JP2007153492A - Article separating device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article separating device capable of suppressing vibration, noise, impact etc. <P>SOLUTION: This article separating device 1 is provided with a low-speed conveying means 3, a medium-speed conveying means 4, and a high-speed conveying means 5. The low-speed conveying means 3 conveys articles W in the closely contacted state. The medium-speed conveying means 4 conveys the articles W at speed higher than that of the low-speed conveying means 3, and forms a primary gap between the article W and the following article W. The high-speed means 5 conveys the articles W at speed higher than that of the medium-speed conveying means 4, and forms a secondary gap between the article W and the following article W. When a requirement gap necessary for the article W and the following article W is lager than the secondary gap, the low-speed conveying means 3 and the medium-speed conveying means 4 are decelerated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article separating apparatus that can appropriately form a gap between articles while suppressing generation of vibration, noise, impact, and the like.

  Conventionally, for example, two endless drive bands installed in parallel, a large number of roller shafts rotatably supported at both ends by a large number of holes provided in the drive band, and a cylinder that envelops the roller shafts freely And a friction plate provided via a moving means immediately below the roller on which the article is mounted, and the article is a roller by bringing the friction plate into contact with the lower side of the roller by the moving means. 2. Description of the Related Art An article separating device such as a variable speed linear feeder having a friction plate that moves at a speed faster than the moving speed is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

However, this conventional article separating apparatus requires moving means, a friction plate, and the like, so that the configuration of the entire apparatus tends to be complicated. Therefore, as an article separating device having a simple configuration, for example, a low speed side conveying means for conveying an article, and an article received from the low speed side conveying means and conveyed at a higher conveying speed than the low speed side conveying means, the article and the next article There is known a belt feeder provided with a high-speed conveying means for forming a gap therebetween.
JP-A-9-255136

  However, in the configuration in which a gap is formed between articles using the speed difference between the transport speed of the low-speed transport means and the transport speed of the high-speed transport means, as in the conventional article separating device, a relatively large speed difference is provided. Therefore, there is a problem that vibration, noise, impact, etc. are likely to occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article separating apparatus that can appropriately form a gap between articles while suppressing generation of vibration, noise, impact, and the like.

  The article separating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a low-speed conveying means for conveying an article, and an article is received from the low-speed conveying means, and the received article is conveyed at a conveying speed faster than the low-speed conveying means. Medium-speed conveying means for forming a primary gap between the medium-speed conveying means, an article is received from the medium-speed conveying means, and the received article is conveyed at a conveying speed faster than the medium-speed conveying means. High-speed conveying means for forming a secondary gap therebetween.

  The article separating apparatus according to claim 2 is the article separating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the required gap required between the article and the next article is larger than the secondary gap, the conveying speed and the medium speed of the low-speed conveying means. Control means for decelerating the conveying speed of the conveying means to make the required gap coincide with the secondary gap is provided.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the primary gap is formed using the speed difference between the transport speed of the low speed transport means and the transport speed of the medium speed transport means, and then the transport speed of the medium speed transport means and the high speed transport means. Since the secondary gap is formed by utilizing the speed difference from the transport speed of the article, it is possible to make the speed difference relatively small, thereby suppressing the occurrence of vibration, noise, impact, etc. A gap can be appropriately formed between them.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, by reducing the transport speed of the low-speed transport means and the transport speed of the medium-speed transport means, it is possible to appropriately secure the required gap between the articles while preventing the collision between the articles.

  An embodiment of an article separating device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an article separating apparatus. The article separating apparatus 1 conveys an article W such as a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case in the conveying direction X, while forming a desired gap between the articles W adjacent to the conveying direction X. A belt feeder to be formed;

  The article separating apparatus 1 includes a conveying means 2 such as a belt conveyor that conveys a plurality of articles W in a state where the articles W adjacent in the conveying direction X are in close contact with each other.

  Three conveying means, that is, a low-speed conveying means 3, a medium-speed conveying means 4 and a high-speed conveying means 5 having different conveying speeds are arranged in a line on the downstream side of the conveying means 2.

