JP2009035310A - Goods transfer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a goods transfer apparatus which is appropriate for transferring goods that can be damaged easily when dropped that can transfer (put in) goods precisely, securely, and softly into a goods collecting container that continuously moves along a main conveyor route. <P>SOLUTION: The goods transfer apparatus is composed in a way that, when the tip end of the goods collecting container 6 is moved to a position on the upstream side of the apparatus body, the center of a belt body 47 is lowered into the goods collecting container 6 by sending the end side of the belt body 47 downwards by a driving roller 49 to send all the end side of the belt body 47 by the driving roller 49, and an object 5, while being supported by the belt body 47, lowered into the goods collecting container 6 and put into the goods collecting container 6, and then the belt body 47 drawn out by moving a chain 44 by a chain driving motor and revolved from a side section of the apparatus body on the downstream side to the original side section of the apparatus body on the downstream side to clamp and hold the end surface of the belt body 47 by the driving roller 49. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article transfer device that temporarily stores articles and throws the stored articles into an article collection container.

An example of the conventional article transfer device is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
The article transfer device disclosed in Patent Document 1 forms a sheet on which one end capable of covering an opening of a case in which articles are stored and a rotating track whose part is on the opening surface of the case. A pair of chains, a group of rollers arranged in parallel between the pair of chains up to a position exceeding the center in the longitudinal direction, and supporting the sheet in the rotation track, and driving the chain to freely move the group of rollers from the fixed end of the sheet A sprocket is provided that rotates in the rotating track in the end direction.

An article transfer procedure with this configuration will be described.
First, when the case is conveyed, the case is stopped, and an article is put on the sheet while the sheet is supported by the roller group.

  Next, the sprocket is driven to move the roller group through the chain, and the sheet is not supported by the roller group. As a result, the sheet is bent and the free end reaches the bottom surface of the case, and the article is stored in the case via the sheet.

Next, the sprocket is reversely driven to move the roller group in the reverse direction via the chain, and the sheet is again supported by the roller group.
Transports a case containing articles.
JP-A-6-345248

  By the article transfer device of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, it is possible to automatically load an irregularly shaped article into an article collection container of a limited size, and labor saving is realized. The falling distance of the articles when they are put into the container is shortened, and the possibility of damaging the articles is avoided, but it is also possible to automatically put into the article collection container that is being continuously conveyed, and it is adopted for picking equipment It is desired to improve work efficiency as an article transfer device.

  In the article transfer device described in Patent Document 1, since the sheet is bent and the free end reaches the bottom surface of the case, and the article is stored in the case, the sheet is returned to the original state by the roller group again. In addition, the case has to be in a stopped state, and therefore it is impossible to automatically put into the article collection container being continuously conveyed. Furthermore, when a plurality of article transfer devices are continuously arranged like a picking facility, the article collection container cannot be moved unless the transfer of the articles in all the article transfer devices is completed, There was a problem that work efficiency could not be desired.

  In addition, when the articles are put into the article collection container that is being conveyed continuously, it is of course necessary to set the timing of loading, but when a plurality of article collection containers are being conveyed continuously When the movement of the article collection container is stopped for some reason, there is a possibility that the article put into the article collection container from the article transfer device may fall out of the article collection container, and the movement of the article collection container is stopped. Measures are required.

