JP2012046295A - Diverging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a diverging device which appropriately sets an arm turning speed irrespective of a form or layout of an article which is conveyed on a path by a conveyor.SOLUTION: The diverging device 9 includes: a rotary shaft 13 disposed on the side opposite to a diverging path 7 with respect to a route 5; an arm 19 extending in a radial direction of the rotary shaft 13; pushers 23 and 24 supported rotatably to the arm 19 via a spindle 21; a drive means 25 for turning the arm 19 around the rotary shaft 13; and an attitude maintaining means 27 for maintaining an attitude of the pusher 23. The drive means 25 pauses the turning of the arm 19 at a position where the pusher 23 is retreated from the diverging path 7. When an article 3 conveyed on a conveyor faces the pusher 23, the drive means 25 turns the arm 19 in a direction of advancing the pusher 23 to the diverging path 7.

Description

  The present invention relates to a branching device that can carry and sort articles.

  The following patent document discloses an apparatus for guiding an article conveyed along a path to a branch path by a conveyor. FIG. 9 shows a conventional branch device 101, a conveyor 107 that is installed in the path 103 and conveys the article 105 in the direction of arrow X, and a branch path 109 branched from the path 103. The branching device 101 has a rotating shaft 111 disposed in the vicinity of a path 103 opposite to the branching path 109, and pushers 115 are attached to both ends of an arm 113 extending in the radial direction of the rotating shaft 111. Reference numeral 110 indicates a conveyor for conveying articles in the direction of the arrow Y.

  The arm 113 is turned in the direction of the arrow α about the rotation shaft 111 at a predetermined cycle by a rotating machine or the like. In this process, the operation of moving the pusher 115 forward to the branch path 109 and the operation of moving the pusher 115 backward from the branch path 109 are repeated. The plurality of articles 105 represented by solid lines are aligned with each other at equal intervals, and the speed at which the conveyor 107 conveys the articles 105 is constant. As the pusher 115 swirling together with the arm 113 sequentially hits the plurality of articles 105 in the process of moving forward to the branch path 109, the articles 105 are pushed out one by one to the branch path 109 and reach the position indicated by reference numeral 105 '.

  However, the interval between the articles 105 may be set wider than illustrated. In this case, if the turning speed of the arm 113 is slowed down in order to lengthen the turning period of the arm 113, the time for the pusher 115 to contact the article 105 when pushing out the article 105 to the branch path 109 becomes long. Accordingly, the article 105 conveyed by the conveyor 107 slips in the direction of the arrow X with respect to the pusher 115. Therefore, the position of the article 105 pushed out to the branch path 109 is 105 as the turning speed of the arm 113 is slower. There is a tendency to deviate from the position of 'in the direction of arrow X.

  Further, the arrangement or size of the articles 105 placed on the conveyor 107 may not be uniform. When the distance [s] between the pusher 115 retracted from the branch path 109 and the article 105 facing the pusher 115 increases, the timing of the pusher 115 contacting the article 105 is delayed in the process of moving forward to the branch path 109. For this reason, since the article 105 moves excessively in the direction of the arrow X with respect to the pusher 115 before the pusher 115 contacts the article 105, the position of the article 105 pushed out to the branch path 109 has a long distance [s]. There is a tendency to deviate from the position of 105 ′ in the direction of the arrow X.

JP 56-43125 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-68025

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to appropriately set the turning speed of the arm regardless of the form or arrangement of the article conveyed by the conveyor. It is to provide a branching device that can be used.

  The present invention is a branching device for guiding articles conveyed by the conveyor to a branching path branched from a path through which the conveyor transports articles, and a rotary shaft disposed on the opposite side of the branching path with respect to the path And an arm extending in a radial direction of the rotating shaft, a pusher supported rotatably on the arm via a support shaft, and turning the arm around the rotating shaft to thereby move the pusher. Driving means that repeats the operation of moving forward to the branch path and the operation of moving the pusher backward from the branch path, and the support shaft as a fulcrum so as to maintain the posture along the direction in which the pusher is conveyed Posture maintaining means for rotating the pusher, and the drive means stops the turning of the arm in a state where the pusher is retracted from the branch path, and When the article to be conveyed faces the pusher retracted from the branch path, the drive means turns the arm in a direction to advance the pusher to the branch path, and the article is moved by the pusher swung together with the arm. It is characterized by being pushed out into a branch path.

