JP2012006674A - Article conveying equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide article conveying equipment capable of adjusting a pitch of delivery to the downstream side of a conveying passage by separating an article from a subsequent article, capable of preventing the article from being forcedly fed to the downstream side by motor running and line pressure generated by the subsequent article, and capable of avoiding article crushing in the conveying passage.SOLUTION: The article conveying equipment includes: a driving base 3 having a pair of cam followers 2 disposed separately from each other; an air cylinder 4 for reciprocating the driving base 3 in the direction of separation of the pair of cam followers 2 from each other; a ratchet-like driving wheel 8 which is disposed in such a manner as to be intermittently turnable by a predetermined angle by making the pair of cam followers 2 alternately abut on each other at both radial ends by the reciprocation of the driving base 3; and a control wheel 13 which is journaled to be rotatable by a rotational force of the driving wheel 8 and disposed in such a manner that pockets 14 formed at equally-spaced intervals on the outer periphery house and hold the delivery object articles for being fed onto the article conveying passage in a pitch adjusting position.

Description

  The present invention relates to an article conveying apparatus that conveys articles to be supplied downstream in an aligned state at intervals (pitch adjustment).

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system for processing an article such as a product or a container of the product incorporates an article transport device (pitch adjusting device) for transporting the product one by one at a predetermined interval (pitch). Yes. For example, in a processing system equipped with a filling machine that fills containers such as bottles and PET bottles with various liquid products such as foods such as seasonings and liquid detergents, the container fed out from an upstream machine such as an article aligning machine is 1 An article conveying device is provided that continuously conveys the filling machine, which is a subsequent machine, in a state of being aligned in a row at a constant interval in accordance with the filling timing.

  In this conventional article conveying apparatus, for example, an air cylinder driven by compressed air is provided one by one with an interval corresponding to one article on the upstream side and the downstream side in the conveying direction of articles supplied in a line. The air cylinder advances and retreats between an entry position that enters the article conveyance path and prevents article conveyance and a retreat position that retreats from the article conveyance path and allows article conveyance. It is possible.

  In this article transporting device, the air cylinder disposed on the downstream side of the transport path is positioned at the entry position to stop transporting the aligned articles. Then, the air cylinder disposed on the upstream side of the transport path is also positioned at the entry position, and one leading article is separated from the subsequent article, and then the air cylinder disposed on the downstream side of the transport path is Driven to the retracted position, only the separated leading article is conveyed downstream. When the leading article has advanced, the air cylinder disposed on the downstream side of the conveyance path is again driven to be positioned at the entry position, and conveyance of the aligned articles is stopped. By repeating this series of advancing and retreating operations of the air cylinder, the arranged articles are configured to be conveyed downstream at intervals (first conventional example).

  Another conventional article conveying apparatus is an article conveying apparatus using a star wheel, and a star wheel in which a plurality of pockets for separating and storing supplied articles one by one is formed on the outer periphery at equal intervals. Attached to the shaft, the star wheel is provided with a sensor detection dog made of a metal bolt or the like corresponding to each pocket. A sensor for detecting the dog is disposed in the vicinity of the star wheel.

  In this article transport device, when the motor is rotated and the articles supplied to the pockets formed on the outer periphery are sequentially stored and guided downstream in the transport direction, the sensor detects the dog. As described above, the rotation of the motor is temporarily stopped (second conventional example).

  Further, as an improved version of the second conventional example of the article conveying apparatus, the arrangement of the dog is stopped, and the sensors are connected to the article conveying state (stagnation) on the upstream side and the downstream side of the article conveying apparatus in the article conveying path. State) and an article conveying device (third conventional example: see Patent Document 1) serving as a sensor for controlling the rotation of the motor, and the arrangement of the dog and sensor are stopped, and the motor is a servo motor. There is also provided an article conveying apparatus configured to temporarily stop the star wheel at an arbitrary rotation angle (fourth conventional example).

JP 2000-007134 A

  In the above-described first conventional example of the article conveying apparatus, in order to separate only the leading article from the subsequent article to be supplied and to send only the leading article to the downstream side, it is essential to dispose the air cylinder at two locations. In addition, in order to separate and convey one article, it is necessary to drive the air cylinders disposed at these two places in advance and retreat four times in total, which causes a problem that high-speed delivery cannot be performed. .

  In the second conventional example of the article conveying apparatus, the star wheel keeps the conveyance of the subsequent article by the excitation force of the motor and the gear ratio, so that the pressure (line pressure) from the subsequent article is reduced. When it is strong, the star wheel is pushed around, and the timing (pitch) of sending the article downstream in the conveyance direction may be disturbed. Furthermore, even if the conveyance path on the downstream side is clogged and the conveyance of the article is delayed, the article is forcibly sent to the downstream side through the star wheel by the rotational force of the motor. There was concern about being crushed or damaged.

