JP2010058882A - Article carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article carrying device capable of easily making position adjustment of and replacement of apparatuses, by facilitating even processing without reducing the strength of rails, in installing the apparatuses facing the opposed the inside of the rails, and also capable of preventing the deterioration in accuracy and failure due to vibration through fixture at a high positional accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: The article carrying device has an article carrying carriage 130 for traveling by being connected in large numbers and a pair of oppositely arranged right-left rails 110 for constituting a carrying passage. The rails 110 have respectively an apparatus installing T groove 113 on the opposed outside, and have a positioning groove 116 extending in the longitudinal direction of the rails in a central part of its groove bottom part 114. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an article conveying apparatus for conveying an article by connecting a large number of article conveying carriages.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a carriage for conveying an article having a traveling mechanism and a guide mechanism and traveling in a connected manner, a traveling surface on which the traveling mechanism of the carriage travels, and a guide surface in contact with the guide mechanism are provided to constitute a transportation path. An article conveying apparatus having a pair of left and right rails arranged to face each other is well known.

As shown in FIG. 10, this well-known article transporting apparatus 500 is provided on a carriage 530 such that a transported article tray support 520 on which a transported article is placed can be tilted sideways in the transport direction according to the sorting destination. It is attached. Then, on the front part and the rear part of the carriage 530, a traveling mechanism having traveling wheels 531 traveling on a traveling surface 511 of a pair of left and right rails 510 installed along the conveyance path and a guide surface 512 are rolled. Guide mechanisms having side rollers 532 for preventing the rolling motion are attached.
Also, joint links 533 are provided at the front and rear portions of the carriage 530, and the mutually adjacent carriages 530 are connected via the joint links 533.

  Further, a reaction plate 534 that receives a travel driving force in the conveyance direction from a primary coil 501 of the linear motor arranged along the conveyance path is horizontally provided in the lower part of the carriage 530, and the upper part is conveyed in the upper part. The tray support body 520 for conveyance articles supported so that it can tilt to the side of a direction is attached.

A plurality of device mounting T-grooves 513 are provided on the outer sides of the pair of left and right rails 510 facing each other, and the device mounting T-groove 513 includes a sensor bracket 505 of the position sensor 506, a tilting movement member 504, and the like. Is attached.
A detected member 535 is attached at a position facing the position sensor 506 of the carriage 530.

The article transport apparatus 500 detects the position of the carriage 530 by the position sensor 506 at a desired sorting position in the transport path, and tilts the transport article tray support 520 by controlling the tilting movement member 504. The transported article on the tray support 520 for transported articles is dropped onto a side chute attached to a desired sorting position to sort the transported articles (see, for example, Patent Document 1, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8). .)
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-150810 (second page, FIGS. 7 and 8)

  However, such a well-known article conveying apparatus 500 is provided on the outer sides of the pair of left and right rails 510 in which a plurality of device mounting T-grooves 513 are arranged to face each other. When attaching devices such as the position sensor 506 that need to face inward, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, an opening 519 through which the devices such as the position sensor 506 can pass is provided on the side surface of the rail 510, It is necessary to support and fix the device mounting T groove 513 that does not interfere with the portion 519 with the sensor bracket 505 or the like.

  As a result, it is necessary to open the opening 519 larger than the devices such as the position sensor 506 and the like, and the strength of the rail is reduced and the processing is troublesome. There is a problem that the accuracy is deteriorated, and an adverse effect such as a deterioration of accuracy due to vibration and a failure of the device is caused.

  Further, since the device mounting T-groove 513 of the rail 510 is also used for fixing a plate for fixing the front and rear rails 510 at the connection portion in the transport direction, the device such as the position sensor 506 that requires the opening 519. When the attachment portion of the kind and the connection portion 518 overlap, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the connection plate 517 is fastened together with the device mounting T groove 513 together with the sensor bracket 505 and the like, and the device mounting T groove 513. A plate fixing hole 516 is provided at a place other than the above position and fixed.

As a result, only the connection plate 517 used in a place where the attachment portion of the equipment such as the position sensor 506 that requires the opening 519 overlaps with the connection portion 518 needs to have a special shape, and the number of parts increases. There is a problem in that it is necessary to provide the plate fixing hole 516 with high accuracy, and it takes time and effort for processing.
Furthermore, it is impossible to adjust or remove the position of the sensor bracket 505 or the like while the front and rear rails 510 are fixed, and it is difficult to adjust or replace the position of the equipment such as the position sensor 506. There was a problem.

