JP2010024016A - Sorting facility of article and sorting method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sorting facility of articles capable of positively correcting their positional slippage by a delivering roller of a sorting device even when the articles slide on a roller conveyor of a main carrier passage and cause their positional slippage, and to provide a sorting method. <P>SOLUTION: The sorting facility 10 of the articles includes: the main carrier passage 1 consisting of the roller conveyor; a branching carrier passage 2 connected to a side part of the main carrier passage 1; and the sorting device 3 to selectively deliver the articles B to the carrier downstream side of the main carrier passage 1 or the branching carrier passage 2 by switching a direction of the delivering roller 6. It is provided with a detection means 7 to detect the articles B and a control means to increase delivering speed of the articles B by the delivering roller 6 faster than carrying speed by the roller conveyor by increasing the rotating speed of the delivering roller 6 when an actual carrying position of the articles detected by the detection means 7 and a previously set regular carrying position are compared with each other and both of them are slipped off from each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article sorting facility and a sorting method for sorting articles conveyed from an upstream side of a main conveyance path using a delivery roller.

  Conventionally, as an article sorting facility, a main conveyance path that conveys articles, a branch conveyance path that is connected to a side of the main conveyance path, and a conveyance roller are conveyed from the conveyance upstream side of the main conveyance path by switching the direction of the delivery roller. And a sorting device that selectively feeds and sorts the received articles to the downstream side of the main conveyance path or the branch conveyance path as necessary (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2 below). ).

  In this delivery roller type sorting facility, as shown in FIG. 17, when a plurality of articles B (B1, B2, B3...) On the main conveyance path 100 are sorted continuously, the interval between the articles is reduced. It is possible to increase the conveying capacity and sorting capacity of the sorting equipment. However, the sorting operation cannot be performed on the succeeding article B2 until the preceding article B1 completely passes through the delivery roller 310 on the most downstream side of the sorting apparatus 300. Accordingly, at least the interval D required for sorting work (hereinafter simply referred to as “sorting required interval D”) between the front and rear articles B1 and B2 is referred to as the most downstream delivery roller 310 and the most upstream side. It is necessary to secure an interval D that combines the interval d1 with the delivery roller 320 and the interval d2 for increasing the switching operation time of these delivery rollers.

Therefore, conventionally, a cutting device 400 is provided on the upstream side of the main conveyance path 100, and a plurality of articles B are supplied onto the main conveyance path 100 at a predetermined interval C by the cutting device 400. . Then, the transport position of each article B cut out with a predetermined interval C is tracked and managed, and the sorting operation of each article B is performed based on the tracking data.
JP 2000-264413 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-240819

  However, in the conventional delivery roller type sorting equipment, when the main conveyance path is constituted by a roller conveyor, each article may slide on the conveyance roller and cause a positional shift. There is a possibility that the regular conveyance position based on the tracking data is displaced, and the interval between the front and rear articles is smaller than the sorting required interval D. Therefore, conventionally, the interval C between articles has to be set to be large in consideration of the maximum amount of deviation of the articles, and there has been a problem that the conveyance capacity and the sorting ability are lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described drawbacks in the conventional delivery roller type sorting equipment, and is an article sorting equipment capable of positively correcting misalignment of articles being conveyed. It is an object to provide a sorting method.

The present invention is provided with a main conveyance path composed of a roller conveyor that conveys articles with a conveyance roller that can be driven and rotated, a branch conveyance path connected to a side portion of the main conveyance path, and the main conveyance path. A sorting device that selectively feeds articles conveyed from the upstream conveyance side of the main conveyance path to the downstream conveyance side of the main conveyance path or the branch conveyance path by switching the direction of the rotatable delivery roller; Sorting equipment including
A detection unit that detects the conveyance position of the article on the upstream side of the main conveyance path with respect to the sorting device, an actual conveyance position of the article detected by the detection unit, and a preset normal value of the article Compared with the conveyance position, when the actual conveyance position of the article is shifted to the conveyance upstream side of the main conveyance path from the regular conveyance position, the rotation speed of the delivery roller of the sorting device is increased. Control means for making the delivery speed of the article by the delivery roller larger than the transport speed by the roller conveyor.

