JP2005289617A - Automatic commodity stacking method and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of automatically stacking various commodities being conveyed in three stages. <P>SOLUTION: The automatic commodity stacking device comprises a roller conveyor to which one-stage commodities being carried in proper lines are supplied and which has small diameter portions formed corresponding to the proper lines of the commodities. One-stage commodities supplied onto the roller conveyor are detected and the commodities are sucked by a suction disc, moved two or more stages up and supported. One-stage commodities supplied onto the roller conveyor are detected, forks are moved into the small diameter portions of the roller conveyor and moved one or more stage up, and the commodities are supported on the forks. Then, one-stage commodities supplied onto the roller conveyor are detected and the commodities are stacked with the move-down and move-back of the forks as well as the move-down and release of the suction disc. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically stacking products in a cardboard case or the like prior to batch automatic packaging. Specifically, the product to be packaged is a cup-shaped or bowl-shaped product containing instant noodles ( The present invention relates to a stacking method and apparatus that are effective for stacking in which the small-diameter portions and the large-diameter portions of the cup-shaped products are alternately adjacent to each other to eliminate useless space.

The applicant of the present application is an automatic stacking device in which the product to be packaged is a cup-shaped product, and the small-diameter portion and the large-diameter portion of the cup-shaped product are alternately adjacent to each other to eliminate wasteful space. It proposes stacking two horizontal rows of cup-shaped products that have been conveyed. The apparatus adsorbs and raises the first-stage (upper-stage) product conveyed by the suction cup and lowers it on the next-stage (lower-stage) product sent next. The suction is released.
JP-A-11-157508 JP 2001-2023 A

  According to the apparatus, the products can be automatically stacked in two stages, but it is difficult to automatically stack the products in three stages. Especially when the small-diameter part and large-diameter part of cup-shaped products are alternately adjacent to each other and wasteful space is eliminated, the adjacent products are intricate, which makes it difficult to stack three stages. Met. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for automatically stacking various products being conveyed in three stages, not limited to cup-shaped products that eliminate the useless space.

  In order to achieve the above object, the automatic stacking method according to claim 1, wherein a small diameter corresponding to an appropriate number of rows of the products is supplied to a roller conveyor to which one stage of the products conveyed and stacked in an appropriate number of rows is supplied. A part is formed, and it is detected that one stage of product has been supplied onto the roller conveyor, the product is adsorbed by a suction cup and supported by two or more stages, and then one stage of product is placed on the roller conveyor. Upon detecting the supply, the fork enters the upper surface of the narrow diameter portion of the roller conveyor and raises one or more steps to support the product on the fork, and further supplies the product for one step on the roller conveyor. It is detected that the product is stacked by lowering and returning the fork and the product is stacked by lowering the suction cup and releasing the suction.

  In the present invention, first, a single-stage product (hereinafter referred to as “upper-stage”) is supplied onto the roller conveyor, and the product is adsorbed by a suction cup and raised by two or more stages to be supported. Next, a product of one stage (hereinafter referred to as “middle stage”) is supplied onto the roller conveyor, and the product is formed on the roller conveyor so as to correspond to the conveyance of an appropriate number of the products. Are supported on a fork that is respectively entered and raised one or more steps into the upper surface of the plate.

  Further, after one stage of product (hereinafter referred to as “lower stage”) is supplied onto the roller conveyor, the fork and the intermediate product supported on the fork are lowered, and the fork After returning, the products for the middle stage are stacked on the products for the lower stage. At the same time, the product is lowered to the suction cup and the upper part adsorbed on the suction cup, the suction of the suction cup is released, and the upper part of the product is stacked on the suspended product.

  Note that the stacking order is not specified above. That is, first, the suction cup and the upper stage product adsorbed on the suction cup are lowered onto the middle stage product on the fork to release the suction of the suction cup and stack the stack. The product for the upper stage and the product for the interruption may be collectively lowered by the fork onto the product for the lower stage to return the fork.

  The products that have been stacked by the above-described method are conveyed to the packaging device while maintaining the state, and are automatically packaged by a method and a device (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-3201).

  The embodiment of claim 2 is characterized in that the fork is advanced from the beginning into the upper surface of the small diameter portion of the roller conveyor. That is, according to the present invention, the fork is inserted into the upper surface of the small-diameter portion and is provided so as not to protrude from the upper surface of the large-diameter portion of the roller conveyor. The product does not get in the way of the product to be processed, and can quickly respond to the subsequent stacking of products for the middle stage.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the product to be conveyed is a cup-shaped product, and the small-diameter portion and the large-diameter portion of the cup-shaped product are adjacent to each other. According to this embodiment, even if the product mode is different from the standing upside-down, the product can be effectively stacked.

