JP2018065664A - Chain conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a chain conveyor capable of stably conveying a conveyance object.SOLUTION: A chain conveyor 11 is provided with: an endless passage 15 which has a linear first passage part 12, a linear second passage part 13, and curved third passage parts 14a and 14b for connecting each of end parts of the first passage part 12 and the second passage part 13, respectively; a pair of chains of endless shape which circulatingly moves along the endless passage 15; a plurality of loading face forming members which form a loading face 40 on which a conveyance object H is loaded and are connected to the pair of chains to circulatingly move along the endless passage 15 together with the chains,; a driving gear 21 which engages with the pair of chains from the inside of the endless passage 15 at the first passage part 12 and the second passage part 13; and a drive part which rotatably drives the driving gear 21. Two of the third passage parts 14a and 14b are provided with gear non-placement regions NP, respectively, where no gear engaging with the pair of chains from the inside of the endless passage 15 is placed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a chain conveyor that conveys an object to be conveyed.

  Conventionally, for example, a slat conveyor shown in Patent Document 1 is known as this type of chain conveyor. Such a slat conveyor includes an endless path having both U-turn path sections connecting the upper transport path section, the lower return path section, and the upper and lower path sections, and a guide tooth ring pivotally supported by the both end U-turn path sections. And a pair of drive chains that are stretched between them and circulate and rotate along an endless path. The slat conveyor further includes a number of slat plates connected to a pair of drive chains, and drive means for driving the pair of drive chains.

  The drive means includes a pair of driving tooth rings pivotally supported between the upper and lower path portions so as to engage with at least one of the linear portions moving along the upper and lower path portions of the pair of drive chains; A motor for driving the pair of driving tooth wheels and a guide rail for preventing the chain from lifting from the driving tooth ring are provided. A large number of slat plates are circulated and rotated along an endless path along with a pair of drive chains by driving the motor, so that an object to be transported such as an automobile placed on the slat plates is conveyed. ing.

JP 2012-171773 A

  By the way, the slat conveyor as described above has a configuration in which an endless drive chain is stretched between guide tooth rings pivotally supported by both end U-turn path portions in an endless path. In this case, the guide tooth rings are arranged so as to mesh with each other while being wound around the curved portions at both ends of the drive chain. For this reason, the drive chain vibrates up and down because it performs a polygonal movement called a chordal action at the meshing portion with the guide tooth ring. As a result, there is a possibility that it is difficult to stably transport the object to be transported placed on the slat plate.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such a situation. An object of the present invention is to provide a chain conveyor capable of stably transporting an object to be transported.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above-described problems and the effects thereof will be described.
A chain conveyor that solves the above problems includes a linear first path section, a linear second path section disposed below the first path section, and ends of the first path section and the second path section. An endless path having a curved third path section that connects the sections, a pair of endless chains that circulate along the endless path, and a placement on which an object is placed A plurality of mounting surface forming members that form a surface and are connected to the pair of chains and circulate along the endless path together with the chains, and the first path part and the second path part At least one of the two third path portions includes a drive gear that meshes with the pair of chains from the inside of the endless path and a drive unit that rotationally drives the drive gear. Is a pair of chains Gear blank region the gear is not arranged to mesh from the inside of the endless path Te is provided.

  According to this configuration, since the polygonal movement of the chain in the third path portion can be suppressed during conveyance of the object to be conveyed, the vertical vibration of the chain can be suppressed. For this reason, a to-be-conveyed object can be conveyed stably.

  In the chain conveyor, the chain includes a plurality of links, a plurality of connection pins that connect the plurality of links so as to be rotatable in series, and a plurality of connection pins that are rotatably supported by the plurality of connection pins. It is preferable that an intermediate roller that is rotatably supported by the link and meshes with the driving gear is disposed between the adjacent coupling rollers.

According to this configuration, the gap between the rollers in the chain can be reduced, so that the diameter of the driving gear can be reduced.
In the chain conveyor, the chain has a side roller rotatably supported by a portion of each coupling pin that protrudes to the outside of the link, and guides the side roller along the endless path. And a restricting portion that is disposed at a position corresponding to the drive gear across the chain and restricts the side roller from moving in a direction opposite to the drive gear side.

According to this configuration, since the chain is prevented from being separated from the driving gear by the restricting portion, the driving force from the driving gear can be reliably transmitted to the chain.
The chain conveyor includes a plurality of the driving gears, and the plurality of driving gears mesh with the pair of chains in both the first path portion and the second path portion, It is preferable that the number of the driving gears meshed with the pair of chains in the first path portion is larger than the number of the driving gears meshed with the pair of chains in the second path portion.