Further, the present invention is provided on the main conveyance path, a main conveyance path comprising a roller conveyor that conveys articles by conveyance rollers that can be driven and rotated, a branch conveyance path connected to a side portion of the main conveyance path, and the main conveyance path. Sorting by selectively sending articles conveyed from the upstream conveyance side of the main conveyance path to the conveyance downstream side of the main conveyance path or the branch conveyance path by switching the direction of the delivery roller that can be driven and rotated A sorting facility including a device,
A detection unit that detects a conveyance position of the article on the upstream side of the main conveyance path with respect to the sorting device, a conveyance position of one article detected by the detection unit, and another article subsequent to the one article The article interval between the one article and the other article is calculated on the basis of the transport position, and when the article interval is smaller than a preset set interval, the rotation speed of the delivery roller of the sorting device is increased. And a control means for increasing the delivery speed of the one article by the delivery roller to be higher than the transport speed by the roller conveyor.

Further, the present invention is provided on the main conveyance path, a main conveyance path comprising a roller conveyor that conveys articles by conveyance rollers that can be driven and rotated, a branch conveyance path connected to a side portion of the main conveyance path, and the main conveyance path. Sorting by selectively sending articles conveyed from the upstream conveyance side of the main conveyance path to the conveyance downstream side of the main conveyance path or the branch conveyance path by switching the direction of the delivery roller that can be driven and rotated A method for sorting articles by sorting equipment including a device,
The actual conveyance position of the article is detected on the conveyance upstream side of the main conveyance path with respect to the sorting device, and the actual conveyance position of the article is compared with a preset regular conveyance position of the article, When the actual transport position of the article is shifted to the upstream side of transport of the main transport path from the regular transport position, the rotational speed of the delivery roller of the sorting device is increased and the delivery roller of the article The delivery speed is made larger than the transport speed by the roller conveyor.

  Further, the present invention calculates the amount of misalignment and adjusts the rotational speed of the delivery roller according to the amount of misalignment, thereby changing the actual transport position of the article to the normal transport position of the article. It is characterized by adapting to.

  Further, the present invention calculates the displacement amount of the positional deviation, and adjusts the time for increasing the rotational speed of the delivery roller according to the deviation amount, whereby the actual conveyance position of the article is determined. It is characterized in that it is matched with the regular transport position.

Further, the present invention is provided on the main conveyance path, a main conveyance path comprising a roller conveyor that conveys articles by conveyance rollers that can be driven and rotated, a branch conveyance path connected to a side portion of the main conveyance path, and the main conveyance path. Sorting by selectively sending articles conveyed from the upstream conveyance side of the main conveyance path to the conveyance downstream side of the main conveyance path or the branch conveyance path by switching the direction of the delivery roller that can be driven and rotated A method for sorting articles by sorting equipment including a device,
A transport position of one article and a transport position of another article following the one article are detected on the upstream side of transport of the main transport path from the sorting device, and the transport position and the other of the one article are detected. When the article interval between the one article and the other article is calculated based on the conveyance position of the article, and the article interval is smaller than a preset set interval, the rotation speed of the delivery roller of the sorting device Is increased so that the delivery speed of the one article by the delivery roller is greater than the transport speed by the roller conveyor.

  According to the present invention, the amount of deviation between the article interval and the set interval is calculated, and the article interval is adjusted to the set interval by adjusting the rotation speed of the delivery roller according to the amount of deviation. It is characterized by.

  Further, the present invention calculates the amount of deviation between the article interval and the set interval, and adjusts the time for increasing the rotational speed of the delivery roller according to the amount of deviation, thereby adjusting the article interval. It is characterized by matching the set interval.

