JP2005112604A - Sorting system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article sorting system being easy on articles when viewed and capable of sorting them securely without giving impact to them as much as possible. <P>SOLUTION: This sorting system is provided with a means for obtaining distance a, b between articles of an article W1 sorted on the upstream side of a diverter 12 and a following article W2 and a means for controlling operation start timing and operation speed of the diverter 12 in accordance with the obtained results a, b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorting system that changes a traveling direction of an article conveyed on a main conveyor by rotating a diverter and delivers the article to a branch path.

As a sorting system that distributes a large number of conveyed articles for each customer, a main conveyor in which a plurality of diverters that are rotatable around a vertical axis are arranged at predetermined intervals along the side wall, and a main at a position facing the diverters One having a branch path connected to the side of the conveyor is known. In this sorting system, when an article conveyed on the main conveyor reaches a predetermined position, the diverter rotates inward so as to push out the article from the side, and the article is projected on the conveyance surface of the main conveyor. The advancing direction is changed along and is paid out to the branch road. Further, in this sorting system, when the amount of articles to be conveyed is large, such as when articles are continuously conveyed, the diverter is operated quickly for subsequent articles. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-40175 is disclosed as a related technology.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-40175

  However, in such a conventional sorting system, when the sorting work is performed, the conveyance speed of the main conveyor is high and the diverter pushes out the article from the side at a high speed. There is a risk of damage from impact. On the other hand, it is conceivable to move the diverter at low speed as a whole, but in this case, when there are a large number of sorted articles and the ability to transport the articles is required, it will not be in time for sorting the subsequent articles, and it will be sorted reliably. The problem of being unable to do was left.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article sorting system that can sort reliably without giving an impact to the article as gently as possible.

  In order to achieve the above object, a sorting system according to the invention described in claim 1 is a sorting system in which an article conveyed on a main conveyor is delivered to a branch conveyor by a diverter, and is arranged between the articles upstream of the diverter. And a means for controlling the operation start timing and the operation speed of the diverter according to the obtained result. The distance between the articles may be obtained anywhere as long as it is obtained upstream of the diverter, for example, immediately before the diverter.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the sorting system according to the first aspect of the invention is shielded by passing the articles W1 to W3 as a means for obtaining the distance between the articles, for example, in the middle of the main conveyor 10. A photoelectric sensor 17 composed of a pair of projector / receiver is provided, and the distance between the articles is obtained from the shielding time and the speed of the main conveyor 10. Furthermore, the operation start timing and the operation speed of the diverter 12 are controlled according to the obtained result, that is, the distance between the articles. For example, when the article W1 is sorted, since the distance a to the succeeding article W2 is short, the sorting system operates the diverter 12 at a normal operation start timing and a high operation speed. On the other hand, when the article W2 is sorted, since the distance b with the following article W3 is long, the sorting system operates the diverter 12 at the operation start timing and at a low operating speed according to the distance b between the articles. In this way, the diverter 12 is individually operated at a low speed according to the distance between the articles.

  The sorting system according to a second aspect of the present invention is the sorting system according to the first aspect, wherein the controlling means includes a distance between a leading end of the sorted article and a leading end of the succeeding article, and a trailing end and a succeeding article of the sorted article. When the distance from the tip of the diverter is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the operation start timing of the diverter is advanced and the operation speed is reduced.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the sorting system according to the invention described in claim 2 is a distance b between the leading end of the sorted article W2 and the leading end of the succeeding article W3, and the trailing end of the sorted article W2 and the succeeding article W3. When the distance c from the tip is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the operation start timing of the diverter 12 is advanced and the operation speed of the diverter 12 is operated at a low speed. Thereby, it is possible to control the optimum operation start timing and operation speed of the diverter 12 according to the distance between the articles regardless of the length of the conveyance direction of the article W2. That is, by detecting the distance c between the rear end of the sorted article W2 and the leading end of the succeeding article W3, for example, the length of the article W2 in the transport direction is long and the distance between the articles is short. So that you don't get caught in the water.

