JP2009143699A - Article arranging and conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple and compact article arranging and conveying device, arranging long articles in the desired direction. <P>SOLUTION: The article arranging and conveying device 100 has: an inclined projection 23 which supports a center part in the longitudinal direction of a long article 1 to move the article 1 downwardly along the article conveying direction; a vertically movable floor 20 which is provided with flat members 22 on both sides for regulating both ends in the longitudinal direction of long articles 1 to bring center parts of the articles 1 into contact with the inclined projection 23; a fixed article throw-in unit 10 for positionally regulating the longitudinal direction of the long articles 1 in the direction orthogonal to the article conveying direction on the upstream side along the article conveying direction of the vertically movable floor 20, and a discharge chute 30 on the downstream side along the article conveying direction of the vertically movable floor 20. The discharge chute 30 discharges the long articles 1 with lightweight side thereof in their longitudinal direction in a preceding manner. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article aligning and conveying apparatus.

  Examples of the article aligning and conveying apparatus include a vibratory parts feeder (Patent Document 1), a rotary parts feeder (Patent Document 2), and a belt upright bottle aligning apparatus (Patent Document 3).

  The article aligning and conveying apparatus described in Patent Literature 1 includes a short cylindrical main body that receives a plurality of bar-shaped articles from an upper opening, and a filling hopper that includes a gate for opening and closing the lower opening of the main body, A drive unit that vibrates the filling hopper so that the respective rod-like articles supplied into the filling hopper stand up next to each other, and one end portion supplied into the filling hopper A partition member is provided in the main body for holding the rod-shaped article that is in contact with the upper surface of the gate in a state where the central axis of the rod-shaped article is raised within a range in which the central axis forms an angle of 45 ° or less with respect to the vertical direction. Is. Regardless of the length or filling amount of the rod-shaped article, the rod-shaped article can be erected cleanly in a state adjacent to each other in the filling hopper, and the container or the like can be filled in this aligned state.

  An article aligning and conveying apparatus described in Patent Literature 2 includes a turntable that can receive an article, a sensor that is disposed at a position where the attitude of the article placed on the turntable can be detected, and an output of the article. A control unit that determines a front / back posture and rotates the turntable to a preset stop position according to the front / back posture, a push-out unit that moves the article, and a receiving member that holds the article moved by the push-out unit It has.

The article aligning and conveying apparatus described in Patent Document 3 includes a bottle supply device, a bottle separating device that separates bottles one by one in a state of being aligned along a transfer line, and sends them in a horizontal direction, and from the inside of the input unit to the transfer unit outlet A bottle aligning device is provided that includes a transfer device including a plurality of belt conveyors extending horizontally in a row, and includes a bottle erecting device that aligns the direction of the bottle mouth during the bottle transfer and raises the bottle.
JP2001-261006 JP-A-9-104520 JP2000-355419

  Most of the conventional article aligning and conveying apparatuses as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are arranged to stand up and align so that the center of gravity of the article is on the lower side. However, when the articles are vertically long, the number of articles that stood up stochastically decreases, so the success rate of alignment also decreases, and as a result, the processing capability may decrease. Further, if the surface on the center of gravity side of the article is pointed or rounded, it is difficult to make the surface on the center of gravity side downward, and alignment may be impossible. In addition, vibration-type and rotary-type parts feeders tend to be larger in apparatus size than the handled items. Therefore, a wide installation space is required, and in the case of mold change when the handling article is changed, the replacement parts are also large, and the burden on the operator is large.

  The article alignment / conveyance device described in Patent Document 3 is relatively compact and has a high alignment success rate. However, since the bottle stands up while being sandwiched between belts, the surface of the bottle is scratched by friction at that time, or the film is wound. In the case of a bottle, wrinkles may occur on the film. Further, in the case where the diameters of the bottom surface and the upper portion of the bottle are greatly different, the bottle comes off from the belt at the time of standing, and the conveying force is lost.

  An object of the present invention is to align vertically long articles in a desired direction by a simple and compact article aligning and conveying apparatus.