  According to the article sorting equipment and the sorting method according to the present invention, even if the article slips on the roller conveyor of the main conveyance path and causes a positional deviation, the positional deviation is positively corrected by the delivery roller of the sorting apparatus. Can do. Therefore, even if the actual interval between the articles becomes smaller than the necessary separation interval due to the misalignment of the articles, the interval between the articles can be returned to the set interval by the delivery roller, and normal sorting is performed for the subsequent articles. Work can be done. Therefore, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary to set the interval between the articles to be larger in anticipation of the assumed maximum deviation amount, and the conveyance capacity and the sorting ability of the sorting equipment are not reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the article sorting facility 10 according to the present embodiment is mainly connected to a main conveyance path 1 that conveys a plurality of articles B (B1, B2, B3...) And side portions of the main conveyance path 1. The branch conveyance path 2 and the article B disposed on the main conveyance path 1 and conveyed from the conveyance upstream side of the main conveyance path 1 are conveyed on the downstream side of the main conveyance path 1 or on the branch conveyance path 2 as necessary. A sorting device 3 that sorts the product B, a detection unit 7 that detects the article B on the main transport path 1, and a control unit that controls the rotational speed of the delivery roller 6 of the sorter 3 based on the actual transport position of the article B. 8. Hereinafter, each component will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the main conveyance path 1 includes a belt-driven roller conveyor 12 that conveys articles with a large number of conveyance rollers 14 that can be driven and rotated. The roller conveyor 12 is configured such that a large number of rod-shaped transport rollers 14 are axially supported in parallel along the transport direction between a pair of frames 13 extending along the transport direction of the article. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the drive belt 16 that is spanned by a plurality of pulleys 15 that are pivotally supported by the frame 13 on one side and that is driven by driving means (not shown) comes into contact with the respective transport rollers 14. The transport rollers 14 are rotationally driven all at once. In this way, the article B is transported along the main transport path 1 including the belt-driven roller conveyor 12.

  The branch conveyance path 2 includes a free roller conveyor 21. As shown in FIG. 2, the free roller conveyor 21 includes a plurality of disk-like members between a pair of frames 22 extending along the article conveyance direction via a plurality of support members 23 arranged along the frame 22. The transport roller 24 is supported by a shaft. The article B is conveyed along the branch conveyance path 2 by the driven rotation of the conveyance rollers 24. Further, in FIG. 2, what is indicated by reference numeral 17 guides the article B provided along the main conveyance path 1 and the branch conveyance path 2 except for the connecting portion between the main conveyance path 1 and the branch conveyance path 2. It is a guide to do.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sorting device 3 is disposed at a branching portion 11 between the main transport path 1 and the branch transport path 2. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 8, the sorting device 3 is fixed to the fixed frame 4 bolted below the frame 13 of the roller conveyor 12 constituting the main transport path 1, and can move up and down with respect to the fixed frame 4. The swing frame 5 is provided, and a plurality of delivery rollers 6 provided on the swing frame 5 so as to be capable of driving rotation and turning right and left.

  The fixing frame 4 of the sorting apparatus 3 includes a pair of left and right side plates 41, a front horizontal member 42 that connects the pair of side plates 41 with each other at their front portions (on the upstream side of conveyance of the main conveyance path 1), and a pair of side plates. The rear horizontal member 43 is configured to connect 41 to each other at the rear portion (the conveyance downstream side of the main conveyance path 1). On the other hand, the swing frame 5 includes a pair of left and right side plates 51, a pair of side plates 51, a front horizontal member 52 that connects the pair of side plates 51 to each other at their front portions (the conveyance upstream side of the main conveyance path 1), and a pair of side plates 51. A rear horizontal member 53 that connects them at their rear part (on the downstream side of the main conveyance path 1), and a total of three central horizontal members 54 that are installed between the middle parts of the pair of side plates 51, It is configured.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the front horizontal member 42 of the fixed frame 4 is provided with a pair of left and right columns 44, and an elastic support 45 is provided above each column 44, and this elastic support A front horizontal member 52 of the swing frame 5 is fixed to the upper portion of 45. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, an air cylinder 46 is erected on the rear horizontal member 43 of the fixed frame 4, and an elastic support 48 is provided at the upper end of the advance / retreat rod 47 of the air cylinder 46. A rear horizontal member 53 of the swing frame 5 is fixed to the upper portion of the body 48.

