back and forth in the traveling direction of the conveyor while holding the articles in a row, and feeds a predetermined number of articles onto the conveyor at one row position. After that, the movable guide member at the retreat position is laterally moved to the next row position and moved forward, and after the movement to the next row position is completed, a predetermined number of articles are sent out onto the conveyor at the next row position and moved to the forward position. The method is characterized in that a certain movable guide member is retracted, and thereafter, the above operation is repeated in a predetermined column order.

In the method of the present invention, the sorting device is provided with a movable guide member that moves back and forth in the traveling direction of the conveyor, and moves the movable guide member forward with the lateral movement to the next row. Is moved backward, the sorting operation is continuously performed without stopping the articles to be sorted in the apparatus at the time of switching the rows, and the efficient sorting operation is performed.

In this method, by providing an openable / closable stopper at the tip of the movable guide member and controlling the opening and closing of the delivery of the article on the conveyor, a more secure sorting operation can be performed. In the method of the present invention, since the movable guide member moves back and forth in the traveling direction of the conveyor, continuous operation can be performed without necessarily providing a stopper.

Further, in this method, if the moving speed of the movable guide member is substantially the same as the moving speed of the conveyor, the articles to be sorted can be carried in almost without interruption, and the goods can be smoothly moved on the conveyor. It can prevent us from falling and falling. Hereinafter, the method of the present invention will be described in detail together with the apparatus with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus for realizing the multi-row sorting method for articles is in a row state at the loading section C1 on the conveyor C (one row in this example, but a plurality of rows may be used as described above). The present invention relates to a device 10 that sorts the articles B arranged in the array C2 of the conveyor C into a predetermined number of rows of articles (10 rows in each embodiment, four rows in the embodiment). The sorting device 10 includes the machine base 11, the traverser main body 20, the fixed guide member 30, the introduction guide member 40, and the movable guide member 50, and is arranged in a line at the carry-in portion C1 on the conveyor C. The arranged articles B are sorted into four rows of articles L1, L2,.

(4) The machine stand 11 is laid across the conveyor C in the width direction between the carry-in section C1 and the arrangement section C2 of the conveyor C, as shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 12 denotes a side frame, and 13 denotes an upper frame. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality (four) of the conveyors C are arranged side by side in this example corresponding to the article rows.

The traverser body 20 sorts the articles B carried in from the carry-in section C1 of the conveyor C into a predetermined number of rows on the arrangement section C2 of the conveyor C by a predetermined number, and along the upper frame 13 of the machine base 11. It moves laterally in the width direction of the conveyor C according to a predetermined order. That is, as is well understood from FIG. 4, the machine base 11 is provided with a motor (servo motor) 21 for lateral movement, and is stretched between pulleys 22 and 23 installed on the upper frame 13. The movement of the toothed belt 24 causes the traverser body 20 to move in a predetermined order. Reference numeral 25 denotes a connecting portion between the traverser main body 20 and the toothed belt 24. The order of the lateral movement of the traverser body 20 is determined in advance by a control unit (not shown) of the motor 21, and an example thereof is shown in FIG.

As is clear from FIGS. 3 and 4, the traverser main body 20 of the embodiment includes two main body members 20A and 20B arranged in parallel with the traveling direction of the conveyor C in relation to a width adjusting mechanism 70 described later. It is composed of a screw rod 72 and a nut member 73 for connecting these in a freely adjustable width. Reference numeral 71 denotes a width adjusting handle for rotating the screw rod 72. The traverser body 20 is provided with a fixed guide member 30, an introduction guide member 40, and a movable guide member 50 described below.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the fixed guide member 30 has a guide bar 32 fixed to the main body members 20A and 20B of the traverser main body 20 via frames 31 and 31, respectively. The guide bar 32 guides both sides of the sorted articles B in a row, and it goes without saying that the guide bars 32 are provided in parallel with the traveling direction of the conveyor C. When articles in a plurality of rows are sorted into multiple rows, an intermediate guide bar is provided (not shown) (the same applies to the following introduction guide member and movable guide member).