  A sorting system according to a third aspect of the invention is a sorting system that pays out an article conveyed on a main conveyor to a branch conveyor by a diverter, a means for managing a sorting destination of each article, and a subsequent of the sorted article And a means for controlling the operation start timing and operation speed of the diverter depending on whether or not the article is sorted by the upstream diverter.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the sorting system according to the invention described in claim 3 is a bar attached to the upper surface of the article W as a means for managing the sorting destination of each article, for example, in the middle of the carry-in conveyor 1. A bar code reader 3 for reading the code is provided. The sorting system recognizes the sorting destination of each article W conveyed on the carry-in conveyor 1 by reading the barcode with the barcode reader 3, and manages the recognition result. Further, the management data is used to optimize the operation start timing and operation speed of the diverter 12 downstream of the main conveyor 10. For example, when sorting the article W1, the distance a between the article W1 and the subsequent article W2 is short when the article W1 is being conveyed on the carry-in conveyor 1. However, on the downstream side of the main conveyor 10, the subsequent article W2 is already sorted by the upstream diverter 12, and the distance between the articles becomes the distance d to the subsequent article W3, and the distance between the articles becomes long. That is, the sorting system can predict that the distance between the article W1 to be sorted and the subsequent article W3 is long when the article W1 is sorted by means for managing the sorting destination of the articles W1 to W3. The diverter 12 is operated at an operation start timing corresponding to the distance d and a low operation speed. In this way, the sorting destination of each article is managed in the transport conveyor 1, and the operation start timing and the operation speed of the diverter are controlled by whether or not the goods are sorted by the diverter on the upstream side of the main conveyor 10. It is possible to achieve an optimum diverter operation according to the transport amount at the time of sorting by the diverter.

  As described below, the present invention has the following effects. In the sorting system according to the first aspect of the invention, when the distance between the articles is a certain distance or more, even if the diverter is operated at a low speed, the subsequent articles are not caught by the diverter. Sorting can be performed reliably without degrading the article as much as possible and without impacting the article as much as possible.

  In the sorting system according to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, the operation of the diverter according to the distance between the articles can be controlled with relatively simple control.

  In the sorting system according to the third aspect of the present invention, when the subsequent articles are sorted by the upstream diverter, the distance between the articles is constant when the articles sorted in front of the downstream diverter pass. Since it is far away, even if the diverter is operated at a low speed, subsequent articles do not get caught by the diverter, and the speed (sorting ability) of the main conveyor is not lowered, and it is possible to be gentle to the articles. As long as the article is not impacted, it can be reliably sorted.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples as long as the gist of the present invention is not exceeded. FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view schematically showing an article sorting system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a payout section, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the payout section, and FIG. 4 is a simplified plane showing a diverter operation start timing. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conceptual configuration of the control device. In this specification, the front is the lower side of FIG. 1, the rear is the upper side of the figure, the right is the left side of FIG. 1, and the left is the right side of the figure.

  The article sorting system includes a carry-in conveyor 1 constituted by a belt conveyor, a main conveyor 10 connected to the downstream side of the carry-in conveyor 1, that is, the front side, and a plurality of branches connected to the side of the main conveyor 10. Road 20. And the conveyance conveyor 1, the main conveyor 10, and the diverter 12 mentioned later are controlled by the control apparatus 100 shown in FIG. The article supply to the carry-in conveyor 1 is performed by an article supply apparatus 30 including a robot (not shown) installed in the upstream portion thereof.

  In the middle of the carry-in conveyor 1, there is provided a photoelectric sensor 2 comprising a pair of projector / receiver that is shielded by the passage of the article W. This photoelectric sensor 2 is for detecting the length in the transport direction of each article W transported on the carry-in conveyor 1. That is, the time when the photoelectric sensor 2 is shielded is detected as the length in the conveyance direction of the article W on the carry-in conveyor 1 from the number of rotations (pulse value) of the encoder 6 described later. A barcode reader 3 that reads a barcode attached to the upper surface of the article W is provided above the carry-in conveyor 1 on the downstream side of the photoelectric sensor 2 in the middle of the carry-in conveyor 1. The bar code reader 3 is for identifying the sorting destination, determining the operation start timing and operation speed of the diverter 12 described later, for each article W conveyed on the carry-in conveyor 1. The barcode may be attached to any surface of the article W, and the barcode reader 3 is installed according to this position. The carry-in conveyor 1 is driven by the rotation of the drive motor 5, and the feed amount of the belt of the carry-in conveyor 1 is detected by the encoder 6.

  The main conveyor 10 is constituted by a steel belt conveyor having a conveyance direction in the front-rear direction, and has side walls 11 provided on both left and right sides along the conveyance direction. The left and right side walls 11 have a plurality of discontinuous portions that are paired on the left and right sides at predetermined intervals. The paired left and right discontinuous portions are located substantially opposite to each other across the conveyance surface, and one discontinuous portion is provided with a plate-like diverter 12 made of a rigid body such as metal, and the other discontinuous portion is provided. A branch path 20 is connected to the section.

