JP2008024466A - Conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveying device capable of stably conveying articles to be conveyed. <P>SOLUTION: This conveying device comprises a conveyor 1 for conveying articles 3 to be conveyed, an article feed mechanism 2 for holding the articles 3 and feeding them to the conveyor 1, a lifter 10 for receiving and loading the articles 3 when the articles 3 are fed to the conveyor 1 and transferring the articles 3 to the conveyor 1, a detection means 13 for detecting that the lifter 10 receives the articles 3, and a controller 17 for so controlling the operation of the article feed mechanism 2 as to stop the feeding of the articles 3 and place the articles 3 on the lifter 10 by releasing the holding when the receipt of the articles 3 by the lifter 10 is detected by the detection means 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport device that transports an object to be transported.

As a transport apparatus that transports a transported object, there is an apparatus that directly transports the transported object on a conveyor (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-277054 A

  In an apparatus that directly loads and conveys the object to be conveyed on the conveyor, the object to be conveyed is placed on the conveyor in operation, and thus the posture of the object to be conveyed is not stable during placement. For this reason, a to-be-conveyed object may not be conveyed stably.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transport apparatus that can stably transport an object to be transported.

  The transport device according to the present invention includes a conveyor that transports a transported object, a transported object supply mechanism that holds the transported object and supplies the transported object to the conveyor, and a transported object by the transported object supply mechanism. Receiving and placing the object to be conveyed in the process of being supplied to the conveyor, and detecting the receiving of the object to be conveyed on the placing member and a placing member that moves the placed object to be conveyed to the conveyor And detecting means that detects receiving of the object to be conveyed on the mounting member, the supply of the object to be transported is stopped and the holding is released, and the object to be transported is placed on the mounting member. Control means for controlling the operation of the transported object supply mechanism so as to be placed thereon.

  In the transport apparatus according to the present invention, the object to be transported is not directly placed on the operating conveyor, but is placed on the placing member and then placed on the conveyor. Therefore, according to this invention, since a to-be-conveyed object can be once conveyed by a conveyor after being stabilized with a mounting member, a to-be-conveyed object can be conveyed stably.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  With reference to FIGS. 1-3, the conveying apparatus 100 which is embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. 1 is a side view of the transport apparatus 100, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of a conveyor in the transport apparatus 100. In addition, FIG. 3 is a figure of the state in which the to-be-conveyed object is not mounted in the conveyor.

  The transport apparatus 100 includes a conveyor 1 that transports a product as a transported object, and a transported object supply mechanism 2 that supplies the product to the conveyor 1. The transport apparatus 100 is disposed on the upstream side of the conveyor 1 (left side in FIG. 1). A device that automatically supplies a product to the conveyor 1 using the conveyed product supply mechanism 2 and conveys the product to the take-out position downstream of the conveyor 1 (right side in FIG. 1). At the take-out position downstream of the conveyor 1, an operator takes out the product from the conveyer 1 and performs boxing work on a separately provided box.

  In the present embodiment, a case where a shock absorber 3 interposed between a vehicle body and an axle of a vehicle is conveyed as a product will be described.

  The conveyor 1 includes a belt 6 on which the shock absorber 3 is placed and conveyed, a motor 7 that travels the belt 6, and a plurality of pulleys 8 a to 8 e that guide the belt 6. , Assembled on the base 5 placed on the floor of the factory.

  The belt 6 includes a pair of belts 6a and 6b that run in parallel. The pulleys 8a to 8e that guide the belt 6 also include a pair of pulleys so as to correspond to the pair of belts 6a and 6b. Therefore, a gap 18 exists between the pair of belts 6a and 6b as shown in FIG.

  The belt 6 is wound around the outer periphery of a pulley 8e connected to the output shaft of the motor 7 and pulleys 8a and 8b disposed at both ends of the conveyor 1, and a pair of pulleys 8c disposed on the upper portion of the motor 7. It passes between 8d. Therefore, by driving the motor 7, the pair of belts 6a and 6b travel while being guided by the pulleys 8a to 8e. The pulley 8c is disposed so as to be movable with respect to the opposite pulley 8d, and the tension of the belt 6 can be adjusted by adjusting the position of the pulley 8c with respect to the pulley 8d.

  The belt 6 places the plurality of shock absorbers 3 in a standing state in series on the transport surface 6c, and sequentially conveys them to the take-out position where the operator takes out the shock absorbers 3.