  According to this configuration, the driving force transmitted from the driving gear to the chain in the first path portion is larger than the driving force transmitted from the driving gear to the chain in the second path portion. Even when the object to be transported placed on the placement surface is heavy, the object to be transported can be smoothly transported.

  According to the present invention, an object to be conveyed can be stably conveyed.

The schematic side surface schematic diagram which shows the chain conveyor of one Embodiment. The cross-sectional schematic diagram of a chain conveyor. The top view which shows a part of chain conveyor. The partially broken enlarged view which shows the principal part of FIG. The side view which shows the guide rail in a chain conveyor. The principal part enlarged view of FIG.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a chain conveyor will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2, the chain conveyor 11 is installed on the floor surface F, and is extended along the conveyance direction A (left direction in FIG. 1) of the to-be-conveyed object H to convey. The chain conveyor 11 includes a linear first path portion 12 and linear second path portions 13 disposed below the first path portion 12, and ends of the first path portion 12 and the second path portion 13. Are provided with an endless path 15 having two curved third path portions 14 a and 14 b that connect the two, and an endless transport unit 16 that circulates along the endless path 15. The transport unit 16 includes a pair of endless chains 20 and a plurality of rectangular plate-shaped mounting surface forming members that connect the pair of chains 20 and form a mounting surface 40 on which the object to be transported H is mounted. 39.

  In the position corresponding to the two third path portions 14a and 14b on the floor surface F, the pits 17 in which a part of the two third path portions 14a and 14b are accommodated are respectively recessed to suppress the height of the chain conveyor 11. It is installed. Of the two third path portions 14 a and 14 b, one third path portion 14 a is located at the end of the chain conveyor 11 on the transport direction A side, and the other third path portion 14 b is the transport direction A on the chain conveyor 11. It is located on the opposite end.

  The chain conveyor 11 includes a plurality of pairs (three pairs in this embodiment) of driving gears 21 and three pairs of driving gears that mesh with the pair of chains 20 of the transport unit 16 from the inside of the endless path 15. And three drive units 22 that respectively rotate and drive 21. Each pair of driving gears 21 is connected at the center thereof by a connecting shaft 23. Each drive unit 22 is configured by, for example, a motor and a speed reducer, and each drive gear 21 is configured by an involute gear.

  Three pairs of driving gears 21 are provided at the end of the first path portion 12 on the transport direction A side, the intermediate portion of the first path portion 12, and the end of the second path portion 13 opposite to the transport direction A. Each meshes with the pair of chains 20 from the inside of the endless path 15. That is, the three pairs of driving gears 21 mesh with the pair of chains 20 in both the first path portion 12 and the second path portion 13.

  That is, the three pairs of driving gears 21 are meshed with the straight portions of the pair of chains 20. In this case, the number of drive gears 21 meshed with the pair of chains 20 in the first path portion 12 (two pairs in this embodiment) is equal to the number of drive gears 21 meshed with the pair of chains 20 in the second path portion 13. It is larger than the number (a pair in the present embodiment). The two third path portions 14 a and 14 b are provided with a gear non-arrangement region NP in which a gear meshing with the pair of chains 20 from the inside of the endless path 15 is not disposed.

  In FIG. 2, for easy understanding, the driving gear 21 that meshes with the chain 20 in the first path portion 12 and the driving gear 21 that meshes with the chain 20 in the second path portion 13 are in the conveying direction A. However, in reality, most of them overlap in the transport direction A.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each chain 20 is connected to a plurality of outer links 30 (links) and a plurality of inner links 31 (links) so as to be rotatable in a state where they are alternately arranged in series. And a plurality of coupling rollers 33 that are rotatably supported by the plurality of coupling pins 32 and mesh with the drive gear 21. Each outer link 30 has a pair of outer plates 34 facing each other in the width direction X orthogonal to the transport direction A, and each inner link 31 has a pair of inner plates 35 facing each other in the width direction X. .

  A rectangular plate-shaped attachment portion 36 is provided on the outer plate 34 and the inner plate 35 located on the outer side in the width direction X of the pair of outer plates 34 of the outer links 30 and the pair of inner plates 35 of the inner links 31. It is integrally formed so as to protrude inward in the width direction X. A pair of holes 37 aligned in the transport direction A are formed at the tip of each mounting portion 36, and a press nut 38 is attached to each hole 37 by press-fitting a part thereof from the back side of the mounting portion 36. .