  The automatic stacking apparatus according to claim 4 is provided with a roller conveyor that supports one stage of the product at a front end portion of a conveyor that conveys the product in an appropriate number of rows, and the roller conveyor has an appropriate number of the product in a row. A corresponding small-diameter portion is formed, and a fork is provided in front of the roller conveyor to advance into the upper surface of the small-diameter portion of the roller conveyor to support the product, and to rise and lower one step or more to return. The upper part of the roller conveyor is provided with a suction cup that is attracted to the upper surface of the product for one stage and moves up and down by two or more stages. According to this automatic stacking apparatus, the automatic stacking method can be effectively carried out.

  According to the present invention, not only cup-shaped products that eliminate useless space, but also various products being conveyed can be automatically stacked in three stages.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an automatic stacking apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of FIG.

  An example of drawing implementation is an automatic stacking device for cup-shaped products G (for example, products that are filled with dry noodles in a cup-shaped or bowl-shaped container and can be eaten by simply pouring hot water). Further, the small diameter portion and the large diameter portion of the cup-shaped product G are alternately adjacent to each other, and are automatically stacked without causing an unauthorized space, and the cup-shaped product G is conveyed in four rows, The number of one stage to be stacked is eight, and three stages are stacked and packaged in a cardboard case D (see FIG. 9).

  First, an example of an apparatus that conveys the small diameter portion and the large diameter portion of the cup-shaped product G adjacent to each other will be described. The cup-shaped products G are usually erected in a row from the production process and conveyed. Next, the cup-shaped products G conveyed in the one row are sorted into the required number of rows by a known method disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. In the example of drawing implementation, it is divided into four rows.

  Next, the sorted cup-shaped products G are transferred to the belt conveyor 20 having a large friction coefficient. Above and below the belt conveyor 20 with the increased coefficient of friction, it is swingable in the transport direction of the cup-shaped product G, and ascends and descends in contact with the upper front end in the transport direction of the cup-shaped product G that is lowered and transported in a timely manner. A free rocking rod 21 is provided (see FIG. 5).

  It is desirable that the swinging basket 21 is composed of two so as to abut on both sides of the upper end of the transported cup-shaped product G in the transport direction. In one embodiment of the drawings, the swing rod 21 is configured to be movable up and down by an air cylinder 22. That is, a horizontal support rod 24 is provided at the lower end portion of the piston rod 23 of the air cylinder 22, and is suspended from the tip of the horizontal support rod 24 by a pin 25 so as to be swingable.

  When the belt conveyor 20 is lowered near the upper surface, the transferred cup-shaped product G comes into contact with the cup-shaped product G and is pressed by the cup-shaped product G to be swung in the transfer direction. Yes. In the figure, reference numeral 26 denotes an adjusting rod for adjusting the swing load of the swing rod 21 in the transfer direction of the cup-shaped product G, and has a weight 27 at the lower end.

  In the above configuration, the cup-shaped product G is transferred in a standing state on the belt conveyor 20 having a large friction coefficient, and the upper end in the transfer direction is brought into contact with the swinging basket 21 (see FIG. 6).

  And since the friction coefficient of the said belt conveyor 20 is large, the said cup-shaped goods G are continued to forward, without slipping back. Then, by the transfer of the cup-shaped product G, the rocking basket 21 is slightly swung in the transfer direction of the cup-shaped product G, and at the same time, the ascending control of the cup-shaped product G is performed by the air cylinder 22. The upper part of the front end in the transfer direction is gradually lifted upward (see FIG. 7).

  Further, as the cup-shaped product G is transferred, the swinging basket 21 is controlled to rise, and finally the cup-shaped product G is inverted and inverted (FIG. 8).

  In addition, after the cup-shaped product G is inverted, the swinging bowl 21 is positioned above the transfer path of the cup-shaped product G, and when there is no need to invert the cup-shaped product G to be transferred thereafter, The state as it is is temporarily held, and it is lowered again when inversion is required.

  Inversion of the cup-shaped product G is not necessarily performed alternately in the four rows, and when stacked, the standing state or the inverted state may be continued. However, in any case, it is easy to control each air cylinder 22 of the inverted device provided in each of the four rows according to a predetermined program.

  In FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, cup-shaped products G1 erected in accordance with the planned stacking and cup-shaped products G2 inverted are conveyed in an appropriate number of rows (four rows). A roller conveyor 1 is provided at the tip of the cup-shaped products G1 and G2 (hereinafter simply referred to as “product G”).

  However, in an example of the drawings, the roller conveyor 2 is further extended behind the roller conveyor 1 in order to temporarily restrict the entry of the subsequent commodity G to be conveyed. A stopper 3 that moves up and down by an air cylinder or the like is provided between the roller conveyors 1 and 2 so that one or more stacked subsequent products G are not supplied onto the roller conveyor 1. Yes.

  The roller conveyor 1 is formed with small-diameter portions 4 corresponding to an appropriate number of rows of the goods G to be conveyed. That is, in the example of implementation shown in FIG. 4 and other drawings, the narrow-diameter portion 4 is provided in two strips corresponding to each conveyance row of the commodity G, but may be one strip.