  The shock absorber 3 is placed on the belt 6 with the rod portion 3a passing between the pair of belts 6a and 6b and the substantially disc-shaped spring seat 3b in contact with the conveying surface 6c of the belts 6a and 6b. And transported.

  The transported object supply mechanism 2 is an apparatus that is disposed adjacent to the conveyor 1 on the upstream side of the conveyor 1, holds the shock absorber 3 manufactured by a manufacturing apparatus (not shown), and supplies the shock absorber 3 to the conveyor 1. .

  The transported object supply mechanism 2 includes a loader 20 that holds the shock absorber 3, a horizontal drive mechanism 21 that drives the loader 20 in the horizontal direction, a vertical drive mechanism 22 that drives the loader 20 in the vertical direction, and a loader 20. And a turning drive mechanism 23 for turning the.

  Thus, the loader 20 receives and holds the shock absorber 3 from the manufacturing apparatus (the state (A) shown in FIG. 1), and then each of the horizontal drive mechanism 21, the vertical drive mechanism 22, and the turning drive mechanism 23. The shock absorber 3 held by driving is supplied to the conveyor 1 (state (B) shown in FIG. 1). The detailed configuration and operation of the transported object supply mechanism 2 will be described later.

  A position where the shock absorber 3 is supplied from the transported object supply mechanism 2 to the conveyor 1, that is, upstream of the conveyor 1, can be moved up and down between the belts 6 a and 6 b and is a top surface. A lifter 10 as a mounting member on which the shock absorber 3 from the transported object supply mechanism 2 can be mounted is disposed at 10d.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lifter 10 connects a pair of plate-like members 10a and a pair of plate-like members 10a that are formed perpendicular to the conveying surface 6c of the belt 6 and move up and down between the belts 6a and 6b. It is a U-shape formed from the bottom surface portion 10b. As described above, the lifter 10 has the recess 10c, and the pair of mounting surfaces 10d, which are the upper end surfaces of the plate-like member 10a, are arranged in a direction parallel to the belts 6a and 6b.

  When the lifter 10 mounts the shock absorber 3 (shown on the right side of the center line in FIG. 2), the spring seat 3b is supported by the pair of mounting surfaces 10d, and the rod portion 3a is positioned in the recess 10c.

  In the vertical movement of the lifter 10, the tip portion is connected to the bottom surface portion 10 b of the lifter 10, the piston 11 extending in the direction perpendicular to the conveying surface 6 c of the belt 6, and the base 5 is driven to drive the piston 11. With the cylinder 12. That is, when the compressed air is supplied from the air supply source to the cylinder 12 and the piston 11 slides in the cylinder 12, the lifter 10 moves in the vertical direction.

  The cylinder 12 is provided with a cylinder switch 13 that outputs an ON signal when the cylinder is fully extended. The relationship between the cylinder switch 13 and other devices will be described later.

  The operation of the lifter 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The left side of the center line in FIG. 2 is a view of the cylinder 12 in a contracted state, and the right side of the center line is a view of the state in which the cylinder 12 is extended.

  In the lifter 10, when the shock absorber 3 is supplied from the transported object supply mechanism 2 to the conveyor 1, the cylinder 12 is in the most extended state, and the placement surface 10 d is higher than the transport surface 6 c of the belt 6. Wait in state. Therefore, in the process in which the shock absorber 3 held by the loader 20 is supplied to the conveyor 1, the spring seat 3 b of the shock absorber 3 is not placed on the conveying surface 6 c of the belt 6 but on the placement surface 10 d of the lifter 10. In order to make contact, the shock absorber 3 is placed on the lifter 10 (the operation of the loader 20 will be described in detail later).

  When the shock absorber 3 is placed on the placement surface 10 d of the lifter 10 and the cylinder 12 contracts, the lifter 10 descends and the placement surface 10 d becomes lower than the conveying surface 6 c of the belt 6. In the process in which the lifter 10 is lowered, the spring seat 3b of the shock absorber 3 comes into contact with the transport surface 6c of the belt 6, so that the shock absorber 3 is placed on the belt 6 and transported.

  Note that a plurality of lifters 9 are arranged on the conveyor 1 in series with the lifters 10. Each lifter 9 lifts and supports the shock absorber 3 moving on the belt 6 by moving up between the belts 6a and 6b, and supports it by moving down between the belts 6a and 6b. It operates to return the shock absorber 3 to the belt 6. Each lifter 9 moves up and down by the expansion and contraction of each cylinder 9a.

  On the side plate 14 erected on the base 5 of the conveyor 1, a photoelectric sensor 15 that detects the shock absorber 3 on the belt 6 is provided.

