JP2006168853A - Turning device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a turning device capable of continuously and efficiently turning an article in the stable condition even in the case of a vertically long article. <P>SOLUTION: A bucket 13 is turnably supported by a tip of each of arms 12 radially provided in a rotor 4 to be driven for rotation on a conveying line, and a cam follower 20 fitted to the bucket 13 is loosely fitted in a cam groove 22 formed into a closed loop to surround the center of rotation of the rotor 4. An article conveyed on the conveying line is received by the bucket 13, and turned at 90° with the bucket 13, and delivered onto the conveying line. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a package in which various beverages, medicines, foods and the like conveyed on a conveyance line are packaged in a sealed state, an article such as a carton (packed product), or an intermediate product or package to be conveyed without being packed. The present invention relates to a direction changing device that changes the direction of various items such as items before being boxed.

  For example, when an article to be conveyed on a conveyance line is changed in direction by 90 ° and subsequently conveyed on the same conveyance line, conventionally, the article is adsorbed to a vacuum device provided on the conveyance line, and the vacuum device is rotated. A method of rotating an article by a mechanism has been adopted. However, such a method cannot be applied to a conveyance line that has a low processing capacity and requires high speed.

  Thus, an apparatus that presses an article from above and turns it 90 ° has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This is because a belt conveyor device that can rotate is provided on the conveyance line, the article conveyed to the belt conveyor device is stopped by a stopper, the article is pressed from above by a belt winding mechanism, and the belt winding is performed. By turning the hooking mechanism by 90 °, the direction of the article is changed, and then it is configured to be paid out onto the conveying line.

JP-A-5-147615

  However, as in the above-described conventional example (Patent Document 1), when an article is pressed from the top and turned, there is no risk of falling if the article is a flat article. Articles with height) cannot be applied as they are because they may fall over if they are pressed from above. Further, since the belt winding mechanism must be rotated for each article, the operation for changing the direction is complicated. Therefore, it cannot be applied to a case where a large number of vertically long articles are continuously changed in a standing state and are to be conveyed with high efficiency.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a direction changing device that can continuously change the direction of a vertically long article in a stable state with high efficiency.

(1) In the direction changing device according to the present invention, a bucket 13 is rotatably supported at the tip of an arm 12 provided radially on a rotating body 4 that is rotationally driven, and a cam follower 20 attached to the bucket 13. However, the article 3 that is loosely fitted in the cam groove 22 formed in a closed loop shape so as to surround the rotation center of the rotating body 4 is received by the bucket 13, and the article 3 is turned together with the bucket 13. It is characterized by being configured to pay out.

  According to such a configuration, the article 3 to be conveyed is received by the bucket 13 and the article 3 is changed direction together with the bucket 13, so that even if the article 3 is vertically long, it does not fall down in a standing state. You can change the direction. Further, since the bucket 13 is provided at the tip of the arm 12 provided radially on the rotating body 4 and the cam follower 20 attached to each bucket 13 is loosely fitted in the cam groove 22 formed in a closed loop shape, The configuration for changing the direction becomes simple, and the articles received in the plurality of buckets 13 can be sequentially and continuously changed by the rotating operation of the rotating body 4.

(2) Another direction changing apparatus according to the present invention includes a rotating body 4 having a rotation center on the transport line 1 and driven to rotate in a horizontal plane,
A plurality of arms 12 radially attached to the rotating body 4;
An article receiving bucket 13 fixed to a support shaft 18 rotatably supported at the tip of the arm 12 and capable of corresponding to a receiving position 14 and a discharging position 15 on the transfer line 1;
A rotating lever 19 having one end fixed to the support shaft 18;
A cam follower 20 rotatably supported on the other end of the rotation lever 19;
A cam groove 22 that is formed in a closed loop shape so as to surround the rotation center on the transport line 1 and loosely fits the cam follower 20;
The article 3 conveyed on the conveyance line 1 is received by the bucket 13 at the receiving position 14, and the article 3 is turned 90 ° together with the bucket 13 while the bucket 13 moves to the payout position 15. It is characterized in that it is configured to pay out onto the transfer line 1.

