JP2016088628A - Article transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article transfer device which can stack an article at a transfer destination without breaking the article with a simple structure.SOLUTION: An article transfer device 10 transfers a conveyed article S from a supply conveyer 12 to a discharge conveyer 14. First holding heads H11-H14 and second holding heads H21-H24 are alternately arranged along a circulation movement path CP. The article S is picked up from the supply conveyer 12 by using the first holding heads H11-H14 in a pickup position P0, and is placed on the discharge conveyer 14 in a transfer position P1. Then, the next article S is picked up from the supply conveyer by the second holding heads H21-H24, and the next article S is stacked on the article S which is previously transferred by the first holding heads H11-H14 in the transfer position P1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an article transfer device that picks up an article from an upstream transfer device and transfers it to a downstream transfer device.

  2. Description of the Related Art There is known an article transfer device that picks up an article from an upstream transfer device and transfers it to a downstream transfer device when transferring the article from an upstream transfer device to a downstream transfer device. For example, it is possible to rotate a suction pad arranged at equal intervals around the periphery of the rotation base, pick up a workpiece from the supply conveyor using the suction pad, change the direction of the article, and transfer the article to the carry-out conveyor. A mounting apparatus has been proposed (Patent Document 1). In the configuration of Patent Document 1, the workpieces are transferred and transferred by a carry-out conveyor, and a predetermined number of workpieces are collected and filled in a container in the next workpiece stacking / packaging process. However, with this configuration, when stacking and packaging workpieces, a separate stacking device is required in the stacking process, increasing the price of the entire packaging system and complicating the structure and control.

  On the other hand, using a number of telescopic suction bellows-like suction pads that run continuously in a loop, the suction pads are stretched while moving at the same speed as the upstream transport device, and confectionery pieces are received from the upstream transport device. In addition, a delivery device is also known in which the confectionery piece is transferred to the downstream transport device in a state where the suction pad is contracted, and the suction pad is extended on the downstream transport device to deliver the confectionery piece to the downstream transport device ( (See Patent Documents 2 and 3). In the same configuration, the transported articles can be stacked by setting the downstream receiving apparatus to be stopped such as a tray.

Japanese Patent No. 5438873 JP 2000-118703 A JP 2000-185819 A

  However, when the bellows-shaped suction pad is expanded and contracted, the impact when stacking the articles is large, so that it is not appropriate when stacking fragile articles.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an article transfer device capable of stacking articles at a transfer destination with a simple structure without damaging the articles.

  The article transfer apparatus of the present invention is an article transfer apparatus for transferring a plurality of articles from a first transfer means to a second transfer means, from the first transfer means while moving along a circulation movement path. A predetermined number of first holding heads that pick up articles and transfer them onto the second conveying means and upstream of the first holding head in the movement direction in the circulation movement path are provided, respectively, while moving along the circulation movement path. A predetermined number of second holding heads for picking up articles from one conveying means and transferring them onto the second conveying means; a first elevating cam for elevating and lowering the first holding head at a predetermined position along the circulation movement path; A second raising / lowering cam for raising and lowering the holding head at a predetermined position along the circulation movement path, and a lowering end height of the second holding head by the second raising / lowering cam on the second conveying means is Higher than the descending end height of one holding head The second holding head is characterized in that placing the article as stacked on top of the transfer article by the first holding head on the second transport means just before.

  Further, in the article transfer device, when the second conveying means is continuously operated, the position where the first elevating cam in the circulation movement path reaches the lowering end, and the second elevating cam in the circulation movement path reaches the lower end. It is on the downstream side in the circulating movement direction from the position.

  The article conveyance system of the present invention is an article conveyance system including the above-described article transfer device, and the article conveyance system further includes a first conveyance unit and a second conveyance unit.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an article transfer device capable of stacking articles at a transfer destination with a simple structure without damaging the articles.

It is a top view which shows the layout of the conveyance system of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing along the AA line of the article transfer apparatus of FIG. 1 when a 1st holding head exists in a transfer position. It is sectional drawing along the AA line of the article transfer apparatus of FIG. 1 when a 2nd holding head exists in a transfer position. It is a fragmentary top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the transfer position of 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a partial layout of a transport system using the article transfer apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The article transfer apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment is an apparatus that transfers an article S conveyed on a supply conveyor 12 (first conveying means) onto a discharge conveyor (second conveying means) 14. A predetermined number of first holding heads H11 to H14 and a predetermined number of second holding heads H21 to H24 for holding are provided. The first holding heads H11 to H14 and the second holding heads H21 to H24 are alternately arranged, for example, at equal intervals along a circular circulation movement path CP, and are circulated and moved at a predetermined speed. That is, the second holding heads H21 to H24 are respectively provided on the upstream side in the movement direction in the circulation movement path of the first holding heads H11 to H14. The arrangement of the first holding heads H11 to H14 and the second holding heads H21 to H24 along the circulation movement path CP can be set at unequal intervals.

  In the layout illustrated in FIG. 1, the supply conveyor 12 and the discharge conveyor 14 are arranged in an L shape so as to be substantially orthogonal. That is, the supply conveyor 12 and the discharge conveyor 14 are disposed along two orthogonal tangents of the circulation movement path CP, and the first and second holding heads H11 to H14 and H21 to H24 are connected to the supply conveyor 12 and the discharge conveyor. 14 is arranged so as to circulate on the top. Further, a conveyance conveyor 16 is closely arranged at the same level on the downstream side of the discharge conveyor 14, and the articles S transferred onto the discharge conveyor 14 using the pusher 18 are transferred to the conveyance conveyor 16. And transferred.

  The supply conveyor 12 is continuously operated, for example, at a constant speed. For example, the articles S individually packaged and aligned in a row in a horizontal pillow packaging machine (not shown) connected to the upstream side are arranged along a predetermined arrow V1. Transport with pitch. The article S is picked up from the supply conveyor 12 by the first holding heads H11 to H14 or the second holding heads H21 to H24 at the picking position P0 and is directed counterclockwise in the drawing toward the discharge conveyor 14 along the circulation movement path CP. Moved. At this time, the first and second holding heads H11 to H14 and H21 to H24 are rotated, and for example, the direction of the article S is maintained the same as the direction at the picking position P0. The picking position P0 is set to a position where the first and second holding heads H11 to H14 and H21 to H24 run substantially in parallel with the supply conveyor 12.

  On the other hand, the discharge conveyor 14 is, for example, a belt conveyor provided with crosspieces 14F extending in the conveyor width direction at predetermined intervals along the conveyance direction V2 in accordance with the width of the article S on the conveyance surface. Thus, the article S is placed in a space (hereinafter referred to as a bucket) partitioned by a pair of adjacent bars 14F. In the first embodiment, the placement position P1 for placing the article S on the discharge conveyor 14 from the first and second holding heads H11 to H14, H21 to H24 is the first and second holding heads H11 to H14, H21 to H1,. H24 is set to a position that runs substantially in parallel with the discharge conveyor 14. As will be described later, the discharge conveyor 14 is intermittently operated to place a plurality of articles S on a bucket located at the placement position P1.

  In the present embodiment, the articles S are placed in each bucket in a two-stage stack, the first holding heads H11 to H14 transfer the lower articles S, and the second holding heads H21 to H24 transfer the upper articles S. To do. In FIG. 1, the articles S arranged in the lower stage when they are stacked are indicated by white rectangles, and the articles S arranged in the upper stage are indicated by hatched rectangles. Further, in FIG. 1, the first holding heads H11 to H14 are hatched, and the second holding heads H21 to H24 are shown in white.

  The conveyor 16 is a belt conveyor that sends out the articles S to a carting machine (not shown), for example. The conveyor 16 is provided with crosspieces 16F extending in the conveyor width direction at the same interval as the discharge conveyor 14 along the conveying direction V1, for example. The conveyor 16 is intermittently operated in synchronization with the discharge conveyor 14, and the buckets partitioned by the adjacent bars 16 </ b> F in the conveyor 16 are aligned with the buckets of the discharge conveyor 14 so that the transfer by the pusher 18 can be performed. It is moved in the state.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the structure of the article transfer apparatus 10 of this embodiment is demonstrated. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of the article transfer device 10 taken along the line AA in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the first holding head is in the same cross section, and FIG. The state when in the same cross section is shown. That is, it is a cross-sectional view when the first and second holding heads are at the picking position P0 and the mounting position P1.

  The article transfer device 10 includes a shaft 22 that is pivotally supported by a fixed part such as a base via a bearing 20 and rotates about a rotation axis X. The shaft 22 is connected to a motor 26 via a gear train 24 and is driven to rotate at a desired rotational speed by the motor 26. A disc-shaped rotating plate 28 is provided at the upper end of the shaft 22 and is rotated together with the shaft 22. An outer shaft 30A corresponding to each of the first holding heads H11 to H14 and an outer shaft 30B corresponding to each of the second holding heads H21 to H24 are substantially upright on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating plate 28 via bushes 32. The movement in the vertical direction is regulated by the bush 32.

  For example, inner shafts 34A and 34B subjected to, for example, spline processing are fitted and inserted into the outer shafts 30A and 30B from the lower ends of the outer shafts 30A and 30B. It can be moved up and down and connected so that it can rotate around. The first and second holding heads H11 to H14 and H21 to H24 are provided at the lower ends of the inner shafts 34A and 34B, respectively.

  The inner shafts 34 </ b> A and 34 </ b> B are rotatably supported by the bush 36 at a predetermined height and are restricted from moving in the vertical direction with respect to the bush 36. The bushes 36 that engage with the inner shafts 34A and 34B are connected to the cam followers 40A and 40B via the arms 38A and 38B, respectively. The cam followers 40A and 40B engage with a first elevating cam 46A and a second elevating cam 46B, respectively, held by a fixing plate 44 fixed to a stay 42 fixed to a base or the like. A bush 45 is interposed between the fixed plate 44 and the shaft 22.

  The first and second elevating cams 46A and 46B are provided concentrically around the rotation axis X over the entire circumference, and the first elevating cam 46A controls the vertical movement of the first holding heads H11 to H14, The second lifting cam 46B controls the vertical movement of the second holding heads H21 to H24.

  That is, when the rotating plate 28 is rotated by the motor 26, the outer shafts 30A and 30B, the inner shafts 34A and 34B, the first and second holding heads H11 to H14, H21 to H24, and the cam followers 40A and 40B are integrally formed. It is rotated around the rotation axis X. The outer shafts 30A and 30B, the inner shafts 34A and 34B, and the first and second holding heads H11 to H14 and H21 to H24 provided at the tips of the outer shafts are rotated by a rotation mechanism described later, and the inner shafts 34A and 34B and The first and second holding heads H11 to H14 and H21 to H24 are further moved up and down along the shape by the first and second lifting cams 46A and 46B. The first elevating cam 46A for transferring the lower article S is disposed below the second elevating cam 46B for transferring the upper article S.

  The first and second holding heads H11 to H14 and H21 to H24 are provided with suction pads 48 that are in contact with the top surfaces of the articles S at their tips and suck the articles S by negative pressure. The upper ends of the outer shafts 30 </ b> A and 30 </ b> B are connected to a negative pressure source (not shown) via an air pipe 50, and suction by the first and second holding heads H <b> 11 to H <b> 14 and H <b> 21 to H <b> 24 is performed by the air pipe 50. Is performed through suction paths (not shown) provided in the outer shafts 30A and 30B and the inner shafts 34A and 34B. The air pipe 50 is connected to the outer shafts 30A and 30B via the rotary joint 52, and the air pipe 50 is prevented from being twisted by the rotation of the outer shafts 30A and 30B.

  For rotation of the outer shafts 30A and 30B, for example, a center pulley 54 that rotates integrally with the shaft 22 is provided at the upper end of the shaft 22, and each of the outer shafts 30A and 30B has the same number of teeth as the center pulley 54. A pair of upper and lower pulleys 56 and 58 are integrally provided, and these are connected by a timing belt. For example, the center pulley 54 and the lower pulley 56 of one of the eight outer shafts 30A and 30B are first connected by a timing belt. The upper pulley 58 of the outer shaft is connected to the upper pulley 58 of the adjacent outer shaft (for example, upstream in the conveying direction) with another timing belt, and the next outer shaft is alternately alternately arranged with the lower sprocket and the upper sprocket. Hang the timing belt around the upper and lower sprockets. When the number of teeth of the center pulley 54 and the upper and lower pulleys 56, 58 of the outer shafts 30A, 30B is the same as in this embodiment, the direction of the holding head will always face the same direction. 12 is not rotated from the attitude of being conveyed.

  In this embodiment, the peripheral speed of the holding head of the article transfer device 10 is synchronized with the transport speed of the supply conveyor 12.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the first and second holding heads having different descending positions that are circulated and moved alternately at a predetermined pickup position of the supply conveyor while continuously operating the supply conveyor at a predetermined conveyance speed. By picking up and using the article, the article can be stacked and placed at the placement position of the discharge conveyor having different transport directions. Further, since the vertical movement of the first and second holding heads is performed using a cam, the configuration thereof is simplified, and the impact when placing an article can be suppressed.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, the discharge conveyor 14 is intermittently operated to stack the articles S, but in the second embodiment, the discharge S 14 is continuously operated and the articles S are stacked. Therefore, in 2nd Embodiment, the mounting position P1 to the discharge conveyor 14 of the articles | goods S in 1st Embodiment is changed. Hereinafter, only the configuration related to the change of the placement position of the article S on the discharge conveyor 14 having a configuration different from that of the first embodiment will be described.

  In the second embodiment, the article S1 placed on the lower stage on the discharge conveyor 14 is delivered to the discharge conveyor 14 at the placement position P2 on the upstream side of the placement position P1 of the first embodiment. The upper article S2 placed on the article S1 is delivered onto the discharge conveyor 14 at the placement position P3 downstream from the placement position P1. That is, the position P2 at which the first holding heads H11 to H14 reach the descending end at the time of placement in the circulating movement path CP is the position P3 at which the second holding heads H21 to H24 reach the descending end at the time of placement in the circulating movement path C. The cam curves of the first elevating cam 46A and the second elevating cam 46B are set so as to be further downstream in the circulating movement direction (corresponding to the downstream side of the discharge conveyor 14).

  The placement positions P2 and P3 are centered on the placement position P1 in which the conveying direction of the discharge conveyor 14 is orthogonal to the radial direction of the circulation path CP, for example, in order to eliminate the deviation of the stacked articles S1 and S2. They are arranged equidistant from front to back with respect to the transport direction of the discharge conveyor 14, that is, symmetrically arranged.

  In FIG. 4A, the center of the first holding head H11 is at the placement position P2 on the discharge conveyor 14, that is, the position where the lower article S1 is placed on the discharge conveyor 14, and the delivery of the article S1 is performed. FIG. 6 is a partial plan view showing the arrangement when performed. On the other hand, FIG. 4B shows that the center of the second holding head H21 is at the placement position P3 on the discharge conveyor 14, that is, the position where the upper article S2 is placed on the lower article S1. It is a partial top view which shows arrangement | positioning when delivery of S2 is performed.

When the article S1 is placed on the discharge conveyor 14 by the first holding head H11 in the state of FIG. 4A, the center C21 of the second holding head H21 of FIG. 4A is along the circulation movement path CP. Thus, it is moved counterclockwise to the mounting position P3. The discharge conveyor 14 in parallel to this is driven to the center of the bucket which accommodates the driven article S1 is a constant speed V _E is moved to the loading position P3 toward the left side of the drawing, and FIG. 4 (b) It becomes the state of.

In the state of FIG. 4B, when the article S2 is placed on the article S1 by the second holding head H21, the center C12 of the first holding head H12 in FIG. It moves to the mounting position P2 counterclockwise along CP. The discharge conveyor 14 in parallel with this, moving the center C of the upstream side of the bucket are driven at a constant speed V _E adjacent to buckets containing the article S1, S2 toward the left side of the drawing is the loading position P2 Until it is driven, the arrangement again becomes as shown in FIG. Then, the article S3 held by the first head H12 is delivered to the discharge belt 14.

Incidentally, when moving to the state shown in FIG. 4 (b) from the state of FIG. 4 (a), the discharge conveyor 14, at a constant speed _{V E,} move the distance D1 between P2, P3, first during 2 The center C21 of the holding head H21 is moved by an angle θ2 to the mounting position P3. On the other hand, when moving to the state shown in FIG. 4 (a) from the state of FIG. 4 (b), the discharge conveyor 14, at a constant speed V _E, move the distance D2 between the C, P2, first during 1 The center C12 of the holding head H12 is moved by an angle θ1 to the mounting position P2.

Therefore, in order to make the conveying speed of the discharge conveyor 14 constant, the state of FIG. 4A is changed to the state of FIG. 4B, and the state of FIG. In general, it is necessary to change the moving speed of the first and second holding heads H11 to H14 and H21 to H24, that is, the rotating speed of the rotating plate 28 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). Therefore, in this embodiment, the rotation of the motor 26 is controlled to accelerate and decelerate the rotating plate 28, and the speed when the second holding heads H21 to H24 move to the mounting position P3 is set to the first holding heads H11 to H14. Is faster than when moving to the placement position P2. When there is time allowance, the tangential speed along the circulation movement path CP of the first and second holding heads H11 to H14 and H21 to H24 at the moment of placement is set to the transport speed V of the discharge conveyor 14. It is also possible to match the speed of the holding head and the conveying speed of the bucket by controlling to match _E.

  As described above, also in the second embodiment, substantially the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Moreover, in 2nd Embodiment, since a discharge conveyor can be continuously operated, conveyance efficiency can be improved more.

  In the present embodiment, the vertically long article S is transferred to the discharge conveyor 14 having a different 90 ° conveyance direction without changing the orientation of the vertically long article S. Then, since it becomes side by side, the conveyance pitch is reduced. Accordingly, the conveyance speed of the discharge conveyor 14 is set slower than the conveyance speed of the supply conveyor 12.

  In this embodiment, the number of holding heads is eight, but the number of holding heads is not limited to this. In this embodiment, the circular movement path is circular, but the shape of the circular movement path is not limited to this. In this embodiment, the supply conveyor and the discharge conveyor are arranged in a substantially L shape. However, both conveyors only need to be arranged along any two tangents of the circulation movement path, and each holding head is adapted to that. You may set the ratio of the rotation to the revolution of. In this embodiment, the rotation mechanism is configured to sequentially transmit the rotation of the shaft to the outer shaft using belt transmission, but the configuration is not limited to this, and the rotation power may be separately adopted. Is possible. In this embodiment, since the articles are stacked in two stages, two sets of holding heads (first and second holding heads) are used. However, n sets of holding heads (first to nth holding heads), Articles can be stacked in n stages using n lifting cams corresponding thereto.

Also in case of continuous running the discharge conveyor of the second embodiment at a constant speed V _E, D2 <under the conditions of D1, the angle between the first, second holding head, the retaining head rotation radius of the retaining head By adjusting the relationship between the respective rotation angles between P2-P1 and P1-P3, the conveyance pitch of articles on the discharge conveyor 14, etc., the rotation speeds of the first and second holding heads are set to the same constant rotation speed ω. Also good. For example, when the angle θ between the first and second holding heads, the rotation radius R of the holding head, the respective rotation angles δ between P2-P1 and P1-P3 of the holding head, and the article conveyance pitch Pt on the discharge conveyor 14 , Pt = 4θRsinδ / (θ + 2δ), the rotational speed ω of the first and second holding heads can be made constant.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Article transfer apparatus 12 Supply conveyor 14 Discharge conveyor 16 Transport conveyor 18 Pusher 20 Bearing 22 Shaft 24 Gear train 26 Motor 28 Rotating plate 30A, 30B Outer shaft 32, 36 Bush 34A, 34B Inner shaft 38A, 38B Arm 40A, 40B Cam follower 42 Stay 44 Fixed plate 45 Bush 46A First lifting cam 46B Second lifting cam 48 Suction pad 50 Air piping 52 Rotary joint CP Circulation movement path H11-H14 First holding head H21-H24 Second holding head S Article

Claims (3)

An article transfer device for transferring a plurality of articles from a first transfer means to a second transfer means,
A predetermined number of first holding heads that pick up articles from the first conveying means and transfer them onto the second conveying means while moving along a circulation path;
Each of the first holding heads is provided on the upstream side in the movement direction of the circulation movement path, picks up an article from the first conveyance means while moving along the circulation movement path, and transfers the article onto the second conveyance means. A predetermined number of second holding heads;
A first elevating cam for elevating the first holding head at a predetermined position along the circulation movement path;
A second elevating cam that elevates and lowers the second holding head at a predetermined position along the circulation movement path;
On the second conveying means, the lower end height of the second holding head by the second elevating cam is higher than the lower end height of the first holding head by the first elevating cam, and the second holding head is An article transfer device characterized in that the article is placed so as to be stacked on the article transferred onto the second conveying means by the first holding head immediately before.   The second conveying means is continuously operated, and the position where the first elevating cam in the circulation path reaches the lower end is more upstream in the circulation movement direction than the position where the second elevating cam reaches the lower end in the circulation path. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the article transfer apparatus is on a side.   An article conveyance system comprising the article transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the article conveyance system further includes the first conveyance means and the second conveyance means. Goods transport system.

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