  The low-speed conveying means 3, the medium-speed conveying means 4 and the high-speed conveying means 5 are all composed of a belt conveyor, for example, and are endlessly conveyed over a plurality of rollers (not shown) and conveyed on the upper conveying surface by rotation. Belt-shaped conveyor belts 3a, 4a, 5a and motors 3b, 4b, 5b which are driving means for rotating the conveyor belts 3a, 4a, 5a.

  The low-speed transport unit 3 receives the article W in a close contact state from the transport unit 2 and transports the received article W in the transport direction X in the close contact state. The medium speed conveying means 4 receives the article W from the low speed conveying means 3 and conveys the received article W in the conveying direction X at a conveying speed faster than that of the low speed conveying means 3. A primary gap is formed between them. Further, the high-speed transport unit 5 receives the article W from the medium-speed transport unit 4 and transports the received article W in the transport direction X at a transport speed faster than that of the medium-speed transport unit 4. A secondary gap larger than the primary gap is formed between the two.

  Note that both the low-speed transfer means 3 and the medium-speed transfer means 4 can be selectively switched between a normal operation state and a low-speed operation state in which the transfer speed is lower than the transfer speed in the normal operation state. Note that the speed difference between the transport speed of the low speed transport means 3 and the transport speed of the medium speed transport means 4 is always constant.

  On the other hand, an article detection means (control sensor) 7 of an optical system such as a photoelectric sensor for detecting the article W is provided in the vicinity of the conveyance end of the medium speed conveyance means 4. A control means 8 is electrically connected to the article detection means 7, the motor 3b of the low speed conveyance means 3, the motor 4b of the medium speed conveyance means 4, and the motor 5b of the high speed conveyance means 5.

  Then, when the required gap required between the article W and the succeeding next article W is larger than the secondary gap, the control means 8 performs the low-speed conveyance means 3 and the medium by electrical control such as inverter control or servo control. By switching the high speed conveyance means 4 from the normal operation state to the low speed operation state, the conveyance speed of the low speed conveyance means 3 and the conveyance speed of the medium speed conveyance means 4 are simultaneously reduced to match the required gap and the secondary gap. In addition, in order to automatically calculate the gap between the articles W, parameters such as the reference length of the articles W, the separation capability, the conveyance speed of each conveyance unit, and the like can be input to the storage unit of the control unit 8.

  Next, the operation of the article separating device 1 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, a plurality of articles, for example, three articles W1, W2, and W3 are transferred from the conveying means 2 to the low-speed conveying means 3 while the adjacent articles are in close contact with each other.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the three articles W1, W2, and W3 are kept in close contact until the front half of the leading article W1 is placed on the medium speed conveying means 4.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (c), primary separation is performed by the speed difference between the conveyance speed of the low-speed conveyance means 3 and the conveyance speed of the medium-speed conveyance means 4, and the leading article W1 and the succeeding article W2 following this are separated. A primary gap is formed between them (see FIG. 2D).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (e), secondary separation is performed by the speed difference between the conveyance speed of the medium-speed conveyance means 4 and the conveyance speed of the high-speed conveyance means 5, and the leading article W1 and the next article following this are separated. A secondary gap LS is formed between W2.

  Then, when the article W2 is detected by the article detection means 7, a predetermined required gap that is required between the article W1 and the next article W2 is formed between the article W1 and the article W2, and the secondary gap LS. If larger, the low-speed transfer means 3 and the medium-speed transfer means 4 are switched from the normal operation state to the low-speed operation state by the control of the motors 3b and 4b by the control means 8. As a result, the transfer speed of the low-speed transfer means 3 The conveyance speed of the medium-speed conveyance means 4 is simultaneously reduced, and a required gap is formed between the leading article W1 and the next article W2, as shown in FIG.

  That is, when the required clearance is ensured by supplementing the secondary gap formed when the low-speed transfer means 3 and the medium-speed transfer means 4 are in the normal operation state, the control means 8 At the same time, the medium speed conveying means 4 is switched to the low speed operation state. At this time, the transport speed of the low speed transport means 3 is, for example, 3 Hz or less, and the mechanical brake of the motor 3b is operated.

