JP2015120594A - Equipment for separating and carrying out stacked trays - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide equipment for separating and carrying out stacked trays, which enables the trays to be conveyed by being reliably separated one by one from the stacked trays configured by stack of the plurality of trays.SOLUTION: Equipment for separating and carrying out stacked trays comprises support members 8, 8... that abut on the vicinity of a side end of the lowermost end tray 1 of the stacked trays and support the tray 1, tray separation means, and means for carrying out the separated tray. The support members 8, 8... are arranged so that the lowermost end tray 1 can be supported in a state in which any one of the side ends is displaced downward along a tray stacking direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a laminated tray separating and carrying out apparatus for separating and carrying out one by one from the lowest end of a laminated tray in which a plurality of trays made of foamed resin or the like used for food packaging or the like are laminated.

As a conventional laminated tray separating apparatus related to the present invention, for example, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-42767).
This tray separating device is provided with a locking member having an elastic force for locking both end edges of the bottommost tray of a stacked stack of a plurality of stacked trays, and overcoming the locking member against the elastic force by an adsorber. To separate.

  However, in such an apparatus, it is not easy to maintain an appropriate balance between the locking force due to the elastic force of the locking member and the suction force by the adsorber, and when the lowermost tray is peeled off, A negative pressure is generated between the first tray and the next tray, and they may be separated as a unit while being in close contact with each other, making it difficult to reliably separate them one by one.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-42767

  In view of the above-described conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a stacked tray separating and carrying out apparatus that can reliably separate and carry out the bottom end trays of stacked trays one by one.

The present invention includes a support member that supports a tray by contacting the vicinity of the side end of the lowermost tray in a stacked tray in which a plurality of trays are stacked, a tray separating unit, and a separated tray carrying unit. A stacking tray separating and unloading apparatus, wherein the lowermost tray is supported so that one of the side end portions is shifted downward along the stacking direction of the tray. The stacked tray separating / unloading device is used.
The support members are provided so as to support the four corners of the rectangular tray, respectively, and a set of support members supporting any two adjacent corners are shifted downward along the stacking direction of the tray, The support member is preferably formed with an inclined surface along the direction in which the tray is separated.
Further, a support member is disposed and separated so that the stacking tray is inclined to one side and the bottom end tray is supported in a state where the lower side end portion is shifted downward along the stacking direction. The tray may be carried out by sliding on a guide surface formed on the carrying-out means inclined in the same direction as the stacked tray.
In addition, the separating means adsorbs and sucks the suction cups to the bottom surface of the tray, and the suction cups are biased to the side end side shifted downward, and the suction cups bulge in the lateral direction. It is preferable to consist of a flexible body having

  Since the support member is disposed so that the lowermost end tray of the stacked tray is supported in a state where either side end portion is shifted downward along the stacking direction, the lowermost end of the stacked tray as shown in FIG. Since the tray is separated from the succeeding next tray by its own weight from the shifted side end side, it is easy to separate.

  It is a side view which shows the principal part of the Example of the lamination | stacking tray isolation | separation carrying-out apparatus of this invention.   (A) It is drawing of the principal part seen from A in FIG. (B) It is BB sectional drawing in FIG.   It is explanatory drawing of the state which made the lamination tray in FIG. 1 stand upright.

Although only the main part of the stacked tray separating and carrying out apparatus according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG. 1, a storage for storing a stacked tray in which a plurality of rectangular trays are stacked is inclined approximately 35 degrees with respect to a vertical line. A tank 2 is provided in the machine casing 4.
The storage tank 2 accommodates the stacking tray so as to be slidable along the inclination direction by its own weight, and is provided with a tray guide for regulating the periphery of the stacking tray so as not to collapse.
In this example, guides 7a and 7a for regulating the left and right corners of the tray below the inclined stacked tray and guides 7b and 7b made of a round bar for regulating the intermediate portion in the width direction of the tray are the tray storage unit. It is provided over the entire area.
In this example, the laminated tray can be slid by its own weight, but may be equipped with a forced feeding device using a weight or the like as appropriate.

Further, in the vicinity of the lower end portion of the storage tank 2, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), guides 7c and 7c for regulating both corners of the tray facing the guides 7a and 7a of the stacked tray 1, and the side of the tray 1 As support members that contact the vicinity of the end portion and support the tray, support members 8, 8,... That support and support each corner portion of the tray are provided to support the four corner portions of the tray 1.
The support members 8, 8,... Are fixed to guides 7a and 7c provided at positions facing the four corners of the square tray 1, and the cross-sectional shape taken along the line BB in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the inclined surface is formed along the direction in which the trays are separated, and the four corners of the lowermost tray 1 of the stacked tray are in contact with and supported by the inclined surface.
Further, the support members 8, 8.. Are not necessarily supported by being in contact with the four corners of the tray 1 as in the present embodiment, for example, the left and right side walls of the lowermost tray 1 shown in FIG. A pair of left and right support members that abut on and support appropriate locations may be used.
The positions of these guides and support members are appropriately adjusted according to the size (width and length dimensions) of the tray accommodated by an adjusting means (not shown).

In order to facilitate understanding, the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3 in which the laminated tray inclined in FIG. 1 is returned to the upright state and displayed.
Of the supporting members 8 that contact the four corners of the lowermost tray 1 of the stacked tray placed on the virtual horizontal plane, any two adjacent corners (the two corners on the right side in FIG. 3) The supporting members 8 and 8 to be supported are shifted by a C dimension downward along the outline of the tray, that is, the outline formed by the side edges of the stack tray (left and right outlines shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3).
This shifted dimension C is limited to the upper limit until the lowermost tray 1 falls by its own weight and exceeds the support members 8, 8,..., Considering the flexibility and size of the tray, The tray held by 8... Can be slid over the inclined surfaces of the support members 8, 8 without being damaged while being sucked by a suction cup of a separating means to be described later to bend and deform the tray 1. It is set to an appropriate size.
When the support members 8 and 8 supporting the two adjacent corners are shifted downward as described above, the lower end tray 1 is shifted downward by its own weight as shown in FIG. To leave the next tray.
Originally, the stacked trays are in close contact with each other, and when the lowermost tray is separated by the separating means, it may be separated at the same time while being overlapped with the succeeding next tray. To prevent that.

In the vicinity of the bottom of the storage tank 2, there is provided a tray separating means for sequentially separating one by one from the lowermost tray 1 of the stacked tray.
The separation means in this example is a separation device that separates the suction cup 3 connected to a suction device such as a vacuum pump (not shown) by adsorbing it to the bottom surface of the lowermost tray 1 and moving it.
The suction cup 3 is made of a flexible material such as a synthetic resin, and the base of the saddle-shaped suction portion is expanded in the lateral direction to increase the flexibility and improve the adaptability to the bottom surface of the tray.
The suction cup 3 is attached to the front end of an arm 5 that is swingably supported by the machine frame 4 and can be adsorbed to the bottom of the lowermost tray 1 by a telescopic device 6 such as an air cylinder connected to the other end. The tray is separated by swinging until it passes the position (the phantom line display position in FIG. 1) where the separated tray is received, and the suction valve (not shown) is opened and closed in connection with the operation of the telescopic device 6. When the tray 3 comes into contact with the bottom of the tray 1, the tray 1 is opened so that it can be sucked. Controlled.
The relative position with respect to the tray 1 when the suction cup 3 is adsorbed to the bottom of the lowermost tray 1 is biased toward the side end of the shifted tray. With this configuration, as described above, the lowermost tray is separated from the shifted side end portion side, and the vicinity thereof is adsorbed, which makes it easier to separate.

At the lower position of the storage tank 2 is provided a carry-out means for receiving the tray 1 separated by the suction cup 3 and carrying it out of the apparatus.
As the carry-out means in this example, there is provided a guide 9 for receiving and sliding the separated tray 1 on the inclined guide surface, and the separated tray 1 is transported toward the next process at the start end of the conveyor. Is sent out.

The guide 9 is formed in a fork shape in which a plurality of round bars are arranged in parallel with a gap enough for the suction cup 3 to move, and is fixed to the machine frame 4 directly below the storage tank 2 so that the release side end portion faces downward. The
As shown in FIG. 1, the guide 9 forms a guide surface whose upper surface is inclined along the inclination direction of the laminated tray (downward direction in FIG. 1). It is received on the upper surface, that is, the guide surface, slid out, and received at the start end of the conveyor 10.
As described above, the upper surface (guide surface) of the guide 9 is inclined along the inclination direction of the stacked tray, and the lower support members 8 and 8 of the inclined stacked tray are shifted downward, so that the lowermost end. Since the tray 1 is separated from the front end portion in the inclined direction by its own weight and separated in a posture along the upper surface of the guide 9 as indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 1, the tray 1 is smoothly received and slid out.

Below the guide 9, there is provided a conveyor 10 that receives the tray 1 at the start end and conveys the tray 1 to a predetermined position in the next step where the stored items are put into the tray 1.
The conveyor 10 is made up of an endless belt such as a chain, and is provided with a locking piece 11 that contacts the rear end of the tray at a predetermined position. The conveyor 1 receives the tray 1 fed from the guide 9 and reliably transports it to the predetermined position. Can do.
In addition, it may replace with the guide 9 as a carrying-out means, and it may be made to extend directly to the downward direction of the tray isolate | separated with the suction cup 3, and may be directly received.

  Reference numeral 12 denotes a pressing tool that presses the vicinity of the lower end of the inclined laminated tray from the side surface so that the weight of the laminated tray does not affect the separation of the lowermost tray. It is attached to the expansion / contraction device 13 and the like, and is controlled so as not to prevent the tray from sliding off due to its own weight by retreating every time the lowermost tray 1 is separated by the suction cup 3 and releasing the pressed state.

In order to use the stacked tray separating / unloading apparatus configured as described above, first, the position of the tray guide 7 of the storage tank 2 is adjusted in accordance with the size of the tray to be used, and the stacked tray is aligned with the tray guide 7. Storing.
The lowermost tray 1 of the stacked tray that is stored is supported by the four corners of the tray 1 being in contact with the support member 8, but the lower side of the inclined stacked tray (the lower side in the inclined direction, the right side in FIG. 1). Since the pair of support members 8 and 8 that support the two corners of the first and second corners are disposed downwardly shifted along the stacking direction (extending direction of the left and right outer contour lines shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3), The tray 1 is separated from the subsequent tray by its own weight from the side of the support members 8 and 8 that have been removed.

On the other hand, the suction cup 3 that separates the lowermost tray 1 of the stacked tray is contracted by an expansion / contraction device 6 that operates in relation to the timing when a storage (not shown) is thrown into the tray 1, and the lowermost tray 1 via the arm 5. It is moved to a position in contact with the bottom portion biased to the shifted side end portion.
At that time, the intake air is opened, but the lowermost tray 1 is reliably adsorbed to the suction cup 3 because the side end portion shifted from the subsequent tray is separated.
Next, the expansion / contraction device 6 extends and the suction cup 3 descends while adsorbing the tray. However, it slides over the inclined surface formed on the support members 8 and 8 from the side end side where the tray 1 is detached, and is separated and guided. When it reaches near 9, the intake air is closed and released, and placed on the guide 9. The suction cup 3 further descends and moves to the end position (virtual line display position).
In this way, the tray 1 is dropped on the guide surface formed on the guide 9 in a posture along the guide 9 inclined toward the inclination direction of the stacked tray as shown in phantom lines in FIG. Transfer to the start end of the conveyor 10 that is waiting. The transport conveyor 10 also transports the transferred tray 1 to a predetermined loading position in relation to the timing at which the items stored in the tray 1 are loaded. Such an operation is repeated by a control device (not shown).
In this example, the case where a square tray is used as a representative tray has been described. However, the shape of the tray is applicable to a polygon, an ellipse, a round shape, and the like.
The support member can also support the bottom end tray so that the bottom end tray does not fall, and the side end of one side of the tray is shifted downward along the stacking direction, and the bottom end tray is separated by the separating means. If it does not interfere with the process.

1 tray 3 sucker 8 support member 9 guide 10 transport conveyor

Claims (5)

Laminated tray separation comprising a supporting member for supporting the tray by contacting the vicinity of the side edge of the lowermost tray in the laminated tray in which a plurality of trays are laminated, a tray separating means, and a separated tray carrying means A stacking tray separation, characterized in that a support member is disposed so that the lowermost tray is supported in a state in which either side end is shifted downward along the stacking direction of the tray. Carry-out device. Support members are provided so as to respectively support the four corners of the rectangular tray, and a set of support members supporting any two adjacent corners are shifted downward along the stacking direction of the tray, 2. The stacked tray separating and carrying out apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inclined surface is formed along a direction in which the tray is separated. The stacked tray is inclined to one side, and a support member is disposed so that the lowermost end tray is supported in a state where the lower side end portion is shifted downward along the stacking direction. 3. A stacking tray separating / unloading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said stacking tray is transported by sliding on a guide surface formed on unloading means inclined in the same direction as the stacking tray. 4. The separating means according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the separating means adsorbs and separates the suction cups on the bottom surface of the tray, and the suction cups are arranged biased toward the side end portion shifted downward. The stacked tray separating and unloading device according to one item. The stacking tray separating and unloading apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the suction cup is made of a flexible body having a lateral bulge.

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