  Thus, if the advance / retreat rod 47 of the air cylinder 46 is moved back and forth as required, the rear side of the swing frame 5 is moved up and down with the elastic support 45 on the front side of the swing frame 5 as a fulcrum. The swing frame 5 can be tilted and swung with respect to the transport surface of the main transport path 1. In this way, as shown in FIG. 4, by operating the air cylinder 46, the plurality of delivery rollers 6 provided on the swing frame 5 are made relatively large in terms of the conveyance surface by the delivery rollers 6 from the conveyance surface of the main conveyance path 1. The raised position protruding in the inclined state (see the two-dot chain line A in FIG. 4) and the conveying surface by the sending roller 6 are relatively small (about 2 mm) from the conveying surface of the main conveying path 1 and protruded in the horizontal state. It can be appropriately moved up and down between the lowered position. As shown in FIG. 8, the rear horizontal member 43 of the fixed frame 4 is provided with a pair of upper and lower height-adjustable stoppers 55 so that the upper and lower protruding positions of the feed roller 6 can be adjusted. it can.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a total of 18 delivery rollers 6 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the conveyance direction and the width direction of the main conveyance path 1. That is, a total of six delivery rollers 6 arranged in the width direction of the main transport path 1 are arranged in a total of three rows in the transport direction of the main transport path 1. As shown in FIG. 7, each delivery roller 6 is pivotally supported by a substantially U-shaped bracket 62 while keeping its roller shaft horizontal. Each bracket 62 is pivotally supported by the central horizontal member 54 of the swing frame 5 so as to be able to turn left and right by a vertical axis 63 provided below.

  A groove portion 61 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of each delivery roller 6, and a drive shaft 65 including a total of six grooved pulleys 64 is pivotally supported below the central horizontal member 54 of the swing frame 5. ing. A drive belt 66 having elasticity is hung between the groove portion 61 and the grooved pulley 64 of each delivery roller 6. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, a plurality of support pulleys 71 are pivotally supported on the swing frame 5, and a drive belt 73 driven by a motor 72 is spanned between the support pulleys 71. ing. When the drive belt 73 comes into contact with a drive pulley 67 provided at the end of each drive shaft 65, the drive shafts 65 are rotationally driven all at once. Thus, if the motor 72 is operated as required, the delivery rollers 6 can be driven and rotated all at once.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the bracket 62 of each delivery roller 6 is provided with a first lever 81, and the first levers 81 have end portions in the width direction of the main conveyance path 1. A total of six delivery rollers 6 arranged are connected by a first link 82 so as to be swingable. Further, second levers 83 are provided below the brackets 62 of the three delivery rollers 6 near the center in the width direction of the main conveyance path 1, and the tip portions of the second levers 83 are connected to the second link 84. Are slidably connected. The second link 84 is swingably connected to an advance / retreat rod 87 of an air cylinder 86 fixed to the front horizontal member 52 of the swing frame 5 via a stay 85. Thus, if the advance / retreat rod 87 of the air cylinder 86 is moved back and forth as necessary, each feed roller 6 can be swung left and right, and the direction of each feed roller 6 can be changed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the detection means 7 is arranged on the upstream side of the main conveyance path 1 with respect to the delivery roller 6 of the sorting device 3. The detection unit 7 includes a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit, and detects the article B conveyed from the conveyance upstream side of the main conveyance path 1. In the present embodiment, the detection means 7 is provided at the upper limit position of the sorting required interval D of the sorting equipment 10, but the detection means 7 may be provided upstream of the upper limit position.

  The control means 8 compares the actual conveyance position of the article B detected by the detection means 7 with a preset regular conveyance position of the article B, calculates a deviation amount between the two conveyance positions, and sets the deviation amount to the deviation amount. Accordingly, the motor 72 of the sorting device 3 is controlled to adjust the rotational speed of the feed roller 6 and the like. In the present embodiment, a cutting device 9 is disposed on the upstream side of the main transport path 1, and the cutting device 9 allows a plurality of articles B (B 1, B 2, B 3...) To have a predetermined article interval C. It is maintained and supplied onto the main conveyance path 1, and then the conveyance position of each article B is tracked and managed. The control means 8 compares the regular conveyance position based on the tracking data of each article B with the actual conveyance position of each article B detected by the detection means 7.

  Hereinafter, an article sorting method by the sorting facility 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11.

  The article sorting facility 10 according to the present embodiment sends the article B transported from the upstream side of the main transport path 1 to the branch transport path 2 according to the sort instruction corresponding to the article B, or the main transport The articles B are selectively sorted by conveying them as they are to the downstream side of the path 1.