As can be understood from FIG. 1, the introduction guide member 40 is provided between the carry-in portion C1 of the conveyor C and the traverser main body 20, and fixes the article B of the carry-in portion C1 to the traverser 20. Leads to Since the introduction guide member 40 moves laterally together with the traverser main body 20, as shown in FIG. 2, it is axially connected to the traverser main body 20 via pins 41 and the like, and the loading portion C1 side is also connected to the pins 42 and the like. It is pivoted. In the figure, reference numeral 43 denotes a connecting member, 44 denotes a bracket, and 45 denotes a guide bar.

The movable guide member 50 is provided on the traverser main body 20, has a stopper 65 that can be opened and closed at its tip, and moves back and forth in the traveling direction of the conveyor. That is, as is well understood from FIG. 3, the movable guide member 50 includes rail members 52, 52 that slide along sliding groove members 51, 51 provided in the main body members 20A, 20B of the traverser main body 20, respectively. And a motor (servo motor) 53 for forward and backward movement, pulleys 54 and 55, and a toothed belt 56 attached to the traverser body 20 and are predetermined by a control device (not shown) of the motor 53. Move back and forth. Reference numeral 57 denotes a connecting portion between the rail member 52 and the toothed belt 56.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 58 denotes a bracket of the movable guide member 50, and 59 denotes a guide bar. Reference numeral 60 denotes a connecting member for integrally moving the left and right rail members 52, 52, and two connecting members are provided in front and rear as shown in FIG. The connecting member 60 has an expandable and contractible structure including an outer cylindrical portion 61 and an inner cylindrical portion 62 in relation to the width adjusting mechanism 70. The guide bar 59 of the movable guide member 50 is arranged so as to be vertically aligned with the guide bar 32 of the fixed guide member 30 as shown in the figure, and the inner surfaces of both guide bars 59 and 32 are configured to be flush. Have been.

The stopper 65 provided at the tip of the movable guide member 50 is a conventionally known one, and its opening / closing control is performed by confirming passage of a predetermined number of articles by a counter (not shown) or confirming the lateral movement position of the traverser body. It has become.

Here, the width adjusting mechanism 70 for the fixed guide member 30 and the movable guide member 50 will be described. The diameters of the articles to be sorted, for example, bottles and PET bottles vary depending on the size. In such a case, it is extremely convenient that the widths of the fixed guide member 30 and the movable guide member 50 can be adjusted with one touch. Therefore, a width adjusting mechanism 70 as shown is provided. That is, as described above, the traverser main body 20 has the main body members 20A and 20B arranged in parallel with the traveling direction of the conveyor C, and the fixed guide member 30 and the movable guide member 50 are attached to the main body members 20A and 20B. Have been. Therefore, by changing the interval in the width direction of the conveyor C between the body members 20A and 20B, the widths of the fixed guide member 30 and the movable guide member 50 can be changed simultaneously and easily.

In this example, as described above, one of the main body members 20A of the traverser main body 20 is provided with the screw rod 72 rotated by the handle 71, and the other main body member 20B is provided with the nut member 73 to which the screw rod 72 is screwed. Is provided, and the other main body member 20B approaches and separates from the one main body member 20A by the rotation of the screw rod 72 by the handle 71, and the width interval therebetween is adjusted. As described above, the connecting member 60 of the movable member 50 has a structure that can be expanded and contracted so as to cope with the width adjustment.

Next, a method for sorting articles using the sorting apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 1 (1A), after a predetermined number of articles B1 are sent out on the conveyor C as a row L1, the stopper 65 is closed. At this time, the movable guide member 50 is in the retracted position, and the article B2 for the next row L2 is introduced and held in the fixed guide member 30 and the movable guide member 50 of the traverser 20 via the introduction guide member 40. I have.