  The diverter 12 includes an article contact portion 13 and a bent portion 14 that is bent rearward and outward from the article contact portion 13, and a rear end portion of the bent portion 14 by rotation of a driving motor 15 such as a servo motor. It is freely rotatable in the horizontal direction around the vertical axis 16 of the. In the standby state of the diverter 12, the inner surface of the article contact portion 13 is flush with the inner surface of the side wall 11 of the main conveyor 10, and the folded article 14 is bent outward so that the article W passing therethrough. Is not caught by the diverter 12. Moreover, since the diverter 12 including the article contact portion 13 is made of a metal having a small friction coefficient, the article W passing therethrough is prevented from being rubbed and damaged by the diverter 12. In the example shown in the present embodiment, the article W is preliminarily moved to the side (right or left) of the corresponding diverter 12 by the width adjusting means described later, and the impact applied by the operation of the diverter 12 is reduced. The impact received by the article W is reduced, and the article is delivered to the branch path 20 accurately and reliably.

  A photoelectric sensor 17 including a pair of light projecting / receiving devices that are shielded by the passage of the article W is provided at the entry portion (the most upstream portion) of the main conveyor 10. The photoelectric sensor 17 is for determining the operation start timing and the operation speed of the diverter 12 in association with the barcode reader 3 for each article W conveyed on the main conveyor 10.

  The branch path 20 is configured by a roller conveyor that transports in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the main conveyor 10, and has side walls 21 that are provided on both front and rear sides along the transport direction. In other words, the branch path 20 has a large number of rollers 22 provided between the front and rear side walls 21 so as to be rotatable at a predetermined interval from side to side. The conveyance surface of the roller conveyor is inclined downward as it moves away from the main conveyor 10, and the article W is conveyed through the branch path 20 by its own weight without the driving mechanism of the roller 22. Furthermore, in this roller 22, the 1st thing most located in the main conveyor 10 side becomes a drive roller, The articles | goods W paid out from the main conveyor 10 can be reliably drawn in into the branch path 20 with this drive roller. . Note that all the branch paths 20 may be provided only on the right side or the left side of the main conveyor 10, and in such a case, all the diverters 12 are arranged along the left or right side wall 11.

  In the vicinity of the main conveyor 10, the width of the branch path 20 gradually increases toward the main conveyor 10 as it approaches the main conveyor 10. The side wall 21 of the branch path 20 is formed so as to be connected to the side wall 11 of the main conveyor 10.

  Next, the configuration of the control device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The main control unit 101 controls the rotation of the motors 5, 18, and 15 that drive the carry-in conveyor 1, the main conveyor 10, and the diverter 12 via the motor drive units 103 to 105 based on the detection results of each detector. .

  First, the conveyance speed control of the main conveyor 10 will be described. The main control unit 101 detects the feed amount of the belt of the main conveyor 10 by the encoder 19 and rotates the motor 18 such as a servo motor via the motor driving unit 104 to move the main conveyor 10 to a predetermined constant speed (about 160 ms / Drive).

  Next, operation control of the diverter 12 will be described. The length detection unit 102 determines the length of the article W on the carry-in conveyor 1 in the conveyance direction from the detection results of the photoelectric sensor 2 and the encoder 6, that is, from the rotation speed (pulse value) of the encoder 6 during the time when the photoelectric sensor 2 is shielded. Detect. The main control unit 101 recognizes the rotation speed of the encoder 19 at the time when the photoelectric sensor 17 detects that the article W has entered the main conveyor 10, the conveyance direction length of the article W, and the reading result of the barcode reader 3. Based on the sorting destination of the article W, a predetermined diverter 12 is selected, and the rotation speed of the encoder 19 at which the diverter 12 should start operation is calculated. When the predetermined rotation speed calculated by the encoder 19 is reached, the diverter 12 rotates the motor 15 via the motor drive unit 105 so as to operate at a predetermined speed.

  The main control unit 101 detects the distance between the sorted article W conveyed on the main conveyor 10 and the subsequent article W by the photoelectric sensor 17 and the encoder 19. That is, the main control unit 101 detects the conveyance direction length of the article W on the main conveyor 10 from the rotation speed (pulse value) of the encoder 19 at the time when the photoelectric sensor 17 is shielded. Further, the distance between the rear end of the article W to be sorted and the tip of the succeeding article W is determined based on the number of rotations (pulse value) of the encoding 19 for the time from when the shield of the photoelectric sensor 17 is once shielded to the next shield. Detect as the distance between. The operation start timing of the diverter 12 is the rotational speed of the encoder 19 calculated according to the distance between the articles. In addition, the operation speed of the diverter 12 can be switched from a low speed to a high speed in multiple stages. When the distance between the articles is more than a certain distance, the operation speed of the normal diverter 12 is switched from a high speed to a low speed. Has been made. When the predetermined rotational speed calculated or corrected by the encoder 19 is reached, the diverter 12 rotates the motor 15 via the motor drive unit 105 so as to operate at a predetermined speed.