  In the article conveying apparatus of the third conventional example, there is a problem that the number of sensors is increased and the conveyance control becomes complicated.

  Further, in the article conveying apparatus of the fourth conventional example, the article is forced to the downstream side via the star wheel by the rotational force of the motor, although the article can be delivered at high speed and smoothly by the control of the servo motor. However, there is a problem that the article is crushed or damaged in the second conventional example.

  In view of such a problem, the present invention has a rapid speed of separating an article from a subsequent article and sending it downstream of the conveyance path, and its delivery pitch can be arbitrarily adjusted. To provide an article transport apparatus that can avoid the problem that an article is crushed in the transport path without forcibly sending the article to the downstream transport path by the rotation of the line pressure or the motor. Is an issue.

  The article conveying apparatus of the present invention is an article conveying apparatus for sending articles supplied from the upstream side one by one to the downstream side in the conveying direction at a desired pitch at a pitch adjustment position in the middle of the conveying path of the article. A drive base in which the cam followers are spaced apart from each other, a drive device for reciprocating the drive base in the separating direction of the pair of cam followers, and the pair of cam followers at both ends in the radial direction by the reciprocation of the drive base. A ratchet-like drive wheel disposed so as to be able to rotate at a constant angle intermittently by abutting alternately, and rotatably supported by the rotational force of the drive wheel. And a control foil arranged so that the formed pocket accommodates and holds the article to be fed supplied on the article conveyance path. And wherein the Rukoto.

  According to this article conveying device, the drive wheel is intermittently rotated every time the drive base that is reciprocally movable by driving the drive device is operated in one direction (forward operation or reverse operation), By rotating the control wheel configured to rotate with the rotation by the rotation angle corresponding to one pocket, one article supplied to the pitch adjustment position can be quickly separated from the subsequent articles in the pocket. It can be accommodated and sent downstream in the transport direction.

  The pitch adjustment of the delivery of the article conveying device of the present invention can be easily performed by adjusting the reciprocating speed of the drive base, and as described above, the feed base moves in one direction ( Since the article can be separated from the succeeding article and sent to the downstream side in the forward operation or the backward operation), the work can be rapidly advanced.

  In addition, when the rotation of the control wheel is stopped, one of the cam followers is engaged with the pawls of the ratchet-shaped drive wheel and the stopper is mechanically engaged. Even if it abuts strongly on the foil, the control foil will not rotate. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a problem that the article to be separated is sent to the downstream side in the transport direction due to the influence of the line pressure of the subsequent article.

  Furthermore, the ratchet-shaped drive wheel disposed so as to be intermittently rotatable at a constant angle by the pair of cam followers disposed on the drive base alternately contacting each other at both ends in the radial direction is provided outside the claw-shaped portion. Due to the effect of the pressure angle of the cam follower in contact with the peripheral edge, adjustment can be made so that the driving force (thrust force of the air cylinder) transmitted from the driving device does not become excessive. Therefore, even when the downstream conveyance path is clogged with already sent articles, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the articles are damaged by the control foil.

  Moreover, the article conveying apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the driving device comprises a linear actuator in which the driving base is fixed to a rod. Thus, by using a linear actuator, it is possible to easily control the torque and speed of article conveyance.

  Furthermore, the article conveying apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the driving device is an air cylinder capable of controlling the pressure of supplied air. By using an air cylinder with adjustable pressure, it is possible to use a cushion to rotate the control wheel when sending articles downstream in the conveyance direction, and the downstream conveyance path is clogged with already delivered articles. Even in such a case, it is possible to prevent the control foil from forcing out the article.

  Furthermore, in the article conveying device of the present invention, the drive wheel and the control wheel are disposed on the same wheel base, and the wheel base includes the drive device and the drive base, and the wheel base includes: It is supported by the bracket so that the arrangement position can be adjusted so that the pocket corresponds to the pitch adjustment position.

  Thus, while supporting the wheel base on which the driving wheel, the control wheel, the driving device, and the driving base are disposed on the bracket, the pocket is made to correspond to the pitch adjusting position according to the diameter dimension of the control wheel. By adopting a configuration that adjusts the wheel base arrangement position, it should be easy to respond even if the item to be sent out changes, and it should be versatile enough to respond widely to changes in the sending target. Can do.

  Moreover, since it is only necessary to arrange a bracket beside the existing article conveyance path, it can be easily installed.

  As described above, the article conveying apparatus according to the present invention enables reliable separation of the article to be conveyed from the subsequent article and adjustment of the pitch of the delivery by a simple mechanism, and also handles the article to be conveyed softly. It can be sent downstream. Moreover, changes in the shape of articles to be transported can be easily handled by simply replacing parts such as the drive wheel, control wheel, and cam follower, and can be easily placed on existing article transport paths. It has an extremely excellent effect.