  According to such a configuration, the article 3 conveyed on the conveying line 1 is received by the bucket 13 at the receiving position 14, and the article 3 is turned 90 ° together with the bucket 13, and then the payout on the conveying line 1 is performed. Since the item 3 is paid out, even if the article 3 is vertically long, the direction can be changed without falling. Further, the bucket 13 is provided at the tip of the arm 12 provided radially on the rotating body 4, and the cam follower 20 attached to each bucket 13 via the rotation lever 19 is closed loop so as to surround the rotation center of the rotating body 4. Since it is loosely fitted in the cam groove 22 formed in the shape, the configuration for changing the direction becomes simple, and the articles 3 received in the plurality of buckets 13 are sequentially and continuously provided by the rotating operation of the rotating body 4. Can be redirected.

(3) In such a direction changing device, the receiving position 14 on the transport line 1 is provided with a positioning guide member 26 that directly contacts the article 3 to be carried, while the bucket 13 has A notch 17a for allowing the guide member 26 to pass therethrough may be provided. In this way, since the article 3 carried into the receiving position 14 can be positioned with high accuracy, the direction change accuracy of the article 3 is also improved.

  The direction changing device according to the present invention includes a cam mechanism including a cam groove and a cam follower, and a cam follower attached to a bucket that receives the article is loosely fitted in a cam groove formed in a closed loop shape. Since the article is turned together with the bucket by the cam mechanism, even if the article is vertically long, it can be turned without being overturned. In addition, since the bucket supported rotatably at the tip of the arm provided radially on the rotating body is changed in direction by a cam mechanism including a cam groove and a cam follower, the configuration for changing the direction becomes simple. In addition, since the articles received in the plurality of buckets can be sequentially and sequentially changed by the rotating operation of the rotating body, it is possible to appropriately cope with higher efficiency and higher speed of article conveyance.

  Another direction changing apparatus according to the present invention is configured to loosely fit a cam follower attached to a bucket for receiving an article via a rotation lever into a cam groove formed in a closed loop, and receive the article conveyed on the conveyance line. Since the article is received by the bucket at the position, and the article is turned 90 ° together with the bucket by the cam mechanism, it is delivered to the delivery position on the transfer line. It can be prevented from falling. In addition, the direction of rotation is changed by a cam mechanism comprising a cam groove and a cam follower that is loosely fitted in the cam groove, and the bucket is rotatably supported at the tips of a plurality of arms provided radially on the rotating body. Suitable for high-efficiency and high-speed transportation of goods because the structure for conversion is simple and the direction of the articles received in multiple buckets can be changed sequentially and continuously by the rotation of the rotating body. Can deal with.

Hereinafter, a direction changing apparatus according to the best mode of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 is a plan view of the direction changing device, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. First, in FIG. 1, the code | symbol 1 is a conveyance line and is provided with the conveyor belt 2 shown with a dashed-two dotted line. 3 is an article conveyed by the conveyor belt 2, and is composed of, for example, a packaging body in which various beverages and the like are packaged in a sealed manner, and is placed on the conveyor belt 2 in a standing manner. In addition, 3a is the straw adhering to the package 3 in the upstream of the conveyance line 1 (left side of FIG. 1).

  Next, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 4 denotes a rotating body that has a rotation center on the conveyance line 1 and is driven to rotate in a horizontal plane. It is supported by a bearing 8 provided on the installed bearing base 7, and the upper part of the support shaft 5 is fixed to an output shaft of a motor 11 mounted on the top plate 10 of the gantry 6 via a coupling 9. Yes. A plurality of arms 12 are radially attached to the rotating body 4 (see FIG. 5), and a bucket 13 for receiving the article 3 is rotatably supported at the tip of the arm 12. In FIG. 1, for example, it is driven to rotate clockwise, so that it can correspond to a receiving position 14 and a payout position 15 on the transport line 1.

  2 and 3, the bucket 13 is formed in a bottomless shape having a ceiling portion 16 and a vertical wall 17 whose transverse section is bent in a substantially L shape. A slight gap for avoiding interference is set between the conveyor belt 2 and a support shaft 18 is fixed to the upper portion of the bucket 13 (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 4). Is supported at the tip of the arm 12 in a rotatable manner. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, one end of a rotation lever 19 is fixed to the support shaft 18, and a cam follower 20 made of a rotatable roller is supported on the other end of the rotation lever 19. On the other hand, a cam plate 21 (see FIG. 6) is fixed to the top plate 10 of the gantry 6, and a cam follower 20 is slidably fitted in a cam groove 22 formed in the cam plate 21. (See FIG. 5).