  The invention according to claim 1 regulates each of the inclined protrusion that supports the central portion of the longitudinal article in the longitudinal direction and moves the article downstream along the article conveyance direction, and both longitudinal ends of the longitudinal article. The product has a vertically moving floor that is provided with planar members on both sides that contact the inclined protrusions at the center of the article, and the longitudinal direction of the vertically elongated article is conveyed upstream of the article moving direction of the vertically moving floor. The article has a direction that is perpendicular to the direction of the article, and has a fixed article input section that regulates the position of the article in a direction perpendicular to the article conveyance direction, and a discharge chute downstream of the vertical moving floor along the article conveyance direction. The discharge chute is configured to discharge a vertically long article with the lightweight side in the longitudinal direction leading.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the fixed article input portion is provided with a centering member for a vertically long article.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the discharge chute further includes a direction regulating member that aligns the direction by restricting the position of the vertically long article.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the fixed article input portion including a plurality of centering members, the vertically movable floor including a plurality of planar members, and the discharge chute including a plurality of direction regulating members. It is made to have.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, an article supply device is disposed upstream of the fixed article input unit, and the article supply device moves each of the plurality of fixed floors in the transport direction. The moving floors are placed side by side along the side of the conveyance direction with respect to each fixed floor, and each moving floor is simultaneously placed above and below the floor of the fixed floor that is adjacent to each other. The article is supplied downstream by repeating the positioning operation.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the invention according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, further comprising a direction changing plate for raising the vertically long article downstream of the discharge chute.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, a hook is provided downstream of the discharge chute to make the vertically long article stand upside down.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the vertically long article is a bottle.

  The invention of claim 9 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the vertically long article is a cap.

(Claim 1)
(a) A vertically long article whose longitudinal position is regulated by the fixed article throwing section in a direction perpendicular to the article conveying direction is thrown between both side surface members of the up and down moving floor, and the longitudinal center portion of the article is inclined. When supported by the protrusion, the vertically long article is transferred and aligned to the discharge chute with the lightweight side in the longitudinal direction as the leading side in the process of ascending and descending the vertical moving floor, and discharged from the discharge chute in the aligned posture. Thereby, a vertically long article can be aligned in a desired direction by a simple and compact article aligning and conveying apparatus.

(Claim 2)
(b) Since the fixed article input portion includes the center-aligning member for the vertically long article, the position of the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article can be reliably regulated in the direction perpendicular to the article conveying direction.

(Claim 3)
(c) Since the discharge chute includes a regulating member that aligns the direction by regulating the position of the vertically long article, the longitudinal direction of the vertically elongated article can be reliably arranged in a direction parallel to the article conveying direction.

(Claim 4)
(d) It has a fixed article input part provided with a plurality of centering members, a vertically movable floor provided with a plurality of planar members, and a discharge chute provided with a plurality of direction regulating members. Thereby, a plurality of vertically long articles can be aligned in parallel.

(Claim 5)
(e) The article supply device arranged upstream of the fixed article input unit juxtaposes each of the plurality of fixed beds along the conveyance direction, and places each of the plurality of movable beds on the side of the conveyance direction with respect to each fixed bed. The articles are supplied downstream by repeating the up-and-down operation of positioning each moving floor at the upper and lower positions with respect to the floor surface of the adjacent fixed floor at the same time. Therefore, regardless of the size and shape of the vertically long article and the carry-in posture, the article can be supplied to the fixed article input unit almost by a constant amount.

(Claim 6)
(f) The vertically long article discharged from the discharge chute is erected by colliding with the direction changing plate, and becomes an upright state.

(Claim 7)
(g) The vertically long article discharged from the discharge chute is raised by being hooked up by the hook and brought upright.

(Claim 8)
(h) The bottle can be an article to be aligned.

(Claim 9)
(i) The cap can be an article to be aligned.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the article aligning and conveying apparatus 100 includes a fixed article input unit 10, an up and down moving floor 20, and a discharge chute 30 in order from the upstream side in the article conveying direction.

  The article aligning and conveying apparatus 100 supports the central part in the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article 1 and raises the inclined protrusion 23 that moves the article 1 downstream along the article conveying direction at the center of the floor surface 21, and the vertically long article. A vertically movable floor that moves up and down by raising the planar members 22 that bring the center portion of the article 1 into contact with the inclined projections 23 on both sides of the floor surface 21 by regulating the positions of both ends in the longitudinal direction of 1. 20, a fixed article input unit that aligns the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article 1 in a direction perpendicular to the article conveyance direction and restricts the position in the direction perpendicular to the article conveyance direction upstream of the article moving direction of the vertically moving floor 20 10 and a discharge chute 30 adjacent to the downstream side of the up-and-down moving floor 20 in the article conveyance direction. The discharge chute 30 discharges the vertically long article 1 with the lightweight side in the longitudinal direction leading.

  The fixed article loading unit 10 regulates both ends of the vertically long article 1 so that the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article 1 is aligned at right angles with the article conveying direction and regulates the position perpendicular to the article conveying direction. The members 12 are provided upright on both sides of the inclined floor surface 11. The floor surface 11 has a downward slope of an angle α with respect to the horizontal in the article conveyance direction (FIG. 4), a preferable value of α is 5 to 50 degrees, and a more preferable value is 7 to 30 degrees. The centering member 12 has, for example, a triangular shape having a convex shape with a top at the upper end in the article conveying direction, and a suitable value for the apex interval a1 of the triangular prisms of the both side centering member 12 is the height of the vertically long article 1. It is 1.1 to 1.7 times the length h, and a suitable value for the bottom interval a2 of the triangular prisms of the both-side centering member 12 is 0.7 to 1.0 times the height h of the vertically long article 1 (FIG. 3). Other shapes of the centering member 12 may be a simple rectangular parallelepiped or a quadrangular prism having a trapezoidal cross section whose side contacting the article 1 is inclined like a triangular prism. In order for 1 to be within a predetermined width, it is preferable that the side in contact with the article 1 is inclined (not shown).

  The vertically movable floor 20 supports the center part in the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article 1 thrown from the fixed article throwing section 10, and has an inclined protrusion 23 for moving the article 1 downstream along the article transport direction on the floor surface 21. In addition to standing up in the center, the planar member 22 is provided on both sides of the floor surface 21 to position-regulate both ends of the article 1 and bring the central part of the article 1 into contact with the inclined protrusions 23. A vertical drive unit 24 comprising an air cylinder or a motor of a servo motor or a stepping motor is provided. The vertical drive unit 24 includes a descending end (FIG. 1) that positions the floor surface 21 below the floor surface 11 of the fixed article input unit 10 and the floor surface 31 of the discharge chute 30, and the floor surface 21 as the floor of the fixed article input unit 10. The vertical moving floor 20 is moved up and down between the rising end (FIG. 2) positioned higher than the surface 11 and the floor surface 31 of the discharge chute 30. As will be described later in the ascending process of supporting the central portion of the vertically long article 1 by the ridge line 23A of the inclined protrusion 23, the vertically movable floor 20 has the specific lightweight side in the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article 1 as the leading side. 1 is transferred to the discharge chute 30. The inclined protrusion 23 has, for example, a triangular prism shape (triangular frustum shape) having a large upstream triangular portion and a small downstream triangular portion, and may be a solid body or a hollow body formed of a plate material. It is preferable that the ridge line 23A in contact with the article 1 is processed so as to be slightly rounded so that the article 1 is not damaged. The ridge line 23A of the inclined protrusion 23 forms a downward slope of the angle β with respect to the horizontal in the article conveyance direction (FIG. 4), and a preferable value of β is 5 to 50 degrees, and a more preferable value is 7 to 30 degrees. The planar member 22 has, for example, a triangular prism shape that is convex upward with a triangle having a top at the upper end as a cross section, and may be solid or hollow as long as the surface in contact with the article 1 is formed. The preferred value of the apex interval b1 between the triangular prisms of the side surface members 22 is 1.1 to 1.7 times the height h of the vertically long article 1 (FIGS. 3 and 5). A preferable value of the bottom interval b2 of the triangular prisms of the both side surface members 22 is 0.7 to 1.0 times the height h of the vertically long article 1 (FIGS. 3 and 5). Other shapes of the planar member 22 may be a simple rectangular parallelepiped or a quadrangular prism having a trapezoidal section whose side contacting the article 1 is inclined like a triangular prism. In order to act, it is preferable that the side in contact with the article 1 is inclined (not shown). A preferable value of the installation interval b4 between the fixed article input unit 10 and the discharge chute 30 sandwiching the vertical moving floor 20 is 0.6 to 2.0 times the minimum width w of the article 1, and the protrusion length along the inclination of the ridge line 23A of the inclined protrusion 23 A preferable value of b3 is 0.5 to 0.95 times b4 (FIGS. 3 and 5).

FIG. 6 shows a modification of the vertically moving floor 20.
In the up and down moving floor 20 of FIG. 6A, the inclined protrusion 23 is a trapezoidal plate shape that is easy to process and decreases in height toward the downstream, and the surface 23A in contact with the article 1 flows through the article 1 (conveying direction). ), The width should be small, preferably 5 mm or less. It is also effective to sharpen or round the surface 23A in contact with the article 1. Further, the planar member 22 has a triangular prism shape which is convex upward with a triangle having a top at the upper end as a cross section, and may be solid or hollow as long as a surface in contact with the article 1 is formed.

  In the vertically movable floor 20 of FIG. 6 (B), the inclined protrusion 23 has a triangular prism shape that is convex upward with a triangular section on the upstream side being large and a triangular section on the downstream side having a small apex at the upper end. It may be a solid body or a hollow body formed of a plate material. It is preferable that the ridge line 23A in contact with the article 1 is processed so as to be slightly rounded so that the article 1 is not damaged. In addition, the planar member 22 is a convex triangular prism that is particularly large in size, and has an increased application range for the article 1 having a large width w (see FIGS. 8 to 10).

  The discharge chute 30 may be a simple plate-like member, a gutter-like member, or the like (not shown). However, in order to further stabilize the conveyance of the article 1, both side portions of the vertically long article 1 transferred from the vertical moving floor 20 are used. The direction regulating member 32 for adjusting the direction and the position by restricting the position in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the article by aligning the longitudinal direction of the article 1 in the direction parallel to the article conveyance direction. It is good to have it standing up on both sides of the inclined floor 31. The floor 31 has a downward slope of an angle δ with respect to the horizontal in the article conveyance direction (FIG. 4), and a preferable value of δ is 5 to 50 degrees, and a more preferable value is 7 to 30 degrees. As shown in FIG. 3, the direction regulating member 32 includes an article first regulating surface 32 </ b> A that faces the vertically moving floor 20 in the article conveying direction, and an article second regulating surface 32 </ b> B that expands upward on both sides of the floor surface 31. The entrance side of the article 1 transferred from the up and down moving floor 20 is provided with an intersection line part 32C of the article first regulating surface 32A and the article second regulating surface 32B. The direction regulating member 32 faces the article conveyance direction and forms an angle γ with respect to the horizontal (FIG. 4). A preferable value of γ is −20 to 30 degrees, and a more preferable value is −10 to 20 degrees. The gradient is an upward or downward gradient in the article conveyance direction. A positive value of γ is an upslope, and a negative value of γ is a downslope. The intersecting line part 32C of the article first restricting surface 32A and the article second restricting surface 32B is connected to a curved surface or intersects at a loose angle, with 0 ° being the sharpest angle and 180 ° being parallel. Is 120 to 175 degrees, whereby the direction of the article 1 transferred from the vertically moving floor 20 can be smoothly changed to a direction parallel to the article conveying direction (FIG. 3). A suitable value of the top interval c1 of the article second restriction surface 32B of the both-side restriction member 32 is 0.5 to 1.2 times the height h of the article 1, and the bottom interval c2 of the article second restriction surface 32B of the both-side restriction member 32. Is preferably 0.7 to 1.5 times the height h of the article 1 (FIG. 3). However, the direction regulating member 32 may be a simple square bar material or a round bar material.

  Hereinafter, an operation of transferring the article 1 from the vertically movable floor 20 to the discharge chute 30 with the specific lightweight side in the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article 1 as the leading side in the process of raising and lowering the vertically movable floor 20 will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a front view of the vertically moving floor 20 as viewed from the downstream side (the discharge chute 30 side). The vertically long article 1 in FIG. 7A is an example of a cap, and the vertically long article 1 in FIG. Is an example of a light bottle, and the vertically long article 1 in FIG. 7C is an example of a bottle having a heavy bottom. In the vertically movable floor 20, planar members 22 are provided on the left and right sides of the floor surface 21, an inclined protrusion 23 is provided in the center, and the heavy side (the side with the center of gravity) of the article 1 is obliquely below the ridge line 23 </ b> A. Furthermore, the lightweight side (side without the center of gravity) faces obliquely above the ridge line 23A. When the up-and-down moving floor 20 rises, the article 1 that faces diagonally upward (lightweight side) is released from the hindrance of the discharge chute 30 that is a downstream structure, and rolls or slides on the ridge line 23 of the inclined protrusion 23. Then, it is discharged with the lightweight side (the side without the center of gravity) as the leading side.

  8 and 9, the articles 1 of (1) to (3) are given an alignment posture with the bottom side, which is the lightweight side, at the top side (provided that The bottom surface of the article 1 can be placed on the belt conveyor 40 by using a direction changing plate 50 described later). The articles 1 of (4) to (6) are given an alignment posture with the mouth side being the light side as the leading side (however, the bottom surface of the article 1 is placed on the belt conveyor 40 by using a hook 60 described later. At this time, the tip of the hook is not rod-shaped, but is preferably ring-shaped).

  When it is difficult to stably place the article 1 on the belt conveyor 40, an article holder (not shown) having a shape such as a bag or cup having a shape suitable for the article 1 is provided on the conveyor 40. A plurality of the conveyors 40 may be intermittently operated (not shown) so that the article holders come to an optimum position where the articles 1 can be put into the article holders. Thereby, it becomes possible to align whatever the front side of the articles 1 is discharged (for example, even if they are pointed or rounded).

  10 and 11, the articles 1 of (1) to (7) have an aligned posture with the bottom side being the lightweight side as the leading side. The article 1 of (8) is given an alignment posture with the opposite side of the part of the most important part as the leading side. All these articles 1 can be placed on the belt conveyor 40 by using the direction changing plate 50 described later. When the top and bottom surfaces of the article 1 are reversed and placed on the bolt conveyor 40, a hook 60 described later is used (however, the hook 60 cannot be used with the article 1 of (8)).

Hereinafter, the alignment operation of the vertically long articles 1 by the article alignment and conveyance device 100 will be described (FIGS. 12 to 17).
(A) The vertically long article 1 has a light cap on the bottom side, a belt conveyor 40 is disposed on the downstream side of the discharge chute 30, and the direction changing plate for raising the article 1 on the side of the belt conveyor 40 opposite to the discharge chute 30. 5 is an example of an article aligning and conveying apparatus 100 in which 50 is installed.

(Alignment step 1) (FIG. 12A)
The thrown-in article 1 is brought near to the center on the floor surface 11 by the centering members 12 on both sides of the fixed article feeding part 10. The position of the article 1 is restricted in the longitudinal direction in the direction perpendicular to the article conveying direction.

(Alignment process 2) (FIG. 12B)
The article 1 rolls or slides down on the floor surface 11 of the fixed article input unit 10 and falls on the vertically moving floor 20 between the fixed article input unit 10 and the discharge chute 30. The article 1 is maintained with its longitudinal direction perpendicular to the article conveying direction.

(Alignment step 3) (FIG. 13A)
Since the vertically movable floor 20 rises and the central portion of the article 1 is pushed up by the inclined protrusion 23, the article 1 is tilted so that the heavy side with the center of gravity faces down. In this example, the top side of the article 1 is on the bottom and the bottom side is on the top.

(Alignment step 4) (FIG. 13B)
When the vertically moving floor 20 further rises and the side on the article 1 is higher than the uppermost end of the discharge chute 30, the article 1 slides or rolls on the inclined protrusion 23, and the side without the center of gravity of the article 1 becomes the top. Change the direction. In this example, the bottom side of the article 1 is the top.

(Alignment step 5) (FIG. 14A)
When the vertically moving floor 20 continues to rise further, the article 1 changes its direction and falls on the floor surface 31 between the direction regulating members 32 on both sides of the discharge chute 30 with the bottom side of the article 1 as the leading side. . The articles 1 are sandwiched between the direction regulating members 32 on both sides of the discharge chute 30 and are aligned in a direction parallel to the article conveying direction with the bottom side as the leading side.

(Alignment step 6) (FIG. 14B)
The article 1 completely falls on the floor surface 31 between the direction regulating members 32 on both sides of the discharge chute 30, and the direction alignment with the bottom side as the leading side is completed.

(Alignment step 7) (FIG. 15A)
The article 1 slides down on the floor surface 31 of the discharge chute 30 and collides with the direction changing plate 50 located on the opposite side of the belt conveyor 40.

(Alignment step 8) (FIG. 15B)
The article 1 collides with the direction change plate 50 and changes its direction to the vertical direction, and is placed in an aligned state in which the bottom surface is placed on the belt conveyor 40. The belt conveyor 40 is continuously or intermittently operated to transfer the article 1 to the next process.

  (B) The vertically long article 1 has a light cap on the bottom side, a belt conveyor 40 is disposed on the downstream side of the discharge chute 30, and the article 1 is inverted and stood on the side of the belt conveyor 40 opposite to the discharge chute 30. The example of the article | item alignment conveyance apparatus 100 which installed the hook 60. FIG.

(Alignment process 1-6)
The article aligning and conveying apparatus 100 operates in the same manner as the aligning steps 1 to 6 in (A). When the article 1 is transferred from the fixed article input unit 10 to the discharge chute 30 through the up and down moving floor 20, the direction is aligned so that the bottom side of the article 1 is the leading side.

(Alignment step 7) (FIG. 16A)
The article 1 slides down on the floor surface 31 of the discharge chute 30, and the bottom surface, which is the leading side of the article 1, collides with the tip of the inverted standing hook 60.

(Alignment step 8) (FIG. 16B)
Due to the momentum of the article 1, the inverted standing hook 60 is pushed up while gripping the bottom surface of the article 1.

(Alignment step 9) (FIG. 17A)
The inverted upright hook 60 is further pushed up, the article 1 is detached from the discharge chute 30, and the top surface of the article 1 is lowered so that the top of the article 1 hooked on the hook 60 is up. Furthermore, the article 1 changes its direction in the vertical direction while the top of the article 1 is pushed back by the weight of the hook 60 or the like. The pushing back force of the hook 60 can be adjusted by air pressure, weight, spring or the like.

(Alignment step 10) (FIG. 17B)
The articles 1 are aligned on the belt conveyor 40 so that the top surface is downward. The belt conveyor 40 is continuously or intermittently operated to transfer the article 1 to the next process.

  The article aligning and conveying apparatus 100 can arrange an article supply apparatus such as a conveyor or a notch apparatus that can intermittently supply the articles 1 upstream of the fixed article input unit 10. As for the loading direction of the article 1 supplied to the fixed article loading unit 10 to the up and down moving floor 20, the longitudinal direction of the article 1 is perpendicular to the article conveying direction (perpendicular to the floor width b3 of the floor surface 21 of the up and down moving floor 20). Direction), the loading of the article 1 from the fixed article loading section 10 to the up and down moving floor 20 is most stable (FIG. 18A). If the longitudinal direction of the article 1 deviates from the direction perpendicular to the article conveying direction within about 60 degrees (FIGS. 18B and 18C), the article 1 is fixed when the up and down movable floor 20 is lowered. It is regulated by being sandwiched between the article input unit 10 and the discharge chute 30, and is corrected and stabilized so that the longitudinal direction of the article 1 is perpendicular to the article conveying direction.

  As a result, the article 1 is not directly gripped, restrained, moved at high speed, and can be aligned by the action of rolling or sliding, so that the article 1 is not subjected to strong force or frictional force, and is damaged. There is no damage.

  The article alignment / conveyance device 100 of FIG. 19 has three floor surfaces 21 and inclined protrusions 23 in which the fixed article input unit 10 is partitioned by four centering members 12, and the vertical moving floor 20 has four surfaces. 3, the three floor surfaces 21 defined by the member 22, and the discharge chute 30 includes the three floor surfaces 31 defined by the four direction regulating members 32, resulting in the three vertically long articles 1. Can be aligned in parallel in three rows.

  In the article aligning and conveying apparatus 100 of FIG. 20, the same article supply apparatus 200 as described above that can intermittently supply the vertically long article 1 is disposed upstream of the fixed article input unit 10.

  As shown in FIG. 20, the article supply device 200 sets the direction from one end side to the other end side of the gantry 211 as the article supply direction, and provides an inlet chute 212 on one end side thereof to increase the supply force on the back surface of the inlet chute 212. A vibrator 213 is provided.

  The article supply apparatus 200 supports a plurality of fixed floors 220 by a support member 214 provided on the gantry 211. The article supply device 200 is arranged so that each floor surface 221 of the plurality of fixed floors 220 is inclined downward (angle θ with respect to the horizontal: for example, 5 to 35 degrees) toward the downstream side in the supply direction. At this time, the floor surface 221 of each fixed floor 220 itself is a slope inclined so as to form a downward slope toward the downstream side in the supply direction. The fixed floor 220 may be equipped with a vibrator to increase the supply power.

  In the article supply apparatus 200, left and right side guide plates 216 are connected to an elevating drive device 215 supported by a gantry 211, and a slide portion 218 (not shown) fixed to a side guide plate 216 on a slide shaft 217 supported by the gantry 211. ) Is slidably fitted. Further, an impact relaxation damper (not shown) is interposed between the gantry 211 and the slide portion 218. The left and right side guide plates 216 are disposed on both sides of the entrance chute 212 and the fixed floor 220 in the width direction, and include a plurality of movable floors 230 therebetween. Each of the plurality of moving beds 230 is arranged adjacent to each fixed bed 220 on the side in the supply direction (in the present embodiment, on the side on the upstream side). As a result, the fixed bed 220 and the moving bed 230 are alternately arranged along the supply direction at a constant interval. The article supply device 200 repeats the raising / lowering operation of the side guide plate 216 and the moving floor 230 by the raising / lowering driving device 215 (the moving floor 230 is directly connected to the raising / lowering driving device 215, and the side guide plate 216 does not necessarily need to be raised or lowered. Absent). That is, the raising / lowering operation of positioning each moving floor 230 at the upper and lower positions with respect to the floor surface 221 of the fixed floor 220 to which the floor surfaces 231 are adjacent is repeated.

  The floor surface 231 of each moving floor 230 protrudes above the floor surface 221 of the fixed floor 220 at the upper level and immerses below the floor surface 221 of the fixed floor 220 at the lower level.

  The floor surfaces 231 of the respective movable floors 230 positioned at the upper side are arranged so as to face each other downstream in the supply direction so as to form a downward gradient (an angle θ with respect to the horizontal: for example, 5 to 35 degrees). At this time, the floor surface 231 of each moving floor 230 is a slope inclined by itself so as to form a downward slope toward the downstream side in the supply direction.

  Therefore, in the article supply apparatus 200, the fixed floor 220 and the moving floor 230 are alternately arranged adjacent to each other along the supply direction, and the floor surfaces 221 and 231 are inclined downward toward the downstream side in the supply direction. Regardless of the size and shape of the vertically long article 1 and the throwing posture, any vertically long article 1 is placed on the floor surface 221 of the fixed floor 220 and pushed up by the floor surface 231 of the moving floor 230. A certain amount can be discharged.

  In the article supply apparatus 200, the floor surfaces 221 of the plurality of fixed floors 220 are arranged so as to be horizontal toward the downstream side in the supply direction, or the individual floors of the plurality of movable floors 230. You may arrange | position so that the surface 231 may become horizontal toward the downstream of a supply direction mutually.

  Further, as a modification of this embodiment, the fixed article input unit 10 having a plurality of centering members 12 is installed in place of the fixed floor 220 in the intermediate process of the article supply device 200 arranged upstream of the fixed article input unit 10. Then, instead of the moving floor 230 adjacent to the downstream, the up and down moving floor 20 including the plurality of planar members 22 is installed. Such replacement installation is performed at one place or two or more places. Accordingly, even in the middle of the article supply apparatus 200, some articles are positioned and conveyed in a direction parallel to the article conveying direction, so that the arrangement of the vertically long articles 1 is further facilitated particularly when a large amount of processing is required. (Not shown).

According to the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(a) The vertically long article 1 whose longitudinal direction is regulated by the fixed article throwing section 10 in the direction perpendicular to the article conveying direction is thrown between the side surface members 22 of the up and down moving floor 20, and the longitudinal center of the article is placed. When the portion is supported by the inclined protrusion 23, the vertically long article 1 is transferred to the discharge chute 30 with the lightweight side in the longitudinal direction as the leading side in the process of ascending and descending the vertical moving floor 20, and is aligned. 30 is discharged. Thereby, the vertically long article 1 can be aligned in a desired direction by the simple and compact article aligning and conveying apparatus 100.

  (b) Since the fixed article input unit 10 includes the centering member 12 of the vertically long article 1, the position of the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article 1 can be reliably regulated in the direction perpendicular to the article conveying direction.

  (c) Since the discharge chute 30 includes the direction restricting member 32 that aligns the direction by restricting the position of the vertically long article 1, the position of the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article 1 can be reliably regulated in the direction parallel to the article conveying direction.

  (d) It has the fixed article input part 10 provided with the some center alignment member 12, the up-and-down moving floor 20 provided with the some planar member 22, and the discharge chute | shoot 30 provided with the some direction control member 32. FIG. Thereby, a plurality of vertically long articles 1 can be aligned in parallel.

  (e) The article supply device 200 disposed upstream of the fixed article input unit 10 juxtaposes each of the plurality of fixed floors 220 along the conveyance direction, and places each of the plurality of movable floors 230 with respect to each fixed floor 220. Articles are supplied downstream by repeating the up-and-down operation of positioning the movable floor 230 at the upper and lower positions of the fixed floor 220 adjacent to the fixed floor 220 at the same time while being arranged adjacent to the side in the transport direction. . Therefore, regardless of the size and shape of the vertically long article 1 and the carry-in posture, the article can be supplied to the fixed article input unit 10 by a substantially constant amount.

  (f) The vertically long article 1 discharged from the discharge chute 30 is erected by colliding with the direction changing plate 50 and is in an upright state.

  (g) The vertically long article 1 discharged from the discharge chute 30 is raised by being hooked up by the hook 60 and is in an upright state.

  (h) A bottle can be used as the article 1 to be aligned.

  (i) The cap can be the article 1 to be aligned.

1A and 1B show a state in which the vertically moving floor of the article aligning and conveying apparatus is lowered, FIG. 1A is a perspective view, FIG. 1B is a plan view, and FIG. 1C is a side view. 2A and 2B show a state in which the up-and-down moving floor of the article aligning and conveying apparatus is raised, FIG. 2A is a perspective view, FIG. 2B is a plan view, and FIG. 2C is a side view. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing in detail the article aligning and conveying apparatus. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the article aligning and conveying apparatus in detail. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the up and down moving floor. 6A and 6B show a modified example of the vertically moving floor, FIG. 6A is a perspective view showing a modified example 1, and FIG. 6B is a perspective view showing a modified example 2. FIG. FIG. 7 is a front view showing a vertically moving floor and an article, (A) is a front view showing a cap, (B) is a front view showing a bottom side lightweight bottle, and (C) is a front view showing a bottom side heavy bottle. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a bottle. FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing an example of a bottle. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a cap. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a cap. 12A and 12B show the alignment operation of the article alignment / conveyance apparatus. FIG. 12A is a schematic diagram showing the alignment step 1 and FIG. 12B is a schematic diagram showing the alignment step 2. 13A and 13B show the alignment operation of the article alignment / conveyance device. FIG. 13A is a schematic diagram showing the alignment process 3, and FIG. 13B is a schematic diagram showing the alignment process 4. 14A and 14B show the alignment operation of the article alignment / conveyance device. FIG. 14A is a schematic diagram showing the alignment process 5, and FIG. 14B is a schematic diagram showing the alignment process 6. 15A and 15B show the alignment operation of the article alignment / conveyance apparatus. FIG. 15A is a schematic diagram showing the alignment process 7, and FIG. 15B is a schematic diagram showing the alignment process 8. 16A and 16B show the alignment operation of the article alignment and conveyance device, in which FIG. 16A is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of the alignment process 7, and FIG. 16B is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of the alignment process 8. 17A and 17B show the alignment operation of the article alignment / conveyance apparatus. FIG. 17A is a schematic diagram illustrating the alignment process 9, and FIG. 17B is a schematic diagram illustrating the alignment process 10. 18A and 18B are schematic views showing an article loading posture, FIG. 18A is a schematic diagram showing a posture without displacement, FIG. 18B is a schematic diagram showing a posture shifted 40 degrees, and FIG. 18C is a schematic diagram showing a posture shifted 60 degrees. FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a multiple-type article aligning and conveying apparatus. FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing an article alignment / conveyance apparatus provided with an article supply apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vertical article 10 Fixed article input part 11 Floor surface 12 Centering member 20 Vertical moving floor 21 Floor surface 22 Planar member 23 Inclination protrusion 30 Discharge chute 31 Floor surface 32 Direction control member 50 Direction change plate 60 Hook 100 Article alignment conveyance apparatus 200 article supply device 220 fixed floor 221 floor 230 moving floor 231 floor

Claims (9)

The slanted protrusion that supports the center part in the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article and moves the article downstream in the article transport direction, and the both ends in the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article are regulated so that the center part of the article is It has a vertically moving floor that moves up and down with planar members on both sides that come into contact with the inclined projections,
The fixed article that aligns the direction of the article so that the longitudinal direction of the vertically long article is perpendicular to the article conveying direction upstream of the article moving direction of the vertical moving floor and restricts the position of the article in the direction perpendicular to the article conveying direction. Has an input part,
Downstream along the article transport direction of the vertical moving floor, has a discharge chute,
The discharge chute is an article aligning and conveying apparatus that discharges a vertically long article with the lightweight side in the longitudinal direction leading.   The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixed article input unit includes a centering member for a vertically long article.   The article aligning / conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge chute includes a direction regulating member that aligns a direction by restricting a position of the vertically long article.   The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a fixed article input unit including a plurality of centering members; a vertically movable floor including a plurality of planar members; and a discharge chute including a plurality of direction regulating members. An article supply device is disposed upstream of the fixed article input unit,
The article supply device juxtaposes each of the plurality of fixed beds along the conveying direction, and arranges each of the plurality of moving beds adjacent to the side of the conveying direction with respect to each fixed floor, The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein articles are supplied downstream by repeating an elevating operation that positions the upper and lower positions of a fixed floor adjacent to the floor surface.   The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a direction changing plate for erecting a vertically long article downstream of the discharge chute.   The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a hook that inverts a vertically long article to stand downstream of the discharge chute.   The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vertically long article is a bottle.   The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vertically long article is a cap.

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