JP2018135179A - Conveying apparatus and conveying method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveying apparatus and a conveying method capable of establishing article conveyance by rotating bodies without using a mechanical cam even if pitches are different between the rotating bodies that pass the article.SOLUTION: A conveying apparatus 1 includes: a first rotating body 11 that moves a container 2 by a first pitch P1 in a predetermined unit time t0 by being rotationally driven at a constant speed; a first driving unit 11M; a second rotating body 12 that moves the container 2 by a second pitch P2 different from the first pitch P1 in the unit time t0 by being rotationally driven at a variable speed; and a second driving unit 12M for accelerating and decelerating the rotation of the second rotating body 12 in the unit time t0. During the time before and after the container 2 is passed between the second rotating body 12 and the first rotating body 11, the rotation speed of the variable speed rotating body is controlled by the variable speed driving unit so that the moving speed of the article conveyed by the variable speed rotating body is equal to or substantially equal to the moving speed of the article conveyed by the constant speed rotating body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport apparatus including a plurality of rotating bodies that deliver articles and a transport method that delivers articles between the plurality of rotating bodies.

  In manufacturing a beverage or the like in a container, a transport device including a plurality of rotating bodies that deliver a beverage container is used (for example, Patent Document 1). Here, the “rotary body” is one in which grippers for gripping the container are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and performs predetermined processing such as cleaning, filling, and cap attachment while rotating around the axis. It simply refers to the star foil that delivers the container.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-304516

  When delivering an article from the first rotating body to the second rotating body, it is fundamental that both the first and second rotating bodies move the article by the same pitch in a predetermined unit time. For example, when the article is delivered every second, the article conveyed by the first rotating body moves in the rotation direction by a predetermined pitch in one second, and the article conveyed by the second rotating body is also the first Move in the direction of rotation by the same pitch as the rotating body. This is the same even if the diameters of the first and second rotating bodies are different, and the pitch at which the article moves per unit time is the same between the two. The same applies to the third rotating body and the fourth rotating body following the second rotating body, and the pitch at which the conveyed articles move in unit time between these rotating bodies is the same. .

  As described above, the pitch at which the articles to be transported move per unit time is basically the same between the rotating bodies, but only one of the rotating bodies upstream and downstream of the delivery is wide, for example, for container processing. It may be necessary to change the pitch for reasons such as requiring space. In that case, to synchronize the delivery while rotating one rotating body whose pitch needs to be changed at a constant speed different from the rotational speed of the other rotating body so as to fit the desired pitch, Only at this timing, it is necessary to adjust the moving speed of the article between the two rotating bodies. For this purpose, the moving speed of the article held by the gripper of one of the rotating bodies is preferably accelerated and decelerated using a mechanical cam together with the gripper before and after the timing of delivering the article. As a result, it is possible to establish article conveyance by a plurality of rotating bodies while maintaining the conveyance capability of delivering articles every predetermined unit time.

However, a cam for realizing the operation of accelerating / decelerating the gripper for gripping the article in the rotation direction is required for each of a number of grippers provided in the rotating body, so that the structure becomes complicated and the cost of the apparatus increases.
Furthermore, if the required pitch changes, it is necessary to redesign the cam for performing acceleration / deceleration suitable for the pitch.

  As described above, the present invention establishes conveyance of an article by a rotating body without using a mechanical cam even if the pitches for moving the article per unit time are different between rotating bodies that deliver the article. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer device and a transfer method that can be used.

  The present invention is a conveying device that conveys an article while delivering the article between a plurality of rotating bodies, and is rotated at a constant speed around a first axis so that only a first pitch is obtained in a predetermined unit time. A constant-speed rotating body that moves an article, a constant-speed driving unit that transmits rotational driving force to the first axis, and a first pitch per unit time by being rotationally driven around the second axis at a variable speed. A variable speed rotating body that moves the article by a different second pitch, and a variable speed driving unit that accelerates and decelerates the rotation of the variable speed rotating body in a unit time. The moving speed of the article conveyed by the variable speed rotating body is the same as the moving speed of the article conveyed by the constant speed rotating body before and after the delivery of the article between the variable speed rotating body and the constant speed rotating body. The rotational speed of the variable-speed rotating body is controlled by the variable-speed drive unit so that the speed or substantially the same speed is achieved.