  The operation and operation of the sorting system in the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. First, articles W having barcodes indicating information including sorting destinations attached to the upper surface are sequentially supplied to the carry-in conveyor 1. Thereafter, the article W further passes under the barcode reader 3 on the downstream side, and the sorting destination of the article W is recognized from the reading result of the barcode reader 3.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the article W whose sorting destination is recognized passes through the width adjusting means 40 connected to the upstream side of the main conveyor 10, and is brought to the diverter 12 side corresponding to the sorting destination. 10 and conveyed on the main conveyor 10 along the side wall 11 on the approached side. The width adjusting means 40 is constituted by a roller conveyor that gradually moves the articles W toward the constant side wall 41 while conveying the article W to the main conveyor 10, and has side walls 41 provided on both sides along the conveying direction. ing. That is, the width adjusting means 40 has a large number of rollers 42 that are provided so as to be inclined toward the side wall 41 side where the diverter 12 for sorting the articles W is provided, and are rotatably provided at predetermined intervals. . Note that when the article W is brought closer to the diverter 12 side opposite to that shown in FIG. 6 on the main conveyor 10, the attaching direction of the roller 42 may be attached so that the attaching shaft is inclined to the opposite side.

  The conveyance speed of the main conveyor 10 is set to a predetermined conveyance speed, and the article W on the main conveyor 10 reaches a predetermined position on the side of the predetermined diverter 12 according to the length of the article W in the conveyance direction. Then, the diverter 12 rotates around the vertical axis 16 at the calculated operation speed. Moreover, the operation start timing of the diverter 12 also differs depending on the distance between the articles.

  Control of the operation timing and operation speed of the diverter 12 according to the distance between the articles will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, the distance between the article W1 and the subsequent article W2 is shorter than a predetermined length, and the distance between the article W2 and the subsequent article W3 is longer than the predetermined length.

  First, the case where the distance between articles is short as shown in FIG. 7 will be described. The sorting system detects that the distance a between the tip of the sorted article W1 and the tip of the succeeding article W2 is less than a predetermined value by means for obtaining the distance between the articles such as the photoelectric sensor 17. In this case, since the distance between the articles is short, the operation timing and operation speed of the diverter 12 are the same as the normal timing and the predetermined speed so that the subsequent article W2 is not caught when the diverter 12 is rotated. And When the article W on the main conveyor 10 reaches a predetermined position corresponding to the length in the conveyance direction on the side of the predetermined diverter 12, the diverter 12 rotates inward about the vertical axis 16 at a predetermined speed. Note that the normal operation start timing of the diverter 12 varies depending on the length of the article W in the conveyance direction, as shown in FIG.

  Next, the case where the distance between articles is long will be described. Like the sorting of the article W2, it is detected that the distance b between the leading edge of the sorting article W2 and the leading edge of the succeeding article W3 is a predetermined value or more, and further, the rear end of the sorting article W2 and the following article W3 are separated. It is detected that the distance c from the tip is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. In this case, the operation start timing of the diverter 12 is advanced compared to the normal operation start timing, and the operation speed of the diverter 12 is increased to a normal high speed (about 0.3 m / s) to low speed (about 0.5 to 0.6 m / s). Even when the conveyance direction length of the article W2 is long, that is, when the article W2 is a large luggage, the article W2 can be reliably sorted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the diverter 12 rotated inwardly protrudes on the conveyance surface of the main conveyor 10, so that the article W is obliquely moved along the inner side surface of the article contact portion 13 of the diverter 12. It is changed to the front and paid out to the branch road 20. At this time, the article W is pulled into the branch path 20 without remaining on the main conveyor 10 by the first drive roller 22 in the branch path 20. The article W paid out to the branch path 20 is conveyed to the end of the branch path 20 by its own weight and then sent to the next step.

  Thereby, when the distance between the articles is more than a certain distance, even if the diverter is operated at a low speed, the subsequent articles do not get caught on the diverter, so the main conveyor speed (sorting ability) is not reduced. Appearance is gentle to the article and can be reliably sorted without impacting the article as much as possible. Furthermore, it is possible to control the operation of the diverter according to the distance between articles with relatively simple control.