  When the article B is sent out to the branch conveyance path 2, the article sorting equipment 10 according to the present embodiment raises each delivery roller 6 so as to protrude larger than the conveyance surface of the main conveyance path 1, and rotates each delivery roller 6. Then, each delivery roller 6 is driven to rotate in the direction of the branch conveyance path 2. By causing the article B to enter the delivery roller 6 in this state, the article B is sent out to the branch conveyance path 2 by the delivery roller 6. Each delivery roller 6 of the sorting device 3 is driven to rotate when the article B is sent to the branch conveyance path 2, is directed to the branch conveyance path 2, and is in a state of protruding from the conveyance surface of the main conveyance path 1. What is necessary is just to change, and the operation | movement order of each operation | movement of rotation operation | movement of each delivery roller 6, turning operation | movement, and an up-down operation | movement can be changed suitably. Further, the driving rotation of the delivery roller 6 may be intermittent or continuous.

  On the other hand, when the article B is conveyed as it is downstream of the main conveyance path 1, the delivery rollers 6 are lowered to slightly protrude from the conveyance surface of the main conveyance path 1, and the delivery rollers 6 are swung to rotate the mains. Each delivery roller 6 is driven and rotated toward the conveyance downstream side of the conveyance path 1. By causing the article B to enter the delivery roller 6 in this state, the article B is sent out to the transport downstream side of the main transport path 1 by the feed roller 6. Each delivery roller 6 of the sorting device 3 is driven and rotated when the article B is sent to the downstream side of the main conveyance path 1, and is directed toward the downstream side of the main conveyance path 1. The operation sequence of the rotation operation, the turning operation, and the up-and-down operation of each delivery roller 6 can be appropriately changed. Further, the driving rotation of the delivery roller 6 may be intermittent or continuous.

  In addition, when the article B slides on the roller conveyor 12 of the main conveyance path 1 and causes a positional deviation, the article sorting facility 10 according to the present embodiment positively moves the positional deviation with the delivery roller 6 simultaneously with the sorting operation. To correct.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 9, when the actual transport position of the article B1 is displaced from the regular transport position R to the transport upstream side of the main transport path 1, as shown in FIG. After detecting the actual conveyance position of the article B1, the control means 8 compares the actual conveyance position of the article B1 with the regular conveyance position R, and calculates the deviation amount Z. Then, the control means 8 increases the rotational speed of the delivery roller 6 according to the calculated deviation amount Z so that the delivery speed of the article B1 by the delivery roller 6 is higher than the transport speed of the roller conveyor 12.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 11, the article B1 is sent out by the feed roller 6 increased in speed by the advance amount G1 corresponding to the shift amount Z from the normal feed amount, and the article B1 passes through the feed roller 6. In the meantime, the actual conveyance position of the article B1 is adjusted to the regular conveyance position R. Then, the article B1 is transported to the transport downstream side of the main transport path 1 or the branch transport path 2 in a state where it is aligned with the regular transport position. The amount of article B fed by the delivery roller 6 is determined by the product of the rotational speed of the delivery roller 6 and time. The control means 8 appropriately adjusts the rotation speed of the feed roller 6 in order to obtain the advance amount G1 corresponding to the deviation amount Z. In order to obtain the advance amount G1 corresponding to the shift amount Z, a time for increasing the rotation speed of the delivery roller 6 is used instead of adjusting the rotation speed of the delivery roller 6 or together with the adjustment of the rotation speed of the delivery roller 6. You may make it adjust suitably.

  As described above, according to the article sorting facility 10 of the present embodiment, even if the article B slips on the roller conveyor 12 of the main conveyance path 1 and causes a positional deviation, the positional deviation is positively corrected by the delivery roller 6. can do. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, when the set interval C between the articles is set to be approximately the same as the sorting required interval D, the article B1 is displaced by the deviation amount Z, and the article B1 and the article B2 are actually moved. 11 becomes “C-Z”, which is smaller than the sorting required distance D, the actual distance between the article B1 and the article B2 is determined by the advance amount G1 corresponding to the deviation amount Z as shown in FIG. The set interval C can be returned to, and the normal sorting operation can be performed for the subsequent article B2. Therefore, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary to set the interval between the articles to be large in consideration of the assumed maximum deviation amount, and the transport capacity and sorting ability of the sorting equipment are not reduced.