  In the transport apparatus according to the present invention, the variable speed drive unit is configured so that phases of one pitch corresponding to a unit time in each of the constant speed rotating body and the variable speed rotating body coincide or substantially coincide with each other when the article is delivered. Furthermore, it is preferable to control the rotation of the variable speed rotating body.

  In addition to the constant speed rotating body and the variable speed rotating body, the conveying device of the present invention preferably includes a conveyor that delivers articles to and from the variable speed rotating body.

  The conveying device of the present invention includes a first constant speed rotating body that is a constant speed rotating body, a variable speed rotating body that receives articles from the first constant speed rotating body, a constant speed rotating body, and a variable speed rotating body. And a second constant speed rotating body for receiving the article.

  The present invention is also a transport method for transporting an article while delivering the article between a plurality of rotating bodies, wherein the article is moved by a first pitch by a constant speed rotating body that is rotationally driven at a constant speed. , The article is moved by a second pitch different from the first pitch by accelerating and decelerating the rotation of the variable speed rotator that is rotationally driven at a variable speed. It is possible that the moving speed of the article conveyed by the variable speed rotating body is the same or substantially the same as the moving speed of the article conveyed by the constant speed rotating body before and after the delivery of the article between them. The rotational speed of the variable speed rotator is controlled.

  In the transport method of the present invention, the rotation of the variable speed rotator is performed so that the phases of one cycle corresponding to the unit time in each of the constant speed rotator and the variable speed rotator coincide or substantially coincide when passing. Is preferably controlled.

  According to the present invention, in a unit time in which an article is moved by the first pitch by the constant speed rotating body, the article is moved by the second pitch by the variable speed rotating body, and the rotation is performed before and after the delivery of the article. By controlling the rotational speed of the variable speed rotating body so that the articles respectively conveyed by the body have the same speed or substantially the same speed, the articles can be delivered in synchronization with each other. Therefore, even if the pitches for moving the articles per unit time are different between the rotating bodies that deliver the articles, the conveyance of the articles by the plurality of rotating bodies can be established without using a mechanical cam. .

It is a top view which shows typically a part of structure of the conveying apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a graph which shows an example of the moving speed of the container each conveyed by the constant speed rotary body and a variable speed rotary body. It is a graph which shows an example of each rotation phase of a constant speed rotary body and a variable speed rotary body. It is a graph which shows an example of the movement amount of the container each conveyed by the constant speed rotary body and a variable speed rotary body. It is a top view which shows typically a part of structure of the conveying apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. When shifting the timing of article delivery from the upstream constant speed rotating body to the variable speed rotating body and article delivery from the variable speed rotating body to the downstream constant speed rotating body in the transport apparatus of the second embodiment It is a graph for demonstrating.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described by taking a transport apparatus and a transport method for transporting a container for beverage products as examples.
[First Embodiment]
A transport apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 constitutes a beverage product manufacturing facility, and sequentially transports beverage product containers 2 (articles) from upstream to downstream. The conveying device 1 includes a plurality of rotating bodies 11 and 12 that convey the containers 2 while delivering them, and a conveyor 4 that receives the containers 2 from the rotating bodies 12 and conveys them. The conveyance apparatus 1 typically includes a large number of rotating bodies including a star foil (not shown). The transport apparatus 1 may include another rotating body (not shown) on the upstream side of the rotating body 11 or on the downstream side of the conveyor 4.

  The transport device 1 includes a first rotating body 11 (constant speed rotating body) that is rotationally driven at a constant speed around the first shaft 11A, a first driving unit 11M that transmits a rotational driving force to the first shaft 11A, and The second rotating body 12 that receives and conveys the container 2 from the first rotating body 11 and the second driving body 12 that transmits the rotational driving force to the second rotating body 12 by being rotationally driven around the second shaft 12A at a variable speed. 2 drive unit 12M.

The first rotating body 11 is provided with a plurality of grippers (not shown) that hold the container 2 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Each gripper receives a container 2 supplied from a rotating body or a conveyor (not shown) on the upstream side, and moves it in the circumferential direction along with the rotation of the first rotating body 11 while gripping the body or neck of the container 2. Then, the container 2 is transferred to a gripper (not shown) provided in the second rotating body 12. The container 2 is a bottle formed from resin, glass, metal, or the like. The container 2 may be a precursor (preform) that is a blow molding material using PET (Polyethylene terephthalate).
The conveyor 4 is a belt conveyor and includes an endless belt, a pulley, a motor, and the like. In addition, the conveyor 4 such as a chain conveyor may be appropriately configured.
The 1st rotary body 11 and the 2nd rotary body 12 do not necessarily need to be provided with a gripper. The first rotating body 11 and the second rotating body 12 may be provided with a pocket for holding the container 2 or a star wheel having a recess for receiving the container 2.

During the conveyance of the container 2 by the first rotating body 11, a predetermined process is performed on the container 2. The same applies to the conveyance of the container 2 by the second rotating body 12. The processing performed on the container 2 includes molding of the container 2, washing, sterilization, removal of charged electric charge, filling of product liquid, attachment of a cap, sticking of a label, etc., for example, the first rotating body 11 The container 2 conveyed by the above is sterilized, and as a subsequent process, the container 2 conveyed by the second rotating body 12 is filled. The containers 2 that have finished processing while being transported by the second rotating body 12 are transferred to the conveyor 4, and necessary processing is performed on the conveyor 4 or downstream thereof.
On the first rotating body 11 and the second rotating body 12, the conveyor 4, and their surroundings, piping and devices (not shown) necessary for processing to be performed are installed.

The first drive unit 11M includes a motor that can continuously output a rotational driving force at a constant rotational speed (rotation speed). The rotational driving force may be transmitted directly from the motor to the first shaft 11A, or the rotational driving force of the motor may be transmitted to the first shaft 11A via another shaft (not shown).
The second drive unit 12M includes a servo motor 121 that can control the position, speed, and rotation phase. The second rotating body 12 is rotationally driven at a variable speed by the rotational driving force transmitted from the second driving unit 12M to the second shaft 12A.

A predetermined unit time is determined for transporting the container 2 by a plurality of rotating bodies provided in the transport apparatus 1 including the first rotating body 11 and the second rotating body 12, and only a prescribed pitch P1 is set for each unit time. As the rotating body rotates, the container 2 is moved in the rotation direction. The “pitch” corresponds to the length of an arc-shaped trajectory in which the container 2 moves over a unit time (hereinafter also referred to as “movement amount”). This pitch corresponds to the interval between grippers provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the rotating body.
Regardless of the diameter of the rotating body, the prescribed pitch P1 is basically determined in common for a plurality of rotating bodies. Each rotating body moves the container 2 by a specified pitch P1 every unit time (for example, 1 second), and sequentially delivers the containers 2 at a predetermined position between the rotating bodies.

Here, a large space is required to arrange an apparatus (including a mold or the like) for processing the container 2 around the container 2, or the adjacent container 2 is kept away from the container 2 being processed or the processing apparatus. If there is a situation such as that, it is necessary to set the rotator to be processed to a pitch P2 different from the specified pitch P1. As an actual example, for example, the pitch required for the film forming process by the apparatus that applies DLC (Diamond Like Coating) coating is larger than the pitch required for the filling process by the filling apparatus.
In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the second rotating body 12 is set to a pitch P2 (second pitch) larger than the specified pitch P1 (first pitch).
In order to deliver the container 2 between the rotating body 12 having the pitch P2 and the rotating body 11 having the specified pitch P1, the movement of the container 2 conveyed by any one of the rotating bodies is accelerated / decelerated in unit time, At the time of delivery, it is necessary to match the moving speed of the container 2 between both rotating bodies.

  Therefore, the second drive unit 12M of the present embodiment includes a servo motor 121 that outputs a rotational driving force to the second shaft 12A of the second rotating body 12 where the pitch P2 is set. When the container 2 is delivered by the servo motor 121 so that the moving speed of the container 2 conveyed by the second rotating body 12 is the same as the moving speed of the container 2 conveyed by the first rotating body 11. The rotational speed of the second rotating body 12 is controlled before and after.

Hereinafter, the operation of the transport device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
In FIG. 2, the speed v1 at which the container 2 transported by the first rotating body 11 that is a constant speed rotating body moves is indicated by a broken line, and the container 2 that is transported by the second rotating body 12 that is a variable speed rotating body. The moving speed v2 is indicated by a solid line.
The first rotating body 11 is rotationally driven at a constant speed by which the container 2 is moved at a constant speed v1 by the motor of the first drive unit 11M. On the other hand, the rotation of the second rotating body 12 is periodically accelerated and decelerated by the servo motor 121 of the second drive unit 12M with the unit time t0 as one period.

  Here, it is assumed that the container 2 is delivered every unit time t0 of 1 second. As indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4, the container 2 transported by the first rotating body 11 moves by a specified pitch P1 at a speed v1 during a unit time t0, and as shown by a solid line in FIG. The container 2 conveyed by the body 12 moves by a pitch P2 larger than the pitch P1 at a speed v2 during the unit time t0. In this example, the pitch P2 is twice the pitch P1.

A region indicated by a shaded pattern in FIGS. 2 to 4 corresponds to a delivery time t <b> 1 secured for delivering the container 2 from the first rotating body 11 to the second rotating body 12.
In order to deliver the container 2 reliably from the gripper of the first rotating body 11 to the gripper of the second rotating body 12 so as to synchronize the first and second rotating bodies 11, 12, the servo motor 121 has a delivery time t 1 The output of the rotational driving force is adjusted so that the speed v2 becomes the same speed as the speed v1.
The moving speed v1 of the container 2 conveyed by the first rotating body 11 and the moving speed v2 of the container 2 conveyed by the second rotating body 12 may not be exactly the same, and the container 2 can be delivered. As long as it is a little different.

In FIG. 3, assuming that one pitch corresponding to the unit time t0 corresponds to one period (360 degrees), the phase of the first rotating body 11 is indicated by a broken line, and the phase of the second rotating body 12 is indicated by a solid line. . Both phases coincide with each other at the delivery time tt within the delivery time t1.
In order to deliver the container 2 more reliably, as shown in FIG. 3, the rotation of the second rotating body 12 is servoed so that the phase of each of the first and second rotating bodies 11 and 12 coincides with the delivery time tt. Control by the motor 121 is preferable.
The delivery time tt when the first rotary body 11 and the second rotary body 12 deliver the container 2 is the midpoint (1.0 second) of the delivery time t1 (0.9 to 1.1 seconds) here. ). However, the delivery time tt does not necessarily have to be the midpoint of the delivery time t1, and may be before or after the midpoint.

  The phase of the first rotator 11 and the phase of the second rotator 12 do not necessarily exactly match each other, and as long as the container 2 can be delivered, the first rotator 11 and the second rotator 12 A phase difference of is acceptable. The allowable phase difference is larger when the body portion of the container 2 is gripped than when the neck portion of the container 2 is gripped by the gripper.

  When the delivery time t1 elapses, the servomotor 121 moves the container 2 by the pitch P2 within the unit time t0. Therefore, as shown in FIG. The rotation of the second rotating body 12 is accelerated so as to be accelerated to the speed v2A. Here, the acceleration is performed immediately after the delivery time t1 has elapsed, and thereafter, the acceleration is reduced to the speed v2A. Subsequently, in preparation for the next delivery, the servo motor 121 gradually reduces the rotational speed of the second rotating body 12 until the speed v2 at which the container 2 moves becomes the same speed as the speed v1. Then, during the transfer time t1 when the moving speed v2 of the container 2 is maintained at the same speed as the moving speed v1 by the servo motor 121, the phase of the second rotating body 12 matches the phase of the first rotating body 11. At the time of delivery tt, the container 2 is delivered from the first rotating body 11 to the second rotating body 12.

[Modification of First Embodiment]
Although not shown, the transport device of the present invention may include a conveyor, a variable speed rotating body, and a constant speed rotating body in this order from upstream to downstream. In that case, contrary to the conveying apparatus 1 (FIG. 1) of the first embodiment, the conveyor 4 moves to the variable speed second rotating body 12, and the second rotating body 12 moves to the constant speed first rotating body 11. And container 2 are delivered.
In this case, unlike the first embodiment, the container 2 is transferred from the second rotating body 12 to the first rotating body 11, but the moving speed v2 of the container 2 conveyed by the second rotating body 12 is a unit. The servo motor 121 causes the second speed to be increased and decreased at time t0 so that the moving speed v2 of the container 2 is the same as the moving speed v1 by the first rotating body 11 before and after the time tt when the container 2 is delivered. Controlling the rotational speed of the rotating body 12 is the same as in the first embodiment.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the conveyance apparatus 3 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. The same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure similar to 1st Embodiment.

  The conveyance device 3 includes a first rotating body 11 that is driven to rotate at a constant speed around the first shaft 11A, a second rotating body 12 that is driven to rotate at a variable speed around the second shaft 12A, and a third shaft. A third rotating body 13 that is driven to rotate at a constant speed around 13A, a first drive unit 11M, and a second drive unit 12M are provided.

The pitch P1 at which the container 2 transported by the first rotating body 11 moves in unit time t0 and the pitch P1 at which the container 2 transported by the third rotating body 13 moves in unit time t0 are the same.
On the other hand, the pitch P2 at which the container 2 conveyed by the second rotating body 12 moves in the unit time t0 is different from the pitch P1.

In the present embodiment, the third shaft 13A is driven by a first shaft 11A from which a rotational driving force is output from the first drive unit 11M via a gear mechanism (not shown).
Unlike the present embodiment, the transport device 3 may include a third drive unit that drives the third rotator 13 separately from the first drive unit 11M that drives the first rotator 11.

  In this embodiment, the diameter of the 1st rotary body 11 and the diameter of the 3rd rotary body 13 are equivalent, Comprising: The rotational speed of the 1st rotary body 11 required in order to move the container 2 only the same pitch P1, and 3rd Although the rotational speed of the rotating body 13 is the same, the rotational speed of the first rotating body 11 and the rotational speed of the third rotating body 13 that are necessary for moving the container 2 by the same pitch P1 may be different. Even in the latter case, the third shaft 13A can be driven at a predetermined reduction ratio to the first shaft 11A driven by the first drive unit 11M.

The second driving unit 12M extends before and after the container 2 is delivered between the first rotating body 11 and the second rotating body 12 and between the second rotating body 12 and the third rotating body 13. Rotation of the second rotating body 12 so that the moving speed of the container 2 conveyed by the second rotating body 12 is the same as the moving speed of the container 2 conveyed by the first and third rotating bodies 11 and 13, respectively. Control the speed.
That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the moving speed v2 of the container 2 conveyed by the second rotator 12 is accelerated / decelerated at the unit time t0, and at the delivery time t1, by the second rotator 12 that is a variable speed rotator. The moving speed v2 of the transported container 2 is maintained at the same speed as the moving speed v1 of the transported container 2 by the first and third rotating bodies 11 and 13 which are constant speed rotating bodies. During the delivery time t1, the container 2 is delivered from the first rotating body 11 to the second rotating body 12, and the container 2 is delivered from the second rotating body 12 to the third rotating body 13.

Even when the container 2 is transferred from the first rotating body 11 to the second rotating body 12 and the container 2 is transferred from the second rotating body 12 to the third rotating body 13, they are shifted back and forth. You may do it.
When the container 2 is transferred from the first rotating body 11 to the second rotating body 12 and the container 2 is transferred from the second rotating body 12 to the third rotating body 13 at the same time, as an example, 1 and the phase and movement amount of the third rotators 11 and 13 are the same as the phase and movement amount indicated by the broken lines in FIGS.

  In order to shift the time of delivery of the container 2 from the first rotating body 11 to the second rotating body 12 and the time of delivery of the container 2 from the second rotating body 12 to the third rotating body 13, for example, FIG. As shown, at the delivery time tt1 set in the first half of the delivery time t1, the phase (solid line) of the second rotary body 12 coincides with the phase (broken line) of the first rotary body 11 and set in the second half of the delivery time t1. At the time of delivery tt2, the rotation of the second rotating body 12 may be controlled by the servo motor 121 so that the phase (solid line) of the second rotating body 12 matches the phase (broken line) of the third rotating body 13.

  As described above, even if a pitch 2 different from the prescribed pitch P1 is set on some of the rotating bodies 12 of the plurality of rotating bodies provided in the transport apparatuses 1 and 3, the second of the rotating bodies 12 is set. The servo motor 121 that rotationally drives the shaft 12A is introduced to accelerate / decelerate the second rotating body 12 at a unit time t0, and is conveyed by the second rotating body 12 for a time t1 before and after the delivery time tt. The rotational speed of the second rotating body 12 is set so that the moving speed v2 of the container 2 is the same as the moving speed v1 of the container 2 conveyed by the first and third rotating bodies 11 and 13 having the specified pitch P1. Control. By doing so, the change of the pitch in the second rotator 12 is the upstream rotator 11 or the downstream rotator while dealing with the situation where the second rotator 12 requires a pitch P2 different from the prescribed pitch P1. The transfer of the container 2 by the transfer apparatuses 1 and 3 including a plurality of rotating bodies can be established without affecting the delivery of the container 2 to and from 13.

In controlling the rotation speed of the second rotating body 12 by the servo motor 121, an appropriate rotation speed and phase may be determined according to the pitch P2, and a signal suitable for the rotation speed and phase may be generated. Even if the required pitch P2 changes, only the speed and phase pattern of the second rotating body 12 change, and the setting of the rotational speed and phase of the servo motor 121 is easy.
Therefore, the introduction cost of the servo motor 121 can be reduced without mounting a mechanical cam on each of the plurality of grippers provided in the rotating body or redesigning the cam to cope with a necessary change in the pitch P2. Considering the above, it is possible to realize container conveyance including delivery of the container 2 between rotating bodies having different pitches P1 and P2 at low cost and easily.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment in which the pitch P2 of the second rotating body 12 is larger than the specified pitch P1, and can also be applied to the case where the pitch P2 is smaller than the pitch P1. In that case, the moving speed v2 of the container 2 transported by the second rotating body 12 increases from a speed lower than the moving speed v1 of the container 2 transported by the first rotating body 11 to the same speed as the speed v1. Then, after the container 2 is delivered while the speed v2 is the same as the speed v1, the rotational speed of the second rotating body 12 may be controlled by the servo motor 121 so that the speed is reduced with respect to the speed v1. .

  In addition to the above, as long as the gist of the present invention is not deviated, the configuration described in the above embodiment can be selected or changed to another configuration as appropriate.

  The transport apparatus and transport method of the present invention can be widely used for transporting food and pharmaceutical containers and various articles other than containers, in addition to beverage product containers. The shape of the article is not limited as long as it can be conveyed by the rotating body.

  Based on the fact that the rotating body can be driven to rotate at a constant speed by the servo motor 121, the drive unit that drives the first rotating body 11 and the third rotating body 13 in each of the above-described embodiments performs the servo motor operation. It may be configured to include.

The present invention can also be applied to a conveying apparatus provided as a variable speed rotating body that is rotationally driven at a variable speed for both of the rotating bodies that deliver articles, and a conveying method based on the configuration of the conveying apparatus. .
In these transport apparatuses and transport methods, both rotating bodies correspond to variable speed rotating bodies, and the rotational speeds of both rotating bodies can be variably controlled.
Therefore, the rotational speeds of both rotating bodies are controlled so that the moving speed of the articles conveyed by one rotating body is the same or substantially the same as the moving speed of the articles conveyed by the other rotating body. Thus, as described in the above embodiments, even if the pitch of moving the article per unit time is different, the article can be synchronized between the two rotating bodies without using a mechanical cam. Delivery and article conveyance by a plurality of rotating bodies can be established.

  When the transport device of the present invention includes three rotating bodies that transport while delivering an article, the pitch P1 set for the first rotating body and the second rotating body are set as the pitch for moving the article per unit time. There are three types of pitch P2 and pitch P3 set for the third rotating body. In that case, the object of the present invention can be achieved by controlling at least two rotating bodies to rotate at variable speeds as variable speed rotating bodies and controlling the rotational speed of these rotating bodies. The rotating body that is rotationally driven at a variable speed may be a rotating body at both ends of the three rotating bodies, or a central rotating body and an upstream rotating body (or a downstream rotating body). May be.

1,3 Transport device 2 Container (article)
4 conveyor 11 first rotating body (constant speed rotating body, first constant speed rotating body)
11A 1st axis | shaft 11M 1st drive part (constant speed drive part)
12 Second rotating body (variable speed rotating body)
12A 2nd axis | shaft 12M 2nd drive part (variable speed drive part)
13 Third rotating body (constant speed rotating body, second constant speed rotating body)
13A 3rd axis 121 Servo motor P1 Specified pitch (first pitch)
P2 pitch (second pitch)
t0 unit time t1 delivery time tt delivery time (delivery time)
v1 speed v2 speed

Claims (6)

A transport device that transports the article while delivering the article between a plurality of rotating bodies,
A constant-speed rotating body that is driven to rotate at a constant speed around the first axis, thereby moving the article by a first pitch in a predetermined unit time;
A constant speed drive that transmits rotational drive force to the first shaft;
A variable speed rotating body that is driven to rotate at a variable speed about the second axis, and moves the article by a second pitch different from the first pitch in the unit time;
A variable speed drive unit that accelerates and decelerates the rotation of the variable speed rotating body in the unit time,
The moving speed of the article conveyed by the variable speed rotating body is conveyed by the constant speed rotating body before and after the article is delivered between the variable speed rotating body and the constant speed rotating body. The rotational speed of the variable-speed rotating body is controlled by the variable-speed drive unit so as to be the same speed or substantially the same speed as the moving speed of the article.
A conveying apparatus characterized by that. The variable speed drive unit is configured so that the phase of one cycle corresponding to the unit time in each of the constant speed rotator and the variable speed rotator coincides or substantially coincides when the phase is transferred. Controlling the rotation of the variable speed rotator,
The transport apparatus according to claim 1. In addition to the constant speed rotating body and the variable speed rotating body,
A conveyor for transferring the article to and from the variable speed rotating body;
The transport apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. A first constant speed rotating body which is the constant speed rotating body;
The variable speed rotator for receiving the article from the first constant speed rotator;
A second constant speed rotating body that is the constant speed rotating body and receives the article from the variable speed rotating body,
The transport apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. A conveying method for conveying the article while delivering the article between a plurality of rotating bodies,
The first pitch is obtained by accelerating and decelerating the rotation of the variable speed rotating body that is rotationally driven at a variable speed during a unit time in which the article is moved by the first pitch by the constant speed rotating body that is rotationally driven at a constant speed. Moving the article by a second pitch different from
The moving speed of the article conveyed by the variable speed rotating body is conveyed by the constant speed rotating body before and after the article is delivered between the variable speed rotating body and the constant speed rotating body. Controlling the rotational speed of the variable speed rotating body so that it is the same speed or substantially the same speed as the moving speed of the article,
The conveyance method characterized by the above-mentioned. The rotation of the variable speed rotator is controlled so that the phase of one pitch corresponding to the unit time in the constant speed rotator and the variable speed rotator as one cycle coincides or substantially coincides with each other at the time of delivery. To
The conveying method according to claim 5.

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