  Further, the operation speed of the diverter 12 is decreased to a low speed operation according to the length of the article W in the conveyance direction. Thereby, especially when the article W to be sorted is a large article when the main conveyor 10 is operating at high speed as in the present embodiment, the article W is reliably sorted by slowly operating the operation speed of the diverter 12. Can do. That is, when the long article W passes in front of the diverter 12, if the diverter 12 is operated at a high speed, only the front end of the article W changes, the rear end of the article W cannot follow, and the side wall 11 collides. It can prevent that it cannot be sorted.

  Next, another embodiment will be described. In the sorting system according to the second embodiment, the main control unit 101 includes means for managing the sorting destination of each article W. That is, the main control unit 101 can select and manage a predetermined diverter 12 from the reading result of the barcode reader 3 and determine whether or not the subsequent article W of the article W to be sorted is sorted by the upstream diverter 12. It is.

  The main control unit 101 operates the diverter 12 when the distance between the articles exceeds a predetermined value as a result of the sorting performed by the upstream diverter 12 on the main conveyor 10 based on the management means. The start timing is changed in the same manner as in the above embodiment. Further, regarding the operating speed of the diverter 12, when the distance between the articles becomes a predetermined value or more, the operating speed of the diverter 12 is changed in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

  Control of the operation timing and operation speed of the diverter 12 according to the distance between the articles will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the distance a between the article W1 to be sorted on the conveyor 1 and the subsequent article W2 is shorter than a predetermined length, and the subsequent article W2 is sorted by the diverter 12 on the upstream side of the main conveyor 10. The distance d between the articles W1 and the article W3 positioned subsequent thereto is a predetermined length or more.

Thus, even when the distance a between the article W1 to be sorted and the subsequent article W2 is less than a predetermined value at the time of reading by the barcode reader 3, the articles W1 to W3 are conveyed downstream on the main conveyor 10. It is possible to manage the case where the immediately succeeding article W2 is sorted and the distance d between the articles is equal to or greater than a predetermined value in the process, and to appropriately control the operation start timing and the operation speed of the diverter 12 that actually sorts the article W1. Can do. In this case, since the distance d between the articles W1 to be sorted and the subsequent article W3 is longer than a predetermined value, the operation speed of the diverter 12 is operated at a low speed. Accordingly, when the subsequent article W2 is sorted by the upstream diverter 12, when the article W1 sorted in front of the downstream diverter 12 passes, the distance d between the articles is separated by a certain distance or more. Therefore, even if the diverter 12 is operated at a low speed, the subsequent article W3 is not caught by the diverter 12, and the speed (sorting ability) of the main conveyor 10 is not lowered, and it can be gently applied to the article W visually. As long as the article W is not impacted, it can be reliably sorted.
(Modifications, etc.)
(1) You may make it guess the distance between articles | goods from the operation condition of the article supply apparatus 30 which supplies the articles | goods W to the carrying-in conveyor 1. FIG.
(2) You may make it detect the distance between the articles | goods on the conveyance conveyor 1 from the detection result of the photoelectric sensor 2. FIG.

It is a simplified top view which shows typically the sorting system which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which shows a payout part. It is a perspective view which shows a payout part. It is a simplified top view which shows a diverter operation start timing. It is a block block diagram which shows the structure of a control apparatus. It is a top view which shows a mode that an article | item is brought near to the side wall side by the width-shifting means. It is a top view which shows the distance between the articles | goods currently conveyed by the conveyor. It is a top view which shows a mode that the distance between articles | goods changes as it is conveyed.

Explanation of symbols

W article 1 carry-in conveyor 10 main conveyor 12 diverter 20 branching path 30 article supply apparatus 40 width adjusting means 100 control apparatus 101 main control section 102 length detection section

Claims (3)

A sorting system in which articles conveyed on a main conveyor are delivered to a branch conveyor by a diverter,
Means for determining a distance between the articles upstream of the diverter;
And a means for controlling operation start timing and operation speed of the diverter according to the obtained result.   The control means advances the operation start timing of the diverter when the distance between the leading edge of the sorted article and the leading edge of the succeeding article and the distance between the trailing edge of the sorted article and the leading edge of the succeeding article are equal to or greater than a predetermined value. 2. The sorting system according to claim 1, wherein the operation speed is lowered. A sorting system in which articles conveyed on a main conveyor are delivered to a branch conveyor by a diverter,
Means for managing the sorting destination of each article;
And a means for controlling the operation start timing and the operation speed of the diverter depending on whether or not an article subsequent to the article to be sorted is sorted by an upstream diverter.

Images