The principal part disassembled perspective view of the article conveyance apparatus of this invention The principal part top view (partial perspective view) of the article | item conveying apparatus of this invention The right view of FIG. 2 which shows the principal part of the articles | goods conveyance apparatus of this invention (partial perspective drawing / sectional view) XX sectional drawing of FIG. 2 which shows the principal part of the article conveyance apparatus of this invention Explanatory drawing explaining the relationship between the engagement state of the cam follower and the drive wheel, and the rotation of the drive wheel and the control wheel and the delivery of the article in the article conveying apparatus of the present invention.

  The article conveying device of the present invention is arranged in the middle of the article conveyance path, and at a pitch adjustment position that accepts articles supplied from the upstream side, the articles are arranged one by one at a desired pitch (interval) downstream in the conveying direction. It is an article conveying device for sending. In this embodiment, in order to send articles such as containers supplied from the upstream side in a state of being arranged and arranged on one conveyor one by one at a desired pitch (interval) to the downstream side in the transport direction, The case where it is arrange | positioned at the conveying apparatus provided with the conveyor is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the article transporting apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is formed by attaching constituent components to a wheel base 7 supported by a bracket 26 in a fixed state. A drive base 3 having a pair of cam followers 2 spaced apart from each other is provided on the rear surface side of the wheel base 7 (the lower surface side in FIGS. 1 to 4, hereinafter the same), and the drive base 3 is connected to the pair of cam followers 2. A driving device 4 that reciprocates in the separating direction is disposed.

  More specifically, the drive base 3 is a substantially U-shaped plate-like member formed with the extending portions 3Aa in parallel on both ends of one side of the rectangular drive base main body 3A. On the upper surface of the extension portion 3Aa, each of the pair of cam followers 2 (hereinafter, if necessary, the cam follower disposed on the left side of the front view in each figure is 2A, and the cam follower disposed on the right side of the front view is 2B. Is provided). As shown in FIG. 4, each cam follower 2 is formed by an inner mounting bolt 2 a that rotatably supports an outer ring 2 b. The outer ring 2b is configured to roll in contact with a raceway surface formed on the outer periphery of a drive wheel 8 to be described later. The cam follower 2 is attached to the base body 3A by screwing a nut 2c to the mounting bolt 2a. Further, a block body 3B fixed to an air cylinder rod, which will be described later, is fixed to the drive base body 3A.

  The drive device 4 uses a linear actuator that is a direct-acting drive source. The driving force of the linear actuator may be any as long as it can control speed and torque, such as electricity, magnetism, and air. In the present embodiment, as the linear actuator, an air cylinder capable of controlling the pressure of supplied air (hereinafter, denoted by a common reference numeral 4) is used, and the air cylinder 4 is supplied from a compressor (not shown). A piston (not shown) that can reciprocate under the action of compressed air is provided in the exterior case 4A. The block 3B of the drive base 3 is arranged on the rod (not shown) of the piston so that the extending direction of the rod, that is, the reciprocating direction of the piston and the separating direction of the pair of cam followers 2 are parallel. It is fixed in this way. That is, the drive base 3 is fixed to the air cylinder 4 so as to reciprocate in the separating direction of the pair of cam followers 2 by driving the air cylinder 4. The air for driving the air cylinder 4 is appropriately adjusted and supplied by a pressure control means (not shown).

  Here, the article conveying apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a plate-like foil base 7 that is fixed to a frame (not shown) and placed on a bracket 26 described later, and the air cylinder 4 has an exterior case 4A. Is fixed to the rear surface of the wheel base 7.

  In addition, the article conveying device 1 of the present embodiment is disposed between the pair of cam followers 2, and the driving force of the air cylinder 4 is transmitted via the pair of cam followers 2, so that it can rotate at a constant angle intermittently. The driving wheel 8 and a control wheel 13 that is pivotally supported so as to rotate together with the driving wheel 8 are provided.

  Specifically, the drive wheel 8 is formed in a ratchet shape in which the claw-like claw portions 9 are odd (9 in the present embodiment) formed continuously and at equal intervals on the outer periphery (circumferential portion). When the air cylinder 4 is driven and the drive base 3 reciprocates, the cam followers 2 are alternately brought into contact with both ends on the diameter of the drive wheel 8 so as to be able to rotate at a constant angle intermittently. ing. In the present embodiment, the drive wheel 8 is disposed on the back side of the wheel base 7 in which the drive base 3 is disposed via the air cylinder 4.