  The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and the problem to be solved by the present invention, that is, the object of the present invention, is to improve the strength of the rails by facing the devices facing the inside of the rail. It is an object to provide an article conveying apparatus that can be easily fixed with high positional accuracy without lowering, prevent deterioration in accuracy and failure due to vibration, and easily adjust the position and exchange of equipment.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a carriage for conveying an article that has a traveling mechanism and a guide mechanism and that is coupled and travels, a traveling surface on which the traveling mechanism of the carriage travels, and a guide surface on which the guide mechanism contacts. And a pair of oppositely arranged left and right rails that constitute a conveyance path, the rails having at least one positioning groove extending outward in the longitudinal direction of the rails, respectively, It solves the problem.

  In the invention according to claim 2, in addition to the configuration of the article conveying apparatus according to claim 1, each of the rails has at least one device mounting T-groove on the opposite outer side, and the positioning is performed. By providing the groove at the center of the groove bottom of the T-groove for mounting the device, the above-described problem is further solved.

  In addition to the configuration of the article conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, the invention according to claim 3 further includes the above-described problem by the fact that the rail has a joint T-groove on the opposite inner side. It is a solution.

  In the invention according to claim 4, in addition to the configuration of the article conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the joint T-groove is formed on the back surface of the running surface. The above-mentioned problem is further solved.

  The article conveying apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes an article conveying carriage that has a traveling mechanism and a guide mechanism and is connected in many ways, and a traveling surface on which the traveling mechanism of the carriage travels contacts the guide mechanism. In an article conveying apparatus having a pair of left and right rails arranged opposite to each other and provided with a guide surface to constitute a conveying path, each of the rails has at least one positioning groove extending outward in the longitudinal direction of the rail. As a result, the positioning groove can be used as a positioning reference when mounting the equipment directly on the rail, and the mounting holes can be accurately processed on the rail to directly fix the equipment facing the opposite side of the rail, thus reducing the strength of the rail. It is possible to easily fix the devices with high positional accuracy without causing deterioration, and it is possible to prevent deterioration in accuracy and failure due to vibration.

  In addition to the effect achieved by the article conveying apparatus according to the first aspect, the article conveying apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention has at least one device mounting T-groove on the opposite outer side. Since the positioning groove is provided at the center of the groove bottom of the device mounting T-slot, it is possible to mount the devices directly on the opposite side of the rail without impairing the fixing function of the device mounting T-slot. .

  Further, in addition to the effect exhibited by the article conveying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, the article conveying apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention has a rail having a joint T-groove on the opposite inner side. Since it is not necessary to use the mounting T-groove for rail connection, it is possible to easily adjust the position and exchange the devices mounted in the device mounting T-groove and the device mounting hole.

  Furthermore, in the article conveying apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect exhibited by the article conveying apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the joint T-groove is formed on the back surface of the traveling surface. As a result, the joint T-groove is located at the deepest position on the opposite inner side, so that it does not interfere with access to the devices mounted on the opposite inner side of the rail. Exchange can be performed more easily.

  The article conveying apparatus of the present invention is provided with a carriage for article conveyance that has a traveling mechanism and a guide mechanism and travels in a connected manner, a traveling surface on which the traveling mechanism of the carriage travels, and a guide surface that contacts the guide mechanism. And a pair of left and right rails arranged opposite to each other, the rails having at least one positioning groove extending outward in the longitudinal direction of the rails, The equipment facing the user can be easily fixed with high positional accuracy without reducing the strength of the rails, and it is possible to prevent deterioration in accuracy and failure due to vibration, and to easily adjust and replace the equipment. Any specific embodiment may be used as long as the method can be performed.

That is, the article conveying apparatus of the present invention may convey any article.
Moreover, the rail of the article conveying apparatus of the present invention may form a horizontal circulation path or may form a vertical circulation path.
The drive source of the article conveying apparatus of the present invention may be one in which the reaction plate provided on the carriage is driven by a linear motor, and the engaging portion provided on the carriage is physically engaged with a chain or the like. It may be driven.

Hereinafter, an article conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of an article conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory side view of the article conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a connection portion of the article transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side view of the connecting portion of the article conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a tap plate used for the connecting portion, and FIG. It is a front view of the tap plate used for a connection part, and FIG. 9 is a side view of the tap plate used for a connection part.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an article transport apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention tilts a transport article tray support 120 on which a transport article is placed to the side in the transport direction according to a sorting destination. It is attached to the carriage 130 so as to be possible. The carriage 130 rolls on the front part and the rear part of the carriage 130 on the guide surface 112 of the rail 110 and the traveling mechanism having the traveling wheels 131 that travel on the traveling surface 111 of the rail 110 installed along the conveyance path. Guide mechanisms each having a side roller 132 for preventing rolling are attached.
Further, a joint link 133 is provided above the travel mechanism and the guide mechanism, and the adjacent carriages 130 are connected via the joint link 133, and a large number of carriages 130 are connected to travel.