  Therefore, the present invention is suitable for transferring articles that are easily damaged and can be easily damaged when dropped, because the articles can be transferred (injected) with high accuracy and reliably to the article collection container that is continuously moving along the main transport path. The object is to provide an article transfer device.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is provided with a main transport path for continuously transporting the article collection container, and is used for obtaining a sorting destination along the main transport path. In a picking facility in which a plurality of article storage units in which articles to be picked are stored are arranged, the articles picked from the respective article storage units are temporarily stored, and the stored articles are stored along the main transport path. An article transfer device for feeding into an article collection container being continuously conveyed,
A box-shaped main body portion into which the article is placed; a ring body rotatably disposed at each of four corners of each side surface of the main body portion parallel to the conveying direction of the article collection container; A pair of cable bodies respectively stretched on one ring body, a driving device that moves the pair of cable bodies by driving at least one of the ring bodies, and a conveying direction of the article collection container are perpendicular to each other When one end side in the left-right direction is fixed to the pair of cable bodies and the article is temporarily stored, the side surface of the main body portion upstream in the transport direction of the article collection container, the bottom surface of the main body portion, and The driving device is disposed over the side surface of the main body portion on the downstream side in the transport direction, the one end side is positioned on the side surface of the downstream main body portion, and the article is put into the article collection container. A rectangular belt that moves as the pair of cords move by And when the article is temporarily stored, the other end of the belt body is sandwiched and the article is put into the article collection container. A belt feeding device that feeds the other end of the belt body is provided.

  According to the above configuration, when the article is temporarily stored, the belt body spans the side surface of the upstream main body portion in the conveyance direction of the article collection container, the bottom surface of the main body portion, and the side surface of the downstream main body portion in the conveyance direction. One end side is positioned on the side surface of the downstream main body, the other end side of the belt body is sandwiched by the belt device, and articles thrown into the main body are received and stored by the belt body. Is done. In addition, when the article is put into the article collection container, the belt body is fed by the belt feeding device and the other end side of the belt body is moved along with the movement of the pair of cords by the driving device, and the belt body is moved to the belt body. The supported article is gradually lowered into the article collection container, and the article is transferred to the article collection container.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the tip of the article collection container is moved to the upstream position of the main body along the main transport path. The belt feeding device feeds the other end side of the belt body downward to lower the central part of the belt body into the article collection container, and then the belt feeding device feeds the other end side of the belt body. And then dropping the belt body into the article collection container to put the article into the article collection container, and then moving the cable body by the driving device to move one end of the belt body to the From the side surface of the downstream main body portion, wrap around the upper surface of the main body portion, the side surface of the upstream main body portion, and the bottom surface of the main body portion, and return to the original side surface of the downstream main body portion. That the other end face of We are an butterfly.

  According to the above configuration, the articles thrown into the main body are received by the belt body, and when the tip of the article collection container is moved to the upstream side position of the main body along the main conveyance path, the conveyance direction upstream side The other end side of the belt body is fed downward by the belt feeding device disposed in the belt, the central portion of the belt body is lowered into the article collection container, and then the belt is moved along with the movement of the article collection container. When the other end side portion of the belt body is completely fed out by the feeding device, the other end side portion of the belt body is removed, and the belt body lands in the article collection container with the article held in the central portion. Subsequently, when the cable body is moved by the driving device and circulates from one end of the belt body located on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, the belt body is pulled out from the article and the article is transferred into the article collection container. Is done. Then, one end side of the belt body is returned to the side surface of the original downstream main body, and the other end surface of the belt body is sandwiched by the belt feeding device.

  By the above operation, the articles stored in the belt body are gradually supported by the belt body and reach the article collection container, and the articles that are easily damaged when dropped can be transferred. In addition, since the articles can be put into the article collection container that is continuously conveyed, the work efficiency of the picking equipment can be expected to be improved.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the belt feeding device pushes the belt body toward the driving roller and a driving roller that feeds the belt body. When the driving roller is stopped, the belt body is sandwiched so as not to move by the driving roller and the pressing roller, and the belt body is sent out by driving the driving roller. It is characterized by this.

According to the above configuration, the belt body can be fixed and sent out by controlling the operation of the driving roller.
When storing articles in the main body, when the driving roller is stopped and the belt body is fixed, and the stored articles are put into the article collection container being continuously conveyed, the article collection container by the main conveyance path The belt body is sent downward by the driving roller in accordance with the transport speed of the belt, and the central portion of the belt body is lowered to load the article in accordance with the movement of the article collection container. In addition, when the main transport path is stopped and the transport of the article collection container is stopped, the delivery of the article collection container is resumed by stopping the feeding of the belt body to prevent the articles from falling out of the article collection container. When this is done, the risk of mistakes in the article collection container into which the articles are put is eliminated.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3, wherein an elongated fixed body in which both ends are fixed to the pair of cable bodies and one end side of the belt body is fixed. Protruding wedges are provided on at least the upper part of the fixed body in order to pass the fixed body between the drive roller and the pressing roller when the belt body is provided. is there.

  According to the above configuration, in order to allow the belt body to pass between the driving roller and the pressing roller, by providing the fixed body on one end side of the belt body, the connection of the belt body to the cable body is strengthened, and the belt The movement of the body and the passage between the driving roller and the pressing roller are smooth. Further, by providing a wedge at least on the upper part of the fixed body, the passage between the driving roller and the pressing roller of the fixed body becomes smooth.

  In the article transfer device of the present invention, articles stored in the belt body are gradually supported by the belt body, reach the article collection container, and transfer articles that are easily damaged when dropped. In addition, since it is possible to put articles into the article collection container that is continuously conveyed, it is possible to expect improvement in work efficiency of the picking equipment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a picking facility equipped with an article transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the picking facility equipped with the article transfer device. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, it is mainly composed of an automatic loading line 2 and a plurality of picking zones (picking work areas) 3.

  The automatic loading line 2 is a line in which the picked article 5 is temporarily placed (after being stored) and then automatically loaded into an article collection container (for example, a container, a cardboard box, etc.) 6 that is continuously conveyed. And a main conveyor device (for example, a roller drive conveyor device) 7 that forms a main transport path (constant path) i for continuously transporting the article collection container 6 at a constant speed, along the main conveyor device 7 The plurality of picking zones 3 are arranged. In the automatic loading line 2, in each picking zone 3, the articles 5 picked according to the items and quantities of the articles 5 (ordered) obtained from a sorting destination such as a store are continuously conveyed by the main conveyor device 7. Are automatically loaded into the article collection container 6 (conveyed along the main conveyance path i).

  Each of the picking zones 3 is a zone where a specific worker is in charge of picking work, and includes an article storage picking section 11 and an article input section 12 as shown in FIG.

  The article storage picking unit 11 includes a picking shelf 13 formed of a fluidized shelf, and has a plurality of racks 14 (four in the figure) inclined forward, and each rack 14 has an item ( A plurality of rows (for example, 6 rows for each picking zone 3) of the storage boxes 15 for the articles 5 to be picked of different types are formed, and a free roller conveyor is provided for each of the article storage portions 16. (Not shown) is provided, and a stopper (not shown) is provided at the front end of each free roller conveyor. With this configuration, the necessary article 5 is taken out from the storage box 15 locked by the stopper, and when the storage box 15 becomes empty, the storage box 15 is removed to bring the next storage box 15 to the front. .

  The article input unit 12 is provided continuously along the main conveyor device 7 (main transport path i), and picks up the articles 5 picked based on picking data (picking information) ordered from a sorting destination such as a store. It consists of a plurality of preceding temporary placement tables (temporary placement tables) 25 (5 in each picking zone in the figure) for storing the stored articles 5 into the article collection container 6 being continuously conveyed. .

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the preceding temporary placement tables 25 has a two-row configuration (an example of a multi-row configuration) in the left-right direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the article collection container 6 by the main conveyor device 7. ing. The front row of the preceding temporary placement table 25 (one row of the plurality of rows corresponding to the foremost row; the row closest to the article storage picking portion 11) is the first in which the picked article 5 is placed (placed) and temporarily stored. Consists of a belt conveyor device 27 that forms a loading portion (mounting portion), and the rear row (the other row in the plurality of rows corresponds to the last row; the row farthest from the article storage picking portion 11) is a belt conveyor. A book that constitutes a second input unit (input unit) that temporarily stores the articles 5 input to the apparatus (first input unit) 27 and automatically supplies them to the article collection container 6 that is continuously conveyed by the main conveyor device 7. The article transfer device 28 of the present invention is configured, and when the article 5 is charged into the article collection container 6 from the article transfer device (second input unit) 28, the belt conveyor device (first input unit) 27 is loaded. The placed article 5 is transferred to the article transfer device 28. It is configured to be.

The article transfer device 28 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 5 to 7.
A loading port 41 into which an article 5 is loaded from a belt conveyor device (first loading unit) 27 is provided on one side surface in the left-right direction perpendicular to the main conveyance path i (right side surface 42c in the drawing in the drawing direction). A box-shaped device main body (an example of a main body portion) 42 is provided. The device main body 42 is disposed above the article collection container 6 that is continuously conveyed along the main conveyance path i. It arrange | positions so that a bottom part may approach the goods collection container 6. FIG.

  Further, sprockets (an example of a ring) 43 are provided at the four corners on the left side 42b and the right side 42c (side surfaces parallel to the conveyance direction) in the conveyance direction of the article collection container 6 by the main conveyor device 7 of the apparatus main body 42, respectively. It is arranged so that it can rotate freely. The four sprockets 43 provided on the left side surface 42b and the right side surface 42c are arranged to face each other, and a chain (an example of a rope body) 44a is stretched across the four sprockets 43 on the left side surface 42b. A chain (an example of a rope) 44b is stretched over the sprockets 43 at the four corners of the right side surface 42c. Also, among the sprockets 43, left and right sprockets (an example of at least one ring body) 43a positioned at the upper part on the upstream side in the transport direction are connected by a drive shaft 45a, and a chain drive motor (drive) composed of a servo motor on its rotation shaft. An example of the apparatus) 45 is connected. By driving the chain drive motor 45, the pair of chains 44a and 44b are moved.

  Also, one elongated (for example, rod-shaped) shaft (an example of a fixed body) 46 is provided in the left-right direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the article collection container 6, and both ends of the shaft 46 are respectively left and right chains 44a. , 44b. One end of the rectangular belt body 47 made of a synthetic resin sheet is fixed to the shaft 46 in the left-right direction.

  Further, on the upstream side in the transport direction, a belt feeding device 48 is provided across the left side surface 42b and the right side surface 42c so as to sandwich the other end portion of the belt body 47 and feed the belt body 47.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the belt feeding device 48 includes a driving roller 49 that feeds the belt body 47 and a pressing roller 50 that presses the belt body 47 toward the driving roller 49, and the driving roller 49 is stopped. The belt body 47 is sandwiched by the drive roller 49 and the pressing roller 50 so as not to move, and the belt body 47 is sent out by driving the drive roller 49. Further, both ends of the pressing roller 50 are rotatably supported by the arms 54 urged toward the driving roller 49 by the compression spring 55.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the belt body 47 is circulated around the upper part and the lower part of the shaft 46 (the moving direction of the belt body 47), the shaft 46 is smoothly passed between the driving roller 49 and the pressing roller 50. A wedge 51 having a triangular section and a protruding shape is provided. The lower wedge may be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the belt body 47 once stores the article 5, as shown in FIG. 1, the side surface portion of the downstream device body 42 in the transport direction of the article collection container 6, the bottom surface portion of the device body 42, and the transport direction. The one end in the left-right direction is fixed to the pair of chains 44a and 44b via the shaft 46 at the side surface position of the downstream apparatus body 42 as described above. The other end side is sandwiched by the drive roller 49 and the pressing roller 50 so as not to move. In order to detect the position (origin position) of the shaft 46 at this time, an origin sensor 59 including a photoelectric switch 57 and a reflection plate 48 is provided on the side surface portion of the downstream apparatus body 42. That is, the origin sensor 59 detects that the belt body 47 has reached the origin position (returned) by blocking the optical path between the photoelectric switch 57 and the reflection plate 48 by the shaft 46.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the belt body 47 remains about one third of the length above the driving roller 49 and the pressing roller 50. By driving the driving roller 49, the belt body 47 is divided into three minutes. About 1 of is first sent out. The length of the belt body 47 remaining above the drive roller 49 and the pressure roller 50 is such that the belt body 47 is sent out and the article 5 is supported at the center of the belt body 47 so that the belt body 47 is slacked downward (depth). It is set according to how much is to be set. Further, a belt guide 52 is provided for guiding the belt body 47 when it circulates by driving the chains 44a and 44b.

The operation of the article transfer device 28 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
The article 5 put in from the belt conveyor device 27 is supported by the belt body 47 and temporarily stored. Then, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the tip of the article collection container 6 is moved to the upstream side position of the apparatus main body 42 by the main conveyor device 7 and reaches the upstream side surface portion, FIG. As shown in (b), the other end of the belt body 47 is moved downward by the drive roller 49 of the belt feeding device 48 in accordance with the conveying speed of the article collection container 6 being conveyed by the main conveyor device 7. The central portion of the belt body 47 is lowered into the article collection container 6 that is continuously moving. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2C, the other end side portion of the belt body 47 is sent out by the driving roller 49 of the belt feeding device 48, the end side portion of the belt body 47 is removed, and the article 5 is held. Then, the belt body 47 is lowered into the article collection container 6 and the article 5 is softly put into the article collection container 6. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2 (d), the chain drive motor 45 moves the pair of chains 44a and 44b to move one end of the belt body 47 upward, pulling the belt body 47 out of the article 5, The article 5 is transferred. Then, the belt body 47 is circulated from the side surface portion of the downstream apparatus main body 42 to the upper surface portion of the apparatus main body 42, the side surface portion of the upstream apparatus main body 42, and the bottom surface portion of the apparatus main body 42, as shown in FIG. In addition, the origin sensor 59 detects the shaft 46 to return to the original side surface portion of the downstream apparatus main body 42, and the other end face of the belt body 47 by the driving roller 49 and the pressing roller 50 of the belt feeding device 48 is sandwiched. When returning to this state, the article 5 is loaded onto the belt body 47 from the belt conveyor device 27.

  When the main conveyor device 7 is stopped, that is, when the movement of the article collection container 6 is stopped, the driving roller 49 is stopped and the feeding of the belt body 47 by the driving roller 49 is stopped. At this time, the relative position of the article transfer device 28 and the article collection container 6 does not shift. When the main conveyor device 7 is restarted, the driving roller 49 is restarted and the feeding of the belt body 47 is resumed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the article 5 stored in the belt body 47 is gradually supported by the belt body 47 and reaches the article collection container 6 so that the article 5 is easily damaged when dropped. Can be transferred to software. Further, since the articles 5 can be put into the article collection container 6 that is continuously conveyed, it is possible to expect improvement in the working efficiency of the picking equipment.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, by controlling the operation of the driving roller 49, the belt body 47 can be fixed and sent out, and the stored articles 5 are continuously conveyed to the article collection container 6. At the time of loading, the conveying speed of the article collection container 6 by the main conveyor device 7 is matched, the belt body 47 is sent downward by the driving roller 49, and the central part of the belt body 47 is lowered, whereby the article collection container 6 The article 5 can be reliably inserted with high accuracy in accordance with the movement of. Further, when the main conveyor device 7 is stopped and the conveyance of the article collection container 6 is stopped, the delivery of the belt body 47 is stopped, so that the article 5 can be prevented from falling out of the article collection container 6, and the article collection is further performed. When the conveyance of the article container 6 is resumed, it is possible to eliminate the possibility of making a mistake in the article collection container 6 into which the article 5 is put.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, in order to allow the belt body 47 to pass between the driving roller 49 and the pressing roller 50, the shaft 46 is provided on one end side of the belt body 47, whereby the chain 44a, The connection to 44b is strengthened, and the movement of the belt body 47 and the passage between the driving roller 49 and the pressing roller 50 can be made smooth. Further, by providing the wedges 51 at the upper and lower portions of the shaft 46, the passage between the driving roller 49 and the pressing roller 50 of the shaft 46 can be made smooth.

In the present embodiment, the belt body 47 is formed of a synthetic resin sheet, but may be formed of a rubber sheet, a canvas, or the like.
In the present embodiment, the article transfer device 28 is configured as a part of the second input unit of the preceding temporary placement table 25, but the article transfer device 28 may be the preceding temporary placement table 25 itself. That is, the preceding temporary placement table 25 is configured such that the first input unit (belt conveyor device 27) is eliminated, and the item 5 picked from the item storage unit 16 is directly input from the input port 41.

It is a lineblock diagram of an article transfer device in an embodiment of the invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the goods transfer apparatus. It is a whole block diagram of the picking equipment provided with the article transfer device. It is a principal part perspective view of the picking installation provided with the article transfer device. It is a general view of the said article transfer apparatus, (a) is a top view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a side view. It is a figure of the belt feeder of the article transfer device, (a) is a plan view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a side view. It is a figure of the belt body edge part of the goods transfer apparatus, (a) is a side view, (b) is a front view.

Explanation of symbols

i Main transport path 1 Picking equipment 2 Automatic input line 3 Picking zone 5 Article 6 Goods collection container 7 Main conveyor device 13 Picking shelf 25 Preliminary temporary table 27 Belt conveyor device (first input part)
28 article transfer device (second input unit)
41 Input Port 42 Device Main Body 43 Sprocket 44a, 44b Chain 45 Chain Drive Motor 46 Shaft 47 Belt Body 48 Belt Feeder 49 Drive Roller 50 Pressing Roller 51 Wedge 52 Belt Guide 59 Origin Sensor

Claims (4)

In a picking facility provided with a main transport path for continuously transporting an article collection container, and a plurality of article storage sections storing articles to be picked according to a request from a sorting destination along the main transport path The article transfer device that temporarily stores the articles picked from each article storage unit, and throws the stored articles into the article collection container that is continuously transported along the main transport path,
A box-shaped main body into which the article is placed;
A ring body rotatably disposed at each of the four corners of each side surface parallel to the conveying direction of the article collection container of the main body,
A pair of cords respectively stretched around the four rings on each side surface;
A driving device for moving the pair of ropes by driving at least one of the ring bodies;
The main body on the upstream side in the transport direction of the article collection container when one end in the left-right direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the article collection container is fixed to the pair of cable bodies and the article is temporarily stored Disposed on the side surface of the body portion, the bottom surface of the body portion, and the side surface of the body portion on the downstream side in the transport direction, the one end side being located on the side surface of the downstream body portion, A rectangular belt body that is moved along with the movement of the pair of ropes by the driving device when thrown into the collection container;
When the article is temporarily stored, disposed at the side surface position of the upstream body part, the other end of the belt body is sandwiched, and when the article is put into the article collection container, the other side of the belt body An article transfer device comprising a belt feeding device for feeding out the end side portion of the article. When the tip of the article collection container is moved to the upstream side position of the main body along the main transport path, the other end side of the belt body is sent downward by the belt feeding device, and the belt body The central portion is lowered into the article collection container, and then the belt feeding device feeds all the other end side of the belt body to drop the belt body into the article collection container to remove the article from the article. The container is put into a collection container, and then the cable body is moved by the driving device so that one end side of the belt body is moved from the side surface of the downstream body portion to the upper surface of the body portion and the side surface of the upstream body portion. The article according to claim 1, wherein the article is configured to circulate around the bottom surface of the main body portion, return to the side surface of the original downstream main body portion, and sandwich the other end surface of the belt body by the belt feeding device. Transfer device. The belt feeding device includes a driving roller that feeds the belt body, and a pressing roller that presses the belt body toward the driving roller, and when the driving roller is stopped, the driving roller and the pressing roller The article transfer apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the belt body is sent out by driving the driving roller while sandwiching the belt body so as not to move. Both ends are fixed to the pair of cable bodies, and an elongated fixed body to which one end side of the belt body is fixed is provided,
The protrusion-like wedge is provided at least on the upper part of the fixed body so that the fixed body passes between the driving roller and the pressing roller when the belt body is circulated. The article transfer apparatus according to the description.

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