  A clamping device 23 is provided at a position immediately upstream of the receiving position 14 on the above-described conveyance line 1 (see FIGS. 1 and 7), and the article 3 conveyed while being pressed on the conveyor belt 2 is pressed. The article 3, which is sandwiched between the pressing guide 24 operated by the actuator and the reference guide 25 standing in a fixed state and from which the line pressure has been removed, is carried into the receiving position 14. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the articles from being entangled with each other due to the action of the line pressure and cannot be separated.

  Guide members 26 and 27 for positioning the article 3 to be introduced are provided at positions corresponding to the receiving position 14 of the transport line 1 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). One guide member (upper guide) 26 has an arc-shaped abutting surface that follows the rotation trajectory inside the bucket 13, and is supported in a fixed state on the bearing base 7 by two support members. The guide member 26 fits into the notch 17 a formed in the vertical wall 17 of the bucket 13 and directly contacts the side surface of the article 3. The other guide member (under guide) 27 is made of a plate material formed in an arc shape larger than the guide member 26, and is disposed so as to correspond to a position immediately below the guide member 26, and is the lower end of the vertical wall 17 of the bucket 13. A slight gap is formed between them, and the arc-shaped contact surface at the tip directly contacts the bottom of the article 3.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of guide members 28 and 29 for guiding the article 3 whose direction has been changed by 90 ° are disposed at the payout position 15 on the transport line 1. One guide member 28 has a linear reference surface 28 a along the conveyance line 1 for positioning the article 3 on the center line of the conveyor belt 2. The other guide member 29 is arranged in the article transport direction so that the article 3 can be guided to the center line in a state in which the direction is reliably changed even if the position of the article 3 delivered from the bucket 13 is slightly shifted from the delivery position 15. It has a guide surface 29a inclined in a tapered manner toward (arrow direction) and a guide surface 29b parallel to the reference surface 28a.

  A semicircular guide wall 30 is erected on the outer side of the turning trajectory of the bucket 13 from the receiving position 14 to the payout position 15 (see FIG. 1). A semi-circular slide plate 31 is provided for slidably receiving the article 3 received in the bucket 13 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The slide plate 31 is set at the same height level as the conveyor belt 2, and the temporary portion corresponding to the side of the conveyor belt 2 at the receiving position 14 and the dispensing position 15 holds the article 3 between the conveyor belt 2. It is formed in a chamfered shape so that it can be moved without difficulty.

  In the direction changing apparatus configured as described above, a large number of articles are placed on the conveyor belt 2 of the conveying line 1 shown in FIG. Several of them are pinched by the pinching device 23 disposed immediately before the direction changing device, and after the line pressure has been removed, they are carried into the receiving position 14 at an appropriate timing. . The leading article 3 carried into the receiving position 14 is received by the bucket 13 that has been turned to that position while being positioned by the guide members 26 and 27 for positioning, and moves from the conveyor belt 2 to the slide plate 31. , And the next article 3 is positioned by the positioning guide members 26 and 27 and is received by the next bucket 13 that has been turned to the position, and similarly the clockwise rotation shown in the figure. Move to.

  Until the bucket 13 moves from the receiving position 14 to the payout position 15, the bucket 13 rotates 90 ° by the cam mechanism including the cam groove 22 and the cam follower 20, so the article 3 is also turned in the same direction, and the payout position 15, since the article 3 is paid out from the slide plate 31 onto the conveyor belt 2, the article 3 moves along the reference surface 28 a of the guide member 28 in the conveyance direction (right direction in the drawing). While such a payout is being performed, the next several articles 3 that have been pinched by the pinching device 23 are similarly carried into the receiving position 14 and moved to the payout position 15 by the bucket 13. Then, the operation of turning 90 ° and paying out on the conveyor belt 2 is repeated.

  In such a conveyance process, since the article 3 is rotated together with the bucket 13 while being stored in the bucket 13, even if the vertically long article 3 is placed on the conveyor belt 2 in a standing manner, the article 3 is turned over. It can be changed without any change. In addition, since a plurality of buckets 13 (in this case, eight) are rotationally driven by a single motor 11 and each bucket 13 is continuously associated with a receiving position 14 and a dispensing position 15, a large number of articles 3 can be efficiently handled. The direction can be continuously changed and conveyed, and it is possible to appropriately cope with higher efficiency and higher speed of article conveyance.

  The operation of changing the posture of the bucket 13 by the cam mechanism including the cam groove 22 and the cam follower 20 is shown in FIG. 8, for example. As shown in the figure, the bucket 13 does not involve a sudden turning operation as in the conventional example, and the turning posture continuously changes steplessly, so that the article 3 is from the receiving position 14 to the dispensing position 15. Is kept stable. Accordingly, during the direction change operation (turning operation), there is no risk of impact being applied to the contents stored in the article 3, and the straw 3a is attached to the outside without being wrinkled. Will not fall off. In addition, the article 3 is packaged in which various beverages and the like are packaged in a sealed manner, packaged in which various chemicals and foods are packaged in a sealed state, cartons (packed products), or the like, or packaged or boxed. It may be an intermediate product to be transported without being transferred, an article before being packaged or boxed, or the like.

  Since such a direction change apparatus is provided on the conveyance line 1, it is also possible to convey the article 3 straight without changing the direction. In that case, for example, the gantry 6 is divided into two parts at the level of the arrow P in FIG. 3 and the illustration is omitted, but the push-up means comprising a gear mechanism, a ball screw mechanism, a link mechanism or the like can be used as a handle or a lever. What is necessary is just to comprise so that the upper part containing a direction change apparatus can be pushed up to the height which does not interfere with the article conveyed by the conveyance line 1 by operating with an operation tool. In other words, when the article 3 is transported straight, the article 3 may be passed directly under the direction changing device pushed up.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and it is free to make design changes and improvements as necessary as long as they do not depart from the gist of the invention. For example, in the present embodiment, an article is received from a linear conveyance line, and the article whose direction is changed to the conveyance line is paid out. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the article is transferred after the article is changed in direction. You may make it pay | pay out goods to the conveyance line different from a line. The other transport line is not necessarily arranged linearly with respect to the transport line into which the article is carried, and may be arranged in a corresponding state inclined at an appropriate angle, for example, 30 °. In that case, the article may be turned by 70 ° with the direction changing device, and as a result, the article may be turned by 90 ° on another conveyance line. In short, since the turning angle of the article by the direction changing device can be appropriately set by changing the design of the cam mechanism, an appropriate turning angle may be selected according to the layout of the transport line and the like. In addition, the number of arms to be rotated and the number of buckets may be appropriately selected, and the bucket may be appropriately designed as long as it can receive the article in a stable state, regardless of its shape or configuration. .

It is a top view of the direction change apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is AA arrow sectional drawing of the same FIG. It is a BB sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the E section enlarged view of FIG. It is CC sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is DD sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the same clamping apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of the change state of the attitude | position of the bucket.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conveyance line, 3 ... Goods, 4 ... Rotating body, 12 ... Arm, 13 ... Bucket, 14 ... Receiving position, 15 ... Discharge position, 17a ... Notch part, 18 ... Spindle, 19 ... Turning lever, 20 ... Cam follower, 22 ... cam groove, 26 ... guide member

Claims (3)

  A bucket (13) is rotatably supported at the tip of an arm (12) provided radially on the rotating body (4) to be rotationally driven, and a cam follower (20) attached to the bucket (13) includes: The bucket (13) receives the article (3) that is loosely fitted in the cam groove (22) formed in a closed loop shape so as to surround the rotation center of the rotating body (4), and the bucket (13) In addition, the direction changing device is configured to change the direction of the article (3) and pay out. A rotating body (4) having a center of rotation on the transport line (1) and driven to rotate in a horizontal plane;
A plurality of arms (12) radially attached to the rotating body (4);
An article receiving unit that is fixed to a support shaft (18) that is rotatably supported at the tip of the arm (12) and that can correspond to a receiving position (14) and a discharging position (15) on the transfer line (1). Bucket (13) for
A rotating lever (19) having one end fixed to the support shaft (18);
A cam follower (20) rotatably supported on the other end of the rotation lever (19);
A cam groove (22) that is formed in a closed loop shape so as to surround the rotation center on the transport line (1) and loosely fits the cam follower (20),
While the article (3) transported on the transport line (1) is received by the bucket (13) at the receiving position (14), the bucket (13) moves to the payout position (15). The direction changing apparatus characterized in that the article (3) is turned by 90 ° together with (13) and delivered onto the transport line (1).   The receiving position (14) on the transport line (1) is provided with a positioning guide member (26) that directly contacts the article (3) to be carried in, whereas the bucket (13) has the guide. The direction changing device according to claim 2, wherein a notch (17a) for penetrating the member (26) is provided.

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