  When the gap between the leading article W1 and the next article W2 becomes the required gap, the low-speed conveyance means 3 and the medium-speed conveyance means 4 are moved from the low-speed operation state to the original by the control of the motors 3b and 4b by the control means 8. Switch to normal operation.

  As described above, according to the article separating apparatus 1, after the primary gap is formed between the articles W using the speed difference between the conveyance speed of the low-speed conveyance means 3 and the conveyance speed of the medium-speed conveyance means 4, the medium-speed conveyance is further performed. Since the primary gap is enlarged by using the speed difference between the transport speed of the means 4 and the transport speed of the high-speed transport means 5, the secondary gap is formed, so that the speed difference can be made relatively small. Therefore, not only is the structure simple, but also the generation of gaps between the articles W can be appropriately formed while suppressing the generation of vibration, noise, impact, etc. at the time of separation, and the ability to separate the articles W is improved. The article W can be stably conveyed.

  Further, when the required gap required between the articles W is larger than the secondary gap, the article W can be simultaneously decelerated by the control by the control means 8 to reduce the conveyance speed of the low-speed conveyance means 3 and the conveyance speed of the medium-speed conveyance means 4. The required gap can be appropriately secured between the articles W while reliably preventing collisions between the articles W.

  Further, the article separation control by the control means 8 is electrical and does not actuate a mechanical brake for the motors 3b and 4b, so that the life of the motors 3b and 4b can be extended.

  Here, FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the conveyance speed of the medium-speed conveyance means and time. Length in article conveyance direction = L (mm), required gap = Le (mm), high speed conveyance means (high speed conveyor) = Hh (m / m)... 1 speed, medium speed conveyance means (medium speed conveyor) = Mh ( m / m) or Ml (m / m) ... 2 speed, low speed conveying means (low speed conveyor) = Lh (m / m) or Ll (m / m) ... 2 speed, low speed conveyor → medium speed conveyor The clearance at L is 2/2 × Mh / Lh = L1 (mm), and the clearance at the medium speed conveyor → high speed conveyor is L / 2 × Hh / Mh = L2 (mm).

  The gap (secondary gap) when transported at a constant speed (without gap control) is L1 + L2 = LS (mm). When the required clearance Le> LS is actually required, clearance control is required. Le-LS becomes an insufficient gap, and gap control is performed so that the gap between articles becomes Le.

  The area of the gray portion A in FIG. Control is possible when the area of the shaded portion B in FIG. 3 is 230 mm or less. That is, for example, when S in FIG. 1 (distance between the control sensor and the conveyance end of the medium-speed conveyor) is 115 mm, all can be controlled if the gap control can be completed with an article length of 230 mm or less.

  The low speed conveying means 3, the medium speed conveying means 4 and the high speed conveying means 5 are not limited to belt conveyors, and may be roller conveyors having a plurality of conveying rollers.

1 is a schematic plan view of an article separating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of an article cutting device same as the above. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the conveyance speed and time of a medium speed conveyor of an article separation apparatus same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Article separation apparatus 3 Low speed conveyance means 4 Medium speed conveyance means 5 High speed conveyance means 8 Control means W Goods

Claims (2)

Low-speed transport means for transporting articles;
Medium-speed conveyance means for receiving an article from the low-speed conveyance means, conveying the received article at a conveyance speed faster than the low-speed conveyance means, and forming a primary gap between the article and the next article;
High-speed conveyance means for receiving articles from the medium-speed conveyance means, conveying the accepted articles at a conveyance speed faster than the medium-speed conveyance means, and forming a secondary gap between the article and the next article. Article separating apparatus characterized by the above. When the required gap between the article and the next article is larger than the secondary gap, the conveyance speed of the low-speed conveyance means and the conveyance speed of the medium-speed conveyance means are reduced to match the requested gap and the secondary gap. The article separating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls the article.