  Further, a reaction plate 134 that receives a travel driving force in the transport direction from the primary coil 101 of the linear motor arranged along the transport path is horizontally provided in the lower portion of the carriage 130, and in the upper portion, A tray support 120 for a transported article that is supported so as to be tiltable to the side in the transport direction is attached.

Further, a tilting movement member 104 is provided at a desired sorting position in the transport path, and the transported article tray support 120 is tilted to attach the transported article on the transported article tray support 120 to the desired sorting position. The product is sorted by dropping it into the side chute.
A detected member 135 is attached to the lower part of the carriage 130, and the position of the carriage 130 is detected by the position sensor 106 directly fixed to the inner side of the rail 110 by the device attachment hole 115, thereby sorting the articles to be conveyed. Is controlled.

  The carriage 130 is entirely made of resin, and as shown in FIG. 2, ribs 136 for securing strength are provided at appropriate positions. A tray support 120 for transported articles is provided above the carriage 130. A tray support part 137 for supporting the carriage 130 in a tiltable manner is provided, and front and rear support parts 138 for supporting the running mechanism, the guide mechanism, and the coupling mechanism are provided at the front and rear parts of the carriage 130 in the running direction.

Tilt support pins 122 made of metal or the like projecting in the traveling direction of the carriage 130 are integrally embedded in the tray support portion 137, and the tray support 120 for transported articles is supported to be tiltable. .
The front / rear support portion 138 is formed with a connection pin insertion hole 139 made of a sleeve of metal or the like that penetrates in the vertical direction of the carriage 130 and is integrally embedded with the inner surface at the time of molding. A connecting pin 140 that is rotatably supported is inserted.

The tilting support pin 122 and the connecting pin insertion hole 139 can be easily processed because they are processed in advance by a single pin and a single sleeve, and are positioned and embedded integrally when the resin carriage 130 is formed. No need to handle and process the entire carriage after molding like the made carriage 530, reducing manufacturing man-hours and reducing costs, and selecting the optimum material for the pin and sleeve alone regardless of the carriage material Can do.
The material of the single pin and the single sleeve may be any material such as a metal such as iron, a sintered alloy, or a ceramic as long as it can be integrally embedded in the resin carriage 130.

The front and rear support portions 138 are arranged in two upper and lower stages, and the connecting pin 140 is inserted through the upper front and rear support portions 138A and the lower front and rear support portions 138B.
A side roller 132 is rotatably supported around the connecting pin 140 at the lowermost portion of the connecting pin 140, that is, below the lower front and rear support portion 138B to form a guide mechanism.

  Between the middle part of the connecting pin 140, that is, between the upper front / rear support part 138A and the lower front / rear support part 138B, an axle having a traveling wheel 131 rotatably supported at both ends is rotatably supported about the connecting pin 140 as an axis. Thus, a traveling mechanism is configured.

  A joint link 133 is rotatably supported above the connecting pin 140, that is, above the upper front / rear support portion 138A to form a connecting mechanism. In addition, a spherical contact member 141 having a spherical surface is interposed in the rotational connection portion between the connecting pin 140 and the joint link 133, and the joint link 133 is rotatable about the connecting pin 140 and swings in the vertical direction. The conveyance path of the carriage 130 that is movable and connected by the joint links 133 can be a curved path in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.

A guard plate 142 is attached to the uppermost part of the connecting pin 140, that is, further above the rotational connection part of the joint link 133, and when the article falls from the transported article tray support 120, the traveling mechanism and the guide mechanism. It is configured so as not to adversely affect.
Further, the tilting support pin 122 may be formed by embedding a sleeve made of metal or the like as a through-hole as in the case of the connecting pin insertion hole 139 and inserting the pin into the sleeve. And may be supported so as to be rotatable.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the rail 110 is provided with a traveling surface 111 on which a traveling wheel 131 of the carriage 130 travels and a guide surface 112 on which a side roller travels, and is arranged to face each other in a pair. .
Two rows of device mounting T-grooves 113 extending vertically in the longitudinal direction of the rail are provided on the opposite outer side of the rail 110, and the longitudinal direction of the rail is formed at the center of the groove bottom 114 of each of the device mounting T-grooves 113. A positioning groove 116 extending in the direction is provided.