  The narrow diameter portion 4 is formed to have a width that is slightly wider than the width of the fork 5 that stably supports the products G to be stacked later. And, in order to obtain the required width, as in the example of the drawing, if the narrow diameter portion 4 is divided and formed into two or more strips, the narrow diameter portion 4 has a width required by only one strip. Compared with the case where it forms, the intensity | strength of the roller conveyor 1 is not reduced.

  Provided in front of the roller conveyor 1 is the fork 5 that moves into the upper surface of the narrow-diameter portion 4 of the roller conveyor 1 to support the product G for the middle stage and rises one or more stages, and further lowers and returns. It is done. The fork 5 has a thickness that does not protrude from the large diameter portion of the roller conveyor 1.

  Next, the advancement of the fork 5, one or more steps of rising, lowering and returning will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the fork 5 is horizontally provided at the tip of the piston rod 6 of an air cylinder 7 that is vertically provided with the piston rod 6 as an upper portion, toward the roller conveyor 1 side. That is, the fork 5 can be raised and lowered by driving the first air cylinder 7.

  Next, the cylinder 7 is configured to traverse freely. In one example of the drawings, the air cylinder 7 and the fork 5 are configured to be traversable by an air cylinder or the like (not shown) separately provided along a rail 9 provided on the body 8 side.

  According to the configuration, the fork 5 can be moved up and down and traversed, and when necessary, the fork 5 is raised to the height of the small diameter portion 4 of the roller conveyor 1 by the air cylinder 7 and then stopped. 7 together with the roller conveyor 1, the fork 5 can enter the upper surface of the narrow diameter portion 4 of the roller conveyor 1.

  Furthermore, if the air cylinder 7 is controlled to be raised thereafter, the fork 5 can take over the product G for the middle stage supplied on the roller conveyor 1, and the product for the middle stage can be raised by one or more stages. Then, when the one or more steps are detected, the stopper 3 is released, and eight products G for the lower step are supplied onto the roller conveyor 1.

  The handling of the product G for the upper stage in the present invention is not substantially different from the cases of Patent Documents 1 and 2. That is, a suction cup 10 is provided above the roller conveyor 1 so as to be attracted to the upper surface of the one-stage product G and to be moved up and down by two or more stages as appropriate.

  In the figure, 11 is a positioning plate provided so as not to obstruct the raising and lowering of the fork 6, and 12 is a centering device, which advances from both sides of the product G that has completed the three-stage stacking and opens the gap between the products G. It is something to lose. Thereafter, the products G stacked in three stages are collectively conveyed by a pusher 13 to a boxing process 14 provided in a perpendicular direction.

  In addition, an automatic stacking device (not shown) similar to the above is further provided on the opposite side of the boxing step 14, and the automatic stacking devices provided on both sides operate in common with the boxing device 14. It is configured to increase efficiency.

It is a schematic side view of the automatic stacking apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of FIG. 1. It is an enlarged front view. It is an expanded partial sectional view of the principal part. It is a principal part perspective view of an inversion apparatus. It is a side view which shows the inversion process of a cup-shaped goods. It is a side view which shows the inversion process of a cup-shaped goods. It is a side view which shows the inversion process of a cup-shaped goods. It is a perspective view which shows the stacked state of a cup-shaped goods.

Explanation of symbols

1 Roller conveyor 4 Small diameter part 5 Fork 10 Suction cup

Claims (4)

A small-diameter portion corresponding to the appropriate number of rows of the products is formed on the roller conveyor to which one stage of the products conveyed and stacked in an appropriate number of rows is supplied, and the product for one step is supplied on the roller conveyor. The product is adsorbed by a suction cup and supported by two or more steps. Next, it is detected that one step of product has been supplied on the roller conveyor, and the product is placed in the upper surface of the small diameter portion of the roller conveyor. Each fork enters and rises one step or more to support the product on the fork, and further detects the supply of one step of the product on the roller conveyor, and stacks the product by lowering and returning the fork. An automatic product stacking method comprising stacking products by lowering the suction cup and releasing suction. 2. The automatic product stacking method according to claim 1, wherein the forks are advanced from the beginning into the upper surface of the narrow diameter portion of the roller conveyor. The method for automatically stacking products according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the product to be conveyed is a cup-shaped product, and the small-diameter portion and the large-diameter portion of the cup-shaped product are adjacent to each other. A roller conveyor that supports one stage of the product is provided at a front end portion of a conveyor that conveys the products in an appropriate number of rows, and the roller conveyor is formed with a narrow-diameter portion corresponding to the appropriate number of rows of the products. In front of the roller conveyor, there is provided a fork that moves into the upper surface of the narrow diameter portion of the roller conveyor to support the product and rises one step or more, and further descends and returns. An automatic product stacking device comprising a suction cup that is attached to the upper surface of the product and moves up and down by two or more stages.

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