After the stopper 65 is closed (if a stopper is not provided, immediately after a predetermined number of articles B1 are sent out as a row L1), the traverser body 20 is moved in a predetermined order as shown in FIG. 1 (1B). Lateral movement toward the next row L2 position. At the same time, the movable guide member 50 is advanced. By setting the advance speed of the movable member 50 to be substantially the same as the speed of the conveyor C, the articles B2 for the next row L2 in the movable guide member 50 advance in synchronization with the conveyor, so that the articles are carried in without interruption. And a smooth and gapless arrangement is possible. On the other hand, the article B1 sent out first advances to the arrangement part C2 of the conveyor C as the row L1.

と As shown in FIG. 1 (1C), when the traverser body 20 reaches the next row L2, the stopper 65 of the movable guide member 50 is opened. By opening the stopper 65 (if no stopper is provided, the article B2 that has been advanced together with the movable guide member 50 is sent out onto the conveyor C as a row L2. At this time, since the article B2 for the next row L2 is at a position advanced with the movable guide member 50, the time for sending the article B2 as the row L2 is greatly reduced.

可 動 The movable guide member 50 at the advance position retreats toward the traverser body 20 side at the same time as the article B2 is sent out on the conveyor C, as shown in FIG. 1 (1D). Then, at this retreat position, a predetermined number of articles B2 are sent out on the conveyor as a row L2. After a predetermined number of articles B2 are sent out by a counter (not shown) or the like, the operation returns to (1A) of FIG. 1 again (closing the stopper 65), and the above operation is repeated. Reference numeral S in FIG. 1 is a door member that opens and closes the front and rear portions of each row of articles stored in the array section C2.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the movement of the traverser body 20 and the movable member 50 in this embodiment in order indicated by arrows. As shown in the figure, in this apparatus, (1) the movable member is retracted, (2) the traverser body is moved rightward while moving the movable member forward, (3) the movable member is retracted, and (4) the traverser is moved forward the movable member. Rightward movement of the main body, (5) retreat of the movable member, (6) leftward movement of the traverser body while advancing the movable member, (7) retreating of the movable member, (8) leftward of the traverser body while advancing the movable member It is activated in the order of movement. These operations are performed by the control unit of the traverser main body 20 and the movable member 50.

It is a top view of the sorting device which expressed an example of the article sorting method of this invention step by step. It is a whole side view of a sorting device. It is a schematic perspective view of the principal part of a sorting device. It is the longitudinal section which cut in the width direction of the conveyor of the sorting device. It is the schematic plan view which showed the movement of the traverser main body and the movable guide member in order by the arrow. It is a top view of the sorting device which expressed one example of the conventional sorting method step by step.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sorting apparatus 11 Machine base 20 Traverser main body 30 Fixed guide member 40 Introduction guide member 50 Movable guide member 65 Stopper 70 Width adjustment mechanism C Conveyor C1 Loading section C2 Array section B, B1, B2 Items to be sorted

Claims (1)

An array consisting of a predetermined number of rows formed at a position separated from the sorting device on the conveyor by a sorting device that horizontally moves articles moving in a row in the width direction of the conveyor in a predetermined order on the conveyor. It is a method of sorting to departments,
The sorting device is provided with a movable guide member that moves back and forth in the traveling direction of the conveyor while holding the articles in a row state, and has sent out a predetermined number of articles on the conveyor at one row position of the arrangement section. Thereafter, the movable guide member in the retracted position is laterally moved to the next row position of the arrangement section, and is advanced toward the arrangement section at substantially the same speed as the advance speed of the conveyor, to move to the next row position of the arrangement section. After the movement is completed, the movable guide member at the advance position is retracted from the array portion while sending out a predetermined number of articles onto the conveyor at the next row position, and thereafter, the above operation is repeated in a predetermined row order. Multi-row sorting method for goods.

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