  The photoelectric sensor 15 includes a projector 15a and a light receiver 15b. The photoelectric sensor 15 is turned on when light emitted from the projector 15a toward the light receiver 15b is blocked.

  The light projector 15a and the light receiver 15b are arranged on both sides of the belt 6 and at a position where the shock absorber 3 on the belt 6 blocks the light and is turned on when the shock absorber 3 on the belt 6 exists above the lifter 10. . Thus, the photoelectric sensor 15 is used to determine whether or not the shock absorber 3 on the belt 6 exists above the lifter 10.

  Next, the configuration and operation of the transported object supply mechanism 2 will be described.

  The loader 20 includes a shaft portion 24 extending in the vertical direction and a pair of chucks 25 attached to the shaft portion 24 and gripping the shock absorber 3.

  The chuck 25 extends in parallel with the belt 6 and is configured to pass between the pair of belts 6a and 6b.

  The horizontal drive mechanism 21 includes a piston 27 that is connected to the shaft portion 24 of the loader 20 at the tip, extends parallel to the belt 6, and a cylinder 28 that drives the piston 27. By driving the cylinder 28, the loader 20 can be moved away from the belt 6.

  The vertical drive mechanism 22 includes a piston 30 that extends in the vertical direction and is connected to a moving base 29 to which a cylinder 28 of the horizontal drive mechanism 21 is fixed, and a cylinder 31 that drives the piston 30. The movable table 29 is configured to be movable along a pair of rails 32 extending in the vertical direction. By driving the cylinder 31, the cylinder 28 of the horizontal movement mechanism 21 moves along the rail 32, so that the loader 20 can be moved in the direction perpendicular to the belt 6.

  The turning drive mechanism 23 includes a sleeve 35 arranged coaxially with the cylinder 31 of the vertical movement mechanism 22, a shaft portion 37 that is rotatably inserted through a hollow portion of the sleeve 35 via a bearing 36, and a gear 38. A motor 39 that rotates the shaft portion 37 is provided, and each of these members is assembled to a base 34 placed on the floor surface.

  The tip of the shaft portion 37 is connected to a support base 40 that supports the rail 32, and the cylinder 31 of the vertical drive mechanism 22 is fixed to the top of the support base 40.

  By driving the motor 39 of the turning drive mechanism 23, the support base 40 rotates as the shaft portion 37 rotates. As a result, the horizontal drive mechanism 21 rotates around the shaft portion 37, and the loader 20 turns around the shaft portion 37.

  The operation of receiving the shock absorber 3 by the transported object supply mechanism 2 configured as described above from the manufacturing apparatus (not shown) to the conveyor 1 will be described.

  First, the loader 20 stands by at a position facing the manufacturing apparatus, and holds the shock absorber 3 by gripping the rod portion 3a of the shock absorber 3 supplied from the manufacturing apparatus with the chuck 25 (see FIG. 1). (A state shown). The shock absorber 3 is held so that the spring seat 3b is sufficiently higher than the conveying surface 6c of the belt 6.

  Next, the loader 20 is turned around the shaft 37 by the turning drive mechanism 23, and the shock absorber 3 is opposed to the conveyor 1. At this time, the lifter 10 of the conveyor 1 stands by in a state in which the cylinder 12 that drives the lifter 10 is in the most extended state, that is, the mounting surface 10 d of the lifter 10 is higher than the conveying surface 6 c of the belt 6. .

  The loader 20 is advanced by the horizontal drive mechanism 21, and the shock absorber 3 is positioned above the lifter 10.

  Next, the loader 20 is lowered by the vertical drive mechanism 22. As a result, the chuck 25 of the loader 20 enters the recess 10c of the lifter 10 and descends between the belts 6a and 6b.

  In the process of lowering the loader 20, the spring seat 3b of the shock absorber 3 comes into contact with the placement surface 10d of the lifter 10 (state (B) shown in FIG. 1). Since the lifter 10 is pushed downward by this contact, the cylinder 12 that drives the lifter 10 contracts from the most extended state, and the output of the cylinder switch 13 is turned off.

  As the cylinder switch 13 is turned off, the loader 20 stops moving down and releases the grip of the shock absorber 3 by the chuck 25. Thereby, the shock absorber 3 is placed on the placement surface 10 d of the lifter 10. Thus, the cylinder switch 13 detects the reception of the shock absorber 3 in the lifter 10 and corresponds to a detection means.