  The mounting surface forming members 39 are respectively attached to all the attachment portions 36 corresponding to each other in the width direction X in the pair of chains 20. In this case, a through hole (not shown) is formed at a position corresponding to the hole 37 of the mounting portion 36 in the mounting surface forming member 39, and a bolt (not shown) is inserted into the hole 37 from this through hole to the press nut 38. The mounting surface forming member 39 is attached to the attachment portion 36 by screwing. The mounting surface forming members 39 are connected so as to straddle the pair of chains 20 in a state of being arranged at equal intervals in the transport direction A, and circulate along the endless path 15 together with the pair of chains 20. It has become.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a drive gear is rotatably supported by the outer links 30 and the inner links 31 between the connecting rollers 33 adjacent in the conveying direction A in the pair of chains 20. An intermediate roller 41 that meshes with 21 is disposed. In the present embodiment, two intermediate rollers 41 are rotatably mounted between the pair of outer plates 34 of each outer link 30 and between the pair of inner plates 35 of each inner link 31 by the intermediate pins 42.

  In other words, the pair of chains 20 are arranged side by side so that one connecting roller 33 and two intermediate rollers 41 are alternately spaced in the conveyance direction A. In this case, the distance between the connecting roller 33 and the intermediate roller 41 that are adjacent in the transport direction A is the same as the distance between the intermediate rollers 41 that are adjacent in the transport direction A, and the outer diameter of the intermediate roller 41 is that of the connecting roller 33. It is the same as the outer diameter.

  Further, since the distance between the pair of outer plates 34 of each outer link 30 is longer than the distance between the pair of inner plates 35 of each inner link 31, the length of the intermediate roller 41 disposed between the pair of outer plates 34. Is longer than the length of the intermediate roller 41 disposed between the pair of inner plates 35. In other words, the intermediate roller 41 in the present embodiment is of two types, one having a length matching the distance between the outer plates 34 and one having a length matching the distance between the inner plates 35.

  When the length of the intermediate roller 41 disposed between the pair of outer plates 34 of each outer link 30 and the length of the intermediate roller 41 disposed between the pair of inner plates 35 of the inner link 31 are made the same, It is preferable to arrange a plate material having the same thickness as the inner plate 35 between the inner surface of the outer plate 34 and both end surfaces of the intermediate roller 41.

  Each connecting pin 32 in the pair of chains 20 has a pin protruding portion 43 that is a portion protruding outward in the width direction X from the outer link 30. A side roller 46 is rotatably supported by each pin protrusion 43 through a plurality of cylindrical rollers 45 arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the bush 44 so as to surround the bush 44. Has been. That is, the pair of chains 20 includes side rollers 46 that are rotatably supported by the pin protrusions 43 of the respective connecting pins 32. A nut 47 is screwed into a screw portion (not shown) formed at the tip of each pin protrusion 43 so that the side roller 46 does not fall out of the pin protrusion 43.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the chain conveyor 11 includes a pair of guide rails 48 that respectively guide the plurality of side rollers 46 of the pair of chains 20 of the transport unit 16 along the endless path 15. Each guide rail 48 includes an upper guide rail 48a that supports and supports each side roller 46 in about half of the first path portion 12 and the two third path portions 14a and 14b, and the second path portion 13 and the two second path portions. A lower guide rail 48b that guides while supporting each side roller 46 is provided in about half of the three path portions 14a and 14b.

  When the driving force of each driving unit 22 is transmitted to the pair of chains 20 via the driving gears 21, the transport unit 16 causes the side rollers 46 of the pair of chains 20 to move to the pair of guide rails 48. By being guided, it circulates along the endless path 15. Each guide rail 48 is formed of, for example, a strip-shaped plate material.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the chain conveyor 11 is disposed in a position corresponding to the pair of driving gears 21 meshing with the chain 20 and the chain 20 in the first path portion 12. Is provided with a restricting portion 49 that restricts movement in the direction opposite to the two pairs of driving gears 21 (upper side in FIGS. 2 and 5). The restricting portion 49 is formed of, for example, a strip-shaped plate material extending in the transport direction A, and is disposed on the upper side of the side roller 46 that rolls on the upper guide rail 48a.

  When a driving force is transmitted from the driving gear 21 to the chain 20 and a force that pushes up the chain 20 from the driving gear 21 is applied, the upper side at a position corresponding to the driving gear 21. The restriction portion 49 restricts the lifting of the side roller 46 that rolls on the guide rail 48a, whereby the lifting of the chain 20 is restricted.

Next, the operation of the chain conveyor 11 will be described.
When transporting the transported object H in the transporting direction A, first, each drive gear is mounted with the transported object H placed on the placement surface 40 of the transport unit 16 in the first path portion 12. 21 is driven to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, each tooth of each driving gear 21 rotates and moves while sequentially meshing with the plurality of connecting rollers 33 and the plurality of intermediate rollers 41 of the chain 20. As a result, a driving force is transmitted from each driving gear 21 to the transport unit 16, and the transport unit 16 circulates and moves around the endless path 15 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. The object to be transported H is transported along the transport direction A.

  At this time, since there are no gears that mesh with the pair of chains 20 of the transport unit 16 from the inside of the endless path 15 in the two curved third path parts 14a and 14b, the two third path parts The polygonal movement of the pair of chains 20 at 14a and 14b is suppressed. For this reason, since the vertical vibration of the pair of chains 20 is suppressed, the vertical vibration of the transport unit 16 is also suppressed. Accordingly, the object to be transported H on the placement surface 40 of the transport unit 16 is transported stably in the transport direction A.

According to the embodiment detailed above, the following effects are exhibited.
(1) In the chain conveyor 11, transmission of driving force from each driving gear 21 to the pair of chains 20 (conveying unit 16) is performed in a straight portion of the pair of chains 20, and two curved third parts are provided. The path portions 14 a and 14 b are provided with a gear non-arrangement region NP in which a gear that meshes with the pair of chains 20 from the inside of the endless path 15 is not disposed. For this reason, since the polygonal motion of a pair of chain 20 in the 3rd path | route parts 14a and 14b can be suppressed at the time of conveyance of the to-be-conveyed object H, the vertical vibration of the chain 20 can be suppressed. That is, even though each drive unit 22 continuously drives each drive gear 21 to rotate, the pair of chains 20 (conveying unit 16) repeats moving and stopping, and is called self-shake (surging or stick-slip). The generation of a phenomenon called a kind of excitation vibration) can be suppressed. For this reason, the to-be-conveyed object H can be conveyed stably.

  (2) In the chain conveyor 11, the drive gears 21 are rotatably supported by the outer links 30 and the inner links 31 between the connecting rollers 33 adjacent in the conveying direction A in the pair of chains 20. An intermediate roller 41 that meshes with is arranged. For this reason, the gap between the rollers 33 and 41 in the pair of chains 20 (the pitch of the rollers 33 and 41) can be reduced, so that the diameter of each drive gear 21 can be reduced.

  (3) The chain conveyor 11 is disposed at a position corresponding to each drive gear 21 across the pair of chains 20 in the first path portion 12, and each side roller 46 of the pair of chains 20 is on the side of each drive gear 21. Is provided with a restricting portion 49 that restricts movement in the opposite direction (upward direction). For this reason, since it can suppress that a pair of chain 20 leaves | separates from each driving gear 21 by each control part 49, the driving force from each driving gear 21 can be reliably transmitted with respect to a pair of chain 20. .

  (4) In the chain conveyor 11, the number of drive gears 21 (two pairs in the present embodiment) meshing with the pair of chains 20 in the first path portion 12 meshes with the pair of chains 20 in the second path portion 13. The number is larger than the number of drive gears 21 (a pair in the present embodiment). Therefore, the driving force transmitted from each driving gear 21 to the pair of chains 20 in the first path portion 12 is larger than the driving force transmitted from the driving gear 21 to the pair of chains 20 in the second path portion 13. Therefore, even if the to-be-conveyed object H mounted on the mounting surface 40 in the 1st path | route part 12 is heavy, the to-be-conveyed object H can be conveyed smoothly.

  (5) In the chain conveyor 11, each driving gear 21 is constituted by an involute gear. For this reason, each drive gear 21 can be manufactured easily, and even if the distance between each drive gear 21 and the pair of chains 20 is slightly increased or decreased, the influence on the meshing state can be suppressed to a small level. .

  (6) In the conventional slat conveyor of Patent Document 1, the slat plate is attached to the drive chain via a connecting support shaft so that the orientation of the upper surface of the slat plate does not change at both ends of the endless path. The guide roller attached to the slat plate is conveyed while being guided by the turn guide rail portion. For this reason, in the slat conveyor of Patent Document 1, the configuration is complicated and expensive, and the movement may be deteriorated depending on the installation accuracy of the guide rail portion for the turn. In this regard, in the chain conveyor 11 of the present embodiment, the placement surface forming member 39 is attached to the attachment portion 36 of the pair of chains 20 and is placed at both end portions (third route portions 14a and 14b) of the endless path 15. The surface forming member 39 is conveyed while being reversed together with the pair of chains 20. For this reason, the chain conveyor 11 of the present embodiment can be simplified in structure and cost can be reduced as compared with the conventional slat conveyor of Patent Document 1, and the guide rail portion for turn is unnecessary. The movement will not get worse.

(Example of change)
In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
Each drive gear 21 is not necessarily constituted by an involute gear.

  The number of drive gears 21 that mesh with the pair of chains 20 in the first path portion 12 (two pairs in this embodiment) is not necessarily the number of drive gears 21 that mesh with the pair of chains 20 in the second path portion 13. It is not necessary to set more than (a pair in this embodiment).

-You may abbreviate | omit a pair of drive gearwheel 21 arrange | positioned in the intermediate part of the 1st path | route part 12. FIG.
The number of driving gears 21 arranged in the first path portion 12 may be arbitrarily changed. In this case, it is preferable that the number of driving gears 21 arranged in the first path portion 12 and the interval in the transport direction A are appropriately changed according to the length of the first path portion 12. That is, it is preferable to increase the number of drive gears 21 arranged in the first path portion 12 as the length of the first path portion 12 increases.

  Each side roller 46 may be omitted from the pair of chains 20. In this case, it is preferable that the guide rail 48 is configured to guide the pair of chains 20 along the endless path 15 in the connecting roller 33 and the intermediate roller 41.

-Each regulation part 49 may be omitted.
Each intermediate roller 41 may be omitted.
-You may abbreviate | omit either one of each gear non-arrangement field NP provided in two 3rd course parts 14a and 14b. That is, the gear non-arrangement region NP of the third path portion 14b located at the end opposite to the transport direction A is omitted, and the third path portion 14b is connected to the pair of chains 20 from the inside of the endless path 15. The meshing driven gears may be arranged, and the driven gears may be biased in the direction opposite to the conveying direction A to eliminate the slack of the pair of chains 20. In this case, since the driven gear is arranged so as to be able to move to some extent along the direction along the conveyance direction A, the occurrence of a chordal action can be suppressed.

Further, the technical idea that can be grasped from the above embodiment will be described below.
(A) The chain gear according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the driving gear is an involute gear.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Chain conveyor, 12 ... 1st path | route part, 13 ... 2nd path | route part, 14a, 14b ... 3rd path | route part, 15 ... Endless path | route, 20 ... Chain, 21 ... Drive gear, 22 ... Drive part, 30 ... outer link (link), 31 ... inner link (link), 33 ... connecting roller, 39 ... mounting surface forming member, 40 ... mounting surface, 41 ... intermediate roller, 46 ... side roller, 48 ... guide rail, 49 ... regulator, H ... conveyed object, NP ... gear non-arrangement region.

Claims (4)

A curved first connecting the first path portion and the second path portion disposed below the first path portion and the ends of the first path portion and the second path portion, respectively. An endless path having a third path part;
A pair of endless chains that circulate along the endless path;
A plurality of placement surface forming members that form a placement surface on which the object to be conveyed is placed, and are connected to the pair of chains and circulate along the endless path together with the chains;
A driving gear meshing from the inside of the endless path with a pair of chains in at least one of the first path part and the second path part;
A drive unit that rotationally drives the drive gear;
At least one of the two third path portions is provided with a gear non-arrangement region in which a gear that meshes with the pair of chains from the inside of the endless path is not disposed. Conveyor. The chain is
Multiple links,
A plurality of connecting pins that rotatably connect the plurality of links in series;
A plurality of coupling rollers that are rotatably supported by the plurality of coupling pins and mesh with the driving gear;
2. The chain conveyor according to claim 1, wherein an intermediate roller that is rotatably supported by the link and meshes with the driving gear is disposed between the adjacent connecting rollers. The chain has side rollers that are rotatably supported by portions of the connecting pins that protrude outward from the links.
A guide rail for guiding the side roller along the endless path;
And a restricting portion that is disposed at a position corresponding to the drive gear with the chain interposed therebetween and restricts the side roller from moving in a direction opposite to the drive gear side. Item 3. The chain conveyor according to Item 2. A plurality of the driving gears;
The plurality of driving gears mesh with the pair of chains in both the first path portion and the second path portion,
The number of the driving gears meshed with the pair of chains in the first path part is larger than the number of the driving gears meshed with the pair of chains in the second path part. The chain conveyor as described in any one of Claims 1-3.

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