  The control foil 13 is a so-called star having a substantially arc-shaped pocket 14 (a multiple of the number of claw portions 9 formed in the present embodiment, 18 in this embodiment) corresponding to the size of the article on the outer periphery thereof. In this embodiment, the drive base 3 is disposed on the back side of the wheel base 7 disposed via the air cylinder 4 so as to be rotatable integrally with the drive wheel 8. In the present embodiment, the control foil 13 has a small-diameter portion that is notched in a concave shape so that a guide member or the like of another conveying device is interposed at the center in the thickness direction at the outer peripheral edge portion. The notch is not an essential requirement.

  Here, the mounting structure of the drive wheel 8 and the control wheel 13 will be described. The wheel base 7 on which these are disposed includes a rectangular base body 7A. A circular opening 7B for integrally connecting the driving wheel 8 and the control foil 13 on the front and back surfaces of the base body 7A is formed at the center of the front end side of the base body 7A on the article conveyance path side. A notch step (base notch step) 7C (see FIG. 4) is formed at the edge of the circular opening 7B on the back side of the base body 7A. Further, in the vicinity of the base-side notch step portion 7C on the back surface side of the base body 7A, a bearing collar 17 for fixing two ball bearings 16 to the base body 7A in accordance with the circular opening 7B. Is arranged.

  Then, the ball bearing 16 has the upper end of the outer race of the ball bearing 16 fitted to the base-side notch step 7C, and the lower end thereof is a fitting projection 17A formed at the lower end of the inner peripheral surface of the bearing collar 17. By tightening bolts (not shown) fitted in bolt through-holes 17B (three in the present embodiment) with counterbore formed in the bearing collar 17 in a state of being fitted into the bearing collar, The inner race is disposed on the back surface side of the base body 7A together with the bearing collar 17 in a state where the inner race faces the circular opening 7B.

  A shaft 18 is disposed in the center hole of the ball bearing 16 over the front and back surfaces of the base body 7A. The shaft 18 has a diameter dimension so that one end side (rear surface side) is fitted into the center hole of the ball bearing 16, and the other end side (front surface side) is slightly larger in diameter than the inner race of the ball bearing 16. It is a two-stage shaft that has a diameter dimension that abuts and engages so as to be placed on the end face on the surface side. The other end side of the shaft 18 is abutted and engaged with the upper end surface of the inner race of the ball bearing 16, and the one end side is fitted in the center hole of the ball bearing 16. .

  A screw hole 18A is formed in the end surface on the back surface side of the shaft 18, and the end surface on the back surface side of the shaft 18 is fitted into a center recess portion 8A cut in the center on the front surface side of the drive wheel 8, and the center recess portion The driving wheel 8 is rotatably arranged with respect to the base body 7A of the wheel base 7 by screwing a bolt inserted into the screw through hole 8B formed in the hole 8A into the screw hole 18A and tightening the bolt. .

  In this embodiment, the collar 19 fitted around the shaft 18 fills the gap between the drive wheel 8 and the ball bearing 16, and the drive wheel 8 is positioned in the height direction. Further, when the drive wheel 8 is mounted, the drive wheel 8 does not hinder the reciprocating motion of the drive base 3, and the cam followers 2 A and 2 B are located at both ends on the diameter of the drive wheel 8 between the pair of cam followers 2. The height position at the time of arrangement is adjusted so as to be able to contact each other alternately.

  In addition, a shaft screw hole 18B (shaft side shaft screw hole 18B) is formed at the center of the surface side end of the shaft 18, and a positioning groove 18C for the control wheel 13 is formed. A substantially disc-shaped crown member 20 is fitted to the surface-side end portion of the shaft 18. The crown member 20 includes a crown side shaft screw insertion hole 20A that communicates with the shaft side shaft screw hole 18B, a fitting convex portion 20B that fits into the groove 18C, and a screw hole 20C that fixes the control wheel 13 ( In the present embodiment, three) are formed in the vicinity of the outer periphery. The crown member 20 is fitted with the front end surface of the shaft 18 in a central recess 20D cut in the center on the back surface side, and the fitting convex portion 20B is fitted into the groove 18C on the front end portion of the shaft 18. And is positioned on the shaft 18.

  Then, the control wheel 13 is inserted into the arc-shaped screw through grooves 13B drilled at three locations on the concentric arcs by fitting the crown member 20 into the central recess 13A cut in the center on the back surface side. The bolts (shown in phantom lines in FIGS. 3 and 4) are screwed into the screw holes 20 </ b> C of the crown member 20 and tightened to be integrated with the crown member 20. Further, a wheel side shaft screw insertion hole 13 </ b> C formed in the center portion of the control wheel 13 is communicated with the crown side shaft screw insertion hole 20 </ b> A of the crown member 20. In these two shaft screw insertion holes 13C and 20A and the shaft side shaft screw hole 18B, a washer 22 is sandwiched with respect to the knob nut 24 and is coaxially integrated using a loosening prevention adhesive or the like via a set screw 23. By tightening and tightening the stay bolts 25 formed in the above, the integrated crown member 20 and the control wheel 13 are fastened to the drive wheel 8 and the whole is pivotally supported so as to be integrally rotatable with the drive wheel 8. .

  In the article conveying apparatus 1 assembled in this manner, the pair of cam followers 2, the drive wheel 8, and the control foil 13 can be exchanged according to the shape of the article to be delivered.

  The wheel base 7 is slidably arranged in a direction (arrow A direction in FIG. 1) in contact with and away from the conveyor along the bracket 26 arranged on the side of the conveyor at the pitch adjustment position on the conveyor. The pockets 14 formed at equal intervals on the outer periphery of the control wheel 13 can be adjusted with respect to the conveyor so that articles to be delivered can be accommodated and held at the pitch adjustment position. Specifically, in the present embodiment, a flange portion 7D that is horizontally extended laterally is formed at the center of the side of the base body 7A of the wheel base 7.

  On the other hand, the bracket 26 extends horizontally toward the conveyor from a bracket substrate 26A (see FIGS. 2 and 3) disposed in parallel with the conveyor as a conveyance path of the article on which the pitch adjustment position is formed. There are two bracket beam portions 26B. A space between the two bracket beam portions 26 </ b> B is a space in which various members disposed on the back side of the wheel base 7 are disposed. The bracket beam portion 26B extends in the sliding direction of the wheel base 7 on the mounting surface 26Ba on which the base body 7A of the wheel base 7 is slidably mounted and on the lateral sides of the mounting surface 26Ba that are separated from each other. A bank-shaped slide guide portion 26Bb that is formed and guides both sides of the foil base 7 during sliding is provided. In addition, a notch opening 26C that continues the mounting surface 26Ba is formed in the middle portion in the longitudinal direction of the slide guide portion 26Bb, and the flange portion 7D of the wheel base 7 is positioned so that the notch opening 26C extends in the extending direction. At the end portions of the slide guide portions 26Bb located at both ends, the slide length of the wheel base 7 is regulated.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as another means for regulating the slide length of the foil base 7, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each bracket beam portion 26B is provided with the foil base 7 within the mounting surface 26Ba. A long hole 26D extending in the sliding direction is formed, and a screw hole 7F for sliding the wheel base 7 is formed in a portion facing the mounting surface of the bracket beam portion 26B of the base body 7A. A clamp 29 formed integrally with a set screw 28A screwed into the screw hole 7F is provided. Specifically, the clamp 29 is integrally fixed to one end portion of the cylindrical member 28 via a set screw 29A while using a loosening-proof adhesive or the like, and is attached to the center of the other end surface of the cylindrical member 28 with a locking mechanism. The set screw 28A is integrally disposed with its tip extended while using an agent or the like.

  The clamp 29 inserts the set screw 28A into the long hole 26D, rotates the clamp 29, strengthens the screwing of the set screw 28A with the screw hole 7F of the wheel base 7, and the other end surface of the cylindrical member 28 is The wheel base 7 can be pressed against the bracket beam portion 26B at the periphery of the long hole 26D and brought into close contact with the mounting surface 26Ba of the bracket beam portion 26B to be locked, and the set screw 28A is screwed. By loosening, the surface contact with the mounting surface 26Ba of the wheel base 7 is released, and the wheel base 7 can be slid to a desired position while the clamp 29 is gripped.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as yet another means for regulating the slide length of the foil base 7, as shown in FIG. 2, on both outer sides of the arrangement position of the bracket beam portion 26B on the bracket substrate 26A, A positioner 30 is provided. In the positioner 30, a gauge pin (not shown) can be arranged in parallel with the bracket beam portion 26B by a screw or the like. Then, by using the gauge pin, the foil base 7 is slid to a desired position, or the flange portion 7D extending outward from the slide guide portion 26Bb is brought into contact with the distal end portion of the gauge pin having a desired length. Thus, the slide length of the wheel base 7 is regulated, and the wheel base 7, the control wheel 13 and the like can be easily arranged at desired positions.

  Next, a more detailed configuration of the article transport device 1 of the present embodiment and the relationship between the operations will be described.

  As described above, in the article conveying apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the drive wheel 8 has nine crest-like claw portions 9 continuously on the outer periphery as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. It is formed in a ratchet-like manner so that the distance and the raceway surface are curved. At that time, a total of nine recesses 10 respectively formed between adjacent crest-like claws 9 are adjusted to the outer dimensions of the cam follower 2, and the cam follower 2 is accommodated in the recess 10. It is formed in a shape and dimension that acts as a stopper.

  In addition, the driving foil 8 of the present embodiment is such that the occipital region of the fifth claw portion 9 counted in the rotation direction is located at the opposite position on the diameter of the formation position of each recess 10, that is, at the 180 ° rotation position. Is formed.

  Further, when one cam follower 2 is housed in the recess 10 of the drive wheel 8, the other cam follower 2 counts in the diameter direction from the tip of the fifth claw portion 9 when counted in the rotational direction. The dimensions between the pair of cam followers 2 are designed so as to be spaced apart from each other while taking into consideration the radial dimension of the drive wheel 8.

  Here, in this embodiment, when compressed air is supplied to the air cylinder 4 from the compressor, the drive base 3 fixed to the rod of the air cylinder 4 via the block body 3B is aligned with the rod. , Move in that moving direction. At that time, the pair of cam followers 2 arranged on the drive base 3 also move linearly on the diameter of the drive wheel 8. Therefore, in this embodiment, when mounting (assembling) the article conveying device 1, the mounting is performed so that driving is started from the state in which any one of the cam followers 2 (2B) is housed in the recess 10. (See FIG. 5 (1)).

  In the article conveying apparatus 1 of the present embodiment set in such an initial state, when the air cylinder 4 is driven and the drive base 3 is moved in one direction (rightward in FIG. 5 (1)), the recess 10 One cam follower 2 (2B) housed in is moved out of the recess 10 and moved away from the drive wheel 8. The other cam follower 2 (2A) moves so as to be close to the drive wheel 8, contacts the occipital region of the crest portion 9 of the claw portion 9 on the moving line, and then further moves in the same direction. The driving force of the air cylinder 4 is transmitted to the driving wheel 8 in place of the rotational force while being in sliding contact with the back of the wave front of the claw portion 9, and when the driving base 3 completes the movement in the one direction, It is stored in a recess 10 formed between the claw portion 9.

  By repeating the reciprocating motion of the cam follower 2, the drive wheel 8 can be intermittently rotated.

  Here, the engagement relationship between the pair of cam followers 2 and the driving wheel 8 in this series of driving will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5. First, the proximity to the driving wheel 8 shown on the left side in FIG. One cam follower 2A that moves to the right as much as possible contacts the occipital region of the wave front portion of the claw portion 9 on the moving line when the air cylinder 4 is driven. In addition, the other cam follower 2B has a shallower fit with respect to the concave portion 10 at a position opposed to the claw portion 9 on the diameter, so that the rotation of the drive foil 8 is not hindered from the rotation locus of the claw portion 9 in the outward direction. (Fig. 5 (2)). At this time, since the driving force of the air cylinder 4 is not yet transmitted to the driving wheel 8 as the rotating force of the driving wheel 8, the rotation angle of the driving wheel 8 is 0 °. In this embodiment, the pressure contact angle between the one cam follower 2A and the claw portion 9 at this time is designed to be 22.7 °.

  Thereafter, one cam follower 2 </ b> A itself relatively moves while rotating the outer ring 2 b while sliding the back of the wave front portion of the drive wheel 8 to transmit the driving force of the air cylinder 4 as the rotational force of the driving wheel 8. Thereby, the drive wheel 8 is rotated. Further, the other cam follower 2B finally comes out of the recess 10 at a position opposed to the claw portion 9 on the diameter and is positioned outside the rotation trajectory of the claw portion 9 (FIG. 5 (3 ) To FIG. 5 (5)).

  In the present embodiment, the driving force of the air cylinder 4 is transmitted as the rotational force of the driving wheel 8, and when the rotational angle of the driving wheel 8 becomes 5 °, the pressure angle between the one cam follower 2A and the claw portion 9 is When the rotation angle of the driving wheel 8 is 10 °, the pressure angle between the one cam follower 2 and the claw portion 9 is 27.6 ° (FIG. 5 (4)). ) When the rotation angle of the drive wheel 8 reaches 15 °, the pressure angle between the one cam follower 2 and the claw portion 9 is designed to be 28.5 ° (FIG. 5 (5)). In order to enable smooth linear-rotation conversion, the pressure angle is controlled to be less than 30 ° so that the force when the control wheel 13 feeds the article does not become excessive as described later. .

  In the present embodiment, when the driving force of the air cylinder 4 is transmitted as the rotational force of the driving wheel 8 and the rotational angle of the driving wheel 8 reaches 20 °, the one cam follower 2A It is stored in a recess 10 formed between the claw portion 9. In addition, the other cam follower 2B is located at a distance in the diameter direction of the drive wheel 8 at this time (FIG. 5 (6)).

  As described above, the one cam follower 2 </ b> A housed in the recess 10 acts as a stopper that restricts further rotation of the drive wheel 8. As a result, even if the line pressure of the subsequent article acts on the control foil 13 as described later, the stopper is applied to the drive foil 8 so that the drive foil 8 is rotated integrally with the drive foil 8. It is possible to prevent the control wheel 13 being turned from rotating. Therefore, when an article is jammed on the downstream side of the conveyance path, the article to be sent out is forcibly and mechanically pushed out. As a result, the article is pushed against another article or between the control foil 13 and the article. It is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of accidents such as being pinched and damaged.

  Next, similarly, FIG. 5 is used to explain the delivery operation of the article to be delivered by the control foil 13 that is arranged so as to be rotatable integrally with the drive wheel 8 in one axis.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the drive wheel 8 is rotated by 20 ° by one movement operation in one direction of the drive base 3. Here, the control foil 13 has 18 pockets 14 formed on the outer periphery thereof, which is a multiple of the number (nine) of the claw portions 9 formed on the drive foil 8. An article is intermittently delivered by using one pocket 14 in an intermittent single rotation operation (20 °) of the drive base 3.

  In this embodiment, when the article conveying apparatus 1 is attached (assembled), in the above-described initial state in which any one of the cam followers 2 is accommodated in the concave portion 10 of the drive holder 8, the pitch adjustment position on the conveyor is set. The wheel base 7 is slid along the slide guide portion 26Bb on the mounting surface 26Ba of the bracket beam portion 26B so that the supplied article is stored and held in any of the pockets 14. Specifically, the clamp 29 is rotated to unlock the slide of the wheel base 7, and after the wheel base 7 is slid to a desired position while the clamp 29 is gripped, the clamp 29 is rotated again. Operate to lock the slide of the wheel base 7. When positioning the wheel base 7, the positioning may be performed using the positioner 30 or the gauge pin described above.

  In addition to the positioning of the wheel base 7, the rotational position of the control wheel 13 attached to the crown member 20 is adjusted to make any pocket 14 face the pitch adjustment position. At this time, in this embodiment, the stay bolt 25 integrally formed with the knob nut 24 screwed in the wheel shaft screw hole 18B of the control foil 13 and the locking agent is removed, and the control foil 13 is further removed. While rotating the control wheel 13 with respect to the crown member 20 while loosening the screwing of the bolt 20 fitted into the screw hole 20C of the crown member 20 into the three screw through grooves 13B drilled in the pocket, 14 is finely adjusted (see FIG. 5A). Also. After fine adjustment, tighten each part.

  In the article conveying apparatus 1 of the present embodiment set in such an initial state, as described above, the air cylinder 4 is driven, and the drive is performed via the cam follower 2 disposed in the reciprocating drive base 3. When the force is transmitted as the rotational force of the drive wheel 8, the drive wheel 8 rotates intermittently by 20 ° for each movement of the drive base 3 in one direction. As the drive wheel 8 rotates, the control wheel 13 configured to rotate integrally with the drive wheel 8 on one axis also rotates intermittently by 20 °. In the initial state, the control wheel 13 disposed with the pockets 14 formed on the outer periphery facing the pitch adjustment position is the pockets 14 to which the articles to be fed supplied on the conveyor from the upstream side of the conveying path of the articles are pockets 14. The downstream end of the pocket 14 is separated from the conveyance path while it is rotated 20 degrees downstream of the conveyance path from the state where the rotation angle is 0 ° (FIG. 5 (2) to FIG. 5 (6)). Then, the downstream side thereof is released, and the upstream side end portion acts to send out the article held in the pocket 14. When the rotation of 20 ° is completed, only one released article is separated from the succeeding article and conveyed to the downstream side of the conveyance path by the conveyor. At this time, the next-order article of the sent-out article is sent to the pitch adjustment position by the line pressure by the subsequent article and the conveyance of the conveyor, and the next-position pocket 14 adjacent in the rotation direction is placed. Is stored and held.

  By repeating this series of operations, the control wheel 13 can be intermittently rotated to separate the article from the subsequent articles and feed out at a desired pitch. The pitch interval can be adjusted by changing the reciprocating speed of the air cylinder 4. Since one article can be sent out by one movement of the air cylinder 4 in one direction, the article can be conveyed very quickly.

Further, in the article transport apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, since the articles are sent one by one by the control foil 13, the last one article transported and supplied from the upstream side is sent to the downstream transport path at a desired pitch. be able to. At that time, by blocking the line pressure of the subsequent article with respect to the article to be delivered by the control wheel 13, the article can be delivered with a constant force (in the present embodiment, approximately 10 kg / cm ² ).

  Further, in the present embodiment using the air cylinder 4 as a drive device, a cushion acts on the delivery of the article by the control wheel 13. That is, when an article is jammed downstream in the transport direction, the article to be sent cannot be advanced. In that case, the air cylinder 4 that supplies the driving force for rotating the control wheel 13 and the driving wheel 8 together, the relief valve is activated when the pressure exceeds a set value, and the air is released. The forward movement (or backward movement) of the cam follower 2 is canceled halfway (the cushion is in a working state), and the article is not sent out this time. As described above, an accident in which the article to be sent out is forcibly and mechanically pushed out and is damaged by being pressed against another article or being sandwiched between the control wheel 13 and the like. Can be prevented.

  Further, as described above, in the article conveying apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the control wheel 13 can be appropriately replaced in accordance with the shape of the article to be fed. For example, when the outer diameter of the article to be sent out is larger than the article shown in FIG. 5 described above, only the diameter dimension is different, and the number of pockets 14 formed is simply changed to the control wheel 13 without change. The article conveying apparatus 1 can be driven without exchanging other configurations of the article conveying apparatus 1, for example, the drive wheel 8, the pair of cam followers 2, and the like. Further, when the article delivery direction is opposite to the present embodiment, the claw portion 9 of the drive foil 8 may be replaced with the drive foil 8 that rotates in the opposite direction. For example, a central recess is formed in the center of both sides so that the front and back of the drive foil 8 can be turned over, and the front and back are appropriately selected in accordance with the article transport direction, and are arranged on the shaft 18 of the article transport apparatus 1. May be.

  In addition, the article conveyance apparatus 1 of this invention is not restricted to the structure of this embodiment.

  For example, even if the driving wheel 8 and the control wheel 13 are not pivotally supported so as to be integrally rotatable on the same axis as in the present embodiment, the control wheel 13 is required to be rotated by a predetermined amount by the rotation of the driving wheel 8. For example, the rotation of the drive wheel 8 may be transmitted via another gear group.

  Moreover, the structure which arrange | positions the drive foil 8 and the control foil 13 on the single side | surface side of the foil base 7 may be sufficient.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the present invention is configured so that articles supplied from the upstream side in a state of being arranged and arranged on one conveyor are sent one by one at a desired pitch (interval) to the downstream side in the transport direction. However, the conveyance path on which the article conveyance device 1 of the present invention is arranged does not have to be constituted by a single conveyor in this way. For example, the delivery position of the article between the conveyor disposed on the upstream side and the infeed screw disposed on the downstream side is set as the pitch adjustment position, and the pitch for supplying the article to the infeed screw is defined as the article conveyance according to the present invention. It is also possible to configure to adjust by the device 1.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Article conveyance apparatus 2 (2A, 2B) Cam follower 2a Mounting bolt 2b Outer ring 2c Nut 3 Drive base 3A Base main body 3Aa Extension part 3B Block body 4 Drive apparatus (air cylinder)
4A Exterior Case 7 Wheel Base 7A Base Body 7B Circular Opening 7C Base Side Notch Step 7D Flange 8 Drive Wheel 8A Center Recess 8B Screw Through Hole 9 Claw 10 Recess 13 Control Wheel 13A Center Recess 13B Screw Through Groove 13C Wheel Side Shaft screw insertion hole 14 Pocket 16 Ball bearing 17 Bearing collar 18 Shaft 18A Screw hole 18B Shaft side shaft screw hole 18C Groove 19 Collar 20 Crown member 20A Crown side shaft screw insertion hole 20B Fitting projection 20C Screw hole 20D Center recess 22 Washer 23 Collar 24 Knob nut 25 Stay bolt 26 Bracket 26A Bracket substrate 26B Bracket beam portion 26Ba Mounting surface 26Bb Slide guide portion 26C Notch opening 26D Long hole 28 Cylindrical member 28A Set screw 29 Clamp 29A Set screw 3 0 Positioner

Claims (4)

An article transporting device for sending an article, which is disposed in the middle of the transport path of the article and is supplied from the upstream side at the pitch adjustment position, one by one to the downstream side in the transport direction at a desired pitch,
A drive base in which a pair of cam followers are disposed apart from each other;
A drive device for reciprocating the drive base in the separating direction of the pair of cam followers;
A ratchet-like drive wheel disposed so as to be intermittently rotatable at a constant angle by the pair of cam followers being alternately brought into contact with both ends in the radial direction by reciprocation of the drive base;
A pocket that is rotatably supported by the rotational force of the drive wheel and that is formed at equal intervals on the outer periphery at the pitch adjustment position accommodates and holds the article to be delivered supplied on the article conveyance path. The arranged control foil,
An article conveying apparatus comprising:   The article driving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving device includes a linear actuator in which the driving base is fixed to a rod.   3. The article conveying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the driving device is an air cylinder capable of controlling a pressure of supplied air.   The driving wheel and the control wheel are disposed on the same wheel base, and the driving device and the driving base are disposed on the wheel base, and the wheel base causes the pocket to correspond to the pitch adjustment position. The article conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the article conveying apparatus is supported by a bracket so that the arrangement position can be adjusted as described above.

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