  When the spring seat 3b of the shock absorber 3 comes into contact with the mounting surface 10d of the lifter 10, the cylinder 12 can be contracted from the most extended state, that is, the output of the cylinder switch 13 is turned off. It is desirable to set the pressure of the compressed air supplied to the cylinder 12 to be small. Specifically, the pressure of the compressed air supplied to the cylinder 12 corresponding to the most upstream lifter 10 to which the shock absorber 3 is delivered from the loader 20 is the compressed air supplied to the cylinder 9 a corresponding to the other lifter 9. It is desirable to set a smaller value than the pressure of.

  As described above, in the process in which the shock absorber 3 is supplied to the conveyor 1 by the transported object supply mechanism 2, the lifter 10 receives and places the shock absorber 3.

  A controller 17 is mounted on the transport apparatus 100. The controller 17 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls operations of the transported object supply mechanism 2 and the lifter 10 based on signals input from the cylinder switch 13 and the sensor 15. Further, the operation of the motor 7 for driving the belt 6 is controlled. This controller 17 corresponds to the control means.

  Below, with reference to FIG. 4, operation | movement of the conveying apparatus 100 performed by the controller 17 is demonstrated. In addition, during operation | movement of the conveying apparatus 100 shown below, the belt 6 continues a continuous operation.

  The lifter 10 stands by in a state where the cylinder 12 that drives the lifter 10 is in the most extended state, that is, in a state where the mounting surface 10d of the lifter 10 is higher than the conveying surface 6c of the belt 6 (step 11).

  In this state, the transported object supply mechanism 2 holds the shock absorber 3 with the loader 20 as described above, and supplies the shock absorber 3 from the upper part of the lifter 10 to the conveyor 1 (step 12).

  In step 13, it is determined whether or not the spring sheet 3 b of the shock absorber 3 supplied from the transported object supply mechanism 2 to the conveyor 1 is in contact with the placement surface 10 d of the lifter 10.

  When the spring seat 3b of the shock absorber 3 comes into contact with the mounting surface 10d of the lifter 10, the lifter 10 is pushed downward by the shock absorber 3, and the cylinder 12 that drives the lifter 10 contracts from the most extended state. Therefore, the output of the cylinder switch 13 that was on when the cylinder was fully extended is turned off. Thus, when the output of the cylinder switch 13 is turned off, it is determined that the spring seat 3b is in contact with the placement surface 10d, and the process proceeds to the next step 14.

  In step 14, the drive of the cylinder 31 is stopped by cutting off the supply and discharge of the compressed air in the cylinder 31 of the vertical drive mechanism 22. Thereby, the descent of the loader 20 is stopped. That is, the supply operation of the shock absorber 3 to the conveyor 1 by the transported object supply mechanism 2 is stopped.

  As described above, when the output of the cylinder switch 13 is turned off in step 13, the lowering of the loader 20 is stopped. In other words, the cylinder 31 lowers the loader 20 until the output of the cylinder switch 13 is turned off in step 13.

  In step 15, the holding of the shock absorber 3 by the loader 20 is released by releasing the chuck 25 of the loader 20. Thereby, it mounts on the mounting surface 10d of the lifter 10.

  In step 16, the cylinder 28 of the horizontal drive mechanism 21 contracts. As a result, the loader 20 moves backward in the direction away from the belt 6.

  In step 17, the cylinder 12 that drives the lifter 10 contracts. Thereby, the lifter 10 descends between the belts 6a and 6b in a state where the shock absorber 3 is placed. In the lowering process of the lifter 10, the placement surface 10d of the lifter 10 becomes lower than the conveying surface 6c of the belt 6, so the spring seat 3b of the shock absorber 3 abuts on the conveying surface 6c of the belt 6, and the shock absorber 3 is placed on the belt 6.

  Thus, the buffer 3 is moved from the mounting surface 10 d of the lifter 10 onto the conveying surface 6 c of the belt 6 by the lowering of the lifter 10. Since the conveyor 1 is in continuous operation, the shock absorber 3 transferred to the belt 6 is conveyed downstream (to the right side in the figure) by the belt 6.

  As shown in steps 13 to 17 above, when the shock absorber 3 is placed on the lifter 10, the lifter 10 operates to move the shock absorber 3 onto the belt 6.

  In step 18, it is determined whether or not the shock absorber 3 on the belt 6 has moved from the upper part of the lifter 10. That is, it is determined whether or not the shock absorber 3 on the belt 6 exists above the lifter 10.