  Further, according to the article sorting facility 10 of the present embodiment, when the displacement of the deviation amount Z occurs in the article B1, the advance amount of the article B1 by the delivery roller 6 is made larger than the deviation amount Z, The carrying ability and sorting ability can be further enhanced. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, if the advance amount G2 of the article B1 is an amount obtained by adding the surplus amount E to the amount corresponding to the deviation amount Z, the actual amount of the article B1 and the article B2 is determined by the advance amount G2. Can be expanded to an interval “C + E” obtained by adding a surplus E to the set interval C. Therefore, even if the set interval between the articles by the cutting device 9 or the like is set to “DE” and is set smaller than the sorting required interval D, the article interval is set to “(DE) + E” by the advance amount G2 by the delivery roller 6. Therefore, the sorting required interval D can be secured. Thus, since the set interval between articles can be set smaller than the required sorting interval D, the conveyance capability and the sorting capability can be further enhanced.

  Moreover, according to the sorting equipment 10 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, a plurality of branch transport paths 2 and a plurality of sorters 3 are arranged along the main transport path 1 and detected by each sorter 3. In the case where a multi-branch sorting facility is provided by providing the means 7 and the control means 8, the position of the article B is set so that the actual transport position of the article B is adjusted to the regular transport position for each of the plurality of sorting devices 3. The deviation can be eliminated. Even when it is configured as a multi-branch type sorting facility, it is possible to perform normal article sorting work without causing a decrease in conveyance capacity.

  Note that a single branch type sorting facility is provided by arranging one branch transport path 2 and one sorter 3 along the main transport path 1, and providing the sorter 3 with detection means 7 and control means 8. In this case, the interval between the articles B does not necessarily need to be larger than the necessary separation interval D on the downstream side of the sorting apparatus 3. Therefore, as long as the advance amount of the article B by the delivery roller 6 is made larger than the maximum deviation amount of the article B, normal article sorting work can be performed. Thus, when configured as a single-branch type sorting facility, whether the article B is sent to the branch conveyance path 2 or the conveyance downstream side of the main conveyance path 1, and whether or not the article B is misaligned Regardless of the amount of deviation, the article B may be sent out at a constant advance amount by the speed-up delivery roller 6.

  As described above, the article sorting facility 10 and the sorting method thereof according to the present embodiment have been described, but the present invention can be implemented in other forms.

  For example, you may comprise like the goods sorting equipment 20 shown in FIGS. The sorting equipment 20 mainly includes a main transport path 1 that transports a plurality of articles B (B0, B1, B2,...), A branch transport path 2 connected to a side portion of the main transport path 1, and a main transport path 1. A sorting device 3 that is disposed and sorts articles B conveyed from the upstream side of the main conveyance path 1 to the conveyance downstream side of the main conveyance path 1 or the branch conveyance path 2 as necessary, and on the main conveyance path 1 Detection means 70 for detecting the article B, and control means 80 for controlling the rotational speed of the delivery roller 6 of the sorting device 3 based on the transport positions of the preceding and following articles B. Of these components, the main transport path 1, the branch transport path 2, and the sorting device 3 are configured in the same manner as the sorting equipment 10 described above. The sorting operation for the article B is performed in the same manner as the sorting facility 10 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the detection means 70 is disposed on the upstream side of the conveyance of the main conveyance path 1 with respect to the delivery roller 6 of the sorting device 3. The detection unit 70 includes a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit, and sequentially detects the transport positions of the plurality of articles B transported from the transport upstream side of the main transport path 1.

  The control means 80 calculates an actual article interval based on the conveyance position of one article B sequentially detected by the detection means 70 and the conveyance position of another article B subsequent thereto, and sets the actual article interval and the preset value. The amount of deviation from the set interval is calculated, and the motor 72 of the sorting device 3 is controlled according to the amount of deviation to adjust the rotational speed of the delivery roller 6 and the like. In the present embodiment, a cutting device 9 is disposed on the upstream side of the main conveying path 1, and the cutting device 9 supplies a plurality of articles B onto the main conveying path 1 while maintaining a predetermined article interval C. I have to. The control means 80 compares the set interval C by the cutting device 9 with the actual article interval.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the control means 80 compares the actual article interval between one article B1 and another article B2 subsequent thereto with the set interval C, and calculates the deviation amount Z. When the actual article interval “C−Z” is smaller than the set interval C, the control unit 80 increases the rotational speed of the delivery roller 6 according to the deviation amount Z, and the delivery roller 6 of the article B1. The feeding speed is made larger than the conveying speed by the roller conveyor 12.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 16, the article B1 is fed out by the feed roller 6 increased in speed by the advance amount G1 corresponding to the shift amount Z from the normal feed amount, and the article B1 passes through the feed roller 6. In the meantime, the actual article interval between the article B1 and the article B2 is set to “C−Z + G1”, and is set to the set interval C. The feed amount of the article B1 by the feed roller 6 is determined by the product of the rotation speed of the feed roller 6 and time. The control means 80 appropriately adjusts the rotational speed of the feed roller 6 in order to obtain the advance amount G1 corresponding to the deviation amount Z. However, in order to obtain the advance amount G1 corresponding to the deviation amount Z, the control means 80 rotates the feed roller 6. Instead of adjusting the speed, or together with adjusting the rotational speed of the delivery roller 6, the time for increasing the rotational speed of the delivery roller 6 may be appropriately adjusted.

  As described above, according to the article sorting facility 20, the article B slides on the roller conveyor 12 of the main conveyance path 1 to cause a positional deviation, and the actual article interval becomes smaller than the preset set interval C. However, the actual article interval can be positively returned to the set interval C by the delivery roller 6. Therefore, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary to set the interval between the articles to be large in view of the assumed maximum deviation amount, and the transport capacity and sorting ability of the sorting equipment are not reduced.

  Further, similarly to the above-described sorting facility 10, also in the sorting facility 20, by increasing the advance amount of the article B by the delivery roller 6 from the deviation amount, the conveying ability and the sorting ability can be further increased. In addition, when configured as a single-branch type sorting facility, whether the article B is sent out to the branch conveyance path 2 or the conveyance downstream side of the main conveyance path 1, Regardless of the amount of deviation, the article B can be sent out with a constant advance amount by the speed-up delivery roller 6.

  In the above embodiment, the feed roller 6 that rotates and feeds the article B is provided so as to be movable up and down and turn left and right. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the feed roller 6 is not limited thereto. However, it may be provided so that it does not move up and down and only turns left and right. In this case, it is necessary to provide each delivery roller 6 at a position protruding from the conveyance surface of the main conveyance path 1 so as to be able to turn left and right. The sorting operation of the articles is performed by turning each delivery roller 6 toward the branch conveyance path 2 or toward the conveyance downstream side of the main conveyance path 1 or by selectively turning left and right.

  In addition, the present invention can be carried out in a mode in which various improvements, modifications and variations are added based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It may be implemented in a form in which any invention specific matter is replaced with another technology within a range where the same action or effect occurs, or the invention specific matter configured integrally may be constituted by a plurality of members. In addition, the invention specific items constituted by a plurality of members may be implemented in an integrated configuration.

It is a schematic plan view of the goods sorting equipment of this embodiment. It is a principal part top view of the goods sorting equipment of this embodiment. It is a top view of the sorting apparatus of the goods sorting equipment of this embodiment. It is a side view of the sorting apparatus of the goods sorting equipment of this embodiment. It is the SS sectional view taken on the line in FIG. It is the TT sectional view taken on the line in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line U-U in FIG. 4. It is the VV sectional view taken on the line in FIG. It is a schematic plan view explaining the classification | category method of the articles | goods of this embodiment. It is a schematic plan view explaining the classification | category method of the articles | goods of this embodiment. It is a schematic plan view explaining the classification | category method of the articles | goods of this embodiment. It is a schematic plan view explaining the classification | category method of the articles | goods of this embodiment. It is a schematic plan view explaining the classification | category method of the articles | goods of this embodiment. It is a schematic plan view explaining the goods sorting equipment and the sorting method of the embodiment according to the present invention. It is a schematic plan view explaining the goods sorting equipment and the sorting method of the embodiment according to the present invention. It is a schematic plan view explaining the goods sorting equipment and the sorting method of the embodiment according to the present invention. It is a schematic plan view explaining the conventional goods sorting equipment.