  Further, according to the present invention, the pusher extends a tip from the contact piece extending in a direction in which the article is conveyed and a direction opposite to the direction in which the article is conveyed by the conveyor, to the front tip. And a guide piece inclined so as to recede from the branch path as it goes.

  The present invention further comprises distance measuring means for detecting a distance between the pusher retracted from the branch path and an article conveyed to the conveyor, and the driving based on the distance detected by the distance measuring means. Means swivel the arm in a direction to advance the pusher into the branch path. Further, the present invention is characterized in that the distance measuring means is attached to the pusher.

  Further, in the present invention, the arm has both end portions extending from the rotating shaft, and the extending directions of the both end portions from the rotating shaft are less than 180 ° about the rotating shaft. The crank includes an eccentric shaft that is supported at a position that is eccentric with respect to the rotation shaft, and both ends that extend from the eccentric shaft, and each of the both ends extends from the eccentric shaft. The exit direction forms an angle equal to the depression angle.

  According to the branching device of the present invention, when the article conveyed by the conveyor faces the pusher retracted from the branching path, the pusher rotates the arm so that the drive means advances the pusher to the branching path and swings together with the arm. The article can be pushed out to the branch path. The drive means further turns the arm and stops turning the arm while the pusher is retracted from the branch path. Following the article pushed out to the branch path based on the operation of the driving means described above, the subsequent article conveyed by the conveyor faces the pusher retracted from the branch path. At this point, the drive means can push the subsequent article into the branch path by advancing the pusher to the branch path.

  According to the branching device according to the present invention, the longer the interval between the article conveyed to the conveyor and the subsequent article is, the longer the time for which the drive means stops turning the arm and the article as described above. Immediately after being pushed out to the branch path, the time interval until the subsequent article is pushed out to the branch path can be increased. For this reason, even if the interval between the articles conveyed by the conveyor is changed, the branching device does not need to increase or decrease the speed at which the driving means turns the arm, and therefore pushes the article to a desired position on the branch path. be able to.

  According to the branching device of the present invention, the driving means starts the operation of turning the arm in the direction to advance the pusher to the branching path based on the distance between the pusher retracted from the branching path and the article. The longer the distance, the earlier the timing at which the drive means starts turning the arm. For this reason, even if the arrangement or size of the articles placed on the belt conveyor is irregular, the branching device can push the articles to a desired position on the branch path.

  According to the branching device of the present invention, in the branching device, the abutting piece of the pusher mainly contacts the article while the pusher pushes the article to the branching path. Since the contact piece has a shape extending in the direction in which the article is conveyed, it is possible to appropriately release the force of the conveyor to convey the article and not to apply an unnecessary external force to the article. Further, when the guide piece of the pusher comes into contact with the article conveyed by the conveyor, the article moves along the guide piece by the force of the conveyor carrying the article and reaches a position where it comes into contact with the contact piece. For this reason, the branch device can push the article to the branch path without hooking the contact piece of the pusher to the article.

  In the branching device according to the present invention, since the extending directions of the both end portions of the arm from the rotation axis are depression angles of less than 180 ° centering on the rotation shaft, Even if the arm is stopped with one end, the pusher supported at the one end, and the crank aligned, the position of the pivot shaft of the pusher supported at the other end with respect to the arm Will be out of the dead center. If the driving means is immediately activated in this state, the pusher supported on the other end of the arm turns about the supporting shaft, and the pusher supported on the one end of the arm also turns in synchronization with this.

The top view which shows the usage example of the branch apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1 showing a side surface of the branching device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The side view of the principal part of the branch apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The top view of the principal part of the branch apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The side view which fractured | ruptured a part of modification of the branch device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The side view of the principal part of the branch apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The top view of the principal part of the branch apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The top view of the principal part of the branch apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The top view which shows the usage example of the branch apparatus of a prior art example.

  1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a branching device 9 that guides an article 3 conveyed by the conveyor 1 to a branching path 7 that branches off from a path 5. An arrow X indicates the direction in which the conveyor 1 conveys the article 3. The arrow Y indicates the direction in which the conveyor 11 installed in the branch path 7 conveys the article 3. The branching device 9 is provided on the opposite side of the branch path 7 with respect to the path 5 and extends in the vertical direction. The arm 19 extends both ends 15 and 17 from the rotating shaft 13 in the horizontal direction. A pair of support shafts 21 provided at both end portions 15 and 17, a pair of pushers 23 and 24 supported at both end portions 15 and 17 via the support shaft 21, and an arm 19 are connected to the rotation shaft 13. Drive means 25 for turning around and posture maintaining means 27 are provided.

  FIG. 2 shows the frame 29 of the conveyor 1, the belt 31, and the casing 33 of the branching device 9 that are broken along the line AA in FIG. 1. The conveyor 1 winds the belt 31 around a pulley or the like supported by the frame 29 and rotates the pulley or the like with a rotating machine so that the belt 31 travels in the direction of the arrow X along the upper surface 35 of the frame 29. It is a belt conveyor. The belt 31 is an endless belt that reverses its traveling direction by 180 ° around a pulley or the like, and reference numeral 31 ′ indicates a cross section of the belt that travels in the direction opposite to the arrow X.

  As the article 3, a disk-shaped tray on which fruits and vegetables are placed is illustrated. The shape, size, weight, or material of the article 3 is not limited at all. The path 5 and the branch path 7 are areas where the articles 3 are respectively conveyed by the conveyors 1 and 11. Further, the conveyor 11 of the branch path 7 is not an essential element, and a chute or the like may be applied as the branch path 7.

  FIG. 3 is a partially broken view of the arm 19, pushers 23 and 24, and posture maintaining means 27. The drive means 25 is an electric motor that inputs a rotational force to the speed reducer 37 supported by the housing 33, and the rotary shaft 13 corresponds to the output shaft of the speed reducer 37. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the arm 19 is a plate member joined to the rotary shaft 13 via a joint member 39, and is provided on the upper surface of both end portions (hereinafter referred to as one end portion 15 and the other end portion 17). A pair of support shafts 21 is provided.

  The pushers 23 and 24 are formed by bending a steel plate to form a horizontal piece 41, a contact piece 43, and a guide piece 45. The horizontal piece 41 receives the support shaft 21 by a bearing 49 attached to the base end portion thereof, and is connected to the arm 19 so as to be rotatable about the support shaft 21. The contact piece 43 may have a smooth shape having a vertical width and extending in the direction of the arrow X. The guide piece 45 has a vertical width, and extends from the contact piece 43 in a direction opposite to the arrow X, and is inclined so as to recede from the branch path 7 toward the tip 46.

  The posture maintaining means 27 is fixed to the housing 33 and holds the bearing 51 at a position eccentric with respect to the rotary shaft 13, the eccentric shaft 55 supported by the bearing 51, and the eccentric shaft 55 joined to both ends. Are each provided with a flat plate-like crank 57 extending horizontally from the eccentric shaft 55. The bearing 51 and the holder 53 are omitted in FIG. The crank 57 is provided with a pair of rotating shafts 59 on the lower surfaces of both end portions thereof. The pushers 23 and 24 receive a rotation shaft 59 by a bearing 63 attached to the tip of the horizontal piece 41, and are connected to a crank 57 so as to be rotatable about the rotation shaft 59.

  The distance between one of the pair of support shafts 21 provided on the arm 19 and the rotation shaft 13 is equal to the distance between the other support shaft and the rotation shaft 13. The distance between these axes is the distance between one of the pair of rotating shafts 59 to the eccentric shaft 55 and the distance between the other rotating shaft to the eccentric shaft 55. Are also equal.

  In the branching device 9, the drive means 25 turns the arm 19 in the direction of the arrow α in FIG. 1 to move the pushers 23 and 24 forward to the branch path 7 and to move the pushers 23 and 24 backward from the branch path 7. The operation can be repeated. Further, since the arm 19, pushers 23 and 24, and the crank 57 are a parallel crank mechanism having the support shaft 21 and the rotation shaft 59 as fulcrums, the pushers 23 and 24 are used to turn the arm 19 by the driving means 25. In synchronism with each other, the support shaft 21 is pivoted in the directions of arrows β and β ′ in FIG. As a result, the pushers 23 and 24 are maintained in a posture in which the contact pieces 43 are parallel to the direction of the arrow X.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the distance measuring means 65 may be added to the branching device 9. The distance measuring means 65 detects the distance [s] between the pushers 23 and 24 retracted from the branch path 7 and the articles 3 conveyed by the conveyor 1. A high-frequency oscillation type proximity sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like can be applied as the distance measuring means 65. This figure shows an example in which the distance measuring means 65 is fixed to the pushers 23 and 24 and the heads of the distance measuring means 65 are flush with the contact pieces 43 of the pushers 23 and 24. When the guide rail 67 that restricts the article 3 from deviating to the side of the conveyor 1 is attached to the frame 29, the distance measuring means 65 may be fixed to the guide rail 67.

  The operation in which the branching device 9 pushes the article 3 from the path 5 to the branch path 7 will be described below. First, with the pusher 23 of the arm 19 retracted from the branch path 7, the driving means 25 stops the rotation of the arm 19. That is, the arm 19 is made to stand by in the posture represented by the solid line in FIG. The article 3 is conveyed by the conveyor 1 and comes to face the pusher 23 retracted from the branch path 7. At this time, the driving means 25 is activated to turn the arm 19, and the pusher 23 that moves forward with the one end 15 of the arm 19 to the branch path 7 pushes the article 3 to the branch path 7. Here, facing means that the article 3 faces the front surface of the contact piece 43 of the pusher 23 and the distance from the article 3 to the contact piece 43 is the shortest.

  The driving means 25 further turns the arm 19, and when the arm 19 turns 180 ° from the posture shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, the turning of the arm 19 is stopped. Then, at the timing when the subsequent article 30 faces the pusher 24, the driving unit 25 is activated again. Accordingly, the pusher 24 that moves forward to the branch path 7 together with the other end portion 17 of the arm 19 can push the subsequent article 30 to the branch path 7. In this way, the branching device 9 causes the driving means 25 to perform intermittent operation that repeats stopping of the arm 19 every time the arm 19 is rotated 180 °, thereby allowing the plurality of articles 3 aligned in the direction of the arrow X to be aligned. Each can be pushed out to the branch path 7.

  Further, the branching device 9 has the following advantages. The interval between the plurality of articles 3 aligned in the direction of the arrow X may be set wider than the example of FIG. 1, or the speed at which the conveyor 1 conveys the articles 3 may be reduced. In this case, it is sufficient to set a long time for the drive means 25 to stop the arm 19 so that the time required to rotate the arm 19 by 180 ° is increased. You don't have to slow down. For this reason, in the process in which the pushers 23 and 24 push out the article 3 to the branch path 7, the contact time between the pushers 23 and 24 does not increase, so the article 3 conveyed by the conveyor 1 slides in the direction of the arrow X with respect to the pushers 23 and 24. The branching device 9 can push the article 3 to a desired position on the branch path 7 indicated by the virtual line 3 ′.

  Alternatively, since the arrangement or size of the articles 3 placed on the conveyor 1 is not uniform, the distance [s] detected by the distance measuring means 65 shown in FIG. 5 may change irregularly. In this case, the value of the distance [s] is transmitted as a signal from the distance measuring means 65 and input to the computer that controls the start and stop of the driving means 25. In this computer, as the distance [s] is longer, the timing at which the driving unit 25 starts turning the arm 19 is advanced. For this reason, the article 3 does not move excessively in the direction of the arrow X with respect to the pushers 23 and 24 before the pushers 23 and 24 come into contact with the article 3 regardless of the length of the distance [s]. 9 can push the article 3 to a desired position on the branch path 7.

  Since the pusher 23, 24 pushes the article 3 to the branch path 7, the branching device 9 brings the contact piece 43 of the pushers 23, 24 into contact with the article 3, so that the conveyor 1 can appropriately transport the article 3 It is possible to escape and not apply unnecessary external force to the article 3. Further, since the guide piece 45 is inclined so as to retreat from the branch path 7 toward the tip 46, when the guide piece 45 of the pushers 23, 24 contacts the article 3, the article 3 is transported by the conveyor 1. It moves along the guide piece 45 while receiving and is guided to a position where it contacts the contact piece 43. For this reason, the branch device 9 can push the article 3 to the branch path 7 without hooking the contact pieces 43 of the pushers 23 and 24 onto the article 3.

  In the process in which the branching device 9 pushes the article 3 in the direction of the arrow Y by the above operation, the position of the center of gravity of the article 3 conveyed by the conveyor 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has moved to the outside of the belt 31 of the conveyor 1. By the way, the article 3 is transferred from the conveyor 1 to the conveyor 11. Since the width of the upper surface 35 of the belt 31 and the frame 29 is set to be narrower than the width (diameter) of the article 3, the stroke of the branching device 9 for pushing out the article 3 as described above may be relatively short. Accordingly, the entire length of the arm 19 may be short, which is advantageous for downsizing the branch device 9.

  6 and 7 show a branching device 69 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The difference between the branch device 69 and the branch device 9 will be described below.

  The posture maintaining means 71 includes a holder 75 that is fixed to the housing 33 and holds the sun gear 73 directly above the rotating shaft 13, a pair of planetary gears 77 disposed at one end 15 and the other end 17 of the arm 19, A pair of support shafts 79 that penetrate one end 15 and the other end 17 of the arm 19, join the upper end to the planetary gear 77 and join the lower end to the horizontal piece 41 of the pushers 23, 24, and both the sun gear 73 and the planetary gear 77. A pair of planetary gears 81 that mesh with each other, and a pair of support shafts 83 that are provided on the arm 19 and rotatably support the planetary gear 81. The holder 75 is omitted in FIG.

  When the driving means 25 turns the arm 19 in the direction of the arrow α, the planetary gear 81 and the planetary gear 77 rotate around the sun gear 73, and the pushers 23 and 24 together with the support shaft 79 are indicated by the arrows β and β ′, respectively. Rotate in the direction. Thereby, in the process in which the arm 19 pivots as described above, the pushers 23 and 24 are maintained in a posture in which the respective contact edges are parallel to the direction in which the article 3 is conveyed.

  FIG. 8 shows a branching device 85 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The difference between the branch device 85 and the branch device 9 will be described below. The bearing 51 and the holder 53 described above are omitted in the figure.

  In the arm 89, the extending directions of the one end portion 15 and the other end portion 17 from the rotation shaft 13 form a depression angle of less than 180 ° around the rotation shaft 13. Here, the depression angle is an angle at which the one end 15 is separated from the other end 17 of the arm 89 in the direction of the arrow α, and from the center B of the support shaft 21 provided at the one end 15 of the arm 89, The inner angle [θ] at which the imaginary line extending to the center O and the imaginary line extending from the center C of the support shaft 21 provided at the other end 17 of the arm 89 to the center O of the rotation shaft 13 intersect. The crank 91 has both end portions extending from the eccentric shaft 55, and the extending directions of both end portions (hereinafter referred to as one end portion 93 and the other end portion 95) from the eccentric shaft 55 are the above-mentioned [θ ] And an angle equal to.

  For example, when the driving unit 25 is stopped urgently due to an unexpected situation, as shown in FIG. 8, when the arm 89 of the posture maintaining unit 87 stops, the one end 15 of the arm 89, the pusher 23, and the crank 91 are stopped. One end portion 93 may be aligned on a straight line. In this state, the position of the rotation shaft 59 provided at the other end portion 95 of the crank 91 is out of the dead center with respect to the arm 89 which is the driving node of the parallel crank mechanism. If so, the pusher 24 immediately turns in the direction of arrow β. In synchronism with this, the pusher 23 also turns in the direction of the arrow β ′. The starting principle of the posture maintaining means 87 is the same when the other end 17 of the arm 89, the pusher 24, and the other end 95 of the crank 91 are aligned.

  Further, if the turning speed of the arm 89 is constant, the pusher 24 branches the article 3 longer than the time when the driving means 25 stops the arm 89 immediately after the pusher 23 pushes the article 3 to the branch path 7. What is necessary is just to set long time for the drive means 25 to stop the arm 89 immediately after pushing out to the path | route 7. In this way, the branching device 85 can easily control the operation of the drive unit 25 turning the arm 89.

  It should be noted that the present invention can be carried out in a mode in which various improvements, modifications, or variations are added based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The path 5 and the branch path 7 do not need to be orthogonal. A plurality of branch devices 9, 69, 85 may be arranged in the direction of arrow X. Alternatively, either of the pushers 23 and 24 may be omitted, and the article 3 may be pushed out to the branch path 7 one by one each time the driving unit 25 rotates the arms 19 and 89 by 360 °. Two or more arms 19 and 89 may be attached to the rotary shaft 13.

  The present invention is not limited to trays on which fruits and vegetables are placed, but can be applied to the conveyance and sorting of all articles.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,11 ... Conveyor, 3,30 ... Article, 5 ... Path | route, 7 ... Branching path, 9, 69, 85 ... Branching device, 13 ... Rotating shaft, 15, 17 ... both ends (one end, the other end), 19, 89 ... arm, 21, 79, 83 ... support shaft, 23, 24 ... pusher, 25 ... drive means, 27, 71, 87 ... posture maintaining means, 29 ... frame, 31 ... belt, 33 ... housing, 35 ... upper surface, 37 ... speed reducer, 39 ... joint member, 41 ... Horizontal piece, 43 ... Contact piece, 45 ... Guide piece, 46 ... Tip, 49, 51, 63 ... Bearing, 53, 75 ... Holder, 55 ... Eccentric Shaft, 57, 91 ... crank, 59 ... rotating shaft, 61 ... tip, 65 ... distance measuring means, 67 ... guide rail, 73 ... sun gear, 77, 81. .. Planetary gear, 93, 95 ... both ends (one end, the other end).

Claims (5)

A branching device for guiding articles conveyed by the conveyor to a branching path branched from a path for conveying the articles by the conveyor;
A rotating shaft disposed on the opposite side of the branch path with respect to the path;
An arm extending in a radial direction of the rotating shaft;
A pusher rotatably supported by the arm via a support shaft;
Drive means for repeating the operation of moving the pusher forward to the branch path and the operation of moving the pusher backward from the branch path by turning the arm around the rotation axis;
Posture maintaining means for rotating the pusher around the support shaft so that the pusher maintains a posture along the direction in which the article is conveyed,
The drive means stops turning of the arm in a state where the pusher is retracted from the branch path;
When the article conveyed to the conveyor faces the pusher retracted from the branch path, the driving means turns the arm in a direction to advance the pusher to the branch path, and the article is pushed by the pusher swung together with the arm. Is pushed out to the branch path. A contact piece extending in a direction in which the article is conveyed;
A guide piece that extends from the abutting piece to the opposite side to the direction in which the article is conveyed by the conveyor, and is inclined so as to recede from the branch path toward the front end.
The branching device according to claim 1, comprising: Ranging means for detecting the distance between the pusher retracted from the branch path and the article conveyed to the conveyor,
3. The branching device according to claim 1, wherein, based on a distance detected by the distance measuring unit, the driving unit turns the arm in a direction in which the pusher is advanced to the branch path.   4. The branching device according to claim 1, wherein the distance measuring means is attached to the pusher. The arm has both ends extending from the rotating shaft, and the extending directions of the both ends from the rotating shaft form a depression angle of less than 180 ° around the rotating shaft;
The crank has an eccentric shaft that is supported at a position that is eccentric with respect to the rotation shaft, and both ends that extend from the eccentric shaft, and the direction in which each of the both ends extends from the eccentric shaft, The branching device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the branching device forms an angle equal to the depression angle.

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