The positioning grooves 116 are also provided below the device mounting T-groove 113, and these positioning grooves 116 serve as a reference for positioning in the vertical direction when the devices are directly mounted on the rail 110.
In other words, when machining the device mounting hole 115 for mounting the position sensor 106 on the inner side opposite to the rail 110, the tip of the drill fits into the positioning groove 116 and stable processing can be performed, so that the device is placed at an accurate mounting position. The mounting hole 115 can be processed.
A joint T-groove 117 is provided on the lower back surface of the running surface 111 of the rail 110.

  The rail 110 is formed by extrusion molding using an aluminum material, so that the dimensional and positional relationship between the running surface 111, the guide surface 112, the device mounting T-groove 113, the positioning groove 116, and the joint T-groove 117 is accurate. The rail 110 can be easily manufactured.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the connecting portion 118 of the two rails 110 is fixed by a tap plate 150 inserted across the joint T-groove 117 provided with both rails 110.
As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the tap plate 150 has a plurality of tap bolts 153, and a plate having a width for engaging the joint T-groove 117 by screwing the plurality of tap bolts 153 so as to advance and retract in the thickness direction. It consists of a main body 151 and a bolt receiving seat 152 having a U-shape that holds the plate main body 151 in the longitudinal direction and has a width that does not engage with the joint T-groove 117.

When the device mounting T-groove 113 is not used near the connection portion 118 of the two rails 110, the tap plate 150 may be inserted and fixed across the device mounting T-groove 113 provided with both rails 110. good.
For example, the two rails 110 can be more firmly connected by inserting and fixing the tap plate 150 in the lower device mounting T-groove 113 shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the article transporting apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to easily fix devices facing the inner side of the rail with high positional accuracy without reducing the strength of the rail, and deterioration of accuracy due to vibration. The effects are enormous, such as being able to prevent accidents and malfunctions, and easily adjusting and replacing the equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Sectional explanatory drawing of the articles | goods conveying apparatus which is one Example of this invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory side view of an article conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Sectional drawing of the rail of the articles | goods conveyance apparatus which is one Example of this invention. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3. Sectional drawing of the connection part of the article conveyance apparatus which is one Example of this invention. The side view of the connection part of the article conveyance apparatus which is one Example of this invention. The perspective view of the tap plate used for a connection part. The front view of the tap plate used for a connection part. The side view of the tap plate used for a connection part. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing of the conventional article conveyance apparatus. Expansion explanatory drawing of the equipment attachment of the rail of the conventional article conveyance apparatus. Side surface explanatory drawing of the equipment attachment of the rail of the conventional article conveyance apparatus. Expansion explanatory drawing of apparatus attachment of the rail connection part of the conventional article conveyance apparatus. Side surface explanatory drawing of apparatus attachment of the rail connection part of the conventional article conveyance apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

100, 500 ... article conveying device 101, 501 ... primary coil 104, 504 ... tilting movement member 105, 505 ... sensor bracket 106, 506 ... position sensor 110, 510 ... rail 111 511 ... Traveling surfaces 112, 512 ... Guide surfaces 113, 513 ... Equipment mounting T-groove 114 ... Groove bottom 115 ... Equipment mounting hole 116 ... Positioning groove 516 ... Plate Fixing hole 117 ・ ・ ・ T-groove for joint 517 ・ ・ ・ Connection plate 118 518 ・ ・ ・ Connection portion 519 ・ ・ ・ Opening portion 120 520 ・ ・ ・ Tray support 121 for conveying article 121 521 ・ ・ ・ Tilt motion Member 122 ... Tilt support pins 130, 530 ... Carriage 131, 531 ... Traveling wheels 132, 532 ... Side roller 1 3, 533 ... joint links 134, 534 ... reaction plates 135, 535 ... detected members 136 ... ribs 137 ... tray support parts 138 ... front and rear support parts 139 ... connecting pins Insertion hole 140 ... Connecting pin 141 ... Sliding member 142 ... Guard plate 150 ... Tap plate 151 ... Plate body 152 ... Bolt receiving seat 153 ... Tap bolt

Claims (4)

A carriage for conveying an article that has a traveling mechanism and a guide mechanism and is connected to each other, a traveling surface on which the traveling mechanism of the carriage travels, and a guide surface that comes into contact with the guide mechanism are provided to be opposed to each other to form a transportation path. In the article conveying apparatus having a pair of left and right rails,
Each of the rails has at least one positioning groove extending outward in the longitudinal direction of the rail on the opposite outer side. Each of the rails has at least one device mounting T-groove on the opposite outer side,
The article conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positioning groove is provided at a center of a groove bottom portion of the device mounting T-groove.   The article conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the rails has a joint T-groove in an opposite inward direction.   The article conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the joint T-groove is formed on a back surface of the running surface.

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