Explanation of symbols

10, 20 Article sorting equipment 1 Main transport path 12 Roller conveyor 14 Transport roller 2 Branch transport path 3 Sorting device 6 Sending rollers 7, 70 Detection means 8, 80 Control means B, B1-B4 Article C Set interval R Regular article Transport position Z deviation amount

Claims (8)

A main conveyance path composed of a roller conveyor that conveys articles with a drive-rotating conveyance roller, a branch conveyance path connected to a side portion of the main conveyance path, and a delivery that can be driven and rotated on the main conveyance path A sorting device that selectively feeds and sorts articles conveyed from the upstream side of the main conveyance path to the downstream side of the main conveyance path or the branch conveyance path by switching the direction of the rollers. Equipment,
Detecting means for detecting the transport position of the article on the upstream side of transport of the main transport path from the sorting device;
The actual conveyance position of the article detected by the detection means is compared with a preset regular conveyance position of the article, and the actual conveyance position of the article is conveyed on the main conveyance path more than the regular conveyance position. Control means for increasing the rotational speed of the delivery roller of the sorting device and increasing the delivery speed of the article by the delivery roller to be higher than the transport speed by the roller conveyor when the position is shifted upstream;
An article sorting facility characterized by comprising: A main conveyance path composed of a roller conveyor that conveys articles with a drive-rotating conveyance roller, a branch conveyance path connected to a side portion of the main conveyance path, and a delivery that can be driven and rotated on the main conveyance path A sorting device that selectively feeds and sorts articles conveyed from the upstream side of the main conveyance path to the downstream side of the main conveyance path or the branch conveyance path by switching the direction of the rollers. Equipment,
Detecting means for detecting the transport position of the article on the upstream side of transport of the main transport path from the sorting device;
An article interval between the one article and the other article is calculated based on a conveyance position of the one article detected by the detection means and a conveyance position of another article following the one article, and the article interval Control means for increasing the rotational speed of the delivery roller of the sorting device to be greater than the transport speed of the roller conveyor by the rotational speed of the one article when ,
An article sorting facility characterized by comprising: A main conveyance path composed of a roller conveyor that conveys articles with a drive-rotating conveyance roller, a branch conveyance path connected to a side portion of the main conveyance path, and a delivery that can be driven and rotated on the main conveyance path Sorting equipment comprising: a sorting device that selectively feeds articles that have been transported from the transport upstream side of the main transport path to the transport downstream side of the main transport path or the branch transport path by switching the direction of the rollers. A method for sorting articles according to
Detecting the actual transport position of the article on the transport upstream side of the main transport path from the sorting device,
Compare the actual transport position of the article with a preset regular transport position of the article,
When the actual transport position of the article is shifted to the upstream side of transport of the main transport path from the regular transport position, the rotational speed of the delivery roller of the sorting device is increased and the delivery roller of the article A method for sorting articles, characterized in that a delivery speed is higher than a transport speed by the roller conveyor. The method for sorting articles according to claim 3,
Calculating a displacement amount of the positional deviation;
An article sorting method, wherein an actual conveyance position of the article is adjusted to a regular conveyance position of the article by adjusting a rotation speed of the delivery roller according to the deviation amount. The method for sorting articles according to claim 3,
Calculating a displacement amount of the positional deviation;
According to the amount of deviation, the time for increasing the rotational speed of the delivery roller is adjusted to adjust the actual conveyance position of the article to the regular conveyance position of the article, . A main conveyance path composed of a roller conveyor that conveys articles with a drive-rotating conveyance roller, a branch conveyance path connected to a side portion of the main conveyance path, and a delivery that can be driven and rotated on the main conveyance path Sorting equipment comprising: a sorting device that selectively feeds articles that have been transported from the transport upstream side of the main transport path to the transport downstream side of the main transport path or the branch transport path by switching the direction of the rollers. A method for sorting articles according to
Detecting the transport position of one article and the transport position of another article following the one article on the transport upstream side of the main transport path from the sorting device;
Calculating an article interval between the one article and the other article based on the conveyance position of the one article and the conveyance position of the other article;
When the article interval is smaller than a preset set interval, the rotation speed of the delivery roller of the sorting device is increased so that the delivery speed of the one article by the delivery roller is larger than the conveyance speed of the roller conveyor. An article sorting method characterized by the above. The method for sorting articles according to claim 6,
Calculating the amount of deviation between the article interval and the set interval;
An article sorting method, wherein the article interval is adjusted to the set interval by adjusting a rotation speed of the delivery roller in accordance with the deviation amount. The method for sorting articles according to claim 6,
Calculating the amount of deviation between the article interval and the set interval;
An article sorting method, wherein the article interval is adjusted to the set interval by adjusting a time for increasing the rotation speed of the delivery roller according to the amount of deviation.

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