  When the shock absorber 3 on the belt 6 still exists on the upper part of the lifter 10, the light emitted from the projector 15 a is blocked by the shock absorber 3, but the shock absorber 3 is blocked by the belt 6 from the upper part of the lifter 10. When moved, that is, when the shock absorber 3 is not present above the lifter 10, the light emitted from the projector 15a is not blocked by the shock absorber 3, and the photoelectric sensor 15 is turned off. As described above, when the photoelectric sensor 15 is turned off, it is determined that the shock absorber 3 has moved from the upper part of the lifter 10, and the process returns to the first step 11.

  In step 11, the cylinder 12 is extended again and the lifter 10 is raised. At this time, since the shock absorber 3 does not exist above the lifter 10, the lifter 10 rises without lifting the shock absorber 3. And it waits until the next buffer 3 supplied to the conveyor 1 from the to-be-conveyed object supply mechanism 2 contact | abuts.

  Thereafter, the above steps are repeated.

  As described above, the transport apparatus 100 receives and places all the shock absorbers 3 supplied to the conveyor 1 by the lifter 10 at one end, and lowers the lifter 10 with the shock absorber 3 placed thereon. This is a device for moving the shock absorber 3 onto the running belt 6.

  According to the above embodiment, the following effects are obtained.

  The conveying device 100 does not place the shock absorber 3 directly on the operating belt 6, but receives it on the lifter 10 and places it on the belt 6. Therefore, since the posture of the shock absorber 3 can be once transported by the belt 6 after being stabilized by the lifter 10, the shock absorber 3 can be stably transported. This is particularly effective when a product with a high center of gravity is transported.

  In addition, when the shock absorber 3 comes into contact with the lifter 10 in the process of supplying the shock absorber 3 to the conveyor 1, the loader 20 stops the lowering operation, that is, the supply operation of the shock absorber 3. Place on lifter 10. Therefore, when the shock absorber 3 is supplied to the conveyor 1 using the loader 20, it is not necessary to prepare in advance such as setting the lowering amount of the loader 20 in advance due to the difference in the size of the shock absorber 3. Even when different types of shock absorbers 3 are sequentially supplied from the supply mechanism 2, they can be handled regardless of the type of the shock absorbers 3, that is, they can be received by the lifter 10 and transferred to the belt 6.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is obvious that various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the product transported by the transport device 100 is the shock absorber 3, but the product to be transported is not limited to the shock absorber, and what kind of product is in the shape and shape? May be.

  The present invention can be applied to a transport device that transports a product manufactured by a manufacturing apparatus.

It is sectional drawing which shows the conveying apparatus 100 in embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the AA cross section in FIG. It is a top view which similarly shows the conveying apparatus 100. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the lifter 10.

Explanation of symbols

100 Conveying device 1 Conveyor 2 Conveyed object supply mechanism 3 Buffer (product)
6 Belt 6c Belt transport surface 10 Lifter 10d Placement surface 11 Piston 12 Cylinder 13 Cylinder switch 15 Photoelectric sensor 17 Controller 20 Loader 21 Horizontal movement mechanism 22 Vertical movement mechanism 23 Swing movement mechanism

Claims (4)

A conveyor for conveying the object to be conveyed;
A transport object supply mechanism for holding the transport object and supplying the transport object to the conveyor;
A receiving member that receives and places the transferred object in a process in which the transferred object is supplied to the conveyor by the transferred object supply mechanism, and moves the mounted transferred object to the conveyor;
Detecting means for detecting the receiving of the object to be conveyed on the mounting member;
When the detection means detects receipt of the object to be conveyed on the placement member, the supply of the object to be conveyed is stopped and the holding is released to place the object on the placement member. And a control unit for controlling the operation of the transported object supply mechanism. The operation of the placing member is controlled by the control means,
The mounting member described above is
When the conveyed object is supplied to the conveyor by the conveyed object supply mechanism, the loading surface on which the conveyed object is placed waits in a state higher than the conveying surface of the conveyor,
When it is determined by the control means that the object to be conveyed is placed on the placement surface, the article to be conveyed is moved onto the conveyor by lowering the placement surface to be lower than the transportation surface. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1. The conveyor includes a pair of belts that run in parallel,
The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the placement member moves up and down between the pair of belts. A drive mechanism for moving the mounting member up and down,
The drive mechanism includes a piston connected to the mounting member, and a cylinder that drives the piston.
When the transported object is supplied to the conveyor, the mounting member waits in the fully extended state,
The said detection means is a cylinder switch which detects contraction from the maximum extension state of the